Love Potion: A Valentine's Day Charity Anthology

by Graceley Knox

  My anger sparked hotter. “The what?”

  “The Andromedis meteor shower.” Her tone suggested I was an imbecile for not knowing. “It happens sometime between December third and fifth each year.”

  My mouth tightened. Astral-based sorcery spells were often linked to cosmic events, but that was all I knew on the topic. “If you’re bullshitting me—”

  “It’s not my problem you’re so ignorant about famous legends that you don’t even know—”

  I pushed her harder into the wall, then retreated before I hurt her. My instincts urged me to move, to go, to chase down the bastard who’d slipped past me. But my instincts had also failed to detect said bastard, so I focused on Izzah. “How did you know a thief was coming tonight?”

  She tugged her jacket straight and glared at me. The effect was limited, as I was practically standing on her toes.

  “Because it’s Icarus.” She waited a beat. “Internationally notorious artifact thief? Best known for stealing the Carapace of Valdurna from the Bellingham Sorcerers in 2002? Made international news when he lifted an enchanted silver ewer from The Louvre in 1987?”

  I kept my expression neutral, unwilling to admit I had no idea what she was talking about.

  “Icarus is infamous,” she explained in exasperation. “He’s supposed to be in the city, and based on the timing alone, he has to be after the Andromeda Spell. It’s famous.”

  “I’ve never heard of it.”

  “Then you obviously missed a few mythic history lessons.”

  I’d never missed a single lesson—my grandfather would never have allowed it—but my history lessons had covered different topics.

  “Well,” she said in an overly casual voice, “now you know what you’re dealing with! Off you go. Run along with your pals and try to bring down an internationally hunted thief that the authorities have rarely even glimpsed.”

  “Good idea. You’re coming with me.”

  “What? No!”

  “I want to know where you came by all this information and what else you know about this Icarus person.”

  She recoiled from my reaching hand. “No! I can’t go with you or I’ll never—”

  When she bit off the words, I stepped close again. “You’ll never what?”

  Her cocoa-brown eyes, gleaming in the radiance of my flashlight, darted over my face and she bit her lip.

  “I know where Icarus is taking the artifact,” she blurted in a rush. “The Andromedis will happen tonight. He has to activate the spell in the next few hours or he’ll never get another chance to complete the ritual. There’s only one place he’ll go next.”

  I considered her, my inherent skepticism riding me hard. “You know the ritual? How?”

  “I’ll explain on the way. If we’re going to beat Icarus there, we need to go now.”

  My jaw clenched as I peered into her earnest face, her eyebrows raised with emphasis, her lips parted in hopeful anticipation. Whatever she wanted, she wanted it badly.

  I grimaced. As reluctance spread through me like lead in my veins, I grudgingly asked, “Do you have a vehicle?”

  Chapter 3

  This was beyond moronic. I should be at the east perimeter, helping Aaron and Ezra search for signs of the thief’s passage. The Odin’s Eye team included a telethesian, and as soon as the mythic caught the thief’s trail, this so-called Icarus would have no escape. Telethesians could track anyone anywhere but open water.

  Instead, I was off on a wild goose chase.

  Arms folded, I scowled through the windshield of Izzah’s rusting, bright yellow Dodge Neon. The tiny engine sputtered as she accelerated down the street, dark properties flashing by on either side with the occasional glimpse of a modest mansion set back from the road.

  “Start explaining,” I commanded irritably, my attention torn between lecturing myself about my impulsiveness, Izzah’s driving, and my need for information. “Where are we going?”

  She kept her attention on the road, streetlights flickering across her warm-toned skin. “Honestly, I’m surprised you got in a car with a strange mythic.”

  “I’m not concerned.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “Bit arrogant, aren’t we?”

  I gave her a mocking look. “I thought you knew everything.”

  She pressed her lips together and hit the brakes. I jolted forward against my seatbelt, then grabbed the door as she took a corner on two wheels.

  “No one knows everything. I just happen to have an interest in ancient artifacts, mythic history, and archaeology.” She slammed the brakes again and made another wild turn. The car went wide and scarcely missed a signpost. As I clutched my door, she smirked at me. “Don’t like my driving-ah?”

  I gritted my teeth and asked again, “Where are we going?”

  “Douglas Island,” she answered.

  I frowned. “That island at the junction of the Fraser and Pitt rivers? By Coquitlam?”

  “The very one.”

  “There’s nothing there. It’s uninhabited.”

  “Actually,” she replied smugly, “it’s the location of the most powerful water nexus in Metro Vancouver. You do know what a nexus is, don’t you?”

  My eyes narrowed at her patronizing tone. “A sorcery construct for amplifying power.”

  “Oh, so you’re not quite all brawn and no brain.” She put her foot down on the gas and the Neon whined unhappily as we gained speed. We were on a major thoroughfare, and she paused while she navigated a weave interchange. “The Andromeda Spell needs to be elementally charged before it can be activated, so Icarus will take it to four nexuses—water, earth, fire, and air.”

  I realized I was tightly gripping my door and unclamped my hand. “What is the Andromeda Spell? What does it do?”

  “Well, no one really knows, do they?” At my irritated look, she assessed me with one sweeping glance. “You should smile more, leng chai. You’re too handsome to glower like that all the time.”

  My mouth fell open, then snapped closed, and I growled wordlessly.

  “The Andromeda Spell dates back to Ancient Greece. It’s only been used a few times throughout history because of its dependency on the Andromedis meteor shower.” As she spoke, her tone shifted from tartness to enthusiasm, her animosity forgotten. “Though the shower occurs every year, it’s usually only a few meteors an hour. You need at least a hundred an hour to trigger the spell, and that hasn’t happened since 1885. That shower was reputedly ten thousand meteors an hour. Can you imagine?”

  Her eyes sparkled as though she were imagining it right now. I watched her, my gaze drifting over her profile.

  “So,” I said, shaking myself back to the present, “Icarus needs to prime the spell at four elemental nexuses before he can activate it?”

  “Yes, and he needs to time it all precisely. Sorcery of this level follows exact rituals and—”

  My earpiece beeped, warning me that Aaron or Ezra was trying to contact me; I’d turned it off so I wouldn’t distract them with my conversation. I held up a hand to Izzah and switched it back on.

  “Yes?”

  “Kai,” Aaron barked. “We lost him.”

  “Lost him? How? Odin’s Eye has a telethesian.”

  “The telethesian lost him too. The trail disappeared. We’ve got nothing.” Aaron swore furiously. “Any luck with that girl? Does she have any info?”

  Izzah’s eyebrows tweaked knowingly. “Of course your team lost him,” she said, filling in the conversation blanks based on my response. “Icarus is the best. He’ll have ways to fool telethesians and other tracking methods. That’s why I’m going to ambush him at the first nexus.”

  “You’re going to?”

  Her mouth twisted. “We’ll ambush him, then.”

  “Are you absolutely certain Icarus is going to Douglas Island? It isn’t the only water nexus. There are closer ones.” I didn’t know where they were, but sorcerers used nexuses regularly and they wouldn’t drive thirty minutes then boat across a river every
time they needed one.

  “The Andromeda Spell is ancient and powerful. Icarus will take it to the most powerful nexuses he can reach. He won’t risk using an inferior one.”

  I rubbed my jaw, unable to fault her logic. “Aaron, it’s likely Icarus is trying to activate the artifact he stole, and he needs a water nexus first. We’re going to Douglas Island. You and Ezra find out where the next best one is and stake it out.”

  “Got it. Keep us posted.”

  I switched my earpiece off again. “How much farther to Douglas Island?”

  She squinted at the road. “Five minutes. Maybe ten.”

  “Okay. In that case, explain your involvement in all this.”

  Grimacing, she focused on the dark highway as we sped past undeveloped greenery and into the suburban city of Coquitlam. “I already told you I have an interest in ancient artifacts. So do lots of other people. Every year at this time, the Andromeda Spell comes up in online forums—it’s fascinating and mysterious. This year, it’s rumored that a well-known diviner predicted the meteor shower will rival the one in 1885. Unlikely, obviously, but it got a lot of people’s attention.”

  “Including Icarus’s,” I guessed.

  She nodded. “The MPD posted a notice about eight hours ago that he might be in the Vancouver area. When I heard that, I knew he was here for the Andromeda Spell.”

  “Did you tell your guild?”

  “I … not specifically. I tried to join their team but they …” She cleared her throat. “I’m new and the team was already set.”

  The only thing more difficult than being new to a guild was being new and young. Eighteen was the minimum age for membership, and Izzah was maybe a year or two older than that—meaning a year or two younger than me.

  “Then what?” I prompted. “You went out on your own, intending to … catch Icarus single-handedly?”

  “I—no! Of course not!” Her cheeks flushed rosy pink. “I wanted to be nearby in case there was a … a chance I could help.”

  She shot me a blazing look that warned me not to call her out on her bullshit. I said nothing. I knew that thirst to prove yourself, and what better way to win the respect of a tough guild like Odin’s Eye than bringing down a notorious rogue? I probably would’ve done the same.

  Izzah flipped on her turn signal and exited the highway. We rocketed down a bypass at well over the speed limit, passing a shopping complex and a long stretch of darkness I assumed was a park.

  Half a mile farther down the bypass, she turned onto a single-lane road that wound into the trees. “Douglas Island is right over there.”

  I squinted. Through a thin barrier of shrubbery, moonlight glimmered on black water. Across the river, I could just make out what looked like the far bank—except it was the island’s treed shore. The Fraser River was so wide it resembled a lake.

  The car blasted into a small, touristy cluster of houses and chalets, the riverside laden with boardwalks and benches, then we were past that too. Izzah slowed the Neon, and its headlights illuminated a gate that blocked the road.

  She pulled onto the shoulder, shifted into park, and cut the engine. “This is it.”

  Dubious, I climbed out and stretched my back. It was almost ten o’clock and the area was deserted—which was good, considering I was dressed like a counterterrorist.

  I did a quick gear check, then glanced at Izzah as she joined me. In tight black jeans, sturdy boots, leather jacket, and ski hat, she looked like a burglar—a tall, willowy burglar with long, lean legs and dark cocoa eyes, which were currently sliding over me from head to toe as I stood in the car’s headlights.

  For a few seconds, we simply looked at each other, then I strode onto the walking trail that bordered the road. A wooden bench faced a gap in the foliage and I peered at the island’s black silhouette two hundred yards away.

  “How do we get across?” I asked. “I don’t recall there being a bridge.”

  “There isn’t,” she replied promptly, bouncing eagerly on the balls of her feet next to me. “It’s the reason the nexus is all but forgotten now. There are only two ways to get there, and most people use a boat.”

  “I don’t see any boats.”

  She waved dismissively. “There’s a set of docks farther east, but I know a better way—a secret tunnel.”

  A tunnel under the Fraser River? A vague spark of recognition prodded my memory. I’d heard of it before, but I couldn’t come up with any details.

  “Wait,” I said as she started to turn. “Would Icarus know about the tunnel?”

  “Maybe … probably not. But even if he does, he’d have to find the hidden entrance. It isn’t easy, but I already found it.” She pushed her shoulders back proudly, and I had a sudden urge to smile. I resisted. “It’s dangerous,” she added, her excitement faltering. “The tunnel, I mean.”

  I scanned our surroundings, thinking fast. “Icarus will probably cross by boat. If we go into a tunnel, we’ll lose sight of him. We could miss him entirely.”

  “But we won’t!” she exclaimed. “He has to place the artifact on the nexus at precisely 10:36. It’s a … an astral alignment … a constellation angle …” She trailed off with a shrug and a sheepish smile. “It’s a sorcery thing. But I got the times from this amazing Arcana scholar who discovered the tomb of—that’s not important. To catch Icarus, all we have to do is beat him to the nexus.”

  “Unless he goes to a different nexus.”

  She shook her head stubbornly. “He won’t. He—” Her eyes widened and she whipped her hand up to point. “He’s already there!”

  At her horrified exclamation, I whirled around. Across the long stretch of water, the white beam of a flashlight flickered through the island’s trees.

  “How did he get there so fast?” she gasped. “It’s impossible. Even using the tunnel—he can’t have—”

  “Does he have to wait for 10:36 to use the nexus?” I demanded.

  She bobbed her head in urgent confirmation. “We can reach him in time.”

  I scrutinized the faint light on the island once more, then turned to her. “Where’s that tunnel?”

  Chapter 4

  We walked into the trees on the north side of the road. Izzah had grabbed a headlamp from her glove box and was leading the way confidently. The thin trees were tightly packed and we waded through shrubbery covered in the shriveled remains of its summer foliage. I inwardly cringed at the racket we were making.

  “I was last here in early September,” she panted as she shoved past a branch, the headlamp clutched in her hand. “I heard about the tunnel and wanted to check it out. It took a few hours, but I found it.”

  I forced my way through a thorny wild rosebush, the stench of damp, decomposing leaves clogging my nose. “And you followed the tunnel to Douglas Island?”

  “Well—not quite.” She clambered over a log. “I didn’t go that far.”

  “How do you know the tunnel is still intact?”

  “It wasn’t flooded,” she said logically. “If it had collapsed, it would be full of water, wouldn’t it? Aha, it’s right here!”

  I followed her into a clearing scarcely six feet across. A hump of earth, covered in a tangle of fallen leaves and tree roots, closed in one side. Izzah tugged the roots aside to reveal a three-foot-wide square of stone, and I had to admit it was exceptionally well hidden. Faintly illuminated by my light, worn markings crisscrossed its face.

  She placed her hand in the center and declared confidently, “Ori aperias.”

  A purplish glow rippled over the stone, then rock groaned as it shifted. An edge appeared and she grabbed it. Grunting with effort, she swung the heavy door open on concealed hinges. The square opening revealed a vertical chute with a rusting ladder attached to its stone wall, and the sound of dripping water echoed out of the darkness.

  “Maybe you should wait here,” she suggested, withdrawing a cellphone from her pocket. She pulled her hat off, tucked the phone inside it, then shoved it under the nearest b
ush. “It’s probably wet down there.”

  Freed from her ski hat, her raven ponytail tumbled midway down her back, gleaming like silk in my flashlight’s beam.

  “You’ll handle Icarus by yourself, then?” I asked casually. “Tag an internationally wanted rogue all on your own?”

  She stiffened her spine. “I know what I’m doing.”

  “Sure,” I agreed, pulling my earpiece out. I texted Aaron a quick update on my phone, then tugged her hat out of its nook and added my electronics. My light and watch were both waterproof, so I left them on. “I’m going with you.”

  She turned away, but not before I glimpsed the relief on her face. She fixed her lightweight headlamp on her forehead and adjusted the direction of the beam.

  “Fine, I guess,” she said like my company wasn’t a reassurance. “I suppose you could be useful. You seem like the excessively competent type.”

  She said it like it was a bad thing.

  Rubbing her hands together to hide her jitters, she approached the chute entrance. Her headlamp’s bright glare illuminated its slimy walls.

  “All right, let’s do this, uh …” Pausing, she looked back at me with a frown. “Got a name, handsome?”

  “Kai.”

  “Kai what?”

  I hesitated. “Yamada. Crow and Hammer guild.”

  At my guild’s name, her alarm faded. She’d decided I must be an unluckily named random Yamada, not one of the Yamadas.

  “Right, well, follow me, Kai.”

  She slid into the chute and began climbing down. I gave her a brief head start, then squeezed in after her. Adrenaline shivered along my nerves. I didn’t like this. I hated going into a situation blind. No research, no plan, no scouting, no backup. But what choice did I have? Finding a boat to steal, crossing the river, and anchoring somewhere accessible on the unknown shore—it would all take too long. The numbers on my watch glowed warningly: 10:04 p.m.

  My mind spun through calculations as we worked slowly down the slippery ladder. The north shore to the island was two hundred yards, a distance I could walk in a few minutes, but depending on the tunnel’s condition, it could take much longer. Once we reached the island, we had to locate the nexus and Icarus. Then I needed to plan an ambush—one that didn’t involve Izzah. Regardless of her ambitions, I wasn’t risking everything on a rookie mage.