Devon Monk - Magic in the Shadows

Beyond his fire, I could see Mikhail’s eyes, blue, so blue, eyes just like Cody’s, wide with shock, with sorrow. I could see Sedra yell, “No!” her fingers stretched out to the flame as if she could reach Cody and pull him back to her. But it was too late.

The gate closed. Light snuffed. Ashes fell to the black stone floor.

And the room was just a room again.

Cody was gone. Mikhail was gone. The gate was gone. The beasts fell like toys whose batteries had gone dead, faded into shadow, then nothing more.

Sedra, her hair a little mussed, but not much-I totally had to find out what kind of hair spray she used, because, damn-looked over at me.

I swear I saw tears.

Then her bodyguard rushed up beside her, and other people-Maeve, Victor, Liddy-approached. Sedra pulled the pale, brittle, beautiful mask over her face, and brushed their concerns away. She walked into the center of the room.

“Allison Beckstrom,” she said, her voice soft and surprisingly musical, a little like Cody’s. No, a lot like Cody’s.

I might be dense, but I wasn’t stupid. She had to be Cody’s mother. And I bet Mikhail was his father.

Poor kid. I thought I had it bad.

I pushed away from the column, took a step. Winced. Every muscle hurt. Even the bottoms of my feet. I was so going to pay for tapping into the magic in the well.

“Zayvion Jones,” she called.

Zay appeared from somewhere toward the front of the room, looking a little bruised, bloody, burned.

But whole. A wash of relief flooded through me.

We walked together but not touching, and stood in front of Sedra.

“There are no laws written to guide me in my decision of your test today, except the law that states that if a user of magic causes harm to others or violates the laws of magic, he must be Closed.”

Was she kidding? We’d just fought nightmares, dealt with a whacko from the other side of death, and watched as part of her kid’s spirit sealed a gateway to death. And she wanted to go over my test results? Talk about focus. Or denial.

“Allison Angel Beckstrom, you have done harm, broken the Wards, attacked members of the Authority standing witness to your test.”

Holy fuck. The woman knew my middle name.

“But we are too few. .” Her voice caught. She swallowed. “We are too few. The gates between life and death have been opened, even here where it should not be possible. This is just the beginning. I am afraid. . aware. . the war will now follow. We will need all who are strong to fight for this world’s fate. To keep the innocent safe and magic true.

“You have shown your strength, your innate talent to use magic. Allison Angel Beckstrom-”

Would she quit using my middle name already?

“-will you accept your place among the Authority?”

Would I have gone through all this just to say no? “Yes,” I said.

“We welcome you. Learn well and quickly.”

She stepped back and looked around the room. The Hungers were gone, not even their black blood left on the floor. Magic and the ashes of old spells still clung to the room. Sedra gestured to several people to come to her side.

Zayvion and I were clearly not among the group she wanted to talk to. I’m not even sure the people she called to her wanted to talk to her. To me, it sounded more like they wanted to argue.

I had good ears. I heard Victor demanding an investigation to find out who opened the gate, heard Liddy tell him that was unnecessary. Mikhail’s name was bandied about and so was Cody’s. Someone who sounded like my dad’s accountant, Mr. Katz, suggested contacting other branches of the Authority in other cities to warn them of the breach, and to make them aware other gates may open. Greyson’s name was brought up, and it was decided Sedra would search his mind to see who he might be working for and who had implanted the disk. Jingo Jingo said he was almost sure it had to be someone like Frank Gordon-a doctor and magic user who dealt in Death and Blood magic.

Even my name was brought up. Was I Zayvion’s Soul Complement? About a fifty-fifty split, yea, nay, on that. I was apparently a boon and a danger, and my continued training, under Maeve for a while, then Victor, Jingo Jingo, and a name I did not catch, would help them define how I fit into the organization.

Zayvion touched my arm briefly and walked toward the stairs.

I followed him.

“How badly are you hurt?” he asked.

“Nothing permanent, I don’t think.” Which was weird, really. I’d used a hell of a lot of magic, done things I’d never done before. And so far, I remembered all of it.

Maeve broke away from the group around Sedra and strode over to us. She still didn’t look happy.

“Allie, I’m proud of you. And of you, Zayvion. Though Sedra refuses to rule on it, it is clear to me you are Soul Complements.” She touched each of our shoulders. “May you live and love.” It was a blessing, a wish. Not magic, but still, I could feel it echo between us.

“Thank you,” Zayvion and I said at the same time.

Weird. But cool.

Maeve smiled. “You are welcome to stay here in one of the rooms and rest,” she said to me.

“I’d rather go home,” I said.

“Call me tomorrow, then,” she said. “Your training will begin in earnest.”

’Cause, you know, today had been such a picnic.

“Zayvion, we will need you soon.” She glanced over at the group.

I did too. Body language spoke of screaming-mad magic users.

“Not for an hour or so, I think,” she said with a sort of grim determination in her voice. “You should rest.”

Zayvion shook his head. “I’m fine. I’ll take Allie home.”

She nodded. “Be safe.” And then she strode back to the group.

I looked around the room for Shamus and Chase. Neither were to be found. Strange.

“Is Shamus all right?” I asked as we started up the stairs.

Zay shrugged one shoulder. “He left just before Sedra called us to the center of the room.”

“Why?”

“Maybe he didn’t want to see us. Soul Complements. Accepted.”

“Why not?”

Zayvion took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He had this chance once. Well, an actual Soul Complement test, not this. This wasn’t standard,” he noted.

“Shamus had this chance to see if he had a Soul Complement? With whom?” I asked.

“Someone he denied. I think he still regrets it.”

Oh. I didn’t know what to say to that.

Zayvion squeezed my hand gently, and I realized I didn’t have to say anything.

We made it up the flights of stairs, and then finally through the inn that was quiet and cozy, all the lights low. For all I knew, it must be almost midnight now. We let ourselves out and walked across the gravel parking lot to Zayvion’s car. The night was cold, the moon setting silver fire to the clouds within its reach.

The night here in the parking lot felt blessedly sane, real, normal. I glanced over at the inn that looked just like an inn, and wondered how so much magic and tragedy could happen beneath the notice of the regular world.

So much had happened today, tonight, I didn’t know how to sort it all, how to make sense of it all. My thoughts kept skipping from one thing to the next, not lingering long enough for me to really think through the ramifications.

Fatigue. I was tired. Really tired.

Zayvion held the car door open for me.

“I’m sorry about the test,” he said.

I shrugged. “What about it?”

“That I was your opponent. I didn’t know they would choose me.”

I turned so I could lean my hip against the doorframe. “Why did they? Why not send someone else to try to kill me? Chase certainly seemed willing.”

He winced at that. Maybe it wasn’t tactful, but it was the truth.