by H. K. Varian
Mack jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a drenching as the nykur conjured a raging river. Mack bounded down a flight of stairs to the first floor, turned at the bottom, and threw fireballs back at Adam, who easily used his water abilities to put out the flames. Steam rose from the steps.
Mack was exhausted from running and fighting. He was down to the last of his energy. Any minute now Adam was going to catch him and give him the beating of his life. And Mack knew the nykur would enjoy that more than anything.
All of Sakura’s soldiers will love that, Mack thought. They’ll gather around to watch. They’ll laugh. They’ll jeer. They’ll say I had it coming.
It was as if Adam could read Mack’s mind. The nykur whinnied and spoke to Mack telepathically—the only way Changers could communicate in their animal forms.
It’s just a matter of time, boy. Where are you?
Fury coursed through Mack. Dark flames burst from his paws. It’s not fair!
Adam snickered again, fueling Mack’s anger and frustration.
Rage gave Mack the determination he needed. He turned a corner into an old dining room and chanted the cloaking illusion spell once again. This time it was perfect. Just as Adam entered the room, Mack disappeared.
Right in front of his eyes! Mack cheered silently to himself.
Now Adam was the angry one while Mack held back a laugh so he wouldn’t give his position away.
Now who’s going to be a laughingstock? Mack thought.
The nykur howled. He started bucking and overturning chairs—even the dusty old dining table—as he searched for his mark.
Mack danced around him and then padded quietly back upstairs to his room. He collapsed on the tattered old sofa, still invisible.
This feeling—joy at the humiliation of someone else—was the closest thing Mack had felt to happiness since he joined Sakura. He wanted more of this. Especially when he realized his master had noticed and approved.
Very good, apprentice, Sakura communicated telepathically to him. You’ll have a new tail in no time. And soon—soon—the world will be ours.
Chapter 5
Esi Akosua
Darren nervously checked the mirror and straightened his collar for the tenth time that morning. He was wearing a button-down shirt and one of Ray’s ties. He also wore his best pants and had polished his dress shoes to a high shine. He even spritzed on a bit of the cologne his father had given him for Christmas.
He was just waiting for Professor Zwane to arrive. The two of them were headed to New York City today to meet Esi Akosua and ask for her help.
By this time tomorrow the curse might be lifted. Then my ancestors will be able to protect me from Sakura, and the rest of us can go back to searching for Mack again, Darren thought.
He tried not to think about the fact that some of his family members might also develop impundulu powers.
But first he had to make a good impression on Esi and her father.
Darren had checked all the social media sites looking for more information about Esi and her family before the meeting, but he found nothing. It was as if the girl didn’t even exist in the modern world, at least not under her own name.
“Esi’s father will be at the meeting too,” Professor Zwane had said when he called the day before. “And don’t be surprised if she’s surrounded by bodyguards. She and her father are the closest thing the Changer world has to anansi royalty. They’re protected at all times, especially now that Sakura’s on the move.”
He went on to explain that Esi and her family knew nothing about Darren’s special relationship with the current First Four.
“I haven’t even told them that you’re from Willow Cove,” he had said. “That would surely tip them off.”
“What did you tell them?” Darren asked.
“Only that I met you when you visited Wyndemere Academy and that I identified the curse when you sat in on one of my classes,” he answered.
Darren knew how essential it was to keep his real identity a secret. For some reason the anansis didn’t trust the First Four.
If Esi and her family find out I’m tied to Mr. Kimura and the others, they’ll refuse to forgive my bloodline, and I’ll have to live under the curse forever, Darren thought. Considering how long Changers live, that could be hundreds of years. Not to mention I’ll be a sitting duck for Sakura.
As far as Darren knew, the anansis hadn’t joined Sakura’s evil army, but he had to acknowledge that that was a possibility, too. That they already knew all about Darren, and they intended to capture him and hand him over to the Shadow Fox immediately as a token of loyalty.
It’s possible that Professor Zwane and I are walking into a trap—or in this case, a sticky spiderweb.
Darren took one last look in the mirror just as Ray walked by. Darren’s mom and brother believed that he was going on a visit to Wyndemere Academy to look at the school and meet with professors.
“Don’t worry, bro,” Ray said with a teasing tone. “The boarding school girls are going to love you.”
“I don’t care about them,” Darren snapped. Snapping at Ray wasn’t like him, but the truth was that his big brother had come a little too close to the truth. Darren cared very much what Esi Akosua thought of him. His life could very well depend on that.
“Whoa!” Ray said, holding his hands up in surrender. “I’m just kidding.”
Darren shook his head. “I know. Sorry. I guess I’m just a little nervous.” Then he grinned. “As long as you’re not with me, at least the girls won’t run away in horror.”
Ray laughed and then got more serious. “The school—girls and all—is going to love you. Just be yourself.”
“I will,” Darren said. He affected a swagger as he walked toward the stairs. “And I’ll try not to make all the girls fall in love with me.”
Ray laughed again. “Go on, Romeo. Have fun.”
Darren found his mother to say good-bye. His mom was superproud of Darren for being selected to visit an elite boarding school, especially given the upset surrounding his parents’ divorce.
Maybe she’s an impundulu too, he thought. By this time tomorrow I might be able to tell her the truth about where I’m really going and what I’m doing when I disappear like this. He almost laughed at the idea of his mom’s reaction to traveling by tengu. She never even drives above the speed limit.
“See you tonight,” Darren called over his shoulder, and headed outside.
“Have fun!” his mother responded. “Take lots of pictures! And don’t forget—we need application deadlines and information about tuition. Just bring me a packet!”
Professor Zwane, Fiona, and Gabriella waited for him by the professor’s car. The First Four couldn’t join them, of course, but Fiona and Gabriella could still move around anonymously. The rest of the Changer world didn’t know about the prophecy yet, although there were lots of rumors—especially because the four of them had defeated the evil warlock Auden Ironbound.
The girls wouldn’t risk discovery by coming to Darren’s meeting with Esi and her father, but they would be nearby in case there was trouble with Sakura or with the anansis. He was glad to know his friends would be ready to jump in and fight if they were needed.
Darren wasn’t surprised to find Margaery waiting in the driver’s seat of the car.
“It’s been a really, really long time since I’ve driven,” Margaery said, stepping on the gas while the car was still in park.
“Margaery, I think you need to put it in drive,” Professor Zwane said. “Otherwise, you’re just revving the engine.”
“Oh, right,” she said sheepishly.
Margaery drove, a little unsteadily, around the corner and stopped. She looked visibly calmer when she put the car in park and closed her eyes. Darren felt the usual stillness come over them and then a whoosh. He had never been in a vehicle for a wind transport before.
Can she really move a car? he wondered. Is her magic over the wind strong enough to carry a two-
ton vehicle all the way across the country?
Darren’s question was answered when the car settled gently in the middle of a parking lot. Instead of the quiet from a moment before, Darren heard horns honking, sirens blaring, and a taxi driver yelling at a pedestrian.
Darren had never been to New York City before, but it sounded just as loud and chaotic as it did in the movies.
“I guess we’re here,” he said.
Margaery nodded and then chanted a quick spell under her breath. The parking attendant who had been staring at them stunned and openmouthed went back inside his little booth, as if a car with five people inside hadn’t just dropped out of the sky and landed quietly between an SUV and a Volkswagen Beetle.
The five of them headed out of the lot and started to walk down Broadway. Darren was too nervous to notice the flashing billboards, the souvenir shops, and the theaters advertising plays and musicals. In a few minutes he’d meet Esi Akosua and her father and place his future and maybe even his life in their hands.
Professor Zwane turned down a side street and pointed to a Brazilian restaurant where they would meet Esi and her father for lunch.
“We’ll wait in there,” Margaery said, pointing to a souvenir shop just across the street. “We’ll be on high alert, ready to intervene if something goes wrong.”
Darren and the professor held back and watched Margaery, Fiona, and Gabriella walk down the street and into the shop like any other tourists. They didn’t want anyone in the restaurant to see that the professor and Darren had other companions.
Professor Zwane turned to Darren. “Ready?” he asked.
Darren took a deep breath and checked to make sure his shirt was neatly tucked in. “Let’s go,” he answered, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants.
They stepped into the cool, dark restaurant, and Darren immediately felt underdressed, like a kid playing at dress up. The place was full of big, serious-looking men and women in dark suits. They all wore ties.
Two of the suits came forward and wordlessly led Darren and the professor toward a booth in the restaurant’s back corner.
They must be the bodyguards, Darren thought. Then he caught sight of Esi, nestled in the booth. Her yellow sundress was a spot of sunshine in the middle of the dark restaurant. She’s even prettier than she was in Professor Zwane’s spell, he thought.
A big bear of a man sat next to her wearing another one of those dark suits. As they neared, the man stood. Professor Zwane was a tall man, but Esi’s father seemed to tower over him.
“Kwame,” Professor Zwane said to him with a bow.
“Sidima,” Esi’s father answered with a slight nod.
The professor waved Darren into the booth. He slid onto the bench and found himself sitting directly across from Esi. She eyed him curiously while the professor took the seat across from her father.
Darren relaxed a little when Esi smiled at him. Then she turned her eyes toward Professor Zwane and listened carefully while he explained his discovery of the curse.
“We know that Sakura is targeting the vulnerable,” the professor explained, “younglings as well as adults. Darren doesn’t have any family members to protect him. With Sakura’s forces on the move, I tried to cast a protection spell to ensure his safety from her memory eating. But the spell is blocked by the curse. His ancestors can’t break through.”
Esi’s father eyed Darren up and down. Darren couldn’t help but feel judged.
He felt like a little kid. I should have asked Mom to buy me a suit jacket, he thought. Ray would have thought of that.
Finally Esi’s father spoke. “The children of anansis hold nothing against the impundulus any longer. We’re always willing to break old curses when we can,” he said, “but I am troubled by one thing.”
Darren took a deep breath.
“What is it?” Professor Zwane asked.
Esi’s father’s serious eyes bored into the professor’s. “I’ve heard rumors about a young impundulu, a friend of Akira Kimura’s grandson. Interesting rumors.”
Darren swallowed and tried not to let his face show how intimidated he was.
Whether Mr. Akosua noticed or not, he continued, narrowing his eyes. “I’ve also heard that they—along with two more younglings—are being trained by Dorina Therian. Do you also know of these rumors, old friend?”
Professor Zwane’s eyes widened, but he kept his expression neutral. He opened his mouth to respond. Only he didn’t, because at that very second there was a giant crash.
Darren looked over his shoulder and saw that a nykur, a phoenix, and an impundulu had burst through the restaurant’s front window. There was a swarm of other Changers at their backs.
Darren recognized them as Sakura’s forces. Many of them had taken part in the battle that ended with Mack going over to Sakura.
The anansi bodyguards immediately transformed and jumped into battle mode. They were huge spiders—and terrifying.
Darren signaled to Esi, and the two of them dove under the table. The professor and Esi’s father moved to fight alongside the guards.
“They’re after me!” he shouted to Esi.
At the same time Esi shouted, “They’re after me!”
“They’re after you?” they asked each other in unison.
An entire wall of glass behind the two of them shattered.
“We need to get out of here,” Darren yelled over the uproar. “I have to get the two of us to safety.”
“No, I have to get the two of us to safety,” Esi snapped.
She motioned to a door. They ran toward it. A phoenix spotted them and gave chase, but Darren threw lightning bolts to slow it down. At the same time Esi blew a choking cloud of murky mist behind them.
Miasma, Darren realized. Professor Zwane once mentioned that anansis have the power to release an airborne poison that can stun their opponent.
Darren held his breath as the two of them dashed through the kitchen and out the restaurant’s back door into an alley. Darren’s first thought was to change into his impundulu form and fly to safety. He wasn’t sure his wings were strong enough to carry Esi as a human, but perhaps he could carry her as a spider. . . .
“Exactly how big are you when you transform?” he asked, scanning the alley.
“Excuse me?” Esi asked with a withering look. “We’re in danger and you want to know how big I am?”
“Are you a tiny spider or, like, a giant spider?” Darren asked frantically.
“Giant,” Esi said proudly.
“Then flying out of here won’t work,” Darren said. “I don’t think I can fly with a giant spider, or even a human girl, on my back. I wouldn’t want to risk it anyway.”
He ran to the end of the alley and cautiously peeked across the street. There was no sign of Fiona, Gabriella, and Margaery in the window of the souvenir shop.
They must have joined the fight, Darren thought. I should be with them.
Then he remembered his lack of protection and realized that was a terrible idea. If Sakura shows up, they can resist her mind control. I can’t. I’d better do what the First Four always told me to do: get to safety and wait for help to arrive.
He ran back to Esi. “We have to get out of here until the coast is clear. Any ideas?”
“Shouldn’t we stay and fight?” Esi asked. “Or are you afraid?”
“I’m not afraid. But if we’re the targets, it’s too dangerous to stay. And dangerous for our friends, too,” Darren said. “Let’s get somewhere safe and then check in with the group.”
“I can’t just leave,” Esi told him. “My father’s inside.”
Just as she turned to go back in through the kitchen door, a massive explosion ripped through the restaurant.
Going back wasn’t an option anymore.
“Your father would want you to get somewhere safe,” Darren said, pulling her down the alley. “We’ll check in with him and the professor as soon as we can.”
Reluctantly, Esi agreed.
“Any
ideas?” Darren asked. “You live here, right?”
“Pssh. I live in Westchester.”
“And that is in . . . ?”
“It’s more than an hour north, and the next train doesn’t leave for another forty-five minutes.”
“Anyplace closer, then?”
“I have a cousin who lives a few subway stops from here,” she suggested.
“Okay, that’ll have to do.”
Together they ran a few blocks on Broadway. Then Esi led him down a flight of stairs to the New York City subway.
I hope Sakura can’t find us down here, Darren thought. If she does, we’ll be trapped underground.
Chapter 6
A FiGHt AmonG Friends
Mack arrived at the steakhouse at the back of Sakura’s forces, frustrated that Sakura wouldn’t allow him to be in the lead. They had good information that some of those who were loyal to the First Four would be inside—including Darren—asking the anansis for help of some kind. How typical of him. Asking for help, when he could test his power instead. Mack knew that meant that Fiona and Gabriella wouldn’t be far away.
Those kids are always together, he thought with a sneer. It’s like the First Four brainwashed them to stick together. And even if they manage to escape, Sakura said there’s a relic to capture, Mack remembered. Not to mention the fact that a brutal show of strength will finally force the anansis to join the right side of the fight—our side.
Chaos reigned all around. Sakura’s forces battled those of the First Four and the anansis. But Mack only had eyes for the booth in the back. Sakura had told him that’s where he would find Darren and Esi—each one alone would be a huge prize. Mack intended to capture them both. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Sakura’s face when he dropped them both at her feet.
She’ll never question her decision to make me an apprentice again. I wouldn’t be surprised if I leave here with a fourth tail.