Time Academy

by Kelly N. Jane

  “Georgia Anne, please go find Sabra and check on her.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You can, please go,” I whined.

  This was past pretending to be brave. No one who stood against these two would come out of the battle intact.

  “No, you don’t understand. I can’t,” she said with a grumble.

  I snapped my attention to her and found that she had black, misty ropes wrapped around her from her shoulders to her knees. They swirled and twisted like a nest of vipers.

  “Leave her alone. She has nothing to do with this,” I said, facing Donovan again.

  “I don’t think you do, either,” Georgia Anne called as she tried to wriggle out of her bindings.

  “Oh, but you do. That’s the best part—”

  Before Donovan could continue, a searing heat blasted through the room.

  Donovan flew back into Carlos, and I ducked, covering my head with my arms.

  When the initial heat subsided to a less blistering level, I peeked at Georgia Anne. Jumping to my feet, I shuffled backward.

  Standing where she’d been was a dragon.

  Beautiful, red scales flashed with fire as she moved. Long, feather-like spikes protruded from her head like they were floating in water, but the tips ended in flame. Standing tall on her hind legs, she stretched her wings until they smashed into the walls, causing a cascade of stone and dust. The heat level rose in the room again.

  I backed further away, and one of Georgia Anne’s large eyes focused on me. She winked, and her giant lips, hiding six-inch-long, razor-sharp teeth, pulled up into what could only be a grin.

  My friend may have shifted into one of the most powerful beasts possible, but she was still herself.

  Instantly, my shoulders relaxed, and I turned my attention to the two males across the room. Maybe we did have a chance to stop them.

  Donovan had already made it to his feet, and Carlos was right next to him. Without warning, Carlos flung his palm forward, and a ball of intense white light hurtled toward Georgia Anne. It sizzled as it flew, causing the hair on my arms to rise. It appeared as if he’d harnessed lightning somehow.

  The ball hit Georgia Anne on her foreleg, and she roared, then blew a stream of fire at the demon. He quickly raised an invisible shield, which absorbed the blast as both he and Donovan ducked behind it. When Georgia Anne cut off the fire, Carlos raised his hand to throw another lightning ball at her, but Donovan grabbed his arm.

  “Leave that beast and finish the job,” he growled.

  “It’ll get done,” Carlos said, and jerked his arm away. Charging toward Georgia Anne, he ignored Donovan’s reprimand.

  “That leaves you and me, I guess,” I called to Donovan.

  I had no doubt that a dragon could handle herself against a mage, regardless of how powerful the boy might be . . . though he wasn’t actually a boy. A flare of concern for Georgia Anne screamed through me, but I didn’t have time to indulge it, as Donovan turned to face me.

  My instincts had been right since the beginning—Donovan couldn’t be trusted. But he was far worse than I’d originally thought, and I’d mistakenly helped him. Blinding myself to reality because of my own selfish plans. He was a spy for the enemy, and a Master Illuminator.

  How could that happen? How had he fooled Danú and Aurora so completely? The entire council for that matter . . .

  He worked himself away from Carlos, and I didn’t have anywhere to go. If I moved away from him, I’d get closer to where Georgia Anne battled Carlos in the middle of the small, cramped quarters. If I shifted the other way, I was closer to Donovan.

  He was the lesser of two evils, so I scooted along the wall to my left as he rounded the brazier, leaving no barrier between us.

  There was a large crash, and bricks came flying through the air. One hit me in the shoulder, and another struck my back as I twisted away. I hid my face and caught a glimpse of Donovan doing the same.

  When the stones settled, dust swirled in the breeze that rushed through the room. Across from where Georgia Anne had been was a large, gaping hole in the outside wall. Though we were down several floors, the palace was wedged into the side of the mountain, so the room was now open to a sheer drop-off.

  I saw Georgia Anne take to the air as Carlos launched more white balls of energy. I brushed myself off, feeling better about her chances now that she was able to fly out of his way.

  Then Carlos sprouted a set of jet black wings, pointed, sharp, and covered in thick, leather-like skin. He dove through the broken wall, and chased after the flaming dragon.

  Donovan screamed out an angry growl as he noticed that the table on the far wall, closest to where Georgia Anne had shifted, was broken into pieces. Shards of clay pots, glass, herbs, and liquids littered the floor.

  A sarcastic chuckle escaped from me at his dire response. “Having troubles?” I sneered.

  “This is only a setback.” He rushed over and began to salvage what supplies he could.

  I didn’t know what they were trying to achieve but I was glad for the delay in their plans. Hopefully, it would buy me some time to gather more information about what Donovan wanted.

  “Danú will know about you know,” I yelled. “Especially now that she can see you for what you really are.”

  “Oh, I’m sure she will. Though she’s always seen me in my proper form. That human glamour was just for you and your young friend, my dear. The time for Danú to find out is now, anyway. She needs to know my terms.”

  “And what would those be?”

  Whatever he was after, I needed to stop him. I was confident that Danú wouldn’t give in to him, and neither would I.

  “That would be just a little too easy, don’t you think?” Donovan stood and swiveled in my direction. “What, did you think I would just lay out my plans to you? Actually, I probably could. You can’t stop me.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure about that, I stopped your man before.”

  Gus and I had fought another demon in New York, one who’d been talking to Donovan. How could I have been so stupid to trust him, when every instinct I’d had warned me right from the beginning?

  “You’re a smart girl, Niasa, but I’ve been around a lot longer than you. It’s time for the Shadow King to rule, and I intend to make it happen. I can promise you that by sundown tomorrow, humanity will no longer have a choice but to accept his leadership.”

  He had to be stopped.

  With Georgia Anne’s massive dragon body out of the room, I managed to move closer to the door that would take me up the stairs. Whatever Donovan wanted, the supplies he needed were in this room; if I could draw him away, have him follow me, then Georgia Anne could come back and destroy everything. Or I could come back later. Either way, I wanted to get him away from whatever he and Carlos had been working on.

  One more step, and I’d be to the stairwell. I glanced toward it.

  That was my mistake.

  In the split second I took my eyes off Donovan, he managed to charge forward and knock me to the ground. We rolled, and I swung my elbow into his jaw. His knee went into my gut, and I choked as I tried to catch a breath. I stretched my wings high above my back, keeping them off the floor and knocking Donovan away from me.

  I could run for the opening and soar out over the mountains, like Georgia Anne had done. Donovan wouldn’t be able to chase me, but I also might get tangled in the middle of the fight that was going on out there. Besides, Donovan had fooled me for the last time. He needed to die.

  “I should thank you,” Donovan said.

  I threw a brick at him. He dodged it with a laugh, then took another step closer to me.

  “I’ve been searching for that medallion for years. I thought it was lost forever. When your mother stole it from me, I thought she’d died and taken the child with her. Finally, Odin’s hubris has led to his downfall. He shouldn’t have let you travel among the humans carrying such a precious artifact.”

  “My mother stole the medalli
on from you?” Chills washed over me that had nothing to do with the wind blowing in.

  Donovan raised his brows as a question flashed across his face. Then he broke into a laugh that raised the little hairs on my neck.

  “He didn’t tell you!” He laughed again, seeming to find his own joke funny. “Do you know how your mother got it?”

  I didn’t, but I wasn’t going to admit that to him. All I knew was that she’d stolen the medallion and gone into labor with it in her hand. Odin had saved her by taking her to Valhalla and made her a Valkyrie just as I was born.

  Even though he’d only told me part of the story, and allowed me to believe my mother had died, I trusted him more than the creature in front of me. He’d done it to protect me because he loved me. He loved my mother, too. I knew it in that moment more than I’d ever known it in my life. Whatever information Donovan might have, he only wanted me to know in order to cause pain.

  “Obviously you don’t.” He leaned toward me with a glint in his eye. “She stole it from our bedroom.”

  I shook my head. I didn’t understand what he was trying to say, but my mother, my sweet, caring Lydia, would never have been in Donovan’s bedroom. I may not have known her as well as I could have, but I believed she’d have more sense than that.

  “You see, I’d tried everything. I’d studied alchemy for years, and according to everything I’d done, the medallion should have worked. Then I discovered what was missing. The only way the medallion would open a pathway to the human realm was to mix human blood with that of the fae who would do the traveling. And in such delicate procedures, it’s better to have a willing donor, so as not to taint the blood with fear.”

  The room started to wobble in my periphery. I wanted to run. I needed to stay.

  “I met your mother in the market. She was a formidable businesswoman. She’d challenged the rule against women doing business with men, and gained respect for it.” Donovan paused with a smile on his face as if he was lost in a memory. “Actually, she was quite enjoyable. I might’ve even been able to love her, had that been necessary. She fell in love with me, however, and it blinded her to what I was really after. Her strength made her the perfect human candidate.

  “Apparently, however, her strength only went so far as fighting for her right to own a business—she couldn’t bear the disgrace of sharing my tent as an unmarried woman. It was an easy fix, though. I made her my wife.” A knowing grin crossed Donovan’s face as he waited for me to process what he’d said.

  I didn’t want to believe it. I couldn’t believe that my mother had fallen for his schemes.

  I gasped.

  He isn’t saying . . . ? No, he can’t be . . .

  Donovan let out another laugh. “I see you’re finally putting the pieces together, Daughter.”

  30

  The revelation stunned me as I stood motionless.

  How can this be?

  All my life, I’d thought my mother had made bad choices, and I had followed in her footsteps. That I was incapable of obeying rules because I was so much like her. I’d believed she’d betrayed Odin, I’d believed I was traitor spawn.

  On that count, it turned out I was right. But it hadn’t come from my mother.

  The room spun, and my heart cracked with a million little lines. One more nudge, and it would shatter.

  If Donovan is truly my father, how can I ever hope to be anything good?

  Odin had told me I’d find out more about my father in Breasal, but I hadn’t cared. Now more than ever, I wished I never knew.

  “You look stunned. You really need to be more observant, Niasa. Have you never noticed our resemblance? At least, I believe you look more like me than your mother. Though you have her tenacity. I admire that.”

  “Don’t speak about my mother!” I screamed. “She is kind, and you know nothing about her.”

  I was about two heartbeats away from having a full-blown meltdown.

  Donovan threw his head back and roared with laughter. He settled his gaze on mine. “I thought your mother was dead . . . Odin was wise enough in that. The entire time I searched for the medallion, I never suspected that Lydia had lived, or that our child had survived. It was thought to be impossible, you know. To conceive a child between a fae and a human. We proved them wrong, though, didn’t we?” He smirked at me and leaned back, almost seeming to relax.

  Foolish mistake. “If you think you can endear yourself to me, you are sadly mistaken.”

  “I don’t need to be endeared. But I did need to distract you.”

  I felt a vibration in the air, and spun around just in time to dodge the energy ball Carlos aimed at me. He’d snuck down the stairs behind me.

  Where is Georgia Anne?

  I didn’t have too much time to think, as Carlos hurled another sizzling orb.

  Donovan returned to his frantic effort of rescuing the scattered supplies.

  “Leave her to me. Come finish your work here,” he called to Carlos.

  “She’s not as hard to fight as the other one was. Let me finish this, and then I’ll be right there,” Carlos said with a smirk.

  He raised his hand, and I prepared to run. Though I wasn’t sure to where. Bricks and rubble littered the floor, and Donovan stood too close to the opening in the wall, while Carlos blocked the stairs. I did the best thing I could think of and went for the high ground.

  I flapped my wings, hovering just off the floor.

  “That’s not going to help you,” Carlos taunted.

  I glared.

  His fingers flicked toward me. Nothing happened, that I could see, and I smirked.

  “I think you miss—”

  Pressure shoved all the air from my lungs. I crashed backward into the wall. There was no time to twist out of the way.

  My wings hit first. One crumpled like a paper coffee cup as it hit the stone wall. The other popped in several places and hung limp. I bounced to the ground against the uneven floor where a shard of pottery jammed into my knee.

  Barely catching myself on one hand, I struggled to breathe. A thin tendril of black mist slithered into view, curling up and caressing my cheek. I snapped my face back, but it stayed with me.

  I’d failed. Tears spilled over my cheeks. Carlos was stronger than me, Donovan had used me, and I’d made it easy for him. Now everyone would suffer because I’d been so consumed with how I would change Valhalla. I never paid attention to how it affected anyone else. Because of that, I’d allowed the opportunity for horrible danger to befall all the realms.

  An ear-splitting scream rattled the stone walls. More bricks, loosened from where the wall had given way before, fell away to reveal Georgia Anne’s dragon form hovering, her stare aimed directly at Carlos.

  “Just die, already,” he grumbled, and slammed his hands out toward her.

  Electrical energy crackled in the air. The smell of sulfur burned my nose. Black lightning poured from Carlos and collided with Georgia Anne. Sparks spewed into the air like embers from a hundred fires.

  I saw a charred patch grow on the dragon’s midsection just before she tumbled backward, somersaulting through the skies and out of sight.

  That was the last straw.

  My vision blurred with hate, and I charged at Carlos, ignoring the shooting pain ripping through my back from the weight of my limp wings. I caught him in the side and tackled him to the ground. He still sizzled with energy, and it jolted into my arms. Pain no longer mattered, it all blended together. Every bit of anger I had at myself, at Donovan, at Odin, at everyone, I unleashed on Carlos.

  The demon sputtered and stalled as I assaulted him.

  My fist cracked against his jaw. I slammed my elbow down, into his throat. Throwing punch after punch, I couldn’t stop.

  Eventually, fatigue gripped my arms. Every swing took more effort.

  Reason seeped back into my consciousness.

  Blood didn’t ooze from his wounds. Instead, some tar-like substance began to stick to my skin. I flung my hand to ri
d myself of it, but it didn’t budge.

  Carlos smiled, unaffected and whole. None of my efforts had left a mark.

  My breath locked in my chest. Stumbling backward, I shook my head in disbelief. Carlos rose to his feet, and my skin prickled with warning.

  “Leave her and come finish this!” Donovan yelled. “The supplies are ready.”

  I watched as indecision crossed Carlos’s face. His desire to end me was obvious.

  I must not be important to their overall plans.

  He spun on his heels. This time, I didn’t wait. I yanked the last reserves of my energy from deep within and bolted for the stairs. They may not be after me at the moment, but I doubted they’d leave me alive to inform anyone else of what they’d done.

  I’d just rounded the last turn of the circular stairwell when I heard shouts behind me. My legs burned. My chest ached. My wings screamed in agony with each jostle. The curls that had been pulled free stuck in the corners of my mouth.

  Faster. Harder.

  I raced through the corridor and skidded around the corner that would take me outside.

  Pounding footfalls echoed on the stone behind me. Daylight beckoned to me from the end of the hall. The courtyard was in view.

  Something caught my foot, and I launched forward through the air, careening to a stop on the cobblestones.

  I’d made it outside, but I’d go no further.

  31

  A shadow slid over me. I cracked one eye open, but couldn’t recognize the features of which of the traitors blocked the light.

  “Your presence is still required, I’m afraid,” Donovan cooed.

  I coughed and spit onto the ground. A breath in, a breath out.

  I had to focus. Whatever happened, I wasn’t going anywhere with this man. That meant I needed to keep out of his reach, and in my prone position, that would be impossible.

  Forcing myself to my hands and knees, cuts and bruises grinding against the stones, I lurched forward. Stumbling, I ran bent over with arms out, trying to avoid landing on my face. No footsteps followed me.