by Holly Hook
“I guess you won,” I said. I closed the door to shut out everything else. The guy swimming in the distance. The low music. Aunt Primrose complaining about the coffee droplets left on the counter and blaming Nora for it. “So this is your safe house.”
“We're not here often. We only come here when they think Thoreau might find the Underground. Aunt Primrose told me the Elders told everyone to leave the Underground until they give the all clear to return. She thinks it'll just be a few days.”
“But Leon's body went missing and everyone noticed. Did you tell her about what Elsina saw? It's kind of major. People can't go back there.”
“She won't care. Seer Mages are laughed at because their visions are so vague. Look at Nostradamus. He was a Seer Mage and no one could figure out what half his visions even meant.”
“That's nice.”
“Don't worry. I didn't tell her what we're doing. She demanded to know, but I didn't say a word.”
“We'll make up a story.”
Just then, the door burst open and Aunt Primrose burst in with a much younger girl right behind her. “Watch your brother,” she ordered the girl. “The Elders will be here in a few minutes to deliver news. Stay out of sight.”
Xavier shot me a look and the girl shuffled forward, timid and scared. She looked just like a female version of Xavier with brown hair that was very long. It hung down almost to her butt. Her blue eyes had the same purple flecks around the irises as Xavier's and she wore a magenta dress that covered all but her ankles and her arms. Her arms were bare of marks. She hadn't chosen a battle partner yet. She must be thirteen or so. In a few years, she would be faced with the same test as Xavier, with Primrose overseeing it.
The girl stood there as Primrose closed the door and ordered the three of us not to exit while the Elder War Mages were here. It was only when the door was closed did the girl dare lunge forward and hug Xavier.
“What happened to you?” she asked.
“My battle partner stabbed me.”
“You told me to,” I said.
“I was getting to that part,” Xavier said. “It was get stabbed or go to Thoreau.”
“I'd pick getting stabbed,” the girl said.
“This is Liliana,” Xavier said. “My sister. We're the only two people here who aren't stuffed-up socialites.”
“Don't say that about Aunt Primrose,” she said, slapping him on the arm.
“She's stuffed-up. You know it,” Xavier said. “She's not Mom or Dad.”
“Who else do we have?” Liliana asked. “We can't be getting her mad at us.”
Xavier poked her. “Me. Alyssa. Trust me. Alyssa's not as scary as she looks unless you make her mad like the guy did at Cumberland Public Library. Don't ever go there. The owner gets money from Thoreau all the time.”
The memory of that overtook everything else for a second. I reeled from the flashback and stood against the wall. Yes. There were coffee stains on the table now. I focused on those, trying to cast the image away along with the burrito-and-punch taste.
I grabbed the coffee and took it to Xavier. “You need this,” I said.
He gulped it down, steam and all. The maple smell mixed in with his wood smoke scent. His sister had that same smell, I noticed, along with some kind of fancy fish dinner. I wasn't sure what to think of her yet. Aunt Primrose and the Elder War Mages reminded me of Mom's side of my own family, touting their distant nobility and their coat of arms. I understood how that felt to be stuck with people like that...well, sort of. No one on Mom's side had spoken to me in years. Xavier had to live with his horrible relatives, knowing he was rejected. It was no wonder he spent so much time with people like Elsina. I felt bad for even being suspicious of him being all pompous in the first place.
It was then that there was a loud knock on the front door outside.
The Elders had arrived.
I could smell them as Primrose let them in. She was giving off adrenaline. “Have you come to your decision?” she asked.
“We will be deliberating on that tomorrow,” an old man told her. “You are quite young to be taking a position of an Elder War Mage, but we are still considering it. Right now, we are discussing your father's missing body.”
“Sit down,” Primrose offered, the anger and hurt in her voice.
Xavier was snickering on the couch. He even managed to sit up a little. He was already feeling better and bouncing back fast. “I hope she doesn't get it,” he said. “I'd rather have someone not in the family as the head Mage. At least they won't know about this whole mess.”
“At least they're talking about what they need to talk about,” I said.
“For now, Elder War Mage Alhuru will be presiding over Cumberland's Underground,” the old man said. “We will make official deliberations later.”
“But I am Leon's only remaining daughter,” Primrose protested. She was sitting at the head of the room, closest to the archway that led to the kitchen. I could sense her voice from there.
“You are not certain of that,” the old man said. “Zeena is still missing. It is not known for sure that she and her husband are dead.”
“And so is Zeena's battle partner,” Primrose said. “He hasn't shown up since she went missing. He died with the rest of them.”
Next to me, Liliana clenched her fists and a bit of magenta light exploded around them.
“No,” whispered Xavier. “Just be happy that it doesn't sound like they're going to give it to her.”
“She doesn't care that Mom's dead,” Liliana said.
“She's not dead. Just missing,” Xavier told her. He sat up and reached for her. The light died around Liliana's hands. “She and Dad are just sleeping. We have to figure out a way to get them out of the Infernal Dimension. That's all.”
He made it sound like breaking into Thoreau's home court was no big deal. Liliana wasn't swayed. “Nobody ever goes there and comes back,” she said, ignoring Xavier's offer of a hug. “Only demons can open the portals.”
“Or me,” I muttered to myself. I wasn't supposed to just open a portal. I was supposed to merge two worlds whenever all magical things inside of me woke up. If I could do that when everything was awakened, I could open a portal, couldn't I? It was a crazy thought but Dad was in there along with all the other missing people Thoreau was using as bargaining chips.
He would be there at the Dark Council. They might even have a portal there.
“Don't think like that,” Xavier told me. He held his sister in his arms. “You don't want to become whatever Thoreau wants. It won't be good for you. Or me, or anyone else.”
“But our parents are still trapped.”
“We have to bring back Allunna. Remember?”
“You're what?” Liliana asked. It was clear Xavier hadn't shared everything with his sister.
Outside, the Elders finished getting seated. “Now that we are all seated,” the old man said, “do you have any coffee?”
I rolled my eyes. “Really?”
Primrose yelled for Nora and the Elders all started giving orders for different flavors. Black, said one. Milk and cream, said another. A mixture of vanilla and hazelnut, said a third. I hoped they paid their maid well.
“I told you their egos are big,” Xavier said. “They think they're the center of the Abnormal world. I wish they'd get on with it. By the way, I think my shoulder is healing. It feels a lot better. You're affecting me in another way, Alyssa.”
“I am?”
I knew that by being Bound to Xavier, I was extending his life, so the healing made sense.
“You are,” he said, smiling. He patted his shoulder with no grimace. “I think I'm healing quicker. I feel all warm and tingly.”
“Ew,” Liliana said, backing away from him.
“Now that we are settled,” the old man said from outside, “we must discuss the matter of Leon's missing body in more detail.”
The Elders wasted a lot of time recounting the fact that Leon's body had vanished. They wen
t over every detail again and again. The whole thing had the air of a courtroom. I thought they had already gone over this, but maybe some of them had memory issues and they needed to do it again. Either way, it was going slowly.
“It is known,” the old man finished, “that Thoreau must employ some Dark Mages. He is the most likely one to have taken the body.”
“It is also known that he is a probable member of the ancient Dark Council,” a woman said.
“He must be.”
“He is the oldest known demon in this world.”
“Older exist, but they are thought to inhabit the Infernal Dimension.”
“We are assuming much by saying the Dark Council still exist or ever existed,” the old man said. “I am skeptical. The only evidence we have are some ancient Roman texts that have been translated multiple times. Here is what I believe to be the case. Thoreau knew that, by stealing the body, he would cause the citizens of the Underground to fear the worst and flee and they have. They have gone to the surface, where there are no wards to protect them.”
“Us,” Xavier corrected. The three of us remained still, catching every word.
“Even now, Abnormals with nowhere to hide are being picked off by the ATC,” the old man continued. “Thoreau is an expert at inciting fear in both Normals and Abnormals.”
I didn't like the way this meeting was going.
“Is there a way to retrieve the body?” a woman asked. “We must convince those who have fled that they will be safe in the Underground.”
“We do not know where the body is.”
“I say we should spread the word that it is safer in the Underground.”
“I agree.”
Xavier swore. “This is exactly what Elsina thought would happen.”
“But what if the Dark Council really does exist?” a woman asked. “And they do have the body?”
“Thoreau does not know where the Underground is. Otherwise, he would have invaded by now,” the old man said. “Even if he extracts Leon's energy, he needs to know where to direct it and he would need to present in some way. Our wards have indicated that he has never crossed into the Underground.”
“But Leon's battle partner knew about us.”
“Point taken, but she is dead if Leon is dead.” The old man wasn't backing down.
“She had time to tell Thoreau.”
“He would still have to be present,” the old man said. “Our wards are extensive and surround the Underground on all sides. Dark Mages and demons are unable to Transpose like we do. Here is the plan. We will remain in Cumberland's Underground for the next few weeks. If Thoreau tries to invade, we will be able to hold him back long enough for the citizens to escape.”
The Elders all went into argument. I couldn't take it anymore.
“Alyssa, don't,” Xavier warned me.
I shoved the door open on the meeting. Silence fell. The same group of Elders from the funeral sat around on the expensive couches in their magenta robes and slowly, every gaze turned to me.
“You can't send people back into the Underground,” I said. “I know the truth. There is a Dark Council. They have Leon's body because Allunna told us so. You have to go there if you're going to fight Thoreau and save everyone from being vaporized by Leon's magic.”
Tension filled the room and I knew I'd made a huge mistake. The old man who must have been speaking rose from his chair and faced me with a great anger I had only seen in Leon . “You do not interrupt an Elder meeting,” he said. “Battle partners and...children...are not allowed to speak here.”
Aunt Primrose rose from her chair. The color drained from her face. We had embarrassed her. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she said, trying to salvage the situation. “This will not happen again. My nephew was injured in a fight earlier and he had the audacity to bring his battle partner here.”
The old man advanced on me and the room took on a dangerous electrical sensation. I had no weapon and stabbing an Elder War Mage would be a terrible idea.
“We need to leave,” Xavier told me, taking my arm.
I agreed. I had screwed up royally.
“Come on,” Liliana said, taking my other arm. They were both in agreement here.
I turned and followed Xavier and Liliana out the door, letting them pull me away just as a small flash of magenta light exploded with heat. I wasn't sure if the heat from war magic could harm me or not—it was different than fire—but I was not going to stick around and find out.
We squeezed against each other trying to bolt out of the front door. We burst into the hall. Xavier closed it as the door buckled with more war magic. “Run,” he told us, leaning against the door.
We didn't bother with the elevator. The three of us tore down the stairs. None of us spoke until we had made it outside of the apartment building. Xavier panted and Liliana leaned against a pillar. A single car rolled past. It was late. Very late.
Then Xavier glared at me. “Why did you do that?”
“Because they're going to get everyone killed,” I yelled back.
“You can't interrupt the ego masters,” he said. “I'd love to, but you can't. It never ends well for anyone. That's one safe house I can never return to now. If Aunt Primrose sees me again she might literally kill me.”
“I hope that isn't, like, literal. And I interrupted, not you.” Horrible guilt boiled up inside me, threatening to spill over. What had I done? Xavier's life was terrible enough.
“Maybe, but Aunt Primrose will make my life and Liliana's life more of a hell than it already is. We can scratch going back there until the Elders are long gone. As in, a few weeks gone.”
“Xavier,” Liliana said. “What is with you? Things are already bad enough with Leon's body gone and Thoreau about to kill us all.”
“Don't do that. Ever.” Xavier turned on her. “You don't want to deal with the crap that I've...well, you don't want to deal with that crap.”
“Wait,” I said. “Liliana knows about all of this? When did you tell her?”
“When you were guiding Janine and her mother out of the Underground,” Xavier said. “We talked. I do tell my sister what's going on.” He was still half-yelling.
I checked to make sure no one was coming out of the apartment building. “Xavier. Calm down,” I said. “If we followed the rules all the time we'd never get anything done. We still need to find a way to get to those ruins.”
“What ruins?” Liliana asked. She hadn't been with us during our talk with Allunna. Of course she wouldn't know that part.
Police sirens sounded in the distance. There had been a lot of them lately. “Do you think the Elders are right about the authorities picking off all the Abnormals who had to come to the surface?” I asked.
Xavier let out a breath and we walked away from the apartment building. At least Xavier was calming down. “It sounds like it,” he said. “I've heard plenty of sirens around the city, but they seem to be really bad tonight. Maybe we should investigate.”
“I'm not going against the police,” I said. “I don't have a weapon. It's the ATC people I want to go after.”
“I'm sorry, but your sword is gone,” Xavier said. “The cops would have taken it after they got to that rooftop. We cannot return to the scene of the crime.”
“I know that,” I said. “But I'm going to need a weapon. That's how I fight. I don't know if I can just throw fireballs the way you can.”
“I'm not sure about that,” Xavier said. “We have a bond, but it's not a strong one.”
“We can't make it strong,” I said.
“I know.”
He sounded so disappointed that I couldn't help but rethink everything I thought I knew about him still pining for the pixie girl. I had no time to dwell on that. Dad was still missing and so were Xavier's parents. Thoreau could do something horrible to them at any time. It was my hope that he still needed them as bargaining chips. He would have to leave them whole for that.
I would face him again. At the ruins or here in
Cumberland, I would meet Thoreau again.
“Is there a novelty shop around here that sells swords?” I asked.
“Those are display swords,” Xavier said. “They're not sharpened the way they should be. Wall hangers are different than the real thing. We're going to have a hard time finding any good ones around here. The same goes for finding a portal. Unless...no. We don't want to go there.”
“Where?” Liliana asked.
“To The Pit,” Xavier said.
“The Pit?” I asked. “You mean, like the Infernal Dimension?” I'd heard some people refer to the place as The Pit.
“It's a nightclub,” Xavier said. “I've never been there, but some pretty bad Abnormals hang out at the place. It's not something we could walk into and count on coming back out alive. The woman who owns the place is a half-demon by the name of Beatrix. She also heads the Smurch crime family.”
“So she could sell us some weapons,” I said. “Whose side is she on?”
“No one's,” Xavier said. “Most demons serve themselves. Even half demons are that way. We could buy weapons from her, but there's a problem. She might not want to deal with us. And there's another issue. A War Mage killed her father who was the demon in her family, so I'm sure she doesn't have a liking for us.”
“That might be a problem,” I said. We crossed an intersection. The light on the horizon was getting pink. It was almost dawn. “There must be an easier way to get weapons.”
“There are plenty of better ways. We could ask Thorne. But a portal is another story. Your instructor doesn't have one of those lying around. There's a rumor that Beatrix does.”
“So we have to talk to her to get to it,” I said. “Or fight to it.”
Xavier paused at the intersection of the next street. “We need to get inside,” he said. “The sun's coming up. Thorne's place might be as good as any. Where's Janine and her mother hiding?”
“They went to stay with her cousin,” I said, a grin coming over my face. “He's the one who's actually a werewolf and Janine's mother doesn't know.”
“We might need Janine again,” Xavier said, “if we make Thorne mad by telling him what we plan on doing.”