by Matt Ryan
“What is it?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Bridget asked.
“Like I said, Mark, Jackie and I were getting attacked by Quinn, and then I got sent here.”
Her face contorted with a mixture of emotions. If she didn’t say what it was soon, I’d jump right through the steel bars and choke it out of her.
“You’ve been missing for over a month, Allie.”
“What? That’s crazy.” I looked at the ceiling and everything around me. A month? I would have died long ago without food or water. Had they used an entirely different stone on me? My mind raced with possibilities. I grabbed my head and noticed the sharp pains bouncing around inside of it.
“Allie, there’s a war raging out there. Quinn has called out your mom as a threat to all of alchemy in her pursuit for the stone. Verity is searching the world over for her son and brother, and the rumor is, they’re dead.”
I fell to my butt and the cage rattled with my landing. I looked away from Bridget; I didn’t dare tell her the truth because I didn’t trust who might be listening.
Some steel creaked and I turned in the direction of this new noise. A man carrying a large tray walked in. In the low light, I couldn’t make out his face until he got closer. I didn’t know the man, but he felt familiar to me.
He didn’t say a word and moved slowly as he approached my cell. He was elderly, walked with a limp and dragged his right foot along. “Go to the back wall and place your hands on the bars.”
“What do you want with us?” I asked.
“Do as I say or I will not give you this food and water.”
I licked my lips at the tray of food and decided to comply with his wishes. Bridget scoffed and had her hands on her hips. She wasn’t starving; she didn’t get how much hunger could control a person. The sound of the tray clattering under a space below the door made me glance back and see the food sliding into my room.
He stood up and took a few steps back. “Go ahead.”
I rushed to the platter, which held a few slices of bread, meat, and cheese. I wolfed them down, stuffing my face. When I was finished, my gut hurt and the thirst kicked in.
“Water,” I said with a mouth half-full.
The man carried a second tray over to Bridget, who scowled at him. “I won’t eat that.”
“I’ll take it,” I said. He shrugged and slid the food under my door. “I need some water, please.”
The man took out a bottle of water from his jacket and unscrewed the cap. He took a drink from it, then squeezed the bottle until almost all of the water was on the cement floor. He put the cap back on and tossed the bottle to me. It struck the steel bars overhead and fell fast. I darted to the bottle, but it landed on the floor before I could get there, fell into the funnel and disappeared below. I landed on my knees and spit out the last bits of food from my mouth. I didn’t have the saliva to break it down, and my gut hurt from the heavy food.
When I got up, the trays were gone and the man was walking toward the door.
“Wait!” I yelled. He stopped and turned around. “Aren’t you going to tell us what’s going on? What did we do? What do you want from us?”
He laughed and shook his head. “It never gets old. Don’t worry; he’ll be here soon enough to deal with you and your new friend.” He chuckled to himself as he carried the platter out the door.
The sound of the steel door clanging shut echoed through the room. I looked at the ceiling, hoping Mark could somehow hear me and would know where to go. “What’s the date?”
“January fourth.”
“What? It should be December seventh.”
Bridget sighed again and grabbed the bars. “I told you, it’s been over a month.”
The realization of it hit me again and I fell against the steel bars. What else could I do? Mark must be out of his mind. He probably thought I was dead. “You haven’t heard anything from Mark?” “I’ve heard things.”
“What?”
“I heard about his reckless pursuit of you. I’ve also heard Jackie and your mother have paired up and are single-handedly keeping Quinn knocked down, but it’s only a matter of time until they get unlucky.”
“Shut your mouth.”
Bridget shook her head and smiled. “They need you back, Allie. I know that much.”
I knew what my mom wanted from me, and I wasn’t about to tell Quinn, or whoever else was coming, the details of our plans. I knew how to beat their mental stones. Let them bring it on. “When’s the last you heard anything about my mom and Mark?”
“About a week ago. Carly’s mom is something of a networker. She has ears everywhere.”
A week? So much could happen in a week! And being stuck in this blasted cage for a month . . . What had I missed, and how could I have missed it? I knew for sure, I had woken up no more than two days ago. What had happened during that time?
The steel door creaked again and a blonde stormed through, making a beeline for me.
“Thought I smelled bitch,” Bridget said.
Verity sneered and stopped a few yards in front of my cell. “How did you get here?”
I stared at her. “If you don’t know, how the hell would I? You guys are the ones who hit me with a stone.”
She frowned and took a few steps closer, squinting at me. “Yeah, but when?”
“I just got—” Bridget started to say, but Verity put up a finger and glared at her.
“I know how you got here, you stupid twit. I’m talking to Allie.”
“I don’t know what you mean. I just arrived here as well,” I said.
Verity took in a deep breath and straightened. “It doesn’t matter. All I need from you is the location of my son and my brother.”
As much as I wanted to be the bearer of bad news, I thought it better not to tell her I had watched Axiom go down in a blazing end. “I don’t know. My mother has him, and apparently I’ve been out of it for a while. They could be anywhere at this point.”
She laughed. “You expect me to believe Cathy can hold on to Axiom? Leo, maybe, but Axiom? No way. She did something to him. I can feel it.”
“She held on to you,” I said.
Her eye twitched and she took a few steps closer. She was standing under one of the hanging lights, which revealed the features of her face. She didn’t have the proper look she had maintained at the Academy. Her hair was frizzed at the ends, deep sags had appeared under her eyes and she looked paler. Even her clothes looked matted and wrinkled, as if she’d slept in them.
I walked closer and put my hand in my pocket, as if I might have a stone in it. She didn’t take a chance, shifting her body to give me a smaller target.
“Tell me where they are!” Some hair slipped out of her bun as she screamed. Strands of it stuck to her face as she shook.
“Verity, why didn’t you tell me we had guests?” a man said from the doorway.
She pushed back her hair and gritted her teeth before turning around. “Quinn, I didn’t think you were here.”
“I just arrived.” Quinn left the door open and walked toward us. He was wearing a black suit with a baby-blue shirt underneath. He was an older man, but walked with the swagger of someone who was used to getting his way. A few strands of gray peppered his dark hair, and his bright white smile gleamed in the dim light.
“What a pleasure. I was just about to get started on Allie, here,” Verity said.
He walked up next to Verity, not giving her a second look, and stared at me with light green, hypnotic eyes. I struggled to pull away from his gaze as he smiled and walked right up to the edge of my cage.
Taken aback by his unfaltering approach, I stepped away and looked to Bridget, who only shrugged.
“Why are they in these cells?” Quinn asked, looking to Verity, who had her arms crossed as she sneered at me.
“They’re dangerous,” Verity said. “They kidnapped my family, destroyed my entire academy and killed a dozen teachers in the process.”
&nb
sp; My heart lodged in my throat. The teachers had been killed? My mom had said she’d put them away in a prison of her own. I hunched over, feeling sick. Bridget and I were the two who had lit the fuse. Verity had to be wrong. They must still be holed up in one of my mom’s prisons.
Quinn shook his head and addressed me and Bridget. “I, for one, don’t have any intention of hurting either of you. If I let you out, can I be assured of the same treatment?”
I nodded.
“See, Verity? They are civil, reasonable young women.” He flicked his wrist and spread out his fingers, and there, in between his middle and pointer fingers, he was holding a stone. He smiled at the little trick and then touched the stone to the door. It unlocked and swung open.
I hesitated, feeling woozy, and took a few cautious steps toward the door. Splitting my attention between Verity and Quinn, I passed the threshold and stepped onto solid ground. My feet had never felt so relieved. The flat, solid floor felt like a dream.
Quinn watched me with open amusement. “I’m sorry to stare, but you look so happy to be out of there.”
“You put me there, the day you raided our camp. I’m sure it was your stone.”
“That was you? But that was a month ago.”
“I guess you sent me here by boat, then, because that’s what happened.”
Quinn looked to Verity and she raised an eyebrow.
“How about you give me another portal stone, and I’ll be on my way with Bridget.”
“Of course, Bridget.” Quinn moved forward and skipped the hand movements; he simply opened her door, then bowed and waved Bridget out. She stomped out of the cell, trying to keep her distance from Quinn. “Now, before we send you on your way, I need to discuss a few things with you. Perhaps we can go somewhere more comfortable? My office?”
Verity rolled her eyes behind his back and crossed her arms again. “We don’t have time for this. I’m sure she knows where Axiom is.”
“Patience, Verity,” Quinn said, looking over his shoulder.
Axiom’s final words swirled around in my head: how Quinn would use me up and toss me away.
“You letting us go is as likely as me growing wings and flying out of here. So, let’s get this over with so we can get back in our cells,” Bridget said.
Quinn looked at her as if for the first time and stepped closer. Bridget narrowed her eyes and made fists. He laughed. “She’s a fun one, isn’t she?” he said, looking to me.
I didn’t respond. Instead, I looked at the door on the far side of the room. If I could get past Quinn and Verity, I might be able to get through that door. I had no idea what was on the other side, but anywhere had to be better than here.
“Fine, the quiet type. How about we get back to my office and we can discuss the terms of your release?”
“Oh, please,” Verity said.
“One more comment, Verity, and I’ll deal with you instead of these two.”
The annoyed look left her face, replaced with a hint of fear.
“Come now.” He motioned for us to follow him.
As we made our way through the passages, I looked at everything, trying to figure out a way to make a stone. Bridget and I shared many glances and a quick, unspoken dialogue passed between us.
Bridget had every intention of escaping, and by the time we got to the staircase, I knew she would have my back if I decided to jump Quinn and toss him down the stairs
“Not much farther now,” he said, glancing back over his shoulder.
I eyed Bridget and tried to convey that we were about to walk into a shit storm. If we were going to get out of this, we needed to work in harmony.
Quinn stopped at a landing. We entered a small room with four doors and he smiled as I looked at each unmarked gray door. He walked to the right and opened the first. Natural light flooded into our small room and I welcomed the pleasant-smelling air.
I stepped onto the red carpet. It stood in sharp contrast to the white walls. The windows drew my attention away from the color, and the bright blue sky felt like a gift. I wanted to open the large windows and breathe the outside air. I needed to jump through one of them and get out of this place. Every second we cooperated felt like a mistake.
“Connie, we have guests. Can you make sure we are not disturbed?”
An older woman sitting behind a desk regarded Bridget and me with a blank expression before replying to Quinn. “Of course.”
“Thank you.” He smiled and then opened a large black door.
I walked past Connie, who didn’t spare us another glance. Before I went through the black door, I glanced back at her computer screen. It was blank. Bridget bumped into me and gave me another look. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but she glared at Quinn and nodded to the next room.
The next room appeared to be Quinn’s office. Through the window behind his long desk, I could see the city of Los Angeles in the distance. The hills to either side of us were covered with enormous houses. Then it hit me . . . I’d been trapped inside his house the entire time. It felt unnerving to be in the man’s home versus some office structure or headquarters. We were in his private space.
I rubbed my sweaty palms on my jeans and knew I was deep in the lion’s den. If Bridget weren’t at my side, I’d probably already have done something foolish. I looked around the room, searching for something to help us. On each side of the large office stood a single door painted the same color as the walls. Bridget and I exchanged glances again. Maybe one of those doors was our way out.
“Please, take a seat.” Quinn rounded his desk and took a seat on a beige chair with an alchemist’s circle embroidered into the back of it.
I pulled out a chair and sat. Verity stayed near the door we’d come through and looked as annoyed as ever.
Quinn opened a drawer and pulled out a couple of bottles. “Water?”
“Sure,” I said. Bridget shot me a glance, but I figured if the man had wanted to put something in our water, we wouldn’t have been paraded around. And even more than that, I was thirsty.
Bridget grabbed a bottle from him and held it in her lap. I drank down a good portion of mine and hoped my assessment of the contents was accurate.
“Can we stop with the dog and pony show here, and get down to brass tacks? What do you want?” Bridget asked.
“Direct. I like that, up to a certain point . . . and you’re pushing it,” Quinn said, and a bit of crazy crept into his wide green eyes.
Bridget slumped under the weight of his gaze and opened her bottle of water.
“Allie Norton, daughter of Cathy Norton. It feels surreal to have you here in my sanctum. Has your mother mentioned me?”
“Not really. Who are you?” I asked, hoping to spark something.
Quinn laughed. “Lies. I saw the fear in your eyes when we first met. Why was that? Why would you fear me?”
“I don’t,” I replied, looking out the window.
“You shouldn’t. I know Cathy very well.” I didn’t like how he said it, and my face betrayed me. He continued to prod. “Did you know she worked for me? She was a bit younger than you are now, and it was more of a day job at the time, but I saw potential in her.”
Bridget groaned. “Do I really have to suffer down Memory Lane? Can’t you just—”
Quinn slapped the top of the desk and I jolted in my seat. “I warned you, and you just crossed the line. No more!” He combed back his hair with his hand and plastered on his winning smile.
“Back to what I was saying. I saw potential in her, but Clay, a young, powerful alchemist, swept her up in his ideology. She left me and I wished her well—until I found them portaling into my warehouses and stealing my stones. I banished her to suburbia and banned her from ever using alchemy again. Her mentor I threw in prison, though, because he was the one behind it all. He’d just used a young, naïve girl to help him.”
I listened to his words with skepticism.
“We watched her for a while, but she settled down like a good girl, and ev
en picked herself out a nice rube to marry. After she gave birth to you, we felt satisfied she’d heeded our warnings, so we stopped watching her.” He leaned back in his chair. “I feel responsible in a way. I wanted to let go of her and let her live her life. I should have known she was only buying time.”
“Time for what?”
“You were eight when your mother left, correct?” I nodded. “That was only a short time after we stopped watching her. She must have figured it out and made plans to leave.”
I leaned forward, interested in what he had to say about my mom’s disappearance from my childhood—and hating myself for hanging on his every word.
“She was part of a small group that assaulted the prison, where she was able to free Clay. The people she was with didn’t get away, though. In fact, some are still in one of my prison cells.” He sat up straight and looked at me. “We have you to thank for finally disposing of Clay. That sunder stone was something nasty. They lost a good many of their senior members that day at Verity’s, and I don’t think Cathy has been right ever since. Poor girl.”
It felt like a huge weight had been thrown on top of me. I knew someone had been killed that day, but I had never known what stone had killed them. I couldn’t breathe. This was too much, too quick. I glanced at Bridget, who shot me a You’re not buying this crap, are you? look.
But I was; it felt true to me. I pulled a deep breath and tried to clear my head while the thoughts of why my mother had left me sank in and took hold. “My mom isn’t perfect,” I willed myself to say. “And she’s made some terrible mistakes. But I know she loves me.”
“Perhaps. Maybe I have it all wrong and she’s the good guy. Maybe she is the one who deserves to hold the philosopher’s stone.”
I looked away, thinking of my last conversation with her.
“You are the one to take it, then?” Quinn asked, and I wondered if he was reading my thoughts somehow. “Or at least she told you as much. But we both know, if the time ever came, she would never relinquish that power to another.” He laughed. “Even Bridget here is leery of Cathy. Why do you think she went to Foster’s academy?”
“He’s using an insight stone. Clear your thoughts,” Bridget said.