“Ryker has something to do. I’m the next up on the magic meter.”
Burn searched the ground for a stick and then walked closer to the buildings again. I’d waited in my spot, somehow knowing he’d come back.
There were a few people stopping and coming closer, along with his would-be girlfriend and her small entourage.
He dragged the stick in a circle around him and chanted. All eyes were transfixed on him.
I saw a couple people mouth the word “magic” as if in awe. I’d heard that most dulls reacted like this, but I’d never witnessed it. The awe was palpable, and it wasn’t as if they could even see the ward he was building. Plus, didn’t they know it was carriers who ruined the world with their wars? They should hate us. Not be in awe.
They wouldn’t be in awe after they saw me fall on my ass. And they’d all see it the way the crowd was gathering. They were creeping closer and closer, peeking through the gaps in the buildings.
“Do you always get an audience?” I asked Burn, who didn’t seem to mind the gathering crowd.
“Yeah, it’s hard to stop.” He stared over at Julia, with kids on either side. He lifted his hand and shot some fire out of his palm, letting it bounce off the walls of the ward and fill it like a tube full of flames over his head.
The kids all laughed and came a little closer. He lifted his hand and patted the air, and the kids didn’t come any closer, as if they knew the drill. Clearly this wasn’t Burn’s first magic show. “Hard to stop,” he said.
Yeah, right. All of them, bunch of softies. We were all dead when Bedlam marched on us.
The flames gone, Burn turned back to me. “Okay, let’s see what you’ve got.”
Keeping my eyes forward, I didn’t think about all the eyeballs on me. It wasn’t like they’d know I’d failed unless I rushed the thing. I’d walk up and knock on it like that was what I was meant to do.
I walked.
I kept walking.
I either had to stop or bang into Burn. “Where is it? Did you drop it?”
My first inkling that something hadn’t gone according to plan was when he squinted down at me, inches from him, as if trying to figure out how I was there.
“I went light on you. Move back. I’ll do it again.”
I moved a good four feet out of his way and watched as he picked up his stick and chanted again. He tossed it down and thrust his chest out. He had a definite challenge in his stance. “Okay, give that a try.”
I looked at the ground, making sure I paid attention to where he’d drawn the line this time. I didn’t want to bounce by accident. I walked up to it and then nudged my toe right through, followed by my foot and the rest of me. “Is it still up? You sure you’re not dropping them somehow?”
“Let me try again.” He walked over and picked his stick back up, then tossed it and got a fresh one.
“You know…” I faltered for a second when he looked up at me and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Maybe it’s a bad day. Did you get any sleep last night?”
He made a new circle and chanted on the louder side. “Now, give that a try.”
I glanced behind me, seeing the little faces worried that their star might be losing some of his sizzle. Julia bit her lower lip, looking a little worried.
I took a step closer and tried to pretend to bounce.
“Wow, I think you did it now,” I yelled loudly, and glanced back at the kids.
Burn tapped me on my shoulder and pointed at my foot, which had gone an inch over his line.
Shit. Not only was I getting as soft as them for caring, I’d blown the fraud.
Twenty minutes later, Burn had rivulets of sweat and our crowd was dwindling. I didn’t have the heart to comment on what might be going wrong. After I’d walked through his wards the first couple of times, like they weren’t even there, he’d had trouble getting any more up. One of the guys watching giggled and said that he guessed even Wyrd Blood got performance anxiety. They had a good chuckle over that, until Burn shot a blast of fire close enough to singe their toes.
I sat down on a nearby boulder until he called me again, each ward taking longer and longer to do.
I was waiting for Burn to get up another ward when I felt Ryker’s magic nearby. I didn’t see him, but he was close. Then he was gone.
About five minutes later, one of the kids who ran messages walked up to Burn. “Ryker said he needs your help with something very important.”
I knew it was bull, but Burn perked up like someone had pulled him out of the rapids. “Sure.” He turned back to me. “Sorry to leave you hanging like this, Bugs. Have to go when the boss calls.”
“Sure. I understand.”
I made my way over to the watchtower and climbed up the fifty-foot ladder to where Ruck sat on top of the platform, a wooden roof overhead putting him in the shade. He glanced over from his reclined position against the rails, but only for a minute.
“That was a bit embarrassing,” he said, his eyes trained on the perimeter again.
“How long did you hang around?” I settled down into a spot on the small platform, letting my legs dangle over the side. I hadn’t noticed Ruck at the practice, but he was good at not being seen when he didn’t want to be.
“Too long.”
That didn’t tell me much, since it had gone bad from the start. “I tried to fake it.”
“Not your fault you’re stronger.” Ruck punched me softly in the arm, as if to say, Don’t sweat it.
You could see the view of the whole city from up here. The people all going their different ways. It wasn’t like any other country I’d ever heard of. People seemed happy here. They had to be, the way they all smiled constantly.
If Ryker wasn’t so set on breaking into Bedlam, this might’ve actually been a good place to call home. And where was he, anyway? What was so important he blew off practice today? I found his door from the tower. It was shut, but then I saw a flash of long blond hair moving past the window.
“Who’s that?”
“Who?” Ruck turned and looked where I was pointing.
“I think there’s a girl in Ryker’s rooms.”
Ruck shrugged and turned back around. “I have no idea, but I can’t be staring in his windows. If you’re here to help, you’re supposed to look outward, not inward.”
“I’m not here to help.” Where had he gotten that crazy idea?
“Why do you care who’s in his room if it’s not me?”
“I don’t. I was only curious who could be so important that he blew off practice.”
I swung my legs back and forth as I watched Ryker’s closed door, wondering what they might be doing inside and waiting for another glimpse.
“You’re acting a little stalker-ish right now.”
“He’s my enemy. I need to know everything about him. If he’s got a girlfriend, that’s important info.”
“He doesn’t.”
I swung my head back to him. “How do you know?”
“According to Burn, he likes to keep things simple.”
“Burn told you this?”
“Yeah, we clicked. He’s a good dude.”
I didn’t call him out on it, but I’d bet that he’d asked Burn if Ryker liked guys. Only way that information would’ve come up between the two of them.
“More like he’s too cold to be in a relationship.” I rested my arms and chin on the railing. Cold and crazy and going to get us all killed. As far as I could tell, being moderately attractive was the only thing he had going for him. “You know you can’t stay here, right?”
“And I thought I was going to have a peaceful morning.”
I didn’t let Ruck’s lack of enthusiasm for my topic stop me. “I have to stay, but you can’t. You need to get Fetch, Sinsy, and Marra out of here before it’s too late.”
“Are you up here to tell me I have to leave, or so you can spy on Ryker?”
Ruck still had his eyes trained on the perimeter, but he knew me too well.
&nb
sp; “I’m spying on my enemy.”
“That’s why you won’t stop staring at his door?”
I stopped staring for a minute to argue with Ruck, but I really wanted to stare at Ryker’s door. A truce might be a better path in this instance.
I went back to spying on my enemy. “I’ll shut up if you do.”
“Deal.”
I continued to stare, but in silence, and he didn’t say anything else about me staring.
Chapter 16
I looked about the breakfast table at the lot of them. It was a rerun of last night. All heads were down as they ate. I leaned forward toward Ruck, who was across the table from me, and gave him the dead eye. It was hard to do all that non-blinking, but it was worth it. If I could crack him, the rest would follow.
“I don’t care if you stare at me all day long. We’re not leaving.” The stubborn bastard kept eating.
We were both dug into our positions. He thought he was doing the best thing by staying, and I thought the exact opposite.
“Every bite you take is a bite closer to death.” I tried to give the word as much impact as I could. It didn’t work out so well, as they all kept taking bites closer to death.
Ruck hummed right before he took a bite twice the size of the last. He swallowed it after five chews and said, “That bite must’ve been three months alone. It tasted damn good.”
“You’re going to…” Holy magic, Ryker was here. I didn’t need to turn around to feel his magic heading straight toward our table, toward me. Was I late again? I peeked over my shoulder. The set of his mouth said I was. Today’s practice was going to suck dragon’s turds.
He stopped beside the table. “You’re late.”
I glance over at the clock, trying to figure out if the short hand or the long hand was the one that made me late. Or both?
I stood, knowing I should’ve apologized, but it was hard to say sorry to the person who was dangling your life in front of you.
“I had something that needed to be handled.” It was sort of an apology—or an explanation. They were kind of in the same realm.
Ryker turned on his heel and left, clearly expecting me to follow.
“We’ll continue this later,” I said to Ruck, getting up to follow Ryker because of that whole dangling life problem.
“Only if you can find me,” Ruck said to my back, sounding like he might have been kidding but not really.
I caught up to Ryker but kept that nice five-foot buffer in between us as we walked out of the building and through the city.
Ryker didn’t speak to me again until we were almost at the field. “You can’t tell time, can you?”
“So? A lot of people can’t.” I shrugged as if it didn’t bother me.
“Would you like someone to teach you?”
I hesitated for a second. “No. Once me and my crew leave, I won’t need to know.” Even if I did want to learn, I’d figure it out on my own. I knew what the people in the countries said about us. He wasn’t going to treat me like one of the poor, ignorant people from the Ruined City.
We got to the clearing but he wasn’t grabbing his stick. “You sure about the ‘we’? Doesn’t look like you’ve got any ‘we.’ Only I.”
“Because you’re luring them in with food and sunny rooms with windows. It’s all shiny and new right now, but they’ll figure it out.”
He stood there as if having a silent debate with himself. He reached down and grabbed a stick before he stopped again. He turned to me instead of drawing the circle. “You aren’t leading them. You’re holding them back.”
My hands shot to my hips. How dare he judge me? He had no idea what our lives were like. “They’re alive.” And keeping everyone alive had been hard enough at times.
He shook his head. “But they’re not living, not even close to it. All you do is find them the darkest corner to crouch down and hide in. That’s not living. That’s a slow, miserable death.”
I took a few steps away, ready to walk out on his practice. “Mind your business. You’re about to get all your people killed by starting a war. What do you even need that’s more important than their lives?” Let’s see how well his people were living in a year.
His jaw shifted, and I knew I’d hit a soft spot. At least he felt bad about the coming massacre. That was something. As expected, though, he didn’t tell me what it was he wanted in Bedlam.
He stabbed the stick into the ground. “I’m trying to help you.”
“I hate you; you hate me. Let’s keep the well-meaning advice to ourselves.” I pointed at his stick, motioning for him to do his thing.
He didn’t. “You don’t hate me. You hate the truth. If that’s the life you want, I won’t stop you after we’re done. Go back to it. But I’m not telling them they have to go with you. I’m going to give them the chance you didn’t, to have something worth dying for.”
He finally drew his circle and put up his ward.
“Remember, finesse is more likely to work.”
I placed my hands on it and nothing happened. I thought, Break ward, break ward, over and over and it still didn’t budge.
“You’re not trying hard enough.”
Not leading my people well enough. Not doing this well enough. I pretended he wasn’t speaking and rammed at the ward, giving my pent-up need to beat him bloody a different focus.
“Stop,” he said, as I was about to hit the ward for the tenth time. He tossed the stick. “Let’s focus on your defenses.”
I stepped back a ways, hoping a little space would make it more bearable. If it was like the other times he’d poked me with his magic, it wouldn’t be bad. I could handle some pushing. Didn’t really care if I fell on my ass. But if it felt like it did in his rooms… That, I didn’t know what to do with.
I felt his magic heading toward me, swarming around, and immediately knew it was going to be the same as his room. The feeling ebbed for a second, and I thought I was going to get pushed, then it went back to that weird feeling. It was the strangest sensation, as if his magic was blending with mine, and it gave me warm and tingly feelings all over. Maybe I just needed to get used to it? It wasn’t as if it was painful, just weird.
Then it was gone.
“We’re done for the day.”
He walked out of the field and toward the city with no further explanation.
We walked back together, but only because we were both heading back to camp and leaving the spot at the same time. I thought about fussing with my shoe for a few minutes to let the gap between us lengthen, but why should I get stuck waiting behind?
We hit the camp and his attention immediately landed on a busty brunette walking past. It was hard not to notice because it was like as soon as he spotted her, she did a beeline to his place.
I was kicking the post of the tower with my swinging heel as I stared at Ryker’s door. “He says we’re done all abruptly, as if he’s got this pressing matter he suddenly remembered, but then…” I nudged Ruck’s arm. “Are you listening to me?”
“Hanging on every word.” He made the words long and drawn out, as if he could fall asleep at any moment.
I didn’t let that stop me. “Then he disappears into his room with this woman that reeks of sex.”
“So?” Ruck yawned and collapsed back against the rail of the tower.
“So? It’s the middle of the day. That’s what he stops our practice for?” I was positive that eating well was leading to mass insanity. Only possible explanation.
“Are you mad because he’s doing someone, or are you mad because he’s not doing you? Because I’m starting to have my suspicions.” He leaned over until I could see his face, his raised eyebrows and nodding head.
We both knew he’d had his suspicions, which were very wrong. Why would I possibly want Ryker? “You keep forgetting I hate him.”
“I don’t think he’s that bad. It’s okay to be attracted to him. I am. Just do him. Get it out of your system. I would.” Ruck shrugged his shoulder as if t
hat were the simplest math in the world. “Or do somebody. I really think you need to get laid.”
“I don’t need to get laid.”
“Fine. Die a virgin.”
The second the words were out, he stiffened.
The mood crashed from playful bantering to awkward instantly.
“Bugs, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking—”
I bumped my shoulder into his. “I know. It’s not a big deal. I’m good now, and I’m going to get fixed.”
I ran my fingers over my shirt, right above where I knew the bruise would come back.
Ruck grabbed my other hand.
Chapter 17
The little gaggle of kids laughed as they made their way across the road and headed toward a building they used as a school. It was the only building with bright yellow shutters, as if they’d just been painted.
The children all filed in, about fifteen of them in total. Julia, the teacher, stepped into the door and waved them past her before turning around and going in herself. I crept around, ducking behind some of the other buildings until I could see into one of the windows.
Julia walked over to a board with letters on it, “Everyone say it together. A, B, C…” She pointed to each letter as she said it until she got to the end, and then sang a little song to end it. “Let’s do it one more time.”
Oh good. “A, B, C…”
I tried to mumble the letters along with the class as best as I could, falling behind a little when I didn’t know what came next.
I felt Burn, and jumped when I realized he was only a few feet away. I really wished I could feel him coming from farther away, like with Ryker.
“Hey,” Burn said, looking at me and then the class. “Ryker is looking for you.” His brows dropped a hair, as if he were trying to figure out why I was lurking outside the classroom’s window.
“I heard the commotion,” I said, answering the unasked question before I brushed past him.
He fell into step beside me. “It’s not a big deal, not knowing.”
“I know.” I quickened my step, and he did as well. “What did Ryker want?”
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