Fused in Fire

I waved my hand through the air, operating on impulse. Letting my power lead me. If I was going to crack up, I might as well go big.

Swirls of ice flurries played within the magic, followed by sparks of fire. I threw an explosion into it, shaking the ground and punching a hole through the void of gray. The visual winked, and everything blinked black. When all the light was lost, a blue tint appeared, showing a lightning-quick glimpse of the world beneath the illusion. Stone beneath my feet, pockmarked and uneven like before. Pier after pier down the way, the edge of each two feet apart from its neighbor. Rolling, boiling wisps of fog contained within invisible walls, allowing me to see past it now. Rock walls hacked at so as not to reach out into the beach illusion area.

The river did have a current. A fast one.

The illusion blinked back in place and I felt blinded.

I curled my magic into the fabric of the illusion and short-circuited it. There it was again—raging river, the line of piers.

As I watched the water, a twisted body—and is that a broom?—floated along. Maybe someone hadn’t possessed the right magic to cross the river and finish up their…sweeping?

I blinked and shook my head. I was probably seeing things.

One thing was for certain. This was all for show. A grand hoax to make it seem cooler, or scarier, than it actually was. To make people feel more alone than they really were.

My dad was a showboat.

He had me going, too. He’d gotten me good, the tricky devil.

Reagan?

Oh yeah.

I worked my magic without thinking. Without planning. I set my goal—bring Darius back into my acid trip—and let intuition guide me again. Fire slid over my body. Ice throbbed up from my middle. I forced them outward until they wove together in a halo around me. Then I shoved that halo in the direction Darius should’ve been, punching through the tapestry of the magical illusion in order to reach the reality beneath.

The world around me throbbed. Not just the illusion I’d been marooned in. All of it. The whole damn thing.

Blue flared on all sides, showing the magical blueprint of the spell, and then the whole thing peeled away. Demons stood on a large platform of stone, looking around in confusion. The piers showed up again, side by side, probably forty or fifty in all. Figures sat in the boats docked at the ends, rocking in the current. The fog wafted in front of them, a magically created fence mostly see-through at this point.

All the figures in the boats turned as one, and stared in my direction.

“Oh crap.”

I reached out, grabbed Darius by the arm, and yanked him toward me. “Hang on to me while I try to put this back.”

“Yes, hurry!” he said.

Now his heart was hammering.

Chapter Sixteen

I had no idea how to reconstruct what must’ve been my father’s work, so I pulled all my magic back into myself—all except for the halo I’d formed around Darius and me. I chewed my lip as the world around us throbbed. Blue light flared, still showing people looking around in confusion, before the illusion finally rematerialized.

“I have no idea what any of that was, but I’m a rock star when I let my split personality take over.” I wiped my forehead.

“You are a natural, Reagan, like a handful of mages in the world. What you aren’t, however, is subtle. Or even remotely good at strategic thinking.”

I started forward. “That sounded like a giant thank you for bringing you back to your lady love. Almost like groveling. Jesus, man. Get a grip. I don’t need thanks. I’m happy just to be awesome.”

I didn’t have to look back at him to know he’d narrowed his eyes at me.

The dock felt like real wood—it had probably started that way, but magic had made it indestructible. I had the impulse to jump to the one I knew waited beside it, my eyes wide open, just to see what happened. But it wasn’t worth the risk. I’d probably miss and get wedged between them in that dark, murky water. Given the creature I’d seen floating in it, and what might or might not have been a dirty broom, it had to be a hotbed of underworld bacteria.

Our feet thumped softly as we walked down the pier. I put my hand into it and felt prickles along my skin. “What do you feel?”

Darius did the same and flinched. He extended his hand again, slowly. It disappeared into the fog. “It is painful, but tolerable.”

“Maybe this is the real gate to the underworld, only allowing those with demon blood to pass.”

Wariness crossed his features. “We will now find out if Ja was right.”

“Or if she was trying to kill you by sending you down here?” I grimaced. “That probably should’ve occurred to me. It would’ve been a good reason not to bond.”

“Which is why I didn’t mention it.”

“Since you know everything, obviously.”

“Yes.”

He’d missed my sarcasm.

I stepped into the fog. Darius walked in after me. Immediately, his eyes tightened and his jaw clenched, clearly in pain. He kept pace, the sound of our feet on the boards muted even more than before. Wisps of white slid across my skin, lightly stinging.

Plunk.

I balled my fists. “If those drips continue the whole time we’re here, they will slowly drive me insane. I’m not kidding.” I thought about what I’d just said. “More insane.”

A few more steps and the fog cleared, revealing the boat at the end of the dock. From my previous efforts, I knew that it—and the other boats we couldn’t see—floated in the center of the huge river. Its bow was pointed upstream. Within it, sitting placidly at the back and staring straight ahead, was a creature in a dark gray robe with a hood covering its head. I could just see its human(ish) face, now noticing the grayish skin and missing eyes.

I did say ish.

It could see, though. Either the hollow sockets were also an illusion, or it had sonar or something. The boatman had looked right at me.

My dad was definitely a showboat. A real flair for theater, he had.

“How are you doing?” I asked Darius.

Still standing, he thought.

Yikes. I wondered if it was as bad as Dizzy’s spell breaking his hands. I didn’t want to ask for fear it was worse. I really did put the guy through hell. I’d have to get him a fruit basket or blood bag or something after this was all through. Maybe a back rub.

“How about now?” I asked, not advancing toward the boat just yet.

“I’m fine now. It feels the same here as in the edges. There is also still air. I wonder if that will change.”

I did, too. Why else would I have inherited the ability to survive without breathing?

“That fog must be what keeps people out.” Darius turned and studied the gray, stagnant mass. “It’s strong magic, like the illusion anchored to this place, but it’s still just magic. It can be worked around with enough power and skill.”

“Like…by mages, you mean?”

“Yes. Lucifer is mighty, but he is not untouchable. Neither is the elf royalty. I’ve seen them undone by an incredible dual-mage team. Brothers. Absolute naturals. Who, consequently, were banned from the Realm after their trick. They changed the layout of the castle. I don’t think anyone knew that could be done until that point. Natural mages such as those are extremely rare. Only a handful exist, that we know of, in the world. Form two naturals into a dual-mage team, and they could undo this fog, cracking this kingdom open like an egg.”

“Wow. Don’t dream really big, do you? Should I mention the flaw in your plan?” I paused for a beat, and when he didn’t answer, continued. “Mages can’t get through the gate to the edges.”

“Where there is a will, there is a way.”

“Right. Well, good luck with the whole supernatural world domination thing. Think those dual mages will help out?” I stared at the creature in the boat. It hadn’t turned our way, though our murmuring voices must’ve reached it. “Also, do you think that thing can hear us? If it has super hearing like a vampire, it might be able to make out what we were saying, and I doubt you want your plans foiled before you even begin.”

“It has not so much as twitched in our direction. And no, at this distance, with the muted quality of this place, and with how low we are speaking, it shouldn’t be able to hear us. Not that it will matter.”