Gods of Chaos (Red Magic) (10 page)

I had to turn the glossy map twice before I was able to orient myself, and I was surprised to see that I’d wandered much farther from my hostel than I thought. After another look at the looming clouds, I decided that I could afford to be spoiled. I flagged down the second taxi I saw and leaned back on the musty seat to think. Tall buildings rushed by, and I was overwhelmed by the surreal setting; Edinburgh was like nothing I had ever seen back home. A shiver of fear wormed its way into my brain as I thought about what had happened in the vaults, but I tried to push it aside and concentrate on the beautiful scenery going past. Still, the brief moment of relaxation I’d felt on the bench was gone, replaced with mounting anxiety. My thoughts drifted back to Marcus, and I frowned. It was pretty obvious that I needed help to deal with Hecate, but other than asking Marcus, I hadn’t come up with any options. Maybe, I thought, I’d have to do something drastic. If Marcus didn’t want to help me on his own, I was sure I could use magic to persuade him to become my ally.

When I stopped to pick up my key from the reception desk, a different man than the one who let me in last night was leaning behind the counter. He motioned for me to wait, and I realized he was on the phone. I looked at the photos that plastered the walls for a minute, just zoning out, but then his words penetrated my hazy mind and I felt a flash of guilt.

“They were staying here. That’s right, New Zealand. I’ll ask some of the other kids and let you know. Good-bye, officer.”

I managed to keep my hand from shaking as he handed me the key, and I forced myself to smile at him.

He glanced at the key and paused. “Say, you’re staying in dormitory 5C, right?”

I nodded, my throat too dry to answer.

“Did you get a chance to meet a couple of the other girls? Sandy and Joan?” He leaned forward expectantly, and I pulled the key away from him.

My thoughts racing, I considered the best answer. “They woke me up last night looking for a toothbrush.” I clenched my fist, trying to keep my fingers from trembling.

If he thought it sounded lame, he didn’t let on. “D’ya know their phone numbers or addys?”

I shook my head. He sighed and pressed his fingers to his forehead.

“It looks like the girls got in a spot of trouble.”

The sight of their crushed bodies in the vaults flashed through my mind, and I almost threw up. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to ask, “Are they okay?”

He shook his head slowly, as if he wasn’t sure how much to tell me. “There was a cave-in down in the vaults.”

“Oh.” I grimaced, sure I was turning green. “Hospital?” There might be a chance the girls had made it out okay, but his next word confirmed my worst fear.

“Morgue.”

My stomach churned furiously; I needed to get upstairs before I was sick in front of this guy. I blinked a few times, trying to keep my face neutral.

He sighed again. “Ask the other girls in your room, if you see them. I need to get in touch with their parents, but when they checked in, they didn’t leave any numbers besides their mobiles.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. As soon as he had turned back to the phone, I took the stairs two at a time, hoping I had the dorm room to myself. I was on the verge of losing it completely, and I didn’t need an audience.

For once, luck was on my side, and I collapsed against the door of the empty room, breathing heavily. I climbed up to my bunk and sat back, closing my eyes and trying to think.

Were Joan and Sandra already dead before I’d used Red magic? I couldn’t be sure. My stomach rolled as I thought about it. There was a chance that the cave-in had killed them, not my defensive blast of Red magic, but I had no way to know. Besides, the cave-in hadn’t been natural; there was something in there with us, and I was sure Hecate had been behind whatever it was. Whether they died in the cave-in or after, when I used magic, the girls were still dead because of me. Just like Rochelle.

Hecate must be laughing somewhere. No matter what I do, I can’t seem to stop killing people.

I collapsed into bed even though it was only late afternoon. Guilt threatened to overwhelm me, and my brain couldn’t let go of the image of the girls’ mangled bodies. Gods, how many more people would I kill? I told myself that if I slept, I’d be able to forget about what had happened in the vaults, but my sleep that night was plagued by even worse nightmares. Once more, I dreamed of Loki.

He was still bound in the same cavern, and his wife stood over him with her bowl. I wanted to pull myself out of the vision, but Loki crooked his finger at me and I felt myself moving forward against my will.

“So, Darlena. You have come back to hear my proposal.”

“I can’t do what you want.”

His twisted face smiled. “I believe differently. You are quite the powerful Witch. Why limit yourself?”

I tried to step back, but my feet were welded to the floor. “I work against chaos. I don’t want to cause more.”

His laugh was raspy. “But it would be such a simple thing, child! No need to
really
cause chaos. The seeming is more powerful than the reality.”

“What do you want?”

“A small boon. Make it seem as if the world is ending, and I will teach you how to bind Hecate.”

I hesitated, stunned. “There is no way to bind a god.”

The chains that held him rattled. “I of all people know that is not true. If you free me, you will have my bonds at your disposal. It is a simple matter, binding a god, once you have the right tool.”

I stared at him. “Why would you work against the gods?”

He snarled. “What has any of them ever done to help me? I owe them nothing. But,” he smiled, showing his sharp teeth, “I would owe the person who sets me free.”

“But how would I free you?”

He jumped eagerly at my words. “We have a pact, then?”

I shook my head. “I never said that. I just want to know how you think it could be done.”

“But you’re considering it. Oh, yes, child, I can hear your thoughts turning. Trust me. It can be done, with my help.”

The dream started to fade, but I called out, “I have not made any promises!”

“Not yet, child,” he cackled. “But you will.”

After that, disturbing visions of blood and broken bodies filled my dreams, and I woke up feeling worse than I had in a long time, which was saying something, considering how awful things had been lately. The dormitory was silent, and I felt a lump in my throat when I looked at the two empty beds that had belonged to Sandra and Joan.

I was only too happy to get up, pack my bag, and leave in search of another hotel. I did a finding spell before I left the hostel, and within ten minutes, I found myself standing in a marble and brass hotel lobby, checking in. The place looked expensive, but because I was alone, the woman behind the desk gave me the senior discount. After I forked over half my cash to guarantee that I’d have a bed for at least another week, I headed up to my new room.

There was a small balcony overlooking a back alley, but I was too tired to be charmed. Shutting the curtains, I unpacked my bag and plugged in my computer. Maybe a distraction would help me forget what I’d done in the vaults.

Nibbling on a battered-looking snack mix that I’d found in the bottom of my backpack, I scrolled through my inbox. There were four messages from my mom, and I realized with a start that I’d barely contacted her since arriving in Scotland. The emails didn’t sound panicked, but they felt like someone had just flashed the Bat Signal; Mom wanted to hear from me, and soon.

As I composed an email, I thought about how to avoid anything that would get me in trouble at home. I told her I’d found another Red, and that I was “working on” forming a relationship. I would never tell my good, Green mother that I was thinking about messing with another person’s will, even if magic was the only way to make Marcus help me. Sometimes, the methods of Red magic veered dangerously close to those little Black spells Rochelle had taught me before I was kicked out of Trinity, and I knew how my parents felt about Black magic.

They weren’t alone. Even though Trinity taught White, Black, and Green magic, the emphasis was always on the kinder two forms of magic. I’d dabbled with Black magic because of my temper and my friendship with Rochelle, but that didn’t mean I really understood this dark craft. According to my training, Black was almost always evil, White was good, and Green was of this world. And Red? Based on everything I’d done so far, Red was death and destruction. Firmly, I pushed the image of the bodies in the vault out of my mind.

After I emailed Mom back, I tapped my fingers, not sure what to do next. Something Marcus had said yesterday niggled at the back of my mind. Didn’t he have a sister who practiced something called Blue magic? My limited experience with Red magic had made me question the balanced concept of the world that I had been raised with. If there were more than just four types of magic, what might I be up against?

It seemed like the only gods interested in acts of chaos were the Red patrons I had encountered so far. I knew that Green gods were generally related to nature and the earth, like my mother’s patron, Demeter, the Greek goddess of the harvest. White and Black patrons were always harder to pin down. At Trinity, we mostly focused on the Greco Roman pantheon, and since they were a farm-based society, many of their deities practiced Green magic. There were a few who weren’t ever identified in my classes as having any correspondence to one of the three magics—I remembered now that Hecate had always been described as being above the divisions of magic.

Suddenly, with a flash of intuition, I realized that I knew exactly how to get Marcus to listen to me without messing with his free will. I pulled up an Internet search engine and hit a few keys. In a moment, I had a photo and an address on the screen in front of me. It was time to expand my plans, and even though I felt a twinge of guilt at what I was about to do, I reminded myself of what was at stake. If Marcus didn’t help me, I had a feeling that we’d both be vulnerable to Hecate. I was ready to do anything to stop her, and I knew I couldn’t do it alone. I needed Marcus; I couldn’t afford to be picky about how I got his help.

***

I found the school easily: it took up a full city block, and the old brick building pulsed with magic. It reminded me of Trinity, and I felt a pang of longing as I sat down on the curb across the street to wait.

I didn’t have to wait very long; the website had mentioned older students having off-campus privileges for lunch, and the sun was high in the sky when I got there. Soon, girls in blue uniforms began trickling past me, laughing and joking. I scanned their faces, hoping that I would recognize her.

A girl with hair that was such a dark brown it might as well have been black emerged from the gate. She was walking slowly, carrying a book in one hand, her finger tracing the open page as she moved. Her lips moved silently, and I smiled. She was older than the picture I’d found, maybe thirteen or fourteen, but I was certain that was her.

“Isadora?” I stood up quickly and approached her. She paused and looked up, curious.

“It’s Izzy. But yeah, that’s me.”

I stuck out my hand. “I’m Darlena. I’m a friend of Marcus.”

She eyed my hand without moving, and then looked into my eyes. “No you’re not.”