Facing Fortune (Guardians of Terath Book 2)

by Zen DiPietro

  Élan smirked and rolled her eyes. “No. I mean, if you knew Kassimeigh better, you’d know that no matter what happened, she’d take care of it.”

  “Huh. If you say so. Maybe I should get to know her better.”

  She saw the speculation in his eyes. “What?” She poked him on the shoulder.

  “I was just wondering . . . is she still dating that Arc guy?”

  Élan snorted so hard she feared a sinus injury.

  When the Guard arrived in Apex, Will fired himself into the fortress like an arrow. Kassimeigh checked in with Azure to see if she needed anything.

  “Kassimeigh, how great to see you!” Azure’s bright smile was welcoming.

  “I’m glad to see you too. How have you been?”

  “Worried about what happened on the monorail. I wish I’d been there to take care of you all, though I’ve looked at everyone who was injured and they’re in relatively good shape. Staying busy helps keep my mind off the attack, and I certainly have plenty to do.” She frowned. “Not that I’m complaining. Setting up my own infirmary has been very satisfying.”

  “How so?” She had no desire to talk about the monorail disaster, so she steered away from it. She knew the doctor would take the hint.

  “In a hospital, everything is done according to regulation and the wishes of administration. But here, I’m administration.”

  “That does sound like an advantageous shift. Have you had any major injuries or illnesses?”

  “It’s interesting, now that you mention it. In a hospital you get heart attacks, cold and flu, the occasional burn, that sort of thing. Here, I get a lot of lacerations, puncture wounds, torn muscles, and the occasional broken bone. It’s great!”

  “Bleeding wounds and broken bones are great?”

  “You bet. Those are the cases that give me the most to do. Viral and bacterial infections take time and medicine. Sure, I can help shore up their metabolisms with mana, but time is the biggest element in the healing. Here, someone could come in with an arm half off, and I could send them back out to train in thirty minutes or less.”

  “Maybe that should be your guarantee.”

  “Somehow I don’t think I’ll need it to drum up business with all of the breaks and traumas from training. But it’s great to feel so useful. I’ve also enjoyed creating strategic contingency plans with Will. We’ve engineered protocols for scenarios from earthquake to viral epidemic.”

  “Impressive. Will has proven to be quite visionary. People can’t seem to say enough good things about him.”

  “That guy has hero written all over him. Not that I’ve looked. Besides regular physicals, I mean.”

  Kassimeigh raised an eyebrow at the doctor. “Hmm. All right. Have you heard that Arc has accepted a commission with the Guard?”

  “I hadn’t. That’s great. But do you think it’s great?”

  “I do. It was a surprise, but I think it will make him happy.”

  “And you?”

  “I’m happy when Arc’s happy.”

  “Aw.” Azure smiled and adopted an upbeat tone. “I’m glad you and Izzy are here. We can use all the women we can get. We have some fantastic female troops, but so far, more men than women have joined the Guard.”

  “You seemed pleased about your odds, before.”

  “I don’t mind having hundreds of well-disciplined, strong, and tough guys around. But diversity is good, too. The conversations here tend to revolve around weapons and blood. Now that the monorail is in, there will be more opportunity for variety.”

  “I’m not sure how long Izzy will be here, but she’s always good for a chat, whether personal or professional.”

  “I don’t need the professional kind, at present. The three of us should plan some fun before she heads back.” Azure ran a hand through her hair.

  “What kind of fun?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’m sure we can come up with something.”

  “You know,” Kassimeigh considered, “on my kite, it doesn’t take that long to get anywhere. We have a lot of options, once I repair it. It got pretty battered on the way here.” She made a mental note to manufacture several kites and store them in strategic places across the mid-lats.

  “Oooh, I’m liking the sound of this. Yes, I’ll put some thought into it.”

  “I’m sure you’ll come up with something. Before I go, do you have anything of an official nature that needs attention?”

  “Just some requisition requests that need approval. Will’s a little slow about getting to those, given everything else he does.”

  “Send them over to me. I’ll make sure they’re handled today.”

  “Okay, great. Thanks!”

  Kassimeigh reflected on her temporary status within the Guard as she spent the rest of the day handling various tasks. If she accepted a permanent position, she could be more of a help to Will.

  She moved through one task after another, checking things off the to-do list. She stayed so busy that she didn’t have a chance to sit until lunchtime. She didn’t mind. She wanted to keep herself otherwise occupied while she waited for details of the Council’s investigation.

  She was just setting a plate down and preparing to sit next to Izzy when she felt a slamming impact deep inside her chest. Her breath hitched and she pressed a hand to her sternum. Foreboding skittered under her rib cage.

  Izzy stood and put a supportive arm around Kassimeigh’s waist. “What is it?”

  Kassimeigh’s lungs seemed uninterested in drawing air. They shivered with a sensation of shattered glass. She’d never felt anything like it before.

  “Arc,” she managed. It was the only word that mattered, anyway. “It’s Arc.”

  “His hand comm was found a few feet from the bowyer’s door.” Ina Trewe’s colorless face stared out at Kassimeigh via the comm panel in Will’s office. Luc stood just behind Ina, close enough to touch her.

  Only moments after a prescient sense of danger had stunned her in the mess hall, her hand comm had chirped at her with a message from Ina. Kassimeigh tried to make sense of what Ina said. All she wanted in the world was to have him next to her, alive and safe.

  Luc leaned toward the comm panel. “I sensed a faint mana signature. I think whoever it was, they used mana to subdue him. It must have happened fast because we haven’t been able to find any witnesses.” Luc’s mouth pressed into a grim line. Not only had Arc been abducted, a manahi had been involved. Kassimeigh knew that Luc was sure to take that personally.

  “So far, no one has claimed responsibility or demanded a ransom,” Ina added.

  “And nothing from the monorail attack, either? Given the timing, the two are likely related,” Kassimeigh observed.

  Ina shook her head. “So far we only know it was a pressure-activated bomb made from common materials. The lab is still running tests and analyses on the wreckage.”

  “Okay. Okay.” Kassimeigh closed her eyes for a moment. She ignored the numb coldness of her skin and the tight sensation in her lungs. She centered her mind and focused on the facts.

  Arc had been abducted. Someone had used mana to do it. There was no other information for them to go on. Arc had no enemies, so it couldn’t be personal. The abduction and the bombing had to be related. Both followed on the heels of the town hall meeting. That meant both were acts of terrorism. There had already been fatalities, so those responsible might have little regard for Arc’s life. That meant there was no time to lose. She was not about to err on the side of Arc getting killed.

  “Okay,” Kassimeigh repeated, opening her eyes. “I’m going to repair my kite, then fly to the bowyer. I’ll sample the mana signature. Then I’ll find Arc. We can’t risk waiting for his abductor to contact us.”

  “Is that a risk to Arc?”

  “Only if we had some reasonable belief in his relative safety. We don’t know if they value his life at all. They might simply kill him and tell us about it after. Or he could already be dead. I have to assume that the terrorists have h
im, and we already know they’re willing to kill. Finding him might be our only chance to get him back.”

  Luc’s arm wrapped around Ina, who sat in silent horror. “How long will it take you to get here?”

  “Not long. I’m about to find out how fast I can go when nothing else matters. I’m on my way.”

  “I’ll meet you by the bowyer.” Luc’s steely tone allowed no argument.

  She nodded and moved to stab the comm panel button to drop the link, but paused.

  “Ina,” she reassured the older woman. “I’m going to find him.”

  From her side of the comm panel in Capital, Ina watched Kassimeigh. Intense fury radiated from the young woman, igniting a spark of fear in Ina’s stomach. She knew the frightening enormity of Kassimeigh’s abilities, and something vicious in the manahi’s voice and eyes told Ina that she would stop at nothing to find and protect Arc. Her fear blossomed into hope. Kassimeigh could find Arc. She’d kill anyone who hurt him.

  “Do it,” Ina shocked herself by saying. “Get him back. Don’t give those people the chance to hurt anyone else. I grant my official authority to do whatever you deem necessary. Anything it takes to find these terrorists and end them.”

  Kassimeigh simply nodded once and the screen went blank. Ina leaned into Luc and buried herself into his shoulder. She refused to liberate the sobs that choked her throat. She wouldn’t indulge in emotion when Arc was somewhere, needing help. She would deny herself any tears of regret for what she’d just realized she was capable of commanding. Once Arc was safe, she could indulge in soul-searching. She’d also reckon with the shiv order, which she had just bypassed.

  If anyone could wield ultimate authority with judicious precision, it was Kassimeigh. Ina had the ultimate faith in her. But now, having transferred her authority for the sole purpose of saving Arc, Ina knew that she was not as purely ethical as she had thought herself to be.

  What shook her world was that she had no regrets. She’d do it again. Which meant that she was not the person she’d thought she was, and she’d never think the same way of herself again.

  Luc held Ina, knowing that she’d just lost a part of herself. “She’ll find him,” he assured her.

  He did not indulge in platitudes. He had no doubt that Kassimeigh would track down Arc and those who took him. He only hoped she could find Arc before he came to great harm. And that she didn’t rip the world to shreds in the process.

  Ina steeled herself, pulling away from him. He admired her dry eyes and resolute glare.

  She ran her fingers through her hair, frowning when she found that her chignon had become mussed. “I’ll go tidy up. I need to be prepared to deal with any messages from the terrorist. The Council will likely check in soon, as well.”

  Before she could step away to the washroom, a deep, sustained boom caused the floor and walls of the house to shudder faintly. Soft rattling noises came from objects hanging on the walls and dishes nested together within the cabinets. She clutched Luc, but the rumbles faded, and a peek out the window showed no sign of disturbance.

  Ina looked at Luc with puzzlement. “What was that? An explosion?”

  Luc scowled. “Not entirely sure what, but I know exactly who.” He gently kissed Ina and looked into her eyes. “It’s nothing to worry about. I’m going to the bowyer. I’ll stay in close contact. I have my hand comm. Contact me if you need anything at all, or if you hear from the abductor.”

  “I will.” Her composed features did not betray any of her emotional turmoil. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

  He knew she was not just pretending. In her own way, Ina Trewe was the most courageous woman he’d ever known. There was a good reason she was the leader of the Council.

  When Luc arrived outside the bowyer, he found Kassimeigh already there. She wore plain black pants and a black shirt. Her sword sheath rested securely against her back and additional weapons hung from her belt. Her hair hung loose. Clearly, she wasn’t here as a member of the Guard. “How did you‌—‌?”

  Her dismissive gesture cut him off. “Apparently I can break the sound barrier. Later. Now, is this what you sensed before?” She opened herself to the mana signature, and he felt her memorizing it.

  “Yes. Though it’s a bit weaker now. It wasn’t much to start with and it’s dissipating fast.”

  “It’s enough.” Her face was a blank mask of intensity. She closed her eyes and pressed her hand to her chest as if seeking something. Her eyes snapped open and she stepped toward her kite, which lay only feet away. Luc noticed curtains in windows fluttering, and he could imagine that people were watching them, although no one dared approach.

  “You’re going alone, aren’t you.” It was more of a statement than a question.

  Kassimeigh seated herself on her kite. “I know what I’m doing. And you do not want to take this ride. I’ll let you know when it’s done.”

  Luc searched for something to say. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks.” Her kite hiked up into the air and hovered while Kassimeigh drew massive amounts of mana into herself. Currents of it streaked by him like wind and flooded into her. Her signature blotted out nearly all sense of his own mana. The overwhelming power of it buffeted him. She and the kite shot forward in a blur. A cloudy white sphere formed around the kite and a sharp cracking sound split the air, evolving into the low boom he’d heard before. Then she was simply gone.

  “Please let them be safe,” Luc murmured aloud to the fate he didn’t actually believe in. “And please, let me never sit on that thing.”

  Kassimeigh kept the mana signature she’d memorized in the forefront of her mind while she let her attachment to Arc propel her forward. It was an odd sensation, opening what was inside her and projecting it so that it could lead her. She’d spent so much of her life staying carefully balanced on top of whatever was within her, keeping it far beneath the surface of her composure.

  Now, she unraveled herself completely and let her senses take her with them. She’d flown past the city and its suburbs into a more rural area. Having identified a general target area, she began flying in a wide loop around the region, creating a spiral that tightened with each revolution as she honed in on her destination. She had to slow her speed significantly with each orbit until she was cruising at a fairly low velocity. She pushed her senses down to the ground and scraped fingers of mana across it, raking through everything for that one small, infinitely precious target. There was no space within her to contemplate being too late, too slow, or too alone. There was only each moment of Arc’s absence, making every heartbeat echo against the void.

  “Arc . . . where are you?” she muttered under her breath. His image flared in her mind, smiling when he announced to his aunt and friends that he’d joined the Guard. Playing with her hair. Laughing when she did something unexpected. Staring at her with agony in every line of his face when he’d thought she lay dead in a valley in Sub-Apex.

  A sharp flash in her chest took her breath away and she angled sharply downward. There. That area with tree cover. A rambling farmhouse came into view once she got below the tree line. Every inch of her skin itched with the need to get there. Now. The mana signature she’d searched for oozed out of that building.

  She stood up on the kite and landed hard, leaping off even as it threw dirt and rocks into the air while it slid to a stop. She sprinted toward the house. Behind a tree, she dropped to one knee and scanned the back of house. No movement.

  Her feet made no sound on the grass as she stole up to the wall. Pressing her back against the tidy home, she sidled to the corner and listened. She heard a step and the grinding sound of a heel shifting in the dirt. Then a sigh. She couldn’t tell if it was one person or more.

  She glided around the corner, keeping her weight and balance evenly distributed. But she found nothing along the short side of the house. Only the front was guarded, then. She heard another rasping step and a light cough. There were at least two, possibly three marks. She liked those odds.


  As she peeked around the corner, her hands went to her weapon belt and wrapped around a pair of well-balanced sai. Three targets guarded the door.

  She snapped her arm forward and one sai skewered the throat of the one closest to the door. Kassimeigh took advantage of the moment and charged the remaining two.

  They faced her shoulder to shoulder, which was remarkably stupid. She frowned in disapproval as she speared her other sai through the eye of the one on the left. He made a retching sound and fell toward his friend, who had to step back. She used the moment to pull her sword from its sheath and face off against the last obstacle between her and the door.

  The cool grip of the hilt in her hand made her feel comfortingly complete. Of all her weapons, her sword was her favorite. It was a bastard both in type and in deadliness. With the sense of coming home, she adopted an offensive posture and stalked her prey.

  The guard thrust at her and she batted the attack aside with a flick of her sword. The clank of metal on metal lit her blood like a match to kerosene. She let the man take a couple swipes at her, but had more important work to do, so she regretfully made a quick stab to his heart and he fell to the ground. It was a shame. She’d have liked some more time to enjoy the battle, and it seemed unsporting to finish him off so fast. But with Arc’s life in danger, she didn’t have time to play.

  Kassimeigh stood over the first body and pulled her sai from it, then retrieved its mate. She wiped both of them on Mr. Sai Face’s pant leg before securing them back into her weapon belt. She then cast her senses into the house, discerning two mana signatures. One from a manahi and one from someone else who’d been touched by the manahi’s mana. Arc. She knew he was on the second floor somewhere. She had the impression he was hurt.

  Fury flared in her throat and washed over her in a motivating wave. She clenched her hand around the hilt of her sword, pivoted, and kicked in the door.