Page 27 of The Tribes of Magic (Paragons #3)

FIRE AND FURY

A fter my fantastic display of out-of-control magic, Eris decided I’d had enough practice for one day. She banished—er, gently nudged—me away from the swamp, sending me deep into the woods to work by myself. Translation: she didn’t want to give me a chance to drown everyone again.

So here I was in this charming, overgrown forest, building a fence using nothing but my magic and fallen tree branches.

I hadn’t mastered enchantment or water magic yet, but I did know how to hum.

I could lift, shape, arrange, and set all the wood pieces of the fence with nothing but the power of my voice.

It was actually pretty cool—and a lot of fun.

“That is very impressive.”

I jumped in surprise. Several of my branches shot toward the new arrival.

They plunged into the earth in a neat circle around him, trapping him inside.

I moved in for a closer look at my unintentional prisoner.

It was a young man in his early 20s with messy sandy-blond hair, dressed in a Fixer jumpsuit.

His sleeves were rolled up, exposing thick, suntanned arms, and his face was smudged with dirt.

He looked through the wood bars, meeting my eyes. “Whoa.”

“Sorry about that. You surprised me.”

I hummed a few notes to dismiss the wood wall, reshaping the pieces to connect them to my growing fence. The man took a few steps toward me, slow, tentative…and tired? I gave him a quick, visual once-over, and sure enough, there were dark circles under his eyes.

He was assessing me too. “You’re very powerful for an Apprentice.”

I brushed the dust and dirt off my shirt and shorts, then wiped the sweat from my brow.

Black wouldn’t have been my first choice in this weather, but Apprentices didn’t get to pick what we wore.

All our uniforms were black. Between the various Tribes of Magic, I guess all the other colors were already taken.

“I’m not like other Apprentices.” I sighed.

“I can see that,” he said, amused. “You’re Savannah Winters, aren’t you?”

“You’ve heard of me?”

“Of course. Hasn’t everyone?”

I winced.

He didn’t seem to notice. “I’m Brett.” He offered me his hand.

When I shook it, I couldn’t help but notice how warm his skin was. “Brett? As in, Brett Ashbridge?”

“You’ve heard of me? How?”

“From your grandmother. She asked me to find you.”

“My grandmother…”

“Yes. Is something wrong?”

“Savannah, both my grandmothers have been dead for years.”

“Wait, what?” I frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Quite sure.”

“So who’s the woman who asked me to find you?”

“I have no idea.”

“She’s about my height, in her early 60s, with long white hair drawn up into a bun. Oh, and she has a long, thin scar all the way down one side of her neck.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know who that is.”

Weird. I believed Brett when he said he didn’t know who the woman was who’d claimed to be his grandmother. But then who was she? How did she know Brett? And why did she want to find him? I needed more information.

“You’re a Fixer, right?” I asked Brett.

“I was.”

“Was?”

“I’m…in hiding.”

“Why?”

“Oh, you know, the usual. Bad people are hunting me. And if they find me, they’ll kill me.” He tried to pull off an easy shrug, but he was way too nervous for that. It wasn’t just his hands that were shaking. His whole body was shaking.

“Who are these people?” I asked him. “And why are they trying to kill you?”

“I know things. A secret they don’t want to get out.”

“What secret?”

“I’m on one of the teams charged with fixing up the Park to make it suitable for people to live here.

Every day since the Knights reclaimed the district, we’ve received numerous supply shipments.

Three shipments during the day with tools and materials to complete our repairs.

And one secret shipment in the middle of the night, long after we’d all gone home for the day.

The nightly shipments are not on the inventory list. I only noticed what was going on because I left my ID at the Park one day.

You know how dangerous it is to go around without an ID, especially if the Watchers stop you on the street.

So when I noticed my ID was gone, I rushed back here to find it.

And that’s when I saw the delivery truck.

There were four guys. They were unloading supply crates into the warehouse at the northeast corner of the Park. ”

“Someone is sneaking supplies into the Park?” I asked. “Why?”

“They’re not sneaking supplies into the Park. They’re unloading supplies into the warehouse, but by the time morning comes around and we show up for work for the day, the supplies are gone.”

“So someone picks them up sometime in between,” I said. “What kind of supplies are they?”

“I don’t know. I only saw the crates from a distance. I watched the men unload them into the warehouse. I was too scared to move in closer. All I know is the crates all had the official Government stamp, just like all the other crates we get.”

“Someone is redirecting Government supplies?” I said in surprise. “But who? And why?”

“Actually, it’s more complicated than that. They aren’t stealing supplies from the Government. They’re giving them to the Government.”

“Do tell.”

“A few nights ago, I finally built up the courage to sneak in for a closer look. I overheard the men talking as they were loading up the truck. They’re freelancers hired by the Government. And they’re delivering these mystery supplies to a Government facility.”

“Weird. What else did you find out?”

“Nothing. I didn’t make it any closer. The men heard me, and I made a run for it.

I’ve been hiding in the Park ever since.

I know they’ve sent search parties to look for me, but there are Knights and other people here during the day, so they can only hunt me at night, when no one else is here.

That alone tells me they’re doing something shady.

I guess they don’t want to risk crossing paths with a Knight. ”

“However, we have no problem dealing with an Apprentice.”

Two men dressed in plain black uniforms were coming toward us.

My first thought was Brothers, like the ones I’d seen at the compound in the Park about a week ago, but these men looked more like hardened, work-for-hire mercenaries than magic-hating cultists.

In fact, they were hardly paying me any attention.

Their focus was on Brett. He was their target.

He was the one they’d been sent to find.

I was nothing. At best, I was an insignificant bystander.

At worst, I was an inconvenient nuisance to dispose of so they could get on with their business.

Brett cried out in distress. Then he scuttled back, hiding himself behind me. I was not a very good hiding spot. Brett had over a head of height on me, and he was a great deal wider than me too. It was like trying to hide a marshmallow behind a toothpick.

One of the mercenaries laughed in amusement. “There’s nowhere to hide, Ashbridge. And you can’t outrun us. Make it easy on yourself and surrender.”

“No!” Brett managed to get out a single shout before crouching back down behind me, teeth clattering.

The mercenaries weren’t impressed by his human shield. They rushed me, moving fast. I hummed loudly. A pile of loose sticks, each at least two meters long, rose into the air and shot forward. They sank into the ground hard, forming a jagged barrier between me and the assailants.

I grunted in surprise. Arms locked around my body from behind, pinning my own arms to my sides. I jerked, craning my neck to look back. Two more mercenaries had joined the fight. One of them was holding me still. The other was dragging Brett away.

Brett’s body was limp. His eyes were open, so they hadn’t knocked him unconscious. He was just scared. Too scared to move. They’d shown him what happened when he resisted. Blood dripped from his nose, streaming down the side of his face.

I struggled against the man holding me. “Let me go!”

I stomped on his foot. He grunted, but his arms held steady.

I squiggled and squirmed. My body was wet with sweat, so I slid a little against his arms, enough to aim my foot at his shin.

That got a stronger reaction. The man swore.

I kicked him again, then I slammed my head back, hard against his face. Something cracked.

The mercenary swore some more. He threw me to the ground. I scrambled, flipping over so my back wasn’t to him. Steel sang as he drew a knife as long as his forearm. No, not a knife, I realized as I stared up at him. A dagger.

He pointed it at me. “I was going to let you go before, little Apprentice.” He wiped his hand under his bloody nose. “No longer.”

“I don’t believe you! You were never going to let me go!”

I was a witness. I’d heard Brett’s story. I didn’t know much about what shady, illegal things these people were up to, but I knew something. And something was already too much.

The mercenary’s crooked smile was all the confirmation I needed. They planned to silence me—for good. Unless I stopped them.

Keeping my eyes on my assailant, I reached back until my fingers found a stick.

Thankfully, the ground here was littered with them.

The man bent over, grabbing me roughly. My fist closed firmly around my stick, and I swung out, whacking him in the head.

He stumbled back a step, grunting, but he didn’t let go of me. I wound up for another strike.

This time, he was ready for me. He caught my stick mid-swing. Stubbled spikes, the remains of branches that had broken off, sliced into my palm when he ripped the stick from my grasp. I cried out, cradling my bleeding hand.

“It serves you right.”

Anger consumed me, so hot and potent, it overpowered the pain. I started humming again, and this time my song wasn’t soft and melodic. It wasn’t peaceful and harmonious, as the Nymphs taught us to be. It was pure fire. Literally. Branches rose from the ground, flames dancing across them.

The man released me. He stepped back, his hands in the air, his eyes fixed on the swarm of floating, flaming branches. “Now, now, young lady. There’s no need for violence.”

Laughter burst out of my lips, which felt wet. I brushed my hand across them, and it came back tinged with crimson. I must have bitten my lip when he threw me down.

“No need for violence?” I laughed again. “You attacked me. You kidnapped an innocent man.”

“He’s not innocent.”

The flames on my branches flashed hotter, crackled louder.

The mercenary retreated another step. “I’m sure we can come to some kind of arrangement.”

His eyes were firmly fixed to my arsenal of fire sticks. I didn’t think he’d try anything else, and I was right. He didn’t make a move against me.

His colleague did. I felt a solid whack to the back of my head—and then my body hitting the ground. The world went black.