by Hanna Peach
“Please, I’m not finished. You said you wanted space, which I am trying to respect. But I swear, if you tell me that…that it’s me that you choose, I will do whatever it takes, however long it takes to convince you that you are it for me. If you never want me to speak to another woman again, I’d do that. If that’s what you needed.”
“Never speak to...?” Alyx’s hands came up to clasp at his wrists as she gave him a look of horror. “No, Jordan. I would never ask you to do that.”
“I’d still do it. If you were mine. If that’s what you wanted.”
“But…but then you wouldn’t be you anymore. And you deserve to have someone love you for you, who you are, adoring fans and all. Don’t change. Not for anyone. Especially not for me.”
Jordan’s features turned to stone. He swallowed hard. “Why…” his voice dropped to a whisper, “why do I get the feeling that I just lost you.”
Alyx opened her mouth to speak but…no words came out. She felt Jordan’s hands slip from her neck and her chin. “Or maybe I never really had you.”
Something inside her heart cracked. She felt it. The pressure of two loves taking up the same space in her heart was too much. Both sides had been fighting inside her even underneath her attempts to ignore it for the time being. The internal battle that had made her feel so unbalanced could not keep going. One love was stronger, truer, and it had just broken the barrier between them. She opened her mouth to speak, but…
“Alyx.” Cleo’s voice interrupted her.
Alyx looked towards the voice and spotted Cleo moving towards them. Alyx glanced back to Jordan. His mouth hung open and he had stopped breathing. He looked like he had seen a ghost.
Cleo paused when she saw them. “Oh. Sorry. Am I interrupting something?”
“No,” she said.
“Who the hell are you?” Jordan demanded at the same time.
“Cleo, please ignore my rude friend, Jordan.” That’s when she noticed Cleo’s frazzled look, bloodshot eyes and bags. “Are you okay?”
“No. I mean, yes, but no. Can we…talk?”
“This is Cleo?” Jordan growled at her. Jordan turned towards the girl. “You’re the one who fed her DreamDust.”
Cleo sniffed. “She’s an adult.”
“She had no idea what you were giving her.”
Alyx held up her hands as the two glared at each other. “Guys, please. We don’t have time for this. Jordan, can you check to see whether the next group is ready to go?”
Jordan grumbled but he acquiesced. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”
“That’s fine,” Cleo said. “We won’t need you.”
“I don’t trust her,” Jordan said in Alyx’s ear, loud enough for Cleo to hear. Jordan glared at Cleo one last time before he sauntered off.
“I haven’t been able to sleep since you left the other day,” Cleo said. “I thought about what you said…about facing my problems. About making a life, a real life, back on Earth. I want to do that.”
“That’s great.”
“But I’ve been away for so long, I don’t think anyone I know would be alive. I don’t know anyone, I don’t know where to go. So… If I go back to Earth, can I come with you? Be part of your community? I promise I’ll be helpful.”
I don’t trust her. Jordan’s words echoed in her head. Alyx shoved them aside and smiled. She had been the one to encourage Cleo to get help. She wasn’t going to turn her away now. “Of course you can. We’ll talk to Tobias. I’m sure he’ll say yes. I have to head back to Saint Joseph first but I’ll find someone who will take you through to our community and I’ll meet you there soon.”
* * *
The farther away from Alyx that Jordan got, the more his anger faded like wind dropping out of sails. He stopped. He should turn around and go back and apologize to Alyx…
Cleo’s face flashed into his mind and he decided that he just couldn’t face her right now. So he kept walking.
He couldn’t believe his eyes when he first saw Cleo walking towards him. He had thought for a moment that Lylianne’s ghost had stepped out of his past and back into his life. He knew it couldn’t have been Lylianne. She killed herself after Jordan had caught Michael abusing her all those years ago in Michaelea. Lylianne was dead. But her ghost was obviously still haunting him.
He winced as Cleo’s face came back into his head. Her dark eyes, strong nose and high cheekbones, the dark hair that fell straight on the sides of her face. Cleo and Lylianne could have been sisters. Except where Lylianne was timid and soft, and ultimately, wasn’t able to take the pain that life had brought her, Cleo had been toughened and hardened by everything she had survived. No mortal chose to live life in Purgatory without some kind of history. No one survived a life in Purgatory without becoming jaded or carrying scars. Or finding ways to deal. Like using DreamDust to escape.
Maybe he should apologize to Cleo.
Jordan shook his head. No, he was right to be suspicious. He knew it. And not just because she unnerved him, looking the way she did. He knew his suspicions would be ignored by Alyx. He would just have to keep an eye on Cleo himself to make sure she wasn’t up to something.
Chapter 18
Back at the underground station, Alyx stood in a quiet corner with Israel, saying their goodbyes and thanks to Mason. They were interrupted when Lukas ran up to them. He was gasping and his eyes were wild. “Tobias. Where is Tobias?”
Mason pointed down the tunnel that led to the cages. “Getting that crazy bird out of the cages.”
Immediately Lukas spun on his heel and began to race towards the tunnel leading to the cages.
“Lukas, what’s wrong?” asked Alyx.
“Ana’s gone,” he called out behind him.
Oh. Hell.
Alyx ran after him, hearing Israel and Mason following close behind her.
When she neared the cages she saw Dianne and Tobias standing by the open door of an empty cage. Tobias bent over, fingering the lock.
Tobias let go of the door and straightened up as Lukas halted right in front of them. Alyx stopped beside Lukas and was joined by Israel and Mason.
“Ana,” Lukas gasped. “Ana is gone. She isn’t anywhere.”
“And so is the MemoryThief,” said Dianne, waving her arm toward the empty cage as the door swung open on its hinges. “We found the cage like this.”
Everyone else started talking at once.
“How did the MemoryThief get out?”
“Are you sure Ana’s gone?”
“Where would she even go?”
“She can’t have gone far.”
“Stop,” Lukas yelled. They all fell silent. “We have to find her. Stop talking and start looking.”
Tobias placed his hand on Lukas’s arm. “She won’t have gone far, Lukas. There’s no reason for her to.”
“Oh my God,” Dianne gasped. “The water around the lock… Ana, she’s a WaterBearer.”
Tobias frowned as he turned his face towards Dianne. “What are you getting at?”
“Water expands when it is turned to ice.”
Tobias’s mouth dropped open. “You don’t think she…but why?”
“What happened?” Lukas demanded. “What are you talking about? What lock? What water?”
“Lukas,” Tobias said. “The MemoryThief has escaped. But she couldn’t have done it on her own. Look, this lock has been broken. But there are no visible pry marks. However, the lock is wet and cold and so is the ground just underneath it. I think the lock was broken by filling it with water, then freezing the water so it turned to ice. Water expands when it is cooled.”
“So?” Lukas asked.
“This happened while we were all in Purgatory,” Dianne said. “The only ones of us left here were Israel, Ana, Adere and the MemoryThief. Israel and Adere are both still here. But Ana and the MemoryThief are both gone. Ana is a WaterBearer. She can manipulate water, including turning it to ice.”
“What the hell are you trying to imply?” yelled Lukas.
>
“I think Ana let the MemoryThief out.”
Chapter 19
The Castle Speranza lay abandoned in a remote region of Scotland. Below one side of the soaring stone walls, the waves dashed themselves upon the knees of a great cliff. On the other side were rolling fields. Beyond that the rough ground was littered with low shrubs and grasses and menacing-looking mountains.
Inside, the castle was abandoned, but the old sturdy architecture ensured that the walls remained. The Seraphim had repaired the roof and sourced bedding and furniture, and there was plenty of room for the three communities.
Alyx looked around the Great Hall of Castle Speranza. Tobias, Aaban, Vix, Belle, Jordan and Israel were here, all standing or sitting around one of the large oak tables that stretched across the room.
They had selected a representative for each Seraphim magic. Omniya, an old friend of Tobias’s from the Egypt community, was the lead FireTwirler. Her slim caramel-skinned body clothed in pale green made a striking figure across the table. Alyx couldn’t help but notice how often Tobias and Omniya traded glances. Aaban was an EarthWeaver, Belle was an AirWhisperer. Belle still wasn’t pleased with their plans, but after it was decided that they were going to war, she seemed resigned to help. Or perhaps she just wanted to stay involved.
Tobias was the lead Alchemist, Jordan headed up the DreamWalkers and Dianne was the lead for MemorySong. Joining them was Luce from the old Florence community, who was a MirageWeaver. Alyx recognized her youthful, freckled face and her auburn frizzy hair from when she helped her and Jordan scope out the Galleria dell’ Belle Arti in Florence.
Finally there were a seraph WaterBearer and seraphelle Animale whose names Alyx had forgotten. If Ana had been here and had been well, she would have been the WaterBearer and Lukas would have been the Animale. But Ana was missing and Lukas had gone to search for Ana, along with Zulu and Nerabah, his two swallow familias.
The only magic that hadn’t been represented was GiftKeeper. Alyx felt her heart tug with sadness. Mayrekk had been the last GiftKeeper. And now he was gone…so, no more bloodink.
They had managed with Owl’s help to get access to the architect’s original plans of Darkwood Mansion, Samyara’s current base. These plans were laid out across the table.
Darkwood Mansion was a huge, sprawling, three-level building laid out on an even larger piece of land the size of a small forest in the outskirts of the city of Saint Joseph. The property was bordered with tall walls and the main building was set back from the front gates by a long driveway and an open lawn.
From Adere’s memory, they knew that Samyara had had each of the windows of the mansion barred. It was to keep unwanted guests out, but also to keep prisoners in. Adere had also revealed that Samyara had rigged some kind of demon magic alarms on each window to alert them to any intruder.
They knew that the walls had sensors on top of them to alert the occupants if a body breached the wall from the outside. In addition, Samyara had installed several demon-bug cameras, similar to the one left behind in the first demon house that Israel and Vix had raided in Saint Joseph. They pointed down over each entrance to the mansion, several in the front. Several at the back entrance and more scattered throughout the mansion, one each outside Mini’s room, Passar’s room and at the entrance to Samyara’s office. Samyara had also installed extra cameras on the roof pointing to the sky.
The front and back entrances were always guarded by at least two sets of Darkened. The side doors were also rigged with a demon magic alarm and watched by cameras.
“I think we need to send in a team first, covertly using MirageWeaver, to destroy their stockpile of Black Stone weapons,” said Vix. “If we do that, our army has a fighting chance.”
She was met with agreement.
“They have a feast every night at midnight in the Great Hall here,” Jordan said as he fingered the outline of the large space on the plans. “Most of the Darkened will be contained in this room. We know that Samyara takes his meals in his chambers. We should strike then, just after midnight.”
They knew from Adere’s memory that Samyara’s chambers were in the master bedroom, and he used the formal office adjacent to it as his main office.
“We also need to make sure Mini is safe before the fighting starts,” said Alyx. “So we get her out before we destroy their weapons. We know that Mini is being kept in this room here,” Alyx pointed to a small internal room on the second level in the far wing.
“How will you even get this covert team inside?” asked Belle. “Once you breach the wall they’ll be alerted. And you can’t approach from the sky.”
“We can’t enter through the doors as they, too, will set off alarms,” said Aaban.
Alyx stared at the plans. Can’t get in through the front, can’t get in through the back, can’t go over…what’s left?
“What about under?” said Alyx. She leaned over the table where the plans were laid out. She scanned the plans until she found the one she was looking for… “There.” Her finger landed on the outline of the building’s wine cellar, a large hollowed-out space in the ground under the servants’ quarters. “Aaban, if we use your EarthSifter magic to tunnel under the property, we can send our team through the wine cellar. We just need a MirageWeaver.”
Everyone turned their eyes to face Luce. Luce sat up straighter in her seat when she realized she had become the center of attention.
“Luce,” Vix said to the girl-MirageWeaver, “will you be part of the team?”
“She’ll do no such thing,” said Belle.
“Belle−”
“No. What you are proposing is dangerous as hell and I will not let you send Luce or anyone else from my community in first. You can use her blood.” Belle turned her eyes to Alyx. “This is your idea, your war. The general should lead from the front. You go in first.”
Alyx met Belle’s stare with an even gaze. “I’m happy to go in first.”
“It would be better if we could use an actual MirageWeaver,” said Vix. “Or MirageWeaver bloodink rather than undistilled blood. But since Mayrekk is gone…if only we had MirageWeaver bloodink.”
…MirageWeaver bloodink… This set off something in Alyx’s mind. An image of a vial of silvery MirageWeaver in her hand covered in dust.
“Yes, we do,” Alyx said. “I have MirageWeaver bloodink.” She was met with questioning glances. She explained, “When we were rescuing Mayrekk, I found a vial in his bloodink storeroom. It must have fallen out of the basket and lay there forgotten in a corner. So much had happened since then I didn’t think to tell anyone about it. I almost forgot I have it among my things.”
“Then we will use that MirageWeaver bloodink,” Tobias said. “Jordan, will you join Alyx? Your DreamWeaver will help if you run into anyone who you need to take care of discreetly.”
Jordan nodded. “I can do that.”
“I want to fight too,” Israel blurted out.
“No way,” Alyx said. “We’re not sending you in.”
“I’ve been training. I have Airmagic. You’ve seen me fight, Alyx. I can help.”
“No.”
“If I can’t come, you can’t have my blood for your weapons.”
Alyx shook her head in disbelief. “What?”
“You heard me. If you won’t let me fight, you can’t use my blood.”
“But we can’t kill Samyara without your blood.”
“Exactly, so let me fight.”
Alyx shook her head. “No, Israel. We can’t send you, the keye, exactly what Samyara wants, into his lair. If you fall into the wrong hands, then…”
“Alyx is right,” said Tobias. “It would be very stupid of us to let you go in. We understand you want to help. But Samyara and his men know what you look like.”
But Israel wouldn’t give in. “What if nobody knows it is me?”
Alyx frowned. “But how−”
“Is that your only issue with sending me in? That I may be recognized?” He looked between Alyx and
Tobias. Alyx felt uneasy, like she was about to walk into a trap. She had to come up with a reason why they shouldn’t let him fight.
“Yes,” said Tobias.
“No,” Alyx said at the same time.
“What’s the problem then, Alyx?” Israel asked.
She opened her mouth, then closed it. She didn’t know. She just didn’t like the idea.
“So what I gather from your silence is,” Israel said, speaking carefully, “if I can come up with a way that means I won’t be recognized, you are happy to let me fight.” He glanced back and forth, taking in everyone at the table, but no one spoke. “Come on, guys. You just saw what I can do. I’m an asset to your army.”
“I think we should let him fight,” Aaban said. “If he wants to risk his life, I say let him do it. We need all the numbers we can get. If he is killed in battle, then we don’t have to worry about him falling into the wrong hands.”
“I guess if Israel can find a way to disguise himself, I can’t see why not…” Tobias said. He looked unsure when he cast his gaze upon her. “Alyx?”
She took a deep breath. Dammit, she still couldn’t come up with another reason why he shouldn’t fight. “Well… I guess so.”
“Good, then I’ll disguise myself with MirageWeaver,” Israel said.
The room erupted with noise.
“Mortals can’t use blood magic.”
“Is he even trained in magic?”
“He is part Seraphim, remember,” said Vix. “He just needs a little magic training.”
Israel turned to Alyx. “Let me use some of your MirageWeaver bloodink.”
Alyx stared at Israel. She could see on his face that he was asking her to give him a chance to prove himself…she saw it plainly because she recognized it. She understood what wanting to prove yourself felt like.
Alyx sighed. “Okay. If you can prove that you can handle it, yes. You may use it and fight with us.”
* * *
Israel recognized Moloko, the MirageWeaver who had helped Alyx and him with the exchange with Samyara. They were both standing in one of the old castle rooms, a long full-length mirror before them. Israel had three silver lines of MirageWeaver bloodink tattooed on his forearm. Three lines. Three chances to prove he could hold onto this magic and make it work.