I nodded, finding myself thinking about what Freya had said—that Kára was a relatively new Valkyrie. But after wringing her emotions dry, I didn’t feel that I had any right to ask her such a personal question. Maybe after I did some soul-searching and we put this tension behind us.
But I did need to ask her about Niko.
I squeezed her hands gently, smiling at her. “Can I ask you a question, Kára?” She nodded hesitantly. “How long have you known Niko?” I asked softly.
She frowned. “You know Niko?” she asked in disbelief.
I shrugged. “She’s been the one helping me with the assassins thing. I only just learned her name.”
Kára stared at me, looking like her brain was rebooting. And then she burst out laughing. “That bitch!” she hissed, squeezing my hands.
I stared at her, utterly baffled by her reaction. “Um…”
Her laughter finally began to subside, and she looked up at me, still shaking her head, causing her wavy hair to caress her throat…I forced myself to look away, realizing that I really needed to talk to Callie and figure out what was causing this rift between us soon. Startlingly, I felt a strange…frustration at the thought. Almost anger, like it was a job I just needed to get out of the way.
When had these thoughts started to crop up? As I considered the last few weeks, I had to admit that it wasn’t anything new. I just hadn’t chosen to confront these apparent demons—not even caring enough to realize that there were demons.
Was that the same look Callie had shown me? Not any kind of anger or dislike, but just…complacency? Growing apart? I had lost track of the number of times we had promised to spend time together, always ending the conversation with some form of later.
Were we subconsciously beginning to resent that in each other? Because it was obvious that it wasn’t just me. Now that I was addressing it rather than avoiding it, I was beginning to realize that Callie had to feel the same way, because her mannerisms were exactly what I was feeling and portraying right now—and had been for the past few weeks, according to Kára.
I realized Kára was watching me with a deeply thoughtful look. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to upset you,” she said.
Because I was frowning. I took a deep breath and shelved all thoughts of Callie for…
Later.
God damn it.
“Sorry, Kára. I got lost in my own head for a minute.” I replayed our conversation. “You were saying that Niko was a bitch.”
Kára smirked, rolling her eyes. “Not really, I guess. I was just caught off guard. She never told me about you, but we did speak of you often.”
I frowned. “Why?”
She arched a cool eyebrow at me. “I just showed you why, Nate,” she said dryly.
“Oh. Well, um,” I stammered, feeling my own cheeks heating up. “That…I, um, don’t really know what to say right now,” I finally admitted.
Kára leaned forward, her dual-colored eyes pinning me in place as she squeezed my hands in hers in a forceful, but intimate way. “I told her about our conversations and asked her to give me an outsider’s perspective.”
I frowned suspiciously. “What did she say?”
Kára shrugged. “She only asked what you were like as a person, wanting to make sure I wasn’t involving myself in trouble. Then she told me to follow my instincts. She never gave me more than that, and she definitely never let on that she knew you.”
That…was bizarre—that she hadn’t pressed Kára for intel. “We don’t know each other,” I assured her. “She’s just been helping me via phone.”
“Niko has a hero complex and she’s fiercely dedicated to her morals. She’s always trying to help people—to make up for her darker past.”
I nodded woodenly, realizing I had judged wrongly. “That is great news,” I finally said.
She cocked her head at a sudden thought. “Was this what you were talking about earlier? You said you learned some information that confused you. Were you talking about Niko?”
I sighed, nodding. “Yes. She went to your bar last night, running from some bad people. Old work associates.”
Kára grunted. “I pity the men chasing her, but I do not know why she went to my bar. Maybe she was looking for me?”
“And she never mentioned wanting to kill me, or that she was considering it?” I asked, wanting to be entirely sure.
Kára’s eyes stormed over in the blink of an eye. “If she had, she would be dead right now,” she said in a cool tone.
“Right. Well, don’t kill her. I haven’t heard her say anything like that either. I was just making sure I could trust her. Because of her dark past.”
Kára watched me in silence, considering my words. “I will not kill her. Yet. But if I hear that she means you harm…”
“Didn’t you just say you were friends with her?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Yes, but not for very long. I’m just her friendly bartender. I like you more. On a personal level, I mean. I’m not speaking from…” she trailed off, suddenly blushing. “On a professional level, I am honored to know you. You inspire me, if that makes any sense.”
I nodded. “I am indeed inspiring. I am also late to a fight.”
“Oh?” she asked in a frosty tone.
I nodded. “But I need you here, watching over Alice and Freya.”
She let out a disappointed sigh. “Fine.”
I climbed to my feet, pulling her up with me. We released hands, the contact suddenly feeling much different when standing. I extended my arm. “Would you walk with me, Kára?”
She studied me for a long moment and finally nodded her head. “I would like that very much, Nate,” she said, her dual-colored eyes catching the light in two different ways, like jewels in a treasure box.
She rested her head on my shoulder as we walked and…it felt nice. Not scandalous or invasive or suggestive. Just…nice. A symbol of trust and that this warrior maiden saw fit to reveal a little vulnerability when most of them were cold and heartless warriors.
“Thank you for not being cruel, and I’m sorry if I caused you harm,” she murmured. “I always try to be honest, and I thought I had your situation with Callie figured out.”
I nodded. “Honesty is vital,” I said. “And you don’t need to apologize about anything. I understand where you were coming from. I thought I had it all figured out, too. But that’s life for you.”
She was quiet as we came back around the hill and spotted Freya. Carl and Alice sat before her, still drinking their imaginary tea.
“Can I be honest again, Nate?” Kára asked.
“Sure.”
“I hope to learn that I already did have your situation figured out. And I hope that you figure it out, too.”
I sighed. “Either way, I’ll remember to be honest about it,” I promised her.
“That’s all I ask.” She squeezed my arm, and I instinctively flexed. She let out a surprised laugh, glancing up at me with sparkling eyes. Then she carefully extracted herself and walked over to Freya. I sighed, thinking very intently about our conversation.
Carl was already walking over to me, waving at Alice and dipping his chin at Freya and Kára.
“Let’s go. I really need to let out some aggression.”
He nodded, holding out his hand for me.
I waved at Alice, wondering why she was frowning thoughtfully. As was Freya. Kára was the only one not frowning. She was sitting down with her trident across her knees, smiling at me faintly.
“I’ll never understand them, Carl. Never.”
I grabbed his hand and Shadow Walked away.
Chapter 38
I stood on a hill overlooking an impressively vast castle surrounded by a tall iron fence and a Medieval style gate. We had been standing here for five minutes, now. Carl silently stared out at the rest of our surroundings, searching for hidden traps or possible assailants. This was the only building for miles and miles because they also owned the surrounding thousand acres.
Rather than waiting for Niko to return my calls, or for another squad of assassins to come punch my ticket, I decided to try rectifying the whole Lullaby situation in a slightly simpler manner.
“It’s time,” I told Carl. Then I took a step towards the castle, figuring it would take no more than five for something to happen—because I’d already seen enough curtains twitching to know I had an audience. Carl remained behind, like I had asked him.
I took a second step and a great blue dome of power suddenly bloomed to life, covering the entire gated property. Lightning slithered across the dome’s surface like snakes on a frozen pond.
A protective shield, warning me not to come any closer.
I chuckled, shaking my head. I knew they had seen me standing on the hill, and like cowards, they had refused to come out, knowing exactly why I was here.
The Academy of Wizards.
A once-great establishment with aspirations to teach young men and women the powers of the universe, and how to use those powers to make their communities a safer, better place.
And now they posted assassination contracts on members who did not cower to their institutional dictations—as if every single wizard could possibly have the exact same creed.
Or follow hypocrisy once he or she saw it in the establishment’s actions.
Hubris.
I would know. I’d caught mild cases of it once or twice.
I cleared my throat and pulled up some magic of my own, using it to amplify my voice to such a degree that everyone within eyesight could clearly hear me—strong enough to even pierce their ward, which I was hoping would really tick them off.
“Come out and answer for your crimes! You, the brave, righteous professors and scholars who posted an assassination contract on my life. Face me openly instead of hiding behind your self-righteous institution, because the walls and wards aren’t tall enough to hide your cowardice. Let all your students see the truth—that their own masters are merely thugs with robes, not even competent enough to stand against one man shouting at you on a hill. Tell them how we had an agreement, and that you hired third-party assassins to do your dirty work because you were too afraid to break your word where everyone could see. Too afraid to confront a man who challenged your creed. A man who held a flashlight into your dark halls and watched as the cockroaches skittered away in terror.”
More curtains twitched, but no one emerged.
“I will give you one minute to send out the person responsible. I won’t even attack him. I just want to see if he’s brave enough to look me in the eyes. Brave enough to show his students that he is a man of character who accepts the consequences of his actions. I will even promise to walk away peacefully—as long as the cockroach steps into the light for all to see.”
Nothing happened, and I laughed, letting my voice boom across the hills.
“Your decision right now is dignity or depravity. To take responsibility for all your students to see, or to show every student now hiding within your walls that you would rather use them as a shield than admit the truth. Students—take note. This is the greatest lesson you will ever learn.”
I counted down in my head, confident that I already knew the answer, but hoping to be proven wrong.
The blue dome of power never even flickered, and I could see dozens of students now openly staring out the windows with wide, terrified eyes, checking to see which of their masters had upset the scary man on the hill.
Carl let out an annoyed sound, and I heard him drawing a blade. I held out my hand behind me, shaking my head. “No.”
One minute came and went, and I hung my head with a sad sigh.
I looked back up at the castle, studying those young, eager faces in the windows. The only difference now was that I noticed adults also staring back at me, and the majority of them wore smug grins and haughty sneers. The look a noble would give a common peasant in the middle ages.
Disdain. Scorn. Disgust.
I shook my head sadly, disappointed in them for corrupting our youth.
They thought they could hide behind their lies and historic reputation—that their true cruelty was hidden behind the cloak of their noble institution.
Just like they thought they could hide behind their wards.
It was time to teach them an abject lesson in the futility of shields made from paper and light.
I focused on the wards themselves, studying their inner workings. In the span of ten seconds, I saw at least three different ways that I could break through them without using my wizard’s magic.
Granted, I was unlike any other wizard these children had ever seen. I had access to magic from various, strange places, thanks to my parents raising me with tough love, and not permitting me to be indoctrinated by the very establishment looming before me now.
I chose one of the weaknesses and calmly walked up to the barrier.
I drew deeply on my Fae magic and lifted my hand to the ward. Then I obliterated it with a maelstrom of shadows, drawing them from every tree within one mile and attacking the dome with…perhaps a billion arrows of darkness—one for every dollar they had placed on my head.
The dome cracked ominously—like a frozen pond bearing too much weight. Then it simply shattered into fragments the size of my fist, disappearing before the pieces of magic had time to fall more than a foot through open air.
I stood there for five seconds, letting them see that I wasn’t hunched over, that I wasn’t gasping for breath, and that I hadn’t used some strange artifact.
I stood with my head held high and my shoulders straight.
Then I hurled a blast of Fae fire—a living, breathing entity of flame I had made friends with once upon a time—at their outer gate. The fire raged like napalm, melting the iron to white-hot slag that finally dripped down into distorted globs on their front lawn and driveway.
I stared up at the windows.
“Behold the truth, children of magic. Your wise and noble mentors chose to bravely hide behind you rather than take responsibility. If you aren’t careful, you will be molded in their image. You are who you associate with, after all. If I could leave you with one lesson, it would be this. Dynasty is not destiny. Nobility is not class. Ask yourself what kind of person you want to see in the mirror, because one day…you’ll be responsible for making this place better.”
I brushed off my hands, surveying the damage I’d caused.
“If the contract on my life is not removed within the hour, I will come back and burn this place to the ground. Students, it’s time to call your parents and let them know that class has been canceled. Unless you choose to stand with your professors after seeing how concerned they were for your safety. In that case, I will be back very soon for a final goodbye.”
I turned my back on the castle and walked back to Carl.
He nodded satisfactorily, but his gaze almost met mine for a fraction of a second.
“We’re done here, Carl. Let’s go pick a fight with someone our own size.”
He nodded again, holding out his hand.
Chapter 39
We arrived back in the warehouse to find Loki shouting at the top of his lungs as War and Alucard struggled to shove him down into a large rectangular crate.
Loki saw me and cried out in relief. “Nate!”
War and Alucard glanced over at me and shrugged shamelessly.
“He wouldn’t shut up, and the finger-snap trick wouldn’t work,” Alucard said.
War nodded. “I wanted to hit him in the mouth until he learned to keep it shut, but you didn’t want us harming him. Seemed like a good compromise.”
I sighed. “Get him out of there. We�
�re leaving.”
They hoisted him up and carried him away from the box. “Down on three,” Alucard murmured. “One, two—”
They dropped him onto his back, and Loki gasped, losing his breath.
“Three,” Alucard said. “Next time maybe don’t talk so much shit. Especially about my friends,” he muttered, already walking away.
I grunted, appreciating Loki’s punishment much more now that I knew he’d earned it and that they hadn’t been unnecessarily cruel. “Who was he talking shit about?” I asked.
Alucard was busy speaking softly to Carl and holding out his fist. Carl cocked his head and awkwardly extended his own fist. Alucard nodded approvingly and bumped his knuckles against the Elder’s fist. Then they stared at each other for a few seconds. Alucard nodded, answering Carl’s unspoken question in low tones.
Their strange connection was both creepy and cute, because Alucard had always antagonized Carl, poking fun at him or pranking him. To see them now bonding…it reminded me of how brothers often went through a stage of mutual hatred before becoming best friends later on in life.
War walked up to me, shaking his head in amusement as he watched them. “Loki was acting all brave and tough, talking crap about Elders. Carl, specifically. I didn’t know that Alucard felt so strongly about Carl, to be honest.”
I grunted, studying the two unlikely friends. “They weren’t friends before. Well, Alucard didn’t get along with Carl very well, anyway. He was always annoyed by Carl’s utter lack of any and all social graces.”
War frowned. “Well, he didn’t act like it while you were gone. Pissed him right the hell off. But we didn’t do anything Loki didn’t deserve. I’m not a sadist.”
“And dropping him?” I asked, ignoring the wheezing sound of Loki calling out my name.
War shrugged. “I could have sworn he said three.”
I rolled my eyes, finally turning to face Loki. I covered my mouth and spoke the phrase to unbind him. The harness whipped open and I swiftly scooped it up to tuck back into my satchel before Loki got any bright ideas. I wasn’t sure why the finger-snap hadn’t worked for them while I was gone, but I didn’t really care at the moment. It had served its purpose.
Ascension: Nate Temple Series Book 13 Page 23