by Ben Reeder
“Oh, the flight was okay, a little bumpy, thanks for asking,” he said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. So, tell me, what kind of magick are they using?” In the background, I could hear Mom and Dee talking, and further away, Draeden’s deeper voice.
“Muvian blood magick. Sound familiar?”
“A little,” his voice went cold. “Etienne used something similar, didn’t he? But how does a vampire trying to use life force to bust open a portal to Hell relate to this case?”
“I don’t know, it might not, but there are a lot of similarities. Depends on what this group is doing with the souls they’re taking. But evidently, there’s a way to defend against it. We’re almost to the airport now. We’ll go into detail then.”
Minutes later, Sinbad was pulling the van into a parking spot outside one of the private hangars. A sleek black jet was turning into the open doors facing the runway as we came in the smaller doors opposite. No sooner than it came to a stop, the hatch was opening, and my little sister pretty much exploded out the opening. I had a brief moment to notice that she was like a foot taller before she was trying to tackle me. I just had time to drop a little and brace myself so that her flying tackle was more like a flying hug.
“Oof!” I said, overdoing it a little bit. “Ohhh, I missed you sis.” For a moment, all I could see was black curls, and there was a high pitched sound in my left ear that slowly resolved itself into my sister’s voice.
“Missed you too!” she said as she pulled back. When she wasn’t moving at high speed, I could see that she’d grown maybe a couple of inches instead of a foot. “Is Pyewacket keeping you safe?”
“He’s doing a great job,” I said. “Even with the homework part.” Mom and Dr. Corwyn were a few steps behind her, and I barely got to my feet before I was caught up in a hug from Mom. She seemed smaller, even though she made my ribs creak with her hug. It was when I shook Dr. C’s hand that I realized that Dee wasn’t the only one who had put on a little extra height.
Finally, Draeden made his appearance. He looked as neatly pressed as he always did in a charcoal gray suit with a pale blue shirt and burgundy and silver striped tie. There was a little warmth in his cold blue eyes, and his lean face cracked into a narrow smile. His staff tapped against the concrete as he walked toward us, the round crystal atop it catching the occasional glimmer.
“Well, Mr. Fortunato, the Franklin Academy seems to be suiting you well enough,” he said as he stuck his right hand out. With most mages, I got a tingle or a slight spark. From Draeden, all I could feel was the low hum of contained power as I shook hands with him for the first time.
“Can’t say that I’m really that happy to be there, but…” I said.
“It’s where you need to be right now, and you know it. Wizard Corwin says you have some new information on that case. Let’s discuss it in the car, shall we?” he said as he gestured toward a long black limousine parked inside the hangar.
“Let’s,” I said.
“You folks have fun with that,” Sinbad said. “Me and Shade have to get back to home.”
“Already?” Shade and I protested in unison.
“Already, kid,” Sinbad said. “We gotta let Sable save some face here. Don’t worry, you’ll see your girl at homecoming. Now kiss ‘er goodbye so we can get the Hell outta here.” We didn’t waste time needing to be told twice.
“Your lips are puffy,” Mom said as I got in the limo.
“You’ve got kissy face,” Dee added smugly.
“Give it time, munchkin,” I told her. “You’ll get your first crush and then I’ll have my revenge.”
“As endearing as this moment is,” Draeden said, “we have very little time for, shall we say, unguarded conversation. Now, tell me what you know, Mr. Fortunato.” He steepled his fingers together and tilted his head to the side.
I laid it out as quickly as I could, the attacks on the vampires and werewolves, the blood magick defense, and the experimental nature of the attacks at the school. “None of this is on the record or official,” I said to finish.
“Perhaps not,” Draeden said slowly. “But there is a great deal that can be done in the interests of keeping this information on the far side of that line. Your work has already yielded results. I can’t say I’m disappointed.”
“I’m thrilled,” I said flatly. “So, can I enjoy the day with my mom and my sister?”
“There is one more item that needs to be addressed, Mr. Fortunato. I sent you here to be educated. I sent you here to learn some discipline. I expected a certain amount of chaos on your part, but I did not send you here to do the work of the Sentinels. So, if you find anything else, I fully expect that it is to be an accidental discovery that is reported to the Sentinels immediately, as opposed to some clandestine investigation you conduct on your own. Am I making myself abundantly clear?”
“Right,” I said. “Get out of the Meddling Kids business. Bad for my health, and not good for my grades, either. Got it.”
Draeden turned to Mom and Dr. C. “Is he always like this? I can’t tell if he’s taking this seriously or not.”
“Even I don’t know if he’s taking you seriously,” Mom said in a voice col enough that I thought the windows would frost. “Especially since about six months ago, the Council was one vote away from killing him.”
“Not our finest hour, obviously,” Draeden said. “And one that we shouldn’t be forgetting. But I was also one of the votes in his favor, and at the moment, leaving your son at the Franklin Academy goes against my better judgement. By the same token, Chance,” he paused and leaned toward me, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad you’re there.”
“Well, that makes one of us.” The car stopped for a moment, and the rear window hummed as it went down to reveal a Sentinel peering into the car. After a brief exchange, we were rolling into the campus.
“Enjoy your afternoon,” Draeden said as the car rolled to a stop. “I’ll be leaving in a few hours for Seattle. I’ve already arranged for a carriage and passage for you via the transit ring back to New Essex.” We got out to find ourselves in front of Chadwicke Hall. A group of parents and students were milling about, and a staffer approached with a clipboard in hand. “Ah, it looks like you’re in time for the tour.”
“I wanna go!” Dee said. “Can we go and see Chance’s school?”
“Of course we can,” Mom said. “That’s why we’re here.” We hustled to join the group, which seemed to consist mostly of scholarship students, if the clothes were any clue.
Ninety minutes or so later, and I had a new appreciation of Mom’s genius level parenting. Dee was beginning to flag, her seemingly endless nine year old energy finally reaching its limits. We ended up at Chadwicke Hall again, in the main dining hall. A line of refreshments awaited us, and no one seemed shy about taking advantage of it. A little food and juice seemed to completely recharge Dee, and she was chattering away as we headed for Jefferson Hall.
Hoshi and Kiya were lounging on the steps along with a lot of other kids. Energy strings were being spun and thrown into crazy shapes.
“Can you do that?” Dee asked. I put my fingers together and willed a little magick into my hands, then pulled them apart with a sheet of purple energy between the rectangle formed by my thumbs and forefingers. Her face lit up as I pulled my hands apart to stretch the plane out further, then imagined her face inside it. She laughed with delight when her own face appeared, and I twisted my hands to break it into a hundred little connected triangles that fluttered away like purple moths. As she chased the rapidly fading energy moths, I made a pair of dark blue energy strands and started to spin them, then threw them along their own planes of momentum so that they seemed to stop spinning and go straight up, then did it so they flew sideways before I pulled them back. I did a few more tricks before I dispelled the energy strands.
“You mean like that?” I asked.
“Yeah!”
“Nope, totally can’t do anything like that.” That earned me a punc
h in the arm. “Help! Help, I’m being oppressed!” I cried out. Dr. Corwin and Mom laughed, evidently both getting the line.
“Well, your studies are obviously going well, even if they’re being misused,” Dr. C said in mock disapproval.
“What can I say?” I shot back. “I’m working real hard on that whole misspent youth thing. Maybe I should follow your example and head down to Padre Island over Spring Break to impress the coeds down from UT?”
“Maybe you should introduce us to your friends?” Mom said, looking toward Hoshi and Kiya. Desiree had joined them, her red gloves standing out against her black t-shirt as she smoothed unseen wrinkles from the stretch satin. “They’ve only been watching us since we walked up.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “Mom, this is Kiya, the pretty one beside her is my roommate Hoshi, and this is my friend Desiree. Guys, this is my Mom, the dark haired little whirlwind is my sister Dierdre, and this is my mentor, Dr. Corwyn.” A chorus of greetings answered my introduction. I looked around for a moment before speaking again. “Hoshi, where’s Junkyard?”
“Playing with Ren,” Hoshi answered. He flicked his hand toward the open end of the quad. I turned to look that way to see a group of sprites come flying around the corner about three feet off the ground. Their wings were purple with exertion, and a moment later, I saw why. Junkyard came tearing around the corner with Ren on his back, leaning into the turn as he gained on the sprites. His legs churned as he sped up and started passing the low flying fae. Ren let out a yell as they overtook the group of sprites, which got higher in pitch as they barreled toward us. The sprites passed us in a buzz of wings, with Junkyard’s feet thudding in their midst. He pulled ahead of the group a few yards later and kept going, not slowing down until he had passed between a pair of trees near one corner of the quad.
As Ren and Junkyard came trotting back toward us, the other sprites flew up to them, and I could see Ren handing each of them something, then they scattered.
“What was that all about?” I asked as Ren rode up with a smug look on his face.
“Just a little race,” Ren said. He flitted into the air and dug into his pouch, pulling out a lump of something. At the sight of it, Junkyard’s tail started whipping back and forth and he started dancing in place. “Who’s the fastest dog in the whole wide world? Who’s the fastest? Junkyard is! Yes he is!” He tossed the little lump into the air, and Junkyard went still, then leaped up and caught it in his jaws mid-flight. For a moment, all he did was chew and wag his tail.
“Who is this?” Mom asked.
“This is Ren,” I said. “Ren, this is my mom, my little sister Dierdre and Dr. Corwin, my mentor. Ren…works for the school.”
“Are you helping my brother?” Dee asked.
“Wellll,” Ren said slowly as his face scrunched up and his wings turned a pale green. “I uh, I help take care of Junkyard and I run errands for him sometimes as a favor.”
“It’s okay, Ren, they know what we’re doing.”
“Oh!” he said. His wings turned a bright pink and he dropped down to eye level with Dee. “Yes, I am helping your brother.” There was no mistaking the pride in his voice, or the way his chest puffed out.
“Ren!” a high pitched voice called out. Ren’s wing’s went dark green as he rose higher and turned to face a red-winged Egle as he streaked toward us.
“Exactly what is the meaning of this?” Egle demanded as he held out a little round poker chip with something written on it.
“It’s a task token,” Ren said.
“I know what it is. I know what they’re used for, too.”
“Oh, well then there’s no need for me to explain anything…right?”
“Except how so many sprites turned up with tokens for your tasks and complaining how you cheated them,” Egle bellowed. “Gambling is forbidden. Cheating is enough to get your wings torn off.”
“Hey! You leave him alone!” Dee said. “He didn’t cheat. He won that race fair and square!”
“Young lady, I appreciate your candor,” Egle said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that Ren was gambling. And, most likely cheating.”
“I wasn’t cheating,” Ren protested. “I even handicapped myself.”
“So you admit you were gambling,” Egle said.
“Along with the rest of your staff,” Dr. Corwin said. “I think I’m going to have to speak to the headmaster about your leadership.”
“What?” Egle said, his wings going a sickly brown.
“You did say that a lot of your sprites showed up with those tokens, which means that they were gambling, too,” Dr. C said in a chilling monotone. “Now, if you’re only going to punish Ren, it seems to me that you might have your own racket going…one he got in the way of. If you’re not involved, then it certainly doesn’t speak well of your leadership, or this school. So, you can either drop the matter entirely, you can address it fairly and discipline everyone involved, or I can take my concerns to the headmaster. It’s up to you.”
Egle’s wings were a dark, sickly green by now. “Well, perhaps I can overlook this one infraction. But no more schemes like this, Ren. I assigned those tasks to you. I expect you to get them done as assigned in the future. And I’ll speak with the rest of the staff about this.” He rose into the air, his wings going from green to a dark red before he flew off. Ren turned to Dr. Corwin and rose to his eye level.
“Thank you so much, sir!” he gushed. “If ever you need anything, just ask, and I’ll either do it or get you someone who can!”
“You’re already doing exactly what I’d ask,” Dr. C said with a smile.
Ren turned to me, his wings darkening a little. “I’m sorry…” he started.
“You little hustler,” I cut him off with a smile of my own. His wings fluctuated between pink and green. “I can’t say I’m proud of you, but I know if Junkyard didn’t want to race, he wouldn’t have. But I am impressed.”
“You are?” he asked, his wings turning pink again as his face lit up.
“Yeah. It was the kind of thing I might have done back when I worked for the other guy. But I’m curious, what did you feed Junkyard a minute ago?”
Ren grinned and pulled another lump from his pouch. “Nothing special, just pemmican,” he said as he handed it to me. “Dried meat, fat and fruit mixed together. I add in a little peanut butter or maple syrup for flavor sometimes. It isn’t bad for him, I promise. I eat it all the time.” I pulled a little piece off and tried it. Savory and tart at the same time, the peanut butter made it even better.
“Can I try it?” Dee asked. Ren pulled a third bit of it from his pouch and handed it to her. Her face lit up as she chewed it, and she immediately stuffed another piece in her mouth before she turned to Mom. “Mom, Mom! You’ve got to learn how to make this stuff!” She handed the rest to Mom and turned back to Ren. “Do your wings ever get tired?”
“I often wonder that about human legs,” Ren said. “But when I get tired, I simply land for a bit, much like you sit down.” As if to demonstrate, he flew over and landed on Dee’s shoulder. Her smile got bigger; I was definitely going to have to do something nice for Ren. As he chatted with Dee, the doors to the hall opened, disgorging Stewart and Rebecca, leading four people that I guessed were their parents. Stewart led the group down the steps toward us.
“Dad, this is the boy I was telling you about,” Stewart said with a gesture toward me. One of the two men with him, a tall guy with steel gray hair, stepped forward and offered his hand. Much like when I’d shaken Draeden’s hand, I felt the hum of restrained power when our hands touched.
“Randall Hampton,” the older man said with an almost genuine smile. “I want to say thank you for saving my son’s life. That’s a debt I don’t think I can ever fully repay.”
I shook my head. “A good man doesn’t keep score like that. And I’m trying to get there.”
“Corwin, right?” the elder Hampton asked Dr. C. “I’ve heard of you. You’re doing a good job with him. Still
, Chance, if you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Chance, I thought I knew every pretty girl here. Who are these two ladies?” Stewart asked.
“This is my mom,” I said. “And this is my sister, Dierde,”
“Your sister,” he said. “Is she the one who…” he let the question trail off, but made a thrusting gesture with his index and middle finger. “With an iron-cored wand at that?” I nodded, and he turned to Dee. “You know, I wish I could be here when you decide to come to the Academy.” He put a hand to her shoulder, and she squirmed out from under his touch.
“Mom says I can be anything I want,” Dee said. “So I’m going to be a Time Lord. Only I’ll be a Time Lady, instead.”
“Well, you still have to go to school,” Stewart said. “And if you’re anything like your brother, I certainly hope you come here.”
“I might,” Dee said with her chin thrust out. “Or I might not.” Stewart laughed and turned back to Mom.
“She’s a lot like her brother, and I mean that as a compliment, Miss..?”
“Murathy,” Mom said. “Or you can call me Mara, if you like.”
“Well, Mara,” Randall said, “We were about to go enjoy the Parents Day banquet. Why don’t you and Chance’s friends join us?”
“We’d be delighted,” Mom said. “Maybe now I can learn what my son has been up to from an unbiased observer.”
As Dee started toward us, Stewart reached out a hand toward Ren. “Get off her, vermin,” he hissed. Ren flew up as Dee gave Stewart a glare that he missed as he turned to walk behind her. As Dr. Corwyn and I hung back, Ren fluttered above us.
“Draeden got me the unredacted files for the two students from last year, plus the most recent ones,” he said. He pulled out a thumb drive and handed it to me. “I haven’t had a chance to go over them, so you’re likely to know more than I do pretty soon. If you do find anything new, let me know right away.”
“Gotcha,” I said. We hurried to catch up.
“Mom, can Ren come stay with us?” Dee was asking as we drew close.