Magic Freed, page 10
part #2 of Heart Mountain Academy Series
I smiled, too. My life would have been very different if magic wasn’t banned and the magical condemned to childhoods spent in Homes followed by adulthoods of drudgery. I didn’t believe in pie from the sky, though.
“It’ll probably wind up being some good and some bad, some goals met and some disappointments,” I said.
Aiden nodded. “Much like life.”
I snorted. “Your life maybe. Life in the Home was mostly unrelentingly bad.”
He took a small step toward me. “But you took a chance, and isn’t your life better now? If we don’t take the chance, nothing will change.”
He was probably right.
“Can I ask another question?”
“Sure.”
He plucked another fallen leaf from my hair. I liked the way his touch felt.
I hesitated a moment. Did I have a right to ask about his past? No one at the academy talked much about the past. Things slipped out from time to time though, and no one seemed to regret their words. So maybe Aiden wouldn’t mind talking about it.
“How did you wind up here, with Stella, Max, and Geo?”
“It’s a long story,” he said. It didn’t seem like he didn’t want to talk about it—more that he hadn’t talked about it in a long time. Maybe ever.
I shot him a grin to try to coax him into talking. “It’s not even sundown yet. We have time.”
He hesitated a moment, then said, “My parents were exiles. Mom had been sent into the outworld from the Bay Area bubble because she was a highly gifted pyromancer.”
I thought of Aiden’s skill with fire—probably inherited from his mother.
“Dad was a trained mage, which is highly illegal. He was imprisoned for a while but kept escaping. He couldn’t escape his bubble though, so he also kept getting caught. Finally, the Nashua bubble council had had enough and exiled him to the outworld. He wandered aimlessly around the open country for a few years. Mom also moved around. Eventually they wandered into each other and it stuck. A few years later, I was born.”
“In the outworld?”
Aiden nodded. “Technically, I don’t exist. There’s no electronic trail on me the way there would be if I’d been born inside a bubble. Threw the police for a loop when Stella, Geo, Max and I were arrested and put in prison ourselves. I’m in the records as One-A Golemchild.”
I cocked my head and smiled. “You know, that’s weirdly romantic.”
“When you hear the tale, maybe,” Aiden said soberly. “I didn’t find my childhood terribly romantic. For a few years we lived in a vehicle not much bigger than the one Megan brought.”
A memory slipped into my mind. “When did you learn to play golf? When you were teaching us levitation, I had the feeling you’d played the game.”
Aiden laughed humorlessly. “In prison. We played on a virtual reality course. I learned about a lot of new things while there. They kept us busy, the theory being that if the prisoners were constantly occupied, we wouldn’t be plotting an escape.”
I thought about that. “Were you plotting?”
He grinned. “All the time. Until we finally hit on a plan that got us out of there.”
I nodded slowly, taking that in. “So, back to your childhood.”
“We lived in a vehicle,” he said. “Eventually we found a ghost town in old California and settled there.”
The wind was picking up. I pushed away a few stray hairs that had managed to escape from the elaborate hair-do Stella had sculpted on me.
“So, you lived in a ghost town,” I repeated, prodding him for the rest of the story.
“That had been built in the 1800s. Most of the buildings were ramshackle at best, but Dad reinforced and insulated everything on the inside of the old church we’d taken for our house, so we were always cool in the summer months, warm in winter, and the wind and rain didn’t get in.”
His face clouded.
I took his hands in mine. “But then something bad happened.”
Aiden looked at my hands around his and gently pulled them free. I sensed he needed distance to tell his story.
“One really hot day during the summer,” he said, “I’d run off to swim in the river instead of doing my chores and staying close by, the way I was supposed to. When I came home, my parents were dead. Shot. By rogues. By the police. Who knows?”
His words were like a blow straight to my heart. “That’s horrible.” I paused. “How old were you?”
“Nine. I’d been hunting and foraging for food practically since I could walk. I’d helped my dad hew wood for the fireplace. I knew how to dig clay from the riverbank, form it into cups, plates, and pots, and how to fire it to make it solid. I was sad and lonely, but in no danger of starving or freezing to death. I lived there alone through that summer and fall. Winter was just starting to stick its cold nose in when Stella and Geo arrived.
“Together?” I asked.
Aiden nodded. “Geo is Stella’s child. Geo’s father is the son of a highly placed person in the Salt Lake bubble. Stella grew up much like you did, in a Home. She’d been sold to be a household servant, which is how she knows so much about the ways of black caste people. When Stella turned up pregnant by the son, the family sire had her banished to the outworld.”
I closed my eyes and sighed. Hearing these stories, knowing the stories of the kids I grew up with, it was a miracle there hadn’t been a revolt long before now.
“Stella and Geo were hunting for a place to set up a homestead and thought the ghost town looked like a good, safe spot,” Aiden said. “There was a river nearby with an abundance of fish. There were rabbits and birds for eating. And there was me. Stella recognized right away that I had naturally powerful though untrained magic.”
He paused, as if seeing it all again in his mind.
“When she decided, for whatever reason—she never has told me why—that the ghost town wouldn’t do, she convinced me to come with her. Geo was my age. I was,” he hesitated, “lonely.”
That was probably an understatement. I couldn’t imagine what it had felt like for him—both parents dead and alone in a desolate place.
Aiden cleared his throat. “I thought it would be nice to have a brother and a substitute mom. I packed up my belongings—my handmade spears, fishing pools, and rabbit traps—climbed into the back seat of her vehicle and never looked back.”
We’d been standing still while Aiden spoke. He turned and walked deeper into the woods. I walked beside him, neither of us speaking. The only sounds were our steps on the fallen leaves, an occasional bird calling, and sounds of our breath.
“Aiden,” I whispered, breaking our silence.
He waited a moment for me to continue, but any words I might have said would have been inadequate. He leaned toward me, stopping when his face was a mere hand’s breadth from mine. His eyes searched my face. I leaned the rest of the way until our lips touched. And for a long, glorious moment there was nothing in my mind but how fine his mouth was, how good his tongue tasted, and the incendiary heat flaring through my body.
Chapter Nineteen
Dawn was still hours away when we assembled at the large kitchen table. I hadn’t slept more than a few minutes here and there during the night. No one in the dorm had slept well. I’d heard my friends tossing and turning in their beds, each of them as keyed up and as wide awake as I was.
Megan had brought some sort of drink to the dorm that was supposed to help us sleep. The liquid had tasted like leaves and tree bark, which it probably was. It hadn’t worked very well, though. We hummed with a nervous energy so strong I could almost see and taste it.
Geo had made coffee and full breakfasts. Will, who could always eat no matter what, tucked in with abandon. Turner and Jack seemed to have good appetites as well.
Aiden ate the same way he always did, as if this day were no different from any other. As if this might not be the last meal he’d ever have. Seph stared at her plate. I nibbled on a slice of toast and forced myself to eat some eggs. I’d need the energy food provided.
Max, Megan, and Sharee were ‘no shows.’ I assumed Megan and Sharee were still at Heart Mountain since I could see the outline of their vehicle through the kitchen window. Max, I thought, was probably still too weak and had stayed in bed. Or he could have gone out during the night on an errand. I wasn’t going to ask. There was enough tension in the room as it was.
“You need to eat,” I said softly to Seph.
She nodded and took a few bites before setting down her fork again.
Stella came in while we were eating. She didn’t sit. She stood near the head of the table. The energy radiating from her was strong but calm. I watched as that energy spread through the room, quieting everyone’s nerves.
“You know,” she began conversationally, “when we go into the bubble today, we’re going to find the m-vamps on high alert. The supreme will have spoken with her counterparts in other bubbles. She’ll know which of her fellow supremes have fallen and which are still holding on to control.
“There are rumors that each of the vampires in her house possesses a different flavor of magic. Some are elemental. Some are spellcasters. Others have mastered telekinesis, and so on. Other rumors say the vamps have no magic of their own at all—they can only channel what they steal from others. We must be on alert for all possibilities.”
“The vamps didn’t use magic yesterday,” I said. “Only the supreme.”
“True,” Stella acknowledged, “but that doesn’t mean they don’t have magic they chose to hide.”
Will grunted low. Turner elbowed him in the ribs and shot him some stink eye.
“Information from the judge,” Stella continued, “is that Orella’s personal magic is strong and diverse. We saw only a small demonstration of what she can do. She isn’t going to give up easily, but we can defeat her and her vamps. We will defeat them. We’ll do it as a team, working our magics in concert.”
Every eye was on her, every ear attuned to her words. I was willing to bet that every brain was spinning as wildly and fast as mine was with this new information. And that every heart was feeling the same mixture of fear and anticipation.
Stella ran her gaze across our faces. “Stand up. Breakfast is over.”
We spent the next few hours learning new spells. Some were meant for all of us to do with the same words at the same instant. Others had different roles and parts assigned to each of us. It wasn’t like any magic we’d done before, but I could feel the power in it. So much power it was almost frightening. If it went wrong, if somehow the vamps could turn it back on us, we were doomed.
I said as much to Aiden when we found ourselves the last two people in the gymnasium after the others had returned to the dorm.
“Then don’t let that happen,” he said.
He grinned and left the room. I stared after him. ‘Don’t let that happen.’
Right. How were we to prevent what we couldn’t see coming?
The knife I’d chosen for a defense weapon in case magic failed was tucked inside a holster hidden by my pants. The hilt protruded above my waist band but was hidden by my jacket. A stack of pillows sat next to me.
The academy’s old truck was again glamoured to resemble the sort of vehicle members of the black caste drive. We wore our black caste attire again, not because we were hoping to pass as members of that society—the vamps wouldn’t be fooled a second time—but for the protection our warded jackets and newly warded shoes provided.
Stella rode in the passenger seat up front. Geo was behind the guidance stick. Aiden, Seph, Turner, Jack, Will, and I rode in the back. No one pulled the canvas aside to watch the sun rise or see where we were. No one spoke. Seph and Jack held hands. I wouldn’t have minded if Aiden had taken my hand. Or if Jack or Turner had. Someone to hold onto, to feel connected with, to feel safe with. I sat a little apart, my mind going over and over our plans for the attack, assuring myself I understood and knew the parts I was to play.
Aiden moved over next to me. “Nervous?”
I nodded.
“Good,” he said. “Overconfidence can get you killed. Be as nervous as you want now.” He put his hand on my knee. “The moment we step out of the truck, all your fear will drop away. Your mind will be sharp. Your magic will be at your fingertips and ready on your tongue.”
I smiled. “Spellwords.”
He shrugged an admission.
“That’s okay,” I said. “I don’t mind being bespelled right now, by you.”
He smiled and moved off to sit next to Seph. He put his hand on her leg and spoke low to her. One by one, he moved to each of my friends, touched them, and spoke to them. I hoped his spell worked.
Jack had already changed into his eagle form by the time Geo pulled the truck to the curb several blocks away from the m-vamps mansion. Seph pulled the canvas aside and kissed the top of Jack's eagle head. He flapped his wings once and then ascended into the sky.
Jack's first job was a surveillance run over the mansion. To see how many if any outside guards Orella might've posted. It would be Seph’s job—her first job of many— to use her thorn vines to contain any guards there might be. To do that, she'd have to get close to the mansion. Unfortunately, her magic didn't have much of a distance component to it. I hoped there weren’t any guards.
I smelled fire and turned to see Will juggling three small fireballs. As I watched, he added a fourth and then a fifth ball. The look of concentration on his face was fierce.
I grinned at him. We all dealt with stress in our own way. Turner was sitting very straight and staring at nothing. Seph sat cross-legged on the truck bed, her arms wrapped tightly around her upper body, her hands over her shoulders, and her chin sunk to her chest. I slid over to sit next to her.
"Jack will be fine," I said and hoped my words would turn out to be true.
She didn't raise her head. "I know."
"But you're worried about him anyway."
Seph looked up. "I'm worried about all of us."
Aidan twisted slightly to face us. He focused his gaze on Seph. "Remember what I said to you earlier. The moment you step out of the truck, you will no longer be afraid. You will trust your teammates. You will trust your own magic."
I felt the force of Aidan’s spell as he pushed confidence toward her. I wasn't sure if he’d included me in the spell or if I so desperately wanted to believe his words that I did.
Will and Turner seemed to believe Aiden’s words, too. Will’s fireballs vanished and Turner’s eyes were focused and sharp.
Seph pulled her head up—at Aiden’s words I thought, but realized, no, at the sound of flapping wings. Her body tensed and didn’t relax until Jack had shifted to human and climbed naked into the truck back.
“No outside guards that I could see.” Jack reached for his pants and began pulling them on. “No lights on inside the mansion either. Maybe the vamps have already gone to bed.”
Aiden shrugged, but I figured he didn’t think the vamps would oblige us by crawling off to sleep the moment the first rays of sun hit. I certainly didn’t think the vamps would be so cooperative.
Aiden stood. “Grab your tools and weapons. Let’s go.”
I grabbed the stack of pillows and followed my friends out.
Chapter Twenty
The instant my feet touched the street, my fear vanished.
Damn, Aiden, I thought. That’s some useful magic you’ve got there.
A year ago—six months ago—I didn’t know a person could learn magic or fine-tune and expand the magic they were born with. When had I stopped being amazed and started accepting my own magic as something that was as much a part of my life as eating or breathing?
If we succeeded at what we were trying to do today, I wanted every magical in the bubble to know this was possible. That magic could be theirs, not just the magic they were born with, but more. What they did with it would be up to them.
A new, black wrought-iron gate had been installed where the one Aiden had blown off its hinges had been yesterday. Did the m-vamps keep a supply of gates around just in case? Did they summon up a new one with magic? In any case, this one probably carried strong repulsion or protection spells. I didn’t think the vamps were stupid enough to simply put up a new, unwarded gate and hope for the best.
Aiden cupped my elbow in his palm and led me forward. Seph, Geo and Will went with us toward the gate. Stella and Turner headed around back. Turner, in his wolf form, could jump the stone wall that surrounded the mansion’s land. He’d do it with Stella on is back.
The plan was for Aiden, Seph, and I to open the gate and rush to the front door. Will and Geo would go to the far side of the house and come in through a window. Stella and Turner would break down the back door and enter that way—a fresh scare, we hope, for vampires who’d scrambled to the front door when Aiden blew it open.
The gate was locked. No surprise there.
“Wards?” I asked.
Aiden shook his head. “I don’t feel anything? Do you?”
“No.”
I hunched into my shoulders involuntarily and rolled them to try to shake off the fresh worry running through me.
“Doesn’t that seem wrong?” I asked.
Aiden shrugged. I glanced at Seph, Geo, and Will. They shook their heads and shrugged as well, indicating they didn’t feel any protective magic either.
“No wards are probably their version of a welcome mat,” Aiden said. “They know we’re coming and want us in the mansion where they’ll have the advantage, they think. The locked gate is just for show.”
My shoulders stayed tight with worry. Something felt very off about that gate. About this whole foray into the vamp’s mansion.
Aiden muttered some words and the gate blew inward and hit the side of the mansion with a loud bang. We ran forward, Will and Geo peeling off to the far side of the house. Aiden muttered as we ran and the front door blew off its hinges, the wood shattering to splinters. We kept running, right into the foyer.
