by Shea, K. M.
Raven screamed as hot pain crawled through her body. A force as powerful as an elephant pushed her into her grounds while her lungs were wrung like a damp rag.
“What’s happening to her?” Aron asked as Asher curled his hands into fists.
Brannon, bleeding at the head, bent over Raven, both of his hands glowing earthy brown. “Something is attacking her,” Brannon said, owlishly blinking.
“Did a decayor get a hold of her? Was it that guy who led them here? What is it?” Asher hissed, throwing himself on his knees.
Raven reached out and grabbed Asher’s hand, squeezing it with all her strength as another wave of pain ripped through her body. Her heart sputtered, her head pounded, and Raven screamed again.
“No, it’s not an invasive magic,” the director said, narrowing his eyes as he leaned over Raven’s body. “Can’t you feel it? That’s her own magic.”
“WHAT?” Aron shouted.
Asher winced as Raven wrung the life out of his hand.
“Raven’s magic is attacking her body,” the director said, impassively looking down at Raven.
“He’s right,” Brannon agreed. “I’m following it, repairing the damage.”
“Why is it doing this?” Asher urgently asked.
“I’ve heard of it but… it doesn’t happen in normal people,” Brannon shook his head, spreading his glowing hands up and down Raven’s frame.
Raven sucked in several gasps of air, the pain retreating under Brannon’s healing onslaught. Asher reached out and tucked one of her bangs, damp with her sweat, behind her ear.
Raven weakly smiled at him before a new brand of pain attacked her. Raven screamed and thrashed. It felt like something was drilling into her skull.
“Hold her down! She’ll hurt herself!” Brannon shouted.
The twins did their best to restrain Raven.
“Brannon, what do you mean you don’t see this in normal people,” Asher asked, holding down Raven’s arm as she thrashed.
“Sometimes this happens with half-elves. When you get the explosive combination of elf and human DNA, instead of balancing elf and human magic they combine, giving the half-elf child too much magic. Their souls don’t have room to hold it, and so their magic smothers them, killing them off,” Brannon said, placing his hands over Raven’s sweaty forehead.
“So Raven’s soul isn’t big enough for her magic?” Aron wondered before he was decked by Raven’s flailing arm.
“No. If that were the case she would have died a long time ago, not just when she used her magic. Additionally, Raven is completely human,” Director Eastgate disagreed. “It’s probably the balance. Her magic couldn’t take expending that much energy, and so now she’s paying for it. With her health.”
Raven began to quiet under the gentle touch of Brannon’s healing magic against her skull.
“I’m better,” Raven breathed through numb lips. “It’s okay,” she said, her chest heaving with effort. Raven blinked, her eyes sticking shut for a moment before she opened them and smiled weakly.
Aron smiled warmly at her, but Asher was pale, like he had been punched in the gut.
Brannon had his head between his legs. “I managed to numb the worst of it, and thankfully it didn’t seem to go for your bones, but you’re going to have a lot of bruising,” he said.
“Are you okay?” Raven asked, licking her lips.
“Yeah, just a little light headed,” Brannon grinned, lifting his head up. “My healing magic isn’t very strong.”
It took Raven several moments before she was able to ease herself up on her elbows, wincing with the movement. “Oh man,” she breathed when she got a good look at Saint Cloud.
Some of the windows were cracked, two were broken. Books and ash were everywhere. Many of the bookshelves were tipped over, scattering splintered wood across the floor.
“They did some major damage,” Aron said, poking a blackened book with his foot.
“The guardians are inside the library,” Asher said, looking to his phone again
Director Eastgate loomed over his employees. “This is our story: we were attacked, we fought back, the decayors panicked and fled, most likely because they got a whiff of the guardians coming to our rescue,” the director said, his eyes pinning his subordinates in place.
“But Sir,” Royce said, glancing at Raven out of the corner of his eye, he still hadn’t relaxed his stance.
“I said that is our story,” the director said, his dark eyes glowing.
Royce nodded, falling back into line.
Raven felt her stomach roll, and she winced as she unsteadily sat up. Already the consequences of her actions were becoming apparent to her.
An explosion rocked the library, and seconds later guardians—in their white and royal blue uniforms—poured out of three secret passageways.
Raven twisted to watch the guardians with the rest of her coworkers.
“Move, move, move!” the squad captains called out.
Each guardian brandished a weapon—a sword, lance, gun, dagger, axe, or bow—which they held at attention as they carefully scouted the library.
“Clear!” a scout from each squad shouted.
Raven wiped her forehead off with her forearm, wincing as her sore muscles protested.
“Ray!”
Raven looked up, recognizing in the voice. “Adam?”
In seconds Nate elbowed his way out of the guardians, dashing across the library towards his sister.
Raven pushed herself to her feet and took one wobbly step before Nate swept her up. “Why didn’t you answer your phone you idiot!” he whispered tightly as he held Raven against his chest in a demanding hug.
“It’s not on me,” Raven admitted, squeezing her brother before she squirmed. His hug was warm, but he was smashing her face against the zippers of his leather uniform, and his sheathed sword was stabbing her in the gut, not to mention she still ached.
Nate loosened his grip, giving her some wriggle room. “Was it…?”
Raven thumped her forehead against his chest, how much could she tell him? “It was Fox,” she said. Most likely the guardians would be able to tell that much by testing the leftover magic present in the room.
Nate growled and released Raven.
“McCellen?”
Nate swung around, towing Raven with him. “Sir,” he saluted. “This is my little sister, Rachel, sir. She is one of the Saint Cloud page turners.”
Nate’s captain, an older, grizzled man with shoulders as broad as a door frame, furrowed his eyebrows at Raven. “I didn’t know they got a girl in these ranks. Are any of you hurt?” he asked, his eyes scanning every inch of Raven and her colleagues.
“Yes,” Director Eastgate said, smoothly stepping in. “A page turner with healing magic has finished some preemptive work. However, some of the staff members have serious wounds that need to be looked at, additionally one of the page turners is still unconscious.”
“Aron was bit by a decayor,” Raven recalled, glancing over her shoulder at the twins.
The captain nodded. “We’ll set up a medical unit immediately to see to all your needs,” He turned on the heels of his white boots. “Director Isaac Eastgate? ”
The director nodded imperially.
“Right. Would you give your statement now? We need to know as much as possible.”
“Understood,” Director Eastgate with the dignity of a king in spite of his dirty, ripped clothes.
“McCellen, question your sister and the other page turners,” the captain ordered before drawing away from the group, the director sauntering after him.
“Yes sir,” Nate saluted. He frowned when he dropped his hand and turned back to Raven. “Here,” he said, unclipping his cape from his shoulders. The outside was a sturdy white material, but the inside was soft, royal blue hued crushed velvet. “You look pretty bad. And what on earth did you do to your clothes?” Nate asked, swinging the cape around Raven’s shoulder, taking in the white unicorn hair that p
eppered Raven’s skirt.
Raven thought fast before spitting out a reply. “I’ve been skidding around on the ground, I can’t say I’m surprised at the dirt, it would have been worse if I had crawled into that dirty exit passageway. The passageway, Alison!” Raven said, swinging around to scan the crowd of guardians. She nearly tripped and fell on her face when her legs gave out.
“Relax, I think I know who you’re talking about,” Nate said, steadying Raven before she could fall. “A feisty lady with a drawl so thick you could slice it? She just about melted a door off its hinges she was so mad about the attack, I’m telling you she’s more than fine. Come on. Let’s get your injuries checked out while I take your statement.”
“But I—,” Raven said, turning around to face the other page turners. She wanted to stay with them. If one of them blabbed about her magic, she wanted to be there when it happened.
“Go ahead Ray,” Aron and Asher simultaneously said, sly smiles spreading across their faces.
“There won’t be any trouble here,” Aron said as Asher stalked towards Royce.
A medic was already helping Brannon, healing his head wound. Another knelt by Jeremiah, who moaned as he started to stir.
“You can trust us,” Asher promised, increasing his speed when Royce started to edge away from the group. “Go.”
Raven hesitated before replying, “Thanks,” she said as she followed her older brother. She was uneasy about leaving them, but she felt she could trust the twins.
“Here’s my cell phone. Call mom to let her know what happened. I’ll find a medic,” Nate ordered, the blue pads of his white, leather gloves flashing in stark contrast as he motioned at the other guardians.
“Okay,” Raven said, shifting Nate’s cape on her shoulders.
When Nate disappeared into the sea of white uniforms, Raven sighed. This was going to be tricky.
After giving a severely edited statement to the guardians, Raven went home and slept the entire afternoon. She woke up late Sunday morning, nursing cotton mouth and a headache.
“Pumpkin, you’re awake!” Raven’s father greeted when he caught sight of her stumbling down the stairs.
“Hi Daddy,” Raven mumbled, rubbing her eyes before walking over to the couch.
“Your mother and siblings are at church. I was elected to stay behind and see if you need anything,” Raven’s father smiled before hiding it behind a hand. “So, do you?”
“I’m good, thanks. But you probably want to know what really happened?” Raven asked, scratching her side, wincing when she touched a sore rib.
“It was Fox?”
“Yeah. In my statement to the guardians I only identified him as a magic abuser. I haven’t met him before as Rachel McCellen,” Raven said, plopping down on the couch.
“And he wanted the cauldron?”
“Yeah. But it gets worse. He knows who I am.”
“He knows you’re Rachel McCellen?”
“No. He knows I’m Raven Wishmore. He said it in front of everyone.”
Raven’s father whistled. “We’ve been compromised. Again.”
“Are we going to leave?” Raven asked, mentally packing her room.
“No,” her father said, shocking her to the core. “You’re sure the cauldron is at Saint Cloud?”
“I think so. I tracked down some info with the Montamos twins. We’ve confirmed that it was moved to a particular room. We’ll try and gain access to the room, but it’s not on any of the library blueprints—official or otherwise.,” Raven said, hesitating. “If Fox knows who I am, why are we staying?”
“Two reasons. If he’s already on to you here our security leak is bad enough that he could find us wherever we go. Secondly, we badly need to find the cauldron before he does. And if you’re really on to something….”
“I am. We believe it’s in the Winter Vault. We just have to find it,” Raven said, tipping her head to rest it on the back of the couch.
“You trust these boys?” Raven’s father asked.
“Yep.”
Raven’s father nodded. “I’m calling in Rocky and Roland. They’ve been observing us, and they’re our contact to Gram, but I’ve realized that’s not enough. You need to be watched. I can’t watch you myself, but I’m not going to leave you undefended.”
“Dad, we can hardly have agents following me around school and the library,” Raven nervously laughed, trying to mask her intense fear. Close surveillance was exactly what she didn’t need. Royce would blab everything the second she walked through the door.
“They won’t tail you. They’ll just monitor you magically. We’ll give you a spymaster insignia. If you get into trouble again you can set it off and they’ll be at your side in seconds.
“Oh. Okay,” Raven nodded.
Raven’s father smothered a snicker.
“What?” Raven asked.
“You really need to look in a mirror.”
Raven frowned but stood up and shuffled to the nearest bathroom. She flicked on the lights and faced the mirror before screaming. “OH MY GOSH!”
Raven’s father cackled in the living room.
Raven stared at her reflection with horror. Brannon and the medics had done their best with her injuries. Raven’s muscles only dully ached instead of the intense throbbing pain she experienced the previous day. They had mended the muscles, closed cuts, lowered the swelling, and eased the pain, but they hadn’t bothered to erase the bruises.
Raven grabbed her cheeks, her eyes wide. She had a huge purple bruise on her right cheek, and her left eye was faintly black and blue. Raven’s legs were spotted with enough bruises to give her leopard print skin, and she had bands of bruises on her arms and wrists.
“I can’t go to school like this!” Raven shrieked.
“Oh yes you can,” Raven’s father chuckled. “The guardians made a falsified accident report for you. I believe the story is you were hit by a car.”
“NOOOOO!!”
Chapter 17
Raven went to school the following morning, feeling excessively grumpy. She snarled at Nate and glared at any student that gave her, or her beautiful bruises, a second look. Her foul mood continued to run amuck when she ran into the twins, who were waiting for her at her locker.
Asher whistled and Aron looked impressed when Raven stopped in front of them.
“Wow, I didn’t think you were touched by the decayors,” Aron remarked, staring at Raven’s black eye.
“I wasn’t,” Raven growled. “This is from the backlash of my magic.”
“We’ve got something that will cheer you up,” Asher said, digging a white tube out of his pocket.
“What is it?” Raven asked as Asher popped the cap off the tube and squeezed a white paste on his finger.
“Healing paste. Top grade,” Aron said. “It’s made with unicorn hair follicles so it’s super potent.”
“We can’t use much on your face, the sparkles will make you look like a drunk pixie, but I think we can at least get rid of your black eye,” Asher said, “Close your eye.”
“Yeah. I don’t think many people noticed it with that gorgeous bruiser on your cheek,” Aron ‘politely’ said.
Raven glared at him before closing her eye. “Don’t mess up my makeup. Although I only wore mascara today. I tried putting foundation over the bruises but it only made it worse.”
“Don’t talk to me about girl stuff. I never want to hear it,” Asher said. His finger was gentle as he carefully rubbed the paste around Raven’s left eye.
“How on earth did you guys get your hands on this stuff?” Raven said, her eye still closed. “It’s only doled out in times of extreme need.”
“It’s actually for my leg,” Aron offhandedly said.
“For the decayor bite?”
“Yep. The bite mark was infected so the medic didn’t want to chance closing it up, so I have to heal the old fashion way. The unicorn paste is to speed the process along and remove any remaining impurities. Although I can’t
say it was doing much good at first. The decayor magic was sticking to me so it kept sucking the magic right out of the paste.”
Raven’s eyes popped open and she stared at Aron with wide, concerned eyes as she clutched the bottom of her shirt.
Aron waved a hand as Asher wiped his thumb along Raven’s eyebrow. “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine now. But my leg looks like I’ve been rolling in fairy dust. Want to see?”
“No,” Raven hissed. “There are people in the hallway,” she said before sighing, her eyes growing softer. “I’m sorry. Here I am, nasty tempered over a few bruises, and you’re not even healed.”
“There, all done,” Asher said, recapping the tube.
“Thanks,” Raven smiled.
“You’re welcome. Glad I could share,” Aron said, returning the smile.
Raven glanced up and down the hallway, making sure the other students were a safe distance away, but the twins beat her to the punch.
“So how top secret is your magic? Does your black dog know?” Asher asked.
“And if he knows, why didn’t we know?” Aron said with a playful scowl.
Raven laughed—a sound so fake she winced. “I…I try not to show it. Ever. To anyone.”
“Suddenly all those years of referrals and reprimands for not reading that are stacked in you file are making total sense,” Aron said, rubbing his chin. “Do your parents know?”
“No,” Raven said, shaking her head. “If anyone knew about my magic I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be allowed out in public.”
“That means you gambled everything to save the library yesterday. Years of hiding, and you blew it. Do you think it was worth it?” Asher asked.
Raven considered the question for a moment. “Yes,” she finally said. “I mean, we might have died if I hadn’t done something, and at the very least the library would have been absolutely destroyed.”
“While we are dying to know how and when you figured out your magic was real, you need to know that you’re gonna have to watch out for Royce,” Aron said.
Raven nodded. “His reaction…was more horrified than I expected.
“Daire and Jeremiah won’t be much of a problem, I don’t think. They’ll probably try to blackmail you, but I think they’re smart enough not to push it since they know we’ve got quite a bit of dirt on them. The full time staff might prove to be a problem, but Royce, excuse me, Follow-Every-Stupid-Rule-on-the-Earth-Royce, will be the biggest threat,” Asher said, counting off the library employees on his fingers.