by Jessica Gunn
“She’s okay if Jaffrin’s calling to update us,” Rachel said, holding my hand in hers. She uncurled each finger, careful to avoid the blood.
“Alive, you mean,” I said. “Alive and okay are two very different things.”
“They won’t kill her.” That came from Shawn, who hadn’t stood at my outburst. He looked at me from the seat he’d taken beside Lissandra’s admin desk. “She’s safe as long as Alzan needs her.”
“At which point, knowing Krystin, she’ll give them the middle finger and walk away,” said Nate. His gaze fell to my bloody hand. “Lissandra, can we get some bandages?”
Her stare jumped from me to Nate. “Sure thing.” She excused herself and left the lobby, her phones still ringing.
Rachel dropped my hand and walked me over to the rest of my team. “You need to stop blaming yourself.”
Bile rose in my throat, flashes of Kinder’s attack racing through my mind. So many Hunters had died that night, both from our raiding party’s lack of knowledge of Hydron’s operation, and from Krystin being manipulated by Kinder. Had Hydron—an organization of Water Circle Hunters mixed with CIA agents—just told us about their operation in Boston, we’d never have been there.
“I’m not blaming myself,” I said. “Krystin’s at fault for most of her situation.” But that wasn’t true, either.
Shawn stood. “The Ether Head Circle got trigger-happy, that’s all. They’ll realize Krystin wasn’t actually working for or with Kinder—or Giyano, for that matter—and she’ll be let out.”
“At least until she and you fulfill your roles in the Alzan prophecy,” Nate said, his tone disheartened. “Then they’ll throw her back in prison.”
I’d thought about that possibility. And about escaping with the entire team to Canada because of it. Rescue Krystin, save the world, then hightail it out of the country. Sure, there were Hunter Circles branches there, too. But citizen laws gave us an out.
Besides, Riley was in Canada. And to be with my son again was my end game no matter what.
Lissandra padded back into the lobby and offered me a bandage wrap for my knuckles. I took it and thanked her, wrapping my hand as she reclaimed her desk.
Her smile faltered as she looked at her computer screen. “Oh. Looks like Jaffrin is ready to see you now, but in the great hall. You can head there now.”
I looked to my team, who returned my questioning expression. “Sounds a bit overkill.”
Lissandra shrugged. “They don’t tell me anything.”
Okay, then.
My team and I hurried along the staircase to the great hall, a sweeping amphitheater space that served as an announcement hall when the entire Circle needed to be present. It was also where all training graduation ceremonies took place, most recently for Shawn’s class of Hunters five months ago.
Jaffrin stood at the bottom, not on stage. That didn’t sit well with me. Jaffrin was the type of person who took every opportunity to show his rank amongst those beneath him.
Oh, god. Krystin.
“Please, hurry,” Jaffrin said as my team and I descended the stairs. “We don’t have much time and I’d like to cover a few things.”
As we reached the bottom platform, I asked, “What’s going on?”
We gathered in front of Jaffrin in a tight circle. He looked each of us in the eye for a long moment before settling his gaze on me. “We have five minutes before the magik I’ve put on this room dissipates.”
“Magik?” Nate asked. He looked around, brow furrowed. “I don’t feel any.”
Never mind that—I’d always thought Jaffrin didn’t have any magik.
Jaffrin nodded. “That’s the point. It’s subtle. My abilities are.”
Okay, so he did have, and use, magik. If this was the first revelation of many, it was going to be a long morning. “What’d you do?”
“Essentially soundproofed the room,” he said, stepping in closer to the team. “And blocked any scrying from occurring. I don’t trust what the Ether Head Circle has planned.”
My eyes narrowed. “Are you kidding me? You love them.”
Jaffrin chuckled bitterly. “There’s a difference between love and respect. And as far as Krystin goes, I don’t trust her trial will be unbiased.”
“She’s part of the Alzan prophecy. She’ll be fine,” Shawn said, though even he couldn’t completely scrub the worry from his tone. “They won’t kill her.”
Jaffrin’s jaw locked. “And neither will they let her go free. We need her here in Boston. While the Ether Head Circle is powerful and well-versed in the goings-on of this world, they’re not the most proactive group. As you saw three months ago.”
My fists clenched at my sides. “Clearly.” They’d sent us on a mission to disband a possible Landshaft bounty hunter operation in downtown Boston. But when Kinder had shown up and attacked, they’d only stepped in to help us out after a dozen Hunters and other innocents had died.
After Kinder had turned Krystin against us.
Jaffrin’s eyes hardened. “You see my point.”
“You’re worried that if the final conflict comes, the Ether Head Circle won’t let Krystin out until Alzan is already under attack,” Nate said. “You think they’d be that stupid?”
“They’ve already imprisoned Krystin without allowing her to unlock the Alzanian magik inside of her, something she can’t do without Shawn. And since they won’t let even me visit her, I doubt they’re going to let Shawn get close.”
Silence filled the space. Even if Jaffrin was right, that didn’t mean there was anything we could do about it. Unless…
“Are you suggesting we attack the prison somehow? Break her out?”
Jaffrin’s gaze settled on me. “Yes, precisely. I can’t do it alone, and honestly, I feel as though Krystin would not appreciate my presence even if I did. But you four, with my guidance, can get in and take her.”
Rachel held up a finger but didn’t speak right away. After a pause, she said, “You want us to break into the most notorious, most heavily-guarded, magik-protected prison in all the Hunter Circles and break out our teammate?”
“Isn’t that against every code in the book?” Nate asked.
I nodded. “I thought you were scared of the Ether Head Circle and their power.”
Jaffrin’s body went rigid. “I’m more terrified of what they’ll do to Krystin. What Krystin’s absence in the final conflict will do to us all.”
He’s scared of her power—and lack of it. Shit.
I looked around the room, looking for any sign of Jaffrin’s soundproofing. For a signal this was either a joke or that it was real and the soundproofing had gone away. Nothing looked different. There were no signs of magik at all. “Say we do this. Say we manage to break into Ether Circle Prison and take Krystin back. They’re going to recognize us. If not by our faces on cameras, then by the feel of our magik. They’re going to know we went there, and either accuse us of acting on our own or they’re going to flay you alive for going against their word. There is no winning in this scenario.”
“Not to mention Krystin might be pissed we left her there for this long,” Shawn said. “I would be. I’d be worried you all hated me.”
Jaffrin straightened. “You let me handle any backlash from the Ether Head Circle.”
Rachel shook her head. “You’re assuming they won’t kill us on the spot. This seems awfully stupid and risky just to take back someone we should be able to bring home through legal means after her trial.”
“They’ve had her for three months now,” Jaffrin said. “That trial was set to occur at the end of the first. They’re stalling, or they were never planning on putting her on trial, period. If we don’t act now, they’ll hold her until the final conflict.”
“Whenever that is,” I muttered, although Jaffrin’s fear of this conflict worried me. The prophecy said that Shawn and Krystin would save Alzan from Darkness, so I had to believe that whatever that final conflict will be and no matter where it’ll be
held—probably in the ancient city—we’d win it, for Good’s side. What’s to worry about?
A bright yellow shimmer showered down around us. Jaffrin backed up immediately and put on a big smile. He clapped me on the shoulder and gave a hearty laugh. “Congratulations, Ben. Your hard work will soon pay off. I’ll let Dacher and my Command know that you’ve officially begun work to Leader candidacy.”
I sputtered, the whiplash from his subject change like a physical blow. “Excuse me?” I turned to Rachel, whose gaze flitted between me and Jaffrin.
Jaffrin nodded, a hard stare settling on me with a silent order. Go with it. “You deserve it. I do not plan on retiring anytime soon, but it’s good to get these things in order ahead of time.”
I gulped. I’d never wanted to become a Circle Leader, although I knew my position as a team leader automatically put me in the running for candidacy—whether I liked it or not. And I could back out at any time. But for Jaffrin to use this as a hidden reason for us meeting?
He’s petrified.
Jaffrin clapped me on the shoulder again. “Tonight. We’ll start tonight. I’ll make sure we lay out the easiest path for you.”
I nodded mutely. “Yes, sir.”
CHAPTER 3
KRYSTIN
I ground my jaw shut. That was the key. I’d learned it too late to keep from spewing insane talk at the guards during the first month of my imprisonment. But afterward, it’d saved me from speaking too much.
Keep your mouth shut. Endure whatever pain they might inflict. And no matter what, keep your chin up.
Those were my rules.
So, chin up and jaw locked, I stared straight ahead to a point on the wall above Chairman Otto’s head. I’d never give him or any of them the respect of meeting their gazes. Not after they’d locked me up in here for no good reason.
Giyano had been right all along. The Hunter Circles’ motives about me—whatever they were—weren’t the same as Jaffrin’s or Ben’s or anyone else’s. And if the Hunter Circles were screwing me, I didn’t want to know what the Powers thought about all of this.
You know, if they ever got off their lofty asses and did something. But considering they’d let Alzan fall the first time…
“Ms. Blackwood,” Chairman Otto said. “Please answer the question.”
I lifted an eyebrow. There’s your answer.
Chairman Otto’s Command, those also in charge of the Ether Head Circle and their prison, looked on in annoyed amusement. They’d never break me, not if my magik’s flare didn’t.
Chairman Alina shifted in her seat, the Ether Head Circle medallion around her neck jingling against the table. “If you were not working with Kinder, then what happened in Boston that night?”
I’d answered this question and variations of it so many times over the past three months, and yet they still asked it. Were they hoping I’d finally admit to siding with Kinder?
“What about Giyano?” Chairman Otto asked.
My wrists grew suddenly itchy, bound by magik-infused steel handcuffs that anchored me to a heavy oak chair in the center of the room. I hoped the Chairmen and their Command got a kick out of this—the Daughter of Alzan bound by fucking metal.
“If you do not answer the questions, we cannot move this to trial,” Chairman Alina said.
Okay. Enough.
I glared at her, trying incredibly hard not to set fire to her robes, although I very much wanted to see all of these assholes burn. “I told you, I’ve been telling you, that Kinder used her magik to shove all the magik in the room into me. It drove me insane, it allowed her to take over me. And in doing so, I lost control. I completely and utterly lost it. That’s how people died.”
“Because you killed them,” Chairman Otto said.
“Because Kinder’s magik overruled my ability to think. To function. To comprehend anything that was going on. Did I kill those Hunters? I suppose so—not all of them and none of them by choice. But for your picky-ass records, yeah. I did. You win. Screw you.”
“Enough!” another of the Command bellowed. “Your insolence is trying.”
“My insolence? How about your idiocy?”
The guard standing next to me dropped his ether stick to the chair, sending a shock of it into my system. I gritted my teeth past the pain, focusing my thoughts on anything but this situation.
When the shock ended, I glared back up at Chairman Otto. “Why do this? Why sit there and question me when you’ve already made up your damn minds? You think I’m guilty, so sentence me already. I’m done with this fucking game. You and I both know that you need me—the trial is a way to keep me here as long as you want.”
“Innocent lives were lost—”
“Then maybe you should have shown up a lot sooner in that fight!” I screamed at them, rage filling my chest. My arms burned as though they were wings of fire. Giyano’s mark on my hand throbbed and glowed red like a giant warning light. “You’re the biggest hypocrites I’ve ever met.”
“And you as well, for seeking out Giyano,” said Chairman Alina.
“Because you assholes were MIA with answers when he wasn’t. Maybe if you all left your damn bunker every once in a while—”
The guard touched his ether-stick to the chair once more and zapped me—with more ether-voltage this time.
I cried out and slammed my head against the back of the chair. “Screw you, asshole.”
If they’d already made up their minds about me, what was the point of all of this? They should just lock me away for good, never to see the light of day or their ugly faces ever again.
I hoped Jaffrin was happy right now. The leash he’d held around my life just got finitely shorter. I’d never go out hunting again. I’d never see another Hunter or “corrupt them, too” as long as I lived.
Unless Giyano managed to save me. The mark on my hand grew brighter as my fingertips started to spark with flame.
“Chairman,” the guard next to me said, his stare on my fingers, “she’s going to—”
An explosion rocked the wall behind me, huge chunks of stone flying forward. One hit the guard in the back and sent him sailing toward my interrogator’s table. They blocked their faces while all I could do was close my eyes and grit my teeth. The explosion rang my ears and sent my chair skidding sideways.
I braced myself for impact, likely on my face, but none came. “What the—?” I opened my eyes and found myself tipped halfway forward, a thin white barrier between my face and the floor. An ether barrier.
“What is this?” Chairman Otto shouted over the din.
Another much smaller explosion ahead of me sent smoke into the air. Water zipped by me in ice missiles, followed by a whole lot of ether of different colors being thrown back and forth. I couldn’t see much because of the way I was tilted toward the floor, but the auras of magik swam around me. Reds and blues and yellows, a tinge of green.
This whole room was filled with magik users, each flinging their powers the other way.
But then one aura stood out—a warm, white light shining against them all. A magik that called to my own.
Shawn’s face appeared near my head, cringing while he ducked out of magik’s way. “Hey. Sit tight. I’ll get you out of here.” He looked over his shoulder. “I’ve got her. Drop the shield, Nate!”
The film of ether keeping my face from hitting the floor disappeared and the chair fell an inch. Shawn grunted, presumably catching it, and then righted it altogether.
“You okay?” he asked.
I… didn’t know. “How?”
He shook his head as he reached for the handcuffs binding me to the chair. “No time. I—shit. Magik?”
I nodded. “You won’t be able to undo it. Not before—”
A wave of light purple fell over the room, a calming spell from one of the Ether Head Circle’s ether-shapers. Shawn froze, and so did I as a wave of utter peace and calm washed over me.
A pretty lie.
“The others?” I asked Shawn, hoping
to keep his focus on getting me out of this chair.
He blinked, then resumed work on the handcuffs. “They’re here, too.” He grunted. “I can’t get them undone. Not without my magik.” He reached down his shirt and yanked off the crystal hanging around his neck, then threw it to the floor. He crushed it beneath his foot and a wave of yellow and red flames flashed across his eyes. “Here we go.”
He pointed a finger at one of the cuffs and his Ember witch ether magik flowed out of it, a laser cutting me free. He had both cuffs undone in a matter of seconds, but I couldn’t look away from him.
“They’ll find you—The Trade,” I said. Those bounty hunters, and Cianza Boston, were the reasons we’d bound his magik again three months ago. “You can’t unbind your magik like that.”
His eyes locked with mine, a determination shining within them that froze my breath. “For you, to get you out of here, I can. And I did. Let’s go.”
Shawn helped me out of the chair, my stiff muscles rejecting all motion. I pushed through, stretching them, as the magik war continued around me.
“How the hell did you break in to Ether Circle Prison?”
“Not now, Krystin,” he said as he tugged me along toward Ben. “Got her.”
Ben turned his attention from showering the Chairman and his Command with lightning and for one single moment our eyes met. A moment that stretched an eternity as I found relief, not hatred and disgust, reflected in his gaze.
Relief.
That was when a third explosion went off, much larger than the first two. I was sent flying through the air, losing grip of Shawn’s hand, and landed with a hard thwack against the marble floor. Stars danced along my vision, which narrowed with every passing second. My lungs seized, unable to take in fresh air.
A shadow loomed over me, bent down next to me. It took my hand and whispered, “Don’t worry. We’ll get you out of here.”
I closed my eyes as darkness pulled me into unconsciousness and trusted Ben’s words. He’d been relieved to see me.
He’d get me home.