Chapter 13

 

Leira threw her bag into her car. She needed to get to the shop or she’d be late for her evening shift. She couldn’t be late. Saba was depending on her. She shouldn’t have lingered at university to try to appear normal to her friends. Instead of working all she really wanted to do was go home and read the diaries and wait to hear about Julian’s date with Emily. Some of the observations in the diaries made no sense, while others made it all seem so much clearer.

It would have been helpful if his mother had made an index so it was easy to find what she was looking for. Halfway through the second diary, that is exactly what Leira had started doing. Which had meant that she’d had to go back through the first diary, but it was so much easier to look something up with the index. At the moment, it was on her laptop, but when she’d done all of the diaries she’d print it out. Despite all her reading, she hadn’t made much progress with actually doing magic, but her understanding was coming along.

Understanding and practice, though, were two different things. It was easy to say don’t fear fire, much harder to do. Which then made it that much harder to control because she was so busy being afraid of herself.

The car was running a little rough tonight. She hadn’t noticed it on her way to uni, but it was overdue for a service. She needed to get onto that. Next week, or maybe once everything settled down. She waited at the red lights, indicator ticking away precious seconds. She was going to be late. She’d hit every red light all the way. Typical. The lights went green. Her car sputtered and stalled halfway through the intersection. The car coming the other way slowed but didn’t stop in time. It hit the passenger side and spun her.

Trying to relax and not freak out, she closed her eyes. Her car hit something else with a crunch. Her heart sped up in panic and her hands shook as she gripped the steering wheel. She cracked open her eyelids to see if anything else was going to hit her, but it was hard to tell as she was still moving. She tried to take control of the car but the steering was heavy and it wouldn’t obey. Traffic lights danced past her. Horns blared.

Shit. She wasn’t even going to get to the shop.

She may not even make it out of the intersection alive. Another car hit her and they both came to a stop. The seat belt snapped her hard into the seat. For a moment, she had no idea which way her car was facing or what was going on. She was alive. Her heart fluttered like a trapped butterfly. Flames licked over her skin.

“No. No. No.” She tried to pat them out.

She had to get out of the car; she couldn’t if she was covered in fire. People would freak out. The edge of her sleeve caught fire. Then the fabric of the car seat.

“No!” But her car was now on fire. She had to get out even though she was still on fire.

Stop panicking. Breathe. She fumbled for the seat belt.

Her heart beat faster and harder with every second. The flames on her skin intensified. There was no controlling anything. The flames leaped to the passenger seat. She had to move.

Someone opened her car door and was talking to her. Then they were yelling that the car was on fire. She finally got the belt undone and climbed out—or more accurately fell out. Her legs were all rubbery and joint-less. The interior of her car was well and truly alight. Black smoke was coiling out of her door. Was that her vision? Had she just dodged her future?

A woman was yelling.

Leira looked down. Her shirt was on fire. She should be screaming from the pain.

The woman ran over with a picnic blanket and tackled her, trying to put out the flames. How could she tell them she was fine? If Julian was here, he’d have the fire put out in no time. Most women wanted a man who would make them burn with desire. She wanted one that would put out the flames. It was the laughter that tried to bubble up that put out the shirt fire.

Adrenaline made her shaky but she managed to keep the fire off her skin so no one else panicked at the sight of her. She sat on the curb and was attended by the onlookers. Sirens were drawing closer. She drew in a slow breath. Her bag was on the front seat. A diary inside it. For a heartbeat, she wanted to run over and rescue the book, but it was warded. It should be safe. Guess she was about to find out how good Julian’s wards were.

Her mum’s car was totaled. It might have been salvageable if she hadn’t set it on fire.

Her phone was in the bag. Had Quinn warded that? Would it be safe from the flames? And her laptop, which was warded against theft and being dropped and accidental small fires. Saba had done that after Leira had accidentally ruined two laptops. Please let there be enough warding around it to keep it safe. She had to wait to find out. Her fingers curled in agitation. She needed to save her things, but if she reached into the fire-filled car people would really get suspicious.

She ignored the people who were pouring water from their drink bottles on what should be burned skin, and asking how she was. Let them think she was in shock and unable to do anything but stare at the wreckage. She stared into the blue of the flames that were consuming her car. Not seeing the fire anymore. She was looking past the flames, past the metal and into the place where she could see the truth.

Show me the accident.

In the vision her car stalled. The other car hit her and she spun, only to be hit again. She winced at the impact. That wasn’t what she was looking for. Her car had been running rough. The vision changed. Her fuel cap was undone and something was being added. What?

All she could see was Emily pouring some white powder into her fuel tank.

That bitch.

Her car popped as the metal expanded. The vision scattered as fury took over. Flames flicked over her skin again. She tried to hide them under the picnic blanket. The more she freaked out and got angry the worse it became. People around her were getting scared. She wasn’t behaving the way they expected. She shouldn’t catch on fire for a start.

Leira drew in a breath. She needed to talk to Julian about how he got control. She remembered the way he’d wrapped them in a shield so nothing burned. With him she’d been able to embrace the fire, not fear it. It was part of her. She exhaled and the flames went out. The fire was still in her blood but no longer on her skin.

From the looks on the people around her she really needed to put on some hysterics.

That was so not her. She’d rather fight than cry. Some would say she had a fiery nature. They didn’t know how right they were. For the benefit of the onlookers she gave up on numb shock and started crying. That seemed to make them more comfortable with the situation. They knew how to comfort her then. Someone offered her a cell phone so she could call family.

Quinn wasn’t family, but he’d be more useful than Saba right now. Saba would freak out. Completely freak out. Leira couldn’t deal with that at this moment. She’d ring her sister once she’d spoken to someone who could remain calm in an emergency. Except that everyone had new phones now because Quinn was being paranoid. Looking at the wreckage, Leira was now convinced that his paranoia was warranted. The only two numbers she could remember were the shop and Quinn’s police cell phone. Neither was ideal.

But a car accident was a police matter, especially when her car had been tampered with.

When Quinn answered, Leira launched straight into the situation being careful not to use the words murderous bitch. “I’ve been in a car accident. I’m okay but my car is on fire.”

Quinn was silent for a moment. “I’m guessing it wasn’t your fault.”

“No. Most definitely.” Except for the fire part; that was totally her fault, not that anyone here would believe that.

“Emily,” Quinn said.

“Yes.” What she wouldn’t give for a few minutes on her own without all these people eavesdropping. They were doing that look away thing as though by not looking their ears stopped working. If she’d had the power of air, she’d have been able to hush her conversation. All she could do was set things on fire.

“Are you all right?” There was genuine concern in his voice.

Leira glanced at the people watching her and gave a sniff. “Yes, ambulance and so on is on its way.”

“So you are fine and unable to talk?” He knew exactly what to ask.

“Yep. Can you let Saba know I’m not going to make it to work? Tell her not to freak. I’m guessing I’ll be taken to hospital for observation.” She lowered her voice a little. “My clothes caught alight.”

“Okay. Keep me updated. I can’t do much at this time. We need proof of the alleged tampering.”

She knew that he wasn’t a traffic cop, but there was nothing alleged about the tampering. “I saw it. I know what you need to look for.”

There was a pause. “Call me when we can talk.”

“Will do.” She hung up and thanked the woman for the use of the phone.

A fire truck had pulled up while she was on the phone and was putting out her car. She wanted to get up and see if her bag and the diary had survived. Maybe she could if she played the distraught young woman angle a little more.

She stood and went over to her car in her picnic blanket cape, the whole time drying fake tears. “My car! My things!”

“It’s okay, miss.” The fireman held her away from the hot metal. “You can’t get any closer.”

“But my bag…” She could see its singed remains on a very burned front passenger seat. Her mother was going to kill her if Emily failed.

He glanced through the window of the car. “You’ll get it back once the police have taken what they need from the scene.”

The ambulance showed up next with the cops ten seconds behind. Now for the awkward questions about why she wasn’t burned when her clothes were. Maybe all the water tipped on her was going to be a convenient lie.

Eventually she was given her bag—or rather her bag was put inside another bag and handed to her so it could go in the ambulance with her. The other driver was fine, but also going for observation in a separate ambulance.

She was hoping that her mother’s insurance policy had ambulance coverage.

Her mother was not going to be thrilled about this, and even though Leira would really like to see her parents right now, it was best that they stayed away on the other side of the world. It was best that everyone stayed away from her while she had a target on her back.

* * * *

Julian received a text as he finished the piece of pecan pie. Emily was still being petulant about him not wanting to spend the night with her. He couldn’t wait to leave the fake date. The text would be the perfect excuse—he didn’t care who it was from, but he hoped it was from Leira.

Emily’s eyebrows drew together as she stared at the cheap phone. “Did you get a new phone already?”

“Yes as I need to be contactable for work.” And Emily was not getting his number or her hands on this phone.

The text was from his father. Leira was in hospital after a car accident. It was a kick to the gut he hadn’t been expecting. The pie turned jagged in his stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Emily leaned forward, a little too interested.

Was she trying to learn if Leira was dead or alive? Julian glanced at her, then back at his phone. He needed a plausible lie as he wasn’t giving her any information, but it took him a moment to come up with one.

“Nothing, my brother just wanted to know if we’re still going to the football.” He’d never been to the football with his brother. But he knew that his brother often went with his human friends. He also knew that his brother was planning a farewell. He was telling his friends he was going backpacking. It wasn’t far from what he would be doing. Very few knew where the Keepers of the Law were entombed. It was the most closely guarded secret. The only reason Leira’s mother knew was because there had been no earth users of the Ryder bloodline at the time to fulfill the role of tomb watcher so she’d taken on the job.

Now there was, and Kirin would have to take up the mantle of tomb watcher. Not a job Julian envied at all.

“Oh.” She sat back, disappointed. “Will you go?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you might want to spend the day with me, in case I can’t get my visa extended.”

Julian forced a smile. “I can’t blow off my family. Family is important to me.”

“Which is why you left home and didn’t come back for twelve years.”

“Everyone needs to go it alone, to see what they are made of and to grow without pressure. Wouldn’t you agree? That is why you came to Australia?” He was edging too close to revealing what he knew.

“Yeah, it was.” She studied him for a moment. “I’m still waiting to meet your family. I don’t like feeling like your dirty secret.”

“You aren’t a secret. They all know about you.” He smiled. That was the complete truth. There was no way she was getting close to his family. “But the moment I bring someone home, they are going to start thinking I’m ready for wedding bells. And I’m not.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it.

“Thank you for dinner. It was good to see you again.” He had to end this right now, so he walked around to her side and kissed her cheek, resenting the seconds it took when he should be with Leira. “We should do it again, once I have my life sorted out.”

“You could let me help.”

She’d already done too much.

Right now he needed to speak with Leira. He needed to know how badly she was hurt. His father had left out the details. But how could Emily have been involved when she was here with him all evening?

“I’ll give you a call later.” That was a lie. He was not calling her from the safe phone his father had given him.

He walked away, knowing it would take her precious time to pay the bill before she could follow him. Long enough for him to disappear. He hailed a cab and went to the hospital where Leira had been admitted. She’d better be okay. He sent her a message on his way, but got no reply. Was she in surgery?

He put his hand in his pocket. Emily’s gold chain was still there. As the taxi headed south, he texted his father. What happened?

Car accident. L says sugar in the fuel. Will test to confirm.

Julian stared at the screen. What he’d give for a smartphone at that moment to search what sugar did to a car when put in the fuel. He would have to assume it was bad and the reason for the accident.

L is okay? That was what he really wanted to know. Why hadn’t his father told him outright? He stared at his phone, willing his father to type faster.

Fine. Precaution.

Julian breathed a little easier at the news Leira was unhurt. That was probably more luck than anything else. If Emily had put the sugar in the tank, and she could’ve done that at any time during the day.

He closed his eyes. In that moment, he was six and in his mother’s car. They had been talking about school, music in the background, and Kirin getting whiney and tired. Julian had been jiggling one of the bright toys at his baby brother trying to get him to shut up. His mum was saying that he was hungry and she’d feed him when they picked up Finley.

The next thing he knew the car was spinning. Then it was on fire.

The noise was terrifying. Fire wasn’t quiet, and when cars burned, they didn’t do it quietly either. Kirin was screaming. Julian couldn’t unbuckle him as the button was too hard for his little hands to press and he was panicking. Mum wasn’t answering. He couldn’t leave them both in the car. He tried to open the door but it wouldn’t open. Then he was crying. His magic had been forced to rush to the surface, years before it should’ve. By the time anybody came to help it was all too late.

Leira’s element was fire. She couldn’t be burned while she was conscious. His mother had been knocked out or killed immediately his father had said years later when Julian had asked about it after another nightmare. Her element had claimed her. Leira may not be burned, but she could’ve suffered numerous other injuries. If she’d been knocked unconscious and unable to use magic, she’d have been just as defenseless as his mother.

Twenty-four years ago, his mother’s death had been called an accident.

Had it been?

Or had it been made to look like an accident?

He shouldn’t be going to see Leira when Emily was after her. The best thing he could do was stay away, yet he couldn’t walk away. Their fates were entwined. He looked at the bracelet glinting in the streetlights. How entwined was what they both needed to know. They needed to work this thing out.

He didn’t tell his father what he’d been up to or what they were doing. He’d do that after, when there was something to report. But he would have to see his father. He wasn’t convinced that the accidents that had resulted in Albah deaths over the years were accidents no matter what they looked like at first glance.

What if the Guardians had never obeyed the truce, and instead they had just become sneakier?

* * * *

Leira had spoken to Saba. Saba had wanted to come straight to the hospital, but common sense had prevailed. Emily could look for her and find out where she’d been admitted. Saba didn’t need to be here and she didn’t need to be putting herself in harm’s way. It was bad enough Leira was in Emily’s sights. Besides she was fine—shaken up, but fine. The guys in the ambulance had called her lucky. There was no way she could explain magic to them.

How useful would it be to them if they knew?

If the Albah could be open about their magic, the good that could be done would shut the Guardians down. But she’d seen enough TV to know that if the military and governments knew about magic it would not end well for the Albah.

At the moment the doctors were promising that she’d be out tomorrow.

She’d better be, as she was completely unprotected here. Not a single ward. Quinn was gambling on the sheer number of people to keep her safe. He didn’t watch enough TV if he thought hospitals were safe.

Her laptop and the diary had survived. The nurse had been surprised at her exuberance. With nothing else to do in hospital, she thumbed through the rescued diary, but couldn’t focus on the pages. She kept feeling the sickening spin of the car. If she hadn’t caused the fire, the whole thing would have been just another random accident. Her car wouldn’t have been totaled and the other car wouldn’t have caught on fire either.

If people did know about magic she’d be facing reckless use of magic charges. Wanton fire starting? Careless vandalism? She was sure the legal people would come up with some fancy terms and charges for using magic incorrectly or in a way that would harm humans.

The heat from the fire had killed the unwarded cheap phone Quinn had given her. It was now a warped bit of plastic. Her smartphone was at home, so she had nothing to do but lie in the uncomfortable bed and prove that she was fine.

She was bored already. Maybe there was a snack machine she could raid. Her wallet had been under the diary and its wards had protected it and also some of her bag—not enough for it to be called a bag anymore. It was very tempting but she was wearing a hospital gown and she didn’t want to be exposing her butt to the world. Instead she settled for skipping through the TV stations.

There was a knock on her open door. It was another doctor, but her favorite one. A grin formed on her lips.

“You couldn’t have gotten admitted to the one where I worked?” Julian came in and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Sorry, they didn’t give me a choice.”

His gaze skimmed over her. “You really are okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. The car stalled in the intersection and got hit a couple of times, spun into a pole and then caught fire. I kinda panicked.”

“You were lucky you didn’t get knocked out.” There was real worry in his eyes.

“If I had been, the fire wouldn’t have happened.” She put her hand over his. “It wasn’t like your mother’s accident.”

“I know and yet…” He pulled something out of his pocket. “I did it.”

Leira looked at the bracelet but didn’t pick it up. “She tried to kill me. I was lucky that the car didn’t stall on the freeway and become a high-speed collision. It could have been so much worse.” She could’ve died. She knew that, and she was trying not to think about it.

“And I’d have come in and healed you.”

“You can’t raise the dead.” No, but someone was or at least making the undead. Did they die first before becoming Albanex? That magic was supposed to be lost. And yet it wasn’t. Or had someone recreated it?

“No. I can’t. Which is why we need to stop her.”

“Even if we stop her, there will be others.” There would always be other Guardians. It was too much. She would always be looking over her shoulder in fear. Her lower lip quivered. She bit it to stop the tears from forming. “They want us all dead just so there can be no more Albanex.”

He drew in a breath. She wanted him to argue to say that she was stressed and tired and that in daylight it would all be better. He pushed the bracelet over the bed toward her. “I’ll close the door. Let’s see where we’re at before we make any other plans.”

She shook her head. “I already checked mine.” She’d been careful and done it in the bathroom. “Nothing has changed.”

She’d been hoping so hard that it had. That she’d avoided what was coming because she’d gotten out of the car. The accident hadn’t been that bad, and worse was still to come. She didn’t know how she was going to survive it. She didn’t think she would.

He closed his eyes as though wounded. That hadn’t been the news he was hoping for. “Something has to change.” His words were clipped. “What the hell do we have to do to change our future?”

“I don’t know. Saba doesn’t know and she’s good at this stuff. I didn’t tell her about your future. That’s yours to share or not. You haven’t shared, have you?”

“No. I’m hoping that this will help us.” He flicked the bracelet with one fingernail.

So was she. They were running out of ideas. How close had he gotten to Emily to get this. “Was it hard?”

“It wasn’t fun. She might have suspected that I wasn’t under the spell when I said I didn’t want to spend the night with her.”

Leira tried to laugh. “Not willing to risk that to save my life?”

Julian didn’t crack a smile. “I know everyone has an ex that they’d rather forget, or that they wished they had never dated, but I do think I’m winning the bad ex competition.”

“I don’t think there is any doubt about that. It’s not every Albah who can say they dated a Guardian and survived.” The last word froze on her tongue. She looked up at Julian. “Oh god. How many dated a Guardian but didn’t survive? But didn’t know they were dating a Guardian? What if that is a thing they do?”

His eyes widened. “That would mean any Albah dating a human is at risk.”

“We can’t assume all humans are bad.” Her friends weren’t trying to kill her. A handful of evil apples didn’t mean every apple was toxic. But any apple could be, so why risk taking a bite?

“We can’t assume they are all good either. Not if it’s costing us our lives. We are an endangered species. If we aren’t careful, we will be gone within a few generations. We’ve helped to breed ourselves out by spreading too far.”

She nodded. “By marrying humans and not having Albah sons.” No one wanted their relationship to feel like an obligation. But maybe they did need a save the species program like they had in zoos for endangered animals.

Julian held her gaze, her doubts reflected in his eyes. When did love get sacrificed for survival? At what point did the Albah give up? Or did they fight to the last man and woman? Julian was hot and he shared her element, had given her the best sex of her life, and was the man on the train that she’d been waiting to meet for years. But she didn’t love him. Not yet.

She could, though, if given the chance. She was sure of that.

However, that future was gone. All they had was now, and neither of them knew how long that was going to last.

She picked up the bracelet and held it in her hand. They wouldn’t have long before visiting hours would be over. There was nothing special about the bracelet, just a simple gold chain with a couple of charms—no Guardian would wear silver as they thought it would let the Albah take control of them. Some of the charms were usual symbols to ward away evil and magic. A horse shoe, an ankh, the tree of life and an eye. The others were random things. A kangaroo and a cat. A pair of shoes and two fish, the Pisces symbol. It was a little insight into Emily.

While it wasn’t true about silver letting the Albah take control, silver did conduct magic and enabled the Albah to heal fast.

Leira ran the chain through her fingers a few more times. She’d never done a reading for someone who wasn’t there. Or for someone who didn’t want one, and she was sure Emily wouldn’t want one.

Leira glanced at Julian. “Let’s find out what her future holds.”

He gave a single nod. “Hopefully she thinks she’s lost it, not that I stole it.”

Leira looked at the melted chain link. “She thinks you’re under her spell at the moment.”

He didn’t look thrilled. “I feel like a liar and a fraud.”

“That’s because you are. Or you could call yourself a spy.” She smiled. “You know, doing dastardly stuff for the greater good?”

He lifted one blond eyebrow.

“Well you aren’t the only one being underhanded. Better to be alive than dead.” She pressed her lips together, well aware how lucky she’d been today. Maybe the paramedics had been right.

“You can’t guarantee that either.”

“I can check.” She had been checking and nothing was changing. It was as though her new fate had been locked in and she was going to die from smoke inhalation. She wanted to ask Julian what that would be like, but didn’t want him to then be thinking of the gruesome details.

She didn’t want to know the details. She wanted to avoid the whole thing.

They had nothing to make a circle with, and while she didn’t need one for scrying it would be better, especially as they were dealing with a Guardian. She had no candle and she didn’t feel up to holding fire. Magic required energy and concentration and she couldn’t do both. Today had been draining. “Can you make the circle and hold the fire for me?”

A circle made of will wasn’t as strong as one with a physical component but it would do. Julian’s circle was solid but he was frowning.

“You can do both?” She didn’t want him to lose control; then they’d both be doomed.

“Yes. I haven’t held a circle of will for a while.” He held out one hand. A flame flicked to life on his palm. Then he grew it to the ball that she liked to use. Much nicer than using the flaming wreck of her car.

“I’ll check the path she is on. I’ll have to do the location spell at home as I need a few things.” She wanted to get out of here tonight, but that wouldn’t happen. She needed to be observed apparently.

“Do you know how to do one of them?” He sounded surprised.

Did he think she couldn’t do any magic worth doing?

She grinned. “Yep. Anything that doesn’t involve more than lighting a candle I’m fine with.” As soon as she wanted to do a bigger magic it all went bad. She was still cautious lighting a candle and there were several fire extinguishers in the house, and Saba’s shop.

Just because she didn’t get burned didn’t mean that everything else was immune. That was what scared her. She didn’t want to be burning down her mother’s house or setting fire to the shop. Her bedspread or the towels in the bathroom, her own clothes once—twice now if she included today. Fire wasn’t fun. Maybe she should put a fire blanket in the car to smother herself.

Holding the bracelet and thinking of Emily she tried to bring forth the vision. After a few minutes Julian handed her his pocketknife with his free hand. His gaze kept darting to the door. She was worried about being caught, which wasn’t helping her concentration.

“Thanks.” She flicked a drop of her blood into the flame and let the rest fall on the bracelet. Personal sacrifice added strength to the magic. Albanex sacrificed others so that they had life and magic. The flame crackled, then swirled as though filled with oil. Black smoke coiled through the center exactly the same as the vision that she got for herself. “Whoa.”

“That was weird. Are you sure that was for her?” He was watching the ball of fire in his hand.

She glanced up at Julian. “Yeah. If it’s the same as mine, does that mean we’ll be there together?”

Leira had the awful feeling that the fire that would kill her was going to be of her own making. She was going to kill Emily as well as herself. It wasn’t a comforting thought.

“That would make sense.” He was frowning. “I think you need to do everything you can to avoid her. We need to find her and get Dad or his buddies to bring her in.”

“Agreed. You didn’t happen to find out where she was staying or put a bug on her phone?” That was probably hoping for too much.

“No, I obviously don’t make a very good spy.”

She smiled at him. “We’ll be able to locate her once I get out of here. Hopefully tomorrow. Will you be seeing her?”

“Probably. She’ll be less likely to attack if she thinks I’m compliant.”

“Be careful.” She put her hand over his.

He leaned forward and kissed her. “I will be.”