The Lightning Conjurer

by Rachel Rener

  My footsteps had already slowed considerably. I’d desperately wanted to speak to Lucas alone so we could attempt to sit as two civilized people and discuss a potential truce – particularly after Obsidian’s tragic loss of life at Yellowstone. If I showed up with an armada of Asterians, even just a couple dozen personal guards, I knew it would be perceived as an act of war – something I was trying to avoid at all costs. I’d already been involved in one bloody Elemental battle four years ago, when the Inner Circle violently collapsed. There had been so many senseless deaths that day. So much bloodshed and loss. This time around, I was determined to avoid that at all costs.

  “Aspen-chan,” she tried again. “Your safety is of utmost importance, both to the community, and to me.”

  “I love you too, Mei,” I smiled.

  Taking her sage advice to heart, I slowed to consider my options, concentrating on every deliberate step as the eternal staircase sloped to the right, making my stomach pitch. I must have descended a hundred and fifty feet already, with the bottom of the staircase nowhere in sight. The air of the passageway was muggy and stale, making it hard to breathe. With a wave of my hand, I mustered a light breeze to circulate the air around me. As I did, I heard Sophia’s voice in my head, our group’s wise, unwavering voice of reason:

  Turn around, Aspen. Don’t put yourself in danger. We’ll find another way.

  I sighed. Imaginary Sophia and real-life Mei were right. Lucas had already lost dozens of Obsidian members in Wyoming, and now he’d have to grapple with the loss of his father, a profound and terrible pain that I unfortunately knew all too well. Showing up alone, even if it was with the sole intention of offering my heartfelt condolences, was just too risky. I started back up the stairs, my brain and lungs cheering as I did.

  “Okay, Mei, I—”

  I jumped, nearly falling down three steps as the phone in my back pocket buzzed. How on earth was there cell service all the way down here?

  You are treading directly underneath the Pentagon, one of the other practical voices that lived in my head pointed out. Impressed nevertheless, I pulled the phone out of my pocket, pausing on the edge of a step as the walls seemed to close in tighter and tighter. “Yes?”

  “Rowan,” a familiar voice breathed into the phone. The screeching feedback from the two microphones almost made me drop the phone.

  “Gah!” I winced. “Mei, everyone, hang tight. Going offline for a minute. Everything’s fine.” I clicked off the earpiece. “Who is this?” I held the phone to my ear again.

  “He’s out of control,” the woman croaked. “I-I never meant for this to happen. Not like this.”

  “Kaylie?” I gasped. “Is that you? How did you get this number?”

  Something rustled in the background, then another familiar voice spoke into the phone. “Minister-sama, it’s Kumiko. I tracked Kaylie-san down myself and asked her to call you right away.”

  “Rowan, listen to me,” Kaylie cut in. “I only commissioned the bomb to use as leverage, to show we meant business, you know? I wanted to make sure the Deficients would leave us in peace once we revealed ourselves… I never… I didn’t…” her voice broke. “It was just for show, for self-defense, I swear! I never had any intention of actually using it!”

  I scoffed at the phone in my hand. “Oh, come on. What about the volcano? And the Global Summit?” I demanded. “Was that all part of your so-called peaceful plan?”

  “There were no plans!” she wailed. “All of that was Lucas’s idea, not ours! Rana and I just wanted to gather as many Elementalists as possible, bring them over to our new community, and live our lives out in the open. I even instructed our members not to attack Deficients anymore! That’s why we had the bomb made in the first place – it was just supposed to be a big stick to wave around!”

  I decided to puzzle over ‘not wanting to hurt anyone’ and ‘building a bomb’ later. “So, what happened?” I pressed. “Where are you?”

  “We had to run,” she replied. “A big group of us are here, just outside the district. It was that or he was going to kill us.”

  “Wait. Literally kill you?”

  “Yes!”

  “Kaylie, listen to me,” I said, making the prudent decision to jog, not walk, the rest of the way up. “I need you and Rana and anyone else you have over there—”

  “Rana’s dead!” she wailed hysterically.

  “What?” I tripped and nearly dropped the phone. By this point, I was pretty much running up the stairs – a radical feat in high heels.

  “He killed her! He killed her in plain sight! The only reason the rest of us got away is because he let us! You can’t reason with this man, Rowan, he’s insane! Completely and absolutely—”

  The call was cut abruptly, just as every flickering light in the corridor went out, leaving me in pitch blackness. My breath hitched halfway down my throat, not quite making it to my lungs where it was desperately needed.

  “G’day, Rowan.” A man’s voice was in my ears, in my head, all around me.

  Staggering back, I snatched Aiden’s old silver lighter from my pocket, drawing a ball of Fire from the spark. It hovered just above my hand, its comforting orange light reflecting off the bare walls. No one was there. I gasped as the light was abruptly snuffed out, plunging the staircase into darkness once more. Staring at the place it once burned, I was as stunned as I was frightened. No one had ever successfully extinguished my Fire before. Not even Aiden.

  “Or do ya prefeh Aspen?” the same voice snickered. This time, I distinctly heard the Australian accent.

  “Lucas,” I whispered.

  “The very same.”

  I reached for my lighter again, my fingers brushing against the stupid cookie that I’d shoved in there earlier. Evelyn’s earlier reminder was echoing in my head: Now you march right in there – bring a cookie or two for good measure – and talk things out like sensible people!

  And if he’s not sensible? I’d asked, stifling a laugh.

  Eat it anyway to keep your blood sugar up!

  I cleared my throat. The situation had devolved way past cookies and well into deranged killer territory, at least according to Kaylie. I did, however, remember my mother once remarking that sociopathic personalities tend to feed off of drama and fear. Which meant composure was key.

  “Listen, let’s drop the theatrics and be reasonable, okay? We’ll just talk. You and me. Preferably in the light.”

  “We are talking.”

  I recoiled, clutching the wall for balance. His voice sounded like it was centimeters away, but I couldn’t see a thing. By this point, between the pitch blackness, my acute claustrophobia, and the creepy voice taunting me from inside my head, I was doing everything I could not to panic. “Lucas, just tell me what you want. You want… what? What Kaylie wanted? To be able to show the rest of the world what we are without repercussions?”

  Silence followed.

  My hand tensed around my lighter. “A lot of Elementalists feel the same way you do,” I continued, as calmly as I could. “So, you know, let’s discuss what that might look like. We don’t need to be on opposite teams. We can work together, find a solution…” my voice trailed off as I quietly flipped the top of my lighter open, getting ready to flick the spark wheel again. “Look, I’m not saying this to threaten you, but I do have people upstairs.”

  “Then I reckon you and I better take care of ‘em, eh possum?”

  Before I could make a move to do it myself, my earpiece shocked back to life, emitting a terrible screech against my eardrum. “Augh!” I clutched the side of my head.

  “Aspen!” Mei was shouting. “Aspen-chan, do you copy? We’re coming to you! Repeat, two minutes ETA!”

  I sucked in a ragged breath as two glowing purple eyes appeared in front of me, inches from my own. You don’t really need Mei, do you, Aspen? Lucas’s voice rumbled in my head. A blinding flash of ultraviolet light seared into my corneas, the shock knocking me hard on my ass. I let out a yelp as my back scrap
ed against the sharp edge of a concrete step, ripping the fabric of my shirt. But I couldn’t make myself stand. Glowing, gossamer-thin threads of Electricity began crisscrossing in front my vision to make a tight, mesmerizing web of ultraviolet light that grew brighter and brighter as it solidified, eventually burning a hole through my vision that was brighter than Lightning.

  As stabbing pain seared through the left side of my head, I heard the foreign words tumbling out of my mouth: “Oh, I don’t need you, Mei. Everything is apples down here.”

  What? No! a tiny voice screamed in the back of my mind. What are you saying?!

  “But Aspen—”

  “I found Lucas,” I replied smoothly. Wait, stop! “He’s being extremely gracious despite being under the pump. Kaylie’s the one who’s out of control – everything that’s happened is her fixing. Lucas, however, is doing everything he can to find and help reign her in for us.”

  “He is?”

  No! The voice cried out. Please help me!

  “Yes. In fact, he knows her next mark, so I need you to get there right away while I continue to get vital information from him and his team.”

  A male’s voice cut in. “Minister, we request confirmation – you want us to leave while you remain at Obsidian? Are you sure?”

  No, please, the voice in my head whimpered. Please stop it…

  “Dead set. Er, affirmative.”

  By now, I was floating in a sea of neon violet, squinting my eyes against the searing white edges of my hijacked vision. In the back of my mind, that same feeble voice wouldn’t stop begging and pleading with me. I clamped my hands over my ears, trying to block out the noise. Why was she screaming? Couldn’t she just be quiet?

  “Uh, Aspen-chan…” Mei spoke up. “Nina wanted me to ask you about Squad Seven.”

  Yes, of course! the voice shouted. That’s the secret code to let them know you’re in duress! Say, ‘Let them fly!’ LET THEM FLY!

  “Keep them grounded,” I replied smoothly.

  “Oh, good,” she answered, breathing what sounded like a sigh of relief.

  Send them away, Lucas’s voice thundered in my ears.

  “I want you to leave immediately,” I ordered. “Don’t send anyone down; I have Kumiko here with me which is more than enough. Now, you’ll be receiving the exact coordinates of Kaylie’s location shortly. In the meantime, get on I-95 and head north to Baltimore. She’s carting the bomb there. Bring absolutely everyone you can. We’ll need every member we have in order to put a stop to this!”

  “Aspen—”

  “We don’t have time for a bloody debate, Mei! You’ve got my orders, now go!”

  “Copy, Minister,” the man’s voice interjected. “Our apologies for earlier noncompliance. We’re on our way.”

  The earpiece crackled again as it died, this time for good.

  Lucas clicked his tongue. “Good on ya, Aspen. Although, that was a lot easier than it should have been. What have you been doing all these years? Sitting around, reading books, getting soft?”

  Sprawled across the stairs, still blinded by that terrible light, my mind was my own once more. And yet when I tried to scramble to my feet, my limbs weren’t working right. “What have you done to me?” I managed to choke out.

  There was no answer; instead, a rough hand cracked my head against the concrete wall, replacing piercing ultraviolet with endless, sweeping blackness.

  Chapter 31

  akey wakey, little Pentamancer,” a voice was calling. “It’s time to go to school.”

  I let out a groan, my fingers creeping tenderly to the side of my head where I was surprised to discover a large bandage. Oddly enough, it didn’t hurt much when I put pressure on it. I opened my eyes, one at a time, to find a young man sitting across from me at a desk. Dirty blond ringlets fell past his ears and his skin was tanned to the point of freckling, the tip of his nose flaking with sun damage. Clad in a button up shirt and khaki shorts, he was staring at me with a smug expression, fingers steepled in front of him. He couldn’t have been older than thirty; if anything, he looked a few years younger than me.

  “Did you have a nice nap?” Lucas smirked. “I was starting to get impatient.”

  Gathering my muddled thoughts, I glanced around the room, taking in my surroundings. I recognized this office; it had belonged to the Chief Medical Officer of the old D.C. Asterian Chapter. In fact, some of his family pictures were still hanging on the wall.

  “Ugh.” I craned my neck from side to side, checking for signs of a concussion.

  “Oh, don’t you worry about the little bump I gave you,” Lucas smiled. “We already bandaged you up. After all, I need you to be in tip-top shape for what happens next.”

  Gripped by the overwhelming urge to slap that smug expression off his face, I pictured my mother, trying to imagine what she would tell me if she were here now. He’s killed people, Rosebud. He attacked you without hesitating. You’re not dealing with a rational or healthy man. Don’t give him what he wants. Be calm. Show restraint. Visualize your escape.

  Easier said than done.

  I took a deep, centering breath, then gently peeled the gauze bandage away, wincing as I yanked out several strands of hair along with it. “Thank you for treating my injury,” I smiled politely. “Would you care to tell me what happens next? Or better yet… maybe take a moment to introduce yourself? It would be nice to get to know another Pentamancer.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched. This wasn’t the response he’d been expecting. “You’re not even going to whinge about the nuke? Or try to suss it out?”

  With a tremendous amount of self-control, I shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly. “I figured you’d just lie.”

  “Defo,” he nodded, considering my words. “But believe me or not, mate, the bomb is right here, tucked safely beneath the Pentagon – right where it will do the most damage.” A proud grin cut across his face.

  Don’t react. Don’t react. Don’t react. “That would cause a lot of damage,” I agreed. “It would immediately vaporize you and me, for instance. Which is why I don’t think you’ll actually use it.” Before he could interject, I swept on. “Hey, before we start talking end-of-world stuff, I’d love to know your story. The only Pentamancer in the southern hemisphere. What was that like?”

  He grinned. “Ah, trying to appeal to my inner narcissist, I see. Reckon you think you have me all figured out. Let me guess. You think I’m a maniacal sociopath with delusions of grandeur and megalomania… Insatiably power-hungry to compensate for poor self-esteem and a rotten childhood… right?”

  “Umm…” This time, I was the one shifting uncomfortably.

  “Yeah, nah.” He cracked a crooked smile. “I had a great childhood. I was just told from the time I was in nappies that I would grow up to become the most powerful human on earth. And so my mothers had me train like a battler, every single day from that moment on to be the most powerful human on earth. My father, who was the head of our compound, was already making plans with a couple of his wives to send me back into the world and take my rightful place in it. So, this was just a sickly-timed op for me to snatch up.”

  I couldn’t help but notice that he’d mentioned his father using past-tense. Mei told me herself that his father was dead, but his son didn’t seem to be grieving, just gloating. Was it possible he didn’t know?

  Wait… The knot in my stomach tightened further as I considered the rest of his words. ‘Compound’? ‘Wives’? This guy wasn’t from a tribe. It frankly sounded like he was from a cult. And considering the fact that their settlement had been in the middle of the Australian outback, I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d been forcibly banished out there at some point.

  “Anyway,” Lucas continued, not bothering to check if I was listening or not, “when those crawlers from the great Asterian Order ‘discovered’ us and confirmed what we already knew – that finding someone with my abilities is about as scarce as hen’s teeth – my tribe and I knew it was time to put m
y training to work. Joining up with the Asterians, or Obsidian, or whatever the hell you people choose to call yourselves, is simply a means to get there. That said,” he leaned forward in his pilfered seat, pressing his palms against the desk, “I need a single, unified organization of Elementalists to stake my claim on the world. And I can’t do that with two divided factions. You get me, possum?”

  Ugh! If I had met this creep in a bar, I’d have already thrown a drink in his face. Seriously. He made (opiate-free) Savannah look humble and emotionally stable. Unfortunately, based on that extraordinary – and extraordinarily creepy – Electromantic stunt he pulled in the staircase, it appeared he had some tricks up his sleeves that I didn’t. I shivered, suddenly feeling vulnerable. He had penetrated my mind and cheerfully violated me from the inside out… and I had been utterly powerless against it. Which meant I had no choice but to stick to pleasantries and cautious observation – for now, at least. Mei and the others would be back soon.

  “So… what you’re saying,” I hedged, “is that you need our two organizations to kiss and make up in order to successfully dominate the world.”

  “Obviously. With all of our forces combined – Obsidian, Asterian, and all the unaffiliated hicks out there – we’d easily have, what, twenty-five, maybe even thirty thousand of us? I’d control an army that could cream all the others in the world combined! But, you see, there’s the other hitch: I can’t have another Pentamancer running around and muddying the waters with her Mother Teresa humanitarianism. So, I’ll also have to kill you today.” He grimaced apologetically. “No offense.”

  “Oh. Well, none taken,” I replied, eyes darting around the room to find an exit. Or a suitable bludgeon.

  He laughed. “No, not here, ya drongo! I have to make it look official, right? Otherwise, it’s just murder. And even though we both know that’s actually exactly what it’s going to be, the charade is important. All the bogans start whinging when you start breaking any of the ten commandments, you know? But hey, you seem like a curious bird, so I’ll you how it’s going to go: we’re going to battle for the title of Minister, since your little Manifesto has a big gaping hole in the extraordinarily rare event of two Pentamancers existing at the same time. If I kill you and become the only Pentie left, I win all – a wee bloke from the bush running the show. Pretty bonkers, right?” He beamed. “Can you tell I did my research before chasing Kaylie and the others away?”