Chapter 3
Quinn
The road had just curved around the bank of a crystalline pond when Rollick said, “Stop the car there—right before that hill.”
I coasted to a stop and jerked up the parking brake before glancing around. The hills loomed taller and pressed tighter together in this part of the Norwegian wilderness, another hour’s drive down country lanes from the little village where we’d spent the past two days. Or, at least, I’d spent those two days there. Rollick had been gone for most of that time, sneaking around figuring out where the sorcerer enclave might be.
And he claimed to have succeeded. I lifted my chin toward the road ahead where it snaked around the nearest hill, shrouded in a pale mist. “It’s over there?”
Rollick gave a casual shrug as if the answer wasn’t all that important to him, but the unusual intensity in his expression betrayed his actual investment. “If it’s not there, then I don’t think it’s in this country at all. That mist is being generated by a shadowkind creature who has no reason to do it or to produce so much of it here other than because it’s under command. I’ve identified several other beings lurking around in a loose ring with a circumference of about three miles. They’re clearly guarding something, not roaming around the way a free creature might. I assume the enclave is located approximately at the center of that circle.”
I sucked my lower lip under my teeth, my chest tightening as I absorbed his certainty. I knew what the next step was—and that it required me to go in alone.
I’d confronted a small community of sorcerers on my own back in the US, but I’d still had a couple of my shadowkind companions watching over me. And it’d been a much smaller and less formal community than what I had to assume this enclave consisted of. If sorcerers were genuinely created here… I couldn’t imagine what I was going to find beyond that mist.
“I assume you didn’t let any of the lurking shadowkind notice you were poking around,” I said.
“I’m glad you have at least that much faith in my abilities,” Rollick said dryly, but his smile was a bit tight. I doubted the demon was worried about my well-being beyond whether I’d still be able to help him with his plans, though.
I peered at the mist. “Do you have any idea what I’m going to be dealing with as far as terrain from here on?”
He shook his head. “I couldn’t get a clear view, which is obviously the intention. Just drive slowly and try to continue straight as much as you can. If you see any lanes smaller than this one, I’d give them a shot. Especially if you start to get the feeling that you definitely shouldn’t go down them.”
One of the shadowkind we’d dealt with before had cast some kind of supernatural vibe over a mountainside that’d discouraged intruders. “What if I can’t get in at all?” I asked. Rollick had dispersed that repulsing energy last time, but he couldn’t do the same here if he couldn’t get close enough to find out it existed.
“Then we’ll figure something else out,” Rollick said breezily. “But they must allow some strangers to enter, or they’d have no one to train. Maybe your preexisting sorcerer powers will guarantee you admission. We’ll just have to see.”
“Right.” I swallowed thickly. I didn’t trust the demon beside me any farther than I could shove him, but a nervous wobble ran through my gut at the thought of continuing on without him. “You have to get out of the car now, I guess?”
He inclined his head and then fished around in his pocket before pulling out a simple gold pendant shaped like a dove in flight, dangling from a thin chain. I blinked at him as he held it out to me.
“It’d be a whole lot better for both of us if you get whatever information you can out of them and then leave without there being any trouble,” he said. “Or if you can get yourself away from the enclave on your own even if there is trouble. But if the situation goes sideways and you’re sure you’re stuck, the pendant has a GPS signaler in it. Pull out the wing on your right, twist it ninety degrees, and fold it backwards. You shouldn’t be able to activate it by accident, but it’s a quick process if you need to do it.”
I wrapped my fingers around the metal bird, simply holding it for a moment before moving to attach the chain around my neck. “And if I do activate it?”
“I’ll get to you as quickly as I can.” Rollick offered me a brighter grin. “I’m not letting you go in there completely defenseless, my sweet mortal. Not that I doubt your ability to hold your own if things don’t get completely out of hand.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, but having the pendant nestled against my collarbone actually did reassure me a little.
“I realize it may take a while for you to fully infiltrate this ‘enclave,’” the demon went on. “I’m not going to panic if you’re busy with them for a few days. But if you can come up with an excuse to drive back into town and give me an update, I’ll make a point of stopping by the bakery where we had breakfast this morning for an hour around noon every day.”
I nodded. “What will you be doing the rest of the time?”
He made a flippant gesture with his hand. “A little of this and a little of that. Our enemies appear to have spent most of their time on this side of the Atlantic until recently. I intend to do some digging into their history while you investigate your fellow mortals. There’s a rift not too far from here—I can use that to pop before this area and various other parts of the continent via the shadow realm.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I dragged in a breath and squared my shoulders, flexing my fingers against the steering wheel. “Well, you’d better get going. It’s about time to find out where all this sorcery stuff comes from.”
To my surprise, Rollick appeared to hesitate for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected me to dismiss him so quickly. As if he was as reluctant to leave me to my own devices as I was to be left. Then he flashed another smile and vanished into the shadows as if he’d never been beside me at all.
I gave him a few seconds to be sure he’d left the car and then released the brake. As the car rumbled on down the road and around the hill, the mist closed in around me. In less than a minute, I couldn’t make out more than hazy impressions of green and gray farther than ten feet around me.
Keeping my breaths steady, I focused on the road ahead, watching for any changes to it or any oncoming side lanes. The road itself wasn’t on any maps—we’d checked. No doubt the vast majority of wanderers who ventured this far off the beaten path would have turned back when faced with such apparently inclement weather conditions. Only those who knew there was something specific to find by coming this way would continue on.
Maybe that was why I didn’t encounter any repulsive force. Or maybe Rollick had guessed right that my sorcerer talents would somehow grant me access despite other protections in place. I crept along at five miles an hour for several minutes without encountering any obstacles. Then I spotted a wooden post to my right, appearing out of the mist moments before I passed it.
I slowed even more, and it was a good thing I did, because otherwise I might have missed the lane next to the post completely. The road I was driving on was already dirt, but it was at least relatively clear. The path that veered off to the right had a vague impression of tire marks amid patches of grass and jutting stones. I had to angle the car carefully to make sure the tires didn’t bump into any particularly threatening-looking rocks.
It wasn’t long after I took the side-road, if it could even really be called a road, when I felt more than saw the terrain slant upward. It swung to the left and then to the right again, giving me the sense that I was weaving my way up one of those hillsides. Or this could be a full-out mountain now for all I could tell.
Then, without warning, the mist started to fade. One moment I was cloaked in it; the next I hit the brake, finding myself staring at a broad building looming out of the trees that covered the steep slope ahead of me.
Several rooms seemed to jut from between the trees, walled with smooth dark wood that looked regularly buffed. They gleamed in the now-piercing sunlight. A couple of the rooms had tall windows that stretched across most of the front, shaded by blinds; others had only small rectangular panes or none at all. Decks of the same dark wood wrapped around and even under the rooms on multiple levels, scattered with wooden lounge chairs and in one spot a long table.
Staring at the structure with my architecture-fanatic’s perspective, I had the sense that there was a lot more to the construction than what was immediately visible, hidden by the trees or even delving right into the mountainside.
It wasn’t the kind of building I’d imagined designing myself—I wanted to create something soaring and awe-provoking—but the way this place seemed to be fused with the natural landscape around it set off a flicker of admiration in me alongside my apprehension. Whoever had designed it had put a lot of thought into their creation.
The building materials and style appeared quite modern, but as I got out of the car, I noticed signs that this spot had been in use for many decades if not centuries. A path of square stone tiles led to the deck on the lowest floor, where only flat walls met my gaze other than a gap between two windowless rooms that was shrouded in shadow. The edges of the stone squares had become rounded with age, their centers dipping after being worn down by innumerable feet. And there was a large shed off to the side built out of logs rather than smooth boards, deeply weathered with patches of moss on its angled roof.
This far north and at this altitude, a chill wrapped around me even though the mist didn’t creep after me. The breeze brought a pungent pine scent with it. While I had obvious evidence of civilization in front of me, the flavor of the place was distinctly feral.
A shiver passed over my skin, and I tucked my hands into the sleeves of my thin windbreaker, wishing I’d brought a warmer hoodie to wear under it. Avoiding a chill hadn’t occurred to me when we’d left the August heat of the southwestern US.
I slung my backpack over my shoulders and headed up the path from where I’d parked, but before I’d made it more than a few steps, a man who looked around the same age as my dad emerged from the shadowy area on the deck.
He had slate-gray hair still flecked with some hints of auburn and an arched Roman nose that dominated his face. His close-set eyes peered at me down that nose. I stopped in my tracks.
He said something in words I didn’t know but that were presumably Norwegian, given where we were.
“I’m sorry, I only speak English,” I said quickly.
He let out a soft huff and repeated himself, not exactly aggressive but definitely firm, with only a light accent. “Who are you, and what do you want here?”
“My—my name’s Quinn,” I said. When discussing our strategy, Rollick and I had decided that it was better for me to go with my real name so there was less chance that I’d slip up and reveal my deception in however long I had to stay among these people to learn their secrets. “Is this—I heard there was an enclave of sorcerers in this area. I came out here hoping to find you.”
The man’s lips pursed, but his shoulders relaxed at the same time. I got the immediate sense that I’d been recognized as one of his kind.
“You’re looking to kindle the power in yourself?” he said.
A spark of excitement darted through my chest. Could they really do that, then? In that case, they had to know more about how this strange magic worked than any of the other sorcerers I’d talked to had.
“Not exactly,” I admitted, clutching the straps of my backpack. “I have a little already. But I didn’t have family to train me—they passed on before I was old enough to learn. I didn’t even know I had any power until I started getting these strange feelings… Another sorcerer family directed me here saying that the people in the enclave might be able to teach me how to get control of and expand my skills.”
I wasn’t lying. I’d never really wanted to use the magic that turned shadowkind into slaves, but it didn’t appear I had much choice. If I was going to use my sorcerer abilities to stop the fiends who’d been hunting me down for their malicious purposes, I’d need to be able to do a lot more than order around one little beast at a time, which was all I’d managed so far.
I simply wasn’t going to mention that I had other goals I was hoping to achieve by coming here.
The man seemed to study me for a long moment—long enough that my skin started to itch. He raised his hand to his own face, motioning to his cheek. “You’ve been hurt.”
My fingers twitched toward the fading bruise I knew lingered on my own cheek, where Crag had accidentally struck me with his rocky hand. There hadn’t seemed to be any point in trying to conceal it when that deception would be easily uncovered too.
“A creature I wasn’t strong enough to control,” I said, which was kind of true.
The man hesitated again and then swiveled on his heel with a motion for me to follow him. “Come. Let’s see where you’re at.”
I hurried after him, my sneakers thudding across the boards of the deck. As I approached the shadowy area, I spotted a set of double-doors set farther back from the protruding rooms we were walking between. A pine tree appeared to be growing right over the top of the doorway, its roots providing an extra frame.
As the man reached the doors, two more figures stirred—other members of the enclave who’d hung back while they’d observed me. They wore cloak-like jackets that fell to their knees with hoods that shadowed their faces. They flanked me as if to ensure I wouldn’t run for it, as if they thought I might feel the need to make a hasty retreat. Uneasiness crept over my skin.
The man pushed one of the doors open, and I felt weirdly relieved to see bright light on the other side rather than some dank dungeon. These people lived here—even if they were isolated sorcerers, I shouldn’t expect them to be skulking around in their own home like comic-book villains.
Ignoring my jittering nerves, I followed the man inside. This was what I’d come here for, after all.
I found myself in a long hallway with pale gray walls and light fixtures beaming at regular intervals down its length. Several doors were set along it—the man led me into the closest one on the left. The cloaked figures trailed after us inside.
We’d entered a small room with no windows and little furnishings—only a round, maroon rug that covered about half of the floor and a few metal boxes set along the far wall. As the door clicked shut behind me, I realized the boxes seemed familiar. They reminded me of the carrying cases Rollick had used to transport the shadowkind creatures he’d had me practice my powers on.
It seemed these served a similar purpose. The man wasted no time in walking over to one of the boxes and bending down to grasp the latch on the door.
“We’ll want to know what we’d be starting with,” he said. “Call this creature to you, as quickly as you can.”
A sharper wobble radiated through my pulse, sending a tingling sensation all through my veins. I needed them to believe my story—I needed them to think it was worth spending time on helping me. I focused on the door of the box-like cage as the man swung it open.
Stark light flooded the inside, making the patch of shadow within it stand out starkly against the gleaming metal walls. My heart thumped faster. I imagined how the thing must feel, cooped up in that tight space, knowing people who wanted to manipulate it for their own ends were holding it captive. How it must long to be free again.
A twinge of sympathy formed in my gut. But I needed it to come to me. Now. Or I could end up just as screwed over.
And so many other shadowkind might suffer more.
The urgency of my resolve made the tingles of supernatural energy condense at the base of my throat. I opened my mouth, and the strange language I didn’t understand spilled from my lips with an electric jolt. When I’d ordered my monstrous lovers away, the words had come out in English, but maybe I’d been able to use familiar words only because I’d known my targets so well. Every other time, my intention had translated into these foreign sounds.
At my command, the shadow leapt from the box, taking physical form as it darted toward me. It looked like a rat with spindly legs twice as long as they should be and several antenna-like whiskers poking from the top of its head. It dashed straight to my feet and then stopped there, quivering and looking up at me as if waiting for further instructions.
Someone made a soft sound that at first I took for consternation. When my gaze jerked up, one of the cloaked figures tugged back her hood as she stared at me. Her pointed features were framed by a cloud of salt-and-pepper hair. Her gaze was equally pointed, but her voice came out with a tone that was shocked rather than skeptical.
“What was your family’s name?”
She had an accent too, but it sounded different from the man’s. How many different countries had the sorcerers in this enclave come from?
“I don’t know,” I said. “I was adopted when I was really little—I just know that they died.” It was kind of accurate—the heart that had brought my new powers with it had technically been adopted by me with its transplantation.
“You’ve never had any direct training, and you commanded the creature that quickly? How long did these other sorcerers guide you?”
I didn’t know what the right answer would be, so I gave what was essentially the truth. “Not much. They offered me a few tips about how to focus and that sort of thing. I only found out about my powers about a month ago.”
She blinked, her surprise echoing across her face. Then she schooled her expression into somberness as she swiveled toward the man who’d brought me in. She jerked her head toward the door.
“Wait here,” she said to me, and all three of the enclave members stepped out of the room.
The shadowkind creature was still standing tensed on the floor in front of me. Taking pity on it, I let a little more of the wavery energy inside me bubble up from within and ordered it back to its box. At least it wouldn’t have to worry that I was going to make it do something worse right now.
The sorcerers didn’t return for several minutes. What was taking so long? Were they arguing about whether I should stay at all? Had I handled this scenario wrong?
Finally, the man stepped back inside alone. His mouth was pressed into a flat line as if he wasn’t happy about what he was going to tell me. I braced myself for a dismissal.
“You can stay,” he said brusquely. “As long as you follow our rules and don’t interfere with activities that don’t involve you. We’ll have some tasks for you, and if you seem dedicated enough, you may be chosen to participate in the rites that could awaken more power in you.”
Bingo. I raised my eyebrows. “Rites?”
He frowned at me. “If you’re chosen, then you’ll hear more. If you’re unhappy with the terms, you can leave.”
I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was hoping I’d take that option. Instead, I forced myself to offer him a sunny smile. “No, not at all, just curious. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I promise I’ll do my best.”