Tower of Fire (Parallel Magic Book 3)

by Emma L. Adams

  “The vampire chickens,” I replied. “I know, I know. I don’t have anything else valuable I can possibly trade at an auction. Apparently, they’re kicking out the riffraff, so I need to look like I belong there, and I’d rather not bring something which can be swiped from my pocket or bag.”

  “You have the transporter spell,” he reminded me.

  So I did. “Okay, I don’t have anything valuable I’m willing to part ways with. Besides, those chickens are going to draw the wrong kind of attention to your house sooner or later. If nothing else, it’ll help us hide what we’re really doing at the auction.”

  “We?” he echoed.

  “You wanted to come with me, right?” I said. “Trix can’t. He said elves rarely go to auctions. He usually sends Liv on his behalf, but she draws a fair bit of attention, too. I don’t think anyone knows my face, but it’s better to be on the safe side.”

  At least I had a way to hide my own elven features, while the Family weren’t known for frequenting Arcadian auctions run by the vampiric aristocracy.

  “I can come with you,” said Miles, “but do you want a repeat of the incident the day we met?”

  “Don’t remind me.” I shuddered at the memory of the runaway chickens escaping through the node to Earth. “We need a decent cage this time. That’s one thing Striker didn’t provide, as we found out the hard way.”

  “The cage, I can get,” Miles said. “Carrying a vampire chicken through the nodes to Arcadia, though? I can see that going wrong in a dozen possible ways.”

  “Don’t you have those cantrips which make animals obey you?” I said.

  “Well… yes,” he said. “Do you actually want to sell the chicken, though? Because I wouldn’t mind getting it off our hands, but not if it ends up causing more trouble than it’s worth.”

  “If we find a buyer, then I can try to sell it,” I said. “If not, then it doesn’t matter as long as we get into the auction. The chicken is just a cover, so they don’t suspect us of being troublemaking mages.”

  “All right,” he said. “I can use the cantrip on the chicken, but it won’t last all night. How long do these events usually go on for?”

  “No idea,” I said. “Shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours, surely. People don’t like to stay out too late in Arcadia.”

  Thanks to the city’s network of underground tunnels, all kinds of beasts came out at night, chief of which was the large population of revenants. The vampires’ nastier cousins liked to emerge at sunset and feed on the energy of the nodes, yet it wasn’t things that went bump in the night that I feared running into at the market.

  “Fair point,” Miles said. “A couple of hours ought to be okay, I think, but I’m not convinced a chicken would be an acceptable trade for a priceless artefact.”

  “If the artefact is the genuine article, then there’s no way we’d be able to pay for it outright even if we brought a mountain of gold,” I said. “Unless we can ask the Death King for a loan, but the vamps wouldn’t believe the money was mine unless I admitted I was the Fire Element. Then they’d question why the Death King was so interested in elven artefacts.”

  “And word would make it back to the Family,” Miles concluded. “So you want to wait for someone else to win the auction and then steal it?”

  “You read my mind,” I said. “The relic is stolen anyway, it’s not like I’m doing any more harm than the person who took it to begin with. Anyone who wants to buy that thing for their private collection isn’t going to miss it as much as the elves do.”

  “You’re right there,” he said. “It’s still risky, though. If it’s as valuable as you say, the people in the Parallel with the most money are the vampires, and I doubt you’d be able to outbid them or pickpocket them without causing a stir.”

  “Don’t you have vampire friends?” I asked. “Like Lord Blackbourne?”

  “I wouldn’t call him a friend, more of an acquaintance,” he replied. “He won’t be seen dead in a place like that. It’ll be the less reputable vamps who have money to burn and no morals.”

  Great. “We’ll have to risk it. Can you ask any of your Spirit Agent friends to help?”

  “I’m sure Shelley will be thrilled if I asked for her help robbing a vampire,” he said, with an eye-roll. “Especially if there’s a vampire chicken involved.”

  “The two of us will probably be able to handle it by ourselves, then.” It wasn’t my best plan, I’d freely admit it, but it was that or sit back and do nothing while I lost a potential chance at reaching the elves’ artefacts before the Family got there first. “Will the others have a problem with it, though?”

  “Nah, they’ll tell me I’m being ridiculous and then let me do it anyway,” he said. “I’ve been doing this kind of thing for a while. Can’t say I’ve ever taken a bunch of vampire chickens to one of Arcadia’s auctions before, but there’s a first time for everything.”

  “That’s my motto,” I said. “I’ll try not to start any fires.”

  “Unless the vampires deserve it.” He kissed me goodbye, wrapping his arms around me. I couldn’t quite stifle the surprised reaction that always overtook me in those moments, as though part of me hardly believed that he cared enough to hold me as if he didn’t want to let me go.

  When we broke apart, he tilted his head on one side with a questioning look on his face which softened as our eyes met. I kissed him again instead of answering his unspoken question. At some point, he’d want to know where our future lay, and I wasn’t sure I could give one. I’d never done more than live day to day before. Besides, with the Parallel on the brink of another war, thinking of the future at all seemed a risky prospect.

  I can’t believe we’re doing this again.

  Late that evening, Miles and I met with Trix near the warehouses in Arcadia, at which point Miles handed me the cage. “Your turn to carry it.”

  “That’s fair.” I took the cage from him, holding it carefully. After administering a cantrip to relax the chicken into compliance, he’d managed to coax it into the cage as planned, but the trickier part was carrying said cage to the auction. From the grumbling noises coming from inside it, the vampire chicken was not thrilled at being confined, and I couldn’t say I blamed it in the slightest.

  “Quiet,” I hissed at the cage, which emitted a disgruntled squawking noise as we neared the wide, one-storey building where the auction was due to take place. A steady stream of practitioners walked in via the oak doors, and I watched them for a moment, gauging the chances of us running into hostility. The crowd seemed to be mostly practitioners, who wouldn’t be much of a threat. They’d be carrying magical items, but the type which were more valuable than useful. Mages were more likely to be a problem, and as for the vampires…

  “I’ll wait out here,” said Trix. “You go ahead.”

  “All right.” I joined the end of the line. “Let’s move.”

  When we reached the front, I entered the room ahead of Miles. Several people hastened to move out of our way when they saw the cage, and it struck me that it might have been a good idea if I’d pretended it was something more dangerous, if just so people would keep their distance. Benches filled the wide room, and we picked a spot near the door, so we’d be able to make a quick getaway if need be.

  When the benches were almost full, two smartly dressed individuals entered the room, earning whispers from the crowd as they glided between the rows of benches. They ascended to the stage at the very front of the room and faced all of us, their grins exposing their pointed canines.

  Vampires. So that’s who was running the show. Made sense, given that the vamps were the richest of all Arcadia’s inhabitants, including the mages. They ruled the city and collected valuables to fill their manor houses in the suburbs where nobody else could afford to live. Now, which one of these rich bastards wants an elven artefact?

  My gaze skimmed the crowd, seeing a handful of other vampires and a few mages were scattered among the practitioners who formed the maj
ority of the attendees. Miles didn’t stand out in a major way, but nobody could tell he was a spirit mage on the surface. Except…

  As though in response to the thought which had just occurred to me, the vampires at the front of our room glanced in our directions, their eyes drawn past the cage in my hands to Miles’s face. Then they looked away, not before I caught sight of the interest in their expressions. They could sniff out a spirit mage, as Ryan had told me, and which I really should have remembered. I fervently hoped they’d be more interested in the auction than in the presence of a spirit mage in the crowd. Miles wasn’t that much of a novelty, right? At least the crowd was thick enough to take some of the attention off us, and we weren’t the only people who’d brought a living creature into the auction. Someone even had what looked like a miniature wyrm on a leash, which kept nipping at people’s ankles. A vampire chicken was nothing by comparison.

  The auction kicked off and the vampires began with a few trinkets and ornaments which weren’t worth much more than a few coins. The Parallel had adopted a random mishmash of currencies, though a lot of places used barter instead. The result was that auctions were often chaotic and confusing, but my lack of sleep was catching up on me and it wasn’t like I intended to bid on anything, so I dozed off for a few minutes, my head resting on the cage on my lap. The vampire chicken seemed to have calmed down, too, since I only woke when Miles nudged me in the side.

  I wriggled upright in my seat, my heart swooping when the vampire at the front of the hall held up a gleaming stone, bright enough to dazzle the eyes.

  “This is a valuable relic which once belonged to the elves, before their tragic demise,” he said. “It’s worth a fortune. Who wants it?”

  That’s the Akrith? It looked more like a shiny rock than a petrified tree carving, but the glowing light painted it as a magical artefact. Hoping it was the genuine article, I leaned forward in my seat.

  A raspy voice came from the third row. “One thousand coins.”

  Another man scoffed. “Five thousand.”

  “Ten thousand,” a stocky practitioner snapped from the row behind me.

  “Twenty thousand,” someone else cut in.

  More haggling ensued. I watched, dizzy at the rapid pace of the back-and-forth shouts, and then a cold voice cut through the others. “A million gold coins.”

  Silence rang out through the auction hall.

  “Nobody going to offer more?” said the auctioneer. “Very well. The item goes to that gentleman over there.”

  All eyes went to the front row as another vampire stood and approached the stage. He wore a suit fitted to his tall frame, moving with casual grace as he glided to the front of the room to pick up the stone. I watched his every movement as he went back to his seat. Unfortunately, he knew we were watching him, because so was everyone else. That might make things tricky later, if we weren’t the only people who tried to take his winnings away from him.

  Not many items remained on the vampires’ list and most people had stopped paying attention now the excitement had died down. When the vampires called the auction to an end, we rose to our feet along with the rest of the crowd. I kept one eye on the vampire as we waited to leave, adjusting my grip on the chicken’s cage. To my consternation, it chose that moment to wake up with an indignant squawk which made everyone in the vicinity jump.

  While Miles took the cage from me, I used my elven speed and grace to weave through the crowd after our target. The the vampire had the exact same advantages I did, though, and he was already out the door by the time I got there. As I skirted the line of people leaving, he parted the crowd to glide down a side street.

  I followed, speeding up when I saw the current of white light ahead of him. He was walking towards a node. What the hell is he doing? Most vampires lived here in Arcadia. He ought to be going to his manor house in the suburbs of the city, unless he planned on using a shortcut to get there. Or he’s got something else in mind.

  I walked in behind him, putting on a burst of speed to close the distance between us, and then I snagged his sleeve. “Hey, mate. I think you took something that belongs to us.”

  He tilted his head. “To whom?”

  “The elves.”

  That’s when I hit him. Most people wouldn’t expect violence from an elf, and I’d expected him to be surprised enough for me to get an opening. Instead, he spun around and struck me in the ribs.

  What the fuck?

  I flew back into the nearest stone wall, while the vampire vanished in a flash of white light. Dammit, he’d fled through the node.

  “Bria!” Miles hurried up to me, both hands gripping the cage and the cries of its angry occupant echoing in the night.

  “Ow.” I caught my balance, wincing at the sharp pain in my shoulder blades. “Bastard ran through the node.”

  “Figures,” Miles said. “I can tail him. He won’t be expecting a spirit mage.”

  I walked alongside him, rubbing the back of my head. The node’s current surrounded us, and I gripped Miles’s arm as he used his spirit mage talent to take us directly to the spot where the vampire had landed.

  We stepped out of the node onto a busy high street. Cars roared past, while dazzling lights blared from the buildings on either side and a cacophony of human noise filled the background.

  “What the hell is he doing on Earth?” I spotted our quarry running ahead of us and put on a burst of speed. He had a head start, but he wouldn’t be able to use the extent of his vampire speed here on Earth, even without human witnesses around. Unfortunately, I had to keep the super-speed to a minimum, too, or else we’d both find ourselves targeted by the Order for breaking their magical secrecy laws.

  “Hey!” Miles shot past me with the force of a transparent bullet, firing off a bolt of energy which struck the vampire square in the back. He fell to his knees, while I ran to catch him up.

  A solid hand on my shoulder made me whip my head around. One of the two vampires who’d been running the auction appeared at my side, pointed canines showing. “Are you sure you’re supposed to be here?”

  “Let go of me.” I wrenched my hand away, but the other vamp was on his feet again and had taken off. Miles, meanwhile, must have left his body standing by the node in order to follow the vampire via astral projection.

  The newcomer caught my arm before I could run after my quarry, his firm grip anchoring me to the spot. “You and your spirit mage friend would be better served if you go back to the Parallel, unless you want to run afoul of the Order.”

  “What are you doing on Earth?” Dammit, the other vamp was getting away again. I gave a firm tug to remove my arm from his grip, and the vampire’s fist came up. It would have caught me in the face if I hadn’t used my elven speed to dodge.

  The vampire’s eyes widened a little. “So you truly aren’t human…”

  “I did warn you.” Flames leapt to my hands—smaller than they would have been in the Parallel, but enough to drive the vamp to let go of me. I broke into a run down the street, and swore when the vanishing light of a node told me our vampire friend had given us the slip again.

  Miles appeared behind me, in the flesh this time, the squawking cage in his hands making enough of a racket to wake the dead. “Damn, he’s fast.”

  “Watch out—there’s another vampire back there.” I walked with him towards the node where our target had disappeared, and this time, Miles’s tracking skills took us to an unfamiliar street near some office blocks. At first glance, the place looked entirely mundane—until I took in the guards dressed in a familiar black uniform standing outside the automatic doors of one of the office blocks. Dammit, is he working for the Order?

  The Order didn’t hire vampires, right? I crossed the road to look closer, careful to stay out of sight in case the guards spotted me. The last thing I needed was to end the night in a cell, though the guards’ attention was occupied. The vampire said something to them, then he glided between the two guards and into the building. I hung back, s
uppressing the urge to shout in frustration.

  Miles caught up to me, gripping the cage in his arms. “Shit. He didn’t go in there, did he?”

  “He must have contacts in the Order,” I whispered. “Question is, did he go there to give someone else the Akrith or is he just hiding until the coast is clear?”

  “Either.” Miles’s eyes narrowed at the building. “Damned vampire. We can wait here to see if he comes out. Pretty sure the Order’s headquarters is open twenty-four seven, though, so unless you want to sit out here all night…?”

  “I didn’t think the Order might be involved with Arcadia’s markets.”

  “In fairness, neither did I,” said Miles. “The Order and the vampires… I wouldn’t call them enemies, but I didn’t think they had close ties either.”

  “This isn’t a normal situation, though, is it?” I said. “The Order is run by a bunch of rogue spirit mages these days.”

  Spirit mages who wanted elven artefacts? What could an organisation supposedly intended to protect the magical world’s secrecy possibly want with items which had no value on Earth? Please don’t tell me the Family is working with them, too.

  The sound of soft footfalls warned us of the arrival of our second vampire friend, and I spun around with a growing fireball in my palms. “Last warning.”

  The vamp struck. Miles’s fist came up, punching him square in the chest, and he fell into the path of my flames. Fire ate away at his all-too flammable skin, and I exhaled in a sigh as he evaporated on the breeze.

  “Oops,” I said. “I think we’re off the next auction’s attendee list.”

  “He and the other vamp must have been friends,” he said. “I bet you anything that dude in there asked his mate to watch his back in case someone tried swiping his precious elf artefact after he won.”

  “Then why take it into the Order? They usually send people to return rare artefacts to the Parallel, not bring them to their doorstep.” Though their whole system sounded like it was in upheaval after the recent events in London. “I guess I have to go and tell the Death King the bad news. What’re the odds that he gives me permission to go into the Order’s headquarters and steal the Akrith back?”