by Casey White
Within seconds, the asphalt under his feet turned to concrete, then grass and gravel. The last of the homes flashed by them. Hopefully, whoever lived in them was fast asleep, none the wiser to the chaos brewing outside their door. Hopefully it would take a while for a fire truck to appear and bring the whole mess down around their ears.
He had to get them out of this somehow. Without breaking secrecy.
Somehow.
“This way!” he heard Olivia hiss. Her voice was lower—and the change was enough to bring Daniel up short. Before he could say a word, she turned on her heel, darting off through the maze of stone and wood.
They had no choice. Leon glanced back—to him, and to their pursuers—but followed on her heels. James stumbled after him.
Just a little more. The minigolf park blossomed around them, worn-out and tired and grey. It’d been a hell of a place once, Daniel could tell. The whole place had been decorated richly, until it was hard to find a square foot that hadn't been filled with statues and concrete-rock cliffs and now-dry fountains. An office building sat square in the middle, with sheds scattered around the property.
Within seconds, the Booklenders vanished from sight behind a giant, fake-looking tree. Daniel didn’t slow, but his heart leapt. If he couldn’t see the Booklenders, they couldn’t see him.
And he could see their escape route—another road on the far side of the park, with an empty yard beyond. They were almost there. They just had to keep running, and take off into the city, and-
The air gleamed, brightening insubstantially. Thunder crackled across the open sky. Daniel froze, even as his feet kept racing underneath him. He knew what was coming, even if he wished with every fiber of his being to be wrong.
He wasn’t wrong. Glimmers of light sparkled across the open air—moments before another wall of golden light split the mid-morning gloom. It appeared in a thin, spindling line that grew, spreading through fractals that devoured the city beyond.
By the time Daniel finished gaping and seized control of his mind again, it was too late. The light filled the space in front of him, wiping out the field and their freedom in one blow. He glanced back furtively, his steps slowing. Sure enough, the barrier filled in behind them like an absurdly large, magical dome plopped down over the whole minigolf park.
“We’re stuck,” he breathed, still staring at the wall.
“Stop staring at it,” Olivia hissed. Her hand grabbed at his wrist. He didn’t know when she’d turned around, but suddenly she was there, yanking him to the side. “Cyril will- It’s too late. We have to hide. Right now.”
As if hiding was going to do them any good. Daniel let her pull him away, though, his nerves singing. They were trapped, and their opponents were trapped in here with them. It was just hide and seek, from this moment on.
Their enemies had guns. And magic. He shivered, remembering the sight of his car exploding before his eyes.
The pistol hanging beneath his arm weighed down heavier than ever.
Leon spun, though, his blue eyes wild, and Daniel hurried forward. “It’s okay,” he breathed, nudging Leon toward Olivia—who waved furiously, beckoning them toward a shed. No, not toward the shed. Behind it, to where the straight wooden wall met the uneven, faintly-curving faux-stone of the landscaping.
His eyes scanned it in an instant, assessing. It’d be tight, but...they could fit. Probably.
Olivia wasn’t waiting. She’d already shoved James through the gap by the time Daniel hurried forward, and pushed herself in after him. Leon darted forward to duck in next. His hand closed around Daniel’s, hauling him forward.
Daniel let him. The warmth of their palms pressing together anchored him, belying the fear that coursed through his veins. Only when they all sat in the dark, trapped between the points of light on either side, did he allow himself to breathe.
“They’re going to find us,” Leon hissed, and Daniel saw him glance toward Olivia. “If you lead them here-”
“Shut the fuck up,” Olivia spat back. “You don’t- You have no idea how much I risked, getting word to you.”
“Quiet,” Daniel snapped, as forcefully as he could without raising his voice. “Olivia, how’s James?”
James mumbled something inaudible in reply. Olivia sighed. That said it all.
He opened his mouth, ready to launch into...something. A retort, or a new plan. Something rang out across the quiet, stopping him before he could utter a single syllable.
Footsteps.
His body locked up, freezing in place, and he felt Leon go rigid alongside him. Even Olivia stopped her muttering—and from the corner of his sight, he saw her clap a hand over James’ mouth.
If they got caught here, squeezed into a crevice like sardines in a can, it would be game over. No one said it, and no one had to.
No one moved. No one spoke. Daniel held his breath as the sound of racing feet drew closer and closer. Leon’s hand stayed clasped in his, both of them wrapped together so tightly he wasn’t sure he’d still have blood in his fingers after.
“W-Where’d they go?” he heard someone gasp. His skin prickled. They were close, damn it. He didn’t dare peek his head out to look.
“Fuck if I know,” someone else said. Their voice was brighter. Sharper. “When’s that finder guy supposed to get here?”
“Does it look like I know?” the first speaker snapped. “Jesus. Call Rickard again, and tell him-”
“You call him.” The second man’s voice had gone low, petulant. “Hey! Cyril!” No one replied, but the man must have gotten some sort of acknowledgement, because he kept going. “They’re in here somewhere, right?”
“Yeah.” This time, Daniel heard him—quiet, as though from a distance, and sounding as exhausted as Daniel felt. “T-They can’t- They’re in here. Until the barrier goes down.”
“And how long is that going to be?” the second speaker snapped. “Fucking hell. What are we supposed to do? Just sit here and-”
“Keep that damn barrier up,” the first man said. “Keep Merv close. Maybe he can feel them or something. However these magic freaks work. I’ll- We’ll figure it out.” Then, more loudly, “Hey! Ian!”
Daniel let his head roll forward, his lungs aching for a deep, refreshing draw of air. He didn’t dare do anything that might bring the pair closer. Hell, it seemed like even his heart was beating out of control.
Someone else called something, too low to make out. “Great!” the first man called back, his tone sour. “Just- Just climb up high somewhere, or something. Get up there and get watching.”
A whole mess of names, none of which meant anything to Daniel. He swallowed again—but even as his hand shook in Leon’s, he heard the voices growing quieter.
They were leaving.
He wasn’t stupid enough to think this was their chance. If what he’d overheard was true, then whoever Cyril was, he was responsible for that barrier. And keeping them in. The image of that worn, exhausted man in the back of their group sprang into his mind’s eye. If this barrier was the work of one man, then they’d have to be tired.
“Will the barrier run out?” he whispered, just a breath of air. He leaned forward as best he could, casting a glance toward Olivia. “This...This spell, or whatever. Is there a time limit?”
Olivia’s eyes flicked from side to side. Even in the shadows of their hiding place, her face was bone white. “I-I don’t know,” she whispered back. “I don’t know these people, Owl. Not really. We just- Indira contacted somewhere, and then this guy on their side wanted to meet up, and-”
“Quiet,” Daniel snapped. Olivia shut up. He sat, back, massaging at his temples.
If they waited here, maybe Cyril would get tired. Was that a thing? Did their magic wear at them the longer it was active, or was it a one-and-done casting?
Even if the spell would expire and dry up, did they have the time to sit around and wait for it? The Booklenders were looking for them, and every moment they wasted was another moment to get caught
.
Again, his shoulder ached with the weight of the gun hanging underneath it. He had another option, if Cyril was the source of that shield. He could get rid of it—probably.
But was he ready to take that step?
Another thought sprang into his mind, and he twisted. Leon flinched. “W-What are you-”
“Shh,” he murmured, ducking his head to tap it against Leon’s shoulder. Leon quieted. Daniel pulled his phone from his pocket, squinting against the sudden surge of light in his face.
A few quick taps of the keys, and he pressed the phone to his ear.
It rang. And rang. Each one seemed impossibly loud, like a siren to draw in the people lurking around them. And then it clicked.
“Owl?” Maya said. “What’s-”
“Shh,” Daniel hissed. “Maya. Listen to me. Are you- Did you go to-”
“I’m in town,” she said. “What’s happening? Did you get James?”
Daniel cast a glance out into the steadily-brightening park. “We’re in trouble,” he murmured, as quietly as he could without totally losing his words. “We need your help. My car is-” He winced. “Gone.”
“W-What?” Maya’s voice went sharp, high-pitched. “What do you mean, it’s-”
“There’s a- a golf place. Near James’ house. Abandoned, I think.”
“I don’t see how that’s important when-”
“Do you know it?” It took everything Daniel had to keep from screeching at her. It wasn’t Maya’s fault they were in this mess. At the end of the day, it was his.
“I think so,” she whispered.
He nodded, then realized she couldn’t see. “We’re stuck. Can you- Can you come to the far side? Away from James’ house? We’re going to try and get away. And then-”
Leon’s hand clamped shut around his, cutting him off. Daniel froze. Maya chattered away in his ear, but he didn’t hear a word.
All he could hear was the sound of footsteps, again. Slow and careful, this time.
And getting closer.
Maya was still saying something as he pulled the phone from his ear and slid it shut.
- Chapter Fifteen -
“Shit,” Daniel breathed. Inwardly, though, his reaction wasn’t so muted. They were trapped like rats in a damn barrel, he was coming to realize.
The footsteps didn’t seem to care. They crept closer, steadily growing louder.
“What d’you see?” he heard someone murmur.
“Quiet.”
“I’m just asking. How’s that magic stuff work, anyway? Is it, like, infrared, or-”
“I said, be quiet.” The second speaker’s voice grew low and sharp. “I’m looking.”
The word was like a signal flare going off in Daniel’s mind. Right. Their opponents were looking—for them. And...infrared? He bit back a curse, ducking his chin to his chest. He couldn’t rule out the possibility of them having magical tools in their kit, which would bring this fight to a quick and unpleasant end.
They needed to move. Now.
With that thought lodged in his mind, he twisted, maneuvering himself toward Oliva—only to find her wide-eyed, looking right back at him.
Go, he mouthed. She shook her head wildly, jabbing a finger in his direction.
The sound of footsteps grew louder, and the voices with them. From his side of the alcove, or hers? He couldn’t be sure.
Again, the wheedling voices in the back of his head rose louder. This could be it. This could be Olivia’s betrayal. She’d turn them back toward their pursuers, and before they could run, they’d be-
He clamped down hard, killing the insidious worries before they could take hold. Olivia had had plenty of opportunities to turn on them. She hadn’t, and he couldn’t think of a reason she’d wait until now.
“Go,” he whispered in Leon’s ear, nudging him back toward the open air of the park. “Go.” Leon skittered away, working himself back out of the alcove. Daniel followed after him, trying to move as quickly as he could without letting the whole world know where they were.
“Hold up,” he heard someone say—not one of theirs. One of them. The mage. “I think-”
“You see something?” the mage’s friend said. He sounded eager. Daniel wriggled faster.
Leon grabbed his shoulder, hauling him out from behind the shed. Together they crouched alongside the wooden walls, dragging James out.
He still looked like hell. Daniel winced. But, he was moving, and he looked pissed, and that would have to be good enough.
“Over there,” the mage said, conviction filling his voice. Daniel’s blood chilled. They were...close. Too close. The shed dropped them back out onto a narrow path, bordered by the same rocky centerpiece they’d skirted around before. “They’re that way. And- they’re-”
“Go,” Daniel gasped, snagging Olivia’s wrist and hauling her upright as she squirmed out of the gap. “Run.”
Yells broke out behind them as they took off sprinting again. Daniel glanced back.
Figures—three of them. One of them, he recognized from James’ house. The way he raised his hands, arms outstretched, was too familiar to mistake.
“Go!” Daniel cried, twisting back. His hands were sweating, but he grabbed hold of his pistol again, pulling it free.
Leon grabbed hold of his jacket, hauling him another few steps down the path. But- the mage was doing something. He was casting.
Daniel’s arms steadied. Sucking in a breath of air, he leveled the gun, and-
For a moment, pinned in his crosshairs, he saw the mage’s eyes widen. Just for a moment, the man’s focus faded, exposing something beneath.
Fear.
The gun bucked in his grasp. The roar of it echoed around the park, bouncing off concrete and stone until it filled his ears.
Heat exploded off the side of the shed, bursting into flames that sent off gouts of sparks.
The mage lurched—and pulled himself back upright, clapping a hand to his shoulder. Even despite the distance, Daniel could see the stain spreading across his shirt.
He’d shot someone.
“Come on!” Leon cried, right in his ear. His hold on Daniel wasn’t so delicate, anymore. He dragged him away, toward an enormous wood-and-cobblestone windmill at the end of the row. “Keep moving!”
Their pursuers were scattering, dragging their wounded companion with them, but Daniel knew it wasn’t over. Indira would never let him get away so easily, and the golden shield around the park still glowed down from above.
And now they knew hiding wouldn’t work.
They couldn’t wait this one out.
“Which way?” he heard Olivia call from the front of the group. She had a hand on James’ back, steering him onward. “Where should we-”
“Left!” Leon called back. “Take a left!”
Smart. Their pursuers were trying to circle—so they’d have to stay a step ahead. Daniel bolted after Olivia, but his eyes lingered on James. He was slow. It wasn’t his fault, but...it would be a problem, soon.
“W-We...We have to stop them,” he gasped, shooting a look at Leon- who cast a terrified glance right back.
“What? W-What are you talking about?”
“We...can’t keep running.” He swallowed, darting around the backside of the windmill, and nearly tripped over the green-felted playing field. His eyes flicked up, catching a glimmer of movement.
A figure, climbing the side of the golf park’s central building. A figure with a gun slung over his shoulder.
“We need to- We have to turn the tables,” Daniel spat. His legs were already aching. Damn it, he was stronger than this. “Catch them off guard. And then-”
“Damn it- I said wait!” a voice cried from behind them. There was an urgency contained in their words that screamed of a deep-seated fear. Something like that, he couldn’t ignore. Daniel looked back.
And then he ducked to the side, biting back a yelp as gunfire cracked across the park again. Something slammed into the windmill—’somethi
ng’, he said, as though it wasn’t damn clear they were bullets.
“Owl!” he heard James rasp from ahead, the bigger man crumpling behind a shrubbery. “Y-You have a gun. Use the damn thing!”
Right. He did. He turned back, slowing long enough to raise his weapon.
All he had to do was point it at them and pull the trigger. He’d practiced. He’d trained for years, damn it. How could he fail now?
When he leveled the gun, though, all he could see was that man stumbling back—and the red dripping down his clothes.
His hands wobbled. The sights wavered, nowhere near stable. He sucked in a breath, stumbling back a step, and-
The foliage around them flickered, the air shuddering in one final warning. The whole thing erupted into crackling flames a heartbeat later. James screamed, pulling back. Olivia dragged him away, batting at his clothes.
Daniel fired, but already, he knew it was too late. The cluster of mages following them ducked down another path.
Leon’s hand closed around his again. “I guess that bastard was fine,” Daniel heard him hiss.
“We’re- We have to keep moving,” Daniel said, swaying. “Come on. Let’s-”
“Are you goin’ to use that damn thing?” James said, looming alongside him. The man’s face was tight-drawn, a mask of tension.
Daniel shrank back, still scanning for any sight of pursuit. “W-What? I don’t-”
“Give it to me, if you’re not going to.” James said, grabbing at the pistol in Daniel’s hand.
Leon started forward, a protesting noise slipping from his throat.
Daniel could have argued with James. He could have given him a lecture about how trying to wrestle a gun away from someone was a good way to wind up shot in the foot.
Instead, he just let James take the gun, sliding his hand from the grip. It wasn’t like he was doing any good with it.
“We just have to get the jump on them,” he whispered instead, shrinking lower. “They’re...something’s going on.”
“They want you,” Olivia muttered, dropping down beside him. “Alive. Indira does, anyway, and she’s the one who called the mages here.”