“And what have we here?” Ess asked from behind her tall stone desk that guarded the entrance to the cavern. Curly blue hair shot out from her head like Medusa’s serpents. Her right eye was stuck in a state of perpetual surprise from whatever happened on her last mission, and spidery red veins crawled out from the green iris. She used it to great effect staring down whoever dared venture into her domain, turning her face to block her normal eye from view.
“I have reports that are ready for archival,” I said, staring straight into the eye. Experience had taught me not to cower.
“Last time I checked, carting documents here and there was not a two-person job. Since when do we have the personnel available to let you two loaf around on this assignment?”
“I’m shadowing for the time being. Calista’s orders,” Kellan said.
Ess narrowed her normal left eye. “Well no one told me. Course, no one ever tells me anything anymore. All right then, I’ll take them from here. Now be on your way.”
Ess stared until we shut the door behind us.
Back in the pit, we analyzed routine reports, the most boring of jobs.
“In the archives is a record of every mission, right?” An inkling of an idea formed in my mind.
“Yes, the CCS is kinda fanatical about keeping records of everything. The archives are secured so they can only be read by CCS agents, but it’s all there.”
“So there could be a list in there of all CCS personnel?”
“I suppose. Why?”
“The person who rigged my trials has access to the CCS. The first logical place to look is within the CCS itself. If I had a list of personnel, I could go through a process of elimination to find out who’s responsible.”
“And what if it isn’t someone in the CCS? That level of betrayal…” Kellan let his sentence drift off. No words could describe that treachery.
“Someone somewhere betrayed us. What other answer is there? Do you think an outsider snuck into the Citadel, into the Greenhouse, into the scene room, tampered with my trials, did nothing else, then left without a trace?”
In Kellan’s hesitation, I could see he knew I was right but didn’t want to accept it. “The trials may have just malfunctioned.”
“With a personnel list, I can either find the person who did it or prove that it wasn’t an inside job. Since it likely wasn’t an outsider, Calista will have to concede that it was a malfunction, and I can get out into the field.”
Kellan tilted his head side to side as he thought it over. “That makes sense.”
Of course it did. “The next time we go to the crypt, I want to get that list.”
Kellan nodded. “All right. I’m with you.”
The hours dragged by. It was hard not to feel like this was a punishment. The reports blurred together. We didn’t analyze mission logs, just the routine check-ins to let us know the quieter stations were still out there keeping on. If I didn’t want to go back to the crypt so badly, I’d have gone to training as Thaddeus wanted. Boredom was the price I had to pay for the information I needed.
When Calista summoned me to her CCS office, it was almost a relief.
“Kellan, you may wait outside for a moment,” Calista dismissed him. He didn’t protest like he did with Lilibet. Once we were alone, she addressed me. “I thought I made myself clear that you were to stay out of the investigation.”
The plan to get the personnel list. She had to know about it. I considered feigning ignorance, but Calista was a busy woman and wouldn’t waste her time with me unless she was certain. “I’m not getting in the way. I haven’t even done anything.”
“Yet. I figured you would try something, so I’ve kept an eye on you. Your time is not well spent investigating your fellow agents.”
“My time isn’t well spent reading mundane reports.”
“You were given the option to continue training if you wish. Your attitude isn’t doing you any favors, Kat. I’ve been advocating for you from the beginning, but my patience is wearing thin. Either do as you’re told, continue your training, or resign your position.”
Resign? For the first time it occurred to me that there was something worse than being stuck at a desk: not being part of the CCS at all. “I don’t want to leave.”
“Good. We don’t want you to, but you must stop trying to involve yourself in this investigation.”
“I’m already involved. I don’t know how you expect me to sit around waiting for other people to protect me.”
“Exercise some patience and self-control.” Calista’s tone made it clear this wasn’t a suggestion.
“But—”
Calista cut me off with a raised hand. “But nothing. You will learn to control yourself, or you will find yourself as just another citizen of the Citadel. Is that clear?”
I clenched my jaw. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Then you may leave. Send Kellan in.”
Chapter 16
Calista was a fool if she thought I was going to sit around and do nothing. If they didn’t want me poking around the investigation, then they could send me into the field. For the moment, I found myself without a babysitter and took advantage of it. All of my anger and frustration needed an outlet, and my magic needed to stretch.
On the sparring floor, I released spell after spell on a practice dummy. It deflected and threw up spells of its own that I countered effortlessly. Screw Thaddeus. I had this shit down. I hoped the person trying to kill me would face me head-on. Face-to-face, I was sure I’d win. I’d killed before. Twice now. Marcus and Casper had both fallen to me—one a Council assassin, probably from the CCS, and one a Directorate operative. Both had died beneath my magic. I may not have been raised doing spells, but around my neck I had not only my spark of magic but my father’s magic as well. My mother, evil though she may have been, was a formidable mage. I had her blood and the blood of my sorcerer father, blood that was pure magic, running through my veins. The Directorate could try to kill me all they wanted, but they wouldn’t succeed, not now that I was trained.
The dummy didn’t counter my last spell, and when it should’ve hurled something at me, nothing came. I raised myself from my crouched position and looked around. “Whoever did that, turn it back on.”
“I think it’s about time you try practicing against a real mage.” Thaddeus stood in the doorway. My heart leapt into my throat. I may talk a big game to myself, but Thaddeus still scared me. “What? I thought you were ready for the field. If you’re ready to face-off against Directorate agents, then you must be prepared to face me. I’ll even give you the first cast.”
Facing him wasn’t wise. Nothing good could come of this, but I didn’t care. Thaddeus was the reason I was here and not on Earth searching for my mother’s talismans. He was the reason someone had been able to violate the privacy of my room. I should’ve been on Earth, far away from whoever planted that device.
With a surge of rage, I unleashed a fireball toward him and immediately felt foolish as he blocked it. What a novel spell to cast. Thaddeus was a war-hardened general. He’d served not only in the military, but in the CCS, and now the Council. I may dislike him, but there was no questioning his ability.
“Are you going to make it that easy on me? Do you want to die?” He stalked toward me, and I took a step backward. In that moment, I knew he could kill me if he wanted to. If we were ever to meet in battle, it would end with one of us dead, of that I was sure.
Another step backward and my foot burned as it landed in a dark purple acid like at my trials. I cast a spell just in time to catch me as I fell, preventing the rest my body from touching the caustic liquid.
He stood over me, preparing to cast a spell, and I lashed out with a cord binding his legs and pulling him to the floor. I leapt to my feet while he sat stunned and called down a rain of ice shards.
Thaddeus deflected them easily and rose to his feet. With his wand extended, he lifted me into the air as if I weighed nothing. From the tips of my fingers, I cast lightn
ing directly into his wand. His only choice was to break the connection, and I fell, rolling away so as not to provide an easy target.
For a few minutes, we cast spell after spell at each other, deflecting, ducking, attacking, pursuing. Too late, I realized he had me backed into a literal corner.
I cursed myself. I should have paid more attention to my physical surroundings. That was supposed to be my strong point. But here I stood, in a corner with Thaddeus looming over me. My anger at myself clouded my judgment, and I cast spells without thought to strategy or advantage. He blocked each one as he came closer and closer, using his larger body to intimidate and scare me.
He directed a spell at my talisman, trying to take it from me. His hand jerked back in pain at the shock the amber stone released. My father’s magic would always protect me from having my talisman taken while I was conscious. Surprise filled Thaddeus’s face for a moment before he furrowed his brow and cast another spell.
Shocked that he would try to disarm me, I didn’t block properly, and the spell connected with my shoulder, shooting pain through my body. I crumbled to the floor, but Thaddeus didn’t halt his advance. He cast another spell, this time hitting my other shoulder. Agony clouded my mind. I couldn’t focus to counter his spells much less cast one of my own.
Another burning sensation, this time on my right hand. I looked down to see boils and burning, open sores erupting on both my hands. I may be able to cast spells without using my hands under normal circumstances, but this was too much. The pain was too much. Panic paralyzed me. Even if I could run, I had nowhere to go. Thaddeus raised his wand. There was nothing left for him to do other than cast the killing blow. I had it right all along. He was the mole the entire time. Leaving Kellan had been foolish. Everything Thaddeus had done up to this point had been to keep me close, to keep me in his sights. He’d done enough to make sure no one suspected him—no one except me.
Against my wishes, fear enveloped me. I didn’t want to die now when I had only recently met my aunt and had begun to know my father through his memories. There was so much more I could do, and I hadn’t told anyone what I knew. If I died now, so did my knowledge of what my mother had done and what the Directorate was planning to do. My talisman warmed, my magic begging me to act, but I couldn’t think.
Thaddeus’s wand lit in the familiar pink color of Lilibet’s eyes.
“What’s going on?”
Thaddeus whirled, and I gulped in air, unaware that I had been holding my breath waiting for my death. Never in my life had I been so grateful to hear Kellan’s voice.
“I see Calista’s talk didn’t teach you any respect. Do we need another go?” Thaddeus asked, referencing the last time he had sparred with Kellan.
“Are you all right, Kat?” Kellan asked, looking around Thaddeus to me.
Of course I wasn’t all right; I had sores all over my hands. But when I looked down, they were gone. The pain in my shoulders had also receded. Thaddeus had hid his handiwork well. I nodded as I stood. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Thaddeus sheathed his wand. “At least you’re taking your responsibility as bodyguard seriously now, though it’s too late. You’re supposed to be protecting her.”
“I didn’t expect I’d have to protect her from you.”
“Until this investigation is over, you protect her from everyone. Whoever sabotaged the trials has access to the CCS. No one is above suspicion. You don’t leave her side while she’s in the CCS, and you don’t leave her outside the CCS unless she’s in the custody of a guard. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
Thaddeus turned to me. “As I’ve been saying, you’re not ready for the field. You should never have let me back you into this corner. You made yourself an easy target and let your feelings impede your judgment. You may hate me, but you’ll hate the Directorate operative trying to kill you a lot more. If you let your dislike of me interfere with your skills to the point that I could kill you, what’s going to happen the first time you’re facing down an enemy? Think on that before you complain about not being in the field. Being here is the only reason you’re alive right now.”
Without even allowing me to answer, he strode from the room. Kellan came to my side, and I knew the real reason I was alive was because he had walked in. Kellan had succeeded in his job as a bodyguard, but I didn’t know how long he could protect me when one of the Councilors in charge of the CCS wanted me dead.
Chapter 17
“Are you sure you’re fine?” Kellan asked me when we were alone.
“Peachy.” Anger far overshadowed any pain or humiliation I felt. A part of my brain wanted Thaddeus to come back through those doors so I could lay him flat.
“Peachy?” Kellan looked at me quizzically.
It took me a second to realize what he was asking. “It’s an Earth saying. It means good.”
“Ah, okay. See, that’s the kind of stuff we need out in the field. With you, we can really blend in with the humans.”
I appreciated Kellan’s attempt to cheer me up, but it wouldn’t work. “That’s if I ever get out of here.”
“You will. This won’t last forever.”
If the encounter with Thaddeus had taught me anything, it was that I could be killed in an instant. I needed to arm myself with the knowledge of how to fight back. The sooner I could get back to my room, the sooner I could teleport into section five again and come up with a plan. “So what did Calista say?”
“She’s pissed. More than anything she wants us to lie low. I think what would make her happy is for you to stay in your room until this is all sorted out.”
That was out of the question. “Well, as history has shown us, my room’s not a safe place.”
“She told me to expect menial work for the next couple of days to keep us out of trouble.”
“Great. Are we done for the day? Or is this all starting now?”
“She said we’re both dismissed.”
“Good, I’ve got to get out of here.” Kellan followed me out of the sparring room, and it took all my self-control to not snap at him to stop. I was tired of being hovered over, but I also couldn’t deny that he had saved my life, even if it was just a case of being in the right place at the right time. “Thanks for coming in when you did.”
“You’re welcome. Sessions with Thaddeus are a pain.”
“I was really scared in there.” The intense emotions of the encounter overwhelmed me again. Fear, anger, frustration, all made worse by the fact that I couldn’t do as I pleased. I was trapped and ready to explode.
“You know he’d never hurt you.”
“But he did. After you came in, he must’ve healed the damage. My shoulders and my hands, they were nothing but pain. I mean, it was comparable to my trials. If you hadn’t walked in when you did, I think he would’ve killed me.” I shouldn’t tell Kellan any of this, but I couldn’t help myself. Someone needed to know. I had to get it out. A part of me thought if I shared, Kellan would see my point, and I wouldn’t feel so alone and crazy.
“No, Thaddeus wouldn’t do that. I mean, I know he’s scary, and he’s left me sore after sparring matches, but he wouldn’t kill you. That’s absurd. You’re one of his agents.”
“Well, like he said, no one is above suspicion.”
“Yes, and he’s implicating himself there. If he was trying to kill you, do you think he’d tell me to protect you even from him? It doesn’t make sense, Kat.”
“You’re probably right.” There was no use belaboring the point. I stormed off, leaving Kellan to catch up. In the greenhouse, a few steps from freedom, I ran into Lilibet as she entered and tried to brush past her.
“Kat, where are you going?”
“I’m apparently done for the day.”
“What?”
I whirled on her, tired of being questioned and ordered around when no one here had the slightest idea of the danger we were all in. I was the only one who knew about the mole, and I was being kept from doing anything to exp
ose him. It may be a stupid move, but I wasn’t keeping quiet any longer. “Yeah, ask Calista about it, or better yet, ask Thaddeus. You all want to find out who’s trying to kill me so badly, ask him. He almost finished me off just now. The only reason I’m standing here alive is because of Kellan.”
Lilibet shook her head and furrowed her brow in astonishment, my accusations so shocking that she couldn’t keep her normal composure. “Wait, what? If Thaddeus wanted you dead, Kellan wouldn’t be able to stop him.”
“Maybe not by force, but he walked in as Thaddeus was going to kill me. He only stopped to avoid having a witness.”
“You’re not serious.”
“Don’t I look serious?” I challenged Lilibet with my body language, staring her down only inches from her face.
“Kat, that’s my father you’re talking about. How can you say he’s trying to kill you when he’s working so hard to protect you? How ungrateful are you? He has done nothing but try to keep you alive. Like I said, if he wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”
“Well as soon as Kellan wasn’t by my side, he leapt to take advantage. What I thought was a little sparring exercise turned into him trying to kill me.”
“He’s just trying to make the point that he doesn’t think you’re ready for the field. If your sparring got to where you thought he would kill you, then he’s right. I’ll say it again, there is no trying to kill you. If he wanted to kill you, he would.”
Other than the initial surprise, Lilibet appeared unflappable, which only riled me up more. “Ask Kellan. Thaddeus had his wand raised to kill me.”
Magic Betrayed (The Elustria Chronicles: Magic Born Book 3) Page 8