The Lightning Conjurer

by Rachel Rener

  “I’ll get Savannah,” I cut in. “Not you. I don’t trust her anywhere near you.”

  “Agreed,” Ori added, casting a wary glance my way. “Since it seems like Aiden and I have things to discuss, we’ll go get her. Together.”

  I frowned in his general direction but said nothing.

  Just as Aspen opened her mouth to argue, Eileen’s voice cut her off. “Let them go work out their dude stuff,” she called from the safety of the warm house. “Because if we have to be stuck with Savannah and this insane amount of machismo male testosterone, I might kill myself. Now come inside and make me hot chocolate. We clearly have things to catch up on.”

  Aspen stood her ground between the two of us, glancing from Ori to me. Then, with a resigned sigh, she turned to walk inside. “Listen to me,” she said over her shoulder, one foot in the doorway. “I need you – both of you. Whatever is going on, you guys have to work it out. Because these next few weeks aren’t about us. If we don’t get this right—”

  “The entire world is in some seriously deep shit,” Eileen interjected, pulling Aspen inside. “C’mon. We have things to plan.”

  With one final look in my direction, Aspen let Eileen shut the door behind them.

  “Can I at least get my jacket?” Ori yelled.

  A moment later, the door opened and two jackets flew in our general direction.

  After retrieving my lighter and snow-dusted jacket from the ground, I cast him a dirty look. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

  “Which part? The awkward car ride or having to pick up Señorita Psychopath?”

  “Both,” I muttered, trudging toward the driveway.

  ***

  Despite Ori’s remark about clearing the air, we said nothing to one another for most of the winding mountain drive to the highway. After a few minutes, I eventually cleared my throat. “So… this election tour of yours. Where are we starting? How many stops are there? Are we looking for Wilders at every stop or just a handful?”

  He replied without turning to look at me. “Denver. Then Tokyo for a brief meeting with Minister Saito. I’ll share the rest of the campaign itinerary after that.”

  “Are you saying we can’t discuss any details beforehand?”

  “I told Aspen the minimum last night; she understood the reasons for that. Not even the local Chapter heads will know we’re arriving until last minute.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. “So you expect us to just drop everything, not knowing where we’re going until we’re stepping on a jet in Tokyo?”

  “We don’t know how many undercover operatives there may be, okay?” he snapped. “The more we talk ahead of time, the greater chance there is of crucial information accidentally getting in the wrong hands.”

  I mulled over those disconcerting words as I navigated the tight mountain roads leading to the freeway. The asphalt was slick with black ice, making even the rugged tires of my jeep prone to dangerous slides.

  “Minister Saito and a small circle of trusted allies are aware of Kaylie’s plan,” Ori continued. “We know her rough timeline. But we haven’t uncovered all of her accomplices because we broke up before I could decode the names of all the people she was texting with on her burner phone.”

  I raised a critical eyebrow. “That’s the sophisticated way you and Mei have been gathering espionage? By snooping through your ex’s phone?”

  He shot me a cold glare – a look I was not at all accustomed to seeing on his normally jovial face. “You have no idea what I’ve had to do to get this information.”

  “Then why don’t you tell me?”

  “By the way,” he barreled on, ignoring my retort, “you do realize that I was an officer in the IDF for years before the Asterians negotiated my release, right? Do you think that maybe I have actual experience in espionage and intel gathering that you as a college professor would know nothing about?”

  The Israeli Defense Forces. I was taken aback by the reminder. I’d known Ori had been in the military – after all, it was compulsory for all Israeli youth – but he’d just called himself an officer. Not only that, but an officer of the intel-gathering variety.

  I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. “I’m sorry… are you saying you were a spy?”

  He turned back to his window, staring well past the snow-covered evergreens that blurred by. “I’m saying I had security clearance that prevents me from answering any more of your questions on the subject.”

  “I… see.” Frowning, I contemplated his remark. After four years, I had thought – rather naively, perhaps – that I knew pretty much everything about the man. He was just Ori – wisecracking, self-deprecating, Electromancer-extraordinaire Ori. But at that moment, I was beginning to see that there was much about Ori Levitan that I didn’t know. Like his time in the military, or his family… Come to think of it, why had he never mentioned them?

  “Anyway,” he muttered, “I will tell you the next steps on the plane, when we are sure the information can’t be leaked ahead of time.”

  My jaw clenched. How could he have the audacity to twice insinuate that I or anyone else in our close circle couldn’t be trusted with the basic details of the mission? Perhaps he was suited to be prime minister; after all, Barish himself had a massive superiority complex as well as a habit of using people for his own gain.

  The subsequent silence that fell between us was thick and palpable, settling in like early morning fog. I flipped on the radio, changing the station from classical to hard rock, and stared fixedly at the icy drive ahead. Of course, he and I had other things to discuss – the sooner the better – but what the hell was I supposed to say after the tense exchange we just had? ‘By the way, you gave my almost-wife a funny look last night and from that I can only deduce you’re in love with her’? Sure, my gut told me I was right, but that didn’t make the accusation any easier. And besides, what could he possibly say in response? His hands were tied. Lying was the only way to keep the peace, and apart from his recalcitrance about our upcoming trip, Ori was the most straightforward person I’d ever met. He couldn’t lie his way out of a soggy paper bag.

  At least, I didn’t think he could.

  And so, we sat in silence for the better part of a half hour, save for the quick directional comment as Ori navigated us to our destination using his phone since the normal route had heavy traffic from the storm. It wasn’t until I’d started scanning for our exit that he opened his mouth to speak.

  “Look, Aiden—”

  “Am I getting off here or on York Street?” I interrupted.

  “York. Stay on that for seven kilometers.”

  “Which is what? Four miles?”

  He shrugged. “Probably?”

  I suppressed an exasperated sigh as I signaled to get off at the next exit and merged onto the off-ramp. I knew this part of Denver well, having done guest lectures at the nearby university a handful of times. Normally, I had excited butterflies while driving down these streets – today, however, a heavy feeling of dread gnawed at my stomach. And the feeling wasn’t entirely about seeing Savannah.

  In another ten minutes we were pulling up to the nondescript brick building and wrought iron fence that always made my insides knot: the Denver Asterian Chapter. It didn’t matter what changes had been implemented, which new leaders it had, or which rules had been tweaked. It didn’t matter that Eileen and Sophia worked there almost every day, ensuring that it was a safe haven for regional Elementalists and their families, or that Ori personally created and oversaw a monthly committee that made Parliament business accessible to the general public. It was still the place where I’d almost died, where I fatally wounded a man to get Aspen and me out alive.

  It was a place I frankly would have liked to never see again.

  Parking across the street, I let the engine idle, unsure of what to do. Wait? Ring the bell? Go inside, God forbid? Given the secrecy surrounding our mission – not even Parliament knew what we were doing, apart from Mei herself –
I couldn’t imagine the three of us would be meeting for tea in Savannah’s old office. Particularly since it now belonged to Eileen, who wasn’t exactly a fan of her exiled predecessor. Sophia’s office wouldn’t do either, as it offered very little privacy down in the public training arena, and Ori’s dusty, neglected broom closet hadn’t been used in weeks and probably stank of month-old falafel, knowing his lunch habits.

  Just as I opened my mouth to ask, Ori reached forward to turn off the radio. Instead of announcing our next move, however, he leaned back in his seat and rubbed the bridge of his nose. After a long moment, he finally spoke. “Aiden, look… I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I’ve been a real schmuck to you and you’ve done nothing to deserve it.”

  I shot a surprised glance in his direction but said nothing in response. I didn’t want to be having this conversation, didn’t want there to be a need for this conversation. And yet, despite it being the worst possible timing, here we were. He’d held out the olive branch – and Aspen would want nothing more than for me to respond in kind.

  It was harder than I cared to admit.

  After a long moment, I released the breath I’d been holding since we parked. “I’ve done nothing… save for making plans to marry the woman you love, right?”

  Ori didn’t meet my eye. He peered through his window, watching a squirrel run up the side of a tall snow-covered oak and then scamper back down, sending clumps of snow falling to the ground. I thought he was going to ignore my comment altogether, but after a long pause he eventually cleared his throat.

  “My relationship with Kaylie was… difficult. Constant drama. Constant fighting. Constant worry and paranoia thoughts – we would go days without talking while she was on her book tours. At least, that’s where she told me she was. I never knew who she was with. What she was doing. When she would decide to finally leave me for good. But she was a great distraction. I was never bored, never had time to think too much. I was so caught up in the… the – what’s the thing like a tornado?” Ori asked, making a circular motion with his finger.

  “Whirlwind?”

  “Yes. The whirlwind of all of it. Between our chaotic relationship and my new role as Speaker, I was always busy. Busy enough that I didn’t think of… other things.”

  I ground my teeth but said nothing.

  “I was so desperate for distraction that I accepted constant verbal abuse. Dishonesty. ‘Unfidelity.’ It wasn’t until I accidentally discovered her psycho plan that I finally found enough courage to leave. It’s the only good thing that came from me dragging my feet. You say that in English, right? Dragging your feet?”

  “Yeah, we do,” I replied, somewhat surprised. It wasn’t every day English and Hebrew agreed on idioms – not that it was remotely relevant to the conversation. “Look… I’m genuinely sorry, Ori. I didn’t know any of that.”

  He shrugged, his eyes still glued to the squirrel outside his window. “Without Kaylie… that is, without the drama and the sex – and elohim adirim, sex with a crazy woman is incredible – there was this empty place in my heart and in my head. The things I had been distracting myself from were right there. Even though those ‘things’ stopped showing up to Assemblies… I couldn’t stop thinking about them.”

  He finally turned to look at me. “If I could stop my feelings, I would. I’ve tried. You have no idea how I’ve tried. But, well… try to stop loving her. See how that goes for you.”

  At that moment, a feeling I really didn’t want to have crept in my head: empathy. I couldn’t imagine being around Aspen and forcing myself to pretend I didn’t love her. Way back in the beginning, when I didn’t know what to make of her and couldn’t even be sure she was trustworthy, I tried to push those budding feelings away, to attempt to see her as a little sister instead of the immaculate woman she was. And everyone knows how that turned out.

  I shook my head slowly. “That’s why you’re constantly making jokes, acting like a clown. It’s all a façade.”

  “I don’t know what façade means but if it’s like building a wall around your heart, then yes… I have not had an easy life. In the military, no one ever thinks the joking guy is a threat – so I used that to my advantage. It saved my life in more than one situation. And everywhere else… well, laughter is the great eraser, you see. People do not see you. It’s safer that way.”

  I gave him a long look, which he returned. “Ori, I’m sorry. Really. I wish—”

  A sharp tap on the window made me jump in my seat. Ori let out a shrill curse.

  Whipping around, I could see the source of the tap: a long, perfectly manicured red fingernail. Behind it, an oversized pair of designer sunglasses peered through the glass. Savannah’s red-painted lips stretched into a wide smile. “Well, hey there, handsome. Long time no see.”

  Chapter 6

  ’ve never struck a woman in my life but at that moment I wanted nothing more than to hurl my fist through the glass and straight into her smug, upturned nose. The feeling was so strong, in fact, that I refused to remove my hands from the steering wheel for the sake of my driver’s-side window.

  “Tell me there’s absolutely no other way to find these Wilders, Ori,” I growled through my teeth.

  “I would ask Saddam Hussein’s ghost if it meant we didn’t have to bring her along,” he muttered. “She’s the only living person who has the information we need. And the only way she’d offer it up is if we took her out of house arrest and let her come along. I’m sorry.”

  I took a moment to make sure I had the self-control necessary to release the steering wheel I was assaulting and inhaled deeply. Having to hit the unlock button felt like having to stab my own thigh with a fork. The ensuing click reverberated inside the Jeep like a death knell. When Savannah reached to open the door to the back seat, every muscle in my body tensed for battle.

  “Uh… should I get out and help her with her luggage?” Ori whispered.

  I glanced in the sideview mirror. The woman was lugging two massive suitcases, a Louis Vuitton purse, and a laptop bag slung across her massive fur coat. Gritting my teeth, I unbuckled my seatbelt and shoved the door open. Without a word or a glance in her direction, I grabbed the two suitcases and lobbed them into the back of the Jeep.

  “Careful,” she snapped. “The contents of that purple bag are worth more than this car.”

  “Just get in,” I muttered, getting back in the driver’s seat.

  With a small huff, she slid into the backseat. Ori and I exchanged wary looks as I put the car in gear, leaving the dilapidated brick façade of the Asterian Order behind. I resisted the urge to watch her from the rearview mirror, not wanting to make eye-contact with the woman. But curiosity got the better of me and I couldn’t help but sneak a peek or two as we slunk through several stop signs on the way out of the neighborhood. She’d had work done since the last time I saw her at the D.C. Chapter, years ago. The mottled pink scars that had covered half of her face had significantly improved; whatever reconstructive surgery she’d undergone had resulted in skin that looked relatively smooth, albeit slightly discolored. And her left eyebrow had either grown back or was skillfully penciled in. With the amount of makeup that she wore, it was hard to tell that the entire left side of her face had once been badly singed by Aspen’s powerful jet of Fire – a maneuver done entirely out of self-defense.

  “Like what you see?” Savannah smiled, catching my fleeting glance. “I was able to get laser skin therapy with my Aggregator check. I’d say it makes me look at least five years younger, wouldn’t you?”

  I had to consciously stop myself from grinding my teeth. After everything the woman had done, they’d given her an allowance? Unbelievable. I rolled my eyes at her in the mirror. “Really? That’s all you have to say? It’s been four years since you had your henchmen try to kill me and tortured my fiancée, but you want to talk about cosmetic surgery?”

  “Fiancée?” she smirked. “I have to confess, I’m surprised your relationship has lasted this long. Rowan always
struck me as too naive and immature for a man of your… caliber.”

  I clenched the steering wheel tighter. “Don’t you have anything useful to discuss? Such as the upcoming mission that you weaseled your way into?”

  “Oh, we’ll get to all that in time,” she smiled. “We’re just getting reacquainted.”

  Ori cleared his throat. “Don’t forget that the only reason you’re here is to help us. Otherwise, you’ll go back to house arrest – and this time, without that nice monthly pension. Speaking of which, how was your four-year vacation?”

  “I believe you mean ‘Sequestration.’ I’d never choose to stop working.” From the rearview mirror, I watched her lift her chin haughtily. “Then again, you both knew that, since it’s your girlfriend’s fault I lost my prestigious position – and I do mean the royal ‘your,’ by the way,” she smirked, causing Ori to visibly wince. “But that’s all water under the bridge now, isn’t it?” Her voice sounded far too cheerful to be sincere.

  I sighed. It was definitely time to change the subject. “Ori, can you at least tell me something about our itinerary? For example, how long will we be in Tokyo? Who are we meeting besides Mei? Where are we going after that?”

  Ori opened his mouth to answer but Savannah interjected. “A little town tucked away in the Japanese mountains called Shirakawa-go. Followed by a trip to Chamonix, France.”

  I gaped at Savannah in the rearview mirror. “We’re going to France? Why?”

  She rolled her eyes as though the answer to my question was the most obvious in the world. “Holding a rally at the new Paris Chapter is the perfect front for Ori’s idiotic election bid. They just finished construction on their brand-new Western European hub which will be able to accommodate the thousands of Asterian members living in the E.U. Meanwhile, there’s a small village near Mont Blanc that houses one of the largest Wilder congregations in the world. For centuries, unaffiliated Elementalists have been gathering there from all over the region. And according to Barish, no one – not even Keres – knew about their existence. That is, as of four years ago they didn’t. Who knows what might have been discovered since his passing?”