by Kaylin Lee
BOOM.
Heat from the explosion singed my hands. I dropped the trunk and blew on my palms as the curse retreated into satisfied silence. No one from Asylia would find the secret crater any time soon, much less guess that I was under a curse.
Dad entered the room. His gaze went right to the singed, smoking trunk. “Covering your tracks, I see.” His tone was grim. “You don’t need to lie to us, Briar Rose. We love you. We’d do anything for you. Don’t you know that?”
“Don’t worry about it, Dad.” The curse hovered, listening carefully. I averted my gaze from my father’s. “I’m back now. I’ll be a good daughter. Promise.”
“We don’t need a good daughter!” He slammed a hand on the door frame. “C’mon, kid. We just want you to tell us what’s going on!”
“Here’s what’s going on—I’m back. I’m tired. I’m going to bed.” I shrugged and turned my back on him, then took off my jacket and kicked off my dirty, wet boots. “See you in the morning.”
I lay down in bed without removing my wet clothes. My back was to the door, but I knew Dad remained in the doorway. I could even picture his frustrated expression. It would be the same way he had been looking at Alba for weeks—brow wrinkled, eyes crinkling, helpless and worried.
There was a stretch of silence, and then he sighed heavily. “I love you, kid.” His words were quiet but firm. “Always will. If this is about the mission, your mom and I won’t leave you girls alone again. We’d already decided on the way home. She’s going to stay in Asylia with you from now on whenever I have to go into the Badlands.”
The curse’s satisfied posture disappeared at his statement. It hissed and sent a stab into my heart, as though I’d been the one to make the promise. I held my breath, the pain making my eyes water.
Stay or go now, it won’t matter, the curse snarled after a moment, as though reassuring itself. She will pay. In five years, the creature Zel will pay.
“Just talk to me,” Dad pleaded from the doorway. “Tell me what happened, and I’ll fix it. I’ll fix everything.”
He waited quietly for several minutes. The curse held me still and silent, its posture as alert as a palace guard. When Alba called something from downstairs, Dad finally left.
The tears I’d been holding back since I arrived home finally began to fall, pooling on the pillow and spilling down to my chin. There would be no fixing me. No fixing any of this.
The curse’s threats kept my sobs silent as I mourned, frozen and alone.
Chapter 6
Breakfast the next morning was awkward.
“Why did you leave?” Alba’s large, green eyes met mine from across the table. She hadn’t touched the pile of brambleberries, honeybread, and cream on her plate. Sunlight streamed in from the window behind her, making the wispy tangles of her dark hair glow gold.
A series of thuds and a loud grunt came from the back hallway, where Dad had apparently decided this morning was the perfect time to re-organize the closet that held his Sentinels gear.
Ella and Mom hovered at the sink behind her, supposedly making yet another pot of coffee while surreptitiously watching me whenever they thought I wasn’t looking. I couldn’t stand to make eye contact with Mom.
I imagine you want Zel to witness things firsthand, or you would have just killed her by now. What did they want Mom to witness? The end, the curse had said. Just what would I be leading Mom into?
A sudden, intense surge of shame nearly took my breath away. I focused on the small pile of brambleberries Mom had set on my plate when I first came down, counting the number of berries until I could breathe again.
Are those tears in her eyes? The curse sneered at Alba. She’s going to cry, isn’t she? Pathetic!
“Just felt like a break.” I ate another berry, the taste sour on my tongue. The curse’s mockery had quickly robbed me of my hunger.
Alba twirled the end of her braid with one finger, then inched her other hand across the table toward me. “Are you hurt? In pain? Can I heal you?” She bit her lip, her eyes red and glassy. “Please, Bri. Even if it’s just a headache. I truly want to help.”
Don’t you dare, the curse spat. No healers.
I yanked my hand back.
“Don’t touch me,” I said flatly, not needing to be compelled by the curse’s threats to warn her. “Not ever.” I knew enough about the healing process to guess that her invasive, expellant magic would find the curse immediately. She wouldn’t be able to break it, but she’d know about it—and then what would the curse have me do to silence her?
Alba’s face blanched. A tear dribbled down her cheek. “I won’t,” she whispered, looking down at her plate. “Sorry.”
“Bri.” Mom’s voice was hard. “Go to your room. Don’t come back down until you’re ready to be kind to your sister. And get to work on your studies. You have a week’s worth of homework to catch up on before school tomorrow.”
“Fine.” I stood immediately and went to my room, glad to be out of the kitchen and free from Alba’s heartbroken expression.
The curse propelled me to my desk, its attention landing on the flyer I’d taken from the Mage Academy a week earlier.
TRACKER MAGES NEEDED, it read. Sentinels Teams Expanding. Defend Your City from Magical Threats. Recruitment Meeting Required for Interested Candidates.
The curse seemed to dance with excitement inside me. Perfect, it whispered. Zel will stay, but you will go. Perfect.
I sat numbly and opened my history book, relieved when the curse didn’t try to stop me. If anything, it seemed to take a relaxed posture, letting me work without any distraction, like it wanted me to study well.
Work hard, angry little creature, it whispered encouragingly as I flipped to the next chapter in the history book. You have much to accomplish for your Masters.
~
The morning sun had shifted behind a wall of billowy, gray clouds by the time school let out. I walked from the Mage Academy to the Sentinels recruitment meeting several blocks away, cool wind biting at my face and promising another spring storm before the day ended.
The Sentinels’ new compound in the Royal Precinct was large but the buildings were old, a collection of defunct government warehouses. The area was a relic from the early days of trade growth, when the government had to store the flood of imports while the merchants built their own spaces.
I’d heard the Sentinel teams were outgrowing the palace basement and planning to find a larger facility since the Masters attacked Asylia. The actual move must’ve happened while I was out in the Badlands.
I shoved my hands in my sweater pockets as I approached the compound gate, my shoulders tight. The move was yet another reminder that life had continued for everyone else while my own had fallen apart.
I entered the gate with my head down. I didn’t want to see Dad if I didn’t have to.
“Here for the recruiting meeting?”
My head jerked up of its own accord. A skinny, golden-haired boy fell in step beside me. In front of us, a red-haired boy with gangly limbs ducked through the main door without pausing to greet either of us.
“Yes.” My voice was dry and hard.
“Me, too.” The boy grinned, apparently unperturbed by my coldness, his brown eyes crinkling as he looked me over. “I can’t wait to be a Sentinel.”
Good for you, the curse said with a mocking laugh. You will do nicely, silly thing.
I swallowed, my tight shoulders inching up as I tried not to show my disquiet. What did Elektra’s curse have planned for the Sentinels?
The golden-haired boy kept up a steady stream of confident chatter as we followed the other boy through the door.
“New recruits, in here!” A woman’s voice echoed down the hallway. “Hustle, please. Sign in and find a seat. We have a lot to cover before the test.”
The meeting room was large and open but slightly dusty, like some Sentinel had only had time to give it a half-hearted wipe down before the meeting. Weak light from the stormy
sky outside came in from several tall windows along one wall. A smattering of chairs, mostly taken, faced Raven and another man, who stood at a scuffed lectern. Around twenty youths my age and older sat in the chairs, passing a sheet of paper and pencil from one person to the next. I sat in the back row.
Raven glanced at me, her expression inscrutable, then tapped the lectern and addressed the group. “As you know, due to recent events involving mages attacking our city, our teams are expanding. We need a pipeline of qualified candidates coming up to try out when they come of age. The best of the best.” Raven speared us with a hard, narrow-eyed look, as though she could take measure of all of us at once with a single glare. Perhaps she could. “That’s not any of you, of course. Not yet. But if you pass today’s test and begin our recruitment program, one day, you will be the best. And then we’ll see if you’re good enough to be a Sentinel. Got it?”
The older, bearded man beside her nodded. “You’ll meet here daily after your regular classes. We’ll work with you on physical training, skills, and more. You won’t slack. You won’t complain. You won’t skip a day. Give us your all, surpass the standard at every point, and you’ll have a chance.” He lowered his bushy eyebrows. “Fall short in any way, and we’ll cut you from the program for good.”
Raven crossed her arms. “Any questions?”
The room bristled with a near-tangible thrill. If anything, the recruits seemed even more excited than before their harsh speech.
The friendly, golden-haired boy who’d entered with me raised his hand. “I have a question.” Nervous humor tinged his tone. “When can we start the test?”
Idiot creature. The curse fluttered happily in my chest, strangely delighted by the recruits. They will make good messengers. Foolish, obedient. Good messengers, indeed. We will only need to keep one or two alive to fetch Zel.
I pressed a hand to my mouth. So that was the curse’s plan—to bring innocent Sentinels with me to the crater, then use them as messengers to make sure Mom came for me.
I couldn’t let that happen. I shot to my feet and tried to run, but the curse was too fast. It spiked pain into my heart so viciously I slammed to my knees on the warehouse floor. OBEY!
“—you well?” A blurry face appeared in my watery vision. A broad-knuckled hand gripped mine and helped me to my feet. You WILL obey, the curse shrieked. Another jolt of pain shot through me. OBEY, OBEY, OBEY.
“I’m fine,” I rasped, amazed I could speak over the pain. “Th-th-thanks.” My fingers were clutching his sleeve, so I made myself let go.
The red-haired boy had helped me. He nodded slowly. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled, the words thickly accented.
Other recruits wove around us as they moved to the other side of the room for what I guessed was the test. I must have missed the announcement.
He jerked his head toward the cleared area and the crowd of recruits gathering there. “You trying out? Or leaving?”
Another jolt of pain. Obey now, the curse said flatly. Or I’ll kill you.
“Trying out,” I somehow managed to answer, my words clipped. “Of course I’m trying out.”
The boy stepped back, his tentatively open expression now shuttered. “Good luck.”
I followed his stiff, broad shoulders to the other side of the room, wondering what was so different about him.
Lower than the dust, the curse whispered dismissively, sounding almost bored. Worthless. The West is nothing.
I rubbed my sore, throbbing chest. The tall, red-haired boy was a Westerner. He must have recently moved to Asylia from the settlement of Westerners that Ruby Contos found in the Gold Hills.
Perhaps Elektra knew how fully their plague had decimated the West, and the curse held her same victor’s view of the plague’s Western survivors.
“There will be a short, written test first. Then a test of strength and reflexes.” Raven handed a sheaf of paper and a pencil to each recruit. “Write fast. Don’t cheat. If you’re not done by the time I blow my whistle, you’re out.”
I sat at the table with the other recruits and started the test as rain pounded the tall windows, pouring down the glass in rapidly-branching rivers. My pencil flew across the page, my body so motivated by fear of the curse’s threat that my hand seemed to leap ahead of my thoughts.
How long had I dreamed of this moment? Training to become a Sentinel, a hero—the best of the best. And here I was. Now, thanks to the curse, instead of serving the Sentinels, I’d betray them instead.
How heroic.
Chapter 7
One year after I left the Masters in their crater, the curse startled me in the middle of the night with a sizzling jab to the heart. Wake, it barked. It is time.
I sat up abruptly in my dark, cold bedroom, my pulse racing. “Now?” I whispered. It couldn’t be time to go back to the crater already. Didn’t I have four more years before the curse’s fulfillment?
Quiet. Do as you’re told. Something had caused the curse to replace its usual mocking tone with a strange, brisk solemnity. Get to the Sentinels compound unnoticed.
My limbs were heavy with trepidation as I dressed in dark clothing, careful of my steps so I didn’t wake Alba. What business did we have at the—
Do not question me, creature, the curse hissed. Get to the compound. NOW. We have work to do.
The predawn streets were dark, silent, and freezing, hushed by a blanket of fresh snow, an early-spring surprise that clung to the tops of my boots as I walked to the compound. It was locked, but the gate guard let me in.
“You work too hard, Bri,” a bearded Sentinel said affectionately as he waved me through without question.
Everyone at the Sentinels knew me by now, it seemed. I did my best not to return the favor. “Thanks,” I mumbled, breaking eye contact quickly.
I entered the main building, which held a few, large training rooms, but the curse directed me upstairs to Dad’s office, instead. My heart was in my throat as I entered his dark office and went to his desk.
There. The curse was stiff with attention. Read it.
I picked up the stack of files on Dad’s desk, feeling sick as I recognized Raven’s handwriting and realized what they held. My file was halfway through the stack.
Briar Rose Mattas. A few sparse lines held a summary of my life, in terse words and phrases, including the days I’d disappeared. Whereabouts unknown, it said ominously. Returned unharmed.
Exemplary student, Raven had added in her notes at the bottom of the page. Physically among the best in her class. Receives instruction and correction without complaint. Obeys authority. The curse laughed at that, making my skin crawl with shame. Excellent with a crossbow. Hand-to-hand fighting and other weapons skills need improvement. Concern—anti-social. May not work well on a team.
The curse stopped laughing. Enough, it snarled. Go train.
I put the file back in the stack and went to the door, a weight lifting from my shoulders. At least I hadn’t been caught. And maybe I’d go through all the training and fail to find a place on a team, ruining the curse’s plan. I sped down the stairwell, eager to start exercising. Maybe the physical work would take my mind off the guilt of how I’d just crossed into criminal territory.
I sensed the curse coiling inside me as I went down the stairs, fury radiating from its tense silence. The sick fluttering in my stomach returned.
If the curse couldn’t send me to the crater on a team of Sentinels in order to lure Mom out into the Badlands, what would it do instead?
And how much worse would the new plan be?
“I know what you’re doing.”
I froze in the dim, first-floor hallway.
Dad stood before me, his brow furrowed.
“What—”
“I just want you to know I understand.” He dropped his arms to his sides. “I’m not going to stand in your way, Bri. Haven’t I proved that this past year? I know you want to be a Sentinel. I’m rooting for you, kid. You can do anything you set your mind to. I kn
ow it. And I remember what it was like to feel like I had to prove myself.” He rubbed his shoulder, rotating it like it pained him. “But I wish you understood you don’t have to prove yourself. At fourteen years old, you should be sleeping in like your sister, not coming in early to train like this.” He scrubbed his face, looking exhausted. “I know I can’t make you slow down, but please … would you please accept that I’m on your side?”
My chest hurt. For once, the pain was not from the curse. I met Dad’s gaze and tried to convey everything I couldn’t say. That I was sorry. That I loved him. That I was a traitor, working for his enemies and destined to ruin his—
Silence. The curse shot a bolt of pain into my heart. I kept my face blank on instinct, tearing my gaze away from Dad’s.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“I need to get started,” I said stiffly. “If you don’t mind.”
He held still for a moment, and I thought he saw through me. But then he shifted, making room for me to walk past him toward the training rooms. “See you at home,” he said to my back.
I didn’t reply.
~
The snow in the training yard melted quickly in the afternoon sun later that day. Sweat dripped from my temples as I waited beside the other recruits. Somewhere behind me, spectators giggled and argued, but I was too exhausted to make out their words. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to watch this torture, anyway.
“Again!” Instructor Egan scowled at us over his gray mustache and beard. “Ready …” He raised his hand, then flung it down. “Go!”
I ran with the rest of the recruits, falling in just behind skinny Eugene and golden-haired Corbin. As usual, red-haired Tavar was in the lead already, his lanky form several strides in front of the nearest runner.
How many times had we run this course today? My lungs burned. Was this the sixth time? The seventh? My muscles protested, on the verge of giving up altogether.