Discord

by E A Foley

  Tears filled her closed eyes. Spilled onto her cheeks. Iris bit her lip to keep another sob from alerting anyone to her present status of awake.

  “Iris?” a soft voice said at her side.

  Relief flooded through her being like a warm bath. Iris opened her eyes. Nimbus stared down at her. He picked up her hand and gripped it tight.

  “How many times? How many times do we have to tell you to not pull in that much power?” Aerianna practically yelled at her.

  “I’m sorry. Jaden’s followers started attacking the barrier I held over the island while he attacked his door in the Gallery. I couldn’t formulate any coherent thought besides maintain the barrier. I poured everything into it.”

  “Yeah, I noticed.” Aerianna crossed her arms and turned sideways. “At least I didn’t have to restart your heart. Again,” she added for good measure.

  “Again?” Nimbus asked.

  “Yes! Again,” Aerianna responded.

  Iris shifted onto her side and realized she wasn’t in her room. “Where are we?”

  “My place,” Gavin said from behind Aerianna. “We thought it might be best to be as far from those guys as possible while still in Davis.”

  “It won’t matter where we are. They’ll be able to track me down,”

  “Not right now they won’t. You’re almost completely depleted. I can’t tell you’re a magic user from the living room let alone half way across Davis,” Aerianna told her. “You’re an idiot. I just need you to get that one straight.”

  “Thanks. So,” she focused on Nimbus. “What happened?”

  “Sienna noticed an increase in the power bombarding your barrier. She went to check on you in the Gallery and found you sprawled across the floor. She did some great, quick thinking and knocked on everyone’s doors. We all immediately formed doorways to you before Cirrus opened a door to his place. I tried to get your attention and tell you to release the barrier, but you didn’t seem to register anything. When that failed, I panicked and somehow interrupted your flow of magic. Though, you may have just gotten too far from the island and released it without realizing it,” Nimbus said.

  “I don’t think she did. She still held on to way too much power for her to have released her request after Cirrus’s door closed,” Gavin countered.

  “Yeah. I still don’t understand how you’ve grown so much more powerful when you haven’t been using much magic recently,” Aerianna agreed.

  “Totally not fair,” Sienna added.

  Iris levered her body so she could see around Nimbus. Sienna sat at Gavin’s desk, leaning on the chair’s arm support and swiveling the chair from side to side.

  “How did you interrupt my magic?”

  “I’m not sure. I was just so desperate to get you to stop using magic. I made a request to cancel the magic you used. When that didn’t work, I tried blocking your magic with mine. I’m not sure how I did it or why it worked, but your request vanished. Then you fainted. Whether my request to block yours worked or you blacked out first, we’re not sure.”

  “Last time she did something this stupid she killed herself, so I’d say your request worked. Thank you,” Aerianna added.

  “Aeri, if it’s any consolation, I feel like shit.”

  “Good. You deserve it. Remember this sensation next time you try being a hero.”

  “Why don’t you head home?” Nimbus asked Aerianna.

  “Probably a good idea. Or go for a walk?” Gavin added.

  Aerianna gave the room one curt nod, formed and disappeared through her tiger-etched doorway.

  “Sending her away will only make it worse,” Iris told them. “Besides, we all need to discuss this one. Jaden is much more powerful than when we got back from Gemina Terra.” And I have no idea how he’s managed it, Iris added internally.

  Nimbus’s face shifted to stoic. Unreadable. “All right. But only if you’re up to it. We can all wait to have this discussion tomorrow.”

  “That’s probably a better idea,” Iris agreed as she fell back into bed after attempting to get up. “Think you can take me back to my room so I can get some sleep? I don’t want to put Gavin out.”

  “No. But I will take you to Cirrus’s. We can stay in the spare bedroom there.”

  “What about—”

  “Not an option,” Nimbus said before she could finish her question. Iris wasn’t sure he knew what she intended to ask, but she refrained from clarifying. A pain she’d only seen once before shone through Nimbus’s eyes. It stemmed from a fear that she would leave him and never come back.

  “Cirrus’s works. Thanks, Gavin. Sienna. See you guys tomorrow?”

  “Damn well better,” Sienna said with a toss of her head that sent her tight curls bouncing off her shoulders.

  “Just let us know when and where,” Gavin added with a smile and a nod before forming his doorway for them.

  Nimbus picked Iris up and carried her through directly into the spare bedroom. He laid her down on the bed with care before removing her shoes and helping her get situated under the covers. “I’ll be right back,” he added with a smile and a caress of her cheek.

  Iris fell asleep before he returned.

  Nimbus woke her the following morning. She didn’t remember him coming to bed. If he came to bed.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “I ache all over and am exhausted, but I feel better than I did yesterday, so that’s a plus.”

  “A small one, yes. I asked everyone to come over in about half an hour. Will that give you enough time to get ready?”

  “Should work,” Iris told him as she sat up. She refused to let him see her stumble as the world tilted significantly when she stood. Instead, she grabbed a few clothes she now kept stashed in the closet and headed straight for the bathroom. There Iris placed her hands on the edge of the countertop and leaned her head over the sink. She closed her eyes as her stomach lurched. Concentrated on not throwing up.

  After several long breaths and a battle of wills, Iris’s stomach stopped churning. The world stilled its movements, and she released her white-knuckled grip of the countertop. Iris showered, dressed, and headed to the kitchen in search of food twenty minutes later. Nimbus presented her with a plate of Swedish pancakes and sliced fruit. She gave him a kiss and sat at the table to eat.

  She hadn’t gotten halfway through the plate before the apartment filled with her friends stepping out of doorways. Pins and needles flared at the back of her neck. Jaden knew they gathered and where. A quick search showed Iris he was at Zarina’s. She kept him at the forefront of her mind in case he came closer.

  “Hey guys!” Iris called to the group. She didn’t bother getting up. Her body still needed more time to recover. It currently felt like a sack of small boulders.

  “Hey!”

  “Hi!”

  “How’s it going,” a chorus of voices called back.

  “You got any more of that? It smells amazing!” Kylee asked.

  “There’s plenty and I can make more if needed,” Nimbus said with a smile.

  He pulled plates from the cupboard and hot pancakes from where he’d stashed them in the oven before placing both on the kitchen table next to the huge bowl of fruit. It gave Iris enough time to finish her meal and wake up more. By the time everyone took a seat, she’d created a mental list of topics she wanted to discuss.

  “Everyone concealed themselves and tracked their assigned partner yesterday, right? Great! And you’re all concealing your powers now, right?” Several nodded. A few shook their heads before their magical auras disappeared.

  “Awesome,” Iris continued. “So Jaden’s attacks significantly escalated yesterday compared to his past attacks. He focused both on the barrier I maintained over the island and the one I placed around his door in the Gallery. This really concerns me as we approach spring break. I have no doubt he will attack us which means we have to figure out what to do.”

  “I say let him try,” Rowen called. “You kept him at bay yesterday.”


  “Yes, but that took all of my strength and I almost killed myself because I drew in too much power. If he attacks my mind when I’m tired again, I don’t think I’ll be able to hold him off. Besides, there’s no way I could keep that barrier up for a week.”

  “Why don’t we just go to Gemina Terra? He can’t follow us there,” Sienna asked.

  “True, but I can’t form the archways,” she glanced at Cirrus to see if he’d made any progress with them. A subtle shake of his head told her no. “And maintain a concealment barrier around the magic I’m using to keep him from copying it or following us. We cannot let him or Brett or any of their followers see or sense how to create the archways.”

  “I think I can help there. I studied the barrier you maintained yesterday and I’m pretty sure I can create the same thing,” Nimbus said from the kitchen as he made more pancakes.

  “That’s great, but I doubt you’d be able to maintain the barrier after stepping onto Gemina Terra which means they’d sense the residual magic I used to create the archways. They may even follow us before the residual flows fade away.”

  “Then I’ll stay behind. I can conceal myself for extended periods of time.”

  A weight ten times as heavy as her body currently felt dropped into Iris’s chest. “I’m not leaving you alone on Earth. It’s a sure way for you to be captured.”

  “I’ll stay with him,” Cirrus called.

  “But the contract is void during spring break. And you’re not great at concealing yourself yet,” Aerianna reminded him.

  “I can stay behind. I’m good at concealing myself,” Gavin volunteered.

  “Why don’t all the guys stay behind?” Cirrus looked to Thorin and Rowen who both nodded. “Then you can have that girls’ week Vi told me about.”

  “With Jaden’s escalation in attacks yesterday, I don’t think a girls’ week on Gemina Terra is plausible.”

  “Sure it is. We can all stay here together and when the assholes come to attack us, we won’t have to worry about you telling us not to retaliate. I think it’s a great idea,” Rowen grinned.

  “If you think it’s a good idea, then we all know it isn’t,” Rozlynd told him in no uncertain terms.

  “Now you want to take the fun out of everything?” Rowen asked her.

  “If it involves you being an idiot, you’re damn right I do!”

  “I’m with Roz,” Iris said before the two could get into an argument.

  “I actually think this is our best option,” Kyxy chimed in. “I’ve been going over it for a while. Iris, with your inability to conceal yourself from anyone, you’re actually the most vulnerable, so getting you somewhere they can’t track you should be our highest priority. In a weird way, being around you makes everyone more vulnerable.”

  Iris thought about Kyxy’s statement. She was right. “I hadn’t considered that perspective.” She took a few more moments to analyze everything from a dozen different angles. She kept coming back to the same conclusion—Kyxy was right. It terrified her. She looked across the living room at all the guys. “Do you guys promise to do everything together? I mean everything?” she asked them. “I don’t trust Jaden. Or Brett.”

  “Totally.”

  “Promise.”

  “No problem.”

  “Of course.”

  Nimbus didn’t answer.

  “What about your classes?”

  “I can conceal myself for long periods of time. As long as I take the correct precautions, I’ll be able to go back and forth as needed. It’ll only be three or four trips.”

  Though she was loath to agree to it, Iris said “Okay. A girls’ week on Gemina Terra for spring break it is.”

  The pins and needles at the base of her neck flared as an uncomfortable prickling joined them. Iris couldn’t keep a shiver from running down her spine at the discord the two sensations struck. Nor a sense of trepidation from building in the pit of her stomach.

  Also by E. A. Foley

  Through Dreams and Doorways Novels

  Book 1: Discovery

  Book 2: Denouncement

  Book 3: Desperation

  Coming Soon:

  Book 5: Destruction

  Book 6: Destiny