by CM Raymond
Stellan was likable, strong, everything the Chancellor admired in his underlings. Maybe I wasn’t sent North because Adrien trusts me, Doyle thought. Maybe he was just trying to get me out of his hair?
Doyle’s image of himself riding into the city as a conquering hero suddenly vanished. He needed to do something to show Adrien that he was the true hero. And the quickest way to become the hero was to vanquish an enemy.
As they finished their trip down to the factory, Doyle silently began crafting a plan to expose Stellan as the traitor—and kill two birds with one stone.
It’s like the Chancellor taught me, Doyle thought. Proof is less important than persuasion.
****
“Make room, you little bitch,” Hannah said with a grin as she nudged Sal off the couch.
The dragon was growing every day, and his weight made the furniture creak as he jumped down to the floor.
Gregory furrowed his brow. “Wait a second. Sal’s a girl?”
Hannah pushed the dragon, and he rolled onto his back to have his belly rubbed by his master. “Let’s check.” She scanned the dragon’s underside. “So hard to tell with these creatures!”
“Seriously?”
Hannah laughed. “No, Sal’s a boy dragon. But he’ll always be my bitch.”
The dragon rolled up to his feet and flicked his tail playfully at Hannah’s legs. He then curled up at her feet and fell asleep.
“All that thing does it eat and sleep,” Gregory said.
“Yeah, it’s the life. I have a feeling Sal has his work cut out for him, though. The fight is coming, and I doubt this lug will sit on the sidelines.” Hannah scratched her nails on the dragon’s side. He kicked a hind leg in rhythm with her strokes. “But now, his job is just to get big and badass. I just need to figure out how to make him breathe fire!”
Gregory couldn’t help but wonder if she was serious or messing with him. He hadn’t known the girl or her dragon long, but the thing had grown significantly since he’d met them. The fact that it existed made little sense—why wouldn’t it breathe fire?
“You were great tonight,” Gregory said. “Just perfect.” The two had just returned from the Winter Ball, after making a hasty exit. Despite her illusion, Gregory could see the anger in her eyes and decided that they had better get out of there. It was nearing its conclusion anyway, and several people had left before them. The two students wouldn’t be missed—probably.
Hannah smiled and batted her eyelashes. She looked like her old self, although she was still wearing her red dress. “Why, thank you, Sir Gregory. I’m sure it was due to the honor of the gentleman on my arm.” She smiled and pulled on the ball gown. “Now, I can’t wait to get the hell out of this dress. It’s been squashing my boobs all night.”
“Very classy, Deborah.”
The two turned to see Ezekiel in the door grinning and looking like himself. Amelia, the Dean of the Academy, stood beside him.
“Now,” Ezekiel said, taking a seat across from his students, “You two sure got out of there fast. Let’s hear the rest of the story. Is everyone OK?”
Hannah walked them through the details of the evening, starting from the beginning. She took time in describing the dance with Adrien and in confessing how close she came to gutting him like a hog. Her rendition of finding the blueprints in Elon’s office made them all smile, though it turned Gregory’s stomach. He knew that before long, the hunt would begin for the thief—and he was one of the people who would have known precisely where to find the plans.
“And that’s it. Mission accomplished.”
Ezekiel raised a brow. “Nothing else?”
“Well, there was the complete shitface Morgan who tried to take advantage of me in one of the guest rooms, but I took care of that.” She explained her failed attempt to alter his memories and the backup plan.
Ezekiel glared at Hannah. “That was very reckless. What if he tells someone? It could ruin everything.”
Hannah couldn’t help but smile. “Patience is a virtue Zeke, but not when some shit is groping you in a backroom and won’t let go. Then violence is a virtue. But I wouldn’t worry about him squealing too much. Let’s just say I put the fear of the gods in him. And something tells me that Morgan isn’t the kind of guy who brags about being told no by a woman. Not to mention, he’d be bringing the fact that he was forcing himself on the daughter of one of the most influential nobles in all of Arcadia… and one of his professors.” She glanced at each of them. “I think we should be fine with him.”
Amelia leaned forward. “I could call him to the office. Tell him we have gotten reports from some of the ladies that he has been a bit, well, aggressive. Might encourage him to keep his mouth shut. Morgan wants nothing more than to receive a recommendation for Adrien’s scholar’s program. Could do the trick.”
Ezekiel sat silent for a moment. “Let’s wait on it. See if it blows over. But keep a close eye on the boy—whenever he gets out of the infirmary.”
“Enough about douchenuts,” Hannah said. “Let’s take a peek at Elon’s project.” She pulled the blueprints out from her dress and unrolled them on the table in the middle of the room. Gregory placed candlesticks on either end, holding the edges down.
The four of them stared at the work of art before them. The fine lines were clearly drawn with a precise hand. And while the numbers and words made no more sense to Hannah now than they did in the safe, she could clearly see the outline of a large ship—the weapon that could end them all.
“So,” Hannah said. “Does this tell us how to stop it?”
Amelia and the students looked up at Ezekiel after a few beats of silence. He laughed. “I’m a magician, not an engineer. Beats the hell out of me. I was hoping you’d have something for us, Gregory.”
Gregory pulled a pen from his pocket and, with the non-writing side, started tracing lines. “I mean, most of this is just the body of a ship. Steel and siding. It’s designed to be light, but still strong enough to take a beating. This here is the cockpit, where they’d steer the ship from. And this—this is the magitech core.”
“The rest of this…” He stared perplexed at the paper for another moment before rolling them up. “Let me take this with me to my workshop. This is tech like I’ve never seen. I have some notions of what might be going on, but I need to crosscheck it with some other tech I have. If I can reverse engineer some of the more complex magitech and then expand for scale and purpose, I might just be able to—”
“OK, boy wonder,” Hannah interrupted. “Just go get busy. We need this, yesterday.”
Gregory nodded and left the room.
Just as he left, the door rattled and started to open. Hannah spun, instinctively drawing fireballs into her hands.
“Aye, good to see you too, lass. Is that any way to welcome a friend?” Karl’s beard rose with a smile.
Parker, grinning like a schoolboy entered behind him. Hannah felt her pulse pick up. It had been days since she had seen him, and it had felt like a month. So many things had happened since he and the rearick had set off, and she couldn’t wait to tell him everything.
When Hadley crossed the threshold just behind Parker, her heart dropped. Seeing the mystic she had connected with so deeply in the Heights enter, everything in her spun out of whack. It was part of the plan to bring back reinforcements, but she never really believed he would be among their ranks.
“Hadley,” she finally said. Then she realized she had said nothing to her best friend. “And… Parker.” Her face burned, and she hated everything about being herself at that moment. For a second, she considered bringing the entire mansion down on all of them, just to finish this moment. “Good to see you guys.”
Hadley’s eyes moved up and down her body, taking in Hannah’s noble garb. “Damn. You dressed up for me. Really didn’t have to.”
Karl poured drinks as they all awkwardly took their seats. Hannah tried to catch Parker’s eye more than once, but he refused to comply.
The
rearick raised his glass. “In memory of the rebellion. She was a damned clever idea, had she only been accepted by more than a few magicians and a couple of screw ups.”
Tentatively, they all raised their glasses and downed a drink. Karl wasted no time pouring another.
“So, it went that well?” Hannah finally asked. The booze was already rushing to her head.
“Trip was a damned bust, darlin’,” Karl said as his cheeks turned red. “Looks like we’re gonna have to take this shit to Adrien ourselves. At least I brought one of the mind engineers back with me.” Karl nodded at Hadley.
“I guess this means we’ll need the perfect plan,” Ezekiel said. “Luckily, Hannah here was a success tonight.”
They quickly recounted the night’s events. Parker seemed furious when Hannah described Morgan’s assault, but Hadley only laughed. “What did I tell you, Hannah?” the mystic asked with a grin. “You and your physical magic. You have power over minds—you prove it every day by disguising yourself in the Academy. Now that I’m here, we can continue your lessons. I’ll teach you what you need to scramble the mind of someone like Morgan. That way, you don’t have to always lean on your physical magic crutch.”
Hannah nodded. She too was happy about continuing her mental magic training, and Hadley was an excellent teacher. She opened her mouth to say so when Parker cut in. “It sounds like this Morgan douche will be the one in crutches. I for one am glad you had your physical magic. You should have roasted his nuts off.”
Hadley turned and gave Parker a strange look, but Parker stared straight at Hannah, ignoring it. Something was going on between the two men, but she didn’t have the energy to try and figure it out.
Ezekiel rose from the table. “Karl and Parker, I appreciate your efforts to bring in rearick allies, but we always knew it would be a long shot. Moving forward, we stick to the plan. Parker and Hadley, you will hit the streets, starting tomorrow. I must believe that there is enough grit in the Boulevard to stand against Adrien’s cruelty. You must give them the hope they need to fight.”
Parker leaned forward. “I know my people; they won’t back down from a fight. I’ll make sure they see the truth.”
“Good,” Ezekiel said. “Hannah, you’ll return to the Academy—keep searching for allies. But be careful. Now more than ever, you need to blend in. Give them no reason to suspect you had anything to do with tonight’s break in.”
Hannah brushed her hair behind her ears and giggled. Putting on her best noble’s voice, she said, “That shouldn’t be a problem. No one would expect any talent from little old me. I’m nothing but a pretty face.”
Ezekiel smiled. “Luckily for all our sakes, you are much more than that. Amelia, you and I will work on plan B. If our young rebels here are unable to sway the city to do what’s right, then it is on us to finish things. It seems the time for half measures has come to an end. Rebellion or no, Adrien must die.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Throwing the gown on the corner chair and pulling on her bedclothes, Hannah could finally breathe again. She’d wiped the caked-on makeup from her face and dropped the mystical disguise. She’d hardly felt like herself since they had returned from the Heights—maybe since William died. But she was willing to give up her life for the cause—to see Adrien suffer and die in the process. Ceding her identity for a few weeks, or even months, was nothing. She’d go much further if she had to.
Sal followed her up and laid on a makeshift bed in the corner. He had outgrown sleeping at the foot of her bed weeks ago. He stared up at her with unblinking eyes.
“What the hell you looking at?” She smiled at her beast.
She knew that he could feel it, too—the coming war. He was also ready for action.
She remembered the look on her dragon’s face after it had killed the remnant, saving her life in the process. Black blood dripped from Sal’s fangs, and Hannah could almost see her pet smiling.
“You certainly have come a long way, you little squirt,” she said, scratching the top of his head. “You remember when we fought that scary-as-shit lycanthrope? You ran so fast, I thought you were part chicken—literally. You’re almost big enough now to take on that thing yourself.” At her praise, the dragon fell to his side, wanting his belly scratched. “Maybe not,” she laughed.
Suddenly, Sal sprang to his feet, his attention at the door. Moments later, Hannah heard a loud knock.
“Good watch dog!” Hannah said to her dragon before turning to the door. “Who is it?”
“It’s Adrien. I’ve come to make sweet, sweet love to you,” Parker’s voice said through the door.
“Well, get your ass in here, you randy son of a bitch.” She laughed.
The door squeaked open, and Parker stepped in. “Sorry to disappoint. But I figured it would get me past the door. I know how you nobles stick together.”
“Trust me, if Adrien shows up, all the magic in Irth wouldn’t be enough to stick him back together.”
Hannah pulled her legs under her and sat cross-legged on the bed. Patting the spot next to her, she invited Parker to join her. As he sat, she said, “Careful, my little Salamander has been acting incredibly protective lately.”
Sal shot his forked tongue out of his mouth and back in. The dragon almost seemed to purr as Parker scratched under his chin. “Noted,” Parker said with a smile. “Gregory tells me you kicked ass all over the Winter Ball tonight. When’d you learn to dance?”
“I’m a woman of great mystery,” Hannah grinned. Parker made her feel a little more normal and a lot more like herself. “But, yeah, I kicked a little ass. It was a deserving ass, too.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Parker said with a smile. “I know you’d never hurt a fly—unless that fly had it coming. Like Adrien.”
A chill ran across Hannah’s spine. “It freaked me out—seeing him tonight, being that close. I thought he’d figured me out. Kind of wanted him to so we could just get on with it. But he doesn’t know—I’m sure of it.”
“Really? Why so confident?”
“Adrien doesn’t mess around, Parker. If he knew, we’d be done already. The fact that I’m sitting here, that any of us are here, means he’s clueless. But enough about that dickhole. What about you?”
“Me? My dickhole is just fine, thank you very much.”
Hannah couldn’t hold back the smile. “Trying to be just a little too badass, aren’t you? Don’t forget; I knew you when you were pissing your pants and playing with my dolls.”
“Nothing wrong with dolls. You kind of looked like one tonight, your highness.”
“Screw you.” She punched his bicep. “Really, how was your trip?”
“It was… cool. I mean, the trip out with Karl was intense. Had to do a little ass-kicking of my own. But I think you would have approved.”
Parker described his fight with the bandits along the road. He spoke animatedly, walking her through each step in the action.
“Damn! Good thing Karl was with you,” Hannah said.
“Weren’t you listening?” Parker asked. “It was a good thing I was there. Karl needed me… I took down the biggest of the bandits. But don’t tell Karl I told you that. Might embarrass the old rearick.”
Hannah smiled, knowing her friend was probably exaggerating. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You were right, though,” Parker said with eyes wide. “The Heights were an out of this world kind of glorious.”
“I know, right?” She smiled, thinking of the majestic peaks.
“Yeah. A little let down we didn’t come back with a small army, but we did what we could do. Funny thing is, I thought that they were all gonna be like Karl. He’s the only rearick I’ve ever really known.”
“If they were all like him, we’d be kicking ass and taking names.”
Parker nodded. “But we came back with nothing.”
“Not nothing. Hadley’s with you.”
Hannah noticed Parker flush, and she felt her own face
get warm in response.
“Yeah. You’re welcome for that,” he grinned. “Glad I could bring back something of value.
Hannah crinkled her nose and then laughed. “Sounds like somebody’s jealous.”
“Jealous of that mental masturbator? Not a chance. Down here, off the mountain, my cunning and good looks go a lot further,” Parker said, raising a brow.
She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and cocked her head. “Funny. But you should remember that pleasing a woman is ninety percent mental… Not that you’d know anything about that.”
Parker’s mouth dropped open, but he was speechless. Finally, he gave her a little jab in the thigh. “Get some sleep, my lady. You’re going to need it!” he croaked before standing to leave.