Fracture (The Machinists) (30 page)

Lukas, no longer bound by Allyn’s electric lasso and visibly weak from creating his wall of fire, was on his feet, teetering at the edge of the road. He looked down the steep hillside, weighing his options. Something shot into the air across the valley. Bright and orange, it looked like a flare.

Jaxon rushed forward suddenly. Lukas disappeared off the road.

Rushing to the side of the road, Allyn and Jaxon peered down. It was dark enough that they couldn’t see the bottom, so Jaxon dropped a weak fireball from the edge. It hit the ground, briefly illuminating the bottom of the valley before being doused by the wet ground.

Lukas was gone.

Jaxon breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you,” Allyn said.

“Don’t thank me,” Jaxon said, looking out over the valley. “It isn’t over. Lukas has taken the manor.”

Jaxon hadn’t sighed in relief, Allyn realized. He’d sighed in despair.

Chapter 22

G
unshots split the night. Not distant, over the valley like before, these were closer, outside the manor. Liam crept forward, staying low to the ground. Officers had searched the forest, sticking mostly near the tree line, scared to venture too far inside. They had flashlights and floodlights capable of illuminating large portions of the forest, but the light also made shadows. The officers were so focused on what they
could
see that they didn’t think about what they
couldn’t
. They’d passed by, sometimes mere feet from Liam, never seeing him. The forest was quiet now, the officers having long since returned to the manor empty-handed.

As the night had worn on, the police presence had thinned. Allyn was in custody, his father had been arrested, and they’d taken Kendyl. The manor was empty since the magi had fled just before the front doors came down. When they didn’t find anyone else, the police had finished their business inside and left.

Liam walked through a spider web. Its fine, sticky threads tickled his nose and lips.
No spiders,
he told himself, wiping the web off his face.
There aren’t any spiders
. He fought the urge to brush his shirt and run his fingers through his hair again.
I hate the forest. It’s so… dirty. It even smells dirty.

Nearing the tree line, where the manor was visible beyond the foliage, Liam dropped to all fours. The manor was so dark, quiet—and dead. Seeing it so lifeless was eerie. Only a single squad car remained to protect the crime scene. A husky officer bent over its hood, pointing his gun at the tree line.

A fireball shot out from Liam’s right. The officer dove for cover, narrowly avoiding being torched as the fireball exploded against the hood of his squad car. His cry of pain and confusion was quickly replaced by the sound of gunshots being fired blindly into the forest.

Bullets whistled through the air, catching dead limbs and embedding into trees but never finding a human target. When the clip was empty, a mass of magi rushed out of the forest, storming the grounds. The officer was quickly dispatched with an ice blast to the neck as magi ran past, climbing the stairs and darting into the manor. Darian Hyland stopped atop the landing, turning to overlook the grounds.

Like he wants to be seen
, Liam thought, slowly creeping back into the forest, unsure of whether Darian could see him.
Probably not
. But his steady, confident gaze unnerved him.

Darian shot a fireball into the air. It burned brightly in the darkness, a flare that would be visible for miles as it reflected through the thin clouds. Darian turned and strode into the manor, closing the door behind him.

Liam pulled his phone out of his pocket, shielding the LED screen with his hand so that it didn’t expose his position. He sent out a one-word text message to every member of the McCollum Family with a phone.
Homestead
. Anyone who received it would know where to find him. It was a risk. Someone might have left a phone inside the manor, or in his father’s case, the police might have collected it, but it was a risk he needed to take.

He meant to retake the manor.

Nestled deep within the forest, the homestead was nothing more than a crumbling foundation that stood three or four feet above the ground. The dwelling had been small—only one room with a single door that was currently recognizable only as a rectangle cut out of the foundation. A chilly wind whined through the naked branches as Liam approached. It had taken him nearly an hour to arrive at the heart of the forest.

What do I do if nobody comes?
Liam shivered at the thought. Somebody would come.
Won’t they?
He sat down in the corner of the homestead, the rough porous foundation against his back, and pulled out his phone. He smiled as he toggled up the security cameras. His network was still up. That meant he had an element of control.

Liam drew his knees close to his chest. The night was cold, and while his clothing was flame resistant, it wasn’t particularly warm, and the ground was soggy from an afternoon of rain. Teeth chattering, Liam set his phone on a broken piece of foundation and rested his forehead on his knees, fighting to keep his eyes open. It was late, closer to dawn than dusk, and this was the first time he hadn’t been running or hunted for hours. Fatigue had finally caught up with him.

I can close my eyes
, Liam thought,
just for a second.
Just… for… a…
Sleep washed over him.

A branch snapped in the distance.

Liam’s eyes popped open. “Who’s there?” He stood, his muscles aching, his left arm asleep, preparing to wield.
Wield what?
He still didn’t know what he was capable of, and deep in the forest, he was far away from a computer.

I hate the forest
.

Straining his ears, he thought he heard something in the distance—voices or whispers. Maybe it was the forest playing tricks on him again. That shadow over there looked like a man. It moved. It
was
a man! “Stop!” Liam commanded.

“Liam?” The deep voice was powerful if slightly strained, and it came from that towering shadow.

“Jaxon?”

The forest came alive with activity as several people stepped forward: Jaxon, Leira, Allyn, and the group that Jaxon had led away. Jaxon strode directly toward him, then picked him up and… gave him a hug. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” Liam’s voice was strained from being squeezed so tightly. What had gotten into him? Jaxon let him go, and Allyn stepped forward, tousling his hair and smiling at him as Leira reached out to probe him. She could have just asked if he was okay.

“This was smart, Liam,” Jaxon said. “Only those of us who live here would know of this place.”

“Or anyone who has lived here,” Leira said, clearly implying that Lukas might also recognize the code.

“A risk I would have taken, as well,” Jaxon said.

Liam swelled with pride. “They’ve taken the manor.”

“How many?”

“Twenty? Thirty?” Liam said. “It was hard to tell.”

Jaxon winced. “That’s more than I hoped.”

“It’s Darian,” Liam said.

“And Lukas.”

Liam gave him a puzzled look.

“You didn’t see Lukas?” Jaxon asked.

“No.”

“He’s there,” Jaxon said, turning to Allyn. “This was his plan all along. Have the police divide us and take us into custody so he could take us one by one.”

Liam scanned the group. It was everyone Jaxon had left with, save for Allyn—where had they found him? Hadn’t he been taken into custody? His father wasn’t among them. Neither was Kendyl, Nyla, or anyone who’d fled into the forest. “Where’s my father?”

“We don’t know,” Allyn said. “Lukas was waiting for me. He ambushed us on the road and killed the officer who had me in custody. It looks like they tried to do the same with your father, only Lukas’s magi is dead, and your father is missing. He’s alive. Somewhere.”

“He’ll be here,” Liam said, surprised by the assuredness of his voice. He didn’t
feel
that confident.

Jaxon nodded.

“Did you see if Darian had my sister?” Allyn asked.

Liam shook his head. For someone who had stayed behind to watch the manor, he wasn’t able to answer very many questions.

“You said Graeme promised to protect her,” Leira said. “If Graeme is safe, then so is Kendyl. He’ll bring her.”

Allyn didn’t appear entirely convinced, but he didn’t argue.

“We need to take back the manor,” Liam said.

“They have thirty magi inside a building we spent two days fortifying,” Jaxon said. “We don’t have the firepower.”

“More will come.”

Jaxon looked at him skeptically.

“Everything we have is inside that house.
Everything
. I haven’t spent the last three
years preserving our history so we could hand it over to Lukas.”

“The police will be back, too,” Allyn said. “As soon as they realize their officers are missing.”

“How long do we have?” Jaxon asked.

“A couple hours,” Allyn said. “Three, four at most. And when they come back, they won’t leave again. We’ve either lost the manor to Lukas or the police. Take your pick.”

“We need to try and salvage as much as possible,” Liam said. “To do that, we need to get Lukas out.”

“We won’t have a lot of time.”

“It will be enough,” Liam said. “It has to be.”

“What makes you so sure?” Jaxon asked.

“They don’t know we have this.” Liam pulled up the security cameras on his phone. “Knowledge is power. We know where they are and where they’re the weakest. If we hit them right, they won’t know we only have twenty. It will feel like fifty.”

“What else can you do with that?” Allyn asked.

“As long as they don’t disable the network, I can do almost anything. Cut off power, lock mechanical doors like the one in the library, and create general havoc.” Liam smiled wickedly.

“You can do all of that with a phone?” Jaxon asked skeptically.

“He doesn’t know…” Allyn said. Jaxon had left before he and Liam had made their discovery. He didn’t know about the machinists.

“There isn’t time,” Liam said. “Yes, I can do all of that with a phone. We have a distinct advantage. The only question is, do you want to use it?”

Jaxon took a sharp breath. “What do you need?”

Graeme arrived with Kendyl a short time later. His arm was slung over her shoulder as he used her for support. Dried blood matted his hair, burns and scrapes covered his arms and face, and he walked with a noticeable limp, but Kendyl was unharmed except for a tear in the back of her compression armor. Graeme had obviously gone to great lengths, including personal harm, to protect her.

Relief flooded through Allyn as he saw her. He hadn’t realized how worried he had been. She staggered forward, likely exhausted from having to support Graeme through the forest, and tripped over an exposed root, sending them both crashing into the homestead’s foundation.

Allyn rushed to help them up. And that’s when he saw the others.

A group of almost fifteen magi were close in tow. Unlike Graeme and Kendyl, they appeared entirely uninjured, though tired and disheveled, after having to run frantically out the back door when the police arrived. It was no wonder Graeme was late to arrive—he’d spent half the night rounding up the splintered magi.

“Thank you,” Kendyl said with a wince as Allyn helped her up.

“Are you okay?”

Kendyl nodded. “They were waiting for us. It was an ambush.”

“I know,” Allyn said. “They came after me, too.”

“Where is Lukas now?” Graeme asked.

“He’s holed up in the manor with Hyland and perhaps thirty others.”

Graeme cursed. “What’s your plan?”

Jaxon turned to Liam. If Graeme was surprised that Jaxon had deferred to the boy, he masked it well.

“It just got a little easier with you showing up,” Liam said. “But our plan is to create a diversion at the front entrance and sneak our magi in through the second-floor terrace. From there, we’ll break into three assault squads, flanking them from multiple positions.”

“After that,” Jaxon said, “it’s as simple as mop up.”

“What kind of diversion?” Graeme asked.

Allyn smiled. “A big one.”