If I let Lukas beat me now, I’d never forgive Henry. Or myself.
The chime went off, and I took a deep breath and spun on my heel to face him.
As I turned to Lukas, I let everything else fall away. My anxiety about being in front of a crowd of people; my nerves about fighting; my concerns about disappointing Henry. I shoved it all down and stared at Lukas.
Immediately, I circled him with only a few feet separating us. According to Neil, Lukas had good stamina and decent aim during their class and preferred ranged attacks. I rolled my shoulders. My best bet was to get in close and end it fast, but first I needed to see exactly what “decent” was.
Lukas tilted his head and watched me with a cocky expression.
I continued to circle him, keeping my face impassive.
He lazily chucked a fireball at me.
I sidestepped it easily and surprise flitted across his face. He really thought it would be that easy? I took a step closer, goading him into throwing more. He chucked three at me in almost slow motion, which I danced out of the way of.
His cocky mask disappeared. He took a deep breath and spread his hands apart, palms up. A ring of fireballs burst to life, circling above his hands. They wheeled faster and shot out at me.
They were faster than I expected, but I somersaulted out of the way. The heat singed my sleeve, and I grimaced. But I was confident about two things: first, his magic was much slower than Henry’s. Second, Henry was right. I could do it. And with that, I stood and closed the distance.
Steadily advancing, I dodged his attacks.
Panic crossed his face, and he stumbled back and put his hands together, gathering a large fireball in his palms.
That would suck to get hit by. When I complained about how much Henry’s magic hurt, he always said, “Then don’t get hit.” I grinned. Lukas’s magic was much easier to avoid than Henry’s.
He glared and threw the big fireball. It was easily five feet wide, radiating heat that promised to burn everything in its path.
I threw myself into a somersault, and it seared the air above me. The heat from its explosion spurred me forward. I rolled to my feet right in front of him.
His wild punch was easy to avoid. Sliding under his arm took me to the edge of the stage and put the ring at my back.
That was my chance.
Lukas spun around, but I grabbed his sleeve, angling my body to use the momentum from my turn to flip him over my shoulder.
He flew out of the ring, hitting the ground with a satisfying thump that echoed across the auditorium.
A beat of silence passed.
Henry’s beaming smile gave me the courage to look at the others in the auditorium.
Their stunned expressions lasted a few seconds. Abruptly, the spell of stillness broke, and the deafening sound of applause exploded.
I staggered back, squinting at the wall of people around me. For the first time in my life, they were cheering for me.
Shaking my head slowly, I scanned for my friends. Was it real? A burning smell tinged the air from Lukas’s flames, and my heart still raced.
Little details fell into place. Gray shook Ivy by the shoulders excitedly, and Neil shot me a thumbs-up. His lopsided smile and dimple conveyed how proud he was, and my pulse raced. One smile from Neil, and my heart took off faster than when Henry announced my duel in front of the entire school.
Prancing pegasi, I totally kicked Lukas’s butt in front of the entire school.
The next day was Noxday, our one free day of the week, and Neil, Ivy, and Gray talked about the previous day’s dueling club.
“What happened to that girl? Why did she attack Ackley Institute?” I straightened in my chair. “I want to talk to the headmistress.”
“About the attack.” Ivy knew me too well.
“I can’t stop thinking about it. That’s the first time Ackley Institute has ever been attacked, and I’m dying to know more. Who wants to go with me right after classes tomorrow?” I turned to Gray, knowing how close he was with Headmistress Elsie. “Gray, will you come with me?”
He shook his head and half-shrugged. ”Sorry. I have detention.”
Neil sighed. “What did you do now?”
Gray glanced at me and back at Neil. “Nothing.”
Neil’s tense shoulders relaxed as he and Gray silently communicated before he gave Gray a lopsided smile that left me with the impression he was somehow proud of his detention. It was completely unlike Neil.
I shook my head. Brothers.
“Sorry, Emmie. I’d like to go, but I can’t,” Ivy said. “I signed up for an extra lesson from Mr. Mizuno tomorrow afternoon. After seeing the first dueling club, I realized I need a little extra practice.”
I turned to Neil with hopeful eyes and stuck out my lower lip.
He chuckled. “You know I can’t say no to that face.”
“That’s what I hoped for.” I smiled and took a bite of my dinner.
A swarm of people came through the door, a tall, blonde boy in the center of the bodies. When he turned around, it was impossible to miss Lukas’ black eye.
“Wonder what happened,” I mumbled to Ivy, taking another bite.
“It doesn’t matter. He deserves it.” She glared in his direction. “But can you imagine how embarrassed he must be to have gotten his butt handed to him twice in one week?” Ivy couldn’t keep the glee from her voice.
Gray and Neil didn’t offer any opinions on it, and I let the matter drop.
Neil and I agreed to meet in the common room of the girls’ dorm after school the next day. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to go without him. By the time he showed up, I was tapping my toe by the door.
“Sorry, Mr. Kaji asked to talk to me after class.”
I smothered a sigh. “Let’s just go.” My head was filled with questions.
When we turned down one of the paved paths of the quad, two figures came into view about fifty yards away.
“Isn’t that Delegate Lancaster and his bound one?”
Neil squinted at the pair as they disappeared into the building. “I think so.”
I quickened my pace.
Neil grabbed my arm. “Maybe this isn’t a good time.” He glanced meaningfully at Headmistress Elsie’s closed door.
“Are you kidding? Now is a great time. Clearly, there’s something happening, and first-hand knowledge is the best kind of knowledge.”
Neil sighed, but didn’t protest further.
A minute later, I pushed open the door. The front room was empty, so I strolled in, angling for the headmistress’s office. Loud, angry voices stopped me in my tracks.
“What have you done to her?” That voice had to belong to Delegate Lancaster.
I tiptoed closer to the slightly ajar door. Neil’s tense form stood behind me.
“We haven’t done anything except restrain her.” That was Headmistress Elsie.
“How dare you! Do you know who I am?” His furious voice continued, his haughty tone sounding like my father.
“Your daughter attacked my school. You’re lucky we were able to restrain her without hurting her. I assure you, she had no such considerations for my students.” Headmistress Elsie may have been a Light Magical, but she knew how to fight fire with fire.
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” a pinched feminine voice cut in. “My Andley hates violence.” It reminded me of the way I often sounded when my throat closed up just before crying.
Neil tapped my shoulder, and I shrugged him off.
“Much as I might wish otherwise, we have an entire school of witnesses confirming the attack.”
A deep, shuddering breath and then, “Andley would never intentionally try to hurt others.”
A few seconds passed before Delegate Lancaster spoke again. “We've had no news about my daughter until now. Are you positive it’s her?”
“I had heard the news about your daughter’s kidnapping.” Headmistress Elsie paused before continuing. “I’ve
informed the other teachers I’m not planning on reporting your daughter.”
Delegate Lancaster’s daughter was kidnapped? My mind whirred. Why had we not heard anything about a Delegate’s daughter being taken?
A gasp covered the rest of her sentence. “You won’t call the Koban?” The lady’s voice trembled.
Neil tried to turn me away from the door, but I brushed him off. It was valuable information.
His frustrated sigh almost covered the conversation.
“I don’t believe your daughter was acting of her own free will.” Headmistress Elsie sounded thoughtful.
“What do you mean?” Delegate Lancaster’s voice sliced through the conversation with a hard edge.
“There’s no easy way to tell you this, but my staff and I believe your daughter’s magic and mind have been tampered with.” Headmistress Elsie’s voice was low and quick.
Sharp gasps came from the room. Or maybe that was me?
“What do you mean?” The other woman spoke quickly. “Who tampered with my baby’s mind? Why would you say that?” With each question, her voice edged closer to hysteria.
My lip trembled at her heartbreak. I wasn’t sure if it was from sympathy or because my own family wasn’t that close.
Footsteps sounded before Headmistress Elsie’s voice grew fainter. “Your daughter is a Fire Magical, correct?”
“Yes.” Mr. Lancaster’s aggressive tone was tinged with despair.
“Besides her discolored magic, she had no reaction at all during the attack. We can only assume the person who kidnapped her is responsible for her strange behavior.”
“What do you mean ‘discolored’? Andley’s magic has always been a beautiful deep crimson.” The mom’s voice quavered.
“The usual burning red was there, but it was tainted with waves of purple. We’ve never seen anything like it before. We could only assume that it was a result of something someone did to her. No magic gets that way through natural means.” Headmistress Elsie’s voice went flat.
“Is she...” Delegate Lancaster paused. “Back to normal now?”
“We’ve tried everything we know, but…” Headmistress Elsie’s calm voice slipped into disappointment.
“My baby!” The mom’s wracking sobs almost smothered Headmistress Elsie’s next words.
“She’s completely unresponsive to the outside world. No amount of healing magic has made a difference.”
I turned around to face Neil. Eavesdropping for information about the attack was one thing, but hearing their grief was way too intrusive.
“There is one more thing.” Something about the hesitation in those five words made the hair on the back of my neck stand in warning. “We haven’t been able to wake her, but quite a few times we’ve heard her muttering in her sleep.”
“She…” The mother blew her nose. “Asked for me?”
I shook my head. Did she really think familial bonds were that strong?
“No.” More hesitation. “She keeps muttering a name.”
“Whose name?” Delegate Lancaster’s voice was gruff.
“Neil Mastiff.”
My knees buckled, and I stumbled forward. If Neil hadn’t caught me, I would have fallen. Our gazes locked. I’m sure he could read the concern in mine like I could read the confusion in his.
With his arm around my waist for support, we left the office. My head reeled. Why was she saying Neil’s name? Did she come for him?
“Emmie, don’t tell the others about this.” His hands grasped my shoulders, and he turned to me with a serious expression.
“But Neil, we can’t—”
“I don’t want them to worry. We don’t even know what it means yet.” He tried to pretend that he was fine, but his worry was as obvious to me as the color of his eyes. “Promise me you won’t say anything until I decide to.” His steady gaze burned into me, warring with my desire not to keep the others in the dark.
I huffed out a breath. “Fine. I promise.”
He squeezed my shoulders, and we turned to walk back.
We spent the hours until dinner doing homework, but my heart wasn’t in it. All I could think about was Delegate Lancaster’s daughter and her unknown connection to Neil.
Ivy and Gray both met us in the cafeteria for dinner. “What did Headmistress Elsie say?” Ivy asked as soon as she sat beside us.
I picked at my food, fighting the urge to glance at Neil. “We didn’t get to talk to her. She was in a meeting.”
“That’s unlike you to give up so easily.” Gray took a huge bite of his dinner.
Headmistress Elsie stood, saving me from responding. The room, hungry for news, was quick to quiet. “The identity of the girl who attacked the school was discovered, and her parents picked her up last night. They returned to Ender this morning, so she is no longer at Ackley Institute.”
The room burst into a flurry of questions, but instead of addressing them, Headmistress Elsie returned to her seat.
Just like that, she was gone? Preoccupied with the girl, I barely tasted my food that night.
After dinner, the four of us did homework in the common area of the girls’ dorm.
I tapped my pencil on the page; even Arithmetic couldn’t hold my attention. If there’d already been one kidnapping, did that mean there were others? Were they connected to the disappearances? My ignorance, which had been comfortable and secure up until Andley’s attack, threatened to strangle me.
My pencil tapper faster. Was every Magical in danger? What happened to Delegate Lancaster’s daughter? Who was kidnapping Magicals? I fought off a shudder of revulsion. If Ivy was stolen like that, what would I do?
“I have no idea.” Neil scribbled an answer and glanced at me.
Had I said my question aloud?
“It’s horrible,” Ivy said. “We’re lucky we’re at Ackley where there’s so much security.”
Last week, the school was attacked, and the intruder was currently repeating Neil’s name. Were we really safe?
“Are you okay?” Neil, as conscientious of others as always, put down his pencil and glanced at me.
The three of them stared at me as I stood. “I won’t be able to focus on anything else unless I get some answers about this.”
“Are you going to talk to the teachers? I’ll come with you—no detention for me today.” Gray put down his paper eagerly.
I lifted my bag onto my shoulder. “I’m going to the library to do some research.”
“Oh.” Gray slumped back into his seat. “Never mind, then.”
The terror from the attack still lingered around campus like a bad smell that second week. On Aquaday, tensions were still high around campus. I could see it when everyone jumped when they heard the Fire Magical class practicing or the fact that people traveled in packs around campus. On Ignisday, some of the stiffness left everyone’s expression and a few kids ventured around on their own again. By Terraday, conversation had moved past the attack as we all eased back into our routines; with classes, midterms, and also dueling club practices to focus on, I tried to push it to the back of my mind.
Through our partnership in class, my friendship with Celia slowly deepened. Since Ivy never opened up to me about who she liked, it was fun talking to Celia. While working on projects, we would whisper stories back and forth about Josh and Neil, giggling through the whole class, but as soon as the chime signaled the end of the day, I’d race back to the library.
I spent every spare minute researching anything linked to the attack, and by Aerisday at the end of the week, I had a stack of notes to show my friends. I returned to my room that night to find Ivy changing out of her uniform.
“How was the library?”
I thrust my stack of papers at her. “Look at this.”
She waved me off to finish taking off her blazer, tormenting me with her precise movements. “Let me get this hung up first.”
I paced at the foot of her bed. Was it just coincidence that all the missing girls were born in the f
irst cycle of the red season? I bit my nails.
She hung up her jacket and smoothed out the creases.
Should I have gone to Henry first? Maybe I was blowing it out of proportion.
Finally, she took slow steps back to her bed, holding out her hand for the papers.
I sat next to her and chewed my lower lip. Had I jumped to conclusions? “What do you think?” I wove a finger through a strand of hair and pulled.
“Hmm.”
“Well?” I stood and began pacing again; patience had never been my strong suit.
“It’s interesting that all the girls seem to be around the same age, but since they're all from different regions, there doesn't seem to be a real connection. It honestly seems like random disappearances.” She shuffled through the pages.
“They’re not all the same age. Look here.” I sat beside her again, reclaiming the notes so I could find the page I wanted.
Her mouth fell open slightly as she read the page I handed to her. “I never heard anything about these other disappearances.” She skimmed through the page. “Girls have been going missing for years!”
I nodded. “I know. Once I found out about Delegate Lancaster’s daughter being kidnapped and how we’d never heard about it, I figured there must be others—many more than we were made aware of.” I shook my head, pressing my lips together to keep from cursing. “I just didn’t realize there would be this many.”
Ivy worried her bottom lip and flipped to the last page of notes. “Andley Lancaster. That’s Delegate Lancaster’s daughter?”
“She’s the one who attacked Ackley. She disappeared from Astryn Institute at the beginning of term.” I picked a loose thread off my bed and twisted it around my finger. All that research and I still had no idea why Andley had been saying Neil’s name. I pulled the thread so hard it broke, leaving the tip of my finger purple and slightly swollen.
“What if…” Ivy glanced at me and back to the notes. “What if these disappearances aren’t random? What if they’re all kidnappings?”
Unleashed Magic (The Chronicles of Andar Book 1) Page 8