Chapter Fourteen - Distracted
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Distracted
SO FAR, THERE was no sign of anyone around. Nothing out here, no portals, no distant sounds other than far-off caws from crows watching within the lifeless trees. A Saturday night, and this place was completely dead.
A paved road stretched out ahead. On either side, the trees were silhouettes, barely visible in the dark night. There wasn’t much in this forgotten corner of the Realm. Not too far, odd buildings making up the slums bordered a nearby city. A large graveyard was just within the forest to the left. It housed the dead, either from nearby cities or those who died within Cerberus Prison, most having served life sentences.
Low, pointed, wrought-iron fences cut through the forest on the paved road in front of me, which ended at the front gates of the prison. Past the entrance, the building would descend underground, likely stretching below, past where I stood now. A breeze brushed against me, and I adjusted the hood of my black jacket over my head.
Into the prison it is. I’d have to sneak in, even though the public had access to the entrance building. It was nearly impossible to escape. I wouldn’t be going into the cells, only searching the grounds that accompany visitors and possibly the warden’s office to see if I could find any evidence of what they had planned here.
After traveling within the darkness of the forest until reaching the front of the building, I crouched low when spotting the remnants of a portal fading away. They must have just arrived, exactly as mentioned during their last off-the-books meeting. Yesterday, I had managed to figure out the exact time through following an informant leaving an official council building.
My wind magic picked up all around me, testing for any alerting barriers, and I immediately found one. The magic was dull in comparison to what I had been coming across since diving deeper to get this close to the council. It was a basic alerting system, similar to those set in place at grand estates.
Since some of the prison was public, it didn’t need to be an intricate alert just yet. It was simply a notification of an unknown presence. I couldn’t just walk up there. What excuse would a businessman or academy professor have at this hour, without an appointment or announcement? My activities were often public news. My presence would raise suspicions if anyone, even the prison, knew I was here .
The barest amount of light magic left my fingertips, as it was what had been used to create the barrier. The light tore a small hole within the barrier.
It was nothing compared to what I prepared myself for while I had to battle against what they normally used. Light magic required more magic to use. Shadow magic could be thin, harder to control though, but with that control was much more potent. Very few could handle control of it.
Shadow magic flowed through me in thin, hard-to-percept streams through the tear. It poured into the building, seeping through the cracks until I could feel the presence of others. They were within. In the Warden’s office. I was given vague images, muffled sounds. My magic couldn’t penetrate any further. There it was, thick light magic, a shield, similar to what they normally used. They were definitely in there. I needed to get closer.
I stepped through the tear. Security cameras were covered by harsher winds I created and what I made look like a dense fog that came through. It lasted just long enough to cloak me while making my way through the dark and sticking to the side walls.
An illusion cast of heavy doors, remaining shut, allowing me to slip through unnoticed. The illusion flickered as I fought to hold on to the difficult magic, feeling my magic draining from the use tonight. It managed to hide me until I made my way down an empty corridor that I scoped out with shadows.
“Fuck.” I slammed against the brick wall once safe in the dimly lit service hall.
The magic used tonight was something I was more than prepared for. What made it nearly impossible to get through this was that my mate’s walls chose this evening to completely be let down.
It appeared that all of Ms. Solace’s blocking was out the window tonight, which was absolutely fantastic on the night I risked my own life sentence within this prison. It’s not like I had a choice in the night. This was the perfect time for whatever the secret group within the council wanted to do with professors away and students busy at their annual lake party. Any informants attending would have slipped by unnoticed.
As I panted against the wall, I tried to clear my mind and focus on the task at hand.
Just then, I knew exactly how it made her feel when another man’s touch ran down her body, too intimately. Her thoughts were blaring like sirens in my mind. My own ridiculous and out of touch jealousy, and need to claim her as my own, rose within me before I could make sense of it, or even face it.
I was too strong for this, how could a first-year have affected me this intensely? I knew I was tuning into it too much, paying attention to her thoughts. She was projecting, completely letting go, and my expended magic was making it incredibly hard to keep my own walls up.
Alright, I’ve had enough of this. The prison would undoubtedly know something went wrong with their protection spells, hopefully long after I was gone. I needed to know more.
Quickly, I ripped apart layers of magic to allow my shadows, thin and well-practiced, to seep from me, snaking around the halls from my position closer within. It became a part of me, calling me to give into it but I knew myself. I was too grounded in what I wanted.
Everything stilled when discussions of a list of names were being mumbled, mostly muted by another distorted voice. The warden was in the room.
“Guard Thomas,” the voice said.
A man grunted, clearer to understand. “Good to see ya again.”
Blurred visions came through from my magic into my mind of a chained man near the guard. The guard beat him with a baton until he collapsed onto the floor, whimpers sounded through the prisoner’s gag.
The guard mumbled, “He was taken for using shadows and light magic to destroy someone’s house and car. Apparently, they slept with his wife. His magic was so great it slipped from his control and spread to the neighbors’ houses—nearly destroyed a neighborhood.”
The gagged man protested as if the story was wrong. A kick to the gut silenced him.
“We cannot allow that magic out on the Realm,” the distorted voice said.
The guard shrugged. “He stays in the hole, worthless scum now. Here’s his file. His magic levels keep him separated from gen pop.”
Leaning forward, a wall of magic tore at me. I slammed onto the floor as a shield caused incredible pain through every part of my body. I groaned, rolling over. The pain moved in relentless waves. A flick of my wrist, and I barely created a shield around myself, just enough to crawl back out from the barrier.
That was just one safeguard keeping the inmates from escaping. Without access to their magic, they wouldn’t have survived. I was sure a guest pass would have let me through that ward. This was as far as the wards would let me get. That definitely wasn’t going to happen again.
I laid on my back on the dirt-covered ground, panting while I tried to lift myself up. Another wave, this time from Solace, washed over me, making my attempt at standing up immediately knock me back down.
A laugh tore from me at how horrible this timing was while I laid completely out of breath on the ground.
She’s going to get me killed.
Block it out. But I wouldn’t.
A part of me needed to know just enough that she wasn’t going to be with another man while being my mate. A part of me that I couldn’t acknowledge wouldn’t let myself let go, not now. Not with so much distracting me. This was only until she got stronger and learned of the mate bond. We could talk, both decide we don’t want it. After both parties disagree, this intensity would fade to nothing. I had enough magic to spare through this only to keep my own walls up.
The thoughts she practically shouted of how she felt about Caleb Thorne rang through my mind. She wanted freedom, she wanted escape, and I could feel that.
I knew this had to happen. It was stupid and pointless to linger. I wanted her to move on. This would only help hide her mate bond for longer. This was a good thing, I tried to tell myself .
It wasn’t until an ache settled in my jaw that I noticed how badly my teeth were clenching. My breath left on a heavy exhale. This was what I wanted.
Finally, I stood, ignoring the jealousy building within me that wasn’t my place to feel. I moved back to the wall, pulling my focus back on my shadow magic. It crept back around until the meeting could be heard again.
Other random names were being listed by the guard. “I don’t care what happens to them. Wouldn’t be so bad if they went missing. We could chalk it up to them dying by trying to escape. What’s a few bodies missing from this prison? Overcrowded anyway,” the same guard said.
“Same deal as last time?” The warden asked.
“We’ve tripled the pay. The credits are already sent. We need discretion and a larger shipment. We want the truck sent. Keep them in the hole to ensure we have them when it’s time. Someone else will get it from you,” a distorted voice said.
The warden grunted like he knew the drill. “No problem.”
“Pleasure as always,” said the voice.
The warden left and the guard stayed in the room. The others started exiting toward the entrance of the building.
Anger welled in me at the council planning something, something to further their plans, and I still didn’t have enough proof to end them or the answers I sought.
Sounds echoed off the brick walls of the guard beating the tied-up man again. Something in me snapped. My water magic swirled around the guard, freezing him in place as my earth magic created vines wrapping around his neck until he passed out, unconscious on the floor beside the prisoner.
I didn’t care. They may think the council did it as a show of power. The cameras would show no one was in the room, with the council busy leaving the halls.
My focus followed the council members during their exit. I let my illusions cover me, walking closer toward the exit. My shadows extended way past my body to listen for anything else, and that was when I caught it.
The voice said to the group, “The ritual will go on as usual, the same time.” The voice cut off and they stepped through separate portals.
Stepping through my own portal and facing the academy gates, I tugged off my black jacket, covered in dirt. I ran a hand through my hair. As I neared the front of the academy, Chancellor Lastrada stepped forward toward the front of the gates. Her gray hair was pulled back, her heels tapped against the stone as she walked up to me.
“Having a good night, Mr. Ares?” she asked.
“Just attending to business on my time off.”
“Is that so? This late?” Her gaze drifted down to my still dirty pants from being forced to the ground.
My eyes narrowed. “Deimos has businesses open late on the weekends.”
Lastrada had already made her concerns clear that my business must not get in the way of teaching and that I’d be given more of a responsibility once settling in. The line of questioning wasn’t new to me.
She smiled faintly. “Oh, of course, and what a night for it, with half our students down in that direction. I’d imagine it’s quite busy.”
I gave a slight nod and passed her, heading in the direction of the staff housing.