Sunlight shone in through the mouth of the cave as Callan and I walked out of the small opening in the back wall. We had gotten stuck in those caves by the underwater tunnel for quite a while on our way back out, so by my best estimate, we had to have been gone for a total of at least two days. Maybe two and a half. I wondered how Paige had been doing during those days with only the scowling grump that was Henry and the self-righteous Lance Carmichael for company.
As we exited the tunnel, I swept my gaze over the cave, looking for her easy smile.
But Paige wasn’t there.
And neither were the other two.
I trailed to a halt just outside the entrance to the tunnel and studied the empty space around us. Apart from the remnants of a now cold fire, there was nothing there. Not even the packs remained. I glanced up at Callan, who was also scanning the cave with furrowed brows.
“What are the odds that Paige and Henry randomly decided to elope and bring Lance with them as a witness?” I said.
“Nonexistent.”
“Yeah, I figured as much.” I studied the dark stone around us again. “Maybe they just went back down to the terrace to restock.”
“Maybe.” There was a wary tone to Callan’s voice. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Audrey.”
The worry that I had been trying to keep at bay washed over me in full force. “Yeah, me too.”
Without having to say anything, we removed our packs and placed them down on the rough stone ground. Then we moved towards the mouth of the cave. I touched my palms together when we were halfway to it, and called up my magic. A glittering green tendril snaked down my forearm and then curled up to hide behind the back of my hand.
Beside me, Callan let his hands drift closer together, but I was pretty sure that he couldn’t hide his magic the way I could, so he didn’t summon anything yet.
Cool mountain winds caressed my cheeks as we stepped out from the cave. Based on the angle of the sun, it was early morning. I flicked my gaze back and forth across the slopes of the mountain.
Nothing.
Twisting my head, I scanned the parts above us.
My heart skipped a beat.
A short distance up the mountain were six people. They looked like they had known that we were coming, probably because they had heard us walk back through the tunnel earlier, as they were positioned very carefully in a spot where the ground was almost flat. For a few seconds, I just stared up at them in disbelief.
Paige and Henry were on their knees at the front. They were gagged, and their wrists were locked in stiff handcuffs. Behind them stood four other people. Lance, still wearing his handcuffs, was positioned in the middle, while three people I had never seen before flanked him.
On his left was a woman with curly brown hair and brown eyes. Another woman, this one with blond hair and blue eyes, was standing on Lance’s right, while a brown-haired man was positioned on her other side. They all looked to be about the same age, which meant that these had to be Lance’s precious little friends. I narrowed my eyes at the two brown-haired people. Morning sunlight glinted against the knives they were holding across Paige and Henry’s throats.
“Well, if it isn’t the three attention-seeking groupies come to join their delusional leader,” Callan said in a mocking tone. “Let me see if I got this right. That’s Darren the wind mage. And Leoni the lightning mage there on the other end.”
The two brown-haired people shot a surprised look towards Lance that as good as confirmed that Callan was right.
“And then of course we have Jessica the water mage,” Callan continued with a nod towards the blond woman. A cold smirk curled his lips. “Lance’s girlfriend.”
Jessica snapped her gaze towards Lance while her mouth dropped open slightly. A deep red color crept into Lance’s cheeks.
While they were busy being embarrassed about the state of their relationship, I flicked a quick glance at Callan and gave him a grateful nod. I hadn’t known which magical power each of these people possessed, so this seemingly casual taunt that Callan had orchestrated had been his way of making sure that I had all the information I needed for the fight we were about to start.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Jessica called down to us after she had recovered from her moment of surprise. Raising her chin, she pointed an accusing finger at Callan. “First, you are going to throw the key to Lance’s handcuffs up to us. Then I am going to throw down two pairs of handcuffs. You will put them on each other and then surrender and let us bring you back to Eldar to face justice.”
“Oh really?” A wolfish grin spread across my lips. “Or what?”
“Or your friends will die.”
“And don’t try to pretend like you don’t care about them,” Lance added, speaking for the first time since we stepped outside. There was a new sense of purpose and determination burning in his blue eyes when he looked down at us. “I’ve spent over a week with you on the road. I know exactly how you feel about Henry and Paige.”
Guilt, but also a hint of love and gratitude, washed over Paige’s face as she met my gaze. Next to her, Henry had guilt swirling in his eyes too. But he also looked embarrassed. And angry. As if he couldn’t believe that he had let these three twenty-year-olds get the better of him. It wasn’t that surprising, though. All three of them still had their powerful magic while Paige and Henry could only access the Great Current. And with three against two, or three against one and a half really, since Paige wasn’t much of a fighter, the difference in power was just too much.
“So if you know how we feel about them,” I began as I locked eyes with Lance, “then why in all hell did you decide to make the monumentally stupid decision to threaten them?”
“You try to lecture us about threatening people?” Darren spat before Lance could answer. While keeping his knife steady against Henry’s throat, he stabbed a hand towards us. “You kidnapped my best friend. You tortured him!”
“So?”
“What do you mean so?” Leoni demanded while shaking her head at us. “You hurt him and humiliated him.”
“And you dyed his hair,” Jessica added with a scowl.
I arched an eyebrow at her. “That’s what you’re worried about?”
She flicked her long straight hair behind her shoulder before looking down her nose at me. “I’m worried about all of it. You hurt my… friend. And I’ll never forgive you for that.”
“You’ll never forgive me?” I let out a mocking laugh. “Aww, I’m hurt.”
Embarrassment colored her cheeks. But before she could reply, Callan spoke up.
“How the hell did you even get up the mountain?” There was a frown on his face that was meant to sell the confusion, but from where I stood right next to him, I could see the assessing glint in his eyes. “You’d have to fight your way past lots of dark mages.”
At this point, we were just stalling for time until we could figure out how to fight these people without putting Paige and Henry at risk. If they didn’t have those knives to their throats, we could have attacked straight away. But as things stood now, any attack we threw at them wouldn’t make it there before they could slit Paige and Henry’s throats.
“We’re just that good,” Darren called back at the same time as Jessica replied, “We just snuck up straight after your battles.”
A groan tore from Darren’s lips as he shot Jessica an exasperated look. She cleared her throat and flashed him an apologetic glance.
“So, you piggybacked on our victories, huh?” Callan taunted.
I scanned the mountainside for anything that might give us an advantage. Morning sunlight illuminated the dark gray rock and the loose gravel strewn on top of it, but no solution presented itself. The ground where we stood outside the mouth of the cave was flat and good for battle, as was the spot Lance and his friends occupied. However, between our two positions was a slope. And we did not have the high ground.
“We just used our heads,” Leoni snapped while indignation flashed in her eyes.
“If you had used your heads, you would have stayed at the academy.”
“How could—”
“Enough,” Darren interrupted. A mountain wind ruffled his brown hair as he glared down at us. “Toss up the key to Lance’s handcuffs.” A knowing glint crept into his brown eyes. “And the Enhancer too while you’re at it.”
Callan and I exchanged a glance. He still didn’t have a plan. And neither did I.
After sliding his gaze back to Lance and his ridiculous friends, he simply said, “No.”
“What do you mean no?” Lance protested. He looked genuinely confused as he motioned between Paige and Henry. “We have your friends.”
“Yeah, I can see that. But what you still don’t seem to get is that no matter how good you think you are, you’re still hopelessly outclassed against people like me and Audrey.”
“So, here’s a counteroffer for you,” I added while letting a sharp smile stretch my lips. “You put down those blades and then grovel for us to spare your pathetic lives, or we’ll torture the three of you to death while we make Lance watch.”
A hint of fear flickered across Lance’s face, but his friends just looked furious.
“How can you have fallen this far?” Leoni snapped. Her curly brown hair swayed as she shook her head at us. “You used to be students at the academy too. You had friends and family and good teachers who helped you improve. How can you have turned into such heartless villains?”
She practically spat the final two words while anger and disbelief flickered on her face.
“Because we wanted to.” I shot her a grin dripping with threats. “And because we could.”
“They consider themselves heroes,” Callan suddenly whispered, low enough that only I could hear.
“I know…” I trailed off as realization dawned. “Which means that they would never actually kill Paige and Henry. Because that’s not what heroes do.”
“You’re sick!” Leoni called down in response to my previous statement since she obviously couldn’t hear the words Callan and I had spoken to each other.
“Which is why you really should surrender while we still let you,” I answered her, before whispering to Callan, “So we attack.”
He only answered with a small nod.
Bright sunlight shone down on the four students up on their platform. Lance still looked a bit worried, but he said nothing to make his friends back down. Either he had unwavering faith in them, or he just desperately wanted his freedom back. The other three stood with their backs straight and their chins raised while their eyes glittered in the morning sun. They looked as if they truly believed that they could take on anything as long as they had each other.
“We will never surrender to the likes of you,” Leoni declared.
“Ready?” Callan asked quietly.
I twitched my wrist slightly, showing him the tendril of poison magic I had been hiding behind the back of my hand since before we walked out of the cave. “I’ll handle the distraction.”
“That’s right,” Lance called in a strong voice. All worry and hesitation were suddenly gone from his face. Now, he stood proudly next to his friends while looking down at us with his usual air of arrogant superiority. “You might have been able to kidnap me and threaten me and hurt me when I was alone. But I have something that neither of you will ever have. True friends. People who would do anything for me because they love me, and not because they’re too scared or too desperate to leave. Friends who would go through hell to save me. Just as I would for them. And against the four of us together, you stand no chance at all.”
Next to me, Callan shifted slightly to get into a better position. I pretended to draw my hand through my hair so that their gazes would be focused on me instead.
A mountain breeze washed over me, bringing with it the scent of metal and warm stone, as I looked up at the four heroes’ faces. Their eyes blazed with conviction. I let a vicious smile slide across my mouth.
“You think you can win with what? The power of friendship?” A mocking laugh spilled from my lips. “You know nothing of power.”
Poison shot across the mountainside.
