Edge of Pathos (The Conjurors Series Book 4) (27 page)

“I never knew that
was how it was made,” Valerie said. “Reaper will want to take it and use it to
his own advantage.”

“A large number of
his army reside in the desert, so miss’s speculation rings true to me,” Chisisi
said.

“This time, we’ll
stop him before he can seize more power,” Valerie said, but she was faking her
confidence.

Valerie’s heart was
beginning to beat faster as she began making and rejecting plans in her mind.

“Before
we take back the world, stare at the stars with me now,” Chisisi said, and his
words brought her back to Earth. “You never know if it will be the last time
you examine them.”

It was nighttime on
the Globe, as well, when Valerie returned to the hospital tent.

“What the hell, man?
Are you following me?” Cyrus’s voice was near, and Valerie peered around a tree
and saw his familiar glow.

Thai was standing nearby
with his hands shoved in his pockets.

“I don’t know who
else to talk to about this,” Thai said. “Henry doesn’t see what a big deal it
is that Valerie almost gave up on herself, and abandoned all of us.”

“
It’s not her leaving
all of
us
that’s bothering you. You just can’t stand the fact that you couldn’t
fix her. That you couldn’t be the hero
,” Cyrus said.

“That isn’t it! She
can do better than giving in to all her self-loathing. She isn’t Henry!”

“You know what I
think you need?” Cyrus said.

“What?”

Cyrus slugged Thai
in the eye with enough power that Thai banged into the tree behind him. He
returned with a punch of his own that skated across Cyrus’s cheek, and soon
they were grappling on the ground.

Valerie briefly
considered interrupting them, but decided that if they wanted to waste their
energy fighting each other instead of the Fractus, that was their business. But
she wouldn’t watch, either.

She quietly walked
past them, to the entrance of the tent, and Cyrus spoke again, out of breath.
Valerie paused, unable to stop herself from listening.

“You and
I can’t fathom what it’s like in her head,” he said. “Our parents, our
families, they’re all alive. We’ve never lived on the streets, been beaten up
or mentally tortured. She can’t be a hero every single second. Every once in a
while, she’s going to fall down, and you get to be the one to pick her up. She
considers you her soul mate. You, not me, are that lucky. So never complain to
me about her again.”

Thai came by her bed
that night as she was carefully spreading the ointment that Nightingale had
given her on the scar on her chest.

“I saw you pass by
when I was talking with Cy,” he said.

“Talking seems like
a weak word for what I saw,” she said.

“So you heard what
he said?”

“About cutting me
slack since my life has sucked? Yes,” she said.

“Well, I completely
disagree. It’s not that it doesn’t make my heart hurt to think of all the ways
you’ve been bruised, but he doesn’t know you as well as I do if he doesn’t see
that in spite of that—or maybe even because of it—you aren’t someone who gives
up, who takes a nap while the world burns.”

“And that’s how I
want you to see me. It’s part of why I love you. You force me to be the best
version of myself, and you don’t tolerate anything less. But sometimes, it scares
me to think that someday, you’ll find out the truth about who I am and be
disappointed.”

“I don’t think so.
Because Cyrus is right. The day you finally let me be yours,
I’ll
be the
one who’s lucky to be with
you
, not the other way around.”

“Ew,” Henry mumbled
from the cot next to hers, where he’d been napping. But before he rolled over,
she could swear she saw him grin.

With her body
functional again, Valerie threw herself back into the middle of battles, only taking
breaks to check in on Emin and sleep. Her magic was depleted, but now she knew
how much she was capable of tapping into if needed.

The months of
fighting she’d engaged in before Reaper had put the flame out hadn’t prepared
her for the ferocity of the battles now. Her enemies had their full magical
potential unleashed, and many relished the opportunity to exercise powers that
had been stifled.

She found herself
not following Dasan’s advice to rest her vivicus power. Again and again, she
poured herself into the wounded and dying, and though she didn’t regret it, her
mind was like a balloon on a string that she had to consciously reel in
sometimes in order to access information. The more she used her power, the
stronger her connection with Darling became. She could sense every time he
saved a life, and she began to yearn to see him again.

Valerie was grateful
that Gideon had always made sure that she practiced fighting without the aid of
her magic, because now, she had very little of her power to draw on. But she
was less sluggish than she’d been when the flame had bound her powers on Earth.

She spent part of
each day strategizing with her generals about when and how they would attack
Reaper in Arden and the Atacama Desert, but she was pulled away with growing
frequency due to emergencies on Earth where every soldier of the Fist was
needed. She refused to excuse herself, even if Skye shook his head
disapprovingly and Chisisi watched her with worried eyes.

Valerie had successfully
led a team of about thirty soldiers to protect the Prime Minister of France and
was organizing ongoing protection when a strange, unpleasant buzzing filled her
mind. At first, she thought it was an attack from a Fractus with psychic
powers, but when she focused on her locus, the sensation remained, and with it
a sense that a balance was on the verge of being upset. Then her wrist burned.

The iridescent
bracelet made from Clarabelle’s mane was humming. A streak of gray wound its
way through one of the locks of the unicorn’s hair.

Terror filled her,
and the Laurel Circle was ice. Kanti had been fighting at her side, and she
clutched her stomach.

“Do you feel it,
too?” Valerie asked her.

“Something’s wrong,”
Kanti said. “It’s like I’m about to fall off the edge of a cliff.”

“Clarabelle’s in
danger,” Valerie said. “And I don’t even know where she’s been hiding.”

“Neither do I. But I
know someone who does,” Kanti said.

They returned to the
Globe, to a gigantic field on the snowy plains of Elsinore, where Kanti’s new
recruits were training. Everyone went silent at their princess’s arrival and
dropped to a knee.

Valerie turned to
her friend with wide eyes, but Kanti took it in stride, as if she was getting
used to her new role.

“Send me Blake,”
Kanti shouted.

Someone pushed
through the neat lines of soldiers and came to a stop in front of Kanti.

“What is it, my
princess?” he asked.

Valerie barely
recognized the man before her. When she’d seen him last, he’d been one of the
nearly invisible, breakable Fractus. Now, he was fully visible, and she could
see that he was very young, not more than a year or two older than she.

“You told me that
Clarabelle helped you develop your power to fly,” Kanti said.

“And my speed,” he
added, standing straighter.

“How did you meet
her? We need to find her right away. Something’s wrong,” she said.

“Every day at high
noon, she came to a site on Earth called Machu Picchu. Those of us whose hearts
were true could find her,” Blake said.

“I know that place,”
Valerie said. “There’s no easy way to get there.”

“Unless you have a
rock from the site,” Blake said, reaching into his pocket. “Azra said I could
give it to someone I trust who needed their help.”

“Your princess
thanks you,” Kanti said, taking the rock from Blake.

Valerie and Kanti
gripped hands and traveled to Earth. They were transported to a place so
ancient that the land had the echo of magic’s hum from before Conjurors had
ever left the Globe.

“This place is
huge,” Valerie said, her eyes scanning the ruins.

“And we don’t even
know if Clarabelle is here,” Kanti said.

A crackle of
electricity was all the warning that Valerie had that Reaper was near before
pain licked her back.

She tackled Kanti to
the ground, covering her body with her own.

Kanti plunged her
fist into the ground, and the magic Valerie sensed earlier responded to her
friend’s touch. Green shoots wriggled out of the ground.

“Distract him,”
Kanti whispered.

Valerie pulled
herself up and assessed her surroundings, but Reaper wasn’t visible. She
reached inside herself for the dregs of her magic and let her power search for
her enemy.

Reaper was leaning
against a tree, and he was bending light so that she couldn’t see him unless
she squinted. Her sixth sense for danger wasn’t blaring like it usually did when
he was near, and she could see why. He was clutching his head.

Valerie erased the
distance between them, and hit him with all of her strength right in his nose,
which snapped with a satisfying crack. Touching his skin was agony, and she
cradled her hand, hoping it wasn’t broken.

Reaper reoriented
her perspective, so it was like looking at the world upside down, and Valerie
stumbled.

But before Reaper
could attack her, the green shoots Kanti had called out of the ground
surrounded Reaper, growing exponentially faster. They wound around the air near
him, and hardened into thick, thorny branches.

Reaper was able to
dissolve the branches nearest him so the thorns didn’t prick his skin, but
dissolving all of them would require more of his power, and Valerie guessed
that he didn’t have as much as usual.

Abruptly, Valerie’s
world reoriented itself, and Reaper left through a portal with a growl of
frustration.

“You did it!”
Valerie said to Kanti, brushing dirt off of herself.

“Flowers and hearts
magic has its benefits,” Kanti said. But despite her sarcasm, she looked a
little dazed that she had forced Reaper to retreat.

“Clarabelle!”
Valerie cooed softly. “Please, little one, I’m so scared that you’re hurt.”

“Valerie, here,”
Kanti said.

A smear of a silvery
liquid was on the side of a tree, and a few drops flecked the ground.

“She’s hurt,”
Valerie said, and she didn’t recognize the sound of her own voice. “This way.”

Valerie followed the
call of her own heart and pulled Kanti with her. They crossed a low wall of rocks
and were a short distance from the ruins when Valerie saw Clarabelle lying in
the grass, curled into Azra like she’d been the day that Valerie had first met
her.

“Go get Thai,”
Valerie commanded Kanti, handing her the rock. “Now!”

Kanti didn’t hesitate,
and she vanished.

You’re in time.

Azra’s words were
followed by a little whimper. Clarabelle was still alive.

“Summer?” Valerie
asked.

Azra shook her head,
her silver mane shining in the light that broke through the clouds.

She died defending Clarabelle.
But not in vain. She pummeled Reaper, nearly blinding him, I think. Clarabelle
and I made it far enough that he could not immediately find us.

“I’m here,” Thai
said, appearing beside her.

Kanti stood behind
him.

“I need you to lend
me your strength,” she said.

Thai laced his
fingers through hers.

Valerie rested her
hand on Clarabelle’s flank and reached for her vivicus power, and then thanked
everything good in the universe that enough was there to save the baby unicorn.

With Thai’s help,
releasing her magic into Clarabelle was gentle, and the unicorn blazed with
light, reminding Valerie of when she’d healed Cyrus.

Joyful little notes
pinged Valerie’s mind, and she drew her power back into herself. Clarabelle
licked Valerie’s cheek and made little snuffling sounds in her ear.

I was scared.

“I’m sorry,
Clarabelle,” Valerie said.

But you saved me. I
knew you would.

If Valerie released
a few tears into the foal’s mane, she didn’t think anyone noticed. For the second
time in the span of a few weeks, she’d been in time to save someone precious to
her.

Reaper considers
Clarabelle your successor. He wants you both dead, and even with the wound he
received today, he will not rest until it is done.

Valerie had never sensed
fear from Azra, until now.

We must disappear
until this war is over. I am sorry, Valerie.

“Of course. But
where?” Kanti said. “Maybe I can hide you in Elsinore. I’ve been weeding out
the Fractus.”

Azra shook her head.

There is a glade on
Earth that I know from times of old. But if we go, we may not emerge until The
Balance is restored or Clarabelle is full grown, which will not be for several
centuries.

Clarabelle was
stomping her hoof and poking her mother with her horn, but Azra ignored her.

“You’re right to go.
It’s best for Clarabelle, and it’s what’s right for the world. As long as she’s
alive, there’s hope,” Valerie said.

That is what I think
every time I look at you, Valerie. My heart rides with you, though I may not.

The unicorns left,
and Clarabelle’s piteous complaints echoed in Valerie’s mind until they were
out of sight.

Without Midnight,
her father, and Gideon, Valerie had yearned for advisers to tell her what to
do. She hadn’t realized how much she relied on Azra’s strength and her moral compass,
as well, until she was gone.

Valerie was so
adrift, she thought she’d float away until Thai put his hand on the small of
her back, anchoring her.

“Thank you for
letting me help you today. I know you must have wanted to heal her right away,”
Thai said.

“My life is
precious, too,” Valerie said absently, remembering something Azra had told her
once.

“What new ability do
you think Clarabelle will gain since you healed her, Valerie?” Kanti said,
grinning.

“What do you mean?”
Thai asked.

“When she healed
Sanguina, she brought back her humanity in addition to her life. Azra became
pregnant after she was healed. Cyrus’s powers exploded, and so did mine. And
now Henry…” Kanti trailed off, her eyes a little shiny. She cleared her throat.
“Now Henry has not only been brought back to life, but I think Valerie cured
his depression. Because he’s able to be his true self now.”

Valerie stared at
Kanti for a long time, absorbing her words.

“He’s still guilty,
insecure, and scared. I know. I’ve been inside his mind,” Valerie said.

Kanti
shrugged. “Then he’s like the rest of us. But we live with it, and find joy in
life. Now, so can he.”

When Valerie visited
Chisisi’s safe house that night, it was surrounded by three Fractus with the
power to hurtle lightning from their hands.

She crept up behind
one and hit him with a swift uppercut that sent him reeling, and followed up
with a hard elbow to his head.

Chisisi had
deflected the lightning thrown at him with a metal rod he’d stabbed into the
ground in front of him, diverting the electricity from its target.

While the Fractus
recharged, Chisisi took on two of them at once, and wasn’t even out of breath
when they lay in front of him, unconscious. He then pulled out his cell phone
to call for a team to cart the Fractus off to the magically secure prison
they’d created on Earth.

“We’ll need a new
space to house all these prisoners,” Chisisi said, scrubbing at his eyes with
his hand.

“The holding cells
on the Globe are filling up, too, and the Grand Master of the Justice Guild is
still recovering from an attack by Reaper,” Valerie said.

“Perhaps some of the
Fractus can be convinced to turn against their cause and return home,” Chisisi
suggested.

“If you think we can
trust them, I’m all for it,” Valerie said.

“One of the
Conjurors from the Empathy Collective offered to search the minds of the
prisoners to ascertain if they were telling the truth,” Chisisi said.

“I didn’t know they
could do that,” Valerie said. “That skill could come in handy in many ways.”

“Indeed. But I am told
only a handful of the Empaths have mastered the ability,” he said.

“I’ll talk to
Henry,” Valerie said. “He’ll help you organize.”

“Even though there
are many Fractus who would abandon Reaper, given the chance to do so safely,
many believe in his plans for Earth,” Chisisi said. “I do not know how humans
will ever be safe unless we reestablish a boundary between our worlds and make
sure those with magic are on the Globe.”