by Dyan Chick
Finally, I saw the edge of a building that looked familiar. Bars on the windows, cracked sidewalk, we were at Terra's.
Tristan turned into another alleyway, and I followed him behind a dumpster. My nose wrinkled at the smell of what I hoped was normal garbage and not the human waste it resembled. The three of us stood silently, backs against the brick wall, waiting. I did my best to ignore the smell.
Just as my stomach was starting to lose the battle of keeping my last meal inside of me, a loud popping noise echoed through the night, followed by a series of screams and the sound of people running. The hair on my arms stood on end. It had to be the distraction.
Tristan snapped his fingers and pointed to Jasper, then me. Jasper moved behind me and gave me a nudge when Tristan took off at a run. After a brief hesitation to get my body to react despite the fear that had risen inside of me, I followed as fast as I could.
In a matter of seconds, we were at the door I hadn't noticed before. Tristan pulled the door open, and I followed him. Once we were in, Jasper closed the door behind us. I looked up to see cement stairs. We were in a stairwell.
Tristan stepped aside, and Jasper took his place in front. He pointed straight up, then took off at a run.
Inhaling, I filled my lungs with fresh air, then followed. After three flights, my chest was burning. The thin Denver air was making this more difficult than it should be. After a few more flights, we reached the top and stopped outside a door. I was the only one in our party that was breathing heavily. If we survived this, I was going to have to ask Tristan if there were any Dark Fae secrets to being a better runner. And I was buying a treadmill.
Jasper moved away from the door, and stood in front of me, shielding me from it while Tristan opened it a crack. Seemingly happy with what he saw, he pulled the door the rest of the way open and inclined his head for us to go through.
I followed Jasper into the hallway. It was similar to the one I had stayed in, though I wasn't sure if it was the same one. For all I knew, Terra had lots of floors of rooms with gold numbers on the door.
Jasper led us down the hall, then stopped in front of a narrow door that looked like a storage closet. When he opened the door, I was surprised to see a whole bunch of screens showing videos. My mouth dropped open. Was somebody recording the room when I was in there?
My upper lip curled in disgust as I recalled the night I'd spent sleeping naked. Who had seen me that night? Shaking the thought from my mind, I squinted at the screens. The picture wasn't great, and they were pretty small, but one of them caught my eye, and I jumped up, pushing my way past Jasper to get a closer look. There, on one of the small television screens was a blonde head of hair on a pillow. I couldn't make out anything else because the owner of the head was sleeping, but there was a good chance that head belonged to Ryder.
I pointed to the screen, then turned to my companions and smiled at them. They nodded in agreement, understanding Then, I searched the screens again. This time, I saw a figure that was pacing the floor of one of the rooms. It didn't take long to recognize the form as Gia. I pointed to her screen and saw Tristan tense up.
"You and Jasper go get Ryder. I'll get the Sayge. We'll meet at the stairs," Tristan said.
I stared at him, unblinking for a moment. "We're splitting up?"
"It's smarter that way," Jasper said.
"You have to trust me a little bit," Tristan said.
He wasn't giving me much of a choice. Reluctantly, I nodded. "Fine."
Jasper traced his fingers over the screens, counting quietly as he did, then he turned to us. "Room 512 for Ryder. 572 for Gia."
Tristan didn't wait for any other instruction. He took off down the hall.
"Come on," Jasper said, walking out of the little closet. I followed him down the hall in the opposite direction from Tristan and Gia.
Chapter 29
The numbers on the doors were growing smaller as we walked and I kept my eyes glued to them until we reached the door with the number 512 written on it.
Hand on the doorknob, I turned to look at Jasper. He gave me a nod. With a deep breath, I opened the door.
The room looked identical to the one that I had stayed in when I was here. A large bed protruded from the center of the wall, and an arched doorway led to the bathroom. The curtains were drawn, and the only light was coming from a small lamp on a table next to the bed.
When I crossed the threshold, the floor creaked under my step, and the figure that had appeared to be sleeping in the bed shot up and turned to look at me. I froze, mid-step and covered my heart with my hands as I let out a cry of relief.
Ryder rubbed his eyes then a smile filled his face. "Ara?"
I ran to him and threw my arms around him. After squeezing him as tight as I could, I pulled away and looked him over. "Are you okay? Did she do anything to you?"
"Me?" He looked confused. "I've been so worried about you. Terra told me how you were on the run from that crazy circus and how they tried to kill you. She said she was a friend of your birth mother and was trying to keep you safe. She told me everything."
I blinked a few times and tried to decide how best to explain this to him. He hadn't seen what I'd seen. "Ry, that's not exactly what happened."
"Wait, who's this?" Ryder pointed to Jasper.
"He's a friend, here to help me get you out of here. Listen, I'll explain it all to you, I promise, but right now we have to get away from Terra. She's not what you think she is."
Ryder started to move, then stopped, sitting on the edge of the bed. "She said they'd brainwashed you."
"Do I look brainwashed?" I said.
"How would you know if you were brainwashed?" Ryder said.
Then, in a moment faster than I've ever seen from my brother, he bolted from the bed and slammed his palm against a red button on the wall above the table. An alarm sounded, sending a rush of pain through my whole body. I'd never felt anything like it. It was as if the noise had somehow gotten inside of my bones and was trying to force its way out of me. I screamed in pain, the noise coming from me completely masked by the sound of the alarm.
Jasper leaned into me and shouted in my ear. "Do something."
"What am I supposed to do?" I yelled, tears streamed down my face. Everything hurt. How could I even think through this?
Ryder had collapsed to his knees on the floor in front of the bed, hands over his ears. I moved over to him and guided him to his feet.
"What's happening?" he yelled.
"Come with us," I said.
He shook his head.
Anger surged through me. I wasn't going to get this close and lose my brother because Terra had managed to convince him he shouldn't go with me. I wondered if she'd used magic against him. Shaking the ringing from my ears, I tried to send away the pain. She wasn't the only one who had magic.
Struggling to summon the power within over the searing pain in my bones, I thought about sleep. The kind of nap where you'd sleep through a fire alarm or not notice when your roommate was drawing things on your face. A rush of something I didn't recognize flowed through me and I went with it, placing my hands on top of Ryder's head. As I focused my energy on sending him to slumberland, his body grew limp.
When I removed my hands from him, his eyes were closed and he was sound asleep. I turned to Jasper but words weren't needed, he moved over to Ryder and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder as if he was a small child.
Jasper gave me a nudge with his free hand and I ran for the door. The sooner we were out of here, the better. I wondered how long the ringing was going to sound in my ears when we were away from here.
We made it to the stairwell without any pursuit. Whatever the Rose Circus was doing, it must be enough of a distraction to keep anyone from finding us here. A wave of gratitude washed over me. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be bringing Ryder home right now.
Pulling open the door to the stairwell, I bolted inside, nearly running into Tristan and Gia. The alarm quieted
inside the stairwell and the pain inside me began to subside. I took a few deep breaths preparing for more running.
"Way to alert the bad guys," Tristan yelled.
I glared at him. "Just go."
Our group ran down the stairs, full speed. At the bottom, Tristan pushed open the exit door and Gia ran after him. I held the door open for Jasper and Ryder.
Everything ached as I shut the door, cutting off the sound of the alarm. The burning was gone, but my muscles were left feeling like the aftermath of a long workout. I wondered how long that would last. What was that alarm? Had it caused permanent damage?
"Everyone okay?" I looked at our ragged group.
"You shouldn't have come," Gia said. "It's a trap."
"I know," I said. "But I couldn't leave you here."
"You don't understand," Gia said.
"It's fine. We're heading out now. She didn't get me. She can't open the gates." I looked up and down the alleyway, wondering which way was the best way to go to leave this place.
A series of popping noises sounded from behind us, in the direction of the main entrance of Terra's Place. My whole body tensed as I turned to look that way.
"She's not after you," Gia said. "She's after the Circus. She found a way to take their magic without breaking the curse. She never wanted you. You were the diversion."
My blood ran cold. No wonder we'd snuck right in without incident, even with Ryder hitting the alarm. They wanted me to go get him, to leave the Circus unprotected, to get them all here.
Without waiting, I took off at a run toward the main road, toward the popping noises. Gia and Tristan called me but I ignored them. I wasn't about to let the Rose Circus pay for my mistakes.
I knew that I could channel the magic that Terra threw at me. I could even use it against her. And somewhere out there, Goldie was waiting with a vial of iron dust. It was up to me to do what I could to keep Terra from gaining the power she wanted. It wasn't just my life on the line. If Terra gained the magic to open the gates, she was going to unleash all sorts of terrible things.
Flashes of blue lightning split through the sky, followed by a thunderclap. When I glanced up, there were no clouds in sight. That was all Terra. Howls filled the air, and the sound of screams wasn't far behind.
Steeling myself, I ran headfirst into the storm. Fog hovered above the street, making it difficult to see anything. I could hear the shuffle of people moving, the grunting and cries of battle, but I couldn't find them.
A growl sounded from behind me but I kept running, not stopping to fight. My mission was clear. I had to find Terra and if not her, at least Goldie so I could help her.
The fog had forced me to slow down, taking careful steps and reaching ahead of me with my hands. Where was everybody? As if on queue, the fog began to dissipate, and as it faded, I realized I was surrounded by wolves. My heart pounded, as cold fear seized me. Did I have enough power stored inside me to try to take them all out? If I did, what would happen to me? To my friends? Would I have enough magic left to help them? Gia had said magic needed to be recharged. I didn't know what I was capable of, let alone how much I had.
After a few deep breaths, I noticed the wolves weren't attacking me. Taking a few cautious steps forward, one of the wolves snapped at me, but he didn't advance. They weren't attacking me, they were holding me.
In a single stupid decision, I ran forward, twisting between two of the wolves and took off away from them. At first, I thought I'd escaped free and clear, but they were following on my heels, attempting to close in around me, trying to block me in again. I continued to dodge around them and searched for the battle. The street was empty. It was just the wolves and me. No Terra, no Circus, nobody.
Risking a quick glance behind me, I looked for Tristan or Gia. Had anyone followed me? Instead of seeing them, I noticed movement on the top of a smaller one-story building across the street from Terra's place. Tons of people were crammed on the roof, and lightning crackled above it.
Spinning on my heels, I made a mad dash for the building, wolves snapping at my heels as I ran. Three of the beasts beat me to the door, growling at me, haunches raised. They weren't going to let me through.
This time, I didn't hesitate. I wanted the lightning, like Terra was using. With minimal effort, white sparks traveled down my arms, electrifying my whole body. The hair on my arms and neck stood on end. I probably looked like the bride of Frankenstein, but I didn't care. Right now, I needed to get through that door.
"Move." I glared at the wolves as I held my hands out in front of me, lightning dancing up and down my arms, forming a ball of light in my palms.
The largest wolf growled again and the two on either side of him seemed to want to back down. I took another step forward. "Move."
The largest wolf snapped at me, taking a few steps toward me.
With a scream, I released the lightning from my hands, aiming it at the largest wolf. Smoke rose in front of me and the scent of singed fur hung in the air as the wolves went yapping away from me.
Arms still sizzling with electricity, I kicked open the door and looked around for the stairs. Finding them, I made my way upstairs. There wasn't an exit to the roof, but there had to be a way to get there. After looking into three rooms with no view of the roof, I opened the fourth door to find exactly what I was looking for: a window with a perfect view of the top of the building.
A large group stood in the center of the roof, bound by a glowing blue light. I could make out some familiar faces in there. My heart ached at the sight of Brenon and Evangeline tied up and defenseless. Then, I spotted Goldie, Joe, and Maggie. They were all here. All trapped.
In front of the Circus members, Terra and two others stood with their back to me. It took me a moment to recognize the two figures that were with Terra. My face burned when I realized it was the twins, the elders. The same people who had told me they'd help us after telling me how bad the Fae were. They were the ones who were helping Terra. That meant they'd helped her to destroy that whole Sayge town. Who could do that? Why would they help her?
Picking up a chair, I threw it at the window sending glass shattering all over the floor. The broken glass crunched under my feet as I walked to the window and looked out.
Terra, the twins, and all the members of the Circus turned to look at me. Nostrils flaring, I stepped through the window. Every part of me that said this was a bad idea had been silenced by the anger surging through me. I felt like a different person. There was no way I was going to let Terra or those evil twins get away with this. "Let them go."
Terra took a few steps toward me. "How nice of you to join the party. I was just about to remove all their magic. There's only one piece missing from the spell."
She held something up so I could see it. It took me a moment to register what it was. My whole body tensed. She had the iron dust. "What are you going to do with that? It could kill you."
"I'll be immune to iron dust once I have all this magic." She handed the vial to one of the twins, Mercy, maybe.
I turned my attention to her. "Why would you help her? You're the one who told me how bad the Fae were."
Reaching out my hand, I moved closer to them. "Just give me the vial."
"And give up our chance to have a taste of Fae power?" Mercy shook her head. "We've always been weaker. You wouldn't understand. You have the extra power of the Fae. You don't know what it's like to be like this. So close to perfection."
"It's not like that," I said. "You can't seriously believe that Terra's going to let you have that kind of power. She's got to be using you."
"Honestly, I think it's the other way around. We've been helping her for decades. It's finally time for us to cash in on our investment."
Dinner at Terra's. The memory hit me like a blow to the face. The old woman sitting next to me, the paper thin skin. She looked so much older then, it couldn't be possible. "Pearl?"
The other twin smiled at me. "I wondered if you remembered meeting me. Of course,
I looked much older then. You can already see the power we've gained from working with Terra."
"You've got one chance," Terra said. "You go back into the building and walk away, and you can go back to your old life. You and your brother will be safe."
"Go, Ara." I turned at the sound of my name. Brenon's words came out pained, as if every word required more effort than he could expel. "Leave."
"No." I stared at him, at all of the Fae and creatures that had become my friends. "I'm not letting her do this to you. She's not going to win."
When I turned back to Terra, her whole body was glowing, the same blue color as the restraints holding the Circus together.
"It's too late," Pearl said. "It's begun."
Without thinking, I charged Terra, slamming into her like a linebacker. As soon as my skin touched her, heat surged through me. I stepped back, looking down at my bare hands. They were red and covered in blisters.
"You have no power here," Terra said.
Unwilling to give up so easily, I recalled the lightning, and like I had done to get rid of the wolves, I called to it. When I looked down at my red and blistered hands, nothing happened.
"You can't use elemental magic here," Pearl said. "It's too late."
Mercy popped the cork off of the iron dust vial and held it in the air. She began to mumble words I couldn't make out. Some kind of spell. Terra stepped in front of Mercy, blocking her from me and a blue bubble formed around the three of them. I had a feeling that if I charged it, I'd end up with more pain.
There had to be another way. I looked back over at the Circus. "What can I do?"
None of them responded. They all stared ahead with blank, lifeless eyes. Whatever Terra was doing was killing them.