Enchanter's Echo

by Anise Rae

  He watched her sleep, her head cradled on his lap and her hand on his thigh. His arm lay just beneath her breasts. She was warm and soft and peaceful. A just right happiness had settled into his soul like the piece he’d been missing his whole life. He’d savor it for just a while longer. He refused to let the evil stalking his territory steal this moment from him

  Even as he thought it, a booming roar shattered the night’s silence. Outside. Somewhere close. He didn’t jump. Instead, he calculated. About ten hours, he thought. That was his longest record with inner peace since she’d abruptly abandoned him last spring.

  Aurora jerked awake, opening her eyes while the sound still vibrated through the water tower. “What was that?” Her voice was quiet with sleep, but shaky from the startle. “That felt like the blasting they did when they made the sewer tunnels.”

  He slipped her head off his lap and stood, placing a pillow beneath her. Someone was coming from the field in a hurry. His mage sense registered the presence.

  “They finished that months ago. I don’t know what that was.” Striding toward the stairs, he yanked his suit jacket from the back of the chair as he passed. Proper dress was a habit.

  The jingle of her homemade doorbell rang in the air.

  “Oh, goddess, is it your mother? Is she arresting us? Wait! I’ll get the door!”

  “It’s Keene,” Edmund hollered, recognizing the kid’s vibes. He jogged down the stairs. Did she really think he’d let her answer the door at three in the morning? Nothing good ever came from a knock at three. He much preferred a knock at five in the morning. Those were never quite as bad.

  He parted the vines.

  Keene stood there, grim faced and dirty. “Bull wants you at the towers. He thinks some kids just set off a charm bomb over there. He’s got most of the others out searching for ’em. I gotta go, too. I’m just relaying the message.” The kid ran off.

  “I’m coming with you!” Aurora hollered from the platform.

  The hell she was.

  “Stay here where it’s warm, princess,” he hollered back as he straightened his tie. “I’ll tell you everything as soon as I get back.”

  “No way.” She appeared at the top of the stairs, grabbed her coat and hat from where she’d tossed it over the banister, and ran down. “If the towers are damaged I might be able to enchant them back into shape. We don’t have a metallist mage anymore.” She sucked in a breath. “Oh, goddess, I hope Gwyn is safe. She walks at night all the time.”

  “Through the trash towers? Seriously, you stay here.” He slid his hands against her neck, wanting nothing more than to lean down and kiss her goodbye. But something told him not to take that step, as if it would signify something more permanent, sealing a deal she wasn’t ready to make. Instead, he stroked her cheek. “I’ll call you if I need you.” He wouldn’t need her.

  She lifted her eyebrows. “No. I’m either coming now, or I’m following behind you.”

  An image of the rope he kept in the trunk of his car drifted through his mind. Tying her up and securing her to the bed appealed on multiple levels. The image stoked his blood hot enough to solder together the edges of his bleeding soul…almost. A shame his car was at the far side of the metallist’s shop.

  She stepped through the vines and held them open for him.

  He pressed his lips together at his decided defeat and walked through. “This enchantment doesn’t lock, does it?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “We’ll fix that later.” He forced his voice to stay soft and calm.

  Aurora had to break into a run a few times to keep up with him as they charged through the field, but he couldn’t afford to slow down. He pulled her along, their breath puffing in the cold as he scanned every inch of land.

  When they finally reached the towers, she was panting from the rush.

  “No one’s here,” she huffed.

  He kept scanning, but she was right. “And you know this how? You certainly aren’t using your mage sense.”

  “How’d you know I wasn’t?”

  “Senators don’t live long if they can’t recognize when someone’s mage sense is vibing.”

  They crept past the rows of towers, peering into the darkness. He sent a mage light to travel down each row. At the third row, a small pile of rough ash was scattered on the ground, barely noticeable. This was the one.

  “I’m going first.” He took one step between the tall towers. The moment he stepped in, his mage sense screamed in protest. He had to shut it down.

  “Do you sense any damage? I don’t,” she said, stepping in behind him.

  Hell, he couldn’t sense a damn thing, and it only got worse the farther they went.

  A sharp ring pealed through the air. Aurora jumped. Edmund didn’t exactly mirror her movement, but that was…unexpected. And, to him, instantly recognizable.

  “What the vibing heck is that?” she asked. The sound stopped only to start again. “A landline connection?” She squinted at a spot in the tower, directly above the small pile of debris.

  He could see its outline within the tower’s tightly crumpled metal. Here was the source of the landline call to the senator. His gut cramped. Whoever had made that call to his grandfather had been right here…so close to Aurora’s home and shop.

  She crouched slightly to bring it to eye level. “I don’t think it’s part of the tower. It’s like it’s just sitting in there.”

  It rang again. She reached out for it.

  Edmund grabbed her hand. “Let me do it.”

  “No. If it is trashed, I’ll be able to handle it, even if my instincts take over and I glitter everything. Better my instincts kick in than yours.”

  He couldn’t deny that, still, his heart pounded as she reached into the dark hole. The ringing halted the moment she touched it. She lifted it to her ear, but kept it from touching her face. Smart girl.

  “Hello?” she asked.

  A click sounded from the other end.

  She looked up at him and then carefully replaced the receiver back inside the tower.

  Edmund crouched at the pile of debris. Aurora did the same.

  “Don’t touch it,” he ordered. “Vin can get one of his people to examine it, figure out what kind of explosive this was.”

  “What about the vow?”

  “There’s no fissure here, so the silence vow isn’t in effect about this. But I’d bet our bomber wanted to destroy the phone.” He filled her on the landline call the senator had received. The caller had pointed the finger at the two of them.

  “Oh,” she puffed, dismay and fear in the soft sound.

  “Are you satisfied there’s no damage to the towers?” At her nod, he grabbed her hand and pulled her down the dark corridor between the towers. He needed out of here.

  Before they made it out, another shrill call of the landline wailed through the air. Though they both halted, neither moved back toward it at first. But the ringing was persistent and hard to ignore.

  Aurora caved. She went back and lifted the receiver. “Hello?”

  “Where are you? What landline connection is this? Why are you so trashy?” The screech came through loud and clear.

  He stiffened.

  “Who is this?” Aurora asked.

  He knew the answer.

  “Why do you people always ask me that? We need to meet more often, much more often, if you can’t recognize my voice. Interested in another boat ride?” The crackly voice spat each word with a sharp edge.

  Aurora swallowed. “Would you be offended if I said no?”

  “Yes!”

  “Oh.”

  “Now where are you?” the High Councilor demanded.

  Aurora explained, “Tower thirteen in the junkyard. Another call came through just before yours, but they hung up.”

  “Yes.” The High C was quiet for a long time. “Clever. Who? I wonder. Tell me, enchantress, do you have any suspects?” Her voice vibr
ated through the phone, its tone reaching out like a dull knife to scratch at his skin.

  Aurora’s chest heaved up and down. She pinched her lips tight. His girl couldn’t bring herself to throw Wasten under the wand.

  “Do I need to compel you?” the old woman screeched.

  “Justin Wasten.” Edmund directed his sound waves into the receiver answering for her. “But he’s disappeared.”

  “Your new overseer? The Wastens. Fourth family. Seventy-nine percent dark mages, though most are stone mages.” She gave a low hum. “Perhaps. We’ll have my favorite general track him down. Surely Wasten can’t hide from my army. By the way, baby elephants need mothering. Tonight! I’ve seen it.”

  Aurora’s confused look landed on Edmund. Baby elephants had been born at the zoo a few weeks ago. Bronte had dragged Vincent, the High C’s favorite general, to go see them. That had made the newspapers.

  “Well, go do it, for vibes sake!” She’d lost her patience at Aurora’s silence.

  “How?”

  “How should I know?” the High Councilor screeched. “You people think oracles are the end all be all fountain of answers. I hate to break it to you, glitter girl, but they’re not! I don’t have all the answers.” She huffed and continued, “This the kind of crap I deal with everyday.”

  “I’m sorry?” His poor girl was grasping for the right words.

  “So am I. Now get out there and start mothering before someone notices that my Republic is falling apart at Rallis’s seams. Which is going to happen any minute now because I’m the oracle and I’ve foreseen the papers hitting the stands.”

  Aurora’s hand shook as she set the receiver back into the tower’s cradle. “I think she’s mad.”

  “What the holy vibes are you doing in there, Aurora?” A woman stood outside the towers. Her beautiful face almost glowed in the dark night. Pale blond hair flicked out beneath her black cap. “And who is this? You two having a good time between the towers?”

  “Gwyn, this is Monday. He’s the new Second.” Aurora introduced him. He kept his surprise hidden that she’d use his junkyard alias.

  Gwyn gave a throaty laugh and crossed her arms over her chest, tucking in her bare hands. “Guess you’re not Thursday, after all. Though you’re not a Monday either, are you?” Her smile was knowing. She’d recognized him.

  “Couldn’t sleep again?” Aurora strolled toward the entrance to the towers, but not fast enough for him. He put his hand on her shoulder, pushing her along. He needed out of this space so he could open his mage sense.

  Aurora stepped faster but focused on her friend. “I had a feeling you’d be out here.”

  Edmund opened his mage sense the moment they cleared the tower.

  Gwyn gave a smile. “Couldn’t sleep. As usual. I was coming to get Haines to tuck me back in.” She winked. “The load of anger that man carries around always makes me feel downright chipper by comparison. Why are you here? Being out in the middle of the night isn’t going to cure the bags beneath your eyes, my friend.”

  “Someone set off some kind of explosive device back here. We were checking out the towers. Fortunately, I don’t think they’re damaged.”

  “Oh, good goddess! Are you serious? Thank the vibes there’s no damage. Wasten and I were talking a couple of weeks ago about whether or not a bomb could destroy a trash tower. Guess we have our answer. But still, Rallis let you come with him to check out a bomb?”

  Aurora blinked, her eyes drooping for a moment, in mixed up sympathy for their suspect, he was sure. Then she squared her shoulders. “Edmund doesn’t let me, Gwyn. I decided on my own.”

  Gwyn lifted a blond eyebrow. “Well, good for you, but are you sure he agrees with you on that? Men like him have a tendency to take over their girls’ lives. Believe me, I know.” She shifted her gaze to him. “Aurora can’t handle first families. You do know about her time in Noble, right?”

  He’d never expected to feel jealous of a girl. From the satisfaction hinted at in her smile, he wasn’t doing a good job keeping it off his face.

  “You don’t get to let me either, Gwyn.” His enchantress straightened tall.

  “Don’t make me get mad.” Gwyn put her hands on her hips. “He doesn’t belong here. You know it as well as I do. This is a junkyard, not a castle. Oh, starry night, I’m already mad. Where is Haines? I need someone to take my anger out on.”

  “He’s searching the neighborhood for our bomber,” Edmund said, his voice sharp. He did belong here. A hard, bitter kernel rattled in his gut at yet another person who believed otherwise. He tried to soften his tone. “Gwyn, let me assure you that not all founding families are the same. Don’t judge us all by the actions of one.” He didn’t wait for her answer. “Did you see anyone as you were walking here?” He tuned in for the cricket chirps of lies but anticipated hearing Wasten’s name as the answer. The man was Vincent’s problem now, but if the overseer was near, Edmund would track him himself.

  “I didn’t see a soul.” She frowned. “If Haines is out searching, I might as well put myself back to bed.” She spun around and stomped off toward the forest.

  No crickets. No Wasten.

  He watched her go. “She doesn’t like me.”

  “She has some issues.”

  “Where does she live?”

  Aurora stiffened until he thought she might break. She glittered, nervous again. He’d bet every one of Aurora’s delicious sparkles that Gwyn lived in the forest. How many people did she have hiding in there?

  She shuffled away from him, but he snagged her hand and changed the subject before she could start to agree with her friend’s sentiments.

  “We have a fissure to fix.”

  “Another one? You didn’t tell me that.” She stepped right back in line with him, a willing partner in this at least. He’d take what he could get.

  “My car’s over there.” He nodded toward the left and pulled her along.

  “We have elephants to mother, too. We’re taking the Donninger?” Her tired voice perked up. “Can I drive?”

  He blinked, surprised. “Next time, yes. When we’re not tracking down fissures or elephants.”

  He was determined that day would come.

  Chapter 11

  Revving the engine with his vibes, Edmund sped out of the junkyard and turned on to Front Street. The Drainpipe slept as he shot down empty streets, quiet except for a stray cat’s hunting vibes.

  “I’ve missed this,” she said with a sigh, rubbing her hands over the leather of the seats and the shiny wooden dashboard. Her delicate hands traveled over the surfaces with a lover’s touch. He didn’t want to look away.

  “You’ve ridden in a Donninger?”

  “I used to own one, but the Nobles wouldn’t let me take it with me.”

  A thrill shot through him that she was sharing her past. “They must have paid you extraordinarily well or was the car part of your salary?”

  She smiled, a hint of pride in her eyes. “Neither. I used to work in Donninger’s lab. I learned so much from that man. Then again, I think I taught him just as much. After every model came out of the lab, I got to test drive them. Most of the cars have a lot of my ideas in them. Poor man. Stuck in Noble. Did you know he was originally from Bradford Territory?”

  He studied her. “So Donninger was the amazing, smart, kind, charming, hardworking man in Noble who kept you occupied.” This was what love had done to him. It tied him tight to a woman who kept secrets and freed her truths one at a time. He studied her, determined to discover all her secrets, to lay bare her every nook and niche.

  “You remembered all that?”

  “When it comes to you, my mind is too greedy to forget.” He headed north. Judging from the pain, this was the right direction. They’d head to the fissure first, and then they’d deal with the elephants. “Can you sense it?” he asked.

  “I assume you mean the fissure and not your mind.” She shook her head. “No, but fro
m the High Councilor’s talk, maybe it’s with the elephants at the zoo.”

  From the ache, it was possible. They fell silent as he drove them past Livingston and out of the Pipe. Again, the pain ratcheted up. Tracking fissures had become his least favorite activity, but at least this time he had Aurora by his side. He glanced over at her.

  She leaned her head against the seat, twisting toward him, eyes soft. “We’re off to save the city together this time. If we had capes and purple boots, we’d be like Mageman and Vibe Girl,” she said with a sleepy smile. “Saviors of the city,” she quoted.

  Good goddess. He’d already thought she was perfect. “You read comic books.” He might have howled at the moon if not for the clouds.

  “I’d like to see you in purple boots,” she said. Her eyes shined, a teasing sparkle in their depths.

  Just like that, contentment settled back into his soul despite the fact they were tracking down an evil that had the potential to destroy his land. “I’d look dashing and handsome in purple boots.”

  “Naturally. The kingdom’s prince could be nothing less. Although, I’d rather be Energy Woman than Vibe Girl. She has that sleek suit and long legs. I always thought Vibe Girl looked kind of dumpy and fat next to her.”

  “Dumpy and fat! No way. Her curves are essential to the Mageman/Vibe Girl team.” Just as Aurora’s curves were essential to every fantasy he’d had in the last nine months. “Mageman could never hold onto Energy Woman while he flies.” He drove them past City Hall and the Christopher Columbus portal. The pain pulled him on, but he focused on Aurora, forcing it away. “Energy Woman is all straight and slippery. She’d fall right out of his grip and smash to pieces against the ground. Vibe Girl’s curves give her man something to hold onto. Besides, her little skirt flutters in the air.”

  “And if it would flutter just right then you could see what she wears under it?”

  “You’ve wondered, too?” He grinned, foolishly happy.

  She laughed. His heart fluttered just like that pink skirt.