by T J Kelly
"I don't like what this means for Rector House," my mother said. "I don't think it's safe. What if the dark side finds out what we're up to?"
"We can't change our habits too much or that will expose us, too," my father replied. "We must behave normally. I'm the CEO of the largest corporation in the world. Traveling the globe and meeting with a variety of magicians and alchemists will be expected."
"And when we have children?" Miranda asked sadly, as if she knew the answer.
"There's always boarding school," Donovan replied, his tone no happier than hers.
Their voices faded. Ashe's memory dissolved. I blinked at the world around me, remaining seated on the wall until my legs stopped feeling like rubber.
With a flash of insight, the declining numbers of my clan made sense. Ashe suspected decades ago what was coming. The enemy had been planning this final war for a long time. Long enough to tear down the family that could stop it until there was only one left. A girl who couldn't even access her magic on time. An obstacle easy to remove.
Except I wasn't.
No wonder I was always a target. Not just because I was the CEO, and Rector Enterprises was such a huge treasure for the taking. My parents had made a weapon, spent half their lives making sure it would be ready. Grief and pride filled me when I realized their actions, even after they found out their destiny would leave them by the wayside before their plans came to fruition, were about the greater good. And then expanded to include my safety, my best interests.
Was it possible for love to grow after somebody was gone? My heart knew the answer to that.
Yes.
Although I still didn't know what it could do, I understood the astrolabe was a powerful weapon decades in the making. And I was excited - despite not knowing what the rest of the vision meant, I had learned something else. It was a memory, a thought, knowledge that reached across the years from the brilliant and wily mind of Ashe Caorthann.
We would fight the war at Rector House.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Two...
"The Council has summoned us," Armageddon announced. We were in the dining room, eating breakfast. So many magicians under one roof had concentrated our magic and forged new and stronger connections. The Irregulars had always been a tight knit group, but this was something more.
Something we needed if we were going to make it through to the end.
"How many of you?" Peony asked. She set down her fork. I guess she was done eating. I mean, I had just lost my appetite, too.
"They have called me in. Along with Mort and Joseph."
If I were going to cripple our efforts, those were the three I would remove, too. Although, not to be egotistical about it, I would also have taken me out of the mix.
"For how long?" My aunt was no fool. If the Council was under the control of the dark, they could imprison the most powerful magicians in a place where even my uncle couldn't break free. But they would still need an arrest warrant. There were spells attached guaranteeing compliance. It would have to include a timeframe.
"It hasn't gotten that far, yet. I've tapped every resource we've got. There are no warrants. Just a suspicious meeting."
A rustling came from outside the door. A moment later, Adrian entered the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt," he said as he walked straight to where I was sitting. "But I have urgent news. There's been an incident at the Poland plant. They need you right away."
Concern shot through me, but also a sense of inevitability. I exchanged a glance with Peter, who had risen from his chair when I did and was standing by my side. As I had suspected, I was another key player they would want to remove. To distract. "What exactly happened?" I asked.
"An explosion. As far as we can tell, there are only minor injuries, but several alchemists are missing."
"Makes sense," I said as I walked to the door. "I'll come. This is a ploy but once again, we must attend to it. Adrian, would you mind running one more errand?" He was in charge of the plant. Normally he would have sent a messenger, but with the changed protection spells, he could transport straight to the castle and get to me sooner than anyone else. "I need Caeli and Iuvo from headquarters. They can take over from me after I make the initial assessments."
I hadn't included my uncle in my decision-making process. I looked his way, and he gave me a nod of approval. My company was mine to run, and in general he and Mort offered advice. But my father had prepared me well to run the business side of things. With real life emergencies being used as decoys, we had to be careful not to allow their distractions to succeed. As much as I needed to be there, I also had to get back as quick as possible.
Adrian took the note I had scribbled and left. I pelted upstairs to change, choosing a stretchy pair of slacks and blouse, leaving it unbuttoned as I set my braids and tucked my hair into a tight, low bun. For all I knew, I would go straight to battle the second I got back from Poland.
At least we finally knew where. That gave us time to prepare the battlefield, even if we didn't know how long we had.
A knock came at my door. I grabbed a tailored business vest that had the same pockets and contents as my battle vest, then headed out of my dressing chamber and cracked open my bedroom door.
"You going to let me in?" Peter asked.
"Oh. Yeah," I said. I opened the door and then finished buttoning my blouse, tugging on my vest. "Sorry, I wasn't sure who was there."
"You're doing great," he assured me. That's when I realized how nervous I was. It hadn't occurred to me until I was setting my last braid that this was it. We were there. The war had started and something bad was about to happen - worse than an accident at one of my plants. Their plans had been unfolding, but now it was more real than ever before. We were finally making the last big push, engaged in the final stages of the nebulous, untraceable countdown to the end.
"So are you. You coming with me?"
"Wild dragons couldn't keep me away. I'm sticking by your side. I've heard I may even be useful upon occasion," he teased. He reached out, resting his hand on my arm, lending me some of his Light.
"You're my partner," I said. Quiet thoughts that had been percolating at the back of my mind for a long time burst out of my mouth. "You're just as strong as I am. Just as important."
"Is that what you've been worried about?" he laughed. "That I'm being overlooked? Lia, you're the focal point. You're amazing, and powerful, and beautiful. You will always get more attention than me. And that's fine. I can get more done when people aren't watching. My best magic is still done through my art. If they're looking at you, they won't know what's coming."
"It's not fair."
"Who cares? Listen, the same thing happened with Peony, right? Nobody pays attention to her. Not in society. They even think she's flighty. But the ones who need to know her skills, do. She can do so much more than Ged sometimes. And I like that. You know me. I prefer to be where I can get something done without all those interruptions and demands on my time. I actually feel sorry for you." That last part was true. I could sense it. But it was also meant in jest.
"You're the amazing one," I said. "You always have been."
"Why, thank you milady," he said with a bow. "Now, come on. Let's deal with Poland and then we can get back on track. Peony will need our help tracing events because you know something else will happen while the rest of us are away."
It was hard to let it go. I had been worried for a long time. But I should have known better. My worries were because of my insecurities, not his. "All right. I'm ready."
"Good. Let's go."
"Hey, Peter?"
"Yeah?"
"Nice suit."
"Thanks. You know I like to look pretty for my gal."
◆◆◆
The alchemist lab was a smoldering wreckage. I tapped into the Earth element and dug deep, exploring every nook and cranny. No bodies, thankfully. The missing alchemists had either been kidnapped, or worse, disappeared into darkness.
My stomach heaved
at the thought.
"There isn't anyone in there," I assured Metallum Bellator, who had arrived with Caeli and Iuvo from Rector headquarters.
"That's a relief," he responded.
"Please select several of your best methodologists and have them piece together the events leading up to the incident." My father had utilized alchemists for many tasks. They were meticulous and detailed. It was actually a great investigative skill. "I need to know everything."
He nodded, understanding what I meant. Either I would save them from captivity, or pay for a memorial service. I needed to know which. "Can I send a message to the castle?" he asked.
"Yes, that's our base of operations. Even if I'm not there, somebody who can help will be." I searched the area for Peter, finding him at the back of the tent we had set up outside the alchemist lab for our rescue operations. There was a spread of papers in front of him and he was drawing rapidly. With every mark, something changed. The lingering embers and flames vanished. Shaky wreckage was braced and made safe for the workers to go back in to salvage what they could. Sparks and electrical issues disappeared.
Another tent popped into existence, covering the area where burst pipes had been pouring down over the filing cabinets that stored the archives, diverting Water away from the area to minimize damage. So many things that I couldn't do because I was in charge.
I was the one who was jealous. Of Peter. He was right. Being on the sidelines was way better than the spotlight.
"Thank you for your help, milady," the floor manager said. I turned to him and shook my head ruefully.
"I fear I'm not as helpful as your well-trained staff. Please tell me immediately if you have any trouble getting the resources you need. Metallum knows how to contact me." I shook his hand, then walked over to Peter's side. "How are things going?"
"I'm done," he said. "If you're ready to go back, now is as good a time as any."
My eyes roamed the rubble. I could spend days there with cleanup, and normally would have. One thing my father was adamant about - Rectors weren't above anything. If there was work to be done, we needed to be on hand to do it. But I had talented people working for me and this was war.
"Yeah, let's get out of here."
We transported to a safe house in Warsaw, and then to the castle out of extra precaution. We couldn't afford for the dark magicians to find a way onto castle grounds if they finally discovered how to trace us. We wanted to fight in the place of our choosing. The place Ashe had sent the astrolabe to prepare for the battle.
"Are they still gone?" Peter asked my aunt as we entered her study. The dining room had already been cleared.
"Yes. In fact, they're waiting in the Council chambers. It seems there has been a delay."
If any one of the three men left the chambers, a warrant would automatically be issued for their arrest for failure to comply with Council orders. Standard protocol. The dark Council-members were keeping them busy simply by forcing them to wait.
I collapsed into a nearby chair, annoyed at everything. "There is more going on here," I moaned. "But I can't see it. I hate waiting for the next shoe to drop."
Peter slid into a seat beside mine. "Nothing like a good explosion to shake things up a bit," he suggested.
I giggled. "You know what I meant."
"Yeah." He turned to my aunt, who was watching us with an amused look on her face. "I don't suppose you have any visions dying to come to fruition?"
"Unfortunately, no," she said. "But would they really be helpful if I did?"
"Hey, you're one of the best," I objected. "You've helped a ton of people."
She smiled at me. "Thank you, my dear. But if there ever was a time I wished my seer powers were better, now would be it. I've been working on this for months and nothing has come of it. The most useful information came from a crystal, not me. My brother did some amazing things with his abilities. I often wonder if I should have continued his work."
Which reminded me. "You know that last memory crystal I used?" I asked. She nodded in response. "Well, Ashe knew about most of what he said long before he said it. He was in tune with his visions. I'm not sure what technique he used, but it wasn't all that different from what we've been doing with Recall." I wanted to reassure her that she was being productive even if she didn't feel that way. Prophecy wasn't ever exact, even for her brother. But she hadn't been messing off without trying, either.
"Well, if anyone had a sense of timing, it was Ashe."
"I wish I knew him," I said. "He sounds awesome."
"He was. He had his mysteries," she added. "But whatever his secrets, they never stopped him from helping others."
"I wonder how he knew the necklace would make it to us," I mused. There wasn't anything else going on besides the long wait. "It was here in the perfect time for us to know where to lure our enemies. But who would ever have thought a daughter of the Taine clan would be at Castle Laurus? Much less know the woman who would eventually pass it on to Clarissa for her to bring it here."
"I'd like to take a look at it," Peony said. "Remind me to check it out the next time Clarissa's here."
"Yeah, she's always wearing it, but I've only seen it a couple of times. Most of the time it's tucked under her shirt. She said it's a family heirloom."
"Her mom probably bought it at a flea market," Peter teased. "I mean, wouldn't that be the way of it?"
A grin lit my face. "Ashe could have predicted that. But no. I saw his plan for it. The person he saw in his head looked so much like Clarissa, it had to be her mom. He sent it specifically to her."
"Her mother passed away several years ago," Peony said. She lost the amused smile on her face. My aunt had such a soft, loving heart. Even if Peter and I were being silly, the loss of somebody's mother would always make her sad.
It made me sad, too.
"No wonder she had such a difficult time handing it over," I said. "Man, that's so awful. It has to be so hard for her." Pity flooded me. And guilt. I never really thought about Clarissa, about what her life must have been like. How it felt being used as a tool by a man like Oberon.
"She's been a great help to us," Peony murmured.
"I'll be nicer to her," I promised. "I already decided we need to be friends. I mean, the quality of the people around her sucks. I may be blind and selfish, but I'm better than they are."
My aunt and Peter both objected to my words, scolding me for putting myself down. But it was the truth. I had been so self-absorbed that I was a terrible friend. No wonder I never grew close to anyone at my many schools. Not that a semester was a long time, but still. I could have made more friends if I had tried harder. Not everyone made fun of my lack of magic - there were people there, ready to be friends. If I had looked outside of myself for once.
My boyfriend reached across Peony's desk and flipped through a familiar, battered manila folder. The file on the car wreck. "How has the investigation been going?" he asked as a distraction. Not in the way our enemies meant it.
Peony let out a sad sigh. "The final piece we need to discover is how, in the end, it was successful."
"My parents knew," I blurted. My heart pounded in my chest. I hadn't spoken to Peter about all the details. He wouldn't have known what talking about the progress of the investigation into the car wreck would do to me. "They had gotten a bunch of information from Ashe. They thought I was going to die, that there were so many other things that would stop me from making it past my ascension. And he gave them a list of tasks. Things that needed to be done before the war came to fruition. My parents knew about the wreck. And they let it happen."
"Oh, sweetheart," Peony said as she walked to my side. She put her arms around me.
"I know it's not my fault. But I still feel that way." And then the tears came. I hated that. I had been doing such a good job dealing with their deaths, not to mention my problems with magic and emotions. But now I was back to being a crybaby.
"No, you aren't," Peter said forcefully, reading my thoughts. "
This is normal. It's okay. I'd be a total mess if my parents had sacrificed themselves for me the way yours did for you."
The sound of his voice helped me regain control. There was something in it that called to me. I looked up at him, sitting so close, his hand wrapped around mine, and I saw the tears in his eyes. He was hurting, too. For me.
"I love you," I blurted. The timing could have been better. My aunt was there. I was crying. We were keeping watch as my uncle and the highest-ranked leaders were trapped in the Council chambers awaiting their fate.
But it was true. And it needed to be said. My parents spent the remainder of their lives doing everything they could for me, and I never knew. I never understood, had no clue how deep their love for me went. I always thought they were stand-offish. Lacked the desire to hold me close the way I wanted. When really, their only mistake was not telling me.
"I love you, too," he said, his words filling me with Light. My aunt's arms disappeared from around me. I wiped my eyes, and caught sight of her leaving her office, closing the door behind her. "You don't even know how much."
"I may have an idea," I teased. It was impossible not to see it. Not to feel it. Peter was always good at showing his talents - his emotions through painting or pastels, or a pencil. Now he was showing me his heart.
We stood. His arms slid around me, pulling me tight against his chest. I rested my cheek against him, listening to his heart pounding.
"Good," he said. "Don't you forget it."
His voice was intense. Almost demanding. But I knew why. There were no guarantees for the future. At any moment, the battle for supremacy over the magical world would start. We might not make it through that. Nothing should be left unsaid.
"I won't if you won't," I replied, a laugh in my voice, trying to lighten the mood.
He smiled down at me, gently tugging on my hair so I would tilt my head and look in his face. Then he kissed me, filling me with love and Light. Our first kiss after our first declaration of love.