She started forward, her feet dancing left and right, not committing to any one path.
Her sword clashed down. Eric’s met it, the resulting clang echoing in the small space.
She spun.
Eric met her.
She spun again, feigning. Eric bit, his sword stretching out to meet hers...that was no longer there.
Riley brought her sword down on Eric’s neck, stopping it exactly when steel touched flesh. “You’re dead, dear.”
He panted as he chuckled and bent over again, his hands on his knees.
“How did I beat you?” she asked.
“You’re too fast. I can’t keep up.”
Riley shook her head. “No matter how fast I am, my muscles will never be as strong as most men’s, so that’s not the case. Try again. How did I beat you?”
He shook his head, looking at his feet. “I don’t know.”
“You’ll keep losing until you do,” she answered.
“I’ll never be able to beat you.”
Riley slapped his ass with the flat of her sword. “Not until you figure out why I’m winning. Enough for tonight. Get cleaned up and go to bed.”
Eric nodded and started up the basement stairs.
Riley turned to Thomas, who was still standing in the corner. “The queen wasn’t lying about knowing people. I’m grateful to you for getting us this place to stay.”
“My Savior, this is the least we can do. Every single one of us would lay down our lives for you if you ask.”
Riley wanted to shake her head but smiled instead. It would be disrespectful to show exasperation. No matter how hard she tried, Thomas believed she was the one to...well, to lead the world into the future.
“Anyway,” Riley responded. “Thanks.”
Alexandra had been playing coy. The Chosen were actually extremely wealthy, as this house showed, or they still had family that were, at least.
Not all of the Chosen’s lineage believed what Alexandra and those who lived underground did. Many thought they were loons, but family was family, apparently.
Thomas had shown up at this house, and while the proprietor wasn’t happy to see him, the man didn’t turn them away, either.
They were given bedrooms, food, and a place to practice sword work down here.
Riley looked up, the fear coming back to her.
“The owner isn’t going to report us, right? He’s not going to tell anyone we’re here?”
Thomas smiled. “No, my Savior. While Bruce may not agree with our beliefs, he’s Alexandra’s uncle. He’s not going to do anything to hurt her or me.”
She nodded.
Riley trusted this man as much as she did Worth.
Worth. Where the hell was he?
It’d been hours. The night was turning into morning now, yet she’d seen no sign of the tent man.
“You’re worried, my Savior?” Thomas asked.
She raised her eyebrows. “Studying me that hard? I remember that when I first showed up to your home, you weren’t too impressed.”
Thomas dropped his eyes to the floor. “I will apologize forever for the way I acted. It’s just... We’ve had so many imposters over the years. So many people who tried to fool us. It was tough to believe you were the one.”
Riley smiled wide. “I’m joking, Thomas. No worries. I’m just thinking about Worth, and whether he went and got stinking drunk instead of looking for William and the others.”
“You trust him? Worth?” Thomas asked.
“Oh, yeah. He drinks a lot, but he’s shown his dedication more times than I can count.”
Thomas looked a bit confused. “But you think he might be getting drunk instead of doing what you told him?”
“Worth likes his wine,” Riley told him. “But no. I think he’s out there looking for them—”
A loud crash echoed down the stairs, Riley’s head immediately turning that way.
“Worth home!”
Riley looked at Thomas. “Oh, no. I’m sorry.”
“RILEY!” William’s voice boomed down the stairs.
Riley’s eyes widened, but she didn’t waste any time. She flew up the stairs. She was no longer thinking about Thomas or Worth, only the voice screaming for her.
“RILEY, YOU LAZY GOOD FER NOTHING, WHERE ARE YOU? I BET YOU’RE ASLEEP!”
She hit the last stair, then turned down the hall.
William stood in it, as big as ever.
There were healing burns on his arms and cheek, but—
“Glad you could fuckin’ make it.” His deep voice easily crossed the space between them. “We’ve actually been workin’ here in these parts.”
Riley ran down the hall, ignoring his wisecracks.
She wrapped her arms around William, embracing him.
“Always with the emotions. No one around here wants to hug ya, girl.” Even as he said the words, his arms wrapped around Riley.
Worth stumbled into the hallway behind William, Lucie following him.
“This one!” Worth shouted. “Questions! Questions! Never stop.”
Riley pulled away, looking at Worth. “Oh, dear. He’s shit-faced. Tell me you to didn’t encourage this.”
“Encourage?” Lucie asked. “Hardly, girl. We found him like this. You’re the one who was supposed to be watchin’ him. Or he you. Both of you’re s’posed to be watching the other, and it seems like you’re the one who failed.”
Riley moved past William and down the hall to Lucie. “I missed you.” She embraced the older woman.
“Missed you too, girl. Glad you made it back.”
“Who the hell is that?” William grumbled as Thomas found his way to the top stair.
“Him? That’s Thomas,” Riley said as she pulled away from Lucie. “He’s from underground.”
“The underground people?” William asked.
“The Chosen,” Thomas corrected from the other end of the hall.
William looked at Riley. “Oh he’s a proper one, ain’t he? I’ll have to break him of it. What the hell you bring him for?”
“For one, he helped us get here,” Riley told William. “Two, he also is the reason we’re in this house. Given the way you smell, William, you might want to walk down there and ask Thomas if you can stay.”
Thomas shook his head. “No. He can go back to where he came from.”
William turned, his face angry. “Who the hell you think you’re talkin’ to?”
“Calm down, dummy,” Lucie instructed.
“My Savior is right. You smell far too ripe to stay here with us,” Thomas said without the slightest smirk.
William’s anger fled from his face, his eyebrows raising...and raising...
He slowly turned and looked at Riley. “What... What did he say?”
Riley didn’t know whether to laugh or run from embarrassment. So instead, she said nothing.
Looking back at Thomas, William asked, “What did you call her?”
“My Savior.”
William groaned loudly, falling back against the wall as if struck by some large object. “Ya gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me.” He brought a hand to his brow, rubbing it briskly. “She’s got a fuckin’ cult. Riley’s got a fuckin’ cult.”
Riley laughed. “See? You better start treating me nicer, William, or you might just end up missing.”
Chapter Five
Brighten only had the slightest clue who Riley Trident was, and he had no idea that she’d shown up on the night he and Erin were committing suicide.
That was how he thought of it, anyway.
Erin just seemed to think it was a damned adventure.
“You ready?” she’d asked before they left Connor’s.
“No.” Brighten had shaken his head.
Erin had winked at him. “Life’s too short to be so scared. Let’s live a little, aye?”
Brighten could see that William was falling for her. She was beautiful; that stood out perhaps before anything else. Yet, Brighten really liked her too.
He couldn’t help but like her, and he didn’t think anyone else could either.
She was contagious—her energy and her good-naturedness.
The magic class had ended about ten minutes ago, and Brighten was once again exhausted. He was concentrating harder than he ever had before; much harder than he did when they were stealing on the streets.
Rendal, the headmaster or dark mage, taught that there was only one magic, but for ease of understanding, people often divided them up.
The magic Brighten felt drawn to was something Rendal called Psychic magic, although he said other people called it different things.
It was the easiest for Brighten, and he supposed that was because he’d had a predilection for it for years. It was one of the reasons he and Kris made such good thieves.
Other people in the class took to other magics, and so far, no one had noticed Brighten—or at least not because of anything out of the ordinary.
Other mages were in the class, helping teach. Brighten always made sure he worked with one of them and never Rendal.
Never Rendal.
The man was terrifying.
The whole thing took a lot of concentration, and Brighten was once again exhausted, but he couldn’t go back to Connor’s. Instead, he was still inside the castle’s walls, waiting for Erin to finish her training.
He had a cigarette in his hand and was leaning against a tree. He puffed it occasionally but didn’t breathe anything into his lungs. Blending in had always been a necessity for Brighten, so he’d learned ways to look older. Smoking was one of them.
Another ten minutes passed with him slowly letting the cigarette burn down. He’d almost decided that he was going to kill Kris when he saw her next. He didn’t look scared, but inside he was terrified.
Finally, the damned military let out from their drills. Brighten had seen them over the past few days, and the people exiting the training facility were definitely evolving.
Growing stronger.
More disciplined.
And scarier.
They left in lines now, no longer mobs of people simply walking across the castle’s yards.
Brighten remained where he was, his sharp eyes searching for Erin.
She saw him and his burning cigarette almost at the same time.
She didn’t wave or give any other indication, only slightly turned away from the line she was in and crossed the dark courtyard.
“How ya feeling?” she asked when she reached him.
“Like my anxiety is eating me alive. We don’t have to do this,” he told her. “We can go back to the group and just say we couldn’t get to it.”
Erin smiled at him, a motherly smile. “You’re scared, and I understand that, but that has never stopped you before, Brighten. You grew up on the fucking streets. You steal for your meals on a daily basis. You can be scared, but you’re not weak.”
Brighten dropped his eyes, unable to hold Erin’s strong gaze.
“You hear me?” she asked. “You’re strong—you and Kris both. I knew it from the moment I laid eyes on the both of you.”
He nodded. She was right. Brighten was always scared, but he’d been through things other kids his age couldn’t imagine. He’d been through them and come out on the other side.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go get ourselves killed.”
He flicked the cigarette away, and the two walked into the darkness.
“I think of them as the catacombs,” Brighten whispered as they moved away from the large crowd of soldiers.
“Why? Are there dead bodies in the tunnels?”
Brighten shrugged. “I don’t know. Just seems fitting. Scarier, too.”
“Oh, goodness. Eric and I have some things to teach you,” she responded, shaking her head.
Another minute or so passed while they walked in silence. Brighten was impressed with Erin’s ability to not make any noise, as if she’d been a thief her whole life.
“Stop.” Erin put her arm out in front of Brighten’s chest. “You don’t hear them? The guards?”
Brighten smiled. She moved quietly, but she didn’t have his senses. “I heard them thirty feet ago.”
“Then why are you still walking toward them?” Erin asked.
“What the hell ya think I’m doing every night, Erin? I’m not goin’ to that magic class to twiddle my thumbs. I’m learnin’.”
Erin still didn’t take her arm away from his chest. She was staring forward and he could sense her muscles tightening, readying for a fight. She wouldn’t run and Brighten respected her for that.
Yet, they didn’t have to fight anyone, or at least not these two guards up ahead.
“Just trust me, okay?” he whispered.
She looked down at him, judging whether to believe. She finally nodded and dropped her hand. Good thing for Brighten, because if she didn’t want him moving, he wasn’t gonna be able to. The woman was lethal.
They kept walking, rounding a darkened corner, and then they were in front of the two guards.
There was a lantern on a stone wall behind them, and both were seated in chairs and chatting.
The two looked up at the sight of Brighten and Erin.
“You fuckin’ lost?” the one on the left asked.
“Gotta be,” the other agreed, standing up and placing his hand on his sword. “If you’re in that damned magic school or one of the newbs training for the military, you’re way outta line coming here. Skedaddle back to where you came from.”
“How about—” Erin started to say something but Brighten jabbed her with his elbow.
He didn’t look away from the guards.
“What were ya about to say, ya tramp?” the first guard asked, stepping forward. “Every fuckin’ streetwalker thinks she’s special now ‘cause they can all join the army. Ya need to understand that inside this place, this castle—we rule, so think for another second before those dumbass words drop out of your mouth, you understand?”
Brighten smiled. He hadn’t planned on being a dick to these guys, but he didn’t like how they were talking to Erin one bit.
His eyes turned red.
“Hey!” the first guard shouted.
“You can’t do that without permiss—”
Shh, Brighten said with his mind. No need to be so loud.
The two men still looked angry, but they’d both stopped speaking.
“What are you doing to them?” Erin asked.
“Just talking,” he responded.
Rendal had been teaching them that Psychic Magic could influence people. It could make them think things they might not otherwise. It could even make them forget things, or do things. It all depended on the magic user’s strength and the subject’s weakness.
These two were weak, thank the Father and Mother.
We’re not really here, Brighten told them. You’re not seeing us right now.
He felt their minds trying to resist, so Brighten focused harder, his mind bending theirs.
You both feel bad, though, because earlier you called a nice lady a tramp, Brighten instructed. You feel guilty. And to prove it, both of you are going to cluck like chickens for the next two hours.
He thought two hours might be beyond his ability, that their minds would snap back before then, but that was okay.
The man on the left started walking in a circle, his leg movements overly pronounced like that of a bird. His head moved backward and forward with each step, looking exactly like a chicken.
“BAWK! BAWK!” the second guard said.
“What the fuck are they doing, Brighten?” Erin asked, real concern in her voice.
Brighten smiled, the flames in his eyes dying away. “They feel guilty for calling you a tramp, so now they’re going to cluck like chickens for a while.”
“BAWK!” the first one yapped, still walking in a circle, his head pecking forward.
“Come on, let’s keep moving,” Brighten told her. “I don’t know how long it’ll hold.”
Sh
e laughed. “That’s ridiculous. You learned that in school?”
“Oh, yeah.” Brighten started walking down the path, leaving the lantern’s light and returning to the darkness. “We’re learning a lot up there. That’s why I’m so damned tired all the time.”
Erin was still laughing as she jogged to catch up. “That’s amazing. They think they’re chickens?”
“No, not quite,” Brighten tried to explain. “I’m not completely sure. I mean, I just started learnin’ this stuff. They feel like they did something wrong, so that’s their penance. I took a sort of fatherly tone with them? That might be the best way to explain it.”
“Will they remember us?” she asked.
“Nah, or at least not enough to talk about it. I’m not strong enough to erase minds, but I think I kind of moved the memory around so that they won’t ever focus on it.”
“Amazing,” Erin whispered. “So, you don’t really need me here, right? Like, I could leave? Because you can just basically walk through an army by yourself.”
“Hell, no!” Brighten turned around, real fear on his face.
“I’m just kidding.” Erin reached out and touched the boy’s shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere. But, if you wanted, you really could go far into the ‘catacombs.’ What you did back there was amazing.”
“Only with two people, and really close up. I don’t know how far I can push it.” He started walking again, glad Erin wasn’t ditching him.
The catacombs could only be reached from inside the castle, but Brighten navigated the route. He didn’t think Rendal understood the potential trouble he was creating for himself, training an entire generation in magic usage.
Brighten used the new psychic abilities to move through the hallways of the castle without being detected. He understood when people were coming, and even what they were focusing on.
“We almost there?” Erin whispered after a group of sentries passed, completely oblivious to their existence.
“You’re as impatient as Kris,” Brighten insisted. “We can’t just run down the halls. We have to be careful.”
Erin smirked. “I know, I know. I’m just ready to see what this bastard is creating.”
The two scurried through the castle until they reached a final hallway.
“As far as I know, it’s down there,” Brighten whispered.
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