Chapter 10
Sienna ran toward Nathaniel, oblivious to his injuries as Desmond disconnected the chains. His feet touched the ground, and his knees buckled, but he managed to right himself as Sienna threw her arms around him.
“You all right?” Desmond asked gruffly.
Nathaniel snorted. “Oh yeah, fine,” he said, as Sienna squeezed him. “Little one, it's all right,” he said in alarm at her sudden rush of emotions. “I'm fine. We're together.”
“But you could have not been!” she cried. “You could have been gone.”
“I'm not,” Nathaniel blocked out the rest of the world to look her in the eye. Desmond was impressed with his focus through his injuries. He could feel Nathaniel's heart rate was skyrocketing, but his former Tiro's every thought was calming his own Tiro. “I'm here.”
“Wow,” Sybil said softly, standing beside Desmond. He knew exactly what she was referring to.
“She's never been apart from him,” he answered. “Especially not like this.”
Sybil smiled. “Well, it's nice to see, at last.” She raised her voice. “Are you all right, oh classmate of mine in constant messes?”
“I'm fine,” Nathaniel finally answered, displaying more strength as he tried to straighten up.
“What happened?” Desmond asked, and Nathaniel shook his head.
“I don't even know. One moment, I was making my way through the streets and the next, it was blackness.”
“Magical?” Desmond asked, and Nathaniel shook his head.
“I don't know. I think it was chemical, so someone should probably run my blood. But when I woke up here, all they could talk about was….” He didn't need to finish the thought.
“Why do they want me?” Sienna filled in for him, still unwilling to leave his side. “What did I do?”
“It's not what you did,” Desmond tried to assure her. “It's what you can do.”
She glanced to the floor. “I can't do anything,” she said. “Not well.”
“You are capable of so much more,” Desmond reminded her. “And it's not a surprise that more than just the Academy knows about you.”
“We should tag their bodies,” Sybil said. “Bring them back. I can ask around on the streets to see if anyone knows them.”
“This isn't Reynolds' work?” Kierry spoke up.
“No,” Sybil was quick to recognize that. “It certainly is not. These aliens…I've never seen them around. I suspect there's another force at work here, one that we don't recognize yet.”
“Wait!” Devon, ever observant, neared them. He recognized a symbol tattooed on their arms, all of the marks identical on their right shoulders. “Look, Laura.”
She tore her eyes away from Nathaniel long enough to glance at her Tiro. Her eyes narrowed. “That's Black Caesar's mark.”
“What?” Sybil went over right away. Nathaniel wavered, and Sienna gasped. Desmond moved forward, wrapping his arm around his former Tiro's waist.
“Fine, eh?”
“Black Caesar is dead,” Nathaniel said, his voice cracking. He cleared it, watching intently. “There's no way people still work for him. That was one-hundred years ago.”
“And yet, that is his mark,” Devon crouched by one of their bodies. “Without a doubt. We learned about it a few years ago. Kierry, you should have just taken that course?”
“Oh yeah,” Kierry replied as she looked closer.
“Who’s Black Caesar?” Sienna asked, a stark reminder of the school she wasn't attending.
“He's a bounty hunter,” Desmond spoke up. “One of the most famous, and the most...interesting. He believed that witches were the scum of the universe and that he was cleaning up the planet by getting rid of them, starting with the most powerful. He was funded by groups who believed similar things.”
“They killed witches just for the sake of it?”
“Because they had beliefs of a universe that is obviously very different from ours,” Desmond reminded her, forever trying to teach her a world without evil. “But he is most certainly dead. And Reynolds' beliefs are very different from Black Caesar's, so I don't think for a moment that they would be working together, if Black Caesar was even alive.”
“Well, things just got more complicated,” Sybil answered. “Come on, Nathaniel. Let's get you some help.”
“Uh huh,” Nathaniel said, and Desmond raised his eyebrow.
“I may carry Sienna here and again, but you're a bit big, my Tiro.”
“I was hoping for old times' sake,” Nathaniel answered, but he managed the steps by himself.
“Can you make it?” Sybil teased him as they got back, opening the door.
“Getting lazy in my old age?” Nathaniel answered, as Sybil went to get the medical kit.
“Are you all right?” Devon asked Sienna quietly as they drew back from the chaos.
“Me?” she asked in surprise.
“Well, if I found out I was being hunted by a team of international bounty hunters, I'd probably be pretty shaken up. It'd also be an ego boost,” Devon tried to smile.
She shrugged. “I just….” She sighed. “I'm used to things like that. Not bounty hunters, but being different. Being studied. Being watched and looked at.”
“Of course, you're used to being looked at,” Devon's voice was so low that no one else could hear it. “You're beautiful.”
Her head swiveled toward his, and he smiled, squeezing her hand. She let him keep her fingers wrapped in his, and her mind whirled.
That night, when she was supposed to be sleeping, she crept into Devon's room, closing the door with a click.
He jerked up with a start, his eyes flying open.
“What the…? Sienna?” he said. “Are you all right?” He was stunned that she had escaped the watchful gaze of her Maestros. The one that was supposed to be watching her at night, Devon realized, was likely out cold.
“This is my fault, though,” she said, and he paused.
“What is your fault?”
“Nathaniel being captured. They wanted me. He was bait. It's my fault.”
“Oh, Sienna,” Devon said as he sat up. “They want you for something you can't control. That's not your fault. And Nathaniel knew exactly what he was doing when he took you on.”
“Except, he didn't,” she sat at the edge of his bed. “Desmond made him.”
Devon reached out to brush her hair back. “Everything you are saying is true,” he replied. “But that doesn't make it your fault. It makes you amazing–so amazing and so strong. Creator, if I had a tenth of the power you have….”
“It doesn't make it better,” she answered. “It won't make you better.”
“No,” he managed a smile. “But I would have so much fun while I had it.”
She smirked at that. “You always make me smile.”
“The greatest reward,” he said, as he reached for a sweater. “Are you tired?”
“No,” she said, watching him. “Why?”
“You can see the stars here like no other place,” he replied. “It's like the planet is positioned perfectly. It's beautiful; you should see it.”
“Right now?” she asked, in surprise. “Outside?”
“Usually the place where you see the stars,” Devon answered sarcastically as his feet hit the floor. “Come on.”
“Devon, Nathaniel just got kidnapped, and they are after me. And Reynolds–”
“Sienna,” he grabbed her hand, “all those things are true as well. But you and I…we don't have a lot of time to wait for the safe moments, do we?”
She was taken by his eyes, his smile, and it was all he needed to pull her through the maze of hallways.
It was just as beautiful as he had described. She gasped as she looked up, thousands of stars twinkling above them. She had never seen anything like it–so clear. She was sure that she could see at least three galaxies shining above her.
“Wow,” she said, leaning against Devon as they stood in silence. The door was open, and they were barely outside. It was as dangerous as she was willing to get, and yet, it was worth it.
“What gets me,” he said, putting an arm around her as she shivered, “is seeing all these stars, planets, space, all those worlds out there–so many possibilities. So much life.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, confused.
“There are millions of lifeforms up there,” he said. “And each of them living a different life, doing a different thing. There are so many paths, you can't count them. They are anything they want to be.”
It sunk in as she leaned against him.
“And we can't.”
“Not really,” he said softly. “We were born witches so that's what we must be. Unless….”
Her head whipped toward him. “Devon, you aren't thinking about Reynolds' path.”
“No!” he said quickly. She didn't actually think that was the case, but she had to be sure. “No, not at all. Just that there are different paths out there. Where medical treatments aren't timed with missions; where classes aren't streamed into the med bay. And where your Maestro isn't your only family. Can you imagine?”
She couldn't. But staring into his eyes, she saw a glimmer of what could be.
“Maybe,” she said. It was easy to say that, standing just a few meters from her sleeping Maestros, their safe magic still feeding her veins, and Devon's arm around her. She didn't have to imagine being alone, nor did she want to.
“Maybe,” he said with a smile. “Maybe is good enough for me.”
She lay her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes as they stood under the stars for another few moments. Soon, her shivering grew intense, and he brought her back inside, both of their thoughts a million miles away.
“I'm just going to get something to eat,” Sienna said, and Devon kissed her on the cheek as he went to his room. She paused in kitchen, searching through the sack left on the table. She was tempted by the fruit on the table, but knew it would likely end badly.
It was while she was reading the ingredients on a bag of processed food that she saw the communication screen flicker.
A message had come through, and from what she could tell, it wasn't coded. Her fingers paused at opening the bag, knowing that she really shouldn't access a message without her maestros. But curiosity got the better of her, and she hit the screen.
A man's shape filled the screen, his face hidden, and his voice technologically blurred.
I hear that Desmond is in your camp. Bring him to me, for we have much to say. You will be rewarded. His Tiro's strength is too dangerous for him. His best interests are in my heart.
The message cut off, and Sienna felt her heart rate go through the roof. Was that Reynolds, reaching out to Sybil?
She felt her hand start to tremble as she replayed the message. It was too blurred to figure out who it was.
But whoever it was, it was clearly coming from Reynolds' intentions. She would go with Desmond, she knew, and she instantly felt guilty about it.
Would Reynolds want Desmond if she wasn't at his side? Was this going to be a repeat of today? First, one Maestro, and then the other?