Magic in the Shadows

Chapter Eighteen

Great. Just what I needed. Slathering hell beasts from the other side of death out to kill me. And me without any magical kibble.

I was so freaked out, I was flat calm. I wove a spell for Shield and cast it, while checking in to see if maybe my dad was still in my head and awake, and might want to give me a hint as to what else I could do to save myself.

No luck. Dad was silent as a tomb. Those beasts hit my Shield with the force of a Mack truck.

Plan B would be good right about now. Really great, as a matter of fact.

I concentrated on feeding magic into the glyph, to keep the Shield strong. The beasts tore at it with fangs and claws, sucking at it, draining it.

I had maybe four or five seconds before they broke through.

Zay told me throwing magic at them wouldn’t work. I traced another glyph to shield me, and buy me time to think.

The nightmare in front of me sliced in half.

Zayvion was there, his machete in hand, carving through the creatures. Beyond him, I saw Victor wielding a sword that burned with silver flame. Shamus clapped his gloved hands together, and when he pulled them apart the Hunger in front of him exploded into black fire in midleap. Shamus held his arms wide, his mouth open, and drank the fire down.

Jingo Jingo was more subtle, wading out among a knot of Hungers and grabbing them with his big hands, sucking the magic out of them with his touch alone.

Kevin moved through the room like a tai chi master, each circle of his hands, each flowing movement pouring out a wavering, glossy impact of magic that tore the Hungers in half.

Chase was there too. And what did you know, she had an ax in one hand and a hatchet in the other, magic trailing behind each strike like electric acid.

Fuck this damsel-in-distress bit. If I survived this, I wasn’t signing up for self-defense classes, I was signing up for battle training.

More and more of the beasts poured out of the gate, a black wave of muscle and fang. So many, they filled the room.

My Shield broke; Zayvion pressed the machete into my hands and pulled a glass-bladed whip from out of thin air.

He looked up at the gate, half a room and fifty or more beasts away, and then turned his head sharply at the scream to his left.

The dark-eyed twins fell beneath the beasts. I scanned the room and realized there were other people missing: my dad’s accountant, the linebacker. And I could not see Chase.

Zayvion swore and laid into the beasts, making his way to where the twins had fallen.

That was all I had time to watch. I hacked at the first thing with fangs that jumped at me like the mother of all rosebushes was out to kill me, and then fell into a steadier rhythm, my body catching on pretty quickly how to use this much metal.

Which was great, because I liked breathing. It was one of my most favorite things to do.

But in the heat of battle, no one could reach the gate, Sedra, and Mikhail.

I stumbled backward over a dead beast and spotted a clear path to a column. I jogged to it and pressed against its relative safety. From here, I could see Sedra.

She stood in front of the gate, looking up at Mikhail. She didn’t look angry. If anything, she looked strangely happy.

The rope in her chest was gone. She had managed to cast another spell. Something that attached at the edges of the gate, trying to close it.

Mikhail stared down at her. He held up one hand, and she held up hers. Magic, dark and light, shot like caught lightning between their palms. They seemed to be caught in a stalemate. She pushed him away as he drew her closer. Her spell tried to shut the gate, but Mikhail had cast a counterspell. Neither moved.

More beasts poured out of the gate, streamed past Sedra and Mikhail, whose hands were now clasped, fingers twined.

We were quickly going to run out of room for more bodies in here.

Someone needed to close the gate.

I took a deep breath and calmed my mind. Even took the time to set a Disbursement. Then I closed my eyes. Going off of nothing but memory, I traced the glyph for End.

It was an old spell, Maeve had told me. It was, I was certain, my father’s spell.

I didn’t know it. Not really. I hadn’t been trained in it. But I cast it with a certainty, a gut knowledge once.

I didn’t aim at the gate, because that wasn’t what needed to End. I aimed at Sedra and Mikhail.

And threw the spell with all my strength. End slammed into them. Sedra yelled and turned toward me, her hold on Mikhail, or perhaps his hold on her, broken.

For a brief second, I could see them both clearly. Two handsome people, filled with rage.

Not exactly a Hallmark moment.

And then Mikhail lifted his hand and tore my End spell to ribbons.

I wove it back together as fast as he unraveled it, but it was clear I was losing ground.

“Not even your father could stop me, Allison Beckstrom,” he intoned, his voice so loud, the wings against the rafters trembled.

He traced a spell. Sedra stared straight at me, unable or unwilling to stop him. And I knew that spell was my death.

A hand brushed against my fingertips. I jumped and looked down.

Beside me stood Cody, or rather, a ghostly version of Cody. My brain went blank a second. Cody wasn’t dead. Zayvion had Closed him, but he wasn’t dead.

“Cody?” I said. “Why are you dead?”

Tact. I got it.

He seemed older somehow, his sunny sky blue eyes calm. Even though he smiled, I could tell he was sad.

“Not dead. Just. . separate from myself. When Zayvion Closed me, my mind was already broken in two. It’s been that way for a long time. But now that I’m Closed, I can’t. . reach myself anymore. It’s okay. The part of me that is still alive is happy.”

This was one of those moments when I just wanted to call a time-out. This didn’t make sense.

“Promise me you will make this right,” he said. “All of this.” He lifted his hand, long, artistic fingers pointing at the room, and somehow also taking in just Sedra and Mikhail, the Hungers in the gate. “The fight over magic, over who should rule it. The light and the dark. Promise you’ll make it right. For all of us.” He tipped his head in question.

“If I can,” I said, not knowing what I was promising. Because, hey, I had about three seconds left to live, and then I’d probably be a ghost like him, and who wanted to spend their last seconds of life making someone sadder?

“I think you can. I think you were born to do this.” He nodded, solemn, as if we’d just sealed a deal.

Then he turned. Looked at Sedra, who stood silent outside the gate. Looked at Mikhail, who stood silent within the gate.

“Don’t take too long, okay?”

Cody smiled.

And ran. Ran past me, past the beasts, past the people who fought the beasts. He ran past Sedra. Images of fields, of summer sunlight and kittens, flashed before my eyes. Then Cody jumped, flew, arms wide, back arched, a specter, a ghost, the soul of a broken man-child, laughing as he fell inside the gate. He somehow held himself there, between life and death, his soul outlined in silver, gold, copper magic that wrapped him in satin ribbons. Cody became fire, became magic, as he stretched to bridge the space between life and death, burning and sealing the gate, his laughter fading, fading into a childhood song.

Beyond his fire, I could see Mikhail’s eyes, blue, so blue, eyes just like Cody’s, wide with shock, with sorrow. I could see Sedra yell, “No!” her fingers stretched out to the flame as if she could reach Cody and pull him back to her. But it was too late.

The gate closed. Light snuffed. Ashes fell to the black stone floor.

And the room was just a room again.

Cody was gone. Mikhail was gone. The gate was gone. The beasts fell like toys whose batteries had gone dead, faded into shadow, then nothing more.

Sedra, her hair a little mussed, but not much-I totally had to find out what kind of hair spray she used, because, damn-looked over at me.

I swear I saw tears.

Then her bodyguard rushed up beside her, and other people-Maeve, Victor, Liddy-approached. Sedra pulled the pale, brittle, beautiful mask over her face, and brushed their concerns away. She walked into the center of the room.

“Allison Beckstrom,” she said, her voice soft and surprisingly musical, a little like Cody’s. No, a lot like Cody’s.

I might be dense, but I wasn’t stupid. She had to be Cody’s mother. And I bet Mikhail was his father.

Poor kid. I thought I had it bad.

I pushed away from the column, took a step. Winced. Every muscle hurt. Even the bottoms of my feet. I was so going to pay for tapping into the magic in the well.

“Zayvion Jones,” she called.

Zay appeared from somewhere toward the front of the room, looking a little bruised, bloody, burned.

But whole. A wash of relief flooded through me.

We walked together but not touching, and stood in front of Sedra.

“There are no laws written to guide me in my decision of your test today, except the law that states that if a user of magic causes harm to others or violates the laws of magic, he must be Closed.”

Was she kidding? We’d just fought nightmares, dealt with a whacko from the other side of death, and watched as part of her kid’s spirit sealed a gateway to death. And she wanted to go over my test results? Talk about focus. Or denial.

“Allison Angel Beckstrom, you have done harm, broken the Wards, attacked members of the Authority standing witness to your test.”

Holy fuck. The woman knew my middle name.

“But we are too few. .” Her voice caught. She swallowed. “We are too few. The gates between life and death have been opened, even here where it should not be possible. This is just the beginning. I am afraid. . aware. . the war will now follow. We will need all who are strong to fight for this world’s fate. To keep the innocent safe and magic true.

“You have shown your strength, your innate talent to use magic. Allison Angel Beckstrom-”

Would she quit using my middle name already?

“-will you accept your place among the Authority?”

Would I have gone through all this just to say no? “Yes,” I said.

“We welcome you. Learn well and quickly.”

She stepped back and looked around the room. The Hungers were gone, not even their black blood left on the floor. Magic and the ashes of old spells still clung to the room. Sedra gestured to several people to come to her side.

Zayvion and I were clearly not among the group she wanted to talk to. I’m not even sure the people she called to her wanted to talk to her. To me, it sounded more like they wanted to argue.

I had good ears. I heard Victor demanding an investigation to find out who opened the gate, heard Liddy tell him that was unnecessary. Mikhail’s name was bandied about and so was Cody’s. Someone who sounded like my dad’s accountant, Mr. Katz, suggested contacting other branches of the Authority in other cities to warn them of the breach, and to make them aware other gates may open. Greyson’s name was brought up, and it was decided Sedra would search his mind to see who he might be working for and who had implanted the disk. Jingo Jingo said he was almost sure it had to be someone like Frank Gordon-a doctor and magic user who dealt in Death and Blood magic.

Even my name was brought up. Was I Zayvion’s Soul Complement? About a fifty-fifty split, yea, nay, on that. I was apparently a boon and a danger, and my continued training, under Maeve for a while, then Victor, Jingo Jingo, and a name I did not catch, would help them define how I fit into the organization.

Zayvion touched my arm briefly and walked toward the stairs.

I followed him.

“How badly are you hurt?” he asked.

“Nothing permanent, I don’t think.” Which was weird, really. I’d used a hell of a lot of magic, done things I’d never done before. And so far, I remembered all of it.

Maeve broke away from the group around Sedra and strode over to us. She still didn’t look happy.

“Allie, I’m proud of you. And of you, Zayvion. Though Sedra refuses to rule on it, it is clear to me you are Soul Complements.” She touched each of our shoulders. “May you live and love.” It was a blessing, a wish. Not magic, but still, I could feel it echo between us.

“Thank you,” Zayvion and I said at the same time.

Weird. But cool.

Maeve smiled. “You are welcome to stay here in one of the rooms and rest,” she said to me.

“I’d rather go home,” I said.

“Call me tomorrow, then,” she said. “Your training will begin in earnest.”

’Cause, you know, today had been such a picnic.

“Zayvion, we will need you soon.” She glanced over at the group.

I did too. Body language spoke of screaming-mad magic users.

“Not for an hour or so, I think,” she said with a sort of grim determination in her voice. “You should rest.”

Zayvion shook his head. “I’m fine. I’ll take Allie home.”

She nodded. “Be safe.” And then she strode back to the group.

I looked around the room for Shamus and Chase. Neither were to be found. Strange.

“Is Shamus all right?” I asked as we started up the stairs.

Zay shrugged one shoulder. “He left just before Sedra called us to the center of the room.”

“Why?”

“Maybe he didn’t want to see us. Soul Complements. Accepted.”

“Why not?”

Zayvion took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He had this chance once. Well, an actual Soul Complement test, not this. This wasn’t standard,” he noted.

“Shamus had this chance to see if he had a Soul Complement? With whom?” I asked.

“Someone he denied. I think he still regrets it.”

Oh. I didn’t know what to say to that.

Zayvion squeezed my hand gently, and I realized I didn’t have to say anything.

We made it up the flights of stairs, and then finally through the inn that was quiet and cozy, all the lights low. For all I knew, it must be almost midnight now. We let ourselves out and walked across the gravel parking lot to Zayvion’s car. The night was cold, the moon setting silver fire to the clouds within its reach.

The night here in the parking lot felt blessedly sane, real, normal. I glanced over at the inn that looked just like an inn, and wondered how so much magic and tragedy could happen beneath the notice of the regular world.

So much had happened today, tonight, I didn’t know how to sort it all, how to make sense of it all. My thoughts kept skipping from one thing to the next, not lingering long enough for me to really think through the ramifications.

Fatigue. I was tired. Really tired.

Zayvion held the car door open for me.

“I’m sorry about the test,” he said.

I shrugged. “What about it?”

“That I was your opponent. I didn’t know they would choose me.”

I turned so I could lean my hip against the doorframe. “Why did they? Why not send someone else to try to kill me? Chase certainly seemed willing.”

He winced at that. Maybe it wasn’t tactful, but it was the truth.

“Do all suspected Soul Complements have to fight each other?” I asked. “ ’Cause that sounds like a stupid rule to me.”

“No. But whoever is being tested must face someone equal or better than them in the use of magic.” His brown eyes searched my gaze, asking me to understand things I’d barely begun to know.

“They chose me because of what I am,” he said. “Guardian. They chose me because both light and dark magic are at my command. They chose me because they feared only I could stop you if it needed to be done. They know how powerful you are.”

My feet hurt, my back hurt, and I really needed to pee. Yeah, I was feeling really powerful.

“I think they might have overestimated my abilities,” I muttered.

“No,” he said. “They didn’t.”

We stood there a second longer and I wondered if he was going to kiss me. Or maybe trying to kill me had set our relationship back a bit. Back to trying to decide if there was enough trust left between us to build something on.

I rubbed my eye with the cool fingers of my left hand. Then looked back up at him. Waiting. Patient. Zen.

“We’ll figure it out,” I said.

He exhaled and nodded. I realized he had been really worried about my answer.

We both got in the car, and Zayvion started the engine and guided the car through the parking lot.

“Would you have?” I asked.

“What?”

“Killed me?”

“They would have wanted me to,” he said.

“And would you have?”

Zayvion looked over at me, his brown eyes just brown. Warm. Human. He put his hand on my arm. “No.”

And I knew he was telling the truth. I could feel it reverberate in him, could feel it spread between us.

I leaned my head back against the headrest. “Good.”

He drew his hand away. We were silent as Zay drove onto the access road.

“I did win, you know,” I said.

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did. I knocked you out.”

“Stunned me. I wasn’t unconscious.”

“Oh, please, save it for the preacher. You were out cold.”

He stopped to turn onto the main road that would lead us back to the bridge across the Columbia and into Portland. He drew a breath to argue, but movement to his left caught both our attention.

A shadow. Two shadows, running in the night. Running toward us, toward Zay’s side of the car.

Holy shit.

Zayvion tensed, then very calmly whispered a spell that I knew would tear someone apart from the inside out.

The figures broke from the shadows and moonlight bathed them in silver.

Shamus sprinted and threw open the back door, holding it for the gargoyle who ran beside him.

“Go, go, go,” Shamus said as he jumped into the backseat behind the gargoyle and slammed the door shut. “Drive, drive, drive!”

Stone caught sight of me and cooed.

“Stone!” I twisted in my seat and rubbed his warm, marbled head. “Good to see you, big guy. Are you hurt?”

He crooned again and lifted his ears. He looked happy, and had not a scratch on him.

“What the hell, Shamus?” Zayvion said, not driving. “Tell me you did not just steal that gargoyle.”

“Steal? Come on. He doesn’t belong to my mum or the Authority. Can’t steal something that didn’t belong to them in the first place.”

“You know your mother will find out,” Zayvion said.

“Not if you drive fast enough, she won’t.”

I thought Zayvion, the responsible goody-good guardian of the gates, was going to turn the car around. Instead he put it in gear and started toward Portland. “You have a decent cover story?”

“Bulletproof. Couldn’t stand to see you two get the nod for your Complement status; I went out for a smoke and a whiskey. Girls closing up the bar even saw me crying in my drink. Such a sad, sad thing I was.”

I was still rubbing Stone’s head, so I saw Shamus’s wicked smile.

“Of course, I have no idea how the beastie shook off the Grounding stone and snuck out. Clever, though. Too bad we don’t know enough about animates to have kept him properly caged.”

Zayvion shook his head. “And I caught up with you?”

“You know how I am. Shadow to your light. Saw you and Allie leave, and you hauled my drunken ass along for the ride.”

Zayvion chuckled. “Pretty good.”

“Good? Gold. Plus, with Armageddon going on back there, I don’t think they’re going to worry much about a missing statue.”

“Are you comfortable being an accessory to his crime?” Zayvion asked me. “The Authority will not approve of this kind of behavior.”

“What crime?” I said.

Shamus grinned and sat back. “You know,” he said. “The three of us could take the world apart and have a hell of a lot of fun putting it back together.”

“Who knows?” Zayvion said. “We might get that chance.”