Chapter 20 #2
“It’s going to be all right.” Annia leaned down to snag the hand of a skittish child. He was a dark-skinned little boy with ice-blue shifter eyes, and he looked like he was about to turn tail and dart back into the woods. “We’re going to get you home to your parents. You’re safe now.”
A lump swelled in my throat, and I blinked back tears of my own as I went to meet them at the steam carriages. The two mage children were up front, between the adult mages, and I decided not to complain about the show of favoritism. I might have done the same if the situation was reversed.
“Where are you taking them?” I asked.
“They’ll all be housed in Parabas Palace until their parents are found,” one of the mages assured me. “Lord Logar has a soft spot for children. They’ll be well taken care of.”
“Good.” I moved aside, giving them access so that they could direct the children into the carriages. I’d smelled no lie, and was as convinced as I ever would be that these kids would be all right.
But as I moved away, I locked eyes with the blonde shifter child I’d noticed last night. Her face was pale with worry, her slim shoulders tense, but it was her eyes that made me pause. They were yellow-orange, the exact same color as Lakin’s.
“Hey there,” I said, crouching down to her level and offering a hand. She hesitated for just a moment, but my shifter eyes must have decided her, because she took my hand and allowed me to briefly pull her from the group. Annia and Rylan gave me curious looks, but I ignored them.
“My name is Sunaya Baine,” I told the little girl. “What’s yours?”
“Tula Leoni,” she said quietly. “I’m from the Leoni Clan in Parabas.”
A quick sniff told me she was a jaguar shifter, and I smiled. “I think I may know a relative of yours. Does the name Boon Lakin sound familiar to you?”
“You know my uncle Boon?” Tula’s eyes widened. “Where did you meet him?”
“In Solantha. He and I worked on a case together. I noticed your beautiful eyes and how similar they are to his, and I thought you might be of his old clan. He’s a good man.”
“He’s one of my favorite uncles.” The girl gave a little sniffle. Alarmed, I wondered if I’d made a mistake by mentioning Lakin, who she clearly missed. But then she smiled, her shoulders relaxing. “I guess it’s good to know that you’re his friend.”
“He’ll be very happy to learn you’re safe,” I told her, smiling back. I ruffled her hair, then gave her a gentle pat on the back. “I will make sure to tell him all about how I met you, and how brave you’ve been. Go on now.”
I gave her a gentle push in the direction of the carriage, and watched the mages load her up before getting inside. The carriage let out a shrill whistle as it lurched forward, and my heart jumped into my throat as we watched the children leave.
“Small world, isn’t it?” Rylan murmured, placing a hand on my shoulder as he came to stand beside me. “That you happened to have a connection to one of the children?”
“Yeah,” I said, glancing sideways at my cousin. His expression was serious, his yellow shifter eyes broody for once. “It makes me realize it’s not enough to ensure that Canalo is safe. We’re all part of the same country, and our actions affect one another more than we realize.”
Two more steam carriages rolled out of the gate, carrying prisoners, and we stepped back to give them a clear path.
Iannis, Lord Logar, and the remaining mages returned via steamcar rather than walking up the long path back to the entrance.
My heart began to thump a little faster as Iannis stepped out of the vehicle, a grave expression on his face as he locked eyes with me.
“It is time,” he said. “We’re going to demolish the compound now, and everything in it.”
“Don’t look so glum,” Lord Logar said cheerily as he came around one of the vehicles.
He surveyed us all as he spoke. “The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get out of here and back to civilization. I don’t know about you, but I missed breakfast to get here so early, and intend to make up for it with a hearty lunch. ”
“Yes, sir,” Elnos said, and the rest of us followed suit.
Normally, I jumped at any talk of food, but at the moment, my gut churned at the very thought of eating anything.
There were animals still down in the labs—mice, rats, and rabbits—that didn’t deserve to die.
But Iannis had decided freeing them would be too risky, since an unknown number of these rodents carried deadly diseases, and Lord Logar had agreed.
As Iannis’s apprentice, I was enlisted to help prepare the spell—after all, it was a rare and dangerous one, a good opportunity to learn.
There was an air of suppressed excitement about the Osero mages, who seemed eager to put in practice a technique they only knew from magic textbooks and history volumes.
Even Elnos looked excited to participate, despite his melancholy about Noria.
My part in the spell was simple and yet complicated.
Lord Logar pulled out pouches of black stones and had several of us place them in a grid-like pattern around and inside the entire complex of buildings.
Each stone was smooth and polished, about the size of my palm, and had a rune carved into it.
There were four different runes in total, and Iannis explained to me that each rune stood for a different element.
Each time I pulled a stone from the pouch, I spoke a Word to activate it.
The rune would glow a bright, otherworldly color, and I would place it on the ground before moving onto the next location.
It was eerie, walking so close to the corridors of the underground labs as I placed my stones.
The place was empty of all human life, but even from outside, I could still scent decay and despair beneath the antiseptic, and my heart clenched at the thought of the animals yet inside.
My boots echoed against the paved yard as I walked above the laboratories with their rows of steel tables laden with glass beakers and cruel-looking instruments.
According to Fenris, some of those tables were equipped with leather straps, clearly meant to hold down the children they kept here as they were poked, prodded, and injected.
Had they killed any before we arrived, in those experiments?
It seemed all too likely. I was relieved that the surviving victims had been taken away.
If I had been in their position, coming out of a nightmare of being tortured and experimented on, I would not have been able to gain any peace of mind until I was as far away from this place as possible.
The thought that the Resistance was responsible for such pain and cruelty was enough to set my blood boiling again. Burning down this compound wasn’t enough. I wanted the perpetrators to burn for eternity.
Rein it in, I warned myself as sparks of magic began to sizzle in the air around me.
My power was close to the surface, ready to be unleashed at the slightest provocation, and I couldn’t afford to let that happen.
I was in the spotlight now more than ever.
Even though I knew Iannis would not allow anyone to harm or threaten me, neither of us needed the hassle that would ensue if I were perceived to be a danger to society.
The other mages and I finished placing the stones, then returned to the entrance of the compound. Iannis and Lord Logar had their heads bent together, discussing something, while the other mages were stationed at various points around the perimeter, clearly on standby.
“We’ve finished, Lord Logar,” Gillen, one of the mages who’d gone with me, said. “The stones have all been activated.”
“Excellent,” Lord Logar said. “Go and take your positions.”
The three mages rushed off, and I looked to Iannis. “Where am I supposed to go?”
“Stay back there with the others and observe,” Iannis told me. “The rest of the spell is too complicated for an apprentice to participate in. Besides, you should be able to use your sharp sight and excellent hearing to learn even at a distance,” he added mentally.
“All right.” I retreated to where the others were standing, folding my arms across my chest. The sun was halfway up the sky by now, shining bright rays over the green landscape as if it hadn’t gotten the memo that this was a day of destruction, not cheer.
“I’m not sure if I’m excited or terrified,” Annia murmured in my ear. “I mean, I want the compound wiped from the face of Recca, and I’m sure this kind of spell is rare to witness. But what if we get caught up in the backlash?”
“Lord Iannis and Lord Logar are very experienced mages,” Fenris said.
The wistful expression that briefly flickered in his dark eyes suggested that he longed to be out there with the other mages, casting this powerful spell that was so rarely used.
“And like most people, they also have a strong sense of self-preservation. They would not cast this spell if they feared they would lose their lives in the process, or endanger us here.”
“Of course not.” Noria huffed, wrinkling her nose. “After all, sacrificing themselves for the common good would hardly be in character for them, now would it?”
“The stones they set will ensure the spell is contained,” Fenris said loudly before anyone could respond to Noria’s jab. “The magic will only affect what is within the boundary.”