Chapter 12

I couldn’t move. It felt like a heavy weight was sitting in my stomach and on my chest preventing me from ever walking again. I totally made the wrong call. So stupid! I never should have had those last two pieces of chicken.

“Ugh. Why did I eat so much?” I whined at no one in particular as I rocked back and forth in my chair holding my distended belly.

“Yeah, you really pigged out,” Jill grinned at me as she shoveled back another heaping of mac n cheese. “You practically inhaled that food.”

“Shut up,” I snapped. “Don’t judge me.”

“You asked.”

“It was a rhetorical question, okay? You weren’t supposed to answer it.”

Jill shrugged and scooped more pasta in her mouth. It hurt my stomach just to watch her, so I turned away and focused on Madds and Starke instead.

The old guy was working on Zoe’s collar and explaining to Starke step by step on how to remove one without setting off the lasers and frying Zoe where she stood. Apparently, the collars were magic inhibitors, worn by all prisoners with magical abilities. The Preservers imprisoned and collared the supernaturals here. Like they would a dog to keep it from escaping the yard. We were no more than dogs to them. Property. The thought didn’t sit well with me.

I watched as Madds wielded the tool that bore a resemblance to a fancified screwdriver, and worked his way around the collar, disengaging parts of it at a time so it no longer glowed. Once all the light had been extinguished, the collar clicked and Madds removed it carefully from Zoe’s neck. The girl rubbed her bruised throat in appreciation.

“Thanks, Madds,” she threw a rare smile that transformed her face, before making her way to the food. Or what was left of it. I ignored her grumbling at the lack of leftovers.

I rubbed my belly again and tried to keep my eyes pried open. I was falling asleep in this stupid chair.

“Question,” I threw at Madds, trying to keep myself awake. “If magic is outlawed here, why do you want it? What good is it to you if you can’t use it?”

The old man beamed my way. “Oh, on the contrary, magic is the ultimate currency here. Its use is prohibited to the common folk, like us, yes. Use magic and suffer the consequences. But if you are a member of this world’s elite, magic is the ultimate prize. The elite will pay anything to get their hands on magic. The black market here is saturated with it in all shapes and forms. Vials of magic, magic infused items, magic infused foods. Even supernaturals themselves.”

Starke blinked at Madds like he didn’t quite hear him right. “Supernaturals? Are you saying you can actually buy a magical being? People are sold here?”

Zoe threw the chicken she was eating down in disgust. “Yeah, they sell people. Men, women, children. The elite don’t give a damn who you are or how many families they rip apart. If you slip up and let your magic be known, a week later you show up on the black market and end up as a power source in some rich asshole’s home.”

I swallowed my revulsion. “But that Preserver at the lake. She called me a witch and said I would be executed along with the rest.”

“Yeah, they do a few public executions a year. Those supernaturals who cause trouble. It keeps the flocks in line. But trust me, most are sold as stock and used as slaves.”

My mouth shut with a snap. I really didn’t know what to say to that as my heart sank at her words. This world was even more horrible than I believed. And the world before that. And the one before that. Not a good track record. Just exactly why were we fighting to save those worlds?

“What about you, then?” I blinked in confusion. “Why were you risking being at the lake today. How did you get caught?”

A look passed between Zoe and Madds. He nodded slightly like he was giving her permission to speak.

“I was working.”

“Working?” I echoed. “At what.”

“I’m a carrier for Madds. I smuggle magic out of the city. The field past the lake is my usual drop off point. Madds’ people take it from there and get it to the rebels in the free zone that need it. Only today the Preservers showed up since some stupid assholes used magic to jump right in the middle of my drop off point and alert them.”

Jill leaned my way. “I think she means us. We’re the assholes—”

“Yeah I get that, Jill,” I snapped.

“The Preservers tracked your magic and found me,” Zoe growled, obviously not done blaming us yet.

“Okay, point taken. We got you arrested,” I shook my head at her. “But we also saved your butt.”

“And got me put on the fugitive list. I’ll have a target painted on my back wherever I go now.”

“Why haven’t they fought back?” Starke asked, interrupting our arguing and trying to get us back on track. “The mages and witches and warlocks. Surely banded together they are powerful enough to take control. No magical beings I know would stand for this.”

Madds sighed as he slowly made his way to a chair and sank down. “They have tried. There are rebels in the free zone that were quite the threat at one time. May have even succeeded if their magic hadn’t disappeared. It is rare to find a powerful witch or warlock on this world anymore. Magic is disappearing. No one knows why. With magic so weak now, people like you, like Z, you would fetch a high price indeed.”

I didn’t like where this conversation was going, and I still didn’t trust the snake oil salesman vibe he projected.

“It’s because of the prism,” I stated, and the old man’s gaze flickered to me. “Magic is disappearing because the prism is slowing down. It needs the elementals to bring back essence. That’s why we came here, to get the girl. She is an elemental like us, and we need her to help restart the prism.”

“The girl has a name,” Zoe glared at me from across the room. “And would like to be asked instead of ordered around to do something.”

Starke sent a disarming smile her way. “Of course, air elemental. Forgive us. We do not order you. But you must realize it is your destiny to fulfill the prism’s command, as it is with all of us.”

Zoe’s harsh ha echoed about the room.

“The prism’s command or your mother’s? You think I don’t know why you’re here?” She glared at Starke with all the hatred she could muster. “To collect me and bring me back to her. To the Fae queen who killed my parents.”

“It’s not like that, Zoe,” Jill jumped in. “Starke is nothing like his mother. He’s fighting against his mother, trying to reunite and save us before she can get the prism up and running again. If she manages to do that, then she will invade every planet in the multiverse. If you think it’s bad here now, wait until the crazy queen and her plan for a master Fae race hits here. Your whole planet will be annihilated.”

“Why should I trust anything that comes out of your mouths?” She crossed her arms and glowered. “That’s exactly what someone would say if they wanted to convince me they were on my side. I told you I remembered Asha explicitly. I know exactly what she is capable of.”

“That can go both ways,” Starke responded with a tiny smirk. “Obviously Madds here makes a good living from selling magic on the black market. And I take it you are his partner in crime? How do we know you aren’t conspiring to sell us to the highest bidder?”

Zoe leaped across the room and pointed a finger in Starke’s face, the veins pulsing angrily in her neck.

“How dare you? Madds and I have lost everyone we ever loved to this miserable world and its endless thirst for magic. Just like I lost my parents to your mother. I don’t trust you one little bit.”

Out of the blue Starke grabbed Zoe’s wrist. She startled before fighting back, trying to pull away from his grip.

“We are in this together, sister.” His eyes blazed a brilliant green of intensity. “Feel it. Open your mind. Let go of your hatred and anger and know the truth.”

Zoe struggled a bit more, but like he had done with me, he wormed his way into her head. I watched her descend from fiery defiance to confusion as her resistance ebbed away. She began shaking her head, mumbling a quiet ‘no’ as the truth of what Starke was making her feel became obvious.

“Stop your lies,” she yelled as she pulled away from him, tears filling her eyes. Starke didn’t try to stop her as she ran from the room.

Jill stepped forward; concern etched in her pale face. “Geez Starke, what did you do to her? Maybe we should go after her?”

Madds shook his head. “Let her be. She is tough. She will be just fine. She will come around. Just give her time to digest all the truth you have delivered to her.”

“And you?” Starke asked, studying the old man looking totally unassuming in his plush green chair. “The girl I know we can trust. She is an elemental. But how do we know we can trust you to help us?”

Madds grinned his toothless smile, as if Starke had amused him to no end. “You simply do not. I have made a vast fortune from my dealings over the years. I enjoy my fine position in life. The Preservers leave me be since I provide them with what they need. But I like that kid. She reminds me of my daughter.” His smile dropped as he stared at Starke. “My daughter was one of those witches who caused trouble.”

The past tense did not go unnoticed, nor the reference to Zoe’s earlier words. The old guy had suffered loss, just like the rest of us.

“How do you know of Endova?” I asked him, and he looked at me with almost gratitude for changing the subject.

“From Z. She has told me everything, down to who you three are.”

“She also said we couldn’t jump from here. Why not?”

“The city and surrounding areas are warded. The city is banded by the Preservers. You would never be able to do unauthorized magic as large as a jump. You wouldn’t be able to pull enough power. Zoe was correct when she said you wouldn’t be able to jump from here. But from the free zone you can.”

“What is the free zone?” Jill asked, and a shadow crossed the old man’s face. It was gone as quickly as it appeared.

“A part of this world outside the city where life shouldn’t exist, yet people choose it over living under the Preservers rule. Founded by mages of old, it is a place where nothing grows now but disease and despair. The little magic they have left is used to stay alive. Nothing left to fight the fight. But given a choice to be a power source for an elite or to live freely until your dying day, the choice is easy.”

“Do you know how to get there, Madds?”

He threw his head back and cackled at Jill’s question.“I know everything there is to know about this world, my dear. Not only do I know how to get there, I can get you there. For a small price of course.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course. We wouldn’t want you to help and try to save your world out of the goodness of your heart, now would we?”

He pointed a gnarled finger at me. “I like you, girl. You tell it as it is. You have fire, same as Z and my daughter. Your magic will go for a high price.”

“Yeah, that’s not really a compliment, just to let you know.”

“How do we get there?” Starke was all business again now.

“Not easily. We first have to smuggle you out of the city through the supply convoy. Then you have to get past the city guards at the borders and through the Night Forest. The ward is said to end past the Night Forest, but magic is unreliable there. It would be safer for all if my people transport you to the free zone.”

“And all the while doing it on one leg and rubbing our bellies and head at the same time?”

Three sets of dumbfounded eyes landed on me. “Come on, guys? You don’t find that over the top at all?” I lowered my voice and spoke in a theatrical tone. “First we have to smuggle you out of the city through the supply convoy, get you past the city guards and into the Night Forest. Seriously, what do the people in these worlds have against trains or busses? Why’s it gotta be some melodramatic Game of Thrones shit?”

Starke looked away from me, ignoring my rant, his attention back on Madds. “How quickly can you get us out of the city?”

“I need a few hours to get things set up. Possibly tomorrow night at the earliest.” Madds lifted a shoulder. “Soon enough?”

“Agreed. Do it.”

“Splendid. You shall be my guests until then. Mi casa su casa. We will go over the map of the Night Forest tonight, so you don’t get lost. It can be a bit of a maze.”

“No need. I know my way. I can get us through.”

I hadn’t even heard Zoe come back into the room. Her eyes were red rimmed from her crying but that was the only sign of weakness on her now steel etched face.

“You trust in us then?” I asked.

Her hazel eyes met mine with pure honesty. “I believe in what you are trying to do. Asha must be stopped at all costs for the better of the multiverse. If we can restart the prism then the supernaturals of this world can maybe gather enough power to take back control and we can live as free people. So what I do, I do for them. This world. Trusting in you matters not.”

Well, I wasn’t hearing a no. Good start.

“Wonderful.” Madds clapped his hands, his eyes sparkling in excitement. “Now only one little matter to take care of. About that payment…”