by Tom Early
Some of the tension left Summer’s shoulders, and I tried not to fall over from the sudden sense of relief. “I still believe this to be a dangerous plan,” she said, closing her hand and extinguishing the burning sun floating above it. “But I have not fallen so far as to harm or possess an innocent.” She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the sunlight behind Lailah’s brown eyes was gone, and I smiled as my fellow bookworm friend came to the surface.
Lailah held out a fist, and I tapped it with one of my own. “Kind of like being in one of our favorite stories, don’t you think?” Lailah said. “I’m all here, Fay. Thank you for asking. I let Summer in of my own volition.” She smiled, shaking her head. “It’s a bit like having to share a room with my sister again, except this one is even bossier somehow.”
“I’m glad you’re all right,” I said, grinning back at her. “How’d you get into this mess?”
“I was visiting my friend Maryam in Cairo when Summer approached me. In a manner of speaking, at least. We made a deal: I teach Summer about everything she’s missed since her disappearance, and she helps me with the Arena. I hate fighting,” Lailah admitted. “And I wasn’t going to miss this sort of chance to learn ancient stories once I was sure I would be safe.”
“Wish my situation was like that.” Instead, I got possessed and used for murder, and I still didn’t know how all of this started in my case.
Lailah’s expression softened. “I heard about your situation, and I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with something like this. Summer and the others are here to help you, no matter how much my companion wants to posture.” She cocked her head to the side, then nodded again, though not at me. “I’ll talk to you again soon. Summer says we don’t have time right now.” She closed her eyes after giving me a little wave, and then Summer came to the front again.
“Here is the situation,” Summer said, each word sharp and ringing. “The ritual still needs to be completed, but you cannot let Didas be the one to do it. Without our presence, Winter will almost certainly break loose and consume you.” I tried not to flinch at that. Summer continued, unperturbed. “Even if Didas succeeds, he means to use you as a weapon.” I opened my mouth, and Summer made a cutting motion with her hand. “Not in the way he promised. His ritual would strip your mind from you and replace it with one more malleable and utterly under his control. There would be nothing left of Feayr Hanson in you.”
I shuddered. “How do you know that?” It wasn’t that I had trouble believing it. It was just that… fuck, despite everything part of me had still hoped that maybe Didas wasn’t completely evil.
“The leanan sídhe,” Fall said from somewhere behind me. “Spring sent her in to snoop while I let your overeager puppies come pay you a visit.” He must’ve seen my expression, because he laughed. “The shadows, kid. Winter might’ve once been in charge of the whole dying thing, but they’ve always needed some help dealing with the sheer numbers. Sorry about how creepy they are, but really, they’re harmless now that they’re back under our control.”
“That leaves me with so many more questions than answers,” I said, feeling a headache coming on.
“All in due time, Fay. Right now, just take our word for it.”
“What is important is that we still need to complete the ritual, but on our terms instead,” Summer said. “You must steal the scroll Didas has been using to cast the ritual and bring it to us. Only then can we ensure your safety and survival throughout the final process.”
I paled. “Are you crazy? Didas is insanely powerful, and his secrets have fucking secrets. There’s no way I could do that.”
“And yet, you must,” Summer said. “The distraction I created to allow your escape with us has doubtless alerted him to our presence. He will have prepared for us, will be distracted searching for us. He will not expect you,” she said, pressing a finger to my chest, full of burning power. “And you are not so powerless yourself. You are merely too shackled by fear to use it.”
“Winter is to blame for what happened to your friend,” Summer said, her eyes burning into mine. She bared her teeth. “And Winter will pay for their actions, make no mistake. I will see that they cease to be, as they deserve. But I will not stand for you punishing yourself for their actions any longer.” She pulled her hand back from me and arched her fingers as if they were claws, before slamming them into my chest hard enough to make me yell in pain. Then she pushed and I felt her power storm through me, reaching down ever deeper until she hit what she was looking for. I could feel Winter recoil, somehow, and a weight I hadn’t even noticed settling on my shoulders vanished.
Summer met my eyes again. “Use your powers, child. Winter will not trouble you again, so long as you make this quick.”
I let out a steady breath and felt the truth of her words. Snowflakes danced in the air around me with the barest thought, and I let the shroud of cold descend like cloth over my shoulders, like a familiar friend coming home after a long time away. I felt… whole again, and I smiled.
“I will show you the way back,” Spring said gently, settling a hand on my shoulder. “Are you ready?”
I took in a breath and felt my power dance inside me. “I am.”
Chapter Twenty-four
OBSIDIAN WAS a buzz of activity when I came back. Nick and Aiden and the other two leaders were practically running all over the place, and it seemed like pretty much everyone was gathered in the common area. Aiden caught sight of me as soon as I came back inside, and so did Sam.
“Fay! What happened? Where the hell have you been?” Sam demanded, running up to me.
“I’d rather like the answer to that as well,” Aiden said, walking swiftly up to me too.
“I, uh, had a run-in with,” I lowered my voice, “what we went to research at your mom’s house, Aiden.” Both their eyes widened at the same time. The effect was almost comical. “I don’t have time to explain. Sam, any interest in giving Didas a black eye?”
“Physically or metaphorically?” Sam asked, then cracked her knuckles. “Oh, wait, I’ve just decided I don’t care. I’m in.”
Aiden frowned. “You know I’m bound by my position to report you for this.”
“I know. But if you don’t, I’ll owe you a favor.” I gave him a look and swirled my hand a little, setting flakes to dance through the air around us. “I think you’d like having me owe you a favor now that I’m back in full.”
Aiden glanced around, eyes widening. “Well,” he murmured, “that’s certainly a development. I’ll look the other way. And I assume you’ll need a distraction.”
“Are we going after Didas, or after something Didas has?” Sam asked, already sketching out what looked like a bulleted plan. “Because that makes a difference.”
“Something he has,” I clarified, then reconsidered. “Well, two somethings, if we can.”
Sam glanced at Aiden. “Can you get Didas to come over to Obsidian when I tell you to? Make it seem like it has to be him?”
“I can try,” Aiden said. “But I would not hinge your plan on my success. Things are on high alert right now after whatever that was.” He headed back over to the other students, looking perfectly at ease.
“That’ll have to do,” Sam said grimly. “Where to?”
“Are you sure you’re in for this?” I asked her. “I’m about to make an enemy of Didas, here. If you help me, there’s no way you can stay here safely either. What about your dream about being one of Gaia’s police?”
Sam shook her head. “You think my helping you matters? Fay, if I do nothing and stay here when you do something like this, I’m just going to get used by Didas like Aria is. I’m not sticking around to be used as leverage against my best friend. Besides, I have my mom to find, and that seems more and more like something I’m going to have to work on outside of the establishment. So, again. Where to now?”
“My room,” I said, heading for the stairs and holding back a grin. At least I wasn’t making things harder for Sam. “The pas
sage to Didas’s room should still work, though he has to be the one to let me in. I’ll try to hold him off while you get the rune.”
“What? No, that’s a terrible plan,” Sam said, shaking her head. “Even if by some miracle Didas doesn’t beat the crap out of you, he’s not the only person we might have to fight. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not stupid enough to try going up against Speaker Sekhmene.”
She was right. Shit. “Any other ideas?”
Sam’s answering grin was savage. “Students might not know where Didas’s office is, but I’m willing to bet the instructors do. So we ask a professor.”
I groaned. “How is that a better idea, exactly?”
“I think I can take Professor Laherty in a fight,” Sam said, still grinning, “and better yet, I want to. Plus since you’re, like, brimming with self-confidence and whatever, I’m betting you can even if I can’t.”
“Fine. Please tell me you at least know where to find him.”
“READY?” I whispered.
“Ready,” Sam replied, surrounded by barely visible threads of light.
I knocked on the door to Professor Laherty’s flat and then stepped to the side and let Sam take the lead. The door swung open to reveal a sour-faced old man, who looked like he was about ready to stab whoever had woken him up.
“Hi, Professor!” Sam said brightly and then released her spell. Professor Laherty had about half a second to blink in surprise before he was wrapped head to toe in glowing chains. “I’m so sorry to bother you at such a late hour,” Sam said, her voice saccharine, “but we really need to know where to find Headmaster Didas’s office. And gosh, since you’re such an expert on Arcane detective work, I figured you’d be the best person to ask! Be a dear and tell us where to look, would you? I mean, I could try those interrogation techniques you keep insisting are superior, but”—her voice hardened—“I get the feeling you’d rather avoid that.”
“You think these chains are going to hold me?” Laherty sneered. He muttered something under his breath, then looked shocked when nothing happened.
“I might have read ahead a little,” Sam informed him with a mocking smile. “Dispel-infused chains really are a useful little trick. Useless against someone with more power than me, obviously, but let’s face it,” she said, leaning closer until her face was barely inches away from his and bared her teeth. “With you, that really wasn’t ever something I had to worry about.”
I think he might have whimpered. I really couldn’t blame him. Regardless, the professor folded like a deck of cards when Sam started tightening the chains around him, and then we had what we’d come for.
“Why is it always the library?” Sam asked, staring up into the sky. “Are libraries just the root of all evil or something?”
“You are officially banned from watching any more Parks and Rec,” I told her. “Libraries are good places with books. This one’s just bad because it’s at the university of a manipulative asshole.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Sam replied, eyeing the building suspiciously. “All right, as much as I hate giving up a good fight, the Librarian is terrifying. Your turn to deal with the problem.”
I whispered a quick, silent apology to the other librarians in my life and then started gathering power. It came up through me far easier than I remembered, almost unnervingly so, just waiting to be used. Sam glanced at me with what might have been a slightly nervous look on someone else.
“Just so you know, your eyes are doing that glowing thing again. Also I think you just dropped the temperature here by like thirty degrees.”
“I’m still in control,” I said, breathing slowly. The power was amazing, but I still had a handle on it. “Let’s go.” I headed inside and walked straight up to the Librarian. The strangely nondescript being was still sitting where he always did, and made no reaction when I came up to it.
“How may I assist you?” he asked.
“By giving us your keys,” I said apologetically before carefully reaching out and tapping him lightly on the forehead. He had a moment to react and the outline of the Librarian’s body began to blur immediately, heads forming under the skin and forcing their way out, distorting his torso and basically guaranteeing that I’d suffer from horrible nightmares for the next week. Then the ice finished encasing his entire form, layered on so thick that I was pretty sure a grenade would barely leave a mark. The Librarian couldn’t even twitch his eyes, but he wasn’t dead. I wasn’t even certain he could die, being some sort of super homunculus or whatever. I lifted the Librarian into the air with a wave of my hand, and motioned for Sam to search the desk. A couple seconds later, she had a fancy-looking key ring, and we had our way in.
“How long do you think that’ll hold him?” Sam whispered as we started down the spiral staircase.
“Possibly forever?”
Sam stopped and stared at me. “Really?”
I shrugged. “I can feel the power it takes to keep the Librarian frozen, but it’s more like a sort of reminder in the back of my mind than an actual drain on me. I’m pretty sure I’d have to forcibly cancel the spell to make the ice disappear. Otherwise, he’s not going anywhere.”
“Even with a Dispel?”
“They’d have to be stronger than I am, and the list of people that includes seems pretty small right now.”
“Well, damn. Power up, much?”
“Yeah, but that’s only because Summer punched Winter into submission just before I came back. Like, literally. I could feel it. And I can still only do basic stuff. It’s not like I even know how to do a tenth of the stuff Winter is supposedly capable of.” We reached the third floor, where the staircase continued but a Ward forced most people to stop, their feet skating over the remaining stairs as if it was a simple glass floor. “Ready?”
“You know it.” Sam grinned. She pulled out the key ring and placed it flat on the Ward. The air sparked for a moment, and then the Ward disappeared. She tentatively stuck a foot out to test the ground and then laughed as she reached the stone step successfully. “Suck it, Didas,” she whooped, and then immediately winced. “Man, I hope he didn’t hear that. I wouldn’t put it past him to have an enchantment specifically to alert him whenever someone badmouths him.”
“I’m pretty sure he’d have killed you already if that were the case. You haven’t exactly been his biggest fan since we came here.”
“True,” she admitted. “Shall we?”
After the torchlight of the third floor, the staircase was plunged into darkness, and Sam and I were forced to rely on my blue-tinged Darkvision spell instead. Even the shadows looked ominous as we kept heading down. I couldn’t imagine making this trip every day. I’d be a nervous mess by the time I reached the problem. I said as much to Sam, and she snorted.
“Dude, that’s probably the whole point. No way Didas takes this path to his office all the time. This is just for emergencies or people who pissed him off enough to deserve a personal talk. And imagine having the Librarian be the one guiding you down.” She shuddered.
I sighed. That sounded exactly like something the headmaster would do. Eventually, we reached the bottom, a blank stone circle with walls that didn’t have any hint of a door visible. Sam held out the key ring again, and with a grating sound, the stones in the wall to our front slid to the side, revealing a polished wooden door, complete with a gleaming doorknob and a waiting keyhole.
I glanced at Sam. “Now would be a good time to send that emergency text. Even if he doesn’t get some sort of alarm when we open this door, we still aren’t going to have much time.”
“Got it,” Sam said, pulling out her tablet and firing off a text. “Bless that service-boosting spell they gave us. Bet they didn’t plan on seeing it used this way.”
“I doubt it,” I said, peering at the door and thumbing through the key ring I’d pulled off the Librarian. “This might take a while—there’s, like, ten keys on this thing.” I grabbed one at random and tried to slot it into the ho
le, only to find that it steadfastly refused to enter, and the metal shimmered and twisted and the keyhole disappeared entirely. “Well, shit.”
“I’m guessing that wasn’t supposed to happen?” Sam said, staring at the now useless door. “I’m gonna try Dispel.” A blue glow surrounded her hand, and then she punched the unmarked panel. Nothing happened. She shrugged. “Well, I’m out.”
I stared at the door and felt my magic just waiting to be used. “I might not be.” I glanced at Sam. “You might want to stand back a bit.”
“Ooh, are you going to go HAM on the door?” Sam asked, grinning. “I am so down for this.” She took three steps back and started up a Ward.
I closed my eyes and let Winter’s power rise to the surface. While their memories were still mostly a jumble to me, one thing had been made a little clearer by them. Winter wasn’t called the Final Season for nothing. Their power brought the end to everything, whether it be warmth, life, or a particularly stubborn door. I raised a hand and saw ice crystals shimmer into existence around me as the temperature dropped even more. I made a slow, circular motion, and then the air condensed and packed itself until a massive block of ice floated in front of me, looking for all the world like a massive battering ram. I gave a little push with my mind, and the block of ice slammed into the door with enough force to shake a mountain. I could see cracks start to spread out from the stone around the door, and then the door exploded inward, revealing Didas’s office, now covered in shards of wood.
“Damn,” Sam said with a whistle. “I could feel that, even back here.”
I turned around and kicked some of the wooden shards out of the way. “After you.”
“Such a gentleman.”
Didas’s office was exactly like it was the last time I’d been there, except for the door debris. The desk was still there, feeling more ominous than any piece of furniture had a right to, and items I couldn’t even begin to identify still covered pretty much every available surface. The centerpiece of Didas’s office, though, was a map of the university, complete with faintly glowing dots all over the place that I was pretty sure corresponded with the many doors. What was especially interesting, though, were the dots to the side of the map, which had labels instead. The Arena was there, unsurprisingly, as was the Retreat, and another that pointed to a section of the university I didn’t even know existed, but there were a few more that weren’t so expected. I saw three doors labeled “Earth,” a total of eight labeled “Gaia,” three of which were the Family names, and one that was simply labeled “Hell.”