by R D Martin
"Well," he said as the door closed behind him, "didn't have any trouble, I see." He pawed at the edge of a carpet frozen solid by the ice. "I like what they're doing with the place, though. Early Ice Age. Classic. But they're missing the frozen mammoths. Oh, wait. Never mind. I see it." Walking over to the frozen assistant, he swung his gaze between her and Bella.
"Don't look at me like that. She's still alive."
"I didn't say a thing, did I?"
"You never do," she replied, though without the usual sarcasm she'd try to include in her banter. She was just too exhausted for it.
"So, where's Wallace?"
Bella shrugged and waved at the two other doors in the room. Enough ice covered them to make it impossible to get through them without melting it first, trapping whoever was inside as effectively as a prison, though she doubted anyone else was in the rooms. Her fight with the assistant had made enough noise that anyone else should have come running. Still, she would have to check to be sure. But first she needed a break, a moment to catch her breath at least.
Walking over to one of the few unbroken seats in the room, she was pleasantly surprised to see that while she had covered the back in frost, the front had escaped most of the magical attack. Dropping into the seat, she let herself sink into the cold material as though she were melting into it.
Watching Cat walk around the frozen figure, she wondered if it was worth the trouble to ask him to keep watch if she closed her eyes. He'd probably groan and find a reason to insult me while making it seem like I'm asking him to sacrifice his firstborn. Truth be told, she would probably agree to any outlandish demand he made at that moment. Even trying to lift her head to ask was difficult.
Instead, she settled for relying on his own sense of self-preservation to look out for her and closed her eyes. With her eyes closed, the only things she could concentrate on were how cold she was and how tired she felt. A fire would be a wonderful idea, warm and toasty, blazing high while she snuggled in a blanket. That would be nice. She hadn't done that since William left. Or she drove him out. Either way, it was nice.
She shivered and her teeth clattering together sounded like castanets in her head. Five minutes. She just needed five minutes. Cat would wake her when he came back. What was his name? Walter, Winston? It didn't matter, not right now. Cat could remind her later. Her eyes were already closed. Maybe she should get some sleep. Sleep was good, right?
20
"Wake up, Bella. You need to wake up." The voice was far away and was familiar, but Bella couldn't place it. "You need to wake up now."
Warmth began filling her chest, springing from her center like an orchid in bloom. It spread from there until it seemed to fill every dark crevice, every cell and fiber of her being. Luxuriating in the warmth, she stretched out, almost unwilling to give up the feeling.
"You have to wake up, Bella. Wake up."
"Mmm. Go away," she said, turning to her side and burying her face in a soft pillow. This was too good to give up because of some random voice. She would lie here for a while longer, no matter what he said.
He? Pillow? That wasn't right, was it? She should be sitting in a chair, right? The fog around her brain began lifting as she concentrated. That's right. She was sitting on a chair in a room filled with ice. She'd cast a spell, created an ice storm, and stopped…
Her heart leaped into her throat and Bella sat up with a jerk, wide-eyed and staring into the face of the man she'd come to confront.
"You!" she yelled, scuttling back until the headboard stopped her. "What are you doing? Get away from me!" It was less than a moment of thought to access the floodgates holding back her magic. She would take this man down and knew the spell to do it. As the gates of her power flung wide, her stomach dropped. On the other side of the gates, where a sea of roiling power should have been waiting to flood her, was nothing. A fist seemed to clench her heart, and a shudder ran through her despite the warmth she felt.
"What, what did you do to me?" Her voice cracked as she searched for power that wasn't there. Somehow she knew she could wander a thousand years in the desert on the other side of her gates without finding a drop of magic.
"Calm down, Bella," Wallace said, raising his hands and scooting back. "You're okay. I promise you're—"
"What did you do?" She could hear the hysteria in her voice but couldn't stop it. She was in the clutches of the Imperium, an organization of murderers that wanted her dead, and had nothing to fight with.
"I didn't do anything." William's voice was calm and level, and it seemed to infuriate her even more. "You're in Orbus. You used too much of your magic—"
"Liar. You're doing this to me."
"He's not lying, Bella. Now stop being hysterical and listen."
There was nothing soft about Cat's voice. Bella whipped her head to the left and spied her familiar's black form curled into a ball on the far corner of the bed. He yawned, his pink tongue rolling out for a second before disappearing back in his mouth. When his eyes caught hers, they were almost accusatory, and she could tell he wasn't happy.
"What? What are… Him?" She pointed at Wallace as if to remind her familiar the human was the bad guy here.
"He saved your life."
She stopped, almost as frozen as the assistant had been. Saved her life? How? What? She opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came. She felt as though she'd walked downstairs on Christmas morning to find the house decorated for Halloween. "What. Wait, what?"
Cat rolled his eyes and rose to his feet. He padded toward her across the bed, paws sinking into the thick comforter, his expression remaining grim. "I thought I'd taught you more than that. Are you so simple you don't understand what you just did?"
"I, what? What did—"
"You turned the room into a freezer and tried to take a nap! You almost died. We almost died." Lowering his head, he bumped it into her like a bull without horns. "If he hadn't come when he did, we'd both be Popsicles. And why didn't you tell me it was Wallace?" As Cat said the name, he abandoned his bullish butting and jumped over her prone form to land on the soft carpet below. A few steps found him winding his way between Wallace's legs.
Bella stared, not sure how to react or even if she should when the man reached down to scratch her familiar's back. Even from where she sat, she could hear Cat's purring.
"I, I don't understand. You know him? How?" If she thought she was confused before, it was nothing compared to the whirlwind in her mind now.
"Who do you think gave me to you? The Easter bunny?" Cat stopped twining between Wallace’s legs and sat next to a foot, tail twitching behind him.
"That doesn't make sense," she said, putting her head in her hands. It was like the entire world had gone crazy and she'd missed the ride.
"I told you I was a friend, didn't I?"
"If you were such a friend, why did you offer to execute me?" She tried to put as much venom as she could into the words, but it still sounded less like an accusation and more like a customer service complaint.
"I didn't… Oh, that." He grunted, and a smile appeared at the edges of his lips. "I wasn't offering to execute you. But if they gave you to me, I could walk you right out the front doors without so much as a 'Boo' from anyone. Once we were out, you'd have been free to go."
"Yeah, right. I'm sure you'd just let me walk away. That would be convenient. Killed while trying to escape?"
Wallace frowned, and she could see something dark behind his eyes. He was hiding something and she would find out what.
"And why would the Vampire Council think you wanted me dead if you didn't, huh?"
"What are you talking about? I've never—"
"It's true, Wallace," Cat broke in. "They had someone following her to stop the Imperium from grabbing her. I didn't believe it, but you're not denying it either. What's going on?"
Wallace looked back and forth between Cat and Bella before taking a deep breath and sighing.
"All right," he said, turning to walk over to t
ake a seat in the only chair in the room. Settling himself in, he rested his elbows on his knees and steepled his fingers, looking over them at Bella. "We, the Imperium, that is, have had someone watching you for some time now."
"I knew it! Who? Why?"
Wallace raised his hand, stalling her questions before continuing. "As for the who, there have been several agents. And before you ask, no, I can't tell you who they are. Suffice it to say, they've been close enough to monitor you in case you got into… trouble."
"Why, though? And what trouble?"
"What trouble? In less than a year, you've destroyed a nest of demon spawn, banished a possessing spirit, nearly killed an immortal, and even appear to have a fallen goddess at your beck and call. And you ask about trouble?" He chortled. "You certainly are your father's daughter."
"But that doesn't answer why you've had someone watching me. And what does my father have to do with any of this?"
"Quite a lot, actually. He's the reason you're on our radar."
"Huh?"
"You don't know, do you? I mean, I suspected after our last visit, but this, well, I mean, he never told you?"
"Told me what?"
"That he worked for us."
It was as though someone had punched her in the stomach with a steel fist. Her stomach squirmed and knotted while her lungs seemed to freeze up. There was no way this was true. Her father was a researcher, an academic, not a jackbooted Imperium thug. It had to be a lie.
"He what?" she croaked out after a moment.
"He worked for us. Did you think your life was normal growing up? Even mundane humans don't move around as much as you did."
It wasn't something she'd ever considered. It was just the way her life was. Her father would find a reference to some long-lost item or bit of magic, and they'd be off. Her mother had died when she was an infant, so he couldn't leave her behind.
"But that's, that's not possible. He couldn't, he wouldn't work for the Imperium. He hated everything they stood for. And if he did, why would they execute him?"
"That's bothered me as well. Oberon was a magical genius, and the Imperium doesn't waste resources. And you're right. He didn't like some of our methods, but he agreed with the need to have a governing body. In the end, you were the one who convinced him to join us."
"Me? How?" Her head swam. This was all too much.
Wallace sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Because he loved you and wanted a future for you."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the end of magic, or of magic as we know it."
"That's ridiculous. There can't be an end to magic. It's everywhere, all around us, all the time."
"True. But as each generation passes, the magic is getting harder to access."
"That's a lie and you know it."
"How many other witches do you know?"
"I—" Bella started, but stopped to consider the question. She knew William, for one, and through him, his uncle. Then there was Ray, down in New Orleans. He had an extensive family and she'd seen some of them performing magic. "I know a few." The words came slowly, as if she wasn't willing to let them go but didn't have a choice.
"Two hundred years ago, there were entire towns of witches. Students learned spell casting right alongside reading and writing. Now most witches learn from books passed down in families."
"Because you hunted them down and killed them off. If something is wrong with magic, it's your fault."
Wallace nodded. "We had a hand in it, at the beginning, sure. But since then, we've been working to reverse the damage we caused. Working on his own, Oberon came to the same conclusions we've known for years. We, all magical creatures actually, are slowly being cut off from magic."
She shook her head. "But that's just not possible. We would notice if that was happening."
"Really? Have you ever met a Dorian? I doubt it. They died out before you were born. So did the Galacians, the Pernix, the Onya, and the Xeres. Though no one will miss those buggers. Nasty little things from what I've read."
"A few creatures died out. It happens. The dodo bird died out as well, but life went on."
"Yes, but the dodo wasn't magical. Let me explain it another way."
Leaning forward, he lifted his hand and mumbled a few words she couldn't hear. A blue orb appeared, hovering inches above his hand. The orb grew to the size of a basketball. Beneath its surface something moved and flowed, as though the orb held the clearest blue waters, caught in a tide and swirling about. As she watched, tendrils like fine hairs sprouted from its surface, pushing a few inches each. When they stopped growing, the tip of each tendril formed a small white ball about the size of a marble.
"This," he said as he touched the blue orb, causing ripples to flow across its surface, "this is magic. All of it. From this source, it feeds to every magical creature in existence." He touched each of the white marbles as he named off various creatures.
It was an elegant display and Bella found herself leaning in to get a closer look. If she concentrated on each white marble, she could see an outline of a named creature inside it.
"As long as there are enough creatures to siphon off the magic, the source stays rather small. However, cut one off"—he sliced his finger through one of the wiggling tendrils, causing the white marble at the end to pop and the hair-like tendril to pull itself back into the ball—"and that release valve for magic is closed. If it's just one or two that disappear, no one would ever notice, and magic would adjust to the loss."
"But what does this—"
"I'm not done. If we cut off a lot more, there will be a noticeable change. Watch." Running his hand around the edge of the ball, he sliced through about half of the tendrils in rapid succession. After the first few disappeared, she noticed the blue ball grew. Not a lot, but it was noticeable. By the time he'd finished slicing through half, the blue ball nearly doubled in size. "Without the magical creatures attuned to it, the magic just builds up with nowhere to go."
"What about those? The creatures still attached to it?"
"Them? They still use magic, but it's finite. A werewolf can't become a witch any more than a cat could become a mouse."
"What cat would ever want to do that?" said a voice from near his feet. Cat had been silent for most of the lecture, but even he wouldn't let a comment like that slip by without saying something.
Wallace smirked and continued. "Worse, as the pressure builds up, it seems to choke off the flow to those creatures that still exist. Fewer witches are born, fewer shifters emerge, and they create less vampires. And those are the ones allotted larger flows of power. Smaller ones, like familiars," he said as he looked down at Cat, "they become harder to find as well. Your dad almost kissed me when I found yours."
"So, what does all this have to do with him? And me?"
"This." The blue orb spun like a planet on its axis, and when it did, it was Bella's turn to frown. There were several lumps, like someone was poking the ball from the inside, stretched over its surface.
"What are those?"
"We aren't sure. Some of our researchers believe these are where magic is getting ready to explode from its shell."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that whatever is holding magic in place is getting ready to fail, and when it does, we could lose everything." As the last word passed his lips, one nodule popped and blue gas streamed out, billowing in small clouds that evaporated as the orb emptied. When the clouds disappeared, the orb was nothing more than a clear glass shell, smooth all around with no more thin hairs connecting it to anything.
"Where did the magic go?"
"Different worlds, maybe. Different dimensions, even. We don't know. And by the time we find out, it would already be too late."
"But it could mean something else, though. Couldn't it? I mean, maybe those are where new creatures will appear."
Wallace smiled and the orb changed back to blue as if the clouds had never escaped. "That's what your f
ather thought as well, and it is a popular opinion. The problem becomes then, what will be created from it? The first beings with access to magic were the gods."
"That…" She wanted to say that was fine, but she couldn't bring the lie to her lips. "Okay, so I see what you mean. But what did my father have to do with this?"
"We, well, he thought there might be a third option." Small white dots started appearing across the orb's surface. They did nothing at first, but then she noticed some movement. Thin tendrils started sprouting, each one finer than a human hair. As they grew, the nodules on the blue orb shrank until they evened out with the orb's surface. These tendrils, however, didn't form white marbles at the end, but just waved about like they were caught in a summer breeze.
"I don't get it. What does that mean?"
"Oberon thought that if we opened lots of small gates and let magic trickle back into the world through them, we could avoid losing everything. It wouldn't disappear, nor would it create something so large we couldn't control it."
"But to just let it loose like that? There's no telling what would happen."
"And that was my argument with this as well. Oberon, however, didn't plan on just letting magic spew wherever it wanted. He'd planned on controlling it. Connecting it to things that we could monitor until we decided if they were harmful or not. By doing that, magic remains mostly the same."
"That sounds more like Dad. But if he was doing so much good, why kill him?" It all kept coming back to that question.
"Believe me, I've been trying to find that out myself. It just doesn't make sense. The last I heard, he had the support of the entire Imperium. He was even working with your boss to solve the problem." He frowned, though this time he looked more puzzled than angry.
"My boss? The Finder? He was working with the Finder?"
"Hmm? Oh yes, they'd been working together on it for years. That's why we kept an eye on you. When you started visiting him again, we thought you might pick up where Oberon left off. It upset some Imperium Council members at first, but there was nothing they could do. The Finder is too powerful for us to go up against directly, and he'd see us coming if we did. No. It was best just to keep watch and wait. When you told me he'd disappeared, the news thrilled certain members of the Council."