“Of course, you can,” she said. “I’ll do the dishes and join you.”
Keron made himself comfortable on the couch and thumbed through one of Lisle’s books on mages while Fale washed the dishes. When she finished, she sat in the curve of his hip and nestled into his side to read the other book. She looked for anything about gifts that would help her to conjure up an object from thin air, like maybe a guitar; but she found nothing. Fale did find an interesting section on gifts, though, that mentioned projection. Not only using a gift on yourself but projecting it onto another object. Making something else invisible, for instance. This fascinated Fale. If she could make other things invisible… what could she do? She could hide something important. She could take the machine.
Keron shut his book. “I’m still getting used to the idea of magic,” he said. “It’s strange there’s a whole family of people who think nothing of it, living around me.”
“I think a lot of them live in the mountains,” Fale said. “They aren’t disturbed there.”
“That’s what I would do.”
“I wonder if Lucien comes from the mountains or the city,” she wondered aloud.
“Hmm. He’s a sharp dresser,” Keron said. “Maybe the city, but Ash’s manners are more rural.” He grinned broadly.
Fale took his book and set them both on the coffee table. “I owe you a back rub,” she said. My turn to torture you. Keron was unsure and squinted his eyes, but Fale knelt behind him and pulled up on his t-shirt. “Raise your arms,” she instructed. He obeyed reluctantly and she reached up to tug it off, tossing the shirt next to her. Fale looked at his back like an artist with a blank parchment. Where should she start? She placed her hands lightly on his shoulders, gripping the muscle there and rolling it with her thumbs. She mimicked all the movements he had made on her, walking her fingers along his spine in circles. She used her knuckles on the tight knots in his shoulder blades and was rewarded with a soft groan. She felt like she was forming a work of art with a hunk of malleable clay. She kneaded down Keron’s arm to his bicep and over his shoulders to his chest, fanning her fingertips into his flesh. He lay his head back on her shoulder and enjoyed her touch.
“Fale, what are you doing?”
“Seducing you. Is it working?”
“Yes.” He pulled her face to his and kissed her soundly. Fale’s belly began to heat up. “Come here.”
Still on her knees, she moved around the side of him and Keron wrapped his fingers around her body pulling her onto her on his lap. She held his face in her hands and kissed him with all her heart. “I want you.”
“Here?” he asked.
“Here.”
They melted together, removing all obstacles that lie between them, magic and otherwise. He guided her and she breathed in his every word; until she couldn’t stand it anymore and her flames burned fiery red.
Chapter 15
The sun was high above the horizon. Fale stretched languidly, gripping the headboard. “Do we have to get up?”
“No,” Keron said, perusing her body.
She beamed at him. “Kiss me?”
“Gladly.” He leaned over and kissed her wickedly. His lips played upon hers, then snuck down to her neck, and he kissed his way back to her mouth.
“We’ll never get up if you do that,” she said against his lips.
“Exactly.” He gently pulled her bottom lip with his teeth.
She snickered. “You’re evil.”
“Actually, I’m very, very good.”
“Conceited, you mean.”
“Just confident,” he contradicted with a smile.
“Let’s do laundry,” she said.
“Ugh. You are no fun at all.” He reached for her, but she scooted to the side.
She laughed and threw the covers away, getting out of bed. She turned around when he didn’t move. “Aren’t you coming?”
He raised up on one elbow, watching her, “Not yet." Keron waited for her to get dressed and then got up. “Want quiche for breakfast?”
“Sure,” she said.
“I’ll warm it up. You gather laundry.”
Fale was in the kitchen when she saw it. The shortest vision she’d had yet. It was a giant clock. A ticking clock. One that seemed to speed up as she watched it. She didn’t know what to make of it. She would have to think about it.
They spent the morning washing clothes in the kitchen sinks. Outside, on the northeast corner of the house, there was a clothesline and they hung their laundry to dry. Fale decided to practice her powers in the afternoon, on Keron’s prodding. “I still think we should go back to your apartment for your guitar,” she said.
“It’s probably gone, Fale.”
“Why? It’s only been a few days.”
“I can’t imagine Control doesn’t have a trap there by now. Please drop it.”
“Fine. If you insist,” she pouted.
“I do.”
“What’s on the table?” she asked.
“Looks like a piece of paper.” He walked to the coffee table and picked it up. She watched him read it.
“Well?”
“It’s an invitation to meet some city mages today.” He turned the paper to the side and continued to study it.
“Are they coming here?” she asked.
“No.” He pressed his lips together. “They live in Applegate Apartments.”
“That’s across the city.” She stepped next to him and held the paper, curious as to what he had seen. There was a map on the page showing the way to the mages’ apartment.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” he said.
“Lucien wouldn’t magically send us an invitation if it wasn’t safe,” she reasoned.
“How do you know it’s from Lucien? It could be a trap. I’m not sure he would send us into the city.”
“Not unless it was important. Do you think they know something about Nelson or the machine?” she asked.
“Maybe they can help you with your powers?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” She folded the paper and put it in her pocket. “Let’s go now. I want to see what they have to say.”
“Can you stay invisible for long?”
“I can try. The longest I’ve done it is half an hour. Why? What are you thinking?”
“I can disguise myself and blend in, but I want you to stay invisible through the city. We’ll scope the place out first. I’ll go in and say I’m alone, but I want you to stay close to me, until we know it’s safe.” He looked confident in his plan, but when he went to his toolbox for his knife and mallet, Fale knew how nervous he was.
They made it to Applegate Apartments undetected by walking around the city, behind the University buildings, rather take the shortcut down main street. Fale walked around the complex, looking for any of Gasten’s men, but found nothing.
“We’re all set,” she whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” Keron chuckled.
“Sshhh. I’m not supposed to be here.”
“Okay,” he whispered conspiratorially.
“Stop talking to me.” She hit his arm. He laughed at her.
Keron found the apartment and knocked on the door. A man in his forties opened the door. He looked surprised. Keron cleared his throat. “I’m Brock Palmquist. Ah, did I come at a bad time?”
The man shook his head and smiled. “No, no, not at all. Come in. We were expecting you and your wife.”
Keron walked in slowly to give Fale time to sneak around him. The man’s hair was short and styled, and he wore dress slacks with his button-up shirt. The apartment was spotless and smelled faintly of lemons, coinciding with the soft yellow decor. A woman came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. “Oh, they’re here,” she said. “Is your wife coming?”
“I’m afraid it’s just me, Mr., uh-”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the man said. “I’m Teague, this is my wife, Charlette, and we have a thirteen-year-old daughter, Krichelle.
This is Brock, dear.”
Charlette waved the men into the family room and ushered Keron to the sofa. Fale stood quietly inside the doorway, keeping as still as possible. “What can we do for you?”
“We received an invitation to visit,” Keron answered. “I was hoping you could tell me why I’m here.”
The couple laughed lightly. Teague sat in a reclining chair and folded his hands across his stomach. “We are mages who work for the Control agency.”
Keron shot up, ready to run, but Charlette stood in the doorway. “We offer no harm.” She smiled warmly at him. “We are covert agents.”
“Do sit. Please,” Teague said to Keron. “We have been watching you. Protecting you, if you will.”
Keron sat but didn’t relax like he had before. “Are you the ones who have been funding us?”
“Among other things. Haven’t you wondered why Control hasn’t been to the house?” Charlette asked.
Keron had wondered how safe they were, but apparently, there was more to the story. “Go on.”
“It is often used by mountain mages who need to be in the city for a few days. The house is heavily warded. In fact, it is invisible to anyone who does not have mage blood.”
“How am I able to see it, then?” Keron asked.
The couple looked at each other and shrugged. “Are you sure you do not have mage in you?” Teague asked.
“Sure, I… Um, actually, I never knew who my father was.” Keron did not like the way this conversation was going. “So, you’re saying that people have been out there looking for us, but couldn’t see us?”
“Exactly.” Teague looked kindly at Keron. Charlette returned to the kitchen.
“Wow. Thank you.” Keron was humbled at the lengths these mages had gone to for Fale.
“It is our pleasure to be of assistance to our queen.”
Charlette returned with mugs and a steaming pot. “We were hoping to meet you and your wife to see how else we may offer help. And to let you know of the queen’s regime. There are many of us throughout the city who have been working and waiting for your wife to come to power.”
A teenaged girl entered the room. “Honey, this is Mr. Palmquist.”
“Why is that lady standing by the door?” She chewed a piece of candy loudly, popping a bubble.
Keron looked worried.
“She’s not comfortable with us yet,” Teague said in a fatherly tone.
Fale let her invisibility drop and Charlette smiled at her. “You are welcome to come have a seat. Do you like tea?”
“Yes,” Fale answered in a shaky voice. “How did she know I was there?”
Charlette tittered. “We have the ability to see through others’ magic.”
“It’s what brought us together,” Teague added.
“And we passed it on, to our daughter.”
“Oh, my stars, this story again?” Krishelle rolled her eyes. “Can I go meet my friends?”
“If your schoolwork is done,” her mother answered.
“You tutor your child?” Fale asked. “I was tutored too, at the TacTrac.”
“Yes,” Charlette said, as Krishelle sprinted out the front door. “We encouraged Krishelle to use her magic from an early age, but we were afraid to put her in public classes in case she developed other powers. Or threw fireballs at anyone. She has her father’s temperament.”
“I am passionate,” he corrected his wife with a grin. She laughed.
“How long have you been working with Control?” Fale asked.
“Since your father was killed,” Teague said kindly. “We were stationed in high-level positions, as transfers from another city, to provide intel on the current status of the wizards and their involvement with the Agency. Killing your father was one of Source Wizard Sirus’s last orders. Things were uneventful for the years between his death and the induction of his son, Gasten. Unfortunately, once Gasten realized your machine could supply him with limitless power, he sought you out. He has been waiting for your powers to be revealed.”
“Why?” Fale asked.
“To see if you would take on the challenge of finding the machine. He believes you know where it is.”
“I don’t have any idea.”
“We think he means to capture you and use a spell to draw it from your consciousness, then take the key and find it himself,” Teague said.
Fale’s heel bounced up and down excitedly. Keron put his hand on her leg to calm her.
“We didn’t mean to upset you, dear. We want to know how we can help?” Charlette said.
“It’s okay,” Fale’s nervous smile appeared more like a grimace. “We appreciate all you’ve done so far. I’m not sure I’m cut out for this. I didn’t ask for any of it. I don’t want it this bad.”
“You’ll do it for Nelson… and because you do what’s right and responsible.” Keron spoke softly to her.
“Yes.” She hung her head, suddenly tired of the weight she bore.
The front door slammed, making them all jump. Krishelle stood against the door with her hands braced on the wood, a wild look in her eyes. “Help me!” she yelled. “They’re after me!”
“Hold on,” Teague was up in an instant to protect his daughter. “Who is after you?”
“Some men from Control. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” she looked desperately from one parent to another.
“What did you do?” Her mother was aghast.
“I didn’t mean to start trouble, but I saw their pictures and I wanted the money…”
“Krishelle, you didn’t,” her mother cried.
“When I told agents they were at my house, they tried to grab me, but I got away,” Krishelle’s tears slid off her chin.
“Did they scan you?” her father asked, but Krishelle was beside herself.
“Did they scan you?” he asked again, louder.
The girl nodded and sniffled loudly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Teague turned to Keron and Fale. “You’re not safe here. Come with me.” He walked into one of the bedrooms and they followed.
Fale heard a banging at the door as Teague lifted the grate on an ancient fireplace. The banging grew louder. “This is Control. Open the door. You are surrounded.”
Fale’s eyes grew wider. Teague ignored them and leaned down to push the brick wall behind the fireplace. It gave way and scraped the ground as it opened to a dark hole. Fale was shaking her head as she backed up. The only thing that scared her more than heights, was small spaces. “You’ll have to crawl through here for about eight feet, then you’ll be able to climb a ladder down. Don’t fall. This goes all the way to the sewer. Take the tunnel to your right, and you’ll come out just south of the mall.”
“I can’t do it,” Fale cried, with her hands up, as if she could push away the idea of the hole.
“Hurry!” Teague said.
Keron pushed Fale down and led her to the opening. “What about you?” she asked Teague.
“We’ll be fine. Now go.”
“I’m right behind you. Come on, Fale Valine, I need you to do this,” Keron assured her and pushed her from behind into the passageway.
A great boom sounded from the other room; the door had been blasted open.
Magic.
She crawled as fast as she could. The brick wall slid shut, sealing her and Keron in darkness. They heard yelling and arguing through the wall, but the words weren’t clear. Fale tried to breathe, but her lungs were closing, cramping, expelling all her air and she couldn’t draw any in. She felt Keron’s hand on her foot and he squeezed it twice, to show his support.
“Make a flame,” he whispered.
Fale opened her palm and a disc of light showed her the way. It wasn’t far, but full of spiders. She shivered. When they got to the ladder, she had to maneuver her body around and get her feet pointed down. “You can do this,” Keron whispered. “I’m right here with you.”
Fale smelled the sewer below and breathed through her mouth. She put out her fire
so she could hold onto the ladder. One wrong move and she would bounce down three stories into who knows what. She had never been in a sewer. It had never dawned on her that other people had, but she was grateful for the way out. Slowly they descended. One rung at a time.
At the bottom, Fale dropped into a stream of putrid, knee-high water. As she gagged, she had a feeling she had done this before. “Which way do we go?”
“He said to go right.”
“Yeah, but from which direction? When you get off the ladder, there’s only forward or backward,” Fale was still whispering.
“I don’t think they can hear us down here,” Keron said.
“That way leads to main street, so let’s go this way,” she summoned another flame and pointed behind them.
“I’ll follow you.”
The tunnel eventually came to another ladder. “Should we go up here?” she asked.
“Ssshhh, listen.” They heard splashing from a distance. “I don’t think we’re the only ones down here.”
Fale jumped up to reach the ladder and Keron pushed her foot up. She climbed quickly, and he was right behind her. At the top of the ladder was a flat door. She pushed up, but it didn’t budge. “I can’t move it,” she whispered down to him.
“I’m going to climb over you. Hang on tight.”
She clung to the ladder and he stepped up, so his feet were on the same rung, outside hers. His hands skimmed up her body, making her shiver. He grasped the bar above her head with his left hand and pushed upward with his valezsan arm. The door creaked. The splashing was getting louder.
“Hurry,” she said quietly.
He pushed again, and the door creaked once more, opening slightly. Fale inhaled the fresh air and filled her lungs. Keron heaved the door open and there was a crash above them. The splashing steps quickened. He climbed over her and pulled himself out, into an alcove in the center of the mall, near the orange lockers. Reaching a hand down, he hauled Fale out of the hole and set her on her feet. A large metal trashcan had been sitting on top of the trap door and had fallen over when they opened it. Flashlights shined up the passageway from below.
“Stop!”
They heard someone yell from the tunnel. Keron closed the door and pushed the trashcan back over the top, using his weight.
The Key of F: a young adult fantasy romance (Freedom Fight Trilogy Book 1) Page 23