“Smells all clear,” I said softly.
As it turned out, the snow was covering some sort of grass or crop. We sank down into it as soon as we got out of the trees; some of it drifting above our knees in places. I regretted whatever had possessed me to wear sneakers as the icy snow began to cake on my jeans, before creeping under them and into my shoes. Jen picked up Rak as we walked, balancing him on her shoulder with one hand, clutching her wand in the other.
I stumbled as the ground changed abruptly near the barn. It felt harder under my feet and I wondered if we had reached the driveway.
“It’s warm,” Ember hissed suddenly.
I turned back to her. “What?” I mouthed.
“The barn,” she said, lowering her voice as we all moved closer to her. “Not the whole thing but there are a couple of hot spots… like a space heater or something.”
I inhaled deeply and there, somewhere amid the snow, I could smell something.
“I smell someone,” I said. I took another sniff. “It smells like a wizard!”
Mariana gasped softly and pointed. “Is that a car?!”
We all looked in the direction she had indicated and, sure enough, I could just make out the tires and the undercarriage of a car that was parked in the driveway. There was so much snow I hadn't even noticed it at first.
“Did Thomas and Dani say anything about a car?” Ember asked.
“They said it was abandoned,” Jen said. “I’m sure they would have mentioned a car if there was one…”
I edged a little closer to the barn. There were no windows, but the edges of the doors looked brighter than what was around them.
“I think there’s a light on in there,” I said.
“You’re right,” said Mariana.
“There’s someone here!” Jen said. She sounded slightly excited by the development, but nevertheless she raised her wand a little and I could hear her heartbeat speed up.
“How many?” Ember asked. She frowned toward the barn. “I can’t see any people.”
“It smells like just one,” I said. “The snow is so fresh it’s masking everything else.”
“Okay, one wizard,” Jen said, taking a step toward the barn.
“Wait, why would a wizard be here?” Ember demanded. “The whole Cavaliers operation is non-humans.”
We all exchanged a curious look.
“Dani said there were some witches and wizards at the castle,” Mariana said. “Remember, they want to become vampires?”
I thought of the message and added hopefully, “Maybe this guy doesn't have a wand either?”
We all laughed weakly, although I knew I wasn’t the only one who doubted we would be so lucky.
Then I heard a sound, like the crunch of a foot on snow.
“There's somebody–” I started to say.
“Ahn!” a shout interrupted.
The snow began to whirl around us, turning the world white as little crystals pelted me, stinging where they found exposed skin. I tried to shield my face, as I frantically strained my ears for the attack I knew had to be coming.
“Dyn!” the wizard shouted.
“Dyn!” yelled Jen at almost the same moment.
I wasn't sure how successful her shield spell would be if she couldn't see what was happening. Then again, I didn’t know how well the wizard’s attack would work if he couldn't see us. I had my answer an instant after the spells were cast, as I felt as though I had been hit in the stomach. I heard the others gasp in pain too, but if the spell was intended to knock any of us out, it failed.
I felt warm and turned, squinting, to see that Ember was melting the snow around us, rendering the wizard’s attack useless!
“Gul-ahn!” cried the wizard, just as the snow began to clear.
Whatever the spell he cast was supposed to do, I couldn’t say, but thanks to Ember I could see him now.
Unfortunately, he could see us. “A fire elemental?” he said, sounding surprised. His wand wavered for a moment and I lunged.
I hit a patch of solid ice and slipped and slid toward him. He didn’t seem at all surprised as he dodged away, leaving me to crash into the snow. Well, now I knew what that spell was for.
I regained my balance and hissed at him, wishing I had the same blood-chilling power as a vampire.
“Mar!” Jen’s spell hit the wizard’s wand and a small flame engulfed it. Ember flung out her hand and the fire burst into a much larger one.
The wizard cried out in surprise and waved his wand, frantically trying to put out the fire that was beginning to travel up his arm.
I jumped the icy spot and rushed at him. At the last moment, I sensed something coming from the side and dodged back, just as some sort of bird of prey shot by me, talons stretched for where my head had been. The bird flung out its wings but was unable to recover and slammed into the snow. A soft gasp of pain escaped the wizard and I turned my attention back to him.
He had put out the fire and had his wand raised as he watched me warily. Jen and Ember moved up behind me and his eyes flicked nervously between the three of us. I heard a soft snarl from Rak down near my feet.
Then, Mariana sprinted into my line of sight and rushed him. He turned in surprise and raised his wand, so I raced forward. I got there before Mariana and tackled him. There were advantages to being stronger than a human.
The wizard’s wand fell as I knocked him down. He flung his arm out, scrambling frantically for the wand. His familiar swooped down at me with a screech. I dodged the talons again, but the wizard was able to grab his wand. Mariana caught his wrist and pressed a knife against it.
“I don’t think so,” she warned, wrenching the wand from his grasp.
The familiar swung around for another pass and Jen aimed her wand at it.
“Ahn!” The rush of wind sent the familiar spinning through the air and crashing back into the snow. Fire flared in Ember’s fists as she jumped between the wizard and his familiar, waiting for the raven to emerge from the snow.
I grabbed the wizard by the wrists as I pulled him to his feet. He struggled and I had a feeling he could probably escape from me if he really tried, but as Mariana and Jen joined me and surrounded him, he knew he was stuck. The raven hopped slowly out of the snow, warily watching Ember.
For a moment the wizard strained weakly against my grasp. I tightened my grip and hissed softly in warning. He gave up but raised his head defiantly.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded.
Jen fearlessly took a step toward him and brandished her wand. “What are you doing here?” she countered.
I couldn't resist a smile as she confronted him. In all of the fantasies we had shared growing up about what our future together would look like, fighting wizards on creepy abandoned farms had certainly not been one of the possibilities; even in recent years I hadn't expected to be involved in this sort of thing.
“Who sent you?” the wizard asked.
“We’re asking the questions,” I snarled in his ear.
In response he snapped his head back, cracking it hard into my nose. The shock and the pain caused me to lose my grip enough for him to wrench his wrists free. He flung himself at Mariana, she jumped back, extending her knife threateningly as she tried to keep the wand out of his grasp.
“Dyn!” cried Jen.
The spell hurled the wizard to the ground. At the same moment the raven launched itself into the air, still in the form of some sort of bird of prey, and flew by Ember. I wasn't sure if I should jump onto the wizard or try to stop the familiar from going for help.
Ember was only caught off guard for a moment. She hurled a fireball after the raven but missed. Undeterred, she yanked out a small throwing knife and whipped it through the air; the raven shrieked as the knife caught it in the wing and it tumbled, fortunately not very far, to the ground. The wizard cried out in pain and rage but stayed sitting in the snow as Jen and I advanced on him.
Mariana crouched down next to the familiar, knif
e in hand, as Ember drew out another throwing knife.
“Who sent you?” the wizard asked with a sigh, sagging in defeat.
“We're the ones asking the questions,” Ember said, “and I strongly suggest you answer them.”
The wizard looked up at her with a frown. “Your accent…” he said slowly. “I know you.”
“What?” Ember asked, clearly as confused by the statement as I was.
Moving slowly, the wizard pointed a finger toward her. “You’re um… um… Smith! Char Smith’s sister. What is it… it starts with a C too…”
We all glanced at each other curiously. He may not have remembered Callie’s name, but he clearly did know her and Charlie somehow.
“Actually,” Ember said, taking an uncertain step in his direction. “My name is Ember Pelagos and I'm Char Smith's daughter. How the hell do you know my dad?”
He looked at her in surprise. “I didn't know Smith had a daughter. I guess it has been a few years since… No, wait.” The wizard frowned. “I thought you were his niece.”
“Most people do,” Ember said, clearly not in the mood to elaborate on the complicated family dynamics. I suppressed a chuckle. It hadn't been that long ago that I was let in on the truth behind her parentage either. “How do you know my dad?” she repeated angrily.
“Well, I…” he paused and narrowed his eyes at her. “Did you say Pelagos? As in Danio Pelagos?”
“Okay…” Ember said hesitantly. “How do you know him?!”
“I used to work with them,” he said.
“You used to work for MES?” Jen said uncertainly.
“I still do,” he squared his shoulders a little, then looked back at Ember. “I remember you. Char used to bring into the office when you were little.” He cleared his throat and looked around nervously. “How is he doing? And Danio?”
Well, this was not at all how I expected things to go.
“I have no idea,” Ember said, crossing her arms, eyes flaring. “They're missing.”
“What?!” the wizard cried. To his credit he sounded completely shocked by the news.
“They were investigating...” Ember glanced at the rest of us, as if to check whether or not we approved of her giving him information. Nobody seemed opposed, so she continued. “They were investigating some disappearances and…” She swallowed hard and for a moment her eyes dimmed. “They went to this place called Cavaliers one night and never came back.”
The wizard’s eyes widened at the name of the restaurant.
“You know it,” I said quickly.
He bowed his head. “Yes,” he said softly. “That's a shame. They were good agents.”
“What do you mean were?!” Ember demanded. A small ball of fire erupted in one fist.
“If they've already left Cavaliers,” he said, “it's too late. They’ll already be at the castle. She has them now.”
“She? Who is she?” Jen asked.
“She…” The wizard hesitated and then looked around. “It's not safe to speak out here. We should go into the barn.”
“I'm pretty comfortable out here,” Jen said flatly.
I nodded in agreement. There was no way I wanted to follow this guy into the barn.
“If you know about Cavaliers,” the wizard said firmly, “then they are not going to want you alive to share that information. If they find out I've told you anything…” He shook his head. “I’ll tell you what you want to know, but not out here where we’re exposed.”
Ember turned her attention to the barn and frowned. “I don't see any heat signatures other than a space heater. I don't think there's anyone else in there.”
“There isn't,” the wizard said softly.
“How did you know we were coming?” Jen asked.
“Me,” the raven croaked.
I winced; I should have smelled it. Then again, I didn't exactly do this sort of thing on a regular basis… or ever, really.
“Fine,” Jen said after a moment. “Get up and go into the barn first. Slowly.”
The wizard stood obediently, then winced and pressed a hand to his upper arm.
“Please, let me get Frel,” he said. “She’s hurt.”
“Change back,” Mariana said to the familiar.
“I can’t,” said Frel. “There’s a knife in my wing.”
Keeping an eye on the wizard, Ember went to the bird and carefully pulled out her knife. “If either of you try anything, I'll aim for somewhere a little more vital,” she warned.
“I see why Pelagos likes you,” the wizard mumbled with a snort. If anyone else heard him, they didn’t react. His familiar changed back into a raven and he gently picked her up, cradling her against his chest.
“Let's get you warmed up,” he said softly to the raven.
With that, he headed to the barn and slid open the door; we followed him. I blinked a few times as we entered the barn, it wasn't really that bright, but compared to the pitch black night it was quite a shock to the eyes.
The barn looked a lot like it must have when Dani and Thomas had seen it, except obviously there was someone actually living here now. I looked around at some of the dustier corners with footprints and wondered if any of them were theirs. For some reason the thought made me shiver.
There were a couple of old, dusty couches and the wizard sat down on one and helped his raven get comfortable on it next to him.
“Okay,” Jen said, pointing her wand at him. “First things first, if you really work for MES, prove it.”
“I have my badge. It’s near the bed in the middle stall, back there,” the wizard said.
Rak loped across the barn and vanished into the stall. A moment later he was back, with a square of leather. As he handed it up to Jen, I could see the MES logo embedded on it.
I watched my cousin open it out of the corner of my eye, but then turned my full attention to her as she gasped. Her eyes widened in alarm and took a step back away from him, raising her wand higher.
“You,” Jen stammered. “You’re Greyson Turner!” Her wand shook a little as she aimed it at him.
Everyone gasped and I clenched my fists defensively.
Greyson Turner looked around at all of us nervously. “I see you've heard of me…” he said nervously.
“We've… been looking for you,” Jen admitted.
“You found me. And yet…” Turner’s brow furrowed. “You didn't expect to find me here,” he continued slowly, eyes darting between us. “Why are you looking for me?”
“Oh, I don't know,” Ember drawled. “Maybe because I checked your file one day and an hour later someone tried to kill me!”
“I-I what?” Turner cried, looking at her in confusion. “I don't understand.”
“Of course, that was hardly a week after TS got off the phone with you and someone tried to kill him.”
“TS?” Turner said. He looked stunned. “TS Conall?!”
Ember nodded.
I could tell that Turner was thinking hard and sensed his blood pressure rising. “What do you mean someone tried...” He trailed off and cursed under his breath. “Damn him!”
“Who?” I said quickly.
Turner drummed his fingers on one thigh and studied them instead of answering.
“Morgan Fletcher?” Jen guessed.
Turner’s eyes flicked up to her briefly, then he looked away again.
“Don't bother defending him,” Jen said. “He already confessed that he tried to have TS killed after he spoke with you.”
“No, no,” said Turner. “You have it wrong.”
“Do I?”
“TS called me, yes…” Turner said slowly. To my surprise, he smiled a little. “It had been a while since we worked together, it was nice to catch up…” He sighed. “Morgan must have overheard the conversation. He called me a few minutes later, he was suspicious. I told him it was just a friendly conversation, nothing more that. I didn't think TS… suspected anything. If Morgan tried anything after that it was without my knowledge. I tol
d him TS was no threat. He’s alright, isn’t he? Morgan wasn’t… successful?” It seemed like he actually cared whether or not TS was okay.
“He survived that,” Jen said. “But he went to Cavaliers too.”
Turner bowed his head and shook it sadly.
“Along with Thomas Clark,” Jen added. Maybe it was my dhampir ears or maybe I just knew her, but I could hear the tremor in her voice as she said his name.
Turner looked truly pained by the additional information and let out a soft groan. “Unbelievable.” Then, he let out a weak chuckle. “But hardly a surprise, really. The four of them were always inseparable… I suppose it's fitting they’re together in the end…” he said grimly.
“What do you mean the end?” Ember snapped.
Turner heaved a sigh. “Nobody comes back from the castle. Not if you are brought there by Victor. I’m sorry.” He looked up at Ember and I swear I could see tears in the corners of his eyes. The news they were gone genuinely upset him. “I’m truly sorry… your father and your husband…”
Ember’s anger turned to confusion, then indignation. “That’s not— wait, my what?”
The wizard frowned. “Your last name, I assumed… Danio…”
“Ew! No. He’s my father.”
Turner looked even more confused. “Danio?”
“Well, obviously not biologically.” Ember rolled her eyes impatiently.
“I thought you said Char…”
“Yes.” Ember crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow at him. “He’s my dad.”
“I… oh.” Turner’s eyes slowly widened in understanding. “Oh. I had no idea… I mean, Char was always…” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Danio, really?”
“You got a problem with that, asshole?” Ember demanded, flames flaring in her palms.
“No, no.” When the flames died down Turner chuckled and shook his head in bemusement. “You’re his kid, alright.” His smile faded and he sighed. “Danio’s a good agent… I’m sorry he ended up at the castle.”
“How do we save them?” Ember asked.
Turner shook his head. “The only way to escape the castle is dead.”
“Then we’ll go in after them,” Jen said.
“Impossible,” said Turner.
“Tell us how to get in,” Jen demanded. “And don’t you dare suggest we have to wait another six months for that stupid meeting at Cavaliers.”
Rise of the Arcanist Series: Books 1 - 6 Page 57