Edge of Pathos (The Conjurors Series Book 4) (30 page)

His magic tiptoed to
the root of Gertrude’s power. Instead of being like a spark, as she described,
to Henry, it was like a lump of clay, something malleable that could be shaped
into different forms. Henry kneaded it, testing its texture for possibilities.
What shape would make it strongest?

A power associated
with water would weaken it, air would crumble it, he decided. But fire would
harden it into something strong and beautiful. Henry’s imagination raced
through the possibilities of what gift could be made that would enhance
Gertrude’s natural aptitude.

Lightweaver. She
would revel in the warmth of her gift, and the Fist needed as many lightweavers
as they could get. Henry encouraged the clay, molding it, his magic manipulating
it more and more rapidly as his confidence grew.

Then the power
within Henry stilled. It was not depleted, but finished. The masterpiece was
complete. Henry drew his magic back into himself and stepped back from
Gertrude.

Henry opened his
eyes, and saw that Gertrude’s were still shut, a small smile playing on her
lips. She wiggled her fingers, and light danced between them.

When she finally
opened her eyes, they were shining. “Thank you.”

Henry was dazed, a
little in awe of what he’d done. The curse that had made him Reaper’s pawn was
now his own tool against the darkness of the Fractus, the world, the mostly
closed pit inside him. “You’re welcome.”

“Next!” Kanti
shouted, and another eager Conjuror stepped forward.

Valerie stayed in
Henry’s mind for a long time as he gifted Conjuror after Conjuror with
different powers. There were two more lightweavers, more than a dozen with
enhanced fighting reflexes, and many more with powers that Valerie had never
heard of. They’d been dreamed up by Henry’s imagination.

He was weary, but
ecstatic. Valerie guessed that he’d keep working until he dropped from
exhaustion or Kanti forced him to stop. But she had to pull away and return to
the world and responsibilities that were waiting for her.

She had chosen today
to visit Reaper’s strongholds on Earth and the Globe as surreptitiously as
possible. She doubted that Skye or Chisisi would approve of her putting herself
in so much danger, but Valerie needed to see for herself what she would be up against.

At home, she wound
her braid around her head and pulled on a sweatshirt with a deep hood. She
looked in the mirror, shaking her head at her flimsy disguise, when she
realized that she was thinking like a human. If she wanted a good disguise,
there was an easy way to get one.

The Grand Master of
the Glamour Guild, Roza, had set up a base on Earth in Italy. She’d told
Valerie that if she was going to help fight this filthy war, then she’d live
somewhere beautiful. From there, she and the members of her guild worked with
soldiers of the Fist on various disguises, as well as hiding key safe houses
around the world.

Valerie went to
Roza’s villa and found the Grand Master talking to some of the Masters in her
guild. She’d exchanged her tentacles for legs, but she was still striking in an
alien way in her human form. Roza dismissed her companions when she saw
Valerie.

“If you are here for
a cloaking spell for another hundred soldiers, I will need time,” Roza said.

“It’s nothing like
that. I need a disguise for myself. A good one.”

Roza examined her.
“Who are you trying to fool?”

“Everyone. I’m going
into the Fractus’s camp, and I can’t be recognized.”

“I can’t disguise
you from a mind as well-trained as Reaper’s. Even some of his generals would
see through any disguise I could manufacture.”

Valerie shifted
uncomfortably. “I’m going whether you help me or not. Without you, I’m pulling
this hoodie over my head and hoping for the best.”

Roza snorted, the
sound completely incongruous with her beautiful face. “Well, I can certainly do
better than that. Come.”

Roza led Valerie
into a chamber off of the main hallway that was covered with mirrors.

Valerie was a little
nervous as Roza examined her. “What will you do? Turn my hair blonde? Or make
me into an animal, maybe?”

Roza chuckled.
“Subtle disguises are the ones that work best. The magic is often overlooked,
even by masters of the craft.”

A gentle hum
surrounded Valerie, and she watched as a touch of silver threaded her hair. The
wrinkles by her eyes and in her brows deepened, and her skin was looser. As a
final touch, Valerie’s light brown eyes darkened until they were nearly black.

She could still
recognize herself inside the disguise, she saw with relief. Her reflection reminded
her of someone, but she couldn’t put her finger on who.

“Now for your
weapon,” Roza said.

Valerie handed over
the daggers she carried, and under Roza’s touch, they dimmed. They weren’t as
perfectly black as the weapons wielded by the Fractus, but they wouldn’t draw
attention, like a weapon forged of light would.

“Will they still
work like this?”

“Not as well. I
worked with Cyrus to see if we could hide the light coming from the weapons,
but altering them in any way corrupts the magic. So if you are attacked today,
you will have little protection.”

“Is this the part
where you tell me not to do this?”

Roza’s lips
twitched. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Commander. At it happens, I have a fondness
for bold moves, and I suspect you could handle yourself with your bare hands
against most enemies.”

“Thank you,” Valerie
said, gesturing to her disguise, but she hoped Roza understood that she was
thanking her for more than that.

Roza shook her hand.
“Whisper your full name when your mission is complete, and the spell will fall
away.”

Valerie
sheathed her daggers “If only all magic could be dismissed so simply.”

Valerie had retained
a handful of sand from the Atacama Desert in a vial that she’d brought with
her, so travel to Chile was simple.

The sight of the
transformed desert took Valerie’s breath away. When she’d fought Reaper there,
she hadn’t had the chance to register the magnitude of the impact the unleashed
flame had on the landscape.

Dunes of glass
stretched for miles, reflecting the relentless sun. Beneath her feet, the glass
was like ice, slippery and smooth.

There were a handful
of tents set up about half a mile from where Valerie stood. In spite of the
heat, part of her was tempted to pull up the hood on her sweatshirt, disguised
or not.

As she approached the
camp, the glass beneath her feet subtly changed color from pale brown to a
bluish hue.

“What’s your
business?”

Valerie snapped her
head toward the voice and saw an enormous bear who was vaguely familiar
standing at the entrance to one of the tents, his black sword held loosely in
his hand.

He approached her,
and Valerie recognized him. He was the Grand Master of the Illuminators’ Guild.

“Reaper sent me for
a status report.”

The bear’s chest
rumbled at her words. He raised his sword, and his ink-dipped weapon tugged at
her magic. “Lies.”

Valerie had less
than a second before the bear charged. She braced herself, her strength rushing
through her body. When he hit her, it was like a bus smashing into a boulder.
She angled her shoulder, and he flew over her back, falling heavily on the
ground behind her.

More Fractus were
emerging from the tent, two with black eyes. The brilliant desert sun dimmed as
the air around her hummed with twisted magic. She threw a dagger at one,
slicing his leg, and had knocked a second unconscious by the time he’d
registered that his comrade had fallen.

The Fractus’s eyes
were on her, assessing her weaknesses. She could stand and fight, but to what
end? There were between thirty and fifty Fractus in the camp. She didn’t want
to find out if she could take them all on by herself.

Valerie turned to
the Grand Master, who was snarling, about to charge her again. “You’re right. I
lied. Reaper didn’t send me, but I am Fractus. I came because I follow no one
blindly. I wanted to see if what he says about this place is true.”

The Fractus glanced
at each other, uncertain, and Valerie searched for words that would reach them.
“Are we human puppets, or are we Conjurors, gifted with magic to wield as we
will?”

The bear stood,
glaring at her as he rubbed his back, but he didn’t attack. “Do you know who
you’re talking to? I am a Grand Master.”

“Illuminators’
Guild,” Valerie said, and the bear stopped bearing his teeth in aggression. “So
I assumed you’d understand.”

“Very well. You will
only see that Reaper’s words are true. We hide no secrets here,” the bear
growled. “But he will hear of your impertinence.”

“That one woman
kicked three of you to the ground? Go ahead, maybe he’ll let me lead a bigger
team,” Valerie said with a forced swagger.

She followed the
bear to a tent that was larger than the others. She stepped inside, and her gut
twisted.

They were in the
spot where the flame had once burned. But instead of its light, there was a pit
that was bubbling with black Carne that had come from the bowels of Plymouth. A
Fractus stood over it, holding a long staff that he occasionally dipped in the
substance.

Valerie kept her
face blank, for the first time thankful for her years in foster care, where
showing any emotions would only be used against her.

“You see? More
arrives every day,” the bear growled.

Valerie nodded,
hoping she looked like she knew what he was talking about. “There’s not as much
as I thought there would be.”

“There is more here than
you realize. The pool is half a mile deep. Any deeper, and we will hit water.
But perhaps you do not believe me and would like to dive in and check for
yourself?”

The bear grinned at
his own joke, and Valerie took an involuntary step back. “So we really are
close to harnessing the power in the glass desert.”

“Soon. After it has
served Reaper’s purpose, we will push this Carne deeper, so it meets the ocean
and can begin to spread all over the world. Then the humans will be safely
under our control, as we planned.”

“For their own
good,” Valerie said, but her stomach roiled.

The bear stared into
the black pool as if he was hypnotized by its darkness. “I, for one, will be
here the day Reaper activates the desert and we begin remaking the world.”

“I’ll be here, too,”
Valerie said.

“You think he’ll let
you, recruit? Because you tossed me over your shoulder once? You have much to
learn.”

“He
won’t have a choice.”

Valerie hadn’t given
the Fractus in the Atacama Desert any warning before she gripped the rock from
her garden in her pocket and left. Her sudden exit would be strange, but she
hoped that they wouldn’t be suspicious enough to report the incident to Reaper.

She saw movement in
her house and slipped out of her garden before anyone called her inside. It
wasn’t time to release her disguise yet, and she didn’t want Thai to see her
looking like she’d aged thirty years in a day.

Instead, she turned
her steps toward Silva, running at first, but slowing as she came closer. She
reminded herself that she was another Fractus supporter going about life as
usual.

But she couldn’t
hide her immediate reaction when she reached The Horseshoe. A handful of the
buildings were rubble, including The Society of Imaginary Friends. Others were
streaked with black, either from lightning cast by the Fractus or the black
substance dredged up from Plymouth.

The Horseshoe was
eerily empty for the middle of the day, except for a few Fractus who were
patrolling the grounds.

Without warning, a
storm of fire ballooned out from the windows of the Weapons Guild, engulfing
two of the Fractus hovering nearby. They were incinerated. A high whistle
filled the air, and Valerie heard thudding footsteps rumbling closer.

Fractus began
charging the Weapons Guild, battering the front door and sending lightning
again and again into the stone walls. There was a rhythm to it, as if the
Fractus had rehearsed. This had happened before.

It dawned on Valerie
that the citizens of Silva were fighting back against the Fractus even now. The
scorched state of The Horseshoe was a testament to the ongoing battles.
Reaper’s hands were fuller than she’d guessed.

Valerie took
advantage of the mayhem to pass through The Horseshoe and head toward the spot
that Willa and Steven had blown open into Plymouth.

The closer she got,
the more Fractus she ran into. At first, she ducked her head, afraid of being
recognized. But everyone was busy with their tasks, and she welcomed the
bustle. Being one face in a crowd was a better disguise than even the one Roza
had given her.

At the edge of the
pit, she peered in and saw that the vast lake of Carne had diminished
significantly. Had it all been sent to the pool in the Atacama Desert, or did
Reaper have other uses for it, as well?

She followed a group
of Fractus down into the pit and saw that many of the tunnels were filled with
workers, both Fractus and Groundlings who had been forced into slavery.

“They’ve found
another well of Carne,” one of the Fractus whispered to a friend.

The woman who had
spoken was one of the Knights who wanted to leave the Fractus to join the Fist
and was remaining only on Valerie’s command. They would finally have a role
fighting for the Fist in the upcoming battle.

The Knight
continued, “We tried to hide its discovery from Reaper, but one of his new
generals found it with us. Don’t think the vivicus would have liked it if we
killed the general and kept this magic from Reaper, but it’s probably what we
should have done.”

Valerie considered
revealing who she was, but decided against drawing attention to herself. And
their opinions weren’t unique among the members of the Fist. The longer the war
raged, the more unreasonable her desire to capture instead of kill enemies
seemed to many.

Valerie caught sight
of Reaper in one of the tunnels, rubbing Carne between his thumb and forefinger
as if he could tell more about its properties by touch.

He turned, and his
gaze froze when it stopped on her. His face went white. Valerie was certain he
recognized her, but he immediately created a portal and stepped through,
cutting off the Fractus who was speaking to him midsentence.

Had she seen Reaper
frightened before? She didn’t think so. But rather than wait to see if he
returned, Valerie scrambled up one of the ladders that led out of the pit and
back into Silva.

She took her first
deep breath when she reached the trees, but it was a breath she took too soon.
Reaper was waiting for her, his hair a little damp. His face had regained its
color, and his old confidence had returned to his posture. Panic flooded through
her so forcefully that she heard a buzzing in her ears. His narrow-eyed gaze
left her with no doubt that he recognized her through her disguise.

Valerie reached for
her daggers, and Reaper let out a snort. “I defeated you when you wielded
Pathos. Will you now try to kill me with those dim little daggers, or can we
talk like grown-ups?”

“I’m surprised you
can see me, given the beating Summer gave you,” Valerie said, hoping to throw
him off balance.

A snarl flashed
across Reaper’s face. “Nothing I couldn’t fix.”

“What do you want?”
Valerie asked, summoning her magic.

Reaper eyed her as
if she was a puzzle piece and he was figuring out where to put her. “What if we
made a deal?”

“No.”

Reaper took a step
closer. “What if you didn’t have to be an orphan any longer?”

Valerie’s mind had
been racing with possibilities, and nervous energy made her jittery. But at
Reaper’s words, she stilled.

Reaper took a step
forward. “Oberon is in the ether, where even I may not call him back. But your
mother lives, in a way.”

Valerie wouldn’t
give him the satisfaction of asking what he meant, but her feet wouldn’t move,
so she could attack or run, either.

“I knew she might be
a useful tool to control you or Henry or Oberon, so I have kept her in stone
these eighteen years. When I saw you, disguised to look older, in Plymouth
today, I thought you were a ghost, or that she’d gotten free. But I checked the
place where I stashed her, and she stands there still. That’s when I knew it
must be you.”

Valerie’s heart
pounded, her elation and horror so mixed together that she had trouble focusing
on anything else. Then she remembered who she was talking to. “No deal.”

“I’m not asking you
to join me. Only that you tell your people that you are stepping down as their
leader, and then you disappear. Surely, you don’t think you’re so important
that the Fist will fall apart without you?”

The chance to live
away from this war with her mother? The dream was so sweet that Valerie’s heart
ached at the thought.

“No.” She’d meant to
shout the word, but it came out a whisper.

“I keep my promises.
If you refuse, I won’t destroy her statue. I will leave her in it forever, so
she is unable to join your father in the ether. There will be no peace for
either of their souls.”

The emotion that crashed
through Valerie reminded her of her vivicus power in its intensity, and the
pain it brought. Her face was numb, frozen, as if her lips refused to speak the
words that would leave her mother buried alive forever. So she shook her head
instead.

Reaper’s face
remained neutral, but Valerie saw the tree near him dissolving, and guessed
that he was angrier than he let on.

She drew her
daggers, ready to fight him, though it seemed cruel that she would die and join
her father while her mother remained entombed in a prison of stone, alone.

Reaper’s lip curled
in distaste. “I will not make a martyr of you today. Run, little vivicus.”

And she
did.

At first Valerie
raced blindly, trees snapping in her face as she crashed through the woods.
Henry was in her mind, trying to sort out what was happening, but her thoughts
were too disheveled to put into any kind of order for him, so she let him know
she was unhurt and then shut him out.

Thai was visiting
his family today, introducing them to Emin, and Valerie was glad. Sometimes, it
seemed that all she had to share was misery, and she’d rather keep it all to
herself.

As her burst of
energy subsided, she made her way back to The Horseshoe, not really caring if
anyone else saw through her disguise. She yearned for a fight. Her steps took
her to the Healers’ Guild, and the doors opened at her touch.

She made her way
down the hall to the little room where Gideon still lay, as distant from her as
the moon. When she opened the door, he was thrashing in his bed. Before she could
call for help, she saw that Nightingale was at his side, pressing wet cloths to
his friend’s forehead.

Nightingale eyed her
warily, and Valerie remembered her disguise.

“It’s Valerie. I’m
wearing a glamour. Are you trying some new kind of magic treatment?”

Nightingale wrung
out a cloth. “It’s water. I’m cooling his fever down. Sometimes, we have no
more tools than humans.”

A cowardly part of
Valerie wanted to turn around and leave, but instead, she made her way to
Gideon’s bed. “What’s happening to him?”

“I don’t have
answers. No one has ever had so much of the dark fairy dust in their system and
survived. But thanks to your vivicus power, he has a fighting chance. And right
now, he’s fighting hard.”

Gideon began
groaning, his head thrashing back and forth.

Valerie smoothed
back the sweaty hair on his forehead. “How long has he been like this?”

“It began two days
ago. I was hopeful, because his pulse was stronger. Your friend Dr. Freeman
came by and suggested some treatments that we tried. But if his fever doesn’t
come down, it will weaken his body, and he will be unable to expel the rest of
the dark dust.”

Valerie leaned down
and whispered in his ear. “I won’t ask you to fight, because I know that you’re
incapable of doing anything else.”

Valerie took over
sponging Gideon’s forehead, and Nightingale quietly slipped out the door.

Valerie gripped
Gideon’s hand. “Something awful happened today. If you knew, you might not
forgive me. I don’t know what the right thing to do is. I need you here to help
me, to lead with me. I was never meant to do this alone.”

Gideon’s eyes
opened, but he didn’t see her. His gaze was searching until it paused on her
face.

“Adelita. My love,
you came back for me,” Gideon said, lifting his head a bit.

Then he fell back on
his pillow, still. Panicked, Valerie searched for his pulse and rested her ear
on his chest. She almost cried when she heard his heart beating strongly. But
when she shook him, he didn’t move.

Valerie called
softly for Nightingale in the hall, and he hurried into the room to check on
Gideon.

“Is he any better?”
she asked him.

“His fever has
broken. I still don’t know if he will wake, but now he has a chance.”