by Dan Wingreen
Aidan refused to respond to that. He crossed his arms and glared.
Eallair sighed. "I'll be okay. S’long as we get out of here soon. I really have used too much magic lately."
How much of that magic was used protecting me when he didn't have to? The glare melted away. Great, now I feel guilty. Again.
"Well. We should…probably leave, then." Aidan nodded and gave Eallair what he hoped was an apologetic smile and not some kind of grimace.
Eallair smiled back, so maybe he was successful.
"I was actually just getting’ to that part," Eallair said with a gleam in his eye. "Watch this."
He knelt—a bit unsteadily Aidan noticed, with another flash of guilt—and gently placed two fingers on the top of the spike nearest to him. It flashed, once, then bright light shot out from both sides of it towards the two spikes next to it. The light quickly travelled through the network of spikes until the whole thing was shining with a brightness that was almost painful to look at. Just when Aidan was about to look away, the light suddenly shut off, leaving a two-inch gap burned through the floor behind it.
Aidan had just enough time to wonder how far that gap went when the whole cut out area of the floor, carpet and all, fell into the room below it with a loud crash. Aidan's mouth dropped open.
He made the floor fall through the floor…
When he finally managed to tear his gaze away, he saw Eallair grinning at him. "Pretty cool, huh?"
Aidan nodded slowly, but another loud crack from the padlock spell cut off anything he might have said. The fissures were even wider now, and they were spreading into the square body of the lock. It wasn't going to hold for much longer.
Eallair's grin turned into a grimace. "Time to go."
Aidan couldn't agree more.
Chapter 6
After they lowered themselves through the floor—without levitating, Aidan was disappointed to note—it was surprisingly easy to sneak through the rest of the building. They occasionally came across signs of battle—scorch marks on the walls, gouges in the floor, sections of cheap wall riddled with holes—and a few groups of bodies, but other than that the entire place seemed deserted. If it wasn't for the flashing lights, the alarm, and the fact he knew there were at least fifteen agents somewhere behind them, Aidan would have thought it had been abandoned for weeks.
Which was a huge stroke of luck, since he was starting to doubt Eallair would even make it to the ground floor.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Aidan asked as they slipped out of the stairwell onto the second floor. He'd lost track of how many times he'd asked Eallair that same question in the last fifteen minutes.
Judging from the irritable scowl on his face, he kind of thought Eallair hadn't.
"I'm bloody well fine," he snapped.
"You don't look fine," Aidan said. In fact, Eallair looked like he was about to fall over, and it would be an even bet whether he hit the ground asleep or dead. But Aidan didn't want to mention that, he was probably pushing his luck enough with saying what he did. The last thing he needed right now was to piss off his only way to survive the next few minutes.
"I'm. Fine." Eallair stumbled as they rounded a corner and just managed to grab onto a doorknob to keep from falling over. He glared at Aidan, daring him to say something.
Aidan gave him a worried look, but kept quiet.
They paused, giving Eallair time to get his strength back. Although Aidan didn't think he'd actually admit that was why they were stopped. He'd probably say it was some kind of strategic silent planning session or something. Aidan mentally rolled his eyes.
And you really think you know him so well after being around him for a grand total of maybe two hours that you can tell what he's thinking? Why? Because he's the only person in the world that doesn't seem to want to kill you, torture you, or betray you? Be careful. You're getting attached.
Aidan scowled, but he wasn't quite up to denying it. He was getting attached. And that wasn't good. Anyone he'd ever gotten attached to, from his parents right up to Carl, had abandoned or hurt him in the end. This time, he didn't even have the government to fall back on to take care of him. If something happened and Eallair abandoned him too, he had no idea what he was going to do.
And he didn't even want to start thinking about how much it would hurt.
Eallair let go of the door and stood up straight with a barely audible groan.
"Come on," he said. "We better get crackin’."
"Why can't we just take the stairs the rest of the way down?" Aidan asked as Eallair started moving down the hall.
"Because I blew up the bottom of the stairwell to keep 'em from followin’ me when I went up," he grumbled. "There's no way through."
No wonder he doesn't have any magic left…
"It's not like I was plannin’ on givin’ you half of what I had left just to keep you on your feet when I found you, and runnin’ into a group going up the stairs while there were another behind me would have killed your rescue before you even knew there was a rescue to be killed!" Eallair snarled. "So maybe you can keep the comments to yourself till we're out of this shite!"
Aidan stared in surprise. Did I say that out loud? He'd also never seen Eallair mad at him before. Not mad enough to yell anyway. It bothered him.
"Sorry," he mumbled and looked away.
There was a heavy silence and Aidan was convinced he could feel Eallair's angry glare burning holes in him. After nearly an eternity, Eallair sighed. "No, I'm sorry," he said. He sounded annoyed, but it didn't seem to be directed at Aidan this time. "I shouldn't…I didn't mean to snap at you."
Aidan glanced back and saw him run a frustrated hand over his tied-back hair.
"I…I just don't like bein’ weak," he said. "’Specially when I'm protecting someone what can't protect their own self."
Aidan wanted to take offense, but it wasn’t like he could argue. No matter how much he hated it, he was completely helpless.
"It's okay," Aidan said after a moment. "I—" He cut himself off when he heard a noise off in the distance. On their floor.
"Did you hear that?" he asked.
Eallair nodded grimly. "Come on. We better go."
"Where are we going?" Aidan asked as he followed Eallair down the hall. "I mean, I know we're going to the lobby, but how are we getting there?" None of the offices looked like they were stocked with staircases.
"Food court, actually," Eallair said. His voice was low, just above a whisper.
"What?" Aidan asked, lowering his voice as well.
"We're goin’ to the food court," he said. "Any cops show up they'll be outside the front waiting for the 'all clear' or the 'get in here and save our arses' from the DMS boys. Food court's in the back of the first floor, lots of windows. We break one and get out that way, make it to your carriage, get away."
"Oh." Aidan nodded. It made sense. Unless the police surrounded the building. Would they do that?
"And, to answer your question," Eallair said as they rounded another corner and came to a stop. "We're gettin’ down there through one of them."
He pointed—with a slightly shaky hand Aidan noticed—to a row of elevators.
"Why didn't we just take an elevator from the third floor?" Aidan asked.
"Too risky. They can stop 'em and trap us, then we're right back where we started."
"So…it's less risky now?" he asked.
"Nope," Eallair answered with a tired half smile. "Don't got no choice though. That was the only stairway that goes up this high."
"What? Really?" Aidan frowned. "Seems like a fire hazard…."
Every apartment building Aidan had ever lived in had at least three different escape plans pinned up in every apartment, and the halls were practically wallpapered with them. Wizards' Quarters tended to be in areas with a lot of old buildings, and while the outsides were almost always stone or brick, the insides were nothing but old, dry wood. The first thing wizards did when they were moved in was to do whatever they coul
d to make them as fire safe as possible. Aidan couldn't wrap his head around new buildings being built with only one way to get out in case of a fire. It was like they wanted to kill themselves.
Eallair chuckled, making Aidan's frown deepen. "Fire safety ain’t really a big deal when you can put out a fire just by wavin’ your hand."
"Oh," Aidan said sheepishly. "Right."
"Come on, let's get this over with." Eallair moved towards the nearest elevator and pressed the call button.
Aidan didn't know whether to be relieved or worried that he hadn’t teased him about it.
The elevator came a few seconds later, the doors opening with a loud ding that echoed down the empty halls.
"Hope nobody was around to hear that," Eallair muttered as he and Aidan scurried inside and pressed the button for the first floor.
To Aidan's surprise and relief, they made it to the bottom without anything happening. There didn't even seem to be anybody on the first floor. They'd chosen an elevator towards the back of the building nearest the food court, and when they got off they headed towards it at a run, or as close to a run as they could get with Eallair still unsteady on his feet.
The food court was completely empty.
Aidan grinned as they made their way through the hastily abandoned tables to the row of windows at the back. They'd made it. They were really going to get out—
"Down!" Eallair yelled as he shoved Aidan, hard, to the right then dove to the left. Aidan went crashing to the floor, yelping as he slammed his hip against the corner of a table on his way down.
A purple bolt of lightning sizzled through the air right where they had been not even a second ago.
Deathbolt!
Aidan's head snapped around.
Anwir stood alone just inside the entrance to the food court. His tie was gone and his hair was disheveled, sticking up wildly in several different directions. But it was his eyes Aidan couldn't look away from. They were bloodshot, the skin around them angrily inflamed as he glared with a wild rage that seemed to fit him better than a thousand fake, perfect smiles.
There was nowhere for Aidan to go. He was completely out in the open with nothing to hide behind except a few flimsy chairs and cheap, undersized tables; none of which he could get behind faster than a deathbolt could reach him. The blood drained from his face as he started to shake.
He was going to die.
"Die!" Anwir screamed and let loose with another bolt.
It flew, straight and true.
Right at Eallair…
...and cracked against the shield he barely got up in time.
"No, no, no!" Anwir cried, grinning madly. He didn't so much as glance over at Aidan. Didn't even seem to notice he was there. He only had eyes for Eallair. "You don't get to hide this time." He started walking towards where Eallair was curled up on the floor behind his rapidly darkening and shrinking shield. "You. Only. Get. To. Die!"
He punctuated each word with another bolt.
The shield wasn't going to last much longer. Eallair was too weak. Aidan was shocked it held up against one deathbolt, let alone several. It looked like it was taking everything he had left just to hold it in place, and there was nothing else Eallair could do to save himself.
It was up to Aidan to save him.
And he couldn't.
He couldn't even move. Fear and indecision held him in place as much as exhaustion had earlier. He could rush Anwir…but he was too far away. Anwir would fry him before he got three steps. He could throw a chair, distract him maybe, but then Anwir would definitely know he was there. Aidan's blood ran cold.
Coward.
No!
There had to be something he could do. Anything! Aidan couldn't sit there cowering while the man who had saved him so many times was killed right in front of him.
He felt the familiar fire spark to life in his chest.
No! Not that! He gritted his teeth and fought down the rising tide of magic that was threatening to break loose. He couldn't. Not with Eallair that close, that weak. It would kill him as easily as it would kill Anwir. Anything else!
But there wasn't anything else. A crushing weight settled on Aidan's chest as he realized there was nothing he could do save Eallair.
I'm completely useless. Eallair risked everything for me and I can't even save him when he needs it. I can't even help myself. He was right about me. I’m nothing.
He shouldn't be dying for me.
Anwir raised both of his hands and shot two steady streams of purple lightning at Eallair. Eallair's eyes met Aidan's and Aidan couldn't offer any comfort or reassurance, couldn’t grin and whip out some amazing, last minute plan to save the day. Aidan had never felt more ashamed. Tears started to run down his cheeks as he waited to watch Eallair die.
But then, through the grimace of strain and effort to keep the shield up, Eallair flashed Aidan a small, shaky grin of his own.
"Watch this," he mouthed.
Aidan watched in horror as he pushed the shield away from himself and off to the side, leaving himself completely exposed.
No!
Except, instead of sending the lightning through Eallair, Anwir followed the shield with his deathbolts, thinking Eallair was still behind it and trying to escape. He realized his mistake almost right away, Aidan could see it in the widening of his eyes, but it was too late.
Eallair raised his hand and shot a bolt right through the middle of Anwir's chest.
He flew backwards and slammed hard into the ground. He slid back across the polished floor, crashing through several chairs and knocking over a table before coming to a stop halfway across the room.
After that, he didn't move at all.
"The worst thing," Eallair said, dropping the shield and rolling onto his back with a groan, "is that in a few hours I'm gonna think up the perfect one-liner for this."
Aidan let out a sound that was halfway between a laugh and a sob.
He scrambled to his feet. Ignoring the twinge in his hip, he ran across the space between them and just barely held back from throwing himself at Eallair. Although whether he wanted to hug him or hit him he didn't know. Instead, he dropped to his knees—ignoring the sharp pain as they cracked against the hard floor—and settled for placing a shaking hand on Eallair's chest to reassure himself that Eallair was actually breathing.
"I thought…I thought you were going to die," Aidan said, his voice trembling slightly.
Eallair opened one eye and tried for a grin he didn't have quite enough energy to pull off.
"Nev—" He coughed. "Never even came close." He tried to push himself upright, but his arms couldn't lift his weight and he fell back down. "Although, I'm probably gonna be passin’ out soon, so we should be getting’ to your carriage quick like. 'Less you feel like tryin' to carry me."
Aidan stared in disbelief. How could he be so calm? He almost died.
And I was going to let him.
Aidan shuddered. The shame burned deep in his stomach.
"Hey," Eallair said, opening his eyes. His voice was soft and concerned and like a punch to Aidan's gut. "I'm fine. I'm not gonna be dyin’ today, so don't you worry about what might have happened, okay?"
Aidan couldn't believe it. Eallair was comforting him. Aidan hadn't even tried to save him, had left him to die because he was too scared to even try anything and Eallair was comforting him.
Aidan didn't deserve it.
With an effort, he tore his eyes away from Eallair's.
"We…" His voice was scratchy and harsh, so he cleared his throat. "We should get out of here," he said quietly.
"Aye." Eallair sounded even more exhausted than before, and that just made Aidan feel worse. "Help me up."
With Aidan's help, he managed to sit up. Then, putting his arm around Aidan's shoulder and using his other hand to push off a table, they got him standing. He leaned heavily on Aidan as they walked over to the nearest window. Eallair collapsed into a chair as Aidan picked up another one and threw it thr
ough the window, shattering it. He quickly went around the food court, pulling the cheap tablecloths off of every table that had them and threw them over the broken glass. Hopefully, that would be enough to keep him from slicing his bare feet on the broken glass.
"Please tell me your carriage ain't parked out front again," Eallair said as Aidan helped him out of the chair.
"No," Aidan said, subdued. He gingerly stepped across the tablecloths as they exited the building. "I'm two blocks away."
"Good," he said, his voice slurring more with every word. "Not sure 'm up ta fightin' off cops. 'Less they wanna hav' a sleep-off. I could win that."
Aidan turned them towards the direction of his carriage without saying anything. Every step they took Eallair seemed to lean on Aidan even more, and it wasn't long before Aidan was struggling to hold him up. He never uttered so much as a single grunt of complaint though. It wasn't nearly enough, but it was all Aidan could do to make up for his uselessness.
"Thank you, Aidan," Eallair said. "Never woulda got outta there withou' ya."
You wouldn't need to if it wasn't for me.
But he still didn't say anything. He just shouldered more of Eallair's quickly increasing weight and silently trudged to his carriage.
◆◆◆
Aidan was more than a little surprised they made it out of the city without incident, but just like yesterday, every cop carriage that went screaming by never even slowed. It was also pure luck Eallair had managed to mumble out directions to a hotel thirty minutes outside the city limits before passing out in the passenger seat, because Aidan hadn't even thought to ask where they should go. All he wanted to do was get Eallair out of danger as fast as possible. It was just one more indication of how little use he was.
At least he had a carriage. It was a second-rate, old model wizard's carriage, but as Aidan drove out of the city, he was amazed Eallair had managed without even that. How did he get to the city from his hotel? Did he hitchhike? Aidan didn't think it was likely. Who in their right mind would stop and pick up a scruffy man with horribly unfashionable hair and a dirty, burnt jacket? It was much more likely he'd had to walk the whole way.