by Linsey Hall
I shook him. “What do you know about me?”
His eyes fluttered open, then widened.
“FireSoul,” he hissed.
“How do you know?”
He just laughed. His dark magic pulsed, making me want to retch. It felt like it reached inside of me and twined about my insides, squeezing.
“Tell me or I’ll kill you,” I demanded.
“You kill me, he kills me. What’s the difference? It would be a blessing.”
“Who is he? Do you work for someone?”
His black eyes rolled in his head. “He hunts you. You are the hunted now, Huntress.”
“How do you know that name?” Only my deirfiúr knew that name. I shook him hard and he coughed.
“The scroll,” he wheezed. “I read it. Master will be pleased to know where you are.”
“Master? Who the hell is that? Why does he want to know where I am?” Fear chilled my skin.
“Master hunts us all.” He stared up at me with blank eyes.
“All?”
“All of us. FireSouls.”
Us? It hit me then, with sickening clarity. The collar. His immense power. He was an enslaved FireSoul. Possibly enslaved by the man from my nightmare—the one who’d kept me in that dark stone room.
It was monstrous.
My gaze caught on his collar. There was a large latch on the front. It enraged me.
I pushed on the latch. The collar popped off.
He sucked in a harsh breath. The dark magic that had pulsed from him surged from the collar, washing over his body. Suddenly, his own magic felt purer, cleaner. It smelled like the desert and tasted like oranges. But the tar of the dark magic still covered it, sick and evil. His skin darkened, turning gray, as if the evil magic within him were rising to the surface.
“Does he know where I am?” I asked.
His gaze met mine. His eyes had changed from black to blue. And they were clearer. As if his mind were no longer fogged by the collar.
“No,” he whispered. “Why he…needs the scroll. To find more of us.”
“But you were in my shop.”
“Not for you. For the chalice. He wants it. Shadow demon failed… He sent me to track it. I did not know what you were…until I read the scroll.” He was gasping between words now.
“You haven’t told him about me, then?” My heart beat so hard it tried to break my ribs.
“Was going to tonight…when he meets me.”
“He meets you here?”
He jerked his head in assent. “Not allowed at his compound. FireSouls find the treasure, bring it here. He meets us. He doesn’t…want us knowing where he is. But now, never have to see him again. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Death. Removing the collar.”
“That killed you?” Horror welled in my chest. I’d killed him by removing it?
“No. It’s…good. I was dead as soon as he put it on me. He can find me anywhere with it, but removing it releases the dark magic. Poisons me…” A hacking cough wracked him. He sucked in a ragged breath. “But you freed me. I wanted to take it off, but I couldn’t. Forbidden…impossible for me to remove myself. But you’ve given me a gift.”
His life had been so terrible that he believed this was a gift? “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’ll be free. There is no other way to be free once you wear the collar.”
My mind spun with the horror of what he was saying.
“I can help you. Get you a healer,” I said. “My friend heals.”
“There is no healing this.”
He was right. The gray was rising closer to the surface of his skin now. I could still feel his magic—bright and pure—but it was failing to keep the darkness from taking him.
“Take my magic,” he said. “Use it to save yourself.”
Tears burned my eyes. “What?”
“You’ve killed me, FireSoul. Now take my magic. My gift…to you.”
A lump rose in my throat. I didn’t want to. It felt dirty—not his magic, but the act of stealing from him as he died. I didn’t want to take someone else’s magic, much less that of a boy whom I’d killed.
“He comes for you,” he wheezed. “You need strength. You must fight. Take it.”
I sobbed, tears blurring my vision. “But I killed you.”
“You have to. Make my death mean something. Use my power to defeat him. He comes for you… Even without the scroll, he will find you.”
I sucked in a shuddering breath. He was right. I didn’t want to take his power. I didn’t want to become a true FireSoul. But this boy wasn’t bad. He wasn’t evil. What had enslaved him was evil. What hunted me was evil.
And he was dying. So I’d make his death count. I’d use his power to save myself and my deirfiúr. To defeat what came for us.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Aaron.”
“Thank you, Aaron.”
He nodded.
“How do I do it?” I asked.
“You’ve already killed me. Now you must be the flame. Make a channel for the power to pass. Light us up.”
“I’m not an Elemental Mage. I have no fire.”
“Yes, FireSoul, you do. It is within you. It is you.”
It is me? I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind, to seek out and feel the power that was within me. I’d repressed it so long that at first it felt wrong. Dangerous. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, competing with the sound of Aaron’s ragged breaths. Tears rolled down my cheeks at the knowledge of what I was doing.
“Try harder,” Aaron croaked. “Use your fire.”
I didn’t know what that meant. I pictured fire, imagined its heat and flicker. The flame I saw in my mind’s eye was a shimmering white. It was my flame. It was me.
Slowly, I felt it build. The flickering white flame filled my body, warm and growing hotter. It filled my chest and then my limbs, until finally it escaped and crawled across my skin.
“It’s hot,” I breathed. It was starting to hurt.
“Nothing is without price,” Aaron said.
I opened my eyes. Aaron’s face was peaceful. White flame flowed from me, extending out to him. It enveloped him, making him transparent enough to see through.
“Now take,” Aaron said. “Lightning is my root power. That will become yours.”
The flame was starting to really burn. I had to hurry. My power reached out for his, searching for the signature of lightning. I felt the dark magic poisoning him and tried not to gag. My magic skirted around it, reaching into his soul. It was pure and bright there, entirely separate from the dark magic I’d initially felt from him.
When I felt his sense of peace—the relief he felt at this moment of death—tears of gratitude rolled down my cheeks. I hated that his life had brought him to this, but I was so grateful he was content now. I could never steal the gifts of an unwilling supernatural. It would destroy me.
Finally, the feel of his lightning butted up against my magic. I’d found it, deep in his soul.
It crackled and burned, electric in its intensity. My magic twined with it as my flame grew higher around us. The pain of the fire turned to the spark of magic. Aaron’s lightning traveled across the fire—a conduit, I realized—and found its way into my soul.
Inside my chest, the lightning jumped and crackled. The burning pain of the flame had faded, and I felt electric.
“Thank you,” Aaron breathed.
I opened my eyes. He was gone. Stone still and lifeless, I could no longer feel even the dark magic that had polluted his body.
“I’m sorry, Aaron.” I collapsed next to him and lay by his side. Though my chest felt full of electric magic, my muscles felt like jello. Too much magic in too short a time.
But I couldn’t stay like this. Aaron’s master was coming here to meet him. There was no way I could defeat him like this. We had to get out of here or my deirfiúr and I would end up like Aaron.
I pushed myself up.
The lightning cage that had trapped Del and Nix had disappeared. They lay on their backs. Aidan was still on the ground as well.
Fear pushed the feel of the lightning out of my chest. I crawled over to Nix and Del. They were so pale, their dark hair spread out around their heads and their weapons lying useless at their sides. Their clothes were singed.
“Nix! Del!” I shook Del’s shoulder.
She moaned and opened her eyes. “I feel like crap,” she croaked.
“We’re going to feel worse if we don’t get out of here. Can you transport us?”
Weakly, she raised herself into a sitting position. “I think so. Just give me a second.”
“Okay.” I took one look at Nix to make sure she was only passed out—which she was, thank fates—and then crawled over to Aidan.
Sometime while I’d been with Aaron, Aidan had transformed back into a man. My hand trembled as I pressed my fingers to the pulse at his throat. Steady, but faint. I nearly collapsed in relief. He would live.
He was sprawled across the stone floor, easily two hundred pounds. We weren’t going to be able to carry him. I’d deal with that in a minute, though. I had only a bit of strength left—enough to destroy the scroll or to borrow Aidan’s gift and heal my friends. They could be healed after Del transported us home, but the scroll needed to be destroyed now, before Aidan woke. It was ruthless, but it had to be done.
I pushed myself up and staggered over to the black bag that lay near Aaron. It was a crumpled black gym bag—not nearly impressive enough to contain what it did. That little bit of humanity made a lump rise in my throat.
I picked it up and undid the zipper. An unimpressive scroll of vellum and the two chalices were inside. I wanted to open the scroll and see exactly what it said about me, but we had no time. Aaron’s master could arrive any minute. We should take the scroll back and destroy it at Ancient Magic, but I wanted to be able to tell Aidan that it had been destroyed in the lightning battle and hadn’t made it back with us. Besides, this was the perfect place for my brand of destructive magic. I couldn’t burn all this stone.
Del appeared beside me. She leaned heavily on my shoulder. “Is it in there?”
“Yes. I’m going to try to destroy it.” I withdrew the scroll and threw it on the ground about ten feet in front of me, then glanced at her. “You might want to back up.”
She stepped back.
For the second time today, I tried to access my magic. It felt a bit more natural this time, but still foreign. Even trying to use it made my heart pound. I’d trained myself to repress it for so long that this felt entirely wrong.
I closed my eyes and focused on the magic within myself, letting it unfurl in my chest. It woke with a bang, rolling over me, as if it had been waiting years to be willingly released. I suppose it had been. I’d used it before—but only in unconscious moments of panic. Though I was freaked out right now, I was still consciously accessing my magic.
It felt strange and natural at the same time. But above all, necessary.
Flame would be needed to destroy the scroll. I reached for the flame that Aaron had taught me how to use. I felt the snap and crackle, smelled the scent of burning wood. I gathered it up and molded it, then released it in a great jet of fire that enveloped the scroll.
The fire roared, casting a glow on the cathedral walls. When it faded, I had to squint through the dark.
The scroll remained, lying untouched on the singed grass.
“Oh, shit,” Del said. “It’s protected.”
Damn it. “I’ll try one more thing, then we’ve got to get out of here.”
I reached for the spark of lightning inside me. As I had before, I envisioned myself as a lightning rod. When I had collected enough, I released a bolt at the scroll.
Thunder boomed and the lightning lit up the night with a harsh white light. Instead of one direct bolt aimed at the scroll, two burst from my hands. One struck the corner of the cathedral, crumbling it, and the other bounced off the scroll.
Double damn. I might have finally accepted being a FireSoul and taken someone’s powers, but I was still crap with my magic.
“It’s not going to work,” I told her. “We’ll figure it out at home. We’ve gotta get out of here.”
I grabbed the gym bag off the ground and raced to the scroll. It was cool to the touch when I picked it up—damned thing—and tossed it into the gym bag.
“Help me carry Nix,” Del said. “She’s easier than Aidan.”
I slung the bag over my shoulder and ran to where she stood by Nix. I took Nix’s feet while Del took her shoulders, and we carried our limp deirfiúr’s body over to Aidan.
“Like old times,” I muttered to Del.
She gave a wry laugh. “I was glad those time were over.”
We’d gotten in a lot of scraps as girls on the run. Thieving meant sometimes running into supernaturals more powerful than ourselves. Until we’d learned to fight well, two of us often were left to carry the third to safety.
Gently, we placed Nix on the ground next to Aidan. I stood, then caught sight of Aaron’s body.
“I can’t just leave him here,” I said.
“Uh, isn’t he the bad guy?” Del asked.
“Not really.” We couldn’t bring him back with us for a proper burial. He’d said the collar was enchanted so that his master could find him, but it was possible that he, too, had been enchanted with a tracking spell.
“Get ready to go,” I said to Del as I reached once more for my magic. I didn’t want to use it again, but I owed it to him.
My power reached out for Aidan’s once more, gathering up the flame. I wished I had a flower or something to put on top of him, but there wasn’t time. I released the jet of flame. It struck Aaron’s body and enveloped him, reaching high into the night. The damp grass around him would keep the fire from spreading.
My goal had been cremation on a funeral pyre like in a Viking ceremony. I hoped Aaron saw it the same way. My vision was blurry as I took one last look at Aaron, then turned to Del.
“I’m ready.” I reached out for her hand.
We crouched down so that we were touching Nix and Aidan. The cathedral glowed in the orange light of the flame. Whoever was coming to meet Aaron would be here soon. Possibly the man from my dreams. Part of me wanted to stay and fight him. Confront him. To have vengeance for Aaron’s life and maybe even for what had happened to me and my deirfiúr.
But a bigger part of me—the scared, smart part—wanted to run. I would meet this man. The hunter who sought us. But it wouldn’t be today.
“We’re going,” Del said.
I felt her magic pull us through the ether.
15
We appeared at Ancient Magic a moment later. The plywood over the glass windows and door blocked out the sunlight, casting the room in shadow. Or maybe it was just nighttime. I had no idea.
“Call an ambulance,” I said to Del, adrenaline still surging through me. “I’ll hide the scroll.”
I left Del dialing emergency services and headed out the main door. I’d have to stash this stuff in my trove until we found a more secure location. I didn’t know why Aaron’s master wanted the chalice, but I was hesitant to hand it off to Mr. S. More than likely, it wasn’t just a youth charm. I’d have to find him something else to replace it, but I’d worry about that later.
It was dark when I got outside, probably the wee hours after midnight, but that was just a guess. My muscles ached as I took the stairs two at a time up to my apartment and let myself in. The small space looked so familiar, but I felt so different. I could still feel the electricity crackling within me.
Aaron had possessed other gifts—fire and telepathy that he’d used against Del in the fight at Ancient Magic—but it didn’t feel like I’d inherited those. I wasn’t entirely sure how it worked, but maybe I’d only taken his root gift. The one he’d been born with. The fire and telepathy had been stolen.
I shook the thought away. I didn’t want to think a
bout Aaron or my new powers. It’d take me time to parse through what had happened and how I was going to deal with it and I didn’t have the energy. My adrenaline was fading now that I was in the safety of my home.
Quickly, I crossed to the secret door in my bedroom and let myself into my trove. I flicked on the lights and the soothing golden glow reflected off my treasures. Comfort washed over me, followed by bone-aching exhaustion. The only thing that had kept me going had been the adrenaline.
I walked past aisles of my beloved trove. In the back, I dropped to my knees in the corner. With a trembling hand, I pushed aside a pair of boots and pressed my hand to the wall.
My touch ignited the spell that hid the small door. The lock clicked and it swung open. Within, the tiny golden locket glinted from the back corner. It was my only clue about my past.
Or maybe not.
I unzipped the gym bag and pulled out the scroll. It was heavy in my hands. I realized why when I began to unroll it. There had to be twenty feet of rolled vellum here. Quickly, I skimmed it, grateful it was alphabetical and that the monks who had written it had been Irish.
I found FireSouls, and skimmed for our names. When I came upon Cassiopeia Cleraux, Pheonix Knight, and Delphine Hally, my shoulders slumped.
I’d hoped our original names would be written. I didn’t know if I’d recognize them, but process of elimination would help. They could have led us to our parents or information about our past.
I ignored the names of the other FireSouls and skimmed the information below our names. Physical descriptions and a list of our powers. I was described as a Mirror Mage, Nix as a Conjurer, and Del as a Transporter and Phantom half-blood.
Whoa. I rocked back on my heels. That was news. I packed the info away for later examination.
I looked for Aaron’s name and found it. Lightning Mage. No mention of fire or telepathy abilities. As I’d thought. Stolen powers didn’t transfer.
My hands trembled with exhaustion as I rolled up the scroll and put it back in the gym bag. I pushed the bag into the small space and shut the door, then replaced the boots.