(Blue Fire 05) Heartless [A]

by Scott Prussing

“One thing is for sure,” Smith said when it was clear Rome had nothing more to add. “We definitely need to talk to this Leesa Nyland. And the sooner, the better.”

  27. ILL NEWS

  Cali had been back in her room for almost twenty minutes when Missi knocked tentatively on her doorframe. Leesa had not answered her phone, so Cali left a detailed text about the xenorians’ visit and asked Leesa to call as soon as she got the chance. She told Leesa not to come back to the dorm until they had talked.

  “Hey, I was going to come looking for you,” she said to Missi. “C’mon in.”

  She stepped into the room and then moved aside so Missi could enter. As soon as Missi moved past, Cali shut the door to give them privacy. She had turned Pink back on when she returned to her room, and now the singer was singing about broken promises and punching someone out in “Who Knew.” Cali crossed the room and shut the music off, knowing that Missi’s coming here meant something important had happened—and Cali had a sinking feeling in her gut that she knew what it was going to be.

  “What’s up?” Cali figured she would give less away by letting Missi take the lead than by peppering her with specific questions.

  Missi glanced around the room, seemingly looking for a place to sit down, but she remained standing.

  “It’s about those government agents,” she began, “and Leesa.”

  This was exactly what Cali had been afraid of. She tried not to let her concern show on her face or in her voice.

  “Leesa? What about her?”

  “I took the agents through the whole dorm,” Missi said. “There were five or six rooms with no one home, which was no big surprise, kids being at class or somewhere. I had a master key for just that reason, so I opened up each of the rooms. Agent Rome would go inside, walk around for a minute or so, and then come right back out. She would shake her head at Smith and Jones, and we would move on to the next room. When we got to Leesa’s room, though, it was different.”

  Cali felt her heart beginning to beat faster. She forced herself to remain calm. She did not want to let Missi know how worried she was.

  “Different, how?”

  “Well, Rome was in there for at least five minutes, for one thing. Way longer than in any of the other rooms.” Missi sat down on the edge of Cali’s bed. “And when she came out, she didn’t shake her head like the other times. Instead, she exchanged some kind of look with Smith and Jones. You know how expressionless her face is, so it was hard to tell what it was all about, but there was definitely something going on.”

  Cali was pretty sure she knew what had happened—Rome had sensed Leesa’s magic. The question now was: what were the agents going to do next? She remembered the pain Rome had caused her, even though she had no magic. She did not even want to imagine what they might do to Leesa if they discovered she possessed magical powers.

  “So then what happened?” she asked Missi.

  “I asked if anything was wrong. Rome said there was a ‘slight irregularity,’ whatever that means, but that it was nothing to worry about.” Missi looked at Cali questioningly. “Was Leesa down here for that zombie thing? Could she maybe have caught that infection the agents were talking about?”

  Cali decided there was no point in revealing that Leesa had indeed been here at the end of the zombie attack, since the whole infection thing was a crock anyhow. As far as Cali knew, she was the only one who knew about the volkaanes killing the zombies and that Leesa had watched it all. There was so sense in sharing any of that information now, particularly since it might make its way back to the xenorians, who were conducting a far more thorough investigation than Cali had initially thought.

  “No, Leesa wasn’t here. I don’t see how she could have been infected by the zombies. What happened next?”

  “They asked me a couple of questions. Did I know where Leesa was, or when she might be back? Stuff like that.”

  Cali had to fight hard to keep her voice from sounding overly concerned. “What did you tell them?”

  “I told them the truth. That I didn’t know where she was, and that she was usually here for dinner, but not always. I said sometimes she eats at her mom’s. I figured you’re her best friend—you might know.”

  “Did you tell the agents that?” Cali asked worriedly. “That I’m her best friend?” If the xenorians discovered how close she and Leesa were, they might come back with a whole new set of questions—and a whole new level of pain.

  Missi shook her head. “No, I didn’t think of it at the time. Besides, something in the way they looked at each other when Rome came out of Leesa’s room makes me think there’s something important they’re not telling us. Plus, as soon as I answered their questions, they shooed me away, like they had things to discuss in secret. I’m not sure I trust them completely.”

  Cali was glad to hear that. “Me either. I think the less we tell them for now, the better. I’ll shoot Leesa a text and tell her what happened. She can decide what she wants to do about it.” She sat down next to Missi. “I’m glad you told me about this. It’s probably no big deal, but let’s keep it all between us just the same, okay?”

  “Yeah, sure. The more I think about it, the less I like those three. I just hope Leesa is okay.”

  “I’m sure she is.” Cali stood up and moved toward the door. “I’ll text her right now. Thanks again for letting me know. I’ll take it from here.”

  Cali pulled the door open and Missi got to her feet. As soon as Missi was gone, Cali picked up her cell and donned her sweatshirt to head outside one more time. When she was a block away from the dorm, she began texting Leesa more details.

  Two hours later, Leesa was growing increasingly glum as she read through the second of Cali’s long texts. She had been out enjoying a ride through the hills in Raves arms, taking a break from practicing her magic, when Cali had called. When they had stopped to enjoy a particularly pretty spot, she had checked her phone for messages.

  The news was not good, not good at all. Apparently, traces of her magic lingered in her room, even though it had been weeks since she had done any spells there. Thank goodness she had been away with Rave when the xenorians came to her room—who knows what would have happened if they had surprised her there and detected her magic.

  She pecked out a quick reply to Cali letting her know her messages had been received and that Leesa would definitely be staying away for at least a few more days. After hitting send, she turned off her phone and looked up at Rave, who had been watching her closely as she read the texts. She would tell him everything Cali had said, of course, and then she needed to call Dominic and see what he had to say about this unsettling development.

  Leesa wasn’t certain what their plan would be, but she was pretty sure about one thing—she was probably going to be away from school for more than just another day or two.

  28. TWO DECISIONS

  Leesa sat on a wooden bench in a riverside park located on the outskirts of a small town about thirty miles from the caverns where she and Rave were staying. At this hour of the night, she and Rave had the park all to themselves. A bright three-quarter moon and a myriad of stars provided more than enough illumination in the deserted park. Rave had carried her here so she could call Dominic—while she could text from up in the mountains, the signal there was much too weak for calls. Of course, that particular inconvenience of their secluded hideaway was of no matter to the volkaanes.

  After infusing Leesa with some of his heat to help ward off the cold night air, Rave slid down to the end of the bench, far enough away to be no danger to her phone. As soon as he moved away, Leesa punched in Dominic’s programmed number.

  The phone rang a bunch of times. Leesa waited patiently, picturing Dominic rummaging through his magic wallet to find the phone amidst all the other stuff inside. Finally, the wizard answered.

  “Hello, Leesa. Are you safe?”

  Leesa was not surprised by Dominic’s question. He knew she would not be calling unless she had something important to share
. Her safety was always his first concern.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m up in New Hampshire with Rave. We came up here so I could practice my magic without disturbing those fell powers beneath the volkaane village.”

  “Good idea. The farther away you are from Connecticut, the better. So, what’s going on that you needed to call me?”

  Leesa read him the texts from Cali, so that she wouldn’t forget any details. When she finished, Dominic was silent for a few moments.

  “I do not like the sound of that,” he said finally. “Once the xenorians sense magic, they are tenacious in following it. I think you had better plan on staying away from Middletown for some time…at least until we can figure out some way to chase them off your trail.”

  “I was afraid of that,” Leesa said, thinking about all the things she was going to miss because of this. At least she would be with Rave, and practicing her magic, too. “It’s going to mess up school for me big time, but I guess that’s not all that important, considering all this other stuff. I’ll call my mom, so she won’t worry too much.”

  “Don’t tell anyone where you are, even your mother,” Dominic cautioned.

  “I won’t, but she’s going to wonder what I’m doing disappearing during the middle of school. Bradley knows about Rave, at least, so I’ll make sure he reinforces to my mom that I’m safe with him.”

  “Until something changes, I think I’m going to stay away from Middletown, too,” Dominic said. “Do not be surprised if you get a message from me asking for directions to where you are hiding. I will very likely join you before long—to help you with your magic, if nothing else.”

  Leesa was glad to hear some good news for a change. “I’d love that,” she said.”We’re pretty far off the beaten path, but I’ll send Rave down to get you once you’re in the area. You’ll love the ride up the mountain.”

  They made their good-byes and then Leesa turned off her phone and looked at Rave.

  “I guess we’re going to be up here longer than we planned,” she said.

  Rave smiled. “I know it messes things up for you, but I don’t mind at all. It will be nothing but you and me, our magic, fresh air and beautiful scenery. What more could I ask for?”

  Leesa slid down the bench and snuggled up against him, soaking up his warmth. When he put it like that, it sounded pretty darn good indeed.

  “To tell you the truth, I don’t really mind too much, either.”

  Not too long after Leesa hung up with Dominic, Smith, Jones and Rome gathered in the dark shadows alongside Leesa’s dorm. For the past few hours, the xenorians had been watching and waiting for Leesa to return. Smith had watched the front entrance, while Jones hung around in the rear. Rome had spent most of the time slowly wandering around the area, seeking any traces of old magic. She had detected none. Similarly, Smith and Jones had seen no sign of Leesa. It was almost ten o’clock now.

  “It’s beginning to look like the Nyland girl won’t be coming home tonight,” Smith said.

  “Maybe not,” Jones replied. “I think we should give it another hour or so, just in case. It’s not like we have anything else to do.”

  “Perhaps we should go up and check her room,” Rome suggested.

  “What for?” Smith asked. “We’ve been watching both entrances all evening.”

  Rome shrugged. “If the magic I sensed belonged to her, perhaps she has other means of coming and going. Magical means of some sort.”

  Smith and Jones looked at each other.

  “She could be right,” Jones said. “Maybe Miss Nyland flew in through a window or walked in through a wall. It won’t hurt to check.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Smith admitted. “You go up the back way. I’ll cover the front stairs and Tiffany can take the elevator. We’ll meet at Nyland’s door.”

  “If she has magical methods of travel, it probably won’t matter,” Rome said. “But it won’t hurt to cover all the normal routes in case she happens to be leaving in an ordinary manner.”

  They split up and made their way to the fourth floor, gathering again in front of Leesa’s door. Rome put her finger to her lips, signaling silence while she leaned close to the door, listening for any sounds and trying to sense the presence of any new magic that would tell her Leesa was inside. She detected none.

  She straightened up and shook her head.

  “Nothing,” she told her companions.

  Smith moved forward and knocked. When there was no reply, he took out his lock pick set. Glancing down the hallway to make sure no one was watching, he set to work and opened the door with no trouble at all. The room was empty. Rome made a quick sweep of the room, but detected nothing different from what she had sensed that afternoon.

  “As far as I can tell, she hasn’t been back here,” she said when she exited the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

  “We’ll give it another couple of days,” Smith said. “Jones and I can keep an eye out for her here, and get a couple of guys from campus security to spell us at night. Meanwhile, you can wander around the campus, looking for any other traces of magic.” He glanced back at Leesa’s door. “But if we don’t see her soon, I think we will need to pay a visit to her mother.”

  29. INTERLUDE

  Leesa could not remember ever being happier than she had been these last two days alone with Rave in New Hampshire. She had been overjoyed, of course, when her mom had been cured of the grafhym bite and when her brother had been released from the vampire caverns, but those were different. They were momentous events, to be relished and cherished, particularly as both of them recovered from their long traumas and slowly returned to normal. Her joy in both cases was a reaction to the wonderful occurrences.

  Her time with Rave was happiness of a different kind. So steady and constant was her elation that she felt almost as if someone had opened one of her veins and somehow inserted an intravenous drip of vitamin Joy. Except for hour or two each day when they separated so she could practice her magic and Rave could work on Rammugul, they were together constantly, undistracted by anyone or anything. She fell asleep in his loving arms and awoke the same way. During the day, he carried her to one beautiful spot after another. When they got to wherever they were going, they strolled hand in hand or sat side by side. Once each day, Rave carried her down toward the village so she could check her cell for any messages. So far, there hadn’t been any, which she hoped was good news. At night, she and Rave sat outside under the canopy of stars, sometimes talking, sometimes simply snuggling against one another like they were right now, with Rave’s arm around her back and her head resting comfortably on his shoulder.

  They had even done some swimming earlier, in the crystal waters of a small mountain lake. The water was freezing cold—when Leesa stuck her foot into it, she felt like she had been stabbed with a poker—but as long as she held onto Rave, his magical warmth kept her perfectly comfortable. And keeping hold of him was no problem—why would she ever want to let go? When they finally emerged from the water, Rave had dried her clothes by running his hands over her body. Now that had been a highlight of their stay, for sure.

  Other than the swimming and its aftermath, there was nothing particularly special about any of it, yet every minute, every hour, felt amazingly precious. That was what love did, Leesa had been learning ever since she met Rave. It made the ordinary moments into something special, and it elevated the special moments to something beyond extraordinary.

  It wasn’t just Rave, either, making her so happy, though he accounted for by far the biggest part of her mood, of course. Her magic, freed of the restraints of the weakening spell, was progressing by leaps and bounds. The results went beyond the ankle weights analogy she had been using—this was more like an old fashioned ball and chain had been removed, one from each leg. The stone walls inside the cavern were scarred with scorch marks from her energy beam, the newest of them made from a distance of almost ten feet. Her magic light was bright and constant, and she now practiced her levi
tation outside only, after bumping her head on the cavern ceiling four feet above her. She was moving rocks that must weigh nearly one hundred pounds with her thoughts—not moving them far yet, but moving them nonetheless. Only the air shield spell still eluded her, though Rave said he was feeling a definite sponginess to the air when he poked at her with a stick.

  She knew her bliss would have to ebb sometime and that she would have to emerge from this idyllic mountain cocoon. Eventually, she would miss her mom and brother, and Cali and Dominic. Deep in her brain she knew the xenorians were still roaming the campus, and that the Necromancer was still hatching his evil plans, but for now, none of those things impinged on her happiness. She was with the man she loved—that was all that mattered to her right now. They were almost totally focused on each other, and she did not want it any other way.

  “I love this,” she sighed, almost more to herself than to Rave.

  “Which part?” Rave asked. With his keen hearing, she might as well have shouted her thought.

  “All of it. Every single bit of being alone up here with you.”

  “I’m very glad to hear that. I thought maybe you might be getting bored, with no television or stereo to entertain you, and no phone service to talk to your friends I know how attached you humans are to your phones.”

  Leesa lifted her head from his shoulder and looked into his face. She found him smiling and knew he was just teasing her. She snuggled even more tightly against him.

  “I have everything I need right here next to me,” she assured him.

  “Me, too.”

  “I think I could stay here forever,” Leesa said, “though I might eventually need a change of clothes.”

  “Why?” Rave asked, smiling. “Whenever you start feeling unclean, we can go for a swim. Drying your clothes for you while you’re wearing them is particularly fun.”

  Leesa felt herself blushing. “Oh, you bad boy, you.” She grinned. “It was fun, though.”