Flickers of Flame

by Madeline Freeman

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The minutes seemed like hours as we awaited Thor’s return. I tried to keep my mind on the present moment, but my thoughts kept traveling dark paths that led to the terrible things Derek might do if he thought we weren’t holding up our end of the deal.

  I didn’t want to think he could hurt Nate, but I wasn’t so sure anymore.

  Bridger, Clio, and I leaned against the truck’s back bumper in silence. Every flutter of bird wings or crash of a woodland creature through the underbrush sent my heart pounding, but Thor didn’t return.

  Maybe Ruiz spotted him on his approach. Or someone else was patrolling the area, too. Or perhaps Thor had taken his shot with the tranq dart and missed.

  Maybe he couldn’t find Ruiz at all.

  There were too many variables. We shouldn’t have let him go alone. But it was too late to change course now.

  When Thor finally appeared through the trees, moving more quietly than any squirrel or chipmunk, Clio and Bridger were on their feet in an instant. With effort, I forced myself upright to follow them as they crossed the lot to meet Thor.

  “Did you get it?” Clio asked breathlessly.

  He opened his right hand, palm up, to reveal a single silver key. “Now let’s get out of here.”

  With Clio’s help, I made my way back to the passenger door. We climbed into the vehicle in the same order as before, with Thor behind the wheel, me beside him, and Clio and Bridger pressed in on my right.

  The sound of the engine roaring to life sent a shiver through me. Thor put the truck in gear and backed out of the parking space before turning toward the road. I reached for the seatbelt, realizing too late that none lined up because there were four people shoved onto a bench made for three. As I leaned back against the bench’s padded cushion, a wave of panic surged within me.

  “What happened to our Blades?” I raised my hand to reach for the grip, but Clio caught hold of my wrist.

  “It’s still there—kind of. That’s the benefit of an eternity-forged weapon, I guess. It’s really only there when you need it.”

  I dropped my hand to my lap. When all this was over, I really needed to learn more about how these Blades worked.

  The truck trundled along the path. “When we get to the gate, be cool,” Thor said evenly. “They’ll probably just open up since we’re in a campus vehicle.”

  “And if they don’t?” Bridger asked.

  Thor didn’t answer, even though from his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, I assumed he had a plan. Or maybe I hoped.

  The air in the cab seemed to thin as the gate came into view. Two guards were stationed in the high, tower-like structures that stood on either side of the exit, and another sat on a high stool in the small guard house on the right side of the narrow road.

  I held my breath. Beside me, Clio crossed the index and middle fingers on both her hands as if the gesture might grant us some favor in the situation.

  The truck continued forward at a snail’s crawl. I stared at the gate, willing it to open. But the closer we got, the less likely that scenario became. When we were still several yards away, the soldier in the guardhouse stepped outside.

  “Bridger,” Thor muttered, barely moving his lips. “The window.”

  It took Bridger a couple of tries with the hand crank before the window slid down. My stomach lurched as it occurred to me just how terrible an idea this was. It didn’t matter what lie we came up with to tell this guy—our faces would be immediately recognizable to a guard stationed at the school. While demons had no real sense of who the Keepers were and it was likely not too many angels outside the military and elites would recognize us unless we were dressed for a glamorous banquet, this guy would know exactly who we were, even in our camouflage uniforms and with hats pulled to obscure our eyes.

  The guard took his time sauntering to us, and I wondered if he wasn’t doing it on purpose to make us sweat. When he finally made it over, he placed a hand through the open window and used his grip as leverage to pull himself up on the outside step so he could get a better look inside. His gaze passed over each of us. “I didn’t get word we’d have anyone leaving.”

  My stomach sank, but Thor chuckled. “That’s not really my department, I just go where they tell me.”

  The officer tilted his head. “Is that so? On whose orders are you heading out?”

  I swallowed around the lump in my throat. The guard in the tower on the left glanced in our direction with mild curiosity. I couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that this rescue mission would be over before it started.

  Unless we fought. The idea popped fully formed in my mind. We had our Blades. I didn’t like the idea of hurting any of these guys for simply trying to do their job, but if it was a choice between them and Nate, the answer was obvious.

  Thor shifted in his seat. “Look, man. I’ve got a schedule to keep. If I don’t make it to my destination on time, someone’s going to get chewed out, and I’ll guarantee it’s not going to be me.”

  The guard smirked. “Look, I know I look young, but I’m not an idiot. I don’t know what kind of game you kids are playing, but you’ve got about ten seconds to turn around and put this truck back where you found it.”

  Bile stabbed the back of my throat. This was it. We’d failed before we made it out of the gate—literally. My fingers twitched. There was always Plan B…

  “You’re not going to make us turn around,” Bridger said in a tone I’d never heard him use. It was like the a thread of pure silk laced the words, and I was suddenly filled with the confidence that everything would be all right.

  The guard blinked and shook his head. “No. You have to turn around.”

  “No, we don’t,” Bridger said with the same silky tone. “We have to get through those gates. And you’re going to let us go—and you won’t alert anyone when we’re gone.

  The guard blinked again, but this time when his eyes opened, there was a glazed quality to them that hadn’t been there before. Wordlessly, he lowered himself to the ground and strode back to the guardhouse. He tapped something on what looked like a keypad and, moments later, the gate opened.

  No one spoke until we were on the other side. Even then, I held my breath, convinced they were playing some kind of trick. But when Thor turned onto the two-lane highway that would take us away from the academy, I twisted in my seat to look at Bridger. “How did you do that?”

  He didn’t meet my eye. “Do what?”

  Clio released a nervous giggle. “What do you mean, what? You just told that guy to let us go, and he did. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Bridger shook his head, keeping his eyes fixed forward. “It was nothing. Let’s just… Let’s worry about getting to Nate.”

  Clio and I exchanged glances. Bridger was acting weird, but I couldn’t figure out why. He just pulled off some next-level persuasion and he wanted to pretend like it didn’t happen. But why?

  Heavy silence permeated the cab as Thor steered the truck down the road. Clio pulled out the map she’d liberated from the library and unfolded it, using her finger to trace over the route we’d sketched. Every minute or so, I snuck glances at Bridger, but the tightness in his jaw remained as we put miles between ourselves and Blakethorne.

  “I don’t know how I do it,” he said finally, quietly, his gaze fixed on a spot beyond the windshield. “The first time I remember it…” He sighed. “Do you guys remember Rosie Allen?”

  Thor chuckled. “Lover girl? How could we forget?”

  I glanced at Clio, who gave an understanding nod. “Rosie was a first year cadet. That was… a year after Bridger came to Blakethorne? Yeah, because Thor was there, too. Well, Rosie had a huge crush on Bridger. I mean, like, problematic huge. It got so bad they had to send her home.”

  Bridger shook his head. “That’s not what happened.”

  Thor leaned toward the wheel and turned to look at Bridger. “You’re not saying you whammied her to make her like you, are yo
u?”

  “Stars and spears!” Bridger shook his head. “No. Absolutely not.” He swallowed before slowly turning to face us. “Clio’s right about Rosie liking me. It started out as mildly embarrassing and exploded from there. Headmaster Kemp reprimanded her, but she didn’t stop. Finally, one day I asked her if she’d meet me by the old gym. I figured if I explained to her I wasn’t interested and I wanted to focus on being a Keeper, I could make her understand. But she didn’t. She just kept pressing about how if I just gave her a chance, I’d see how we were meant to be.” He squeezed his eyes closed, sighing. “Finally I told her to forget about me. I told her to forget about everything.”

  He broke off, twisting his face away from us.

  I could tell he didn’t want to go on, but this wasn’t the end of his story. After a few seconds, I pressed, “And then what happened?”

  His chin dropped to his chest. “And then she did. She forgot everything. Forgot about me, but also about her. She didn’t know her name. She couldn’t remember how to talk or walk. She was just… gone. A fourteen-year-old baby.” He took in a deep breath. “The headmaster gives me an update every once in a while. She’s spent the last two years re-learning everything, but… she’s not the same person she was. She never will be. Because of me.” He hitched his thumb over his shoulder. “That’s the first time I’ve tried to coax someone since what happened with Rosie. It was a risk. It’s possible I screwed up that guy’s mind too, but…”

  “I’m glad you did it.” I reached across Clio and squeezed his hand. “We wouldn’t have gotten out of there without you.”

  He said nothing, but he covered my hand with his free one and returned my squeeze before pulling away.

  The charge in the air shifted as the truck sped up the road. Without anyone speaking it aloud, I felt we were all coming to the same conclusion: We were going to save Nate, no matter the cost.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  A knot of dread tightened in my stomach as Thor pulled to a stop in front of a large, industrial-style building. I would have assumed it was a factory or warehouse except for the burned out sign above the door alerting us that the structure was the North End Bistro.

  The rest of the street seemed to melt away against the dark gray clouds overhead. The area was empty—but not in an it’s-just-not-busy-this-time-of-day way. It looked abandoned. The newspaper covered the windows of the laundromat across the street, and graffiti layered the boarded-over door of the convenience store on the nearest corner.

  I knew about Old Greatdale by reputation only—that it had been the first city with a heavy demon population to bounce back after the Dark Decade, but that the bubble of success had popped not long after. What I saw here backed up that information.

  “This is a strange place for an exchange,” Clio said, her voice higher than usual.

  Although I agreed with the sentiment, I said nothing. Derek was working with Canaan now, and this seemed like the kind of place Boyd would like—secluded and away from the prying eyes of the Guard. Or maybe this was a base of operation for the Phoenix group Liza had mentioned.

  Bridger curled his fingers around the truck’s handle, but he didn’t pull it open. “Are we ready for this?”

  Thor exhaled noisily. “No.” But in the next breath, he pulled open the driver’s side door and hopped out of the cab.

  Bridger followed suit on his own side, holding out his hand to help Clio and me to get out.

  When my feet hit the pavement, the jolt made my bruised ribs ache again. We were really doing this. My throat went dry when unanswered questions began spinning through my head. How many people were we going to be up against? What if this was just a ploy to hold all five Keepers hostage? Maybe Derek thought upping the ante would give him a better chance of having his original demands met.

  I gulped down my rising panic as Clio led the way toward the defunct restaurant’s front door. Until this moment, our plan had seemed straightforward, but plausible. Now it felt woefully thin and ill-conceived. There were so many ways this could go wrong.

  But there was no time to turn back now.

  When Clio reached the steel gray door, she lifted her hand, but it hung in the air as she turned to face the rest of us. “Do I knock?”

  Before anyone could answer, the door swung open. Clio jumped backward, bumping into Bridger.

  A giant of a man crowded the door frame. Red, scaly skin covered his hands and most of his face, and two four-inch long jet black horns jutted out of his forehead. I was pretty sure his upper arms were as big around as my waist, and the sight of him underscored my doubts about our plan’s adequacy. His lips stretched in a leer as he surveyed the four of us. “He’s expecting you,” he rumbled. Turning, he walked further into the building.

  After a jab from Bridger, Clio followed. When I crossed the threshold, I spotted a wiry woman with frizzy, mouse-brown hair. A scabbard hung from her belt. As soon as Thor was inside, she scurried to slam the door behind us.

  I didn’t recognize either of them, and I didn’t know whether that was a good thing. Had Derek told them who I was? What I was?

  As we walked deeper into the building, I caught glimpses of the kind of place this used to be. Few of the wooden tables remained upright. Most had broken legs or were flipped upside down. Cobwebs hung from the rafters and draped between chairs. I counted a dozen more people lurking in the shadows along the wall and tucked into booths with split upholstery. One of them reminded me of Canaan, but I couldn’t be positive through the gloom. I detected some horns in the darkness, but not every person seemed to have them.

  I saw no sign of Derek.

  The giant led us to a long bar in the back of the room. Although the mirror on the wall was broken, the wood of the bar itself was bright and lustrous, void of the layers of dust covering everything else. When we were still a few yards out, the double doors to the right swung open and Derek breezed through, his lips twisted in an unnerving smile.

  But the smile wasn’t what struck me. Unlike in the forest, he wore no gloves, and the skin on the back of his hands was patchy and red. Scaly.

  Demonic.

  “Welcome,” Derek said, spreading his arms wide as if he were receiving guests, not presiding over a ransom drop. The shattered mirror behind him reflected his back in a million tiny variations, giving the illusion that he was more imposing than he actually was. “I have to say, I wasn’t sure you would follow my instructions.”

  His eyes lingered on me for a long moment, but I kept my expression neutral. This would be over soon, and I would never have to see his smug face again.

  Bridger lifted his chin. “We brought what you asked for. Where’s Nate?”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Derek said, pressing his palms against the rounded edge of the bar. “You claim to have brought the Blades, but I don’t see them.”

  “First, you need to show us Nate,” Clio snapped.

  The giant who had led us in straightened his back, but when Derek waved his hand, he settled into a more relaxed pose. The exchange baffled me. Was Derek calling the shots here? The idea was ludicrous, but maybe there was something to it. Otherwise, why would we be dealing with Derek instead of someone more important? Maybe kidnapping Nate had given him status among these people.

  “You’re a spitfire, aren’t you?” Derek said, tipping his head as he surveyed Clio with renewed interest. “You must be the fiancée.”

  Thor took a half step forward. “He’s our teammate, and you said you’d hand him over if we brought our Blades. But you don’t see them until we see him.”

  Derek held his gaze for a long moment before turning his attention to the giant and giving a single nod. The man spun on his heel and made his way toward the far wall on the right, turning down a hall labeled with restroom signs. Gruff mumbles floated through the air for several moments. With each passing second, a vise tightened around my chest, making it difficult to breathe.

  After what felt like a century, the giant r
eturned. My heart lurched when I caught sight of Nate. They had bound his wrists and ankles. He had just enough slack at his legs to shuffle forward. As he neared, he kept his attention focused on the floor in front of him as if afraid something might come out of nowhere and send him sprawling to the ground.

  “That’s far enough,” Derek said when Nate and the giant were still fifteen feet away. It was only after Nate came to a stop, the giant’s meaty hand gripping the back of his shirt, that Nate looked up.

  My sudden gasp sent a shock wave of pain through my tender ribs. But no matter how much I was hurting, I knew in an instant it was nothing compared to what Nate was enduring. His left eye was purple and swelled almost completely shut. A cut across his right cheekbone had left three distinct trails of blood down his cheek. From the way he stood, favoring his right leg, I realized his shuffling pace hadn’t been entirely due to the way they bound him. His left leg must have sustained some kind of damage. The camouflage pattern of his uniform didn’t quite mask darker patches that blossomed from different spots on his torso.

  Forgetting where I was or who I was with, I spun to face Derek. “What did you do to him?”

  I hadn’t realized I’d stalked forward until a set of sturdy arms wrapped gently around my waist. I fought against the person tugging me backward until Thor murmured, “Calm down.”

  “You shouldn’t have come,” Nate rasped.

  The giant rounded on him, punching him in the stomach so hard Nate cried out in pain. Thor’s hold on me tightened.

  “All right, knock it off,” Bridger called, glaring at Derek. “We’re here. We brought what you asked for. How do you want to do this?”

  Derek pursed his lips like this was the first time he’d considered the question. Hatred surged in my veins. I knew he had thought this exchange through dozens of times; stalling now was just to torture us.

  This wasn’t the Derek I knew. The guy who had shared my home for the last two years wasn’t perfect, but he would never take pleasure in mind games like these.