Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
I wake. I’m warm, and the duvet against my cheek smells clean. Do I have to get up, or am I on late today? I try to remember my shift pattern, but instead of work, memories flood my mind, and I groan with disbelief before I can keep my mouth shut.
“It’s okay, you are safe,” says a voice from my left.
I freeze. Oh heck, I won’t be able to keep playing dead. Although dead people don’t get fresh sheets. Neither do prisoners.
“You are safe and with a friend. My name is Emma, and I’m a friend of Ava’s.
You can open your eyes; I’ve dimmed the lights.
I know what it’s like to wake up in a strange room.
A glass of water, a packaged sandwich, and snacks are on the bedside table.
I didn’t know what you’d like, but I bet you’re starving.
” Her voice is sweet and full of understanding. Full of empathy.
I want to wiggle; her kindness makes me uncomfortable.
I take a deep breath and crack an eye open to see who I’m dealing with. Bright, multi-shade-blue eyes meet mine.
Emma smiles at me. She is beautiful and ageless, with pale skin and thick silver hair plaited away from her face.
“Hi,” I croak.
“Hi.” She smiles wider, and her eyes sparkle.
I reach over, grab the glass of water, and take a sip. “You know Ava?”
“After your parents contacted her, she asked for my help to get you out.” Emma tilts her head to the side and her nose scrunches up.
“Although I didn’t do much. If I hadn’t been able to get to you, you would have been just fine.
Instead of waking up in bed, you’d still be on the basement floor, but seeing your charms at work…
” She shudders. “Yeah, I have a feeling you would be fine.”
I lick my lips; they feel soft, so I’m hydrated.
I go over her words. I put a ward up, and it would’ve protected the entire staff room and basement. If the basement was warded, how did she get inside?
“How did you get me out?”
“Magic.” Emma wiggles her fingers and grins. She doesn’t elaborate.
“Oh okay.” I rub my face. That’s erm… helpful? “If you speak to Ava before me, can you tell her thank you?”
“Of course.”
I put the glass down and stare at her more closely. Emma has secrets—don’t we all? I don’t think she’s lying. She sits demurely in a chair, and I notice the baby bump when she adjusts her arms.
I blink.
Pregnant women aren’t usually sent in to be the baddies, right?
I continue to gawp at her belly. I have no idea how to communicate with a pregnant lady, and I can’t remember the last time I saw one in person.
Perhaps as a child, when mum was carrying my brothers.
Emma is growing another human, and it’s all kinds of miraculous.
Then it hits me: I’m out. I made it out of the glass prison.
It’s like my head is too heavy for my neck. I sink into the covers. I’m in the real world, and I’ll encounter more pregnant women, babies, children, and animals! I can go anywhere. Wow, the sense of freedom is shocking.
It’s shocking and unbelievable, and it will take me a long time not to feel trapped unless they gather us all like they did before and lock us up again.
Perhaps they’ll make sure we disappear permanently.
Ah, there goes my overactive imagination. With everything that’s happened, it’s on overdrive.
“Did it work?” My voice is barely above a whisper. I pick at the edge of the duvet and dread her answer. “I healed everyone, or at least I tried to. Did it work? Are they okay?” I brace myself for her answer.
“Yes, they are. People are going nuts over the hidden town and the dragon bloods. We didn’t even know having dragon DNA was a thing.
Everything is up in the air, and speculation and conspiracy theories are rife.
The Creature Council wants to question you, but you seem at the bottom of their priority list. The gargoyles are very angry and will be even more upset when they break through the ward you set and find you gone.
” Emma’s lips twist. “They are going to be pissed.”
“My family?”
“All safe and where they should be.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much for getting me out and looking after me.” I tug on the sleeve of the black jumper, and as tears obscure my vision, I glance down to control my bubbling emotions.
I did it. I saved them. I tuck my hands into the long sleeves and huff out an amused breath when I take in what I’m wearing.
I’m dressed in my very own sock outfit, and I’m clean and healed.
Emma must notice the direction in which my mind has gone. “The feather helped me get you out. You floated right to the portal. The mop insisted on cleaning you up.”
Floated? Mop? Ah, the quickly thrown-together cleaning charm.
“One charm healed you and kept you hydrated and I presume did all the bathroom stuff. Another dressed you. I’ve got to say, Kricket, your magic freaked me out. It’s wicked scary—and very weird.” She shrugs her shoulders in an apology.
I don’t take offence. The charms were working independently without direction. That’s new, cool, and yes, very freaky. They shouldn’t be able to do that—take care of me.
The umbrella charm has also been busy doing its own thing. I can’t miss the crackling ward around the room; its power sings in my mind. Frowning, I stare at Emma and then back at the ward. Has she been here the entire time or…
“How did you get through the wards?”
Emma makes an awkward sound in her throat. “Ah, well, magic doesn’t work on me. I’m sort of a null.” Her secret rolls off her tongue.
Sort of a null.
“Nothing works for me.” Emma continues, her hands flopping onto her lap, and absentmindedly rubs her baby bump while the corner of her eyes crinkle with worry.
“Oh, that must be hard. I’m so sorry.” I can’t imagine not being able to use a healing potion, especially with the baby.
“Yeah, it’s not great. You play the hand you’ve been dealt.
I can walk through wards, and”—she counts the magic she can use on her fingers—“use gateways and pocket realms. The big world-building magic is fine. But every other magic treats me like I’m not there.
Apart from your freaky charms.” She holds her hands up.
“Before you ask, I didn’t invoke them, I didn’t touch them, I didn’t know they were there, but I worked it out quickly when you started floating. ”
She shakes her head and switches the topic.
“We have hidden cameras at the library, and Ava thinks the gargoyles will get through the ward you set today.” Emma leans forward.
“They brought in a big hitter—a witch who has thoroughly embarrassed herself over the past few days. When they get in, then the fun will begin. Once they’ve checked the building, the tunnels, and realise you’re long gone, the shit will hit the fan. ”
“Few days?”
“You’ve been unconscious for three days.”
“Whoa, I’ve been out for three days?” She said about the gargoyle’s attempt to get to me before, but I didn’t know they’d been at it for three days. Three days. Blimey, that’s impressive for a quick ward. The new umbrella charm is a keeper. What a good ward.
“You really got yourself into a mess. When I found you, you barely had a heartbeat and you were covered in blood.”
I wince, remembering the pain.
“You said people are going nuts?”
“Yeah, pretty much. But the biggest news story overshadowing everything is your town’s existence.
Here, let me just…” She grabs a remote and clicks on a few buttons.
The television turns on and she turns up the volume.
“You don’t have to pick a channel; it’s everywhere.
Kricket, you saved the entire town. From the early investigations, over a hundred gargoyles died.
The news is calling you a saviour. You single-handedly saved around five thousand people and caught the perpetrators.
Well, not you. Your magic name, Gary Chappell.
He is the hero. Single-handedly taking on a group of magic-welding humans. ”
She pauses to let all that sink in, but I must have misheard her.
My eyes flick from her to the yelling reporters on the TV. “Humans? Who is going to believe that? The magic they used, how they moved, and how big they were—they don’t grow humans that big.”
“Well, they aren’t going to say a murderous group of creatures pretending to be dragons while wearing bad Halloween masks.”
I snort. “You noticed that too?”
“Yeah. So a powerful witch saved the day, and a group of extremists were caught. It’s amazing. The Creature Council made a statement, and the humans had identification on them corroborating their identity.” Emma rolls her big blue eyes. “Handy.”
“Ah, yes, so handy. That’s precisely what trained soldiers do; they keep their pockets full of personal information. So when their bodies are found, they can be easily identified and their enemies can go in and give condolences to the families.”
Emma hums in agreement.
“Do you think I can join my family?”
“No, the Creature Council and the gargoyles are watching them. I have safe houses you’re welcome to use.”
I don’t need a safe house. I have money… Uh-oh, I sent my mum away with all the bank details, and I bet they’re watching that too. What a nightmare. Luckily, I don’t need money; I can make charms.
Yeah, and how did that go? I messed up. I’m not responsible for what those people did, but I’ve been playing with magic I don’t understand—dragon magic. I shiver. There’s a reason they locked us up in the first place. Perhaps we are dangerous.
Not we, me.
I’m dangerous.
The magic I’ve been playing with might be why dragons are almost extinct, and I’ve sent my family out in the world with millions of pounds worth of charms. Charms they can no longer sell as it’s unsafe, and if I’ve got a target on my head, so do they.
My stomach flips. People will kill for that kind of magic.
They already have.
Now that I’ve seen what I can do and what my magic is capable of, I’m worried about the potential consequences if it falls into the wrong hands.
With a snap of magic, I can pinpoint a charm anywhere and maybe remove its magic.
I bet I could do it to every one of them right now.
But they protect people, and I took their money.
Gary has a reputation, and I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot.
Instead, for my peace of mind, I’ll place little magic tags on my charms, a little moral indicator if someone is up to no good or if the charms are in trouble. A morality clause.
Emma sits silently, half watching the news and half watching me.
“What do you want for the rescue and the help?” Nothing is for free.
“Ah.” Emma leans back in the chair, twiddling her thumbs like a villain. “One day soon, I’ll ask for your help. It’ll be nothing illegal, nothing that you won’t be able to give, but one day soon, I’ll need your help to help somebody else. All I ask is you pay it forward.”
I think about it for a moment.
Nah, there’s no way she’s doing this out of the goodness of her heart. But her bright blue eyes stare back at me earnestly. She means what she says. “You genuinely help people?”
“Yes.”
Emma is like some creature superhero. A pregnant superhero. “Okay. But I want in. If you and Ava are going to help me, I want to help you back, not just on one occasion. You might need me to help you with my magic.”
“The freaky magic?”
I wince. “Yeah, about that. I might need help in getting it under control.” It would be great if Emma or Ava could find somebody to guide me. “And I need to get a message to Ava and my family not to sell charms for a while.”
If at all. The magic is too unpredictable, and I don’t know enough. If I’ve learned anything dealing with this nightmare, my charms are dangerous.
“I can get a message to your parents, and I know a family of witches. Between them, they might have some idea of how to help you. But it might be a while as we can’t put them at risk.”
“No, of course not. I don’t want to put anyone else at risk. Thank you for your help. So I need to wait for the Council to forget about me and avoid the gargoyles until they hulk smash someone else.” I sigh and rub my face. “Then everything will be okay.”
Whoa, that was easier than I thought it would be.
“Okay? Well, not really.”
“Oh?”
“I think you’re the most wanted person in the country. There will be a public inquiry, and nobody in power will want you to give your side of the story. Add that to the fame of your alter ego, Gary Chappell, and everyone wants a piece of you.”
“So I can’t hide and wait for them to forget about me? I thought now the invaders were caught, everything would be over.”
Emma snorts. “Over? No, Kricket, this isn’t over. I have a feeling your story is just beginning.”
That doesn’t sound ominous. Not at all. A shiver of premonition shoots down my spine.