Iridian (Chromatic Mages #3)

Chapter 20

Rosabel La Rouge

At first, I thought Taland had told him to help the others who were still arranging those leaves and rocks and sticks into a three-foot wide, complicated circle to enhance the spell Taland needed to perform.

But then even he turned and looked at the soldier who was still rushing down the mountain, and he disappeared from our sight within a minute.

“Where’s he going?”

“The wards are being tested,” Taland said. “He’s just going to get the IDD to back off, no worries.”

I sighed deeply, thinking this was a good thing, that if they came to try to break through the ward now, they wouldn’t for another few hours at least. Enough so that Taland could finish the spell and rest for a few hours, heal if he needed to, and then we could be on our way.

The plan made perfect sense in my head. We were dressed and we had everything we needed—the bracelet. The rest we could figure out on the way.

When the soldiers were done preparing that circle with different shapes and Iridian words, they stood up and moved back. Taland gave me another kiss on the forehead before he entered it, stood in the very middle. He didn’t once look down to make sure everything was positioned right, I imagined because he trusted the soldiers, too. Or maybe because he simply saw through them?

His lips stretched into a wide grin and he winked at me. For a moment, even with his eyes all white, it was like we’d gone back in time and we were just a boy and a girl going to school together, falling in love. So… open.

That’s because Taland was relieved. He was happy to finally be doing this, to disconnect himself from these soldiers.

And I knew it was the right thing to do. We couldn’t keep these men here, trapped in our time, tied to this world still when they no longer belonged here. They belonged with Iris. Their souls deserved to be free.

But that didn’t mean that it hurt less.

So, when Taland kneeled on the ground and raised his hands toward the leaves and the stones that surrounded him, I turned my back to him for a moment, just to gather myself, to breathe while he chanted slowly. To remind myself of why he was doing this.

Not just for himself, but for these soldiers. These unfortunate men who’d been trapped here for so long, and now they stood here, motionless, forced to serve Taland, to obey every word he thought.

“You’ll be free,” I whispered, though I wasn’t even sure if they could hear me. “You’ll all be free soon.”

Then Taland stopped chanting abruptly.

It could have very well been that he finished the spell—one to keep the magic secure and inside the circle, very standard stuff to start off any big spell with.

But when I turned, I found him looking down the mountain, and he was slowly standing up, too, arms lowered. It didn’t look like he had any intention of continuing whatever spell he’d seen in the memories of the soldiers right now.

“Taland?”

I went closer because I could have sworn that he wasn’t breathing at all. He wore a simple black shirt that was tight enough around his torso so I could see that his chest was still. He didn’t turn to even look at me at first, and when I went closer, I saw nothing down the mountain. Heard nothing at all, just the animals of the forest.

“What is it, Taland? Is it the IDD?” Because that soldier had gone down there and he hadn’t returned, but others weren’t rushing after him like they would do if he needed help. They were all linked—the other soldiers would know.

“No,” he said, shaking his head, finally looking at me. “It’s my brothers.”

My stomach fell all the way to my heels. “Your brothers?” Barely any voice came out of me. “Why? What…what do they want?”

They hadn’t come to look for us, not even once. They had never come close, and we had talked about it, Taland and I. We figured they were laying low, that they were still tending to their wounds, regrouping, that they couldn’t get close to us because of the number of soldiers that seemed to be permanently stationed around this mountain.

“To talk,” Taland said. “They want to talk.”

I looked at the trees again, expecting the face of Radock Tivoux to simply materialize among those leaves. A thousand questions, a thousand instincts came over me at once. Within the minute my mind was a chaotic mess again.

“Sweetness,” Taland said, and I knew what he meant.

“Let them come,” I said. “I think we should let them come up here.”

“Are you sure?” Taland asked, and I wasn’t. Not even close. I was half convinced that it was my fear talking, that my subconsciousness was convincing me because I wanted to postpone that spell as much as I could, even unknowingly.

No, I wasn’t sure, but then again… “There must be a reason why they are coming here now .”

“There is, I think,” Taland said, closing his eyes for a moment. “Radock looks…desperate.”

It shocked me all over again that he could see his brother from all the way up here, just because one of his soldiers could. Fuck.

“Let them come,” I repeated, just because I knew that if we didn’t see them, didn’t talk to them, we’d regret it later.

Taland nodded. “They’re on their way.”

He stepped out of the circle and a long breath left me involuntarily, like my body was suddenly relieved even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself. Taland took my hand in his and guided me to the side, closer to the soldiers.

“What do you think happened?” I whispered, trying to prepare myself for whatever they were coming to talk to us about.

“I’m not sure, but it doesn’t look good,” Taland said, white eyes squinting. “They’ll be here soon. I’m sure they’ll tell us.”

I looked at him. “You sound suspicious.”

He smiled, put his arm around my shoulders. “I am. It’s Radock we’re talking about. He always has some sort of a hidden agenda.”

“I’m not worried,” I said, resting my head on his chest. “Not with these guys around.”

“Good,” he said, kissing my head. “There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”

We really believed that, and neither of us even considered that we were about to be proven wrong very soon.

It was like I’d been picked up and thrown back into the past, to a time when it was normal to see people other than Taland, when I actually lived with Madeline and Poppy and went to work at the IDD—and that time I actually went searching for the Tivoux brothers, too, in hopes of finding Taland. That was…how long ago, three weeks ?

That’s all the time it had taken me to get used to a life alone with Taland.

Now that I was watching Radock and Seth and Kaid Tivoux walking side by side with Amelia and Zach Mergenbach as they came to us, guided by the soldier, it felt like I was in a dream. It felt like time had slowed to a crawl, and the closer they got, the farther away they seemed.

Until the soldier stepped to the side so we were all facing one another, and they were right there.

He didn’t get back in line behind us, though. He stayed there with his hands at his sides, obviously at Taland’s orders.

“I’ll be damned,” Radock whispered as he looked at him, then at Taland, and the other soldiers behind us.

“You actually brought back Titus’s army. Not bad, Tal. Not bad,” Zach said, nodding his head.

“Hey, Rora, remember when you thought Taland was normal?” Seth said, bringing a fist to his mouth as he laughed.

“Enough, guys,” Aurelia said, her eyes on Taland. “Enough. We see you two are well. I’m sure you see that we are, too. Thanks to you.”

“We are,” I said, and my voice sounded strange to my own ears. “And we’re glad you are, too.” None of them looked wounded or weak in any way. They were all clean and dressed as well as always.

“Good,” Radock said, and he didn’t look away from Taland at all. “I don’t know how much you can see with those eyes, brother, but I imagine you saw us through his.” And he nodded his head slightly to the side, to where the soldier who’d brought them up here stood.

“I see enough,” Taland finally said. “I don’t see why you’re here, though. The fight is over. I’m sure the Council can no longer get to you, so…” His voice trailed off, and I watched Radock intently, waiting on a reaction.

He smiled bitterly, looked down at the ground for a moment.

“Is that a way to welcome your own brother?”

I thought Taland might laugh, and in those moments, I regretted telling him everything about how I came to find him in Silver Spring. I regretted telling him the truth about meeting his brothers, but I never actually thought we’d be face-to-face with them again. That they’d come here to confront us like this.

That was naive of me, but I really believed that we were done with…well, everything.

Except Taland didn’t laugh. He sounded very calm when he asked, “The same man who not only turned his back on me, but refused to help my girlfriend even after she told him she saved my life? The same man who ordered her killed, too?”

The words were like rocks falling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to squeeze Taland’s hand, beg him not to say anything, not to mention me, but that was just my fear talking. Besides, I hadn’t lied to him about a single thing—Radock had ordered his brothers to kill me when I went to him for help. And Taland knew exactly what he was doing, so I stayed put.

“Things were different then,” Radock said.

“Things are the same as always,” Taland said. “You’re no different than the people who used you and turned on you when you no longer served their purpose, Radock.” His calm was to be envied. “I assume there’s a reason why you’re here?”

“Hold your horses, Taland,” Zach said, raising his hands. “That’s a mean thing to say, boy. Whatever your differences, you’re still family.”

“And more importantly, we’re all in this together whether you like it or not,” Aurelia said.

“Funny how family only means what you want it to mean when it’s convenient,” said Taland.

“The boy has an army of dead soldiers to command, so he’s grown balls,” Kaid said, hands fisted at his sides as he forced himself to smile.

“He’s always had balls—it’s the audacity that surprises me,” said Seth.

And I could tell just by how Taland’s grip around my hand tightened that he wasn’t about to say anything nice next—but before I could tell all of them to shut up for second, Aurelia spoke.

“Simmer down, children,” she said. “Let the adults speak here for a moment, will you?” She flashed me a grin. “Rosabel, good to see you. We’re all glad that we’re all in one piece. We’ve come for a reason and we want to talk. Can we go somewhere to sit down and do just that? You know, like adults?”

I swallowed hard, looked at Taland, who only looked back at me. No expression on his face, and I knew that he would rather we talked here. He would rather his brothers and the Mergenbachs be on their way already because he was uncomfortable in his skin right now, but the fact that they’d come meant something, and I wanted to know the reason why they’d bothered.

“Of course,” I ended up saying. “Follow us.”

We turned around, Taland and I, and the soldiers behind us stepped aside to make way. Taland looked at me only for a split second but he said nothing, which was almost worse.

“I want to know why they came,” I said in a whisper as we led them up to the house.

“Then we’ll know,” Taland said, perfectly calm still.

“Are the soldiers really necessary though?” He had four of them walking with the others. Though they kept their distance, they were perfectly alert of everyone’s movement.

“I don’t trust them near you,” Taland said. “They’re just a precaution.” He brought my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “It’s okay. We’re safe.”

As if I didn’t know that. “It’s not that. It’s just…a feeling,” I muttered. A bad feeling in my gut that had started the moment I saw the others coming up that mountain. Because of that reason Aurelia mentioned—the reason why they were here, now of all times.

“Let’s hear what they have to say first,” Taland said, as if he, too, had that same feeling gnawing in his gut, that premonition that whispered in his ear even before we made it to the porch of the safe house and decided to stop there to talk. There were no chairs, but the wooden top of the railings on both sides was as wide as benches, if any of them wanted to sit down for real.

“We’re all ears,” I said to Aurelia when we stopped in front of the doors, standing in a wide circle, while the four soldiers who’d followed us remained just outside, looking away. That didn’t mean much, though—they could see through Taland’s eyes just fine.

“So, you just get them to follow you around like puppies?” Seth asked as he watched them curiously.

“And how exactly do you do that? How do you give them orders?” Zachary asked.

“Are they really one hundred percent obedient to you?” Kaid.

“How are they walking around when they’re obviously not breathing? Some creepy shit going on here, I swear…” Seth again.

“Boys, let’s behave, shall we?” Aurelia said. “We’ve got more important issues to discuss.”

“But I doubt that, really,” said Radock. “What could be more important than the dead army you command with such ease, brother? You’ve become one of them yourself, it seems. The eyes give you away.”

“If you’re trying to pick a fight, Radock, you will not win this round, either,” I said because he was fucking infuriating, and it wasn’t fair to Taland at all. He saved us, all of us, when he brought back Titus’s army. He saved us. He deserved more respect than this, even without them knowing what it was costing him to keep those soldiers alive.

Seth laughed. Zach, too, but he masked it with a cough. Aurelia grinned, step forward with her hands on her hips.

“We’re not here to pick fights, actually. We’re here to ask for help,” she said.

“Help with what?” asked Taland. “You’re perfectly capable of handling Selem, are you not?”

“It’s very obvious that you haven’t watched the news recently. Not that they show much of the real world, but still,” Seth said.

“We haven’t,” I admitted, pretending my heart didn’t just trip all over itself. “Why?”

“Because everything’s gone to shit, Rosabel,” Aurelia said. “The Council has turned on the people. They’ve been killing Iridians left and right, especially Mud, and imprisoning people based on rumors . There are no trials, no proof needed—it’s a fucking slaughter out there.”

No way, a voice in my head whispered, while the other said, of course they did…

“That’s true, actually. While you’ve been up here, hiding away from the world, the Council has gotten busy. They’re accusing people of being Selem, people who’ve never even heard about us before, just to have an excuse to kill them. Anything counts as a crime against the Council now—a simple expression of disappointment in their leadership suffices,” said Radock, hands in the pockets of his black pants as he slowly began to pace forward and back.

My heart beat in rhythm with his footsteps. For a moment there, I couldn’t see any of their faces at all, too focused on the chaos inside my head. Until Taland squeezed my hand because he must have felt my muscles clenching, my whole body turning rigid. Not with shock exactly—this was the Council we were talking about, and from them I expected anything.

“But…why?” I whispered, shaking my head. “Why would they… why? ”

“Fear, mostly,” Radock said. “They’ll pick any excuse, but it’s because of fear. Because they are no longer in complete control of the world, and they are no longer the most powerful people in the world, Rosabel—you two are.” He pointed two fingers toward me and Taland. “I imagine that doesn’t sit well with them.”

“They feel weak because they can’t get to you,” Aurelia said. “And weak people are the most dangerous kind out there—especially those with authority over trained soldiers, such as the Council.”

“They’re in panic and trying to convince themselves that they’re in control,” said Zachary. “IDD soldiers are raiding houses, communities, schools even, based on very little intel.”

“They’re killing first, asking questions later.” Seth was grinning ear to ear as he raised his hand toward me—a phone. He was offering me a phone.

I took it without really thinking about it, and found a video already playing on the screen, the sound off.

A video of IDD soldiers with machine guns in their hands, and wands and staffs and bones, too, walking into a neighborhood where more soldiers were already raiding the houses, kicking the residents out. Two of the houses were on fire, and men and women and children were out in the street, most wearing pajamas, looking around, confused. Afraid.

It was nighttime so I knew the video wasn’t live, but I almost felt like I was standing right there, as terrified as them to see the soldiers walking in and out of houses, setting things on fire, dragging out the people who had most likely refused to come out of their homes on their own.

I was repulsed by every little detail—of how they beat a man in front of his wife, who screamed and raised her wand at them, and then two other soldiers grabbed her and slammed her against the asphalt. Meanwhile her neighbors, two women holding two small dogs in their hands, watched and cried and didn’t dare get even close to help them.

Yes, I was disgusted, but I also couldn’t look away. I also couldn’t stop taking in every detail of how, whoever was recording, moved deeper into the wide street to show how soldiers were dragging another man and woman outside of a one-story house, while a magically enhanced drone flew over it, and another two soldiers were chanting furiously at it, one waving his staff, the other holding onto his necklace made out of bone pieces. Fire exploded from both their hands, orange flames mixed with green and white at first, before they shot for the door and front windows of the house, and it exploded.

The man and woman screamed, and even though I couldn’t hear the real sound, I could imagine it just fine in my head because I saw their faces. I saw how they tried to free themselves of the grips of the soldiers, until one of them waved his wand, and the Bluefire that erupted from it wrapped around their bodies and paralyzed them so that they couldn’t even move anymore. They couldn’t move—they could only watch their house going down in flames slowly—and then Taland grabbed the phone from my hand.

“That’s enough,” he said and threw it back at Seth.

Only when I looked up did I realize that my eyes were full of tears. Only when I opened my mouth did I realize that I couldn’t produce enough voice to speak just yet.

“Tell me about it,” Aurelia said with a sigh, and she wasn’t smiling anymore. “I was the same the first time I saw something similar. They’ve…lost it. Completely lost it.”

“That’s…that’s…” barbaric I wanted to say, but I couldn’t spit the word out.

“They need to be stopped because they are not going to stop themselves,” Radock said, still pacing around the porch, looking at the trees, mostly the four soldiers right outside. “Not until they’ve either killed or imprisoned every single person that they feel slightly threatened by.”

“And we’re not talking just about mages who can do fourth-degree spells—but third-degree, too. Even second in some cases. They have all the records, anyway. They’ve been gathering data for the past few decades, so they’re having a fairly easy time finding everyone on their lists,” Zachary said.

“Most Mud have fled their houses and are in hiding, as well as any Iridian who can do third-degree spells, who got away in time. Fourth-degree casters were the first ones to get hit so most of them are either dead or in the Tomb,” Aurelia continued, and it was like they were repeatedly stabbing me in the same place at once.

“Simply put, they’re destroying anyone who poses a threat to them, no matter how little,” Radock said. “And again, they will not stop until they’ve figured out a way to destroy you and your soldiers, too, little brother. Then, their reign will be absolute.”

“Exactly like David Hill wanted to do,” Kaid said, and my stomach twisted violently. I let go of Taland’s hand and went to sit on the railing. I just needed a moment to rest my shaking legs.

Taland was right behind me, and the others came closer to us, too.

“That’s why we came here,” Zachary, who’d sat not two feet away from me, said. Taland stood behind me with both hands over my shoulders like he really thought someone might attack me any second. “That’s why we had no choice but to ask for your help.”

“Alone, we can’t defeat them. Not even close with how paranoid they’ve become,” Aurelia said.

“Shoot first, ask questions later,” Seth repeated as he sat at the very end of the railing, resting his back against the pillar. “Remember that, Rora?”

I did. The Devil operated his entire neighborhood in Silver Spring by that philosophy, and I’d seen exactly what his community had looked like.

“But with your trata , Taland—” Zachary started.

“Don’t call them that,” Taland cut him off, his voice strained. His whole body had become so tense so suddenly. I could tell by how he squeezed my shoulders. “They’re not things. ”

I remembered what I’d read in that book in Madeline’s office about the Delaetus Army, how Titus had referred to the soldiers as his trata, which translated to things. Taland was right—these soldiers weren’t that. On the contrary. If Zach could hear them and know their stories the way Taland did, he’d never dream of using that word to describe them.

“Okay,” Zach said, raising his hands as if in surrender, a weird smile on his face. “Okay, I won’t. But with your soldiers then, we can put an end to this madness once and for all.”

“If not things, what are they? The way they follow you, the way they watch us, the way they do magic—they do it through you . They are not their own persons, they’re yours.” Radock came toward us as he spoke, analyzing the soldiers outside. “So, what are they, really? Because they are not men.”

“They are,” I said, a sudden feeling of protectiveness over those soldiers coming over me, something I definitely hadn’t had before.

“They’re men, Radock. All of them. They were tricked by Titus. He tied them to his soul with this curse, took away their free choice, their bodies, their everything. But they are men. More courageous men than most I’ve met,” Taland said, and while he spoke, Radock raised his brow and smiled like he was pleasantly surprised.

I did not like that smile at all.

“Very well,” he said, as if he’d wanted to hear exactly that. “It seems you know them, and they know you. It seems you’ve had enough time to get comfortable with them. Do you trust them?”

This time when Taland spoke, I heard the grin in his voice, too. “More than I trust you.”

Radock’s hand flew to his chest, over his heart. “You wound me,” he mocked.

“You will be plenty wounded the next time you turn against me and mine. Those men will make sure of that,” Taland said.

Radock laughed and it was heartfelt. “Little brother, you make me proud.”

“And now I can finally sleep at night,” Taland deadpanned, which made Radock flinch a little.

“Enough with the drama, boys,” said Aurelia, rolling her eyes. “Taland, the Council has gone batshit crazy. They’re on a killing spree and we can’t stop them on our own. We need your soldiers to fight them. Kill them. Hopefully bring a new, better era upon the world for everyone, Iridian and human alike,” she said in a single breath. “That basically wraps this whole thing up nicely.” She winked at him. “So, say yes and let’s just be on our way and kill some councilmen and councilwomen, and then we can all go on vacation or hide out in mountains all we like. How about that?”

Goddess help me, but that actually sounded like a fucking dream.

For a moment there, I was completely caught up in this fantasy of life without the Council, without the IDD coming for us, a life where the Mud weren’t Mud and the Iris Roe didn’t exist and the IDD actually worked the way it was supposed to, and the people knew exactly what happened in the world they lived in, and the Tomb was not controlled by the biggest criminal alive, but by the IDD.

For a moment there, I actually thought I might be happy living off this mountain, not in hiding or on the run. Just…living.

For a moment there, I imagined Taylor Madison and all other kids like her not having to go to human schools and keep away from magic. I imagined them being a part of us as they should be.

“Did you not hear me?” Taland’s voice pulled me out of my head. “These are men who have been tricked into linking their soul to Titus. Not just them, but all the other soldiers who died during the War of Mages—they’re all trapped here unwillingly.” I reached up my hand to touch his over my shoulder, already knowing what he was going to say. “I will not make them fight another war. I’m going to set them free.”

Silence for a good second. All eyes were on Taland.

Then, Kaid said, “I’m sorry but I think I heard you wrong. I could have sworn you said that you were going to set them free .”

“I did,” Taland said, and Kaid shook his head.

“In that case, I’m really sorry—but have you lost your fucking head completely?!”

“Are you mad , Taland?” said Seth, sitting upright now, curious again. “Are you fucking bonkers? Set who free—these super soldiers who could literally give you the entire world in the palm of your hands? Set those guys free?!”

“You can’t be serious,” Aurelia was saying, while Zach held his head in his hands and shook it, at a loss for words.

And Radock stepped closer to us, too. “What in the name of Iris is the matter with you, boy? You awakened Titus’s army. You can command it—we saw. We all saw how they fight. We all see how well they obey you.” His wide dark eyes were full of disbelief. “Do you have any idea what that means? Do you know that they are the reason we’re all still alive? The Council hasn’t even come after us for fear you’d send the soldiers after them. They’ve left us alone, Taland. They’re terrified of your army.”

“Those soldiers are the only chance we’ve got,” Aurelia said. “We can’t beat them—nobody can, Tal. Nobody.”

“The world will go to shit if you… set them free, which, by the way, what the actual fuck?! ” This from Zachary.

“Who wants to set free super soldiers?”

“Why even bring them back if all you’re gonna do is let them go?”

“Can you give them to me? Does that work?”

“They can’t be set free—their purpose is to serve. That was always Titus’s curse. He made them into slaves, and you can’t just unmake them!”

They all spoke almost at the same time, and I understood exactly what they meant, how this looked to them from outside— easy . They saw Taland like this all-powerful mage who had super soldier slaves doing his bidding without him even having to speak an order out loud.

Maybe that’s really what he was on the surface. Except this whole thing went much deeper than that.

“That’s enough,” said Taland when Zachary opened his mouth to speak again. “Enough. You don’t need to understand anything, and you may think of me whatever you like, but I’m still going to set them free.”

In the silence that followed, I heard what he didn’t say to them, what we’d talked about all night. All those stories, the way it made him feel to carry their burden on his shoulders…

It was wrong, so fucking wrong that they were tricked and bonded and had to suffer like this for the past seven centuries. Cruel, evil—pick your favorite word.

But at the same time…

“We won’t survive it,” Aurelia said. “Without them, we won’t survive this outrage of the Council, or their new regime. They have plans. They have monstrous plans on how to keep the people under control, and they’re not playing around. This is serious, Taland.” And she suddenly sounded terrified.

My heart grew heavier.

“Oh, he knows how serious this is. He knows the Council,” Radock said, putting his hands in his pockets again. “But apparently these soldiers are more important than we are.” He came closer and it made me so damn uncomfortable that I stood up just to keep him away from Taland. I didn’t trust this man, either.

But then he said, “What about her then?” My stomach fell. “What about Rosabel? How are you going to keep her safe from them when they come—and they will come. As surely as I am standing here, they will come.”

“Step back, Radock,” I said, despite my better judgment, despite the part of me that wanted me to step back and let them talk about it. But since he’d already put me in the conversation, I wasn’t going to back down now.

“He’s right,” Zach said. “Without those soldiers to keep the Council off your back, they’ll find you. Even if you hide, they’ll find you eventually. You saw what it’s like out there.”

I looked back to find Taland had closed his eyes, jaws clenched, hands fisted.

Fuck, he needed to be away from everyone right now.

“We’ll need a minute,” I said and grabbed him by the wrist the next second, pulled him to the doors.

“We don’t have a minute—we don’t have any time at all!” Aurelia said, but I didn’t stop.

“I know, Aurelia. We’ll be right back.”

Taland walked with me, let me drag him all the way to the door while the others complained, told us that the Council was moving, that they weren’t giving anybody a second chance, not even a first. And I knew that, I knew that very well, but I also knew what they didn’t—how much it cost Taland to keep up this curse, to be linked to those soldiers the way he was. His pain was my pain, and we were going to take a moment no matter what they thought or what the Council was doing. Taland deserved a fucking moment.

I locked the doors and led him all the way to the porch on the other side of the house, from where we could look at the trees and the bright blue morning sky, where only animals moved and birds sang. No soldiers and no Council and no Selem—nothing, just us.

Letting go of a long breath, I turned around and I wrapped my arms around his torso before the first tear slipped from my eyes.

It was going to be a long day.