by R. T. Lowe
The demons didn’t even look at me. It’s like I’m a bug—a cockroach. Blood pulsed from her shoulders, quickening to a showering spray, the steam rising around her. Good, Xena thought, relief numbing the sharpest edges of her agony. Let me bleed out! Please let me die! Please!
Chapter 16
THE MAGICIAN
Caitlin shouldered her way past Felix and Lucas, not wanting to be last in line in the secret corridor behind the bookshelf that led to Woodrow’s Room. Someone had already turned on at least a few of the lamps so the narrow passageway wasn’t even that dark, but Caitlin, Felix figured, was skittish about nearly everything these days.
“Stop studying!” Lucas announced, striding into the room. “We have important things to discuss so please stop what you’re doing and pay attention!”
Felix followed behind to see that Allison and Harper were sharing the oversized mahogany table, the centerpiece of a room decorated in a grand flourish of gilt framed portraits of President Woodrow, ornately carved curio tables, red leather furniture and dark wainscoting, a dramatic combination that always made Felix feel like he was stepping into the past.
“What if we say no?” Allison asked, sitting back and crossing her arms. She smiled cheerfully, though Felix thought she looked tired. She hadn’t been feeling well yesterday so maybe her headache was still bothering her.
“Then I suppose,” Lucas said, grinning, “you’ll have to hear about this on TMZ.”
“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Caitlin remarked, taking the seat next to Harper’s. There were ten high-backed chairs at the table, though Caitlin, Felix had noticed the other day, preferred to sit right next to someone. “He wouldn’t tell us.”
Felix slipped out of his jacket and sat with his back to the doorway while Lucas settled in directly across from him. “He only wants to do it once, because after the first time, it loses its dramatic effect.”
“Exactly.” Lucas nodded approvingly at Felix.
“Get on with it,” Harper said drolly and rolled her eyes.
“You’re very cranky these days,” Lucas said to Harper.
“I’m having my period.”
Lucas looked to Felix, surprised, aiming a thumb at Harper. “She’s not supposed to say that, is she? If I said that, I’m pretty sure Little C would be spewing anti-man venom at me for the rest of my life.”
Felix laughed and waited for Caitlin to express her inevitable, and probably feigned, irritation at Lucas.
“You’re so annoying,” Caitlin commented, sighing.
Lucas smiled at her. “I know you don’t mean that, but if you don’t mind, can you please stop hogging the spotlight for a second?” He rubbed his hands together, visibly excited. “So you know that thing with Margot Robbie I told you guys about?”
“The collaboration?” Allison said.
“Yeah. My agent found out what it is, and it’s, um, not exactly a collaboration, but I still think it’s pretty cool. They’re calling it ‘Walk the Carpet with Margot Robbie.’”
“Walk the carpet?” Harper asked, looking confused.
Lucas nodded. “It’s some kind of a talent show and the winner gets to walk the red carpet with her at her next movie premiere. I don’t know all the rules yet, but I think it’s like eight or nine guys doing some kind of a talent thing and Margot’s the judge. I guess the one who does the best or whatever wins. So all I need to do is win and then I’ll hang with Margot at some L.A. swankfest and she’ll fall totally in love with me and then I can move her into my love palace with Kate Upton.”
Caitlin blinked for so long Felix thought she had fallen asleep. “I seriously question your mental capacity sometimes. I’m going to ignore your delusional teenage fantasies, but have you stopped to consider what you might do at a talent show? I can’t wait to hear what your talent is.”
“Magic,” Lucas said confidently.
“You mean like tricks?” Caitlin asked skeptically.
Lucas laughed. “No, I mean like Felix.”
“Me?” Felix pointed at himself, not expecting to be dragged into this.
“Yeah.” Lucas beamed. “We could do a real magic show, not that fake David Copperfield, Criss Angel bullshit. I’ll go up on stage and wave a wand or a stick or something and you’ll be in the audience doing your Source magic thing. It’ll absolutely freaking blow their minds! Can you imagine how hot Margot’s gonna be for me when I turn a rabbit into a bird.”
“I can’t do that,” Felix said seriously.
Lucas grinned. “Just kidding. You just need to move some shit around and maybe light something on fire while I wave my wand. I’ll totally choreograph the whole thing so you won’t have to worry about any of it. What do you think? Maybe the best idea I’ve ever had, right?”
“Genius,” Caitlin deadpanned. “Felix is the Belus, Lucas. Instead of saving the world from tyranny and the Source from collapsing on itself and plunging the world into eternal darkness, I think he should totally focus on helping you pretend to be a magician so you can go see a movie with Margot Robbie.”
“Me too,” Lucas replied. “Thanks for understanding, Little C.”
“I hate you,” Caitlin muttered. “In all seriousness.”
“So?” Lucas said, begging Felix with his eyes. “Will you do it?”
Felix looked to Allison but she was only laughing and gave him a shrug. “Can I think about it? Seems pretty harmless, I just want to make sure there’s no possibility of anyone dying.”
“Fair enough!” Lucas exclaimed. “I’ll take that as a tentative ‘yes.’”
Caitlin and Lucas began to bicker so Felix thought changing the subject might be a good idea. He reached a hand into his back pocket and held up a folded up sheet of paper for everyone to see. “It’s the letter—finally got here.” When that was met with confused looks and blank stares, he explained it was the note he and Allison had learned of in the chamber that was intended to appear as if Lofton was trying to implicate the Order in Allison’s death so that Felix would side with him.
“I’ll just read it, okay?” Felix looked around the table. “The Order killed Allison,” Felix began. “I was there when the leader of the northwest Fortress authorized the engagement of the Protector who goes by the name Sophia. They hired her to mislead you into thinking the Protectors acted alone. The Order killed Allison because they didn’t trust her and viewed her as a threat. I disagreed, but my objections were dismissed. Although I believe you deserve to know the truth, I have no desire to die, and therefore I must remain anonymous. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for your loss.” Felix glanced up, folded it, and tossed it over to Allison who spread it out and flattened it, eyes roaming over the page.
Lucas smiled brightly at Allison. “You look remarkably healthy for a dead person.”
“Thanks.” Allison grinned and lifted her head. “The stupidity of the Protectors still amazes me though. This letter”—she tapped her finger on it—“was sent from an AshCorp email account to make it look like Lofton was setting up the Order, but that’s just so… asinine. The phone wasn’t locked and Lofton would never conspire with those idiots. He hates them as much as I do.” She went quiet for a moment. “It’s such a perfect example of thinking you’re clever but really being quite stupid.”
Harper’s face appeared to flush. “It doesn’t seem that, well, that stupid, on the face of it, anyway. I could see where you wouldn’t accept that letter as proof that the Order’s responsible, but to not think Lofton’s behind it is pretty, well, clever. I don’t think you’re giving yourselves enough credit.”
“That’s not it,” Allison said dismissively. “The Protectors are just dumbasses.”
Harper nodded, unwilling, it appeared, to press the issue, though Felix agreed that Allison’s discovery of the Protectors’ plot really was quite clever. If it had been left to him, he might have fallen for the ruse, but thankfully, Allison surviving the attack made the whole thing moot.
Allison squinted hard at
the paper as if she was searching for something. “Where did this come from? Was there a postmark?”
“The envelope was stamped, but no postmark,” Felix said. “Must’ve just been dropped off at the Student Center.”
“Which means,” Allison said thoughtfully, “there was a Protector on campus today.”
The room went quiet.
“That’s creepy,” Lucas said, breaking the silence.
“Very,” Caitlin agreed and she seemed to shudder.
Felix watched Allison, wondering what was going on in her head, hoping she was no longer considering the possibility that one of their friends was a Protector. Because that was patently ridiculous. Absurd. She had to see that, didn’t she?
“Has to be someone in the Order,” Felix stated with conviction in his voice. “Malone opened his mouth and now everyone knows you’re an Empath. If you talk to him again, maybe you should tell him. You know, let him know there’s someone working with the Protectors. Maybe he’s already suspicious of somebody?”
“Maybe you should talk to him,” Allison replied then quickly changed the topic. “You still don’t want to go to Wakatuk tomorrow?”
Felix shook his head. Spending all day with the Order was on his short list of things he really didn’t want to do.
Harper looked up. “Why would you go there? Isn’t that the big Rejectionist, um, what are they calling those places now?”
“Colonies,” Caitlin answered.
“This girl Kayla, she’s in the Order—sort of—texted us today.” Allison’s eyes were still on the letter. “She’s going with Malone to check it out.”
“Do you know why?” Harper asked casually, flipping a page in her textbook.
“It was just a text,” Felix said. “I guess they wanna see for themselves what the Opposition looks like. What are they saying now, something like eighty or ninety thousand there?”
“Close to a hundred.” Lucas was looking down at his phone. “People are really pouring in now. Seems like everyone who doesn’t want to give up their guns is heading there or to one of the other colonies. So many people. It’s getting out of control. Don’t you think the New Government’s gonna have to do something?”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Felix said.
“Me too,” Allison echoed.
“Lofton wouldn’t…” Caitlin hesitated and went quiet for a moment, looking troubled. “You don’t think he’d arrest everyone, do you? With all those people, you have to believe there’s going to be a general amnesty. I think the New Government’s going to issue an extension that’ll give people more time to give up their guns. The deadline’s already passed and they haven’t even tried to enforce it so doing some kind of mass arrest seems really unfair at this point.”
“I hope you’re right,” Allison said. “Hey”—she looked at Caitlin then at Harper—“you guys want to get your nails done?” She checked hers. “Mine are horrific.”
“Yes!” Caitlin exclaimed, rubbing at her neck. “I could use a massage.”
“Me too,” Harper agreed. “That sounds so perfect and I’m so studied out.”
“And maybe a little shopping after?” Allison added with a small smile. “I’ve been having the worst luck with my clothes lately.”
Chapter 17
HEADWINDS
Felix waited for Lucas to catch up before he crossed the goal line. Lucas slowed and came to a stop in the end zone on the R in STURGEONS, chest heaving, leaning forward, hands on knees.
Felix breathed in the cold morning air and smiled, gazing around a stadium he hadn’t stepped foot in for months. Stubbins Stadium was technically closed to all students but the gates on the south side were easy to scale and campus security apparently assumed no one would ever bother to break in.
“I’m too young to have a heart attack, right?” Lucas panted, gasping for air.
“This was your idea,” Felix reminded him, stretching out his calves for no other reason than it reminded him of what he used to do after running wind sprints.
Lucas stood, hands laced behind his head, sucking in huge breaths. “When did I become known for having good ideas?”
“Depends who you ask.” Felix smiled. “Where’d you hear working out helps with hangovers?”
“Men’s Fitness.” Lucas bounced on his toes and brought a knee up to his chest. “I read an article that said working out is even more effective than feeding a hangover.”
“Do another one?” Felix asked. They’d started with hundreds and the last four they’d run were fifties.
“Give me a sec.” Lucas held up a hand in surrender. He eyed Felix for a moment and gave him an aggravated look. “You could do this all day, couldn’t you? You’re not even a little bit winded.”
“All day?” Felix shrugged. “Maybe. Probably. Might get boring though after a while.”
Lucas groaned. “I feel like I’m gonna puke.”
“You drank too much last night.”
“And you didn’t?” Lucas replied.
“I’m not the one who’s gonna puke.”
Lucas grinned. “You suck sometimes. Must be nice being Superman.”
“No cape and no tights.” Felix smiled down at himself. He wore shorts and a T-shirt though in his backpack he had a pair of pants and a sweatshirt which he planned to put on for their walk back to the dorm.
“Thank God!” Lucas said. “You’d think they’d put the guy in something a little more stylish than pajamas and red underwear.” His face lit up and he grinned mischievously. “Laser beams! Think you could do that? Shoot them out of your eyes?”
Felix put a hand to his face and laughed. “I think my eyeballs are just… normal.”
“So make it look like they’re not!” Lucas suggested, suddenly excited. “Can’t you just do your fire thing so it looks like, you know, lasers?”
“Oh,” Felix said. “Let me see.” He glanced around the stadium to collect his thoughts, taking in the classical features the architects had employed to replicate the old Soldier Field in Chicago. Considering the relatively small size of Portland College, its football stadium was disproportionately enormous, and, Felix thought, pretty cool. He tilted his shoulders back and leaned slightly forward, thinking hard about fire, a small fire, about the size of a basketball.
A fire, roundish and about the size of what he was thinking, popped into existence with a wha-whuff, flaming in the space before him, hovering over the goal line.
“Whoa!” Lucas breathed, taking a step back from it.
Felix shaped the fire, splitting it in half, narrowing the parallel streaks and then lengthening them until they crossed the ten yard-line. He raised them up and positioned them near his face, feeling the heat but not fearing it, knowing it couldn’t harm him.
He glanced at Lucas out of the corner of his eye. “How’s this?”
“Awesome!”
“Do they look like lasers?”
Lucas nodded eagerly, hand scratching at his chin as if in thought.
Felix disappeared his laser beams and frowned at Lucas. “This is for that Margot Robbie thing, isn’t it?”
“They might as well cancel the show and declare me the winner!” Lucas burst out. “If you do that”—he waved at the air where bolts of flame had burned a moment ago—“but make it look like they’re coming out of my eyes, Margot will boot the rest of those clowns right off the stage. Guaranteed victory. Guaranteed.” He jumped up and down, arms raised, saluting the imaginary crowd hailing their conquering hero. “Victory!”
Felix doubled over in laughter. “You’re crazy!”
“Probably,” Lucas agreed, joining in, but when his laughter died down a serious look crossed his face. “You know I’m just kidding, right?” He ran a hand through his hair, steam rising from his perspiring head. “I think it’d be a kick in the ass to hang with Margot, but I know it’s just some stupid thing that keeps me busy.” He paused, staring down at the field. “You want to know why I really woke up so early? My English
prof assigned the class a paper on Friday. I’ve got a week to get it in and I’m still stuck on the thesis. I don’t know what to write and that’s why I couldn’t fricken’ sleep. I’m worried about shit like that and this thing with Margot and my agent’s sending me scripts for Summer Slumming, and I…”
“What?” Felix watched him closely, seeing that something was on his mind.
“Everything out there”—he threw his hands up, indicating the outside world—“has changed, or is in the process of changing. Big changes too. I mean, we have a New Government and my dad had to turn over the shotguns he’s hunted with his whole life and the Bill of Rights just got the crap kicked out of it.” He shook his head, dismayed. “And look at me. I’m doing the same dumb shit I’ve always done. Nothing important. I’m just, you know, a regular dude. Not that I’d even know what to do if I was like, well… you. Caitlin won’t shut up about losing due process and all that, and I’m not so stupid as to think that only criminals should be concerned about losing those rights like the New Government says we should, but at least you can do something about it. I’m useless if you think about it. Completely useless. You’re lucky, you know.”
Felix stared at him, wondering how long Lucas had felt this way and if he’d been trying to talk to him about it but couldn’t because he was too self-absorbed to notice the signs. Was all this somehow his fault? “I don’t feel lucky and you’re definitely not useless. And you know what? Worrying about papers and all that dumb shit, that’s what I like doing most. You can’t feel bad about that.”
“Yeah,” Lucas acknowledged reluctantly. “And I get it. Just because you can shoot laser beams out of your eyes doesn’t mean you know who to shoot them at. I know you’re that Belus dude thing, but I figure you don’t know what to do, because if you did, you would’ve already done it.”
Felix nodded. “It’s complicated.”