Mine to Fear (26 page)

We don't waste any time meeting together
with the core leaders. Jack is sitting next to me as I look
everyone over. Something about his presence sticks out in my mind
more than I expect. But we need to get this meeting underway.

I ask, “Where should we hit first? The power
plant again? Or Chancellor Stephen's house?”

Serena and Cynthia glance at each other, a
spark in their eyes. But Bethany is the one who surprises me.
“Chancellor Stephen's. He needs to be taken down several notches.
Plus, it will be a more visible attack to the people of Chardonia
than a power plant, which only affects the upper class.”

Inside, I'm cheering for her strength, even
though I'm anxious to save those people.

“
Isn't Chancellor Stephen your
father?” Tawny asks.

“
He is,” Bethany says. “But the only
thing he ever gave us of any use was with my mother's help, and
that is for us to be alive. Everything else he's done, no parent
should ever do to a child.”

I can't help it. I put my arm around
Bethany. “Attacking his house is a definite yes.”

***

Stephen's house looms over us. It's dark and
unprotected, at least as far as spells I can see go.

“
Nathaniel did say that he wouldn't be
home tonight, right?” I ask.

“
Yes,” Bethany replies.

“
But what if he's just sleeping?”
Serena asks.

“
Then we'll face him head on,” Cynthia
says.

“
And we'll do it if we have to,”
Bethany says.

Yet, they all just stand there.

“
Who wants to go first?” I
ask.

No one responds.

“
Maybe I can start, then, by getting
all the servants out of the house.”

“
That'd be a good idea,” Serena
says.

“
Yeah, I can't help with that,”
Cynthia adds.

Soon, all three of them are rounding up
servants. I'm surprised at how the servants react. Instead of
fleeing, the servants are happy to see them. Not just happy,
thrilled.

“
We've missed you so much,” one of the
servants says. “We've been so worried about you.”

When the house is all clear of people,
there's more standing around just staring at the house, only this
time with the servants.

“
Should I start?” I ask, wondering
what it will take to get them going.

“
No, no,” Cynthia says. “We should do
it.”

Still, they stare. The first person to
finally move surprises me. Bethany. She holds up her hand and, with
a burst of red light, crashes through a window pane. Serena follows
by breaking down the door, and then Cynthia knocks out the rest of
the windows. Soon, all three of them are working on the house until
it's up in flames. Even after it's on fire, they shoot more and
more blasting spells at it. They delight in burning down the
house.

After this success, we take down two more
power plants. We rescue several dozens of people, and stop the
production of electricity by not just taking the power source but
destroying the building. We lose a few members who become prisoners
according to Nathaniel, but not nearly as many as we gain.

The Grand Chancellor may be powerful and
have allies, but we have purpose. We are strong and more numerous
than he expects. We will take back what belongs to the people.

Chapter
Forty-Seven

K
atherine's
face is pulled down in a somber expression. Too somber for a girl
who's supposed to be in love and just found a brother who she's
making amends with. I sit on the log next to her, gazing out into
the forest.

“
I'm sorry the people still aren't
treating you better,” I say.

She sighs, heavier than the clouds above us.
“Posh. I mean I wish they would, but that's not the problem.”

“
Is it Jack?”

A smile tickles her lips. “No. I'm glad to
have found him and glad he found you. He's become a much better
person than the one I knew growing up.”

“
Then what is it?”

“
Charles.”

“
Are you two having problems? You
always look so in love when you're together.”

“
We are. That's the problem.” She
sighs again, even heavier than the last. “I so badly want to marry
him. I'm tired of things getting in the way.”

“
Well, why don't you? A wedding may be
just what we need.”

“
Everyone is so consumed with this
war. It doesn't seem right to have a wedding.”

“
Maybe that's exactly why we do need
one.”

That silences her. The somber lines of her
face recede, her face taking on a glow. We sit a minute in silence
when Charles walks out.

“
I think I'll leave you two alone,” I
say.

As I leave, I can't help but sneak a
glance back. Katherine’s face is glowing u
p
at Charles. I think everything is going to be
all right.

***

“
I think we need to go back and rescue
those people from the power plant,” I say.

“
Do you think it's safe after last
time?” Tawny asks.

“
Maybe not, but those people need to
be saved.” I can't get their faces out of my mind.

“
It was hard to leave them behind,”
Jack says.

“
Exactly. We have to go after
them.”

“
What if you're caught?” Bethany says.
“It feels like things are getting more and more dangerous with each
attack you do. I'm not sure we can afford to keep attacking
them.”

“
We haven't been caught yet,” I say.
“I think it's worth the risk.”

“
I tend to agree with Bethany,” Serena
says. “As much as I want to help those people, I fear we're pushing
things too much. The Grand Chancellor is strong.”

She shudders, and it's then that I remember
just how much she's seen the Grand Chancellor up close. Not a lot,
but more than the rest of us. I've only seen him in the distance at
tournaments. I've never actually met the man. But she has. Not just
that, but she's told stories of him sacrificing tarnished right in
front of her.

Her grief when she told me becomes fresh in
my mind. But then, so is the image of those suffering at the power
plant, something she has yet to see for herself. “If you had seen
the way those people suffer at the power plants, I think you would
all agree with me that they need to be saved.”

Serena's lips tighten while Bethany's
eyes go wide. I'm grateful the babies are with Pernilla, even if
they are too young to understand what we're talking about. Just
having them about with this conversation would make me queasy. Or
queasier rather. I'm already feeling sick at the thought of what
the Grand Chancellor's do
ne
.

“
Is it really that bad?” Serena asks,
voice small.

“
It's one of the worst things I've
ever seen in my life,” I say.

“
The only thing worse,” Cynthia adds,
“was the sacrifice at the tourname
nt
.”

Bethany says, “Maybe we should try. I'm just
nervous for everyone's safety.”

“
It's something I've considered as
well.” More than I want to. There are too many people here that
rely on us. “But I think it's worth the risk.”

“
It's worth a try,” Theodore
says.

“
Agreed,” Jack says. “We're stronger
now, and those people need us.”

“
I think we should,” Serena says. “As
long as precautions are taken.”

“
Can we leave tomorrow?” I
say.

“
The sooner, the better,” Cynthia
says. “And this time, we'll all be prepared.”

D
usk is just
brushing the sky when we look on the building. It looks so innocent
from the outside. Nothing to hint at the atrocities going on in the
inside. Th
is
time, there
won't be any failure. I won't allow it.

“
Let's move,” I say.

Cynthia goes first. As much as I'd like to
lead, it only makes sense to have the strongest of us take the
front. Jack and I follow close behind with an even larger group
behind us. There are about fifty of us, more than we've ever taken
on a raid, but stealth is no longer an option. We will win
this.

“
There's someone on the side of the
building,” Theodore says from behind me.

“
Cynthia?”

“
I see him.” A burst of purple light
shoots from her to the right side of the building.

Then there's nothing.

“
Did you get him?” I ask.

“
I think so.”

“
We need to be sure.”

“
Stay here.” She runs forward toward
the side of the building, Lukas darting after her. Despite her
strength, he must not want her out of his sight. After our near
capture the last time we were here, I don't blame him.

Only a short minute later, they both return.
Cynthia says, “He's out.”

I point toward the door, and we move out
again. I wish we could just blast off the front of the building
like we did the law office so long ago. With this many people, it'd
be a breeze. But with the prisoners in there, we can't risk it.

As soon as we get to the door, we don't
bother knocking. Lukas opens it, quickly moving out of the way
while Cynthia stands at the ready, hands up. She blasts the warlock
standing guard with another purple spell. He falls to the ground
with a thunk.

Another warlock quickly takes his place. I
beat Cynthia to hexing him to the ground. My skills have improved
since our last encounter. He falls to the ground on top of the
other warlock who is out cold, and my magic is still near full
strength.

When no one else comes out, half of us pile
in the building, the other half waiting outside to protect our
backs. We meet five more warlocks in the hall, of which we take
turns knocking out. I'm beginning to think we can do this when we
make it to the main room.

The room is filled with not only the
prisoners we meet before, but it's packed with warlocks, all of
whom are surrounded by a bright yellow shield spell. I motion to
those still in the hall to keep coming in. We're going to need all
the firepower we can get.

“
Give up now,” one of the opposing
warlocks says. “You can't win.”

“
On the contrary.” I picture a
sledgehammer coming down on their shield with more than enough
force to break it and burst that image out in a gray spell speckled
with green. It smashes against the shield, cracking it.

Others around me immediately follow suit,
throwing spells at it to break it. Outwardly, I'm yelling praises
and throwing more spells, but the shield is strong. And after we
get through, if we get through, there are still the warlocks to
contend with. What have we gotten ourselves into?

The opposing warlocks shoot spells at us,
coming almost as fast as we're trying to take down their shield to
reach them. My fingers go numb as I try to put a shield spell up in
front of us. Too late. An orange spell zips through. I turn just in
time to see it hit Theodore in the shoulder.

He collapses to the ground. I dive after
him, readying to heal him if he is hurt bad enough. As I crouch
beside him he says, “I'm fine.”

Ignoring him, I brush aside his hand to see
his charred shoulder beneath. The damage is severe, but something I
can at least help with. I picture the skin's healing quickened,
turning from a char to a pink to undamaged skin. The spell eases
out in a soft red, straight for his shoulder. As it pours over his
shoulder, I glance around to see if anyone else has fallen. No one.
Even better, I find a way for the battle to lean in our favor.

Their shield doesn't go all the way to the
ground.

“
Are you well now?” I ask
Theodore.

“
Yes.”

One less person to worry about. I want to
grab Cynthia. She’s the most powerful, but that also means she'd be
the most noticeable loss. Instead I motion to Bethany, Jack, and a
warlock whose name I don't know but has small ears. They crouch
down beside me.

“
There's a weak spot,” I say, pointing
to the feet of our opponents, hope rising in me for the first time
since we entered this room. “Attack there.”

As one, we turn and shoot a rainbow of
lights at our attackers. Screams fill the room. Their shield spell
dims before going out entirely. Soon, it's an even fight. At least
enough that we can work our way into the room.

As I go toward the closest prisoner, Jack
yells, “Be careful.”

“
You too.”

I slam a hex into the last warlock between
the prisoner and me. The warlock falls to the ground, completely
asleep. I jump over him, put a shield at my back, and work on the
woman's lock. It's not complicated to pick with magic. The
complicated part is her condition. As soon as I unlock her, she
falls, slumping against me. There's little energy left in her, even
less than any of the other prisoners we've encountered.

At this rate, we're going to have to kill or
knock out all these warlocks before we can rescue the people.
Though the woman is light from her time of torture, the weight is
heavy on me. I promised I would come back and save them. I can't go
back on that. I can't leave them here a second time.