by Linsey Hall
“I think not. He had the air of someone with tragedy in their past. And I’d heard stories. I thought he wanted to kill his own magic. To destroy the FireSoul within him by taking my power of nullification. It would suppress all of his magical ability. Take it away.”
I cringed. Who would do that willingly to themselves? It felt like dying. I didn’t like everything about being a FireSoul, but I’d never cut out my magic like that. Repressing it all those years had been bad enough, but at least I’d had my magic still within me, ready to access when I needed it.
Permanently killing my magic? It’d be almost worse than death.
“What happened?” I breathed.
“I fought him. Used my power to nullify his powers. It gave him a taste of what was to come, and he hesitated. I won that battle and ran, though I thought he might seek me again.”
“But he never came for you?” I knew I needed to be getting his help with the portal—and I would—but this was the first opportunity I’d ever had to learn about the Monster who hunted me. The Nullifier could have the ammunition I needed to destroy the Monster and save myself.
“Not until today,” the Nullifier said. “I thought he’d given up on that. I heard that he had become addicted to the power, the way FireSouls always do.”
Always do.
It’s not true, I wanted to cry. I’m not addicted. I’ve been fighting it. I’ve been winning!
Instead, I said, “So that is why you recognized him.”
“Yes. Thank you for getting me away from him. But how did he find me?”
“He didn’t. He found me,” I said. “I had a concealment charm that protected me from him. He’s been searching for me.”
“Ah, yes.” The Nullifier nodded. “If he had seers scrying for you, they would have found you when you entered my no-magic zone. Concealment charms are dangerous. They can hide a person from my protections. Your charm failed when you neared my home.”
“But you’re not using your powers now,” I said. “It’s the only way we’re safe.”
“Yes.”
“And you’ll help us close the portal?”
His gaze darkened.
“Victor Orriordor is behind it,” I said. “If the portal devours the museum, it will kill people. Destroy thousands of homes.”
“Like my home,” the Nullifier said grimly.
I thought of the explosive blast that had destroyed so much of his patio and part of the back of his house. “Yes.”
“Yes. I will do it,” he grumbled. “Victor Orriordor is dangerous. Whatever he wants with the museum, I do not want him to have.”
The tension in my shoulders loosened a bit. “Thank you!”
“Don’t thank me,” he groused. “We haven’t succeeded yet.”
We met Nix and Del on the front lawn of the museum thirty minutes later, after the Nullifier had recovered enough to be up and about. It was a bright, clear day. The kind that would have lots of kids out playing on the lawns, if half the town hadn’t been enveloped in a glowing purple portal. Nix and Del stood at the edge of the Museum lawn, on a small patch that wasn’t enclosed in the portal, which expanded out far in the other direction.
Most of the museum had disappeared. When it all disappeared, the imbalance in the magical power grid would cause a vacuum and destroy the town.
“It’s way worse,” I said as soon as I reached Nix and Del. I’d raced ahead, leaving Aidan and the Nullifier to catch up.
“Yep.” Del eyed the figures behind me. “And that’s our best hope?”
I glanced back at the Nullifier. I was worried about getting him through the unknown challenges at the waypoint, but we’d cross that bridge when we came to it. Or swim that ocean, or cross that desert.
“Want me to conjure a life vest?” Nix whispered, her gaze on the Nullifier. “Because if we get dumped in the ocean again, he doesn’t look like the strongest swimmer.”
I eyed the Nullifier, who was looking immensely better than he had earlier, but still frail. I’d seen plenty of folks over seventy swimming laps in the cold waters of the Pacific, so I knew they could be tough, but after the Nullifier’s injuries, I was worried for him.
“Thanks,” I said. “I wish we had any other choice because I hate asking him to do this, but we’re out of options.”
On a whim, I’d asked the Nullifier if he could just use his power to kill the portal from here. Unfortunately, he’d said no. The Pool of Enchantment was too powerful. He needed to kill the source of the power in order to kill the portal.
Before we’d come, Aidan had called the Order of the Magica, who had been no real help, so this was what we were going with. The Order had already sent in two contingents of their strongest Magica—two groups of six—to attempt to disenchant the pool, but neither had reported back with success. They hadn’t reported back at all, actually, and the Magica were concerned they were dead or permanently lost. They were going to send another contingent in shortly after us, though I wasn’t convinced they’d do any better a job.
Aerdeca approached us from across the lawn, her white suit now dingy and grass-stained. She really hadn’t left her sister’s side.
“I’m coming with you,” Aerdeca said
I glanced at Del. “Can you take one more?”
Del shook her head. “The four of you are already a stretch. I don’t think I can do another. Not if I want to have enough power to get us all back.”
“I’m sorry,” I told Aerdeca. “But thank you for the offer.”
She twisted her hands, her normally unflappable facade clearly flapped.
“Are we all ready to go?” Aidan asked. “I don’t like the look of the portal. If we’re caught when the museum disappears and the portal finally closes, we could be stuck.”
“I am.” I glanced at the Nullifier. “Are you?”
He nodded, his gaze resolute.
“How do we do this, then?” I asked.
“Link hands,” Del said. “On my count, step through. Then you lead us to the Pool of Enchantment.”
I nodded. We’d told the Nullifier that I was a Seeker, which was how I’d find the Pool of Enchantment. He’d seemed to buy it, though there wasn’t much reason to doubt it.
“Let’s get this show on the road, then.” I stepped up and took Del’s hand, then linked my other with Aidan’s. I glanced at him, glad he was at my side. He gave me a half-grin that I chose to interpret as him feeling the same.
Del reached out for Nix, who then grasped the Nullifier’s palm in her other hand.
“Thank you for doing this,” Aerdeca said.
“Don’t have much choice,” I said.
“You do. None of your loved ones are trapped in that portal.” Her tortured gaze traveled to Mordaca, who still floated within the purple haze.
“Ready?” I asked Del, my gaze on the purple glow that was only a foot away. My heart thudded as my mind raced over what we could be stepping into.
“Yep. On three.”
I squeezed Aidan’s hand.
“One, two, three!”
I stepped forward, my eyes closed and my breath caught in my chest. When I opened my eyes, we stood in the desert again, confirming my fear that this was where the Monster’s home was located. The desert was like the base for this place, the absence of anything but sand and heat making it a perfect palate for the other worlds to be projected upon.
Hot wind blew my hair back from my face as I focused on my dragon sense. It tugged, strong and sure. I glanced at my companions and said, “Left.”
We had no way of knowing where the Pool of Enchantment was located, but thought it might be away from the portal. Nix had said Dr. Garriso believed it was a safety precaution to have the portal entrance located farther from the pool to limit situations like this occurring. When he’d built the portal, the Monster had probably expected someone to fight back. Keeping the portal away from its battery made it harder for us to destroy it.
“I like the desert,” Nix muttered. “A
t least we can see what’s coming.”
“And it’s like being at the beach,” Del said. “Except drier.”
“Don’t wish for the beach or we might get some water,” I said, remembering our icy plunge the last time we were here.
A second later, the ground dropped out from under us. But instead of water, there was nothing. Cliffs rose steeply in front of me as I plummeted into an enormous gorge. I shrieked, my stomach caught in my throat, and I clawed at the air, somehow managing to catch onto a ledge. My fingers dragged at it, but I lost my grip and fell again.
On either side, Nix and Del plummeted, along with the Nullifier.
“Aidan!” I couldn’t see him, but I prayed he’d turned into a griffin.
Except he couldn’t carry all of us. My skin grew cold.
My heart threatened to break my ribs.
He couldn’t carry all of us.
There was only one way out of this. Could I even do it?
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to focus, reaching out for Aidan’s shifting power. I caught hold of his signature—the scent of the forest, the sound of crashing waves, the taste of chocolate. I drew on his magic, using my Mirror Mage skills to imitate his ability to shift.
“Griffin, griffin, griffin,” I whispered.
I’d only ever tried to turn into land mammals before, but none of those would help me now. Turning into a griffin was a stretch, but since Aidan was hopefully already in his griffin form, it should be easier than doing it from scratch. Mirroring an animal that was near me was easier.
Wind whipped by as magic filled my being. Warmth flowed through my limbs.
Suddenly, the wind changed. Instead of blowing my hair and clothes, it ruffled my feathers and fur. I opened my eyes and could see great clawed feet in front of me. My wings flapped awkwardly in the wind.
I could fly!
Sort of.
Below, the ground was growing closer. I flapped my wings harder, trying to propel myself upward. They caught on the wind, pushing me toward the sky. I laughed, but it came out as a strange squawk. Then I whirled on the air and dived for the nearest body that had been falling alongside mine.
Nix. Her black hair whipped in the wind as she screamed. I plunged, swooping below her to catch her on my back.
Her weight forced me down. I beat my wings harder, struggling to keep us airborne.
One person was the maximum I could carry, and even now, we were half flying/half falling. My best efforts were just slowing our descent. No doubt I was a smaller, more awkward version of Aidan’s griffin.
“Woo!” Nix’s jubilant shout sounded from above. “Go, Cass!”
I beat my wings harder, my new muscles burning, determined to get us to safety and give a good showing as a griffin. If Aidan hadn’t turned into one, too, I was going to need to find some more strength in the next two seconds in order to save him and Del and the Nullifier.
It would be an impossible task.
I spun on the breeze, searching for Aidan and the others, praying that he had caught them. My claws curled in fear as I sought him out.
The sight of Aidan as a griffin, Del and the Nullifier on his broad back, sent relief streaking through me. I gave a victorious cry, the noise coming out as a strange, birdlike shriek. Nix laughed.
I flew toward Aidan, the wind in my feathers. Lightness and joy surged through me, the most intense I’d ever felt. I’d saved us.
Together, we glided down onto the valley floor below. A wide river wound through the valley, tall pines on either side. With my enhanced griffin hearing, I could detect animals rustling in the underbrush by the river.
When I landed, I staggered a bit on my strange new legs, and Nix tumbled off my back. In a flash of gray light, Aidan turned back into himself. Nix dragged her phone from her pocket and snapped a picture of me right before I called upon my magic to shift back. I tried my best to focus on having clothes and my daggers when I turned back into a human.
Warmth filled my limbs, light flashed around me, and a second later, I swayed on my real legs. I was grateful to see that I was still wearing pants, though I had on only one boot and my leather jacket, but no shirt beneath.
At least I was decent. And my daggers had made it.
“That was amazing!” Nix cried.
“Thanks.” I dragged a shaky hand through my hair.
The Nullifier sat heavily on a rock. “I am not used to all of this excitement.”
I didn’t want to mention that this might be the dullest part of our trip.
“Here.” Nix handed me another boot and a t-shirt that she’d conjured.
“Thanks.” I turned and dragged off my jacket, then pulled the t-shirt on. Aidan joined me as I sat on the ground and tugged on the boot.
He crouched next to me. “You did good. Changing in midair like that is pretty amazing.”
I grinned up at him. “Thanks. Did I look good?”
“Umm…” Aidan’s gaze was conflicted.
Del laughed.
“Well,” Nix said. “You were a good flier. That’s all that matters.”
“Let me see the picture you took,” I groused.
She grinned and handed over her phone. I glanced down at the image and cringed.
The sorriest looking griffin I’d ever seen stared back at me. Brown and mottled, with patchy fur and feathers, it was half the size of Aidan’s griffin and looked like a fairytale reject.
“Whew,” I said.
“You’ll be a better-looking, stronger griffin with practice,” Aidan said. “But for now, you changed in midair and saved your deirfiúr’s life. That’s all that counts.”
“I think being an actual cool-looking griffin is your specialty,” I said. And we didn’t have time to worry about what an ugly griffin I made.
The scenery around us already wavered then changed to a new place. We were back in the desert. In the distance, a green oasis beckoned. My dragon sense tugged. The blue pool was so brilliant it made my eyes hurt, but it was the purple glow from within that made my heart gallop.
“There!” I pointed.
I ran, the sand dragging at my feet. My lungs burned from the hot air, but I pushed myself harder. We were still several hundred yards away, but it felt so close I could taste the cool water in the pool.
A moment later, the serene quiet of the desert was replaced with the cacophonous sounds of an exotic bazaar. I pulled to a halt, my friends behind me. Heat blazed down on the many stalls filled with goods of every imaginable type—food, wine, jewels, fabric, toys, dishes. Like a fantasy department store in the desert. Colorful awnings stretched as far as I could see, a maze of people and merchandise.
Languages I didn’t recognize flew around us as shopkeepers shouted about their wares. Magic ricocheted on the air. Supernaturals populated this bazaar, not humans. There were even some demons, just like at the dance club from before.
“Does the Pool of Enchantment continue to move?” the Nullifier asked.
“No, I don’t think so,” I said. “But the scenery around it does. We just need to get to it. Once we’re there, the pool itself should stay stable.”
“Good.” His wide gaze flitted everywhere, clearly nervous.
I nodded, then focused on my dragon sense, letting it pull me through the crowd. We went single file through the narrow passageways between stalls, dodging bodies and offerings of samples of sweets and fruits.
“What have we here?” a rumbling voice said from beside me.
I glanced around to see a huge form stepping out from between two stalls. His eerie silver eyes glinted.
Tracker demon. And there were two behind him.
My muscles tensed.
“A FireSoul wandering around the bazaar.” His dark gaze darted behind me to Nix and Del. The Nullifier and Aidan took up the rear, but he didn’t bother looking at them. “Three FireSouls.”
“Our quota for the next three years,” the demon behind him said.
I called upon my lightning, ready to
blast him away. But his big arm flashed out and grabbed me before I could so much as let the lightning crackle inside of me.
A second later, I was standing inside a dark dungeon, the cold seeping through my jacket, into my heart.
Shit, shit, shit.
I was a dead girl.
“The boss will be pleased with you,” the Tracker demon rumbled.
Hell no, that wasn’t going to happen. I launched myself at him and swung my fist, aiming for his face. It collided with his nose, pain singing up my arm. He roared as blood sprayed. I heaved my knee between his legs, but he didn’t crumble like I expected.
Instead, he backhanded me across the face so hard that I flew through the air and crashed into the wall. Pain flared in my head as it cracked against the stone.
Darkness followed.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Light flashed as the door to the cell opened. I scuttled back, pressing myself against the wall. On either side of me, another girl huddled, shrinking back from the figure who loomed in the door.
They were here for one of us.
Me?
My skin crawled, ice seeping through my veins, freezing me solid against the cold stone floor. They’d taken so many girls before. Would I be next?
I was only fifteen. I had barely lived. Was this to be my end?
The guard pointed one big finger and growled, “You.”
Without a shadow of a doubt, he pointed at me. My heart stopped.
He stomped forward on huge feet and grabbed me by the arm. His iron grip crushed my muscles. The other girls clung to my hands, trying to hold me back as if they could save me.
Nothing could save me.
Girls left. If they came back at all, it was different. They were collared or worse.
That would be me now.
I thrashed, trying to break free of his grasp, as the guard dragged me from the room. The rough stone scraped my bare feet, but I dug in, trying to keep myself from being dragged into the hall. The cell was terrible, but it was familiar. In there, all I knew was hunger and dark and fear.
Out here, there were worse terrors.
The dim light in the hall was no easier on my eyes. I didn’t remember how long I’d been in the dark, but it’d been a long time. The guard dragged me up a flight of wooden stairs, then out a door and into an ornate hallway with silk wallpaper and wood paneling. A fancy manor house, though I didn’t remember it from my trip to the cell. I didn’t remember how I had gotten to the cell at all.