by Linsey Hall
Frustration vibrated from the cloaked figure.
He was losing.
And he knew it.
He flung out his hands and hurled jets of green fire into the room, then he jumped into the trapdoor below.
Primordial fire!
My throat closed with fear.
This kind of fire could devour this building in seconds.
“Run!” Bree screamed.
She abandoned her fight with the woman at the back of the room and sprinted toward me. As the green flames devoured the walls, Lachlan hurtled our way, and Muffin ran so fast he was a blur.
The demons who’d opened the trapdoor didn’t bother to jump in; they just turned and ran for the door.
As Bree passed by the trapdoor, she glanced inside, then screamed, “Full of fire!”
The fire had already devoured the part of the room where the crystal containing the spell had landed.
Screw that.
I turned and ran, sprinting alongside my friends. The space was nearly full of green flame, the heat so great that I could smell burning hair. I raced through the door with my sisters, spilling out into the cool night.
We kept running, following Muffin into the garden. Lachlan ran behind us, alongside the demons. They veered off to the left, but we ignored them, wanting to put more space between us and the building.
We didn’t stop until we were fifty yards away. Panting, I turned. The building was a giant green torch. Even the stone was on fire.
“The spell is destroyed,” Rowan said. “And the blonde woman didn’t make it out.”
Muffin meowed. You’re welcome.
“Good job, bud.” I looked at Lachlan, who stood next to me in his lion form. He was enormous, his black fur glinting in the light. Nerves skated across my skin as my gaze traveled from his fangs to claws, though I knew he’d never hurt me.
I squinted at one of the long claws on his front right foot. The deadly claw pierced a tiny scrap of brown cloth. Just like what the cloaked figure had worn. I gasped, then bent and pulled it off the claw. I shoved it in my pocket.
Lachlan shifted back to human. “Where did he go? That trapdoor had to lead somewhere.”
“He filled it with flame to cover his tracks,” Bree said. “It looked like the pits of hell when I passed.”
“I think it must go to the portal in the woods,” I said. “I bet that was his escape hatch to get there.”
“Let’s try to catch him.”
“I’ll fly.” Bree’s wings unfurled, silver and bright. She shot into the air, flying up over the forest.
Lachlan met my gaze. “Want to come?”
He was fastest in his lion form, which meant….
“Yes.”
Magic swirled around him as he shifted. Then the enormous beast stood in front of me, regal and terrifying. I stashed my sword in the ether and climbed onto his back, clinging to his warm fur. My wounded arm hung limp at my side, making it difficult, so I clutched him with my knees.
“I’ll alert our friends,” Rowan said.
Muffin stood by her side, whiskers singed. Princess Snowflake III and Bojangles had appeared as well. As usual, Princess Snowflake III was coated liberally in blood, while Bojangles just looked like Bojangles. Cross-eyed and goofy.
“Be safe,” I said to Rowan, right before Lachlan started sprinting through the garden.
In the courtyard, he raced past my friends, who were finishing off the last of the demons. They looked battered and worn, but no one was on the ground, at least.
I crouched low over Lachlan’s back, clinging tight to his fur as the wind tore at my hair.
Come on. Come on.
We had to beat the figure to the portal.
Lachlan sprinted through the small gate.
“Across the vineyard, to the forest!” I screamed.
Lachlan hadn’t arrived using that portal—only I had. Bree had a bird’s-eye view from the sky, but Lachlan needed directions. He cut through the rows of dormant vines, then sprinted into the forest. Branches tore at my clothes and hair as we ran. I yelled directions, trying to remember which way I’d come initially.
Then we saw it—the stone ruins where the portal gleamed with golden light. It glowed in the distance.
“You see that?” Bree’s voice sounded through my comms charm. “It just lit up. I’m going in.”
Lachlan picked up the pace, his giant strides eating up the ground. As we neared, I spotted someone standing within the glowing light. The cloaked figure.
Bree hurtled from the sky, her silver wings carrying her down.
The light around the figure shined brighter. We were almost there!
Then he disappeared. The light went black.
Lachlan sprinted into the stone ruins, but they lay dormant and quiet. The tumbled columns gleamed in the moonlight, but there was no more magic here.
He was gone.
16
The next day, I stood outside Arach’s office, waiting to be called in. My wounded arm was in a sling, still aching. Whatever that woman had hit me with had done some real damage. Hedy, who acted as the healer as well as inventor, had patched me up some, but it’d take a couple days to fully heal.
Both women had died in the fire, so I’d come out on the better end in that scenario, at least.
I tapped my foot, studying the stone wall in front of me. Worry ate at my mind, making me jittery.
Finally, the door creaked open. Jude gestured me inside. Arach stood at the head of the table, her silvery form glimmering in the light.
As usual, her power rolled over me, crashing and pulling like waves. She gestured to a chair. “You can take a seat.”
I did, fidgeting with my good hand.
“You did well,” Arach said. “Jude has told me what happened in Tuscany, and it sounds like you saved the day.”
Warmth flowed through me, followed by a tug of concern. “We didn’t save the spell, though. And whoever was behind the theft got away.”
“The spell was destroyed,” Jude said. “So that’s the same difference. As long as it can’t be used by the wrong people, we count it as a success. As for the mastermind, we’ll catch him. But you came out on top, Ana. Lachlan has deposited the reward money in your account.”
The wind rushed out of my lungs. “Really?”
“Really. Without you, we may not have stopped the ancientus spell from being used for evil. And Connor could have died.”
“Wow.” I had no idea what to do with that kind of money. Save it, probably. Though it seemed like a lot, if I ever had to leave the Protectorate, I’d need it. But the most important question still remained. The thing that I really wanted. More than half a million pounds. More than almost anything. “How does this affect me at the academy? Can I advance to the next level?”
Jude nodded. “You’ve done well. Real-world scenarios are better for you than training exercises, it appears.”
My shoulders relaxed, and I grinned. Thank fates. I couldn’t keep spinning my wheels in class.
“You’ll still have to do some exercises with your classmates, of course,” Jude said. “But this went a long way.”
Arach sat. “Jude is correct. You’re proving yourself, Ana. Well done.”
“Thanks.” Worry tugged at me. “Do you have any idea what pantheon I might be? I have two new powers, but no idea who gave them to me.” I hated the wondering.
“How would you describe the powers?” Arach leaned forward, interest gleaming in her eyes.
“I have one that is like prophecy—sort of. It helps me answer questions. And I have some kind of light that feeds on my energy but can repel darkness and sickness.”
Arach’s brows rose. “Interesting. Those sound unusual. But I have no idea what pantheon they could belong to.”
“We don’t have enough information,” Jude said. “Until you know more about them, it’s a mystery.”
Damn.
“The light must be what helped you resist the dark curse that
stole everyone else’s magic,” Arach said. “It’s a magic that resists and survives. In the end, it’s what helped you find the ancientus curse.”
“You’ll have to learn to use it,” Jude said. “You’ll need your magic to pass the academy.”
“And to survive,” Arach added. “Now that your magic is appearing, you’re going to need to learn to harness it, or it will devour you.”
I nodded, determined to succeed.
“We’ll help you, Ana,” Jude said. “But most of it will be up to you. Success or failure, life or death. It’s all on your shoulders.”
I nodded, swallowing hard.
I can do this.
I have to do this.
After the meeting, I hurried through the ancient, winding corridors up to my apartment. It was nearly seven, and the sun had long since set. I was supposed to meet our friends at the Whisky and Warlock to celebrate, and I was running late.
It’d been because I had a meeting with the most powerful figures at the Protectorate, but Bree and Rowan wouldn’t take that excuse when they were ready to party.
Slightly out of breath, I let myself into my apartment. As usual, the Cats of Catastrophe lounged on the couch. A bowl of potato chips sat between them, but there were no people present.
I pointed. “Those yours?”
Bojangles snagged a chip out of the bowl and crunched down.
“I guess so.” My gaze caught on the easel on the side wall. There was a new painting on it.
What the heck?
I stepped closer.
It was a painting of a dead mouse sitting on a doorstep. There was a red heart in the corner. It was a rough image, looking like it’d been done with fingerpaints.
“I did not paint that,” I muttered as I turned to the cats. “Did you see who did this?”
Muffin and Bojangles both meowed. Princess Snowflake III just stared at me. My eyes flicked to her paw. Brown and red paint dotted her toes.
My eyes widened. “You?”
“Meow.”
I looked back at the painting.
Holy crap, it was a gift.
Most cats brought their people dead rodents as a sign of affection. Or perhaps to feed their hapless and pathetic owners who couldn’t hunt properly. Who really knew.
But this was definitely a present from Princess Snowflake III. She hadn’t caught me a mouse. She’d painted me one.
I looked back at her, shocked. “So you do like me!”
She hissed.
I looked at Muffin. “Care to translate?”
She likes you.
“But the hissing?”
She’s not eating your face, is she?
I grinned and looked at Princess Snowflake III. “I like you, too, Princess.”
She hissed again.
“Excuse me. Princess Snowflake III.”
She jumped off the couch, strolled up to me, and butted her head against my shin. Then she turned abruptly and returned to the couch, smearing a bit of red paint on the fabric.
I sighed, looking at my gruesome new painting. “I guess I’ll have to hang it in the entranceway!”
An hour later, after they’d spent an appropriate amount of time oohing and aahing over my new painting, Bree and Rowan accompanied me to the Whisky and Warlock. It was our favorite place in Edinburgh. In fact, it was everyone’s favorite place.
The Whisky and Warlock was the official pub of the Protectorate, and we had our own little room in the twisty and turny old place. Fortunately, it was just a short walk away, through the enchanted glen and the portal that took us directly to the Grassmarket.
The night was windy and cold as we walked down the cobblestone street to the pub. I pushed open the door and ducked under the low doorway, sighing at the warmth and the golden glow. The pub was like a maze, full of little rooms and nooks and crannies. I went left, into the little room where the Protectorate always gathered.
As I entered, everyone started clapping. Though some of my fellow students just stared at me, unimpressed.
Ha! Take that, Lavender and Angus.
I smiled. Normally, we celebrated our victories and mourned our defeats in this little room. But I’d never been the recipient of the applause before. It was kind of nice.
The fire crackled in the hearth, and the old wooden bar gleamed under the warm light. Muffin sat at a bar stool, and I had no idea how he’d gotten here faster than me. He had a martini glass full of cream in front of him and wore a new gemstone in his ear. Next to him sat Kitty, the plump black cat who lived here. Kitty was a girl as far as I knew, which meant that Muffin was on a date?
I stifled a chuckle and wished him luck. With his singed whiskers, he was going to have to be extra charming.
“Come on. Let’s get drinks!” Bree said.
“Ana’s paying!” Rowan crowed.
I grinned. I could spare some of my new nest egg, especially for these guys.
We squeezed up to the bar. Sophie, the bartender, had her dark hair pulled up. Today, her T-shirt read Don’t Mess With Nessie. She grinned widely. “Glass of bubbly for you?”
“Please!” I grinned. “And a pink cocktail for Bree and whatever weird thing Rowan is drinking these days.”
Rowan laughed and punched me lightly on the shoulder. We hopped up on the barstools, careful to give Muffin his space. Sophie delivered our drinks.
“You did good, Ana.” Bree sipped her pink drink.
“Thanks.” I leaned against her, happy. We chatted for a while, stopping occasionally to talk with the people who swung by. Caro, Ali, and Haris joined us, and we started up a game of pool in the back room.
As usual, Caro wiped the floor with us. She’d done a short stint as a pool shark a few years ago, and it showed. We played for a couple hours. Every thirty minutes or so, I’d look around for Lachlan, hoping to see him. But there was no reason for him to be at our hangout. I hadn’t seen him since last night in the infirmary. He’d had more injuries than I’d realized—the cloaked figure had broken several of his ribs when he’d thrown him across the room.
Eventually, we headed home. It would be an early day of classes tomorrow. As we walked out of the pub, I craned my neck around, looking for him once more.
But nope. He was nowhere to be seen.
I frowned, disappointed, then followed my friends out. The wind was bitter as we made our way down the street and through the portal to the Protectorate. It was even colder in the Highlands, and we ran all the way back to the castle, jumping over gnarled old tree roots in the enchanted glen and sprinting across the great lawn.
I was gasping and laughing by the time we pushed through the doors, so grateful to have this as my home and my new life. It’d been hard on the outside. Hard and dangerous and scary.
Life could still be those things here, but we had backup. Support.
Grinning, I followed my friends across the entry hall.
“Ana.” Lachlan’s voice made me pull up short.
I turned. He stood at the entrance of the hallway that led to Arach’s office.
“Ana?” Bree whispered.
“You can go.” My heart was already racing. I approached him, completely ignoring my sister. Classy. “What’s up?”
My heart was lodged in my chest. Could this be the last time I saw him?
“How do you feel?” he asked. Concern glinted in his eyes.
I shrugged with my good shoulder, regretting the move when it pulled on my injured arm. “Fine. It’ll heal. You?”
“Much better.”
A large crowd of laughing Protectorate members entered the hall, so we stepped into an alcove behind us. The crowd turned right, directly toward us. They piled into the hallway, forcing us deeper into the alcove, where the shadows lingered.
It pushed us closer together, and I couldn’t help the shiver that raced through me. I searched Lachlan’s gaze, hoping to see the same heat.
Maybe I did, or maybe it was wishful thinking. The flames were banked within his dark eye
s.
“I wanted to thank you for your help,” he said.
“Thanks for the opportunity. It was fun. And profitable.” Oh fates. Was that weird? Should I have said that?
I gave a mental shrug. Not much I could do about it now! If I was going to feel weird about something, it should probably be the fact that I’d been sucking on his face a couple days ago. And the fact that he’d had to break the kiss and remind me that we were working together.
I blushed.
His gaze traced over my cheeks, which just made me realize that he noticed me blushing.
Perfect.
I was a badass who’d started driving across Death Valley when I was sixteen, and here I was, blushing.
“I wanted to make you an offer,” he said.
“An offer?”
“I don’t know what you are—you’ve been too cagey to share—but you have powerful magic. It was you that made the difference between failure and success on this mission. I want to find the cloaked figure, and I want you to help.”
“Me?” Okay, idiot. He already made that clear.
“Aye, you.” His lips curved up at the corners. “It will take time to find him—we have almost no clues. Just the scrap of fabric that my claw pulled off his cloak. Thank you for spotting that, by the way. We may be able to use it to track him. Eventually, we’ll get a lead. When we do, I want your help.”
“And I’d be working with you on this.”
“Aye. We’ll hunt him together. In return, I’ll help you with your magic.”
“How can you help me?”
“I wasn’t born with twelve fully developed powers. They were seeds of different gifts, only partially there. But with practice, they grew.”
“I’ve never heard of that.” Normally, you had what you had. It took some practice, sure, but no one ever described their magic as partially there. Also, no one had ever had twelve powers before.
“It’s rare. But I can help you. And you can help me.”
“Um.” My mind raced. But what was I going to say? No? Heck no. “Yeah, I’ll do it. I want to get that bastard. And the help sounds good.” Fates knew I was a mess.
“And if we catch him, it will help you at the Academy. I can talk to Jude about it.”