“Ah, yes. Thank you for coming so promptly. Take a seat, both of you.”
The only other chairs in the room were those intended for the students. Lee and Harper both found places in the lecture hall’s front row. Gen stood up, leaning over her desk, a serious instructor about to give a lesson to a class of two.
“Much has happened during the past week,” said Gen. She came around to the other side of her desk, leaning back on the front with a less formal posture. “I want to thank you both for your loyal service to the Order of Chaldea.”
“To be completely honest, I was more concerned about Primhaven and helping my friends than anything to do with the Order,” said Lee.
The look Harper gave him instantly told him that he probably shouldn’t be talking, at least if he wasn’t asked a direct question.
“Mmm,” said Gen. “Is that so? I find it quite peculiar that you see the need to make such a distinction. Our enemies certainly won’t. They haven’t already, if you and your classmates’ misadventure in Puerto Rico is anything to judge by.”
He kept his mouth shut this time.
“We were extremely lucky last night. We won’t be able to count on such luck again. Especially not now, not with what’s happened.”
Gen seemed to luxuriate in her dramatic pause. If it had been anyone else, the Head Wizard, even, Lee suspected Harper would have cut through the bullshit. Her deference to Gen was one of Gen’s more intimidating aspects. Harper didn’t grant that kind of respect by default.
“The Melting Pack has joined forces with the House of Shadows,” said Gen. “They’re still in talks with King Mora and his Sacred Sirens, but it seems very likely they’ll also be involved, in some capacity. They’re calling themselves the Independent Coalition. It’s the exact outcome we were trying to prevent. What are your thoughts on that, Harper?”
“It’s less than ideal,” said Harper slowly. “That much goes without saying. I also doubt we could have done anything to prevent it, given the general trends of the outside factions.”
“You know what I’m asking. If they attack us, can we fight them and win? You’ll be on the front lines in such a battle. I want to know what you think.”
Harper took a breath and slowly exhaled. She looked tired, and probably for good reason.
“If the fight happened right now, I think we would win, though it would be close.” She crossed her arms, shaking her head a little. “If it happened two weeks from now, and they had time to assess our weaknesses, it could go either way.”
“And further down the line? Months from now, for example?”
“They have more room to grow in strength than we do,” said Harper. “They can expand their alliance. There are plenty of factions, ones outside of North America, who would love to go to war with us. Months down the line, it’s hard for me to see how we’d win, given how long it takes us to replace our losses.”
Gen was smiling now, and the expression was so out of touch with the tone of the conversation that it chilled Lee to the bone. Her eyes flicked from Harper to him, and just like that, he understood why he was there, sitting in on their little meeting.
“Your apprentice could be the solution,” said Gen. “The Independent Coalition will not be interested in bloodshed on that scale, if it can be avoided. The Dealmaker is not a reckless man, and he’ll most certainly attempt to use all the tools available to him before starting a war.”
“What are you suggesting, exactly?” asked Harper. Her voice tense, almost angry.
“They’ll reach out to Lee. Of that, I have no doubt. They’ll ask for information, to start. They’ll offer him whatever enticements that might appeal to him, in return. Eventually, they’ll ask for favors, small things, and active spying. Lee Amaranth, I want you to be… agreeable to their requests.”
He sat up in his chair. He wanted to look over at Harper and get a sense of her reaction, but Gen’s eyes held his with a paralyzing intensity.
“Harper,” said Gen. “You’re the obvious choice as his handler. Keep watch over him. Lee, report your contact with the House of Shadows directly to her, but only when you’re sure it’s safe. We can’t be certain yet if they have other spies within the school. I doubt they do, but it would be a foolish way for you to be revealed.”
“I haven’t agreed to this yet,” said Lee. “I’m a student here, not a member of the Order. I…”
He felt Harper kicking her foot against his with soft, unseen movements, and decided to take the hint.
“You have a choice, of course,” said Gen. “Though I plan on finding ways to exploit your connection regardless of whether you agree or not. We might soon be at war, Lee Amaranth. Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
She gave them both a small nod. Harper stood up and Lee followed her cue, leaving the lecture hall. She led him across campus, all the way up to her chambers in the Elemental Tower before letting her guard down.
“Eldon, I’m well aware of your rebellious streak, but this isn’t a game.” She set her hands on his shoulders. “Genevieve Laughton is the last person you would ever want to make an enemy out of. You would be better off being hunted by the Dealmaker, or the Melting Pack, or all of this new Independent Coalition together than to end up on her hit list.”
“What happened between the two of you? You were her apprentice once, weren’t you?”
“Now is… not the time to speak of it,” said Harper. “Here’s what you need to be aware of. Gen and I had a discussion before I came to find you this morning. She seems convinced that you’re already a spy for the House of Shadows.”
Lee scowled. Tess, who’d been trailing along beside him, gasped out loud and grabbed his sleeve.
“I’m not,” he said. “You believe me when I say that, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” snapped Harper. “Gen is playing at some sort of game, here. She knows we’re close. Perhaps… closer than we really should be. She must at least suspect that I’d tell you of her suspicions. I can’t fathom why she chose to play it like this.”
“I’m not a spy, Harper,” he said again.
“I know that. I trust you, Eldon. There are no secrets between us.”
She took one of his hands and held it tightly between her own. Her eyes lingered on his, open and even a little vulnerable, as though the trust she was affording him cost her more than she was letting on.
There was a secret left between them. As though sensing the direction Lee’s thoughts were heading in, Tess pulled back, gliding away a few paces. He needed to tell Harper, right there and then, but it wasn’t just his secret to tell.
“What should I do?” he muttered. It was a question for them both, for himself, for whoever had an answer to provide, regardless of where it came from.
“Continue with your studies here at Primhaven,” said Harper. “You’re my apprentice, Eldon. Not Gen’s, and not your sister’s or the Dealmaker’s. If anyone, including Gen, makes a request of you that you aren’t comfortable with, you come to me first.”
“Her first request is a bit over that line, already.”
“I think you’ll find it easier than you might expect. Your sister will likely be the one reaching out to you. You’ll be able to get a sense of what she wants and, if it’s relevant, we’ll pass that on to the Vice Magister.”
Harper was still holding his hand and she ran her thumb over his knuckles. Her lips quirked up into an odd smile, and it brought one out of Lee in response.
“It all comes back to Zoe in the end, doesn’t it?” he asked.
“I suppose it does.”
He held her gaze for a few seconds, feeling the tension spike between them as though a switch had been flipped. He stepped in a little closer, eyes darting down to her mouth. She leaned forward and kissed him, and then they were against each other, hands roving, tongues flitting about with careless insistence.
Harper set a hand on his chest and cleared her throat. “We’ll have to table this, er, discussion, for now
. I still have other pressing duties to attend to.”
“We could be quick.” Lee came to stand behind her, pressing his hardness against her butt. “We could be really quick.”
“I’d rather take my time,” whispered Harper. She kissed him again and finally took a step back. “What are you doing for Christmas?”
“Uh, what?”
“It’s the day after tomorrow, in case you forgot. The semester won’t reconvene until the start of next year.”
“Initiates get that long of a vacation?”
“It’s proven to be necessary, given the remote nature of Primhaven’s location,” said Harper. “I know you don’t have family other than Zoe, who I doubt you’ll be seeing again so soon. Why don’t you come home with me?”
Lee furrowed his brow, considering it. “I’d like that. But I actually have to take care of something else, first.”
“What?”
“Just tying up a loose end.”
CHAPTER 44
“Please, Mauricio, don’t do this! Think of your loving abuela, and the many orphan children who rely on your generosity!”
“What use to them am I now, with a heart too porous and broken to pump my own hot, sticky blood? I called fate’s bet, and the cards my destiny revealed to me were no bluff!”
Alex, dressed in the garb of Mauricio Benito, took a step toward the edge of the impressive seven-foot-high prop cliff that Lee had helped Tim construct almost three weeks earlier. The spotlight was focused on him, but its operator flicked it off and on in time with the booming bass of the ambient thunder and rain sound effects playing over the theater’s speakers to simulate a storm.
“It’s a bit melodramatic, don’t you think?” whispered Tess.
She was sitting next to Lee in the half-filled auditorium, watching the showing of Blood and Tears in Jalisco that he’d been forced to abandon by his own cards of destiny.
“Our director wrote it,” said Lee. “He was going through a breakup at the time. Along with chemo.”
“Beatrix!” boomed Mauricio. “Wait for me, Beatrix! Wait for me as I once waited for you!”
The back and forth between Mauricio and his best friend, Horace One-Eye, continued on, probably for longer than it should have. Lee loved every second of it. He’d pulled Tess into his mystic stream earlier, and she was leaning her head against his shoulder.
“Are you wondering what it would be like if you’d stayed?” she whispered. “You’d be up there on stage with them, having a blast.”
“I was a stagehand, so I’d be in back.”
“You get my point, though.”
He shrugged and gently caressed her head with his hand. “I haven’t really thought about it. No use wondering what might have been.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“What?” Lee gently flicked her ear. “Of course not. What kind of question is that?”
“I know, it’s stupid, I just see this and compare it to what you’ve been through and think… maybe I did the wrong thing. Or went about it in the wrong way.”
“Tess, I came back here to say goodbye to these guys,” he said. “Not because I feel like I belong here. They were my friends, even if it was only for a few weeks. It’s got nothing to do with me missing my life as Eldon.”
“You’d be safer if you were still Eldon,” whispered Tess.
“Eldon wasn’t a gentleman, though. You said that yourself, remember?”
“I just said that to get his goat.”
“I’ll get your goat if you don’t watch out,” said Lee. “Quit overthinking things. I’m happy with the way things worked out.”
“So you feel like you belong at Primhaven, then?”
“Hell no,” he said.
“Beatrix, I refuse to go on without you!” boomed Mauricio. “We will be together, forever!”
“Where do you belong, then?” whispered Tess.
He squeezed her hand and gave her a slow, answering kiss. A dramatic scream echoed through the auditorium as Mauricio hurled himself from the prop cliff and to his death, also known as a gym mat hidden under a small cardboard wall of stylized ocean waves.
Lee was the first on his feet for the standing ovation.
THE END
Arcane Dropout 5 will be out on October 25th. To get in touch with me directly, send an email to [email protected]. For updates and occasional freebies, sign up for my newsletter.
Edmund
OTHER BOOKS BY EDMUND HUGHES
Wind Runner
Heartgem Homestead
Blood Mage
Sword Sirens
Sword Sirens
CHAPTER 1
Aristial Stoneblood adhered to a single, hard rule when it came to sparring in the dueling cavern. He always took his shoes off, regardless of how unstylish it looked. He could feel the cold stone underneath his feet in all its gritty, damp glory, along with the spots where moss or mud had made the floor unexpectedly treacherous.
Jarvis circled around Ari on the other side of the ring, which currently had more than a dozen other boys near their same age packed against the outer rope, shouting encouragement and jeers. It was distracting, ebbing and flowing in waves as the noise echoed throughout the massive chamber.
The glowmoss had been carefully seeded across the ceiling of the cavern to ensure that it was one of the more adequately illuminated locations within Golias Hollow. The cave was well enough lit that Ari could see the expression on Jarvis’ face, though it was of little help. He’d fought most of the similarly aged boys in the community, and Jarvis was, outside of himself, the most unpredictable of the bunch.
Ari took a step back, shifting his bare foot off a stone that was slick with condensation. Jarvis rushed forward, seizing the opening. He was tall, with the heavily muscled physique of a digger and a naturally bulky frame. Ari’s only physical advantages were his broad shoulders and lanky arms, but he was agile, and spun out of the way of the other boy’s tackle.
There was no point in throwing a punch, given his current angle, but he managed to get hold of one of Jarvis’ wrists and lever his arm in a way that threw him off balance. Jarvis tumbled to the ground, one of his shoes fighting for purchase against the same slippery stone Ari had been wary of before.
He hurried to press the advantage before Jarvis could get up. He’d taken two steps forward when a small, jagged rock clipped the side of his forehead, forcing him to hesitate. He looked in the direction the thrown stone had come from and saw Harris, the Hollow Lord’s son, smirking at him.
“I was aiming for your shoulder, orphan,” said Harris. “Deepest apologies.”
Ari rolled his eyes and wiped a spot of blood from the edge of his scalp. Jarvis was already pulling himself back to his feet.
“I’d be more offended if I wasn’t so sure that you were telling the truth,” said Ari. “It’s common knowledge that you have the aim of a blind cave rat.”
He couldn’t shift his attention over to enjoy the reaction of Harris and his easily bruised ego, but he still allowed himself a small smile. Jarvis was circling around him, and it was time to finally get serious. He feinted forward, forcing Jarvis to take a step toward the slippery section of rock, and then unloaded a fast volley of punches.
How many times had he and Jarvis been pitted against each other before? He’d lost count. Ari had sparred against all of the boys in the cavern, back when they’d all been young enough for the fights to go either way. As he’d gotten older and better at fighting, the shame inherent in losing to an orphan had deterred most of his challengers.
Jarvis had become a tool for the other boys, in a sense. A surrogate through which they could continue their childish games, despite the fact that most of them would never dare to harass him alone and to his face.
He let himself draw from his anger as he continued his attack. Jarvis blocked the first few punches but took one of the subsequent ones across his cheek. Ari tried to follow through on the attack, but Jarvis got a hand on his shoulder
and thrust his knee upward.
The blow knocked the wind out of Ari and distracted him for long enough to eliminate any chance of dodging out of the way of the next rock that Harris threw, which clipped the tip of his left ear.
Jarvis waited until Ari had recovered his equilibrium before pushing forward with his counter. Ari did everything he could to dodge rather than block the barrage of punches Jarvis threw at him, but it wasn’t enough. All of their fights usually ended like this. Jarvis had that option. He could, almost without exception, overwhelm Ari’s speed and mobility with a relentless display of brute strength.
“Hit him in the face, already!” shouted Harris. “Here! We’ll make it easier for you, Jarv.”
Ari had taken a few too many steps in the direction of the sparring ring’s edge, and he felt two sets of hands grab his shoulders and pull him against the rope. He gritted his teeth and tried, unsuccessfully, to pull himself loose.
Jarvis punched him in the stomach twice in quick succession but didn’t aim for the face. Despite how often the two of them were pitted against each other, there was still a grudging respect between them. Unfortunately, that sense of sportsmanship and honor did not extend to the other boys. A few boos came from the crowd, along with a couple more rocks.
“I win,” said Jarvis.
Ari rolled his eyes. “And what a victory it was.”
“Mud and blood,” said Harris. “I’m almost impressed that he still hasn’t learned how to hold his tongue. The Choosing ceremony will happen in a couple of hours, and it’s quite possible that this could be our last chance to show our good friend Aristial how much we value his wit.”
Harris and another boy still held Ari against the edge of the ring, and he felt two more join in. He tried to struggle free, but they pulled him over the ropes in the time it took him to get a single arm loose. He realized what they were doing an instant before they reached the edge of the plateau.
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