Rise of the Arcanist Series: Books 1 - 6

by Elizabeth Kirke

  Victor.

  I took a deep breath, hoping he couldn’t tell my pulse had started racing, and kept walking, acting like I was just heading back to my room. Nothing to see here.

  Based on his pace, he had somewhere to be. Good. I passed Tom’s room and kept going toward mine. Just a little farther… I noticed Victor was splattered with blood and swallowed nervously. That wasn’t a good sign.

  “Good evening, Victor,” I said, trying to sound casual as we drew close.

  He nodded and, just as we passed by each other, replied calmly, “Good evening, Agent Pelagos.”

  Chapter Five

  Thomas

  I paced back and forth in my room, frustrated by the inconvenience of having to split up and even more annoyed that I couldn't open a simple door. I was a vampire for God's sake, I should have been able to yank the damn thing right off its hinges, yet I hadn't even rattled it, trying as hard as I could. What kind of a door wouldn't so much as wiggle with a vampire wailing on it, didn’t have any sort of lock, and couldn’t be affected by a fire elemental?

  All I knew was that a door that impenetrable led to somewhere we needed to be. What was up the spiral staircase that Charlie had seen?

  I sucked in a sharp gasp. A spiral staircase behind a weird door?! Just like the one in the park…

  “It’s a labyrinth entrance,” I breathed.

  How had we not realized it before?!

  That explained how the bus got us here and why I couldn’t figure out how long we had been on board. It was how Alaria came and went so easily.

  No… if there was a labyrinth I certainly would have sensed I was inside it when… no… I gasped again. That was why they knocked us out on the bus. Tethys said he had fallen unconscious when I did, that meant neither of us would have sensed the disruption of our bond. Thanks to the wards, I was barely able to sense him until he was inside the castle, so I wouldn’t have noticed when he was in the labyrinth either. The wards had been enough to keep me from losing consciousness when he was on the bus, they certainly would have blocked me from realizing he was in a labyrinth again.

  We had a way out. Now if we could just figure out how to open the door…

  Of course, I didn't relish the idea of going back into the labyrinth either, but we knew how to get directly to the minotaur now. I could only hope he would be as forgiving to see us again, especially if we could tell him we knew how to get to Alaria.

  Now I just had to wait for the others to join me. I was itching to run right out of the room and find everyone and tell them, but I knew we had to wait. The plan was to come meet in my room and I had to stick to it.

  I sensed a sudden burst of curiosity from Tethys and knew that he was probably picking up on my excitement. A moment later his curiosity turned to alarm, then fear and then… What the hell?!

  I snapped my head in his direction; it felt like he was fighting someone! Hearts pounding, I shot toward my door and hurled myself out of the room. I sprinted for the nearest staircase, then hesitated… It felt like the fight was over.

  Tethys radiated frustration, anger, defeat… I was focusing hard enough on our bond that I easily felt a sharp pain in my wrist, followed by discomfort in my shoulders. I snarled furiously; someone was restraining him.

  What the hell was happening? My thoughts were whirling as I tried frantically to think of anything we could have done that would have made someone suspicious, but I was coming up blank. Aside from the encounter with Reave we hadn't even been seen together except during a couple of meals. It didn’t make any sense.

  I could tell that Tethys was getting farther away. If nothing else, I had to try and catch sight of him, see what was happening… help him if I could. My hearts pounded as I raced down the stairs, hurtled around a corner and almost crashed into Victor. Oh shit! I sucked in a breath and cleared my throat.

  Victor smiled broadly. “Going somewhere in a hurry, Thomas?”

  “Just left something… down…” The lie died on my tongue as I realized he had just used my real name.

  His grin widened.

  I sensed someone behind me and turned partway, unwilling to take my eyes completely off of Victor. But when I caught sight of the man behind me my jaw dropped and time seemed to stand still.

  Morgan Fletcher.

  I gaped at him, unable to believe he was here, that he was alive. Then it all fell together and I realized the bastard had just betrayed us. Again.

  “Thomas,” Fletcher said with a smile. “How lovely to see you here.”

  I lunged, aiming right for his treacherous throat with my fangs. It was a careless, amateur move and a potentially fatal mistake. Victor slammed into me like a freight train, hurling me to the ground as Fletcher calmly stepped away. I was so completely blindsided by the entire thing that I didn't even have time to react as Victor brought the stake down into my chest.

  It took me a moment to realize, through the haze of searing pain, that Victor had stopped short of actually staking me. Granted, the damn thing was embedded a good inch into my chest, but he had deliberately missed my hearts. I sucked in a sharp painful breath, then met his sadistic gaze.

  “That's it?” Victor chuckled. “I would have expected better from a MES agent.”

  Damn Fletcher.

  Victor’s smile widened a little and he eased some of his weight off of me. “I'm going to let you get up now,” he purred. “You’re going to come with me. If you resist… if you even consider resisting…” He gave the stake a vicious twist and I gasped as pain coursed through me. “I will kill you,” he promised, “and all three of your friends.”

  I swallowed hard; god, he knew about all of us. Fletcher really had told him everything. We were completely and utterly screwed.

  “Do I make myself clear?” Victor asked.

  What choice did I have? I nodded.

  He gave the stake another painful twist, before yanking it out. Then grabbed me and roughly hauled me to my feet. His raven landed on his shoulder and fixed his beady gaze on me. For a moment I seriously considered whether or not I would have enough time to grab the bird and take care of it before Victor could react. I decided it was too risky.

  I heard footsteps and turned to see Flint and Kiana heading toward us; of course Victor had enlisted help from two of the people from the group I came to the castle with. If having been in this together gave them any lingering sympathy, they didn’t show it. Flint glowered at me as he handed Victor a pair of handcuffs and Kiana’s face twisted into a sick grin of pleasure at the sight of the wound in my chest.

  I grit my teeth and obeyed as Victor gestured for me to turn around. He yanked my arms behind my back and snapped the handcuffs painfully tight around my wrists. I wanted to struggle to see if they were weak enough to break, but not only was I sure that Victor wouldn’t make that mistake, I didn’t want to risk it in front of him and blow my only chance of escape.

  “Let’s go,” ordered Victor.

  Flint wrapped a large, heavy hand around my arm and pulled me forward. Without my hands or speed as an advantage, the stone elemental would be more than enough to keep me in line. We started down the hall with Kiana and a smirking Fletcher flanking us, and Victor in the lead.

  Anthony came jogging up the stairs and went straight to Victor.

  “I have located him,” Anthony said softly. “I believe he’s on his way here.”

  “Very good,” said Victor. He turned back to us and locked eyes with me. “Why don’t you go on ahead? I’m going to stay here and wait for Delta.”

  A furious hiss escaped from my lips as his mouth curled into a smile and for a moment I wished that I had risked trying to break his familiar’s neck when I had the chance.

  Instead, I was forced down the hall, knowing that I had no way of warning Danio that Victor was eagerly lying in wait for him. Tethys felt as furious and helpless as I did and I had no idea where Charlie was.

  It took me a couple of minutes to figure it out, but it soon became clear we wer
e going straight to the arena. They brought me in through a door I hadn't used before and out onto the sand in the center. There was a platform set up in the middle. I could already sense that Tethys was here too, but my hearts sank when I spotted Charlie with him – both of them huddled together on the platform.

  We were nearly to the platform when I noticed that Reave and Alaria were standing near it and a wave of despair washed over me. Tethys turned to see me and shock, then rage raced through him as he saw Fletcher.

  “You bastard!” he cried. He lunged forward, growling furiously, but stopped short; he was chained to the platform itself.

  Charlie’s face twisted with fury and his eyes blazed as he watched Fletcher approach. Flint forced me up onto the platform and over to Tethys and Charlie, while Fletcher wisely steered clear.

  There were large metal rings in the top of the platform, with heavy looking chains running from them. Flint and Kiana shoved me near one of the rings and attached the chain to my handcuffs.

  Then the two of them took a small stairway out of the arena center and sat down in a couple of chairs as if they were waiting for a show – I forced a swallow as my mouth went dry – like maybe a public execution. I couldn’t think of any other reason Victor would choose the arena or set up a stage for this.

  “Where’s Danio?” Charlie hissed.

  “I don’t know,” I said, deciding against telling him that wherever Danio was Victor was there too; he already looked like he was about to erupt.

  Fletcher had joined Alaria and was quietly updating her on where Victor was. Reave was listening to them, brow furrowed in concern. While they were distracted I said quickly, “There’s a labyrinth entrance here, the spiral staircase behind that door.”

  “Bloody hell,” Tethys gasped.

  “We have to get there… figure out how to open it. If we can just…”

  I was cut off by the sound of a door opening. We all turned to see Victor and Anthony dragging Danio in. There was a bleeding split in his lip, but he looked otherwise unharmed. His eyes were black with rage as they hauled him to the platform; I hoped he wouldn't typhoon and get himself killed before we had a chance to come up with some sort of desperate escape plan. Not that we'd have any time while chained to a platform in the middle of the damn arena.

  Danio resisted for a moment as they urged him up onto the platform with us, but the moment he saw Charlie his shoulders sagged in defeat and he climbed up willingly enough.

  With a gleeful smile Victor chained him to the platform next to me, then jumped down. Danio glared at Victor with churning black eyes, then gasped as he caught sight of Fletcher.

  “Fletcher, you son of a bitch!” he yelled, hurling himself against the chains.

  “Nice to see you too, Danio. How’s your head?” Fletcher taunted.

  “Better than yours is about to be.” Danio threw himself against his chains again. “Because I’m going to rip it off your fucking shoulders, you piece of shit!”

  “Don’t tire yourself out,” said Fletcher with a smile. “The fun is just beginning.”

  “Silence,” Victor said, shooting him an annoyed look.

  Fletcher glared in defiance, but I saw Alaria cast a brief look at him. He shrugged his shoulders and stayed silent

  All at once the doors all around the arena began to open and what looked like every magic in the entire castle started streaming in. A commotion began as they took their seats; all speculating about why they were here and, more importantly, why the four of us were down here, restrained.

  I took advantage of the crowd to turn to Danio. “There’s a labyrinth entrance here,” I whispered.

  “I know,” he said grimly. “I just figured that out… too little too late,” he added with a snort.

  “Are you okay?”

  He nodded once.

  “Welcome!” Victor shouted, raising his arms for silence.

  He jumped onto the platform with us. Charlie struggled in his chains for a moment, eyes flaring as if he was considering trying to light Victor on fire.

  “Char,” Danio said urgently. “Char!” Charlie glanced in his direction and I could tell from the way his eyes were flashing that he was on the verge of erupting. “It's gonna be okay,” Danio said, “Calm down, C. It’s gonna be okay.”

  Charlie turned away but bowed his head, visibly trying to keep himself under control.

  “Hello everyone,” Victor went on. “Thank you so much for joining us on such short notice. We have some very special entertainment for you this evening. You may be wondering why you see some familiar faces here.” He gestured to us. “It has come to light that these four….” He paused for dramatic effect. “Are MES spies!”

  The arena burst into screams and boos and jeers. Several people actually threw things down toward the arena, as Victor stood and laughed.

  I heard a gasp and saw that Reave was staring at us, slack jawed. Apparently Victor hadn't bothered to clue him in on what was happening. Reave caught my eye, searching my face for an answer. He looked stunned and maybe even a little sad.

  “Not to worry, not to worry,” Victor called, waving for silence. “We have ways of dealing with this sort of treachery.”

  I tested the handcuffs while he was distracted, but they were tight and felt strong. I might have been able to snap them eventually, but it would be pretty obvious what I was doing. They were digging painfully into both wrists, so tight I wouldn’t be surprised if they were cutting off some circulation.

  Movement caught my eye and I wasn’t surprised Danio was twisting his hands in his own cuffs. I had seen him slip out of handcuffs before, but I could see the metal digging into his flesh and had a sinking feeling that they were too tight for an easy escape. I didn’t doubt that Victor had taken it into consideration while cuffing him. Struggling had pushed up one of his sleeves and I could see a collection of fresh-looking punctures on one arm. I glanced at the raven – still in falcon form – perched on the wall above the arena; I grimaced as I spotted the blue blood crusting his talons, confirming my suspicions.

  Danio heaved a sigh and I turned my attention back to him. He looked up at me and I arched a questioning and hopeful eyebrow. He shook his head slightly and I could see the roiling shades of black and dark blue in his eyes were turning gray as he came to the same conclusion I was struggling to accept: there was no way out. I turned away, sensing the same desperation and helplessness building in Tethys.

  The four of us had been through a hell of a lot together yet managed to come out on the other side of more than a few situations more dire than this; at least they seemed that way at the time. But as I strained desperately one more time in the cuffs, I didn't know how we could possibly get out of this one.

  We were chained to a stage, put on display in front of a hundred magics, all clamoring for our deaths – and that was just the non-humans. Alaria hadn’t looked surprised by Victor’s announcement, I realized with another rush of almost crushing despair. Of course, Fletcher obviously would have told his mistress about us too; it wasn't just Victor's people we would have to contend with. I looked around the arena and could see that the blood casters were gathered. We weren't just hopelessly outnumbered by other non-humans, but blood casters as well; I cast a look at Fletcher, including the one who had single handedly nearly killed the four of us once before. That wasn't even counting the most powerful magic in the world, who doubtlessly wanted us dead too.

  I couldn't imagine how we would get out of this situation. This was it. For the last few months I had known there was a very real possibility that I would die in the arena, but I never imagined it would be like this; chained up helplessly and probably executed. Along with my closest friends. My brothers. To make it worse we weren't simply going to die; we had completely and utterly failed to stop Alaria or Victor. We hadn't even been able to warn Jon that there was an arcanist involved.

  I turned to Tethys and he met my eyes, filled with the same raw hopelessness that I was. We looked at each other for
a long moment. It was hard, but I forced myself to focus for a moment on how much I cared for him. He smiled weakly and returned the feeling.

  Beyond him, I could see the air wavering with heat around Charlie’s hands as he tried to weaken the handcuffs. It didn’t look like it was working.

  “Tell me,” called Victor. “Do you think they should pay for what they have done?” Everyone cheered and screamed again. Clearly, the answer was yes.

  My eyes were drawn to movement from Fletcher; he slipped a hand into his shirt as he stared hard at us, reaching for his wand no doubt.

  Maybe… maybe there was still a chance! Not for us – I had a feeling we were all going to die here whether I said anything or not. But maybe there was still a way to carry out our plan and pit the blood casters against the non-humans. Maybe we could still ruin things for Alaria or at least drastically set her back.

  I took a deep breath; my thoughts raced as I tried to think of the best way to start things off without egging Victor on or anyone trying to silence me. My eyes went to Fletcher again and I had an answer.

  “What exactly are you doing here, Morgan?” I asked loudly. “You can't expect me to believe that you'd give up your magic to become a vampire, not when you were just going on and on about how great being a blood wizard is.”

  To my delight Victor's grin faltered and he turned and looked at me curiously. Alaria’s eyes widened in alarm; this was obviously a complication she hadn't expected.

  Fletcher laughed weakly in response. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

  “The part where you’re a blood wizard or the part where you're pretending that you want to be a vampire?”

  “I'm… I'm not pretending!” he spat frantically.

  “But you're not denying you're a blood wizard,” I countered.

  “Of course, I am denying it! Blood magic isn't even real!”

  “That's funny,” Danio drawled. “It felt pretty real when you were hurling it at us left and right.”