by Marian Gray
To defeat him, I needed to burn him out—to force his unstable core of magic to crack. “Arafni.” A large blue surge of sparks toppled along the ground. Seven exact copies of me formed. I didn’t know what to expect, as this spell was illegal in holmgang.
Before I had time to cast another spell, one of the copies summoned a shower of lightning bolts to strike at him. James dodged and blocked.
The nine of us danced within the wood. Sparks, bolts, blasts, and every element imaginable catapulted between us. But every minute that passed, a copy would disappear.
It wasn’t long until the battle returned to being between just James and I. My body worked into an exhaustion that I knew he felt too, for the smirk had dried from his face.
“Hexima,” I cried, whipping my wand in a zig-zag motion. It caught him in the chest, slicing his flesh with six thin lines.
James touched his fingers to the spilled blood. Disbelief drew across his brow. With red-dipped hands, he speared his arm at me.
I dropped to my knees in instant agony. There was fire beneath my skin. My veins boiled.
The ancient wand fell from my hands as my fingers bent and twisted. My legs buckled below me, and I smacked into the ground. Warm blood dripped from mouth and teared from eyes. I blinked, the world washed with red. The last image that pulsed through my mind was of the mad sorcerer.
James slumped to the forest floor. Eyes rolled into the back of his head, and foam bubbled from his mouth. His body twisted along the dirt, convulsing.
Chapter Forty-Two
The first pump of blood hit my head like a hammer. My eyes opened, flooded with an opaque blur of light and color. I blinked a few times, clearing the glaze from my vision. Dark wood paneling and large square antiquated portraits stared back at me. “Hello? Is anyone here?” I called out from my pristine white clinic bed.
The click of heels strutting over to me announced Nurse Twill’s presence. “Welcome back, Kim.” Her face split into a hundred lines as she smiled. “Glad to see you’re awake.”
“What?” My hand rubbed my throbbing forehead. “How long have I been out? How am I even here?” My last memory was of the ground rising to meet my face. “Am I even alive? Is—is this the afterlife?”
Nurse Twill giggled. “Calm down, child. You didn’t die, but you have been out for ten days.”
“Ten days?” My voice burst.
“That was a nasty bit of blood magic he cast on you. You were lucky it all caught up to him when it did.”
“What do you mean?” I lifted my arms, but they didn’t move. Exhaustion swallowed my muscle control. “Is James all right?”
“He’s—Well, he’s—” The nurse stopped. A number of marching feet sounded through the corridor. President Banach rounded the large doorway with a bulky man and Uncle Hank at her side. Cecil Greaves followed close at their heels. His brown coat jacket flapped open to reveal a green vest as his little legs pumped to keep up with the three.
“How are you feeling, Ms. Blackwood?” President Banach greeted me with a polite smile as she arrived at my bedside. “Is she coherent enough to hold a conversation?”
“Yes, I believe so.” Nurse Twill nodded.
“I’m doing well—I think.” I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel. “Just a headache.” I turned to Uncle Hank. “What are you doing at Ivory?”
“University policy requires that we contact immediate family should a student fall dangerously ill. And concerning your headache—” President Banach lifted her eyes to Twill. “I’m sure Nurse Twill has something in the pharmacy to alleviate your symptoms.”
“Of course.” The nurse nodded as she turned to leave.
“I’m happy to see your eyes opened,” Uncle Hank said with a soft tone. “You had us all worried, sleeping so long.”
“Kim,” President Banach began, “I’d like to introduce you too Max Yanovitch Mosalev.” The bulky man nodded in my direction. He stood with a straight back, and his perfectly pressed blue suit highlighted his tight posture. “He’s the Head of Staff at the Committee of Defense under Chairman Rafael Rafaelovitch Rykov. You’re not in any trouble, but he does have a few questions for you.”
“As do I.” Cecil Greaves shoulder his way in between Uncle Hank and Max Mosalev.
President Banach sighed. “As does Cecil Greaves. Your uncle has requested he remain in the room during the questioning, and as long as you don’t have any objections, we have agreed that he may do so.”
My uncle stared at me with begging eyes. “No, I don’t have any objections,” I answered. A breath of relief beat through his nostrils.
“Excellent. You may begin, Mr. Mosalev.”
The man took a step forward. His height towered over me in an ominous manner. “Ms. Blackwood,” he began with a thin Slavic accent. “The committee has sent me not because you are under investigation for harboring an unregistered person of magical ability, but simply to gain an accurate view of the situation at hand. We are curious of the events that led up to your capture.”
“My capture?”
The four of them exchanged a set of surprised glances. “Yes, your capture,” Mr. Mosalev repeated.
“Perhaps she suffered a minor touch of amnesia,” President Banach said. “Kim, you do know why you are in the university clinic—you do remember the sorcerer, correct?”
I nodded. “But I’m not here because I was captured. That’s not how I got injured. I got injured from our duel.”
Uncle Hank released a large puff of a laugh. “She tends to use rather heroic verbiage. You know how holmgang players are. Everything is a duel or a fight.”
Max Mosalev eyed Hank before continuing with the questions. “Kim, let’s begin with what happened the night of your ‘fight’. We have an overwhelming amount of sources that say you attended a holmgang celebration party that evening but ended up leaving early. Why is that?”
Sara’s face flashed in my mind as Eddie’s warning echoed through my ears. “I was upset.”
“Why?” Greaves jumped in. “This was a party in your honor. What could have possibly upset you?”
The man sought out gossip like a dog chasing a juicy bone. “I had a squabble with a friend. I found out she was selling headlines of my life to the Emporium.”
His lips flatlined. “That’s rather unfortunate.”
“Where did you go after you left the observatory?” Mosalev asked.
“Back to my dorm.”
“And is that when the mad sorcerer nabbed you?” Uncle Hank butted in.
“No, I made it back to my dorm.”
Hank’s eyes went wide and jaw bobbed with horror.
“So, you did make it safely back to your dorm?” Mosalev cocked an eyebrow.
“Yes, and then I decided to go for a walk to clear my head.” While I had never heard of the crime before, I wasn’t stupid enough to admit that I was guilty of harboring an unregistered person of magical ability. From Uncle Hank’s blatant leading and President Banach’s insistence on staying, it was clear that was what Max Yanovitch Mosalev was here to sniff out. Given that I hadn’t reported James when he first revealed himself to me, I assumed there would be more than a slap on the wrist for keeping silent.
“And why did you choose the woods instead of remaining on the well lit campus grounds?”
“Because I wanted to avoid people. I had just been embarrassed at a party. I didn’t want to see anyone, especially anyone leaving the party. I needed the solitude of the forest.”
“How far out did you get?”
“I don’t recall.” I shook my head.
“Well, the person that found you reports that she saw a flare go up in the sky that was at least two to three miles from the school. That’s quite a bit of distance to walk to clear your head.”
“I sent the flare up to signal for help.”
“So, the sorcerer had already gotten to you by the time the flare went up. From the time you began your walk to the time you shot the flare, when did your path cross the sorcerer
’s?”
“James found me about five minutes into my walk. He immobilized me with a spell and then carried me away.”
“James,” Mosalev repeated. “You knew him?”
Uncle Hank gave a small shake of his head. “Yes,” I answered. “He’s a friend from my hometown.” Uncle Hank rolled his eyes. There were too many people at the school that had heard me speak of James before. It would’ve been a difficult lie to get away with.
“When did you know that James Peterson was at Ivory?”
“Not until the night that he attacked me.”
“Are you certain of that, Ms. Blackwood?” His tone indicated that it was possible for me to have known sooner.
“Yes.” Only Eddie and Elijah knew otherwise, and I doubted either would squeal.
“How did you mange to not drop your wand while you were immobilized and carried off?”
“Because I had it in my pocket.”
“Yes, that’s right. You were brought into the clinic wearing your holmgang uniform, but students say you didn’t have it on at the party. Why the change?”
The fact dropped on me with such a crushing weight that it knocked all the words out of my head. “What do you mean? Did you expect me to stay in my dress when I went for a walk?”
“No, but why did you choose your uniform? You weren’t even in your training clothes, but your actual game uniform.”
I shrugged. “Laundry day. I didn’t have anything else that was clean, but I needed something warm, and I wasn't about to traipse around in my underwear.”
It was a poor excuse at best, but fortunately Mr. Mosalev didn’t linger on the subject. “How did you manage to break the spell the sorcerer used to immobilize you?”
“I didn’t. It just sort of wore off.”
“Which is common with sorcerers,” Uncle Hank added. “Everyone knows they need to focus all their concentration to hold the spell otherwise it breaks.” From what I saw of James that night, it wasn’t true. But if this false belief was going to save me, then I wasn't about to tell them otherwise.
“What did you do once you were able to move your body again?”
“That’s when I shot the flare, and soon after we began to fight.”
Mr. Mosalev cleared his throat. “The person that found you said that both of you were incapacitated upon her arrival. How is that?”
I shifted in the bed. “Well, he defeated me, and before I lost conscious, I saw him begin to convulse.”
“Unstable core,” Greaves muttered.
“Did he talk to you at all while you were with him?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you how he had found Ivory?”
“Well, he’s a magic user. He can see it. The protective spell only works on non-magical users.”
“We are all aware of that, Ms. Blackwood. What I want to know is how did he physically travel and arrive here?”
I swallowed hard. “The tram. He took the tram in.”
President Banach’s arms folded across her chest. “If the Chamber wouldn’t have pulled our security to save a dime, then none of this would have ever happened. He would have been stopped at the platform.”
Mosalev frowned. “That was a decision made outside of my committee.” He glanced to Cecil before returning his stone stare to me. “Why was he even aware the tram existed?”
“Because I told him. He was my best friend. He knew I was a witch.”
“It is illegal to reveal our world.”
“It’s illegal to reveal our world to mundies. James is not a mundi. He is technically a magic user,” Uncle Hank said.
But Max Mosalev didn’t acknowledge the statement. “Why do you think he followed you here?”
“While he had me, he repeated several times that he was in love with me. He sounded like a madman.”
“Explains the convulsions,” President Banach added.
“Yes, it does.” Mosalev sighed. “I think that’s all the questions I have for now. Your answers seem to align with the few others I have had a chance to speak with. Should the committee feel the need to pursue further investigation, we will notify you.”
“Mr. Greaves and I will walk you out, Mr. Mosalev. I’m sure Mr. Blackwood would like some time with his niece.” Everyone nodded in agreement with President Banach’s suggestion.
Uncle Hank plopped down on the stool beside my bed, but waited several moments until he could no longer hear the three of them before he uttered a word. “I don’t think you told the rep from the committee of defense everything, and I believe that very wise of you. However, I don’t want to hear another word about the ordeal. The less I know, the better.” He yanked out a square cloth from the inside pocket of his jacket and patted the sweat from his forehead.
“Who else did he question?”
“Let’s see, uh… Edward Bowman, Sara Panzerella, and all five of your teammates.”
I winced at the sound of Sara’s name. “I’m surprised Lili Banach didn’t come forward to try and incriminate me.”
“I shouldn’t be telling you this, because she requested to remain anonymous, but—” Uncle Hank dropped his voice to a whisper. “She’s actually the one who found you two. If she hadn’t, I doubt you would still be alive. James put you into a coma, Kim.”
“Blood magic,” I repeated what Nurse Twill had said.
“He was out to kill you.”
“Where is he now?” There was no other patient in the clinic with me.
“He had to be transferred out of the university and to a proper hospital that could treat him. The nurse said that when she saw the color on his skin, she knew at once that he was a sorcerer. Apparently some sorcerers exhibit a red hue on their skin when they’re overcome by Mad Merlin Syndrome. How Nurse Twill stumbled upon that knowledge is beyond me. She was the clinic nurse when I was here.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “What will they do to him?” He needed magical medical attention, but I didn’t want him to fall into the hands of the Chamber.
“Well, to be honest, I’m not sure. I’ve only read about this in the newspaper once or twice. They tend to be handed over to other sorcerers for treatment though. There is an active coalition at the moment. I doubt they would turn him away.”
“And what about his mother? Surely, Mrs. Peterson must be worried sick.”
“I haven’t spoken to her, nor do I know if the university has tried to reach out to her in one way or another. From what your mother told me, James had told Mrs. Peterson that he was going to stay with you. Because you two were boyfriend and girlfriend.”
I stuck out my tongue in disgust. “No.”
“Of course I didn’t believe it, because the Emporium had informed me that you were dating Ryan Rosewall and Elijah Harlow.”
“Ryan Rosewall is absolutely false.”
“And Harlow?” My mouth remained closed. “That’s what I thought. When I read the article, I had half a mind to send you another scolding letter. You better thank your aunt next time you see her. She was the one that stopped my hand.”
“Well, it wouldn’t have mattered.” I looked away from him. “Because it’s all over.”
“I figured as much. The entire holmgang team, aides, and reserves came to visit you—all except Harlow. Even Sara Panzerella stopped by. Eddie practically chased her out of the clinic.” His bushy eyebrow climbed up his forehead. “Do you by chance know why that was?”
“No.” I shook my head. It was a conversation I couldn’t bare to have with him. “I’m really tired and want to nap.” A small piece of me had hoped this act would have smoothed things between Elijah and I in one way or another, but his absence spoke mountains. The pressure of tears built, and I needed Uncle Hank out before it spilled over.
“All right.” He rose from the stool. “I’ll be at the university a few more days to help you sort out your academics. You managed to sleep through your finals.” He kicked out a small chuckle. “I’m happy you’re safe, and I love you. If you need anything,
I’m here.”
Chapter Forty-Three
True to his word, Uncle Hank remained at Ivory and managed to convince all four departments that I be allowed to makeup my finals sans punishment or point deductions. The only one who needed a little prodding was Professor Soh. Uncle Hank spent a day or two petting her ego before she agreed to the retest. I passed all five exams, and closed the year with marks high enough to choose between casting, potions, and augmentation for a specialization. It was considered an achievement to have any two branches to pick from. Needless to say, Uncle Hank and Aunt Margot were beyond elated with this news, but Uncle Hank’s joy faltered when I revealed I already had my heart set on casting. He had wanted me to take the family legacy in a different direction.
“I’ll see you back in Roanoke,” Eddie said as he gave me a sturdy hug before leaving. “The tram arrives in an hour, and I need to go collect my bags.”
“Collect your bags?” I threw another shirt into my suitcase. “You need an hour to go up a flight of stairs, get your bags, and then walk out to the station? That only makes sense if bags is codeword for Beth Anderson.”
Red bloomed across his cheeks. “It’s not like that.” He looked up at me, pulling aside his embarrassment. “Well, not yet it’s not.”
We both shared a laugh. “You better not ditch me for her this summer.”
“What are you talking about?” Eddie rolled his eyes. “Beth lives in North Dakota.”
I shook my head. “Seriously? Who actually chooses to live in North Dakota.”
“Beats me.” He shrugged. “But if there is any visiting going on, she’s coming to Virginia. Have you seen Fargo? Not to mention—I’m black. It may not be as risky as Alabama or Mississippi, but that doesn’t mean I want to become a walking spectacle.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you pointed it out, because I hadn’t noticed before.”
“I thought so.” Eddie chuckled. “All right, enjoy your week at your uncle’s and send me a note when your back in Roanoke.”
“I will.” I smiled. “Have a safe trip home.”
Eddie exited my dorm, and instead of going upstairs to his room he headed out of the building—off to see Beth. His interest in her had caught me by surprise, but the two of them together felt right. Their personalities complemented one another well.