Mind Games

by Christine Amsden

  “Second,” Alexander continued, “I want to establish a body of knowledge accessible by anyone, so that those with magical potential can make the most of their talents.”

  “I bet you’re getting a lot of resistance on that one,” I said dryly.

  “Among older families with a lot of secret information, I am hitting a brick wall, although those whose families don’t have a vault full of knowledge are eager to participate.”

  “What’s the third thing you want to accomplish?”

  “Secrecy.”

  “Um, didn’t you just say–”

  “From the mundane world,” Alexander finished. “I think the actions of the last few weeks explain why I might feel that’s an important facet of any magical government. Most are prone to secrecy anyway, but I want to formalize it and work to protect it. There’s far too much information out there, readily available to anyone with a mind to look. The best protection we have at the moment is the sheer quantity of misinformation mixed in with the truth. The Internet has been both a blessing and a curse since its inception. I’ve actually got a task force whose sole purpose is to sow bad information.”

  “How do you decide who’s in on the secret and who isn’t?” After all, I hadn’t initially received an invitation but no one thought to leave me out now.

  “And here you’ve hit upon the biggest problem. The term practitioner can apply very broadly, as you know very well. You’ve actually brought the problem into sharp perspective for me, because usually, a person with no gift and no talent shouldn’t be let into the secret, but what if he or she was born into it? And where, generally, do you draw the line? I’ve been working with a friend of mine, whose gift is to detect magic in others, to create a scale to describe a person’s magical potential. The scale goes from 1 to 10, with ten being a number that represents anyone who is off the scale.”

  “Like Evan,” I said, before I could stop myself.

  He arched an eyebrow. “Yes, precisely. A one on the scale can sense magical energies, but manipulate very little of it, even with intense training. So where do we draw the line? Does anyone who even registers on the scale get in? Privileged to learn the accumulated secrets of generations of powerful sorcerers? And what about gifts? Could a gifted herbalist with no magical potential at all be considered a part of the secret? It makes sense, since we all need the plants they can grow. I’ve seen a wide range of gifted individuals with no magical talent at all – telekinetics, healers, songbirds, and seers.”

  For a minute, I thought about what Abigail had said, that there were no seer sorcerers, and yet they were some of the most powerful people in the magical world. They would be in, but what about my mom, drained of all magic but in possession of an eidetic memory, a gift most didn’t even consider to be all that magical? “Almost sounds like you need to fashion your group in circles, with the outermost circle being a basic support mechanism for anyone touched by magic.”

  Alexander blinked in surprise. Then he stood, paced the floor a few times, and whirled around, beaming. “That’s brilliant!”

  “It is?”

  “No, really, it is. It will take some serious thought, but generally, I like it.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said.

  “You need to come work for me,” Alexander said suddenly.

  “Um, what?”

  “Yes!” Alexander snapped his fingers. “You’ve got experience with law enforcement, you’re from an old family of sorcerers, you know magic, and you know what can happen when it’s abused.”

  I still wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do, and my confusion must have appeared on my face.

  “Oh, let’s not get fussy about job descriptions right now. We’ve got a network across the country in thirty-seven major cities, but a lot of it is still resting on promises. Eagle Rock is very important to me, even if it is a small town, because the magic and knowledge pool here is quite unique. I want a link to that. I also want someone who can think and really help me get this thing in motion. I’m ready to move to the next level, and I want you to be a part of that.”

  “I don’t know. I’ve got my job with the sheriff’s department and then there’s my family…”

  “Oh, you’d do most of your work here. I need a liaison here. I’m thinking you’d need to spend a few months with me, so you would be traveling for a while, but after that, you’d be based here. I can pay you much more than the sheriff can.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not about the money.”

  “No, not for you. What’s it about, then? What do you want to do?”

  “Help people,” I said without hesitation.

  “Done. I’ll give you the chance to help victims of magical abuse and to help me find the criminals who caused it. Your investigation skills will come in handy there. You can even help us develop penal codes. Plus, I want you to help people born with magic, but into mundane families. They need protection and education. There’s a lot to do, but you can help a lot more people with me than you ever could here.”

  I licked my lips, more tempted by the offer than I cared to admit. I’d never been farther away from Eagle Rock than St. Louis, though, and the thought of leaving my family for months hurt. Not to mention the fact that I’d be leaving Kaitlin during some or most of her pregnancy.

  There was one more thing bothering me about the offer, something that I decided I had to ask. “What about Evan?”

  Alexander deflated somewhat. “Ah, yes, I was wondering if his name would come up.”

  “What do you plan to do?” My heart raced, and I held my breath.

  “Do you want your magic back?”

  “Yes.” The word conveyed a lifetime of longing that I couldn’t deny. So why did it feel wrong?

  “Then I’ll get it for you.”

  An image flashed before my eyes, one of Evan in excruciating agony, losing a part of himself. His eyes, full of pain, also managed to convey hurt and betrayal.

  Nonsense. He had been the one to betray me, hadn’t he?

  He hadn’t cast the spell, though. His father had.

  And he hadn’t offered to make it right.

  “Cassie?” Alexander said.

  “Evan is one of yours, though. If you do this to him, he’ll never forgive you.”

  “I’m fighting for magical justice. Your father told me what happened and I realize Evan isn’t entirely to blame, which is why I wouldn’t think of imprisoning him like many of the others I’ve caught dealing in stolen magic. But it’s not his to keep.”

  “He’ll fight you, and his family has a lot of support. It would be a mistake to get in the middle of this.” Besides, an oddly diplomatic voice in the back of my mind whispered, as much as our two families threw back and forth, we might be even. If he wanted to right all the wrongs caused by over twenty years of feuding, he’d be busy for a long time.

  “Your family has a lot of support, too,” Alexander said. “And you’re awfully well-liked after Wednesday night. I’d gain far more support than I’d lose, not to mention the fact that it’s the right thing to do. How can I preach magical justice and then turn a blind eye when it’s not convenient?”

  “My family has done things to him, too,” I said, because I didn’t think I could explain the real trouble.

  Alexander nodded. “I’ve heard, which is why I’m not getting in the middle of Edward Scot and Victor Blackwood. This is different. You were just a victim.”

  I was trying hard not to think of myself that way. “It won’t work. He’s too powerful. You’d need an army to take him down.”

  “Luckily, I have one. Not even Evan Blackwood can fight off an entire army on his own, especially if he’s taken unaware.”

  “What if he has friends fighting with him?” I thought of Scott Lee. “If you try and fail, you’ll lose the respect of everyone in town.”

  “If I try and succeed, I’ll win over almost all of them.”

  He was probably right, but it didn’t matter. “If you succeed. If.”


  Alexander didn’t answer right away. “I’m not sure I understand you, Cassie. Are you trying to protect me or Evan?”

  Both. Neither. Me. I wanted the magic back but somehow I knew that if it didn’t come from Evan of his own free will, it would come with a taint that would never wash away.

  That was it. I suddenly understood my reluctance. This had to be between me and Evan.

  “Please, don’t do it,” I said. “You’ll regret it.”

  After a minute, Alexander sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

  I nodded, though I wondered if there was something else I might say to convince him.

  “So, what did you come for in the first place?”

  “Oh, well, I heard that you helped make the deal to banish all those people from Eagle Rock.”

  Alexander nodded. “That’s true.”

  “I’d like you to make one exception. There’s a girl – she used to be my friend – her name is Angie Mueller. She risked her own life to help me Wednesday night.” Then I explained how she’d passed me the vial of potion and called the police.

  Alexander didn’t answer right away. “Does she want to stay?”

  “Now that you mention it, I don’t even know.”

  “Then I tell you what. You give me the girl’s phone number, and I’ll talk to her. No promises.”

  “Fair enough.”

  As I stood to go, Alexander called out to me. “Don’t forget my offer. You’ll never have a better chance to help people.”

  I nodded. “Don’t forget my warning. If you go after Evan, you will regret it.”

  30

  THE DAY OF THE CONCLAVE DAWNED bright, clear, and hot. Early September was still every bit a part of summer, and it was making sure we knew it.

  Alexander held the meeting in a large clearing on Henry Wolf’s property, within sight of the lake. From the security checkpoints we had to wade through to get there, you’d have thought we were going to see the president.

  Madison, Kaitlin, and I rode together, invitations in hand. At each of the three checkpoints, we had to hand the invitations to different members of Alexander’s security staff.

  Larry Jackson, the man who had, apparently, decided to leave my name off the invitation list, stopped us at the first checkpoint. He recognized me instantly and scowled when I handed him my invitation, letting me know precisely how he felt about it.

  “You don’t belong here,” he said.

  “Alexander disagrees,” I said. “Did you know he offered me a job?”

  Obviously, he didn’t know, because his eyes popped. “You’re lying.”

  I shrugged, took back my invitation, and moved on to the second checkpoint.

  I’m not exactly sure how to describe the atmosphere at the conclave. Never before had every practitioner in town – or nearly every one – gotten together in one place, and many of them didn’t trust the rest. Others acted positively jubilant, treating the day like a festival.

  I found my family right away, at the center of everything, surrounded by friends and extended family. Several of my cousins had driven into town from Springfield, a pretty good haul, and I greeted them enthusiastically. It felt a bit like a family reunion, with Dad’s brother and cousins, along with their spouses and children.

  Kaitlin, who had been spending countless hours with my family, blended right in. Madison clung to Nicolas. She looked ill-at-ease in the group, but seemed to draw some comfort from my brother.

  I scanned the crowd, my breath hitching slightly when I caught sight of Evan Blackwood standing with his cousin and best friend, Scott Lee. Evan didn’t look my way, but I stared at him for a long time. What had Alexander decided? Had he heeded my warning?

  I lost sight of him when one of my cousins swooped in to give me a big bear hug. “Great to see you.”

  We exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes until another one of my cousins popped over. “Did you hear that your cousin has made the vampire hunters’ most wanted list? He’s #2, right behind this vampire named Xavier that they’ve been tracking for almost two centuries. They’re actually supposed to be working together.”

  In the background, conversations rose and fell in their natural cadences, but every member of my immediate family went silent.

  “Where did you hear this?” Mom asked.

  “Alexander told me. I asked him whether he had the support of the vampire hunters and they’ve been distracted with Jason, the first of their order to turn traitor in over a hundred years.”

  No one looked at Kaitlin, but their attempts not to look shone almost as great a spotlight on her as staring would have. Finally, she stormed away and I followed, putting my arms around her shoulders in what I hoped she would take as a reassuring gesture. Neither one of us spoke for a long time and when she did, her words were bitter. “I should have known I’d end up just like my mom. Pregnant, single, and without a man in sight. Dad took off the moment she told him she was pregnant and never looked back. I’ve never even met him. Just a string of loser boyfriends and one stepdad…” Kaitlin shuddered and placed a protective hand on her belly. “Whatever happens, I won’t do that to my baby.”

  “What? Date? Ever?”

  Kaitlin held her ground. “I can’t just think about myself.”

  “No, but you can think about yourself a little bit, can’t you? You still have a lot of life left.”

  “You’ll be there when the baby’s born, won’t you?” Kaitlin asked.

  “I wouldn’t miss it.” I said, making it a vow.

  She nodded and returned to the circle of my family. I watched her go, but didn’t follow. Instead, my eyes roamed over the crowd until I once again spotted Evan, deep in conversation with Scott. He lifted his gaze briefly, spotting me, but I quickly turned away.

  What had Alexander decided? He hadn’t arrived yet and I had a feeling that he planned to make a grand entrance. A platform had been erected at one end of the field, set with several chairs , but at the moment it remained empty.

  He already had enough people in place, both on the edges of the crowd and at the checkpoints, to take down Evan. Had there been so many in town before? I hadn’t exactly counted.

  If Alexander did make a move, Evan would have no idea. As I watched, he laughed at something Amanda Lee said to him, then turned to say something to Scott.

  Wouldn’t you want it back? I know his father is to blame for it all, but he still has it, and it doesn’t belong to him.

  To my mother, it was so simple, but as I closed my eyes, I saw only pain and betrayal, mine and his.

  Evan looked my way again, but this time I didn’t try to pretend I hadn’t been staring. He frowned and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

  I turned away, looking from one group of strange men and women to another. Were they looking at Evan? Sizing him up? They might have to knock him unconscious and bind him before they broke his soul.

  My father approached, looking over my shoulder at Evan and nodding his head. “I wanted to tell you for a long time, you know.”

  “I know.” The words sounded hollow. It didn’t change anything.

  “I’m proud of you.”

  I gazed up at him, confused. “You are?”

  He nodded. “I’ve been watching you with Matthew Blair for two weeks, hoping you’d find a way to break free, and you did.”

  “Thanks.” I didn’t really want to talk about it, not when any minute an army might converge on Evan.

  “You know I couldn’t help you, right?” Dad asked. “Because I owed them for helping Isaac?”

  “I know.”

  “I hope you’re not upset because of what I said to Alexander last weekend. I don’t have my hopes up or anything, but just think…” His voice trailed off, almost lustily.

  “I asked Evan for it,” I said.

  Dad laughed. “I bet that worked well.”

  “No, not really.”

  He wandered off, continuing to chuckle to himself.

  I didn’t find it nearly
so funny, but then again, I didn’t remember the denial nearly so much as the pain and fear on his face when he’d given it. Again, I wondered whether he feared the pain or the loss of magic. If there was any chance he might change his mind…

  “Hello.”

  I jumped and whirled to face Evan, who had snuck up behind me. “What are you doing here? Trying to protect me from my father now?”

  “I have before,” Evan said softly.

  “Stop trying to understand me.” I turned away, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “I see the ring is gone.”

  “It doesn’t mean you have a chance.” I remembered my fear that Evan only wanted to protect me from Matthew so he could have me for himself. It suddenly struck me as somewhat irrational, and I wondered if it, too, was part of the magic Matthew had woven over me. Even now, I still couldn’t quite sort out what had been my own thinking and what had been his.

  “Trust me, I know you hate me.”

  “Then why?” I asked. “Why did you want to protect me?”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I have to.”

  “Because it’s your fault I need the protection in the first place?”

  “No.” For a long moment, I thought that’s all he would say, but then he finished the thought. “Because as much as you hate me, I still love you.”

  I swallowed, hard.

  “I’ll see you, Cassie,” Evan said awkwardly. He turned to walk away.

  “Wait!”

  He stopped. I had no idea if I could save him or not; whether he could get away, or if, perhaps, my warning would come too late, but I had to try.

  “I think Alexander’s going to arrest you.”

  He arched an eyebrow in what I recognized as an arrogant manner.

  “Look around. Does he have more people here than he did before?”

  Slowly, Evan scanned the crowd, and as he did I could see his frown deepening.

  “There are more of them, aren’t there?”

  “Why? Why would they arrest me?”

  “Why do you think?”

  “How did Alexander even find out?” Evan demanded.