The rest of us could probably sit back and watch while you burn through all the arxium around Lumina City on your own. That’s what Saoirse had said. But did she really know? She didn’t. She’d been guessing. Hoping.
You can, magic said, and there was that feeling that had pervaded Ridley’s being after she’d burned through the Shadow Society building in the wastelands. The sense that magic was pleased with her.
Without giving her doubt another moment to strengthen its hold on her, she shot toward the panels. She fragmented before reaching them, racing through the air on the wind, spreading out further and further until her air self felt as if it encompassed the entire dome of panels. Then, with a single explosive thought, she let go entirely.
BURN.
An inferno of apocalyptic proportions erupted instantly across the sky, igniting every arxium panel in a second. The fiery mass blotted out the sky for barely a moment, and then the force of the magic hurled every burning panel outward and away from the city.
It felt to Ridley as if a tiny piece of herself was launched into the wastelands along with each of those panels. If not for the pendant she wore, she might have been so far-flung that it could have taken hours, days for her to pull herself back together. But she retained enough focus to snap herself back into a single ball of flames. Then into a gust of air.
She remained high up, watching as the broken pieces of Lumina City’s wall slowly burned themselves down to nothing. Further out in the wastelands, the fiery specks that were the burning arxium panels blinked out one by one until none were left. Finally, Ridley watched as the clouds that had been rolling overhead all morning drifted apart just enough for sunlight to stream through, lighting up several gleaming glass skyscrapers.
Exhausted, relieved, amazed—an overwhelming combination that mostly just made her want to cry—Ridley swooped over the buildings of the Opal Quarter, looking out for one in particular. A building with a rooftop garden. A building where Archer was waiting for her.
30
Ridley found Archer holding onto the railing that encircled the edge of the Boards24 Building’s rooftop garden, staring up at the blue sky that was visible in a gap between the clouds. She stepped out of the air and brushed aside a palm frond.
“Archer,” she said quietly, not wanting to startle him. He turned immediately. His expression mirrored the mix of emotions she was feeling, but there was also a question in his gaze. An uncertainty.
Right. That probably had something to do with the kiss Ridley had left him with earlier. After telling him she would never trust him again, a kiss was understandably confusing. She wanted to explain that she’d heard everything he said on the video he’d broadcast to the world and that she forgave him for all that was in the past, but words seemed like they required a lot of effort right now, and actions were simpler.
She walked to him, slid her arms around his waist, and pressed herself against his chest. His arms came up around her back, holding her tightly to him. His cheek rested against her head. “You did it,” he said.
She nodded, but didn’t answer.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m … tired.” Tired was an understatement. She was utterly spent. She wasn’t sure if she could change form now if she tried. Now that everything was over, she wanted to hold onto Archer and never let go. She wanted to ask a dozen questions—how was he able to use magic again after Saoirse had done that conjuration on him? Where did he go after Ridley left him at Mrs. Adams’ place? What was he doing at his father’s research facility when the wall began collapsing? She wanted to find Lilah and give her the stone before it was too late. She wanted to hug Dad tighter than she’d ever hugged him before and tell him he would never, ever stop being her father. Mostly, she wanted to lie down and sleep for days.
But her mother’s stone was heavy around her neck, reminding her that finding Lilah was the priority now. She stepped out of Archer’s embrace just far enough to be able to twist her head around and look behind her. “Have you seen Lilah?”
“Here?” Archer asked. “No, why would she be here?”
“She told me to meet her here. I need to give her …” Ridley trailed off, realizing that Archer might not be up to date on this particular piece of news. “Do you know about her? About … her magic?”
Archer’s eyebrows almost vanished into his hairline. “Her what?”
A shrill siren pierced the air, and both Ridley and Archer turned toward the sound. It wasn’t the fact that it was a siren that caught their attention. Sirens and alarms had been blaring since Nathan and the others had first begun breaking the wall apart. It was the type of siren that made Ridley’s nerves jump. The single, high-pitched wail followed by a short, upbeat jingle. It meant there was an important announcement about to be broadcast onto the billboard screens across the city.
She and Archer leaned on the railing and peered down. Ridley’s eyes sought out the nearest billboard and found it just as the current advertisement—a woman with impossibly shiny hair holding a shampoo bottle—was replaced by an image of Mayor Madson sitting behind a desk. He greeted the public as Archer swore quietly. “This can’t be good.”
“… address the devastation that has been brought upon our city by a group of radicals,” the mayor was saying. “But first I must urge you all to remain calm. The city wall and arxium panels may be gone, but we are extremely fortunate that the wasteland magic is currently experiencing what scientists term a ‘rest phase.’”
“Rest phase, my ass,” Ridley snorted.
“I assure you that the appropriate emergency protocol has already been initiated,” the mayor continued, “and we will be erecting interim protection while new arxium infrastructure is built.”
Ridley shook her head. “Right. ‘Interim protection.’ He means mobile arxium gas machines that will cause new magical storms and remind everyone they should be afraid after all.”
“… gone viral on all the social feeds,” the mayor was now saying, and Ridley pressed a fist against her lips as her heart thudded with anxiety. “A video of a very unstable young man spreading lies and attempting to delude the rest of the world. Many of you know Archer Davenport. You know about his problems with alcohol and drugs. He spent many months in a private facility recently, and his family believed he was ready to rejoin society. Unfortunately, his delusions have only grown worse.”
“Unbelievable,” Archer muttered beside Ridley. He shook his head and gripped the railing harder, his knuckles turning white. Ridley placed a hand gently over one of his.
“The sad truth is that this unstable young man uncovered a secret—a secret we have tried to keep safe for years for fear of causing further panic after the Cataclysm—and he has concocted wild tales around this secret. He has left me with no choice but to reveal a dangerous truth to you: The beings known as elementals are real. They are the ones who have attacked our city and exposed us to the harsh and deadly elemental magic of the wastelands. They are the ones—” he paused and let out a heavy sigh “—who are responsible for the Cataclysm.”
“What?” Ridley shrieked. “How dare he! They ruined the world, and now he’s blaming it on us?” She’d thought she had no energy left for anything, but it turned out fury was enough to wake her exhausted mind and body.
“I urge you to disregard the lies Archer Davenport is trying to spread. His past record of delinquent behavior and—”
The screen flickered. The image of Mayor Madson disappeared. Suddenly, eerily, it was Ridley’s own voice that she could hear ringing out from the billboard’s speakers: “I know the truth about the Cataclysm. I know what you did.”
Ridley’s breath vanished from her lungs. Her heart hammered wildly within her chest. Her hand gripped Archer’s so tightly that her fingers began to hurt. On the giant screen, she saw herself sitting on a bed, her arms and ankles bound. Alastair Davenport stood across the room from her.
“Somebody told you,” he said.
“You turned the GSMC in
to an apocalyptic event,” she accused.
Ridley’s nerves were so on edge, her heart thrashing so frantically in anticipation of his next words, that she thought she might throw up.
“I did,” Alastair Davenport replied, admitting to the entire world what he’d done. Ridley let out the breath she’d been holding, her body feeling weak and shaky and exhilarated all at once. “It was the perfect opportunity,” Alastair continued. “We couldn’t waste it. Thousands of magicists gathering together around the world. Energy conjurations plus amplification conjurations …” The pounding in Ridley’s ears drowned out the next few sentences, but it didn’t matter because she already knew what he’d said. He’d mentioned the Shadow Society. He’d mentioned—Ridley almost laughed with glee when she remembered—Jude Madson. He’d even spoken about manipulating the Secretary-General himself.
Her ears tuned in again as Alastair finished with, “… and the whole world went boom. Devastating, but perfect. Overpopulation? Solved. Magic? Confined to the wastelands. And that’s where it will stay for the rest of time.”
The recording froze and the screen faded to … black. Nothing. No mayor. No advertisements. No propaganda. When had there ever been nothing on the billboard screens? But there is was. Nothing but space and silence for people to contemplate exactly what Alastair Davenport, one of the world’s wealthiest and most influential people, had just confessed. He had planned the Cataclysm.
“Lilah did this,” Ridley murmured. “Lilah showed everyone the truth.” Then she straightened, urgency rushing through her. “Where is she?” She reached out with her magic. Where are you, Lilah?
The answer came at the same time as the sound of a banging door. Ridley raced through the garden, pushing aside leafy branches and exotic flowers. And there, hidden behind a hedge of red roses, was a brick structure and a door. Standing wide open. A body slumped across the threshold. A body with threads of gold glowing beneath every visible inch of her skin.
“Lilah!” Archer exclaimed, rushing past Ridley. He knelt and scooped her up so she lay across his lap, while Ridley crouched beside her, tugging the necklace off. She looped the chain over Lilah’s head, lowering the stone pendant to rest against the bare skin at the hollow of her neck. Lilah’s eyelids fluttered open and closed, revealing her glowing eyes.
“What the actual … Is this magic?” Archer asked.
“Mm hmm,” Lilah mumbled. Then she managed a weak smile. “Told you I know more of Dad’s secrets than you do. Also … he’s an asshole, and you were right about everything.” She lifted a shaky finger and pointed it at him. “Hope you were listening closely. Not gonna say that last bit again.”
Ridley almost laughed in relief—Lilah was going to be just fine—but the sound of voices sent her heart tripping over itself again. No one else should be up here. No one else should be close enough for her to hear. She rose to her feet and peered around the hedge, her eyes darting across the exquisitely expensive vegetation, her magic ready to hide her in an instant. She would take Archer and Lilah too, of course. Lilah might not be strong enough to use her own—
“Dad!” Ridley blurted out as he stepped around a tree with hundreds of tiny white blossoms. With no thought for how he could possibly be here, she launched past the roses and threw her arms around him. “Dad, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I just left. I’m sorry I called you a coward. I was so shocked and hurt and just … overwhelmed, but I should have stayed and talked to you. I shouldn’t have left like that. When I thought I might never see you again, I—”
“Rid, it’s okay. It’s … I’m the one who’s sorry.” Dad hugged her tightly. “I am a coward. I should have told you the truth long ago.”
Ridley sucked in a shuddering breath as tears gathered in her eyes. “You’ll always be my dad,” she whispered. “Always.”
Dad stepped back and took her face in his hands. “I’m so proud of you, sweetie. So, so proud of you. Look at what you’ve done. You always wanted to make a difference, and now you have.”
Ridley blinked as the tears slipped down her cheeks. She sniffed and wiped them away. “It wasn’t just me. I couldn’t have done it without help.” She noticed Nathan then, standing a few paces away, and suddenly she understood how Dad had come to be up here. “You’re okay,” she said with relief. “You got away from them. The fake elementals.”
“Yes. We were surprised and confused the first time, which is how we ended up losing people. But we were prepared this time. Just had to make sure they didn’t force us into human form.” He walked closer. “Malachi and I came back to search for you. He’s somewhere else in the city, still looking. I sensed your father before I sensed you, and he insisted I take him with me.”
Ridley gave Nathan a grateful smile. “Thank you for everything today. Thank you for drawing those other elementals away from the city.”
“Sure,” he said with a shrug. “Thank you for taking care of everything else.”
Ridley mimicked his shrug. “Easy peasy.”
“Well then.” He grinned. “Ready to get out there and liberate some more cities?”
31
The tiny living room in the apartment above Kayne’s Antiques had always been perfectly adequate for Ridley and her father. They didn’t exactly entertain much. Sometimes Meera and Shen were there too, but that was about as far as they pushed the limits of the living room’s size. But that evening, as most of Lumina City tried to figure out what the heck had just happened—while also gazing in wonder at a perfectly clear, star-studded night sky for the first time in years—seven people crowded into the Kaynes’ living room.
As tubs of Chinese takeout from across the road were passed around the room, Ridley slowly pieced together everything that had happened over the past few days.
As she was already aware, Dad had wound up at the Lins after Revolution Attempt Number One had failed. Knowing that something had gone terribly wrong and suspecting the Shadow Society had Ridley, he’d decided he couldn’t simply sit at the Lins and do nothing. Though he knew it was probably foolish, he went to Aura Tower to confront Alastair Davenport.
That, of course, hadn’t gone down well. Dad figured he could take care of himself—with no AI2 and a bunch of offensive and defensive conjurations up his sleeve—but Alastair had bench-pressing minions on his side, plus the ability to smoothly lie about taking Dad straight to Ridley—and then throwing him into an empty containment chamber instead. The next day, Grandpa had joined him there.
He hadn’t received the message Dad had sent him just before the reserve was attacked. The message that said Dad and Ridley had left Lumina City and were safe. He had, however, received a message from Mei Lin informing him that Ridley had accidentally revealed her magic and she and her father were on the run. He’d received the message days after it was sent, but as soon as he knew what had happened, he began making his way back to Lumina City. He was much further away than the last time he’d returned though, and the journey took him a number of days.
After entering the city via the bunker, he’d gone to Kayne’s Antiques, hoping to find a clue of Ridley or Dad’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, this was just after Ridley and Christa had escaped the research facility, and Alastair Davenport had people watching the apartment in case Ridley showed up there. They took Grandpa by surprise—meaning he didn’t get a chance to use any of those ancient badass conjurations he knew—and carted him off to Alastair to ask what to do with him. Alastair recognized him and figured it would be worth hanging onto him along with Ridley’s father. That was when he ended up in the containment chamber with Dad.
Archer had left Mrs. Adams after Ridley and Saoirse abandoned him and tried to contact Ridley’s dad. Either because of a signal problem or because Dad didn’t trust Archer anymore, he didn’t answer. Figuring he was on his own and should try to help in any way he could, Archer planned to look out for falling pieces of arxium and deflect them so no one got hurt. But when the fire in the clouds vanished soon after it began and the earthquakes
outside the city came to an end, he realized something had gone wrong. With no one left who trusted him, he decided to go to the bunker.
Turned out Christa was gone, and since the magic users living there were just regular people—meaning most of them probably weren’t even aware of elementals or the Shadow Society—there was no one there from either side reporting that Archer Davenport was a traitor. He was still there when Grandpa showed up. He told Grandpa everything that had happened since he’d fled the city with Ridley and her father—and since they’d ended up returning because of the Shadow Society’s attack on the reserve. He also told Grandpa the truth about the Cataclysm and his family being part of the Shadow Society.
Grandpa left the bunker, hoping he might be able to track down Ridley or Dad, but not before performing a conjuration that reversed the effects of the one Saoirse had done on Archer. He could pull magic again.
A few hours later, Archer heard about the wall coming down in Linevale. He realized change was happening after all and decided the one thing he could do was make sure as many people as possible knew the truth. So he sat in a room near the bunker’s entrance where it was possible to get a signal and did his live video recording.
Then he spent the rest of the night out of signal range, worrying about whether the Shadow Society had already come up with a way to fight back. Maybe his father had been able to get the video taken down. Maybe someone official—the Secretary-General himself, perhaps—had released an opposing story. The social feeds were global, after all, so it was possible the video had reached the SG. Would he take it seriously? Or did the man who governed the entire world have more important things to worry about?
But the following day, it seemed nothing had happened yet to Archer’s video confession aside from it going viral and racking up thousands of comments he didn’t even want to read let alone attempt to reply to.
Elemental Heir (Ridley Kayne Chronicles Book 3) Page 24