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Once we reached the edge of town, the group dispersed as the others headed for their homes. The symmetry of the town with its neat rows of wooden buildings conflicted with the asymmetrical style of the castle complex. The logical array of businesses interspersed among residences made navigating the town easier. Each district had a name matching the merchandise sold there. Peach Alley would be located in the Garden District.
A few townspeople bustled about, all intent on some errand. I walked as if I had a purpose so I didn’t attract unwanted attention from the town’s guards, who watched the streets.
The colors of the buildings thinned toward gray as the sun set. My perceptions shifted, and I felt as if I had entered into a colorless shadow world. The buildings transformed into a watery representation of a town populated with ghosts.
I stumbled over some unseen curb and snapped back to the real world. Dismissing the strange spell, I rationalized hunger as the culprit. I picked up my pace, determined to find the right address before the lamplighters came out. Peach Lane seemed devoid of life, and only when I went around to the back alley did I see signs of habitation.
A glow of firelight came from number forty-three. Keeping to the shadows, I approached the back door. I pulled a thread of magic and scanned the area. Inside the house I felt Porter waiting with two young girls. They were nervous about being found, but I didn’t sense any duplicity.
I paused as the realization of how much I depended on my magic dawned on me. Not only with searching for attackers, but with Kiki, too. Could I completely stop using my magic? It would be much harder than I thought.
The door opened right after my light tap, as if Porter had been hovering near it. He pulled me into the room and closed it behind me.
“Did anyone see you?” he asked.
“No.” I looked around the room. Small and tidy, the sitting area had a couch, a chair and three dogs getting nervous attention from the girls. The girls perched on the edge of the couch with their backs straight. They wore students’ uniforms, which consisted of a simple jumper made of red linen. White-faced, their gazes jumped between Porter and me.
“You said I could help you?” I asked.
“We’re taking a big chance trusting you.” Porter picked up a half-chewed roll of rawhide from the floor. He clutched the dog’s treat in his hands as he stared at me. “You must promise not to tell Valek or anyone else about all this.”
“I can’t promise until I hear what ‘all this’ is.”
The rawhide popped and cracked in Porter’s hands. He glanced at the girls and sighed. His wide shoulders drooped with the release of his tension, and he gestured to the empty chair. “Have a seat. This is going to take a while.”
As soon as I sat down, one of the dogs came over and put his head in my lap. Peering at me from between his gray shaggy hairs, he pleaded for attention. I stroked his smooth head and scratched behind his ears. The dog’s tail thumped on the floor. The smell of wet dog and wood smoke mixed into a stuffy odor.
Porter tapped the roll on his leg as he talked. “I’ve set up a network of people throughout Ixia to help me in smuggling children out of the country.”
I leaned forward in alarm, thinking about Mogkan’s kidnapping ring and how he had taken children from Sitia to Ixia to abuse them for his own purposes. “Children?”
“They seem like children to me.” Porter gave the two girls a grandfatherly smile. “Adolescents who have just discovered their magical powers.” He pointed to the couch. “Young people like Liv and Kieran. I’ve been helping them to escape to Sitia before their powers are known to others. But I believe something has gone wrong.”
“What?” I prompted when Porter appeared to be lost in his own thoughts.
“I was in MD-7 last month. General Rasmussen has a nice wolfhound I wanted to breed with my bitch. While there, one of my contacts who works in the general’s stables told me the last person I sent through the network never arrived. And two others he had sent on never made it to the border contact. They have all disappeared.”
My stomach twisted around my heart. “Do you think Valek has killed them?”
“I don’t know and I can’t risk asking around. If my network has been compromised then I won’t be able to send Liv and Kieran. Eventually they’ll get reported.”
I hadn’t thought it possible, but the girls’ faces turned whiter. Considering Porter’s story, I said, “Tell me how your network operates.”
“I have four contacts from here to the border. A few people know about my underground efforts and they’ll send their son or daughter to me as an apprentice. The Commander gives me complete management of his kennel and no one pays too much attention to my students. They come and go as part of their animal husbandry training. It’s risky, being this close to Valek, but then I usually know where he is and can send my charges when he’s gone on business.” Porter paced. “It’s too risky to have a guide with them, so I instruct the person how to find the first contact and then he sends them on until they get to the border contact, who takes them into Sitia. They have transfer papers with them if they’re stopped by the guards. If they had gotten caught, I would have been arrested by now.” His erratic movements showed his frustration.
“How can I help?”
He stopped. “I wanted you to go along with Liv, and maybe find out what’s happening to my charges. With that adviser’s uniform you can go anywhere in Ixia without permission.”
“No. Too dangerous for Liv. The best thing to do would be for me to disguise myself as a student and go through your network alone.”
Porter’s eyebrows spiked up in surprise. “You would do that for us?”
“Yes. Unfortunately though, it will have to wait.”
The ability to connect with the power source began at the onset of puberty. A person typically had a year before anyone else noticed and reported them, and another three to four years to learn how to harness their power. A fledgling magician’s power, when uncontrolled, could flame out and warp the blanket of power that covers the world, causing trouble for magicians everywhere. And the stronger the magician, the bigger the flameout. One-trick power similar to Opal’s ability to capture magic in molten glass tended to be unconscious and didn’t require formal training.
“How long do the girls have?” I asked.
“A year at most for Liv. Kieran is younger so she could last up to two years, but I’d rather they both be gone as soon as possible. I can hide them here if we’re desperate. I’ve had some refugees who didn’t have time to work in the kennel,” Porter said.
“Give me a couple months. Sitia’s not the best place to be sending anyone right now. Once I settle another matter, I’ll come back and help you. For now, I can teach the girls how to tame their powers enough so they don’t give themselves away.”
Relief shone on Liv and Kieran’s young faces. I worked with them for the next hour. Irys would be proud over how much I remembered from her guidance. A finger of dread stabbed my guts with the thought of Irys. I hoped she was still alive.
After my session, the girls left Porter’s together while I waited for them to be well away before I left. The need to begin my journey back to Sitia pressed on my mind as I worried about Irys and Bain locked in the Keep’s cells.
I made a quick sweep of the area outside Porter’s door with my magic. The activity around the houses seemed muted as everyone finished their daily tasks. No one lurked in the alley.
With a wave goodbye, I exited Porter’s. I stood outside and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. When the shadows grew less black, I strode toward the street.
About halfway there I felt a presence behind me. I spun, grabbing for my switchblade. Something jabbed me in the neck and I saw Star lower a thin pipe.
I yanked the dart out of my throat. “How?”
“Some great magician you are,” Star said. “Missing my own tiny talent.”
My world spun and I stumbled. Star caught me, but I had no energy to fight her off. ?
??What?”
She cradled me in her arms. “Valek’s goo-goo juice. Relax, Yelena. Star’s going to take good care of you.”
My last coherent thought focused on how her sinister expression didn’t match her soothing words.
23
THE WORLD STIRRED. MY thoughts scattered and failed to connect. Warm hands guided me. Whenever the hands pulled away, the ground swelled and I tumbled off my feet.
I thought about the lack of fear for only a moment before the air spun around my head. Lying down felt best. I sensed movement and smelled horses.
Inside my chicken crate, I wondered what I was supposed to be doing. Important things? My mind chased the thought until the sunlight lit the dust motes. I studied the flecks floating above me. The flecks transformed into daggers. I wanted to knock them away. My hands stayed glued to my back. A leather strap lodged in my teeth. The problem disappeared with the sun.
Time ebbed and flowed. My crate opened. It closed. Faces peered. Mouths talked. Words chimed in my ears. Some like eat, drink and sleep I understood. Others resembled a baby’s babble. Goo-goo. Goo-goo. A prick on my arm or neck or back. The air filled with colors. My crate bobbed on an invisible sea.
A small lucid part of me wanted action. Freedom. Majority ruled and I let the world slide by me content in my crate. My crate. My crate. I giggled.
The fire woke me. A finger of flame poked. I jerked away, no longer inside my crate. My thoughts congealed into a coherent whole. The air became invisible, revealing my surroundings. I braced for another prick. When none came I focused. The booted feet of a couple guards stood near me. I lay on my side in front of a campfire. Darkness pressed against the firelight, and my hands were tied behind my back.
Actual conversation reached my ears. The baby babble was gone. But for how long? I coaxed my mind to think, but my thoughts remained sluggish.
A man’s voice. “Should not do this,” he said. “She should stay under until we reach our destination. Jal is the only one strong enough to counter her power.”
