The man lunges at me. Unluckily for him, quick, impulsive magic is what I’m best at. I react on instinct, throwing out a blast of magic that sends him flying backward. He crashes into the wall with a heavy thud, sliding to the floor with a groan. Lukas’s mother’s composed facade cracks, her eyes widening in alarm.
“Get out of my way.” I snarl, stepping over the man.
“I’ll find him myself.” I mutter. I shove past Lukas’s mother, ignoring her muttered incantation as I march down the hallway. Her voice grows quieter as I put distance between us, her spell doesn’t sound quick, but I can only hope whatever spell she’s cooking up isn’t one that will catch me too off guard. I find myself in the living room. It’s just as put together as the rest of the house, but I barely notice. Two men are here. One about my age, who jumps to his feet the moment he sees me, and an older man who remains seated, his eyes distant and unfocused. The resemblance is striking. This HAS to be Lukas’s father. They look the same, this guy is just older. It’s obvious which parent Lukas takes after. It’s odd that he isn’t reacting. I’m not sure he’s all there. Dementia maybe? Lukas hasn’t said anything about that, but then again I don’t actually know all that much about his life. Either way, I’m fairly sure this man is someone I should feel sorry for. He isn’t a threat to me.
“You’re here for Lukas?” The younger man whispers, his tone cautious. He sounds familiar. This must be who was arguing earlier. I nod, not dropping my hands. He glances nervously at the older man, who still doesn’t even react to my presence, then back at me. After a moment’s hesitation, he gives a slow nod.
“The basement.” He whispers, looking frightened. I lower my hands slightly, my magic still humming just beneath the surface. He doesn’t look like he’s going to interfere. Neither of them do.
“Good choice, which way?” I demand. He points to another door to my right.
“Through the kitchen.” He whispers, watching the doorway anxiously. Obviously worried one of the other two is about to come after me. He’s not wrong. I need to hurry up.
Lukas’s mother comes storming into the room, her face twisted in fury. I don’t give her a chance to speak. Without hesitation, I hurl another surge of magic her way. She screams, faltering as the blast sends her stumbling back into the hallway. I don’t stop to check the damage. I just keep moving. I slam the door shut behind me as I move further into the house. I find myself in a large, immaculate kitchen, all marble countertops and gleaming appliances. It’s the kind of space you’d see in a cooking show. My attention locks onto the next door, the one that better lead to the basement. I reach for the handle, but it’s locked. Of course it’s locked.
“Fine.” I mutter under my breath, raising my hand. My magic answers before I can even fully form the thought, blasting the door clean off its hinges. I’ve come this far, no point worrying about property damage now. Voices drift up from the basement. More people. Fantastic. My grip tightens on the railing as I start descending the stairs cautiously. This is not the time to trip and fall on my face. I can feel my pulse hammering in my ears. People who want to hurt me above, people who probably want to hurt me below. This is about as bad a situation as I could imagine. I’m an absolute idiot for doing this. But here I am regardless. The stairwell is narrow and dimly lit, the air cool and it smells damp down here. This here is nightmare material, but I refuse to let fear stop me now. I’m too far in. I’ve thrown caution, and subtlety, out the window. Besides, it doesn’t seem like Lukas’s family have much in the way of aggressive or defensive magic. Which makes sense, his magic is mental, theirs very well could be too. Still, it’s surprising that I’ve managed so much magic. Back when I lived with my parents and they made me practice, I could never have managed all of this. Maybe it’s because I HAVEN’T been practicing. I’ve kind of… Saved it up? I’m probably going to be exhausted after this, dead tired. Actually, I’m kind of tired now. My eyelids droop as I take another couple steps, my feet dragging. My hand brushes the wall to steady myself as I prepare to take the last few steps… This isn’t right. I pause, clutching the railing. My magic is still burning inside me, I can feel it. If I’m so worn out that I can barely stay awake, how do I still have this much magic left?
Something is wrong. My instincts scream at me to stop, to figure out what’s happening to me before I push myself any further, to stop and take a break, close my eyes for a minute. But I can’t. Not yet. Not when Lukas might be just behind the next door. I force my feet to move forward, creeping towards the voices. I have to get Lukas. And I have to do it now. I stumble down the last few steps, nearly falling on my face. I take a deep breath, trying to fight off my drowsiness, then blast through the door.
I find Lukas tied to a chair. A man either side of him. The same two cousins from the car park. Ron and the guy whose name I never bothered to learn. Ron immediately freezes, he’s clearly the more nervous of the two. The other guy just stares at me with a creepy amount of focus. Another wave of exhaustion comes over me and I narrow my eyes. It has to be him doing this.
“Clare?” Lukas sounds somewhere between surprised and relieved.
“Obviously.” I say sarcastically. Then I flick my hand towards the unnamed cousin and knock him against the wall. He falls to the floor unconscious and my tiredness fades, although not completely. At least a little bit of it was real. Shit. I probably only have a little bit left in me. I turn to Ron but he just takes a step back, his hands up in the air defensively.
“This was not my idea.” He insists. I roll my eyes.
“Untie Lukas. Now.” I order. He nods and rushes to comply. Lukas gets to his feet stiffly and glances down at his unconscious cousin.
“I take it you couldn’t find some compromise with my family?” He asks, but it’s obviously a joke. I huff out a laugh.
“Don’t argue with idiots. They’ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.” I say primly. Lukas grabs my hand and we both start back towards the stairs.
“Let me go first. They need me alive.” He comments, his voice is neutral but I seriously doubt that’s how he feels. I don’t really want to agree, but he isn’t wrong. We rush up the stairs and once again his mother is waiting for us. She blasts magic but yanks her hands back when she sees it’s Lukas standing there, not me. It hits the ceiling and a light fitting catches fire in a crackle of electricity. Yeah, I don’t want to get hit by that. She glares and starts muttering again. Thank goodness for her terribly slow casting. Lukas glares at her.
“Where’s father?” He demands. Huh? Why is he looking for his dad? We need to get out of here! She doesn’t answer and I tug on Lukas’s arm, picturing the guy in the living room. He nods at me and leads me through the house, back the way I came. His father and the other guy are still where I left them. Lukas eyes the man suspiciously.
*He helped me find you.* I comment mentally. Lukas moves past him to his father. He releases my hand and gently places a hand on his father’s shoulder. The older man looks up at him, but gives little response other than that. Lukas’s face falls, then he stiffens up and turns back to me.
“We can go now.” He says firmly and I sigh in relief. It’s about damn time.