Charm School Outcasts, page 17
The path gave out into the hills. I skidded down, rolling along one part after I lost my footing, and then I was up and running again.
“Hold!” a voice called. Two Rocadium guards descended from the sky, but I darted sideways and rolled, cloaking as I did so. One of them cursed. The other flew forward, scanning the area, but before he could find me I’d reached the rocks and taken up position behind a large one.
I crept forward over the rock and then leaped for another. My tail helped me balance. While they searched for me, I made it out of there. The path was mostly rock at this point, all of it looking the same, leading down to some brown grass with sand dunes past that. But when I reached the bottom, instinct pulled me toward an area in the rocks where my instincts kicked in even more, telling me something was off about the foliage.
My mind didn’t recall the bike or comprehend why I knew it would be there, but when I pulled aside the foliage, I saw a hoverbike parked and waiting, markings in the dirt where another had rested until recently.
Glancing around, I saw the guards had been joined by others above, which meant they’d see me if I took off on the bike. If I didn’t, though, I had no idea how long it would take me to make it across the dunes, or really which direction I was supposed to go. This was all so fucked.
Suddenly one of the guards shouted and took off, three others following him. I looked in the direction they were going, and saw a plume of sand rising into the air. Of course, if Prancer had ridden one of these off that way, that was likely him. Meaning I knew which way to go, and maybe I could make it in a less conspicuous way, letting them chase him down. The others above were going back the way they’d come, apparently to report in or get backup, I wasn’t sure which.
Keeping my cloaking ability active, I hopped on the bike, yanked down some of that foliage, and covered the back of the bike with it. My hope was the foliage would keep the sand from rising too much behind me as I rode. The bike powered on with a gentle purr, and then I was off, riding after them.
Flashes of memory from the ride over hit me, though this wasn’t the pleasant ride that one had been. When the memory of my little picnic with Prancer came back, I felt a pang of regret and anger. What had I done to make him leave? Dammit, if I could just get my memory back. I tried breathing out a memory recharge charm, but nothing happened.
Apparently, there were certain things I could do with the charms, though I had no idea what the limitations or possibilities were yet. Lamb was, as far as I knew, the only super who could help me with that.
Instead of going straight after Prancer, I veered right, trying to stay low, keeping to the same general direction but not the same path. Now I also had supers to track. If they spotted me, I had to laugh at the idea that they’d see a floating bike with green trailing it. Most likely that still wouldn’t end well but would at least be something to throw them off.
Suddenly, the sand cut out and the supers in the sky ahead slowed. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I stopped and did my best to get my bike at an angle behind a dune where they wouldn’t see. It worked—they flew low, circling, but after a few moments, started back toward the school.
What was Prancer up to?
I waited as long as I felt comfortable, then started up the bike again and headed after him. I’d nearly caught up by the time I’d crossed the sand dunes. Now I saw the shape of him taking on various colors of his surroundings. He was even managing to camouflage his bike as well. No wonder the supers had lost him. They hadn’t known what to look for.
He didn’t glance back my way though he looked up at the sky more than once, continuing to ride straight through. It took a while and my legs were cramping, but soon we were at a hillside I recognized, from a part of my memory that hadn’t been damaged. He pulled in to report back.
But where did that leave me? Since he’d taken off with something he’d stolen, I knew I couldn’t trust him at the moment. I also knew something was going very wrong with all of this, though trying to think after the memory bullshit felt similar to attempting to do backflips with a hangover. It sucked.
I parked the bike a fair distance away, at the base of a particularly tall tree, where I hoped I’d be able to find it if I needed it again. Going forward on foot, I moved stealthily toward the base, hoping to get an idea of what was happening.
Trance, Silencer, and Ice would be in there, planning something. I’d sort of lost focus, but it suddenly hit me that there had been news of my sister, that she was apparently with this group of supervillains. That wasn’t news that had sat right with me, and having had time to process it, nothing had changed. Maybe it was a good thing I was out here instead of in there with them, because that meant I could leave. Leave… and never know if my sister would’ve been persuaded to come back, to leave all that behind. Maybe even to speak with Lamb and find a way out?
That wasn’t going to work though, because I had no idea where my sister was, and at the moment I didn’t feel safe simply walking back into this base. Prancer had betrayed me. I wasn’t sure if I cared if he betrayed Ice and Trance, though Silencer was still on my good side.
Before I could make up my mind either way, though, I picked up a scent. Crouching low, I turned left and away from the base, then started working my way through the brush. It wasn’t a scent I recognized, completely. Similar to Laurel, but with a hint of jasmine to it. A moment passed with me being confused, unable to spot anyone, and then I heard a whisper from above. “It’s her.”
I looked at the tree branches above me and saw Laurel and Harp. The latter spread her wings and Laurel grabbed on, so that the two glided down to me.
“What… what’re you doing here?” I asked.
“Lamb told us you might need looking after,” Laurel said, climbing off of Harp’s back, her hand lingering on the girl’s shoulder longer than seemed necessary. Weird, how that brief touch affected me.
“So you tracked me down?” I asked.
“This time, it was all her.” Laurel indicated Harp, who gave me a pleasant smile.
“Thanks,” I said.
Harp nodded, not saying anything.
Noticing my frown, Laurel explained, “She doesn’t speak. It’s part of her powers—she could, but her voice sort of has an intoxicating effect.”
“No shit?” I said, impressed. “How do you know this, then?”
Laurel shared a knowing look with Harp, laughed, and then said, “Part of my powers, I guess. If there’s a proper connection, a real strong mental presence, I can basically hear thoughts. Not like mind reading, but like… I can sense them. But for others… she can write.”
Harp grinned at that.
“Right, sure.” I laughed, but hey, it wasn’t the craziest I’d heard of. Motioning for them to follow, I started leading them away from the base. Staying there was a recipe for getting caught. As we walked, I said, “There’s a plan, I mean—I know you know this, but there’s more to it than that. I’m just not sure of all the details.”
“Well, Lamb sent us here, so she must be cool,” Laurel pointed out. “If we can get to her, fill her in on the details.”
“The details that I don’t really have,” I admitted.
“Let’s go back, we’ll—”
“No,” I said. “I can’t go back. They all think I did it. Even Professor Lamb probably thinks I did, maybe just thinks I had a good reason or something. I don’t know, but… I ran. We never fit in there, and right now everyone has a reason to believe that.”
“And with us gone, and associated with you…” Laurel stopped herself at a touch from Harp, but I was following.
“Yeah, they’ll start blaming you, too.”
I froze, noticing a scent that was way too close. Supers, but also that strange metallic scent the hover bikes gave off. They’d found us, I was certain of it, but when I took another step, I saw Olena frozen on a hover bike, staring at us.
“By Oram, we thought you were the enemy,” Trell said, now pulling up beside her friend. “I’d started to double back already.” With a sheepish glance at Olena, she added, “Sorry.”
“What…?” I started to ask, but instead craned my neck to look past them. “The whole school coming?”
“Just us,” Olena said, hopping off the bike. “Outcasts like we were meant to be.”
She and Trell both had the school-issued hover bikes. Stolen, I had to imagine. Even Laurel looked surprised at their arrival.
“Hey, you were leaving,” Olena said at her frown. “We figured we had to come to.”
Trell stood tall. “We’re a team now, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” I said, but then shook my head. “Still, you need to go back. This—this isn’t fair to any of you.”
“What’s the plan?” Olena asked, not backing down.
“I’m serious.”
“Fine.” She shrugged. “Trell and I will go back and get supplies, blankets or whatever. We’ll try to get to my aunt, find out if she knows what’s really going on. But meanwhile, what’s your plan?”
I had to admit, that sounded good. With a frown, I started speaking my thoughts. “We need to know exactly when the attack’s coming, if we’re going to return. Or at least have more information on who they’re trying to break free.” A glance around and I added, “But not here, we’re still close to the enemy.”
“A big threat?” Trell asked.
I nodded, leading them further, everyone walking their hover bikes. “It’s bad… but, honestly, my memory is playing some games with me. I don’t know exactly what we’re up against… only that it’s going to be a challenge.”
“And the other gal who was with you before?” Olena asked, glancing around.
“Ice?” With a shake of my head, they got the idea.
“Right. Count on us.” Trell grinned
The two of them turned and hopped back on their stolen bikes, then took off into the forest, leaving me with Laurel and Harp.
“Making this our spot,” Laurel said, after they’d gone. She touched a tree nearby and set a light glow on it that faded, but I had a feeling she could still see. “We go from here, get intel, and return to touch base with Olena and Trell. Good?”
“Actually, yeah.” I felt confident again with a plan coming together. Going back to try and spy on Prancer and the others didn’t sound doable on my own, but now I had a team. “Let’s go.”
Glancing around, I asked, “And how’d you get here?”
“Flew,” Laurel replied, and Harp spread her wings.
I arched an eyebrow. “Flew… on her?”
Laurel laughed. “Want to switch while we find this hideout? It’s been a while since I’ve ridden a hover bike.”
Harp grinned and motioned me to her back.
“I won’t… hurt you, or something?” I asked, wanting to take her up on this offer for more reasons than one. First, flying sounded awesome. I’d always wanted to. Second, I couldn’t tell if it was the effects of the charm or not, but Harp was looking hot in that moment. Climbing onto her and holding tight didn’t sound so bad.
Harp nodded to Laurel.
“She looks forward to it,” Laurel said, already going for the bike. “Lead the way.”
I moved around one of Harp’s wings, not sure how this worked, and paused. “I’ll lead the way, with Harp’s help.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Laurel said. “I’ll keep up.”
That worked for me. As Harp lowered herself into a squat, I jumped and wrapped my arms and legs around her. Hot damn, this was already turning me on even more than I’d anticipated.
Laurel let out an excited squeal when the bike took off, and I laughed out loud when Harp took to the sky. Every flap of her wings sent a shudder of excitement through my body, to the point that, when I found myself pressing my cheek to the back of her neck to avoid her hair whipping about, I breathed in, then pressed my lips to her bare skin.
The second I did, I regretted it. Partially because I knew I shouldn’t have, but also because it distracted Harp and we fell a few feet before she recovered.
“Whatever you’re doing,” Laurel called up from below. “She says it’s fine.”
I went rigid, not expecting that, and then pressing my face to her neck again I whispered, “Are you sure?”
Harp nodded, bringing us into a glide over the trees. As we soared on, I allowed my hands to move a bit, caressing her side, her ribs, and the outer curves of her breasts. Nothing crazy, because I was scared of falling off, but enough to be a nice addition to the way my lips brushed against her neck, then moved up to nibble on her ear.
She let out a gentle moan, resulting in a flash of energy shooting out from around us, blowing at trees and leaving some in a crisp.
“Fuck!” Laurel said, swerving below us, then recovering and shouting up, “Okay, a bit too much, you crazy love birds!” She laughed, though, so I knew it was all in good fun.
“Try not to do that again,” I said.
She nodded, biting her lip as she looked back at me, and with a flap of her wings lifted us up higher, then higher again. She took my hands, pressing them hard against her breasts now. They were firm, larger than mine. As I clung tight with my legs, I slipped one hand into her top and caressed her nipple, playing with it between my thumb and forefinger and wishing we could do more up here, that she could roll over and fly upside down while kissing and caressing me.
“I’m getting major emotional vibes down here,” Laurel called out. “How about pacing yourselves so there’s some left when we arrive?”
I laughed and Harp bit her lip again, turning back to focus on flying. I let her but kept my hand right where it was on her breast, loving all of this too much to completely stop. As we swept down over the trees to get a good view of Laurel, I realized that the effects of the charm had blown off, and this was all me. I could tell because, as I was starting to realize, when I used charms they would sometimes slightly affect my vision, like giving me a very faint filter. At least, that’s how I explained the rosiness clearing away at that moment, a rosiness I hadn’t even realized was there.
When we landed, Laurel gave me a knowing grin, then leaned in, closer. “Weren’t your eyes blue, before?”
I shrugged. “What’re they now?”
“Almost red, in a creepy, almost sexy kind of way.”
Harp nodded, licking her lips and watching me with an excited sparkle to her eyes.
“That happens,” I replied, trying not to blush further. “Often they’ll go from blue to green when I use my charms, I’ve been told.”
Laurel nodded, then stashed her bike. “Let’s see what sort of damage we can do, huh?”
I liked the way she thought.
24
Sneaking up on a supervillain hideout in the woods was actually a lot more fun than I’d expected it to be. Maybe it was the company? We were on a mission to find out more specifics of the plan against the school, and maybe find a way to stop my sister from being involved—though it was likely too late for the latter.
“You move like the wind,” Laurel said, keeping up quite well.
Harp moved more awkwardly when not in the air, but she wasn’t falling behind at least. I loved running, feeling the fresh forest air running through my hair, my tail flowing behind me. In fact, I almost felt like the wind, now that she mentioned it. Like I could be one more current of air among the many that filled the sky. I wondered if those mythological kitsune had any wind connection.
“And you move like you’re one with the forest,” I replied.
“Because I am.” She skidded around a spot of moss, leaping up to a tree and then swinging off of one of its branches to land in front of me. Crouching, she looked like she was about to tackle me, but I ducked under her arms and came up the other side with a quick peck on her cheek before continuing on.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” I called out, and turned to see Harp flap into the air to get a boost to catch up, only to have to dive and fold her wings again to avoid the branches. “What, you think you’re off the hook?”
She looked flustered but smiled at me anyway. I slowed, knowing that getting there winded wouldn’t do much. We were going off of my best guess at the direction, along with my ability to find scents and Laurel’s to look for mental patterns.
On that note, I noticed she had stopped too, but not because I had. She was perched on a tree branch, one hand held out to us, and her antennae things were sticking straight up and glowing.
Slowly, her hand moved forward, pointing at a location past a dip in the ground, several short trees and rocks visible beyond. I gave Harp a look that was meant to convey “Here we go,” and we inched up until we were all very carefully looking over the edge.
Now the memories started flooding back. While there’d been an illusion power hiding this place on my first arrival, it was showing up now. A knowing look from Laurel told me her power had something to do with that.
And sure enough, there were Silencer, Ice, Trance, and about a dozen others. They were walking past other hover bikes, and past them were a few fighter ships. More were in hiding and other fighters would be in the base or elsewhere—perhaps with my sister.
“Can I get in there?” I asked Laurel.
She hesitated, turning back to assess the situation.
“I’m blocking their illusions from working on us,” Laurel said. “Not something I was aware of being able to do, but after even just a couple of Professor Lamb’s classes, I’m discovering all sorts of new tricks.” She turned to Harp, then bit her lip. “Let me try something. Charm, can you cloak?”
I nodded, then went invisible.
“Great,” Laurel said, then suddenly she disappeared, too.
Harp let out a yelp that sent us stumbling back, the cloak vanishing as I lost focus. She put a hand to her mouth and shrugged in an apologetic way.
“I couldn’t see you,” I told Laurel.
She grinned. “Damn, I’m good. Basically, I replicated your ability. Might be something I can do with others, too.”
