Enemies Allied

by Serena Lindahl

  Alena grabbed her head, her eyes glazing for a second before they cleared. "Cat told Eden where there's a vehicle and how to get out of the compound. We don't need to go all the way back to the van."

  "Thank Gaia," Mac muttered. She didn't think any of them could manage the walk back to where they'd parked. Jenira nodded and roused them to their feet. Mac woke Lightning with a slight spark of her magic. The cat growled but gained his feet. She was overwhelmed with gratitude when he told her that Eli’s intent hadn’t been to kill, just to render him unconscious.

  Davin protested, but Mac insisted she wouldn't leave without Eli. The huge man carried him, even though he grumbled and hunched under the weight of his own injuries.

  They limped down the halls as Alena relayed directions. The compound echoed with an eerie silence. Mac's arm and knee throbbed with pain. She'd wrapped a bandage around her arm, but it was stained red with her blood. She could barely feel Eli; his blood felt sluggish. They'd dressed his wounds, but he didn't wake.

  They made it to the garage outside the compound without encountering anything or anyone. Davin laid Eli's body down on one of the seats while the rest of them stumbled inside. Mac lifted Lightning's hind legs into the van and fell in after the cat.

  Davin started up the vehicle and they drove out of the compound, the gate in front wide open. When the GPS phone in the vehicle rang, he exchanged nervous glances with Jenira. He jabbed the speakerphone hard when the woman just shrugged.

  "Hello, everyone."

  "Davenport," Jenira growled, recognizing the voice.

  "The nulls are not safe, as you may well know," the voice continued. "They can't be running around, not with the rise of the Magitechs. I don't want to overcome the world like Mather. His thinking was rather grandiose. Either way, now that he's dead, I can continue with my plans. I'm sure I'll be seeing all of you soon."

  Davin growled, but Jenira took over. "We'll see you on the campaign trail. May the better man win." She pressed the button to turn the call off.

  "Davis' son?" Alena asked.

  Jenira nodded. Mac leaned against the seat, moaning in pain. Eli remained unconscious, his body not moving. They drove in silence to the van they'd abandoned. A chorus of groans and curses accompanied them as they got out of the vehicle they'd stolen and into the one they’d driven there.

  Mac slipped in, waiting for Davin to bring Eli. Her uncle's curses rang through the air. She stumbled out of the vehicle, her heart pounding as she searched the surrounding area for enemies.

  "What the fuck?" Davin slammed his fist into the side of the van so hard it left a dent.

  Mac rolled her eyes. Why was he hurting himself after he'd been nearly killed by the enemy? His anger issues were embarrassing.

  "He's gone," Jenira breathed, looking into the stolen van.

  "What?"

  "The sonofabitch disappeared," Davin grumbled.

  Mac crinkled her nose and approached on wobbly feet, looking into the van where Eli had been waiting. She'd just been sitting next to him, and now his body was nowhere to be found. She narrowed her eyes at the fierce warriors. Did they take him?

  Jenira held up her hands. "We didn't do anything. We got out and went to get him, and he wasn't there anymore."

  "How is that possible?"

  "I wanted to kill the bastard myself," Davin groaned, shaking his head.

  Mac studied her uncle and could see the truth in his words. Still...grown men didn't disappear.

  "He must have been conscious enough to do a spell to phase away," Alena said.

  "He could do that?" Mac swiped a hand across the seat where he'd lain. It was still warm. Fresh blood coated her fingers.

  "As a blood mage, he could do anything," Jenira sighed. "Come on, we need to go. Our wounds need tended. If Eli wants to come back, he knows where to find us."

  Mac climbed into their van with a heavy heart. She'd been livid with Eli when he turned on her. She believed they could have defeated Mather without the dramatic betrayal, but her anger had faded. She forgave him and was looking forward to telling him. She rubbed her arm self-consciously. The pain remained, but his blood was gone. She couldn't sense him. The loss felt wrong because she'd been so connected to him for several days.

  They drove back to the house. Mac held Lightning tightly, taking solace in his deep purrs and warm body.

  Chapter Twenty

  Eden

  Eden's body drooped with exhaustion, but she refused to sleep until the others were home. Alena had checked in as they left the compound. While it sounded as if everyone was battered, bruised, and a little broken, they were all alive and none of them in critical condition. The Brownies waited with their herbal remedies and first aid, ready to administer to the party the moment they returned.

  Eden paced the sitting room, valiantly forcing her eyes to stay open. Her first awareness of Alena came as they passed through the castle wards. She searched the flickering lifeforms of the others, grimacing at the pain everyone felt.

  She couldn't feel Eli, but that wasn't strange. His essence seemed to come and go depending on his strength and magic. She wanted to give him a piece of her mind for worrying them so greatly. She understood now what he'd done, but she'd hated him in that moment when she thought he'd sacrificed Mac. As for Mather, her father, she felt only relief that he was finally dead.

  "They're here," she told Alec breathlessly. Although she wanted to run for the front door, she waited for them to come in. They filed in one by one, the combined force of their pain and exhaustion strong enough that Eden nearly stumbled under the weight of it. The Brownies had effortlessly and magically replaced the couches with several hospital-type gurneys, and each injured person took one.

  Eden shook off the influx of emotions and knelt next to Alena who claimed one of the gurneys. Zar lay at her feet, licking his own wounds, unwilling to leave his human. The three Brownies worked together, determining who needed the most care. They diligently bandaged, cleaned, and forced foul-smelling potions on the injured.

  Eden looked around after confirming that Alena's worst injury, her burnt calf, was being treated. "Where's Eli?"

  "Gone," Alena breathed.

  "Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

  "As in poof," Mac joked wryly, but without her usual energy. She had sustained the fewest injuries, but still suffered from a sprained knee and a sliced arm.

  Jenira struggled to breathe with several fractured ribs, a head wound, and a myriad of more superficial wounds. Cat sat with her sister's head in her lap, and two Brownies worked over her. They insisted she'd recover perfectly.

  Andrew paced in agitation between his uncle and his twin. Davin's back was torn open by a large piece of metal, several smaller wounds lined his arms, and his leg sported a burn similar to Alena's.

  Mac continued, "We drove out to our van, went to take him out, and he'd disappeared. We thought he was too weak, but apparently, he had one spell left."

  "Why?" Eden sputtered.

  Alena shrugged and then winced with the pain. Eden knelt next to her again, stroking her hand and sending comfort through their connection. Alec knelt on the other side, his hand lightly caressing the mage's scalp. He carefully avoided her head wound, which had already been swabbed and bandaged.

  Eden didn't know how to react to Eli's disappearance. He had arrived in and departed from her life equally fast and mysteriously. She figured she would see him again but didn't know when. Silence filled the room, punctuated with the sound of the Brownies working and an occasional moan or mutter from one of the injured. Eden rested her head against Alena's shoulders, her eyes fluttering shut.

  When she woke, light streamed through the windows. She stretched, her muscles sore from sitting on the floor next to the lowered gurney. Alena slept, breathing the deep sleep of someone whose body needed rest to recover. Alec had curled up behind Eden to support her body. He dozed with his head against the gurney, one hand on Alena's arm as if worried she might disappear.

&nb
sp; Eden blinked and looked toward the other patients. Mac and Davin had both left the sick room. Jenira laid still, her torso wrapped in bandages. Cat sat in a chair next to the bed, reading on her digipad and holding her sister’s hand.

  Alec stirred when she did and Eden leaned back into his comforting embrace. "She's going to be okay," he whispered against her neck, reassuring both of them.

  "Yes, she is." The knowledge settled deep within her with truth and conviction. She stretched her legs out in front of her. "I need to use the bathroom." Alec helped her stand but stayed at Alena's side.

  Eden looked back at them, her concerned face softening with the love which wound between them and extended towards her. She could see it - mage glow lined with soft techie light. She crept along the hall, still tired and subdued. They'd been lucky. No one died except for Mather and the humans who worked for him. Eli was gone, but not dead. Jenira mentioned the threat of Davis's son, but no one wanted to talk about it so soon after their last fight.

  On her way back from the bathroom, Eden heard Gideon call for her. She stepped into the courtyard, meeting the great white bird who'd been her guide for the better part of her journey into this strange new world.

  "You're leaving, aren't you?" she asked, her heart sinking.

  Gideon blinked his huge yellow eyes. "Yes. It is time for me to move on - to help another. Mather is dead; you have guidance and friends who are connected to you through more than duty."

  "I have you to thank for that," Eden told him.

  His feathers ruffled. "Yes, you do - in some ways. But you were always destined for this path, Eden."

  "Will I see you again?"

  "You can always seek me out in your dreamwalks, dear one. I will never be far if you need guidance again."

  "Thank you." Eden's eyes shone with tears as she softly stroked the owl's fluffy feathers. He preened at the attention. Gideon had been there with her from the beginning. He'd been her first real friend in this mission.

  As he flew into the sky, she smiled. Everything would be okay.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mac

  Mac sat in a ray of sunlight streaming into the courtyard. Lightning lay on her feet as she leaned against a tree. She enjoyed his comforting warmth and the contrast of his soft, furry body to the hard, unyielding bench she sat on. Her eyes closed briefly.

  A week had passed since the fight. Although her knee still ached occasionally, she'd recovered well with the Brownies' help. The castle had gone back to normal, although there were conversations of the next steps.

  The day of the council had come and gone. Magitechs were revealed to the world. Several highly placed, influential mages and techies supported Davin's claim to the political council. Some used greed as a motivation, desiring to use the Magitechs to further their own gains. Probably just as many actually knew a Magitech. She still couldn't believe they'd remained hidden so long. Davenport and the High Mage, Marcus' father, still posed an issue, but that wasn't Mac's fight.

  A scrape on the cobblestones heralded her brother's approach. Andrew had stayed with her while she recuperated. She'd drawn on his strength and their bond to heal herself, both physically and mentally.

  "Hey, sis." He sat down next to her on the bench. Lightning opened one eye to look at him, yawned, and went back to sleep.

  "Hey, you."

  "How are the dreams?" he asked.

  Mac shrugged, focusing on the rustle of the leaves above them. When she closed her eyes, she still saw beasts approaching; they shot blue lightning from their hands that she couldn't dodge. She found herself perched on Mather's chest, watching the light leave his eyes as power raged through her body. In others, she was trapped in the cage, unable to escape as her friends and Lightning screamed for help.

  "No better," she replied honestly. "But I imagine they'll start to improve. I just need more time."

  "Davin and Jenira are headed back to the city in a couple days," he said with a deep breath.

  Mac nodded. Her uncle wanted to know if she'd join them. "And you?"

  "Yes. Cat and I are anxious to apply what we've learned to the new Magitech devices."

  "So, you and Cat will become grand inventors." She smiled. "I know that's what you've always wanted."

  Her twin shrugged. "I can't deny that, I guess," he admitted with a slight blush. "Davin is talking to Davis about their process of introducing the Magitechs and integrating them into society without starting a war. Jenira will be his muscle, like usual."

  "And Alec, Alena, and Eden are returning to the safe house to help mages and Magitechs in case things go horribly wrong."

  "Right. So, that leaves you. Where are you going to go, Mac? I know Alec and Alena invited you back to Canton, Uncle has invited you to Brenville, or you could stay here. But I know you. You're not going to do any of those things, are you?"

  Mac didn't say anything for a moment, watching curiously as a bird flew past with a piece of straw hanging out of its beak. The family of sparrows that made their home in the corner of the courtyard chirped in happiness.

  "No, I'm not," she said finally. "Lightning and I will head West to find the null prisons."

  Her brother sighed. "I knew it. Do you even know where you're going?"

  "No," Mac replied with a self-deprecating laugh. "But I'll figure it out. You know I've always wanted to go to the Western Territory." She turned to her twin. "I'm sorry, Andrew. I know you'd like to test our Magitech connection, but it's too dangerous. I can't take the chance that I might fry your brain."

  "I know, sis." He squeezed her hand. Mac's gaze automatically traveled to the long scar on her arm, the deep cut that released her from the cage and enabled her to kill Mather. She'd always have it. Her twin gestured to the scar. "Can you still do it?"

  "The blood magic?"

  He nodded.

  "No. I don't feel his blood anymore, so I'm sure it wouldn't work. I could feel it before; I could feel him. That connection is gone." Mac kept expecting Eli to show up, to tell her where to find the nulls, to apologize again, or to see his sister. But no one saw or heard from him.

  "That's probably for the best."

  Mac nodded, although she couldn't be certain. The power of blood magic had been addictive. Any spell, any possible wish, could be hers for the price of a cut. She never understood the power of blood mages until that moment. They weren't constrained by the same limitations of all other mages.

  "Anyway, who knows what's going to happen when Davin and Davis out themselves and Magitechs start appearing out of the shadows? It might not be safe for me."

  "Mac," her brother replied, "that's not true."

  She lifted an eyebrow. "Are you sure, Andrew? Magitechs are powerful, and I'm a threat to them. What if one of them decided to make a null into a pet? They could eliminate the power of their enemies with one order. It's not safe for mages like me."

  Her brother sighed deeply. They'd had a long conversation with their uncle about what it would mean for Mac if Andrew found himself in danger. They'd decided to keep their twin status a secret from everyone that didn't already know, but she didn't think it was enough. If she stayed, Andrew would become a target. Someone could easily take him out in an effort to ruin her powers or her sanity.

  "I wish it wasn't this way," her twin murmured.

  "Me neither. But it is the way it is. I have a responsibility to try and save the nulls. I've known that from the second we learned they’re being captured and enslaved like livestock. You have a duty to bring Magitech devices to the world in the hopes that we can all integrate. We each have a path, and they're not together."

  Andrew squeezed her hand again. "I'll always be here for you if you need me."

  "I know." She hugged him tightly, memorizing the feel of his soft tech and overwhelming love.

  Her eyes glimmered with tears as she watched him walk away. Swiping at her cheeks, she studied the windows of the castle overlooking the courtyard. She hated goodbyes.

  Lightning
rose with her when she finally found her feet. A moment before she exited the courtyard, Jay appeared with a huge knapsack.

  Mac stared at the shorter Brownie, her mouth a wide circle of surprise.

  Jay shoved the bag into her arms. "Clothes, food, your dagger, and a couple other essentials for your journey."

  "How did you know?" Mac blustered. She'd only just decided to leave. While she felt bad about not saying goodbye to everyone else, her brother had been the most important.

  Jay shrugged, her apple cheeks dimpling. "Good luck, child." The Brownie disappeared.

  Mac hefted the knapsack. If the Brownie decreed it was time to leave, it must be so. She slunk through an empty part of the castle and across the front yard, Lightning at her heels. She didn't let go of the breath she'd been holding until she made it through the gates.

  With the sunlight dappling through the forest and lighting her way, she inhaled the fresh mountain air and started down the road - headed west.

  About the Author

  Serena has been writing stories since she was in second grade. Words, books, and tales have always fascinated her. She wrote her first novel when she was twelve and has been writing nonstop since then! Almost all of her books portray characters that push the boundaries of sexuality, gender identity, ableism, and nontraditional relationships.

  Serena currently lives in Upstate New York in a developing intentional community. She believes in true love, multiple soul matches, the beauty of starry nights, and the power of touch. She’d love to connect with you on social media!

  Also by Serena Lindahl

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  Pieces of Her Soul

  Echoes of Her Soul

  Harmony of Their Souls