He’d been following me most of the day, in fact. Hell, maybe he’d been following me for weeks now.
And it was all for this. To find the seventh set.
I don’t think I’d ever been colder.
To be honest, I didn’t know that it was Jeremy Rodriguez specifically who was in the room – but it had to be an illusionist. It was the only thing that made sense, the only thing that drew together the disparate events of the day. Somebody had been there in the courtyard when Max had revealed the existence of the diaries to me. And they’d been tracking us ever since, trying to get to them and Olivia through me.
Or was I missing something again?
“Beth?” Jason took a step toward me.
“Where’s Josh?” My voice tightened with fear.
“He’s out strengthening the door spell. Beth, you’re so pale. What is it?” Jason tried.
I focused on my finding magic, and though it was always truly costly, I attempted to discover the truth of Jason’s statement.
Was Josh out protecting the door?
No.
He’d already been taken.
I looked right up at Jason. “There’s an illusionist in the room,” I had time to say.
Something cracked across the back of my skull.
My world became hazy as darkness claimed me.
Chapter 14
I woke on the floor. No, that wasn’t right – I was inside the floor.
My torso was buried right up into the carpet. And my legs? They were dangling down in the room below.
It took me a while to force my body up, to straighten my back, to open my eyes. Then the reality of where I was hit me, and I screamed.
We were still in the sitting room. I say we. Jason and Max and Josh were here with me. They, however, were not suspended through the floor. Max was still on the couch, his ankles locked into the floor, and Josh was beside me, unconscious.
Jason?
He was on his feet, standing, his body rigid with anger, his hands clenched into fists as he stared at Jeremy Rodriguez.
Jason was a sorcerer; Jeremy was only an illusionist – even a child would be able to tell who was more powerful.
But Jason wasn’t attacking. And he obviously hadn’t prevented Jeremy from casting some kind of spell on me to sink me through the floor.
At the sound of me awakening, Jeremy flicked his cold gaze toward me. “I wouldn’t do anything,” he said harshly.
I tried to struggle, tried to plant my hands on the floor to pull myself out of it. I even attempted to use magic – or what was left of it after I’d cast my truth-finding spell.
But that would be when Jeremy – who was only meant to be an illusionist – ticked his fingers to the side, and the floor beneath me reacted, swallowing me down another inch.
I screamed as I jolted. Then my eyes blasted wide as I stared at him. “But you’re only an illusionist?”
Jeremy’s lips spread into a smile. It was triumphant, but his gaze was still dead. It was the smile, in fact, of someone who’d had everything else taken away from him, and who now only sought power. “I’ve become a wood elemental, too. I know people in high places,” he added through a mirthless grin.
I jerked my gaze toward Josh, willing him to stir. He was the only one who wasn’t trapped. But his body was perfectly still. Just before I could freak out entirely and assume he was dead, I saw his back shifting up and down softly with slow inhalations.
He was alive – but he was obviously injured.
“I didn’t expect her to wake that quickly – obviously more powerful than we gave her credit for. Now, where are those diaries?” Jeremy said as he swung his gaze between Max and Jason.
Why was he looking at Jason? Jason had no clue where the diaries were.
Or had Jeremy made some kind of deal with Jason – a deal that explained why the sorcerer wasn’t taking on the illusionist? And was Jeremy ensuring Jason played ball?
“I’m not going to give them to you,” Max said with quiet defiance.
“Maybe I haven’t made myself clear—” Jeremy stretched a hand toward me, making it obvious he was about to force the floor to swallow me once more.
I was weak. Seriously weak after using my truth-finding magic. I also felt battered and weary, as if somebody had rolled me downhill.
It wasn’t just the pain spreading from the back of my head where Jeremy had clocked me on the noggin. It was something else. Jeremy must’ve cast some kind of magic-sapping spell on me.
So I didn’t have the power to stop him from forcing me to sink through the floor.
I had something else, though. The same thing I’d always used to deal with brutes like Jeremy.
The truth.
“What kind of deal did Peter cut with you? Exactly who did he threaten to force you to work for him?” I asked, controlling my tone even though fear tore through me.
Jeremy’s face twitched.
“I figured it out,” I said conversationally. “Peter Mercure trapped you for 15 minutes after he sent you to remand, didn’t he? And when you were there, he made you a deal you could not refuse. And then he gave you elemental magic. He sounds like a great guy,” I added with a false smile.
“How did you—” Jeremy’s teeth clenched.
Jason looked at me in confusion, but his expression was still somehow guarded. “Peter Mercure did what?”
I paid attention to Jason. I didn’t have the ability to access my full emotion-scanning power – do that, and I would drain my energy until I fell unconscious. Instead, I used my plain old deductive skills.
Jason felt… weird.
“Two-and-a-half years ago, Peter Mercure made a deal, didn’t he? Sandra McIntosh found enough evidence to connect him to the X Gang – to prove he was their leader.” I looked right at Jeremy as I spoke. “He was brought to a secret trial, wasn’t he? And Olivia was the prosecutor. But Peter had something he was willing to trade. A hidden set. He gave it to the police, and as a reward, they buried the details of the case. Peter got to walk free, and the details of the case were buried. Literally,” I said, moving my lips sharply around the word. “Sandra was killed, and Olivia was presumably forced to shut up. That, or lose her life.”
Jeremy looked cold all over, telling me I was right on the ball.
“But Peter lied, didn’t he? He kept hold of that hidden set somehow – enough that he could create his own elementals.”
Jeremy’s expression changed. “I guess you’re right,” he said.
I ticked my head to the side.
I was wrong.
And Jeremy was a bad liar.
My mind reeled.
“Beth, just stay out of this. I’ll get you free,” Jason tried.
Slowly, I tilted my head up, and I stared at him. “Why aren’t you trapped?” I asked breathlessly.
“Because I’m busy making a deal with him,” Jeremy snapped.
I… had missed something.
There was one more fact that would make this case fall into place.
I looked right at Jason, and my expression broke. “Peter didn’t hide that hidden set, did he? He’s working for Internal Affairs, isn’t he?”
Jason looked away.
“My God. You—”
“You don’t understand, Beth,” Jason tried.
“That’s why Olivia was so scared of Internal Affairs. You were the very force who threatened her in the first place. Exactly what did you do to make her inform? Who did you threaten? Who did you kill? Or did she not inform? Did you just kidnap her, and did she escape?”
“Beth – you don’t understand,” Jason tried.
“I think I finally do. And you’re wrong, Jason. You were always wrong. Good men do not have the right to seek more power to save others. Good men have the right to share that power so that others can save themselves. But you hoard it. Internal Affairs want it for themselves because they—”
“Will do anything to save this world? You’re goddamn right. And if y
ou’d just keep quiet, I’d be able to—”
“Save me? I’m lost already. I know too much about Internal Affairs and Peter, don’t I?” I asked through clenched teeth as I stared at the illusionist. All the while as I spoke, I clenched my hands into fists. I dug the nails into my skin until I felt a light trickle of blood.
I wasn’t trying to hurt myself. I was trying to ground myself.
Because there was one thing I had to do.
Save Max and save the world. Sorry, that was two things, but in my head and heart they were the same. Because without Max, the world wouldn’t have a chance.
He was my finder, and it was my duty to shepherd him through this future.
So I concentrated. And I waited.
“You made Peter Mercure’s leash too loose, didn’t you?” I stared at Jason now. “He knows too much about Internal Affairs, and he’s too smart. You allowed him to use the hidden sets to start creating warlock armies, didn’t you?” I spat through clenched teeth. “But you didn’t account for the fact that Peter would use them against you. He’s created his own army, hasn’t he?”
“Beth,” Jason said through a locked jaw.
“Or am I missing something again? Did Internal Affairs create those elementals on their own? Does this not actually have that much to do with Peter? Did you create an army to track down Olivia and stifle the details of this case—”
“We did not create an army of elementals,” Jason spat.
I nodded. “So I was right – Peter’s leash was too long. You didn’t count on the fact he would try to betray Internal Affairs. You’d thought he would be loyal, right? A good ex-serviceman who would sacrifice anything for peace.”
“You don’t know anything,” Jason said through a harsh breath.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I can’t figure out how and why Peter created those elementals. But there is one thing I know. Why you told Josh not to let me investigate this case,” every word drove out of my mouth like a punch. “Because you knew that anyone who investigated this case would have to be dealt with.”
Jason looked away.
“She knows too much,” Jeremy said sharply.
“Don’t you dare,” Jason growled.
The whole time, Max looked at me quietly. His expression was… like a bridge back to the past. Though being trapped in the floor wasn’t exactly the same as being split apart by chaos, Max’s gaze was just as reassuring as it had been in the past. It anchored me to the spot and gave me hope.
It also told me that if I trusted him, he would find the opportunity to get us out of here.
“That’s not the deal. You know the deal,” Jeremy spat. “If Peter—”
“You won’t lay a finger on her,” Jason now screamed.
“He’s already laid a finger on me, Jason. He’s already cracked me across the back of the skull and buried me in the floor.”
Jason turned on me, his expression wild. “Just let me protect you.”
“At the cost of sacrificing everyone else?”
I swear a door opened up through Jason’s eyes, and I caught a glimpse of a completely consumed man. All that stuff he’d said earlier about his father teaching him how to protect others – that had been true, hadn’t it?
Jason’s father – also a sorcerer – must have forced Jason to learn magic as a child. He must’ve force-fed spell after spell into the young boy until Jason had become nothing more than a twisted weapon. A tool for Internal Affairs and their plan for the future.
And realizing that took away my anger.
I looked at Jason with calm serenity – quite a feat considering I was still stuck in the floor. “I can’t let you protect me if that means others will die.”
“If you don’t let me protect you, you will die,” Jason said as he closed his eyes.
Max was still looking at me, and I could tell he was still waiting for that opportunity. An opportunity I would have to create.
Though I knew the more I distracted these men, the more my magic built within me, it was still weak, and it wouldn’t be enough to break myself out of the floor. Even then I would have to find a way to fight Jason.
And I didn’t need truth magic to confirm one fact – I would have no chance against Jason. Even if I weren’t weakened, he was far more of a sorcerer than I was.
So… there had to be another way.
Another way….
“She knows too much,” Jeremy snapped once more.
“I told you to leave her to me,” Jason growled.
I could feel Jeremy’s irritation increasing. He was also stretching a finger toward me even though his hand was still clamped by his side. He wanted to force the floor to swallow me. But what would happen then? My legs were dangling through the floor, and though it would be a hell of a fall to tumble down to the floor below, if I was smart and used a charge of magic, I would save myself from any broken bones.
… Or maybe he just wanted to suffocate me. Yeah – that would be what he wanted to do. Judging by the dead look in his eyes that told me he was prepared to do anything to keep Peter safe, Jeremy wouldn’t bat an eyelid at burying me in wood.
“I don’t care who you think she is – you can’t afford to anger Peter. Internal Affairs owes him too much,” Jeremy spat.
“Don’t make me angry,” Jason growled.
Max looked right at me. His expression was completely entreating, and I could tell he would give anything to speak to me. But he couldn’t.
It was up to me. I had to find our opportunity….
But I didn’t have enough magic to fight Jason….
I suddenly felt that hand on my shoulder from the past. I felt Max’s soft breath by my ear, too. “Flee. There’ll be another time to fight.”
Flee….
Max’s eyes widened. I didn’t know if he could read my thoughts, or if he’d suddenly sensed a change in opportunities.
I stared right at him. And using his emotional reactions as a gauge, I asked myself one thing.
Could I flee?
Max practically nodded.
I… had more magic in me now. Enough that I would be able to make one move – to cast one spell.
But to get out of here, I would have to master elemental magic.
I’d mastered healing magic already today. But I was hardly in a situation to find yet another sorcery skill set.
Max continued to look at me, and his expression entreated me to try.
As Jason and Jeremy continued to argue, I took the few seconds given to me and pushed into that doorway in my heart. I concentrated on Max’s kiss, on his embrace, and on the promise of our future.
I let it thrust open the door to my heart. And I begged myself to find a way to shift through the ground.
“Enough,” Jeremy growled. “You don’t get to decide—” he began, and he started to stretch a finger toward me.
I could feel that he was about to get hold of the floor.
And as I felt that, I followed his magic, sinking my mind into it, begging my brain to learn what was going on.
Just at the last moment, before I could start sinking down to my mouth and suffocate as my head was filled with wood, I did it.
“Now,” Max roared.
With the last few charges of magic I had, I controlled the floor.
I pushed myself through it and wrapped an arm around Josh. Fortunately he’d been deposited only a half meter away from me. I pulled him through the floor, and at the same time, I concentrated on Max’s feet.
Max stood and fell through the floor.
We dropped into the kitchen. Though I had hold of Josh’s comatose body and managed to use my magic to protect the both of us from the fall – Max wasn’t that lucky. But fortunately where he dropped deposited him on the table, cutting the distance of his fall. He was quick enough to roll, too. He dropped off the table and onto his feet with a thump.
Then he threw himself toward me. He reached into an invisible pocket by his side and grabbed out a strange ball.
/>
“What—” I began. Then I started to see Jason and Jeremy sink through the floor, too.
“Premade portal spell,” Max snapped. He reached me. “I bought two. Keep hold of Josh,” he snapped.
He wrapped an arm around my middle and stared into my eyes as he squeezed his hand around the portal spell, breaking it.
Magic cascaded around us and spirited us away.
Though it took half a second, as I stared into Max’s gaze, I swore eternity itself opened up.
We escaped.
For now.
But for now was all that mattered. The future? Was now mine to make.
The end of Forgotten Destiny Book Four. The conclusion to this series, Forgotten Destiny Book Five, will be available shortly.
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She’s in trouble – of the mythic kind. When Lilly White finds a strange box, it changes her life. It ignites the ice that has always lain dormant in her heart. Oh, and it brings her to the attention of him.
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This is a five-book series, and all five books are currently available. Click here to find out more.
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Forgotten Destiny Book Four Page 16