Mine to Fear

by Janeal Falor

  Across from me, Annabelle is silent, her eyes closed, but I doubt she's sleeping. At least I didn't tell her everything, and that she doesn't know how serious it actually is. Torture. That's what the Grand Chancellor said.

  How am I possibly going to save my brother from torture?

  Chapter Fifteen

  I don't know when I fall asleep, but it’s followed by much fitfulness. At least I manage to get some sleep in. By the heavy bags under Annabelle's eyes, it appears she had a lot more problems than I did.

  “Can we make it to your safe house today?” Jack asks, handing me some dried meat.

  The action startles me until I see Tawny pull out more and hand it to him and then hand some to Annabelle. “I'm not sure exactly where we are,” I admit.

  He casts a spell in front of us that looks like a map, only made out of colored lights instead of paper. It's a spell I've seen from far away before but never up close. It has detail and talent.

  “Councilman Daniel's house is here. We traveled this path yesterday.” His finger traces a line on the glowing map.

  It's easy to tell where the safe house should be, but I don't want to trust him with its location. The thing is, he did bring us here, and his spell to hide our tracks seems to have worked since no one has found us yet. Plus, he didn't turn us over to the guards when he had the chance.

  Besides, as much as I don't think I want to think of the possibility, something could happen to me. Zade's loss has taught me that much. I have to trust him.

  “We should be able to make it to there even if we don't run into any trouble along the way.” I hesitate only another second before pointing to the spot on his spell where the closest safe house is. I can only hope it's still safe after everything that's happened.

  “I'm certain we can make it.” The soft but serious tone of his voice makes me feel like I was right to trust him. I only hope he doesn't betray that trust.

  “How soon can everyone be ready to go?”

  Annabelle jumps to her feet. “As soon as needed.”

  The ache in her gaze makes my own heart wrench to the ground. As soon as they're safe, I'll do what I can to help Zade and Daniel.

  Tawny is still eating but bounces to her feet as well, dried meat in hand. “Let's go.”

  I nod to Jack who leads us out of the cave and then arranges the vines and grounds carefully after we're all back in the clearing.

  He moves next to me but seems to have trouble saying anything.

  After several moments of silence, I say, “Is there something you needed?”

  His jaw tenses and relaxes several times. “Would you like to lead us today?”

  He's offering? And not just offering, but offering without any sort of cajoling? And I already showed him where we're going. He doesn't have to be doing this.

  I almost give an eager “yes” response, but then I realize he's trying to do what's best for our group, even when it means making things hard for him. What I need to do is the same. I may know where we're going and be familiar with things close by, but he clearly knows these woods better than I do.

  “Why don't you continue leading us until we get close and then I can take over?”

  His brows lift before he leads us out of the clearing, but there's something different about how he leads that wasn't there yesterday. Something in the way he holds branches out of the way, how he's even more careful helping Annabelle and Tawny, and I let him help me when I need it. Somehow, he's actually very good at being a gentleman. He just needs some final polish on how to treat women.

  Is it because yesterday we were running for our lives? We still are today, but without the same urgency driving us. Maybe he can take the time to become even more of a gentleman than he already is?

  It takes us several hours to get to the safe house. Hours filled with worry and stress over if we're going to have more problems, but wherever the warlocks searching for us are, it's not here. By the time we arrive at the house, we're all exhausted, too much so to pay any real attention to anything. Not just from the journey but the stress of looking over our shoulders the entire time.

  We're safe. For now.

  “I'm going to send some messages to friends that can help or may need help,” I say.

  “Sounds like a good plan,” Annabelle says.

  I eye Jack, knowing that her statement isn't entirely true, though I suppose I could have done it again without saying anything, but at least he's prepared for it this time. Something in me wants to give him that notice. Probably the something that doesn't want him to take his anger out on me.

  I send a note spell to Katherine and then to the last Sanos house I knew Chadwick was going to, hoping he's still there. The note flies off in yellow and dark blue, taking with it my hopes and fears.

  It doesn't take long for a different note spell to return. I keep myself from slouching with relief only because the others need to see me be strong. Sometimes, it feels like my strength is the only thing holding things together, but it's not real. I have to fake so much that it can be too weighty.

  The note is from Chadwick. Part of me is relieved it's from him, that he's well, but the other part of me can't help but stress about Serena. Why didn't she respond? Why didn't he tell me about where things are with her?

  The only thing it does say is that he'll be here as soon as he can.

  Does such a short message mean good things or bad? I can't imagine much good taking place now.

  Chapter Sixteen

  There's a restlessness that comes with waiting. Too much time to think on what is happening in the outside world knowing we’re not able to do much about it from our small hideout. Cooking, cleaning, and sitting around is all that happens for two days straight. There's a lot of cleaning that needs to be done, which helps. This place has been abandoned for some time. I'm grateful it is here to shelter us, even if it is covered in dirt.

  The house is small, two stories with several bedrooms and an attic. The kitchen is large enough to get done what needs to be, but not big enough for more than two people to work in it at a time. The dining room is part of the kitchen, all one big room. When not cleaning, we spend a lot of time there or in the sitting room.

  Outside there's nothing but trees, trees, and more trees. This nice little house is far from most civilization. Only a small dirt path shows the way to the main road and it's overgrown. It's one thing I won't fix up.

  The cleaning doesn't take nearly as long as I'd like. At the end of day two, everything is in fairly good condition, which means more of just sitting around. I've never been so bored in all my life.

  “How can you sit so calmly through this?” I ask Jack, who has been almost meditative through this whole process.

  “Easy. Stressing about it won't change anything.” He gives a pointed look to my leg that's been jostling up and down whenever I have to sit still.

  “It's not like you can just turn stress off.”

  “You need more breathing exercises,” Tawny tells me.

  I laugh. “As if I could sit through them.”

  The laugh doesn't last long though. There's too much pain and worry eating me up inside when there's not a thing we can do about it. We're stuck here with nowhere safe to go and no way to help our loved ones in danger come to safety with us.

  “I can't stand this any longer,” Annabelle bursts out. “I have to do something. They took my husband. I can't just let them get away with it.”

  “I feel the same,” I say. “Only, what can we do?”

  She flops onto the nearest seat, defeat etching her posture. I can't help but think of Zade. Of him being locked up wherever he is. Of what he must be going through. My chest tightens and tears threaten, but I blink them away. Now isn't the time for tears. Crying won't save them, not that I know what will.

  “If only there was something we could do. Something that we could make happen. Something to let the Grand Chancellor know we don't approve.” I say.

  “There is something,” Tawny
says.

  “What crazy scheme are you cooking up?” Jack asks, tone begrudging.

  “We should attack back. We don't have to sit and do nothing.”

  “How do you propose we do something?” I ask wondering how we can accomplish anything.

  “We attack a law office. See if we can shut it down. I know it won't get our loved ones back, but it will tell them we are not going to sit by while they do whatever they want.”

  “It would be dangerous,” I say. “I'm in.”

  All dejection has fled from Annabelle. “I am as well.”

  “You are all crazy,” Jack says. “The only thing that is going to happen is that you're all going to be captured and put in the same position as Councilman Daniel, if they don't tarnish you.”

  “It's worth the risk,” I say. “There's a town not far from here with a law office. It would be the easiest to hit.”

  Jack crosses his arms and slumps back in his chair.

  “But would that put our safe house at risk?” Tawny asks.

  “If we do it right, they'd have no reason to suspect this house. And what reason would they have for searching it?”

  “Still, I think we should go to the next town over.”

  “It will mean more walking,” I reply. “But we can do it.”

  “What type of attack spells can we use on a law office?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  I stare at the plain brick building, wondering if we can really do this. It's not like we picked an easy target. Law officers have their position for a reason. If all goes to plan, we won't even be suspected. Which means it had all better go to plan.

  Jack glares at us all. I don't know why he even bothered to come, though he said it was because Councilman Daniel would have his head if anything happened to Annabelle. I'm surprised he didn't tie her to a chair instead.

  The sun will be coming up in an hour or so. If we're going to do this, we have to do it now.

  “Tawny?” I ask. “Are we ready?”

  “Ready as we're ever going to be.”

  Which doesn't feel good enough at all. But Annabelle's right. We have to do something. We can't sit back and let them think they can get away with this. We need to take this fight to them.

  I move through the shadows of the buildings until I'm hidden in the darkness right across the street from the law office. My hands go clammy, but I lift them anyway. We have to do this in one swift hit or we'll get caught or end up doing no damage at all, which is entirely unacceptable.

  I glance over to see everyone else is in place. Even Jack is helping out, protectively close to Annabelle, hands raised.

  Now's the time, but I can't bring myself to say the words. Once we do this, there will be no going back. I'll have attacked someone. A lot of someones. There's even a possibility of people getting hurt. I don't want to hurt anyone. I'm not that type of person. If only there was a more peaceful way to bring this about. But being peaceful about things only resulted in my brother being taken and tortured. We have to do this.

  No one else is saying anything. Maybe they're having the same reservations that I am. But we can't let it stop us. We have to move. We have to show our strength. We just have to.

  “On the count of three,” I whisper. “One. Two.” Please don't let this be a mistake. “Three.”

  I let my power surge out of me. It flows yellow and red next to purples and maroons from the others helping, straight toward the law office. Two spell beams split off to the right, the others to the left. They hit the building with a flash of color and deadly silence.

  There's a creak, like the building is cracking, but then nothing. Noise from inside tells me that the law officers know something is going on, but not what. We haven't much time, but I don't want to leave this place without having accomplished something.

  “Again,” I say. “Now.”

  I burst out the spell again, letting it tug my magic toward the building and crashing into it. There's nothing. Nothing but the noise growing louder. We can't stay here. We've failed what I wanted so badly to do. What we all wanted. Then all at once, the entire front of the building is crashing to the ground.

  Bricks are flying everywhere, dust billowing up.

  “Go,” Tawny says.

  There isn't time to see the rest of the result. We're running, hurrying out of the city as fast as we can. If we can make it out of here, we'll have done the job successfully. There are still the loud sounds of something crashing behind us. I can't believe it worked.

  Then, that's not the only sound. People are calling out, footsteps hurrying about. Law officers, most likely. My breathing comes in shallow gasps, heart pounding.

  There's still a block of houses to go when we hear the sound of footsteps following us. Jack curses just loud enough for me to hear. I know exactly what he's thinking. We shouldn't have done this.

  Maybe he's right. Did I just hurt someone? How much damage did we do? And does this make me too much like them now?

  “Over here,” a man calls out behind us.

  Lands no! “Move it,” I say between breaths.

  We pick up the pace even more, though who knows how long we can continue like this? A spell flies over head, bright orange. Now they'll have seen where we're at and won't miss a second time.

  Tawny shoots several beams of light at them, hitting them to the ground and hopefully blinding the others. But no, they get up off the ground and keep chasing. There's more distance between us now but not nearly enough to save us.

  Tawny can't be captured. Neither can Annabelle. These two women mean too much, not only to others but to me. A bright orange spell flies toward Jack. I block it with a burst of green. Too much fear clouding my emotions. No one has to know that except me, though.

  I flash a spell back at them, yellow and green, ready to knock them to the ground like Tawny did before. I don't know what else to do, what else will save us. A blue spell zips to me, wrapping around my ankle, knocking me to the ground.

  After a stunned moment, I turn and kick at the spell still holding me down. Out of nowhere, Jack appears, slicing into the spell with a green one of his own. As soon as I'm free, I jump to my feet.

  “Thank you,” I say between huffs.

  But we're not safe yet. It doesn't feel like we'll ever be safe again. They are too close, and we are too far from safety.

  There's only one thing I can think to do. I picture a barrier between us and them, solid and firm. I thrust the spell out behind us in a wave of dark green. Thankfully the color is dark, glowing in the night, so as not to give us away any further than it has to. Before I face forward, a yellow spell splashes against the shield.

  “Faster,” Jack demands, like we aren't already going at our fastest pace.

  We reach the woods separating us from safety and dart in. Annabelle slows.

  “Not yet,” Jack says. “Keep going.”

  She hurries again but says between breaths, “I don't know how long I can.”

  We dodge through the trees, gasping for breath. A green spell slams into a tree to my right. This wasn't such a good idea after all.

  I turn, blasting off another shield spell, putting all my power into it, hoping to give us enough time to run off. There's shouting from behind us, but it grows more distant as we run. And run we do. We go and go and go, everything in me aching, especially my side. I grasp onto it and keep going as fast and as far as I can. The further we get, the more we slow, but we still don't stop. By the time we reach our packs, there's not another sound besides us.

  We wait there a moment, and I don't dare believe we actually got away with it. Any moment, the law officers will be back, attacking us again. But no, there's nothing and no one. Somehow, we escaped.

  “We did it,” Annabelle says.

  We sure did something.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The next day, after traveling out of our way to make certain no one's following us, we make it back to the safe house. Everything is as we left it. I can't be
lieve we really did that. We put our things away and go back to stewing over nothing. There's too much time on our hands this way. If something doesn't change, due to boredom, we're going to end up risking our lives by attacking another law office, and maybe this time not be so lucky.

  Several hours later, Chadwick strides in the room and, without closing the door, comes straight to me, wrapping his arms tight around me. I can't see anything but his shirt. I can't even move, he's wrapped me so tight. I must make some sort of noise because he lets go with such sudden force, it takes me a moment to catch myself while he's hurrying back several steps.

  “Sorry,” he says. “I was just worried about you when I knew what happened to Zade in the house you were staying at. I didn't know if…”

  “I'm fine. We're fine.” I motion to the others, but really I'm thinking about Tawny because she's too close to the line for the Envado throne. Of course, he wouldn't hug someone of her importance like he just did me. Must be why he felt the need to squeeze me extra tight.

  “Have you heard anything about Serena or Cynthia? I sent them a warning as soon as I heard, but I haven't heard back from them yet.”

  “They're safe.”

  This time, I don't even try to pretend to be strong. I sink into the closest chair, all the pressure built up in me deflating. “Thank all of Envado.”

  “They have a surprise for you. They will be here soon. In fact I need to return to them and make sure they get here without a problem. I only came to scout it out so I could be sure it was secure and make sure you really were safe.”

  I'm already on my feet headed toward the door, though it's raining outside. “I'll go with you. We'll be back soon,” I tell the others. “Make yourselves comfortable. Cook something if you’re hungry. Make yourselves at home here.” If any of them even know how to do more than pull out dried meat. “Hopefully, we'll figure something out when I get back.”