Fire and Fantasy: a Limited Edition Collection of Epic and Urban Fantasy Page 30

  “Mom,” I stopped her just as her bottom lip began to quiver. “It’s okay.”

  She didn’t let my words slow her down. “And, you know, I figured you’ll need to buy some stuff once you’re there, so…here.” She reached into her back pocket and shoved an envelope in my direction.

  “What’s this?”

  She gestured for me to take it.

  I did, and when I flipped the top open, I couldn’t believe how much cash was in there. “Mom, I don’t need this…really.”

  “Yes, you do.” She spoke softly, her eyes now brimming with tears.

  “I don’t. I’ll get a job or something while I’m out there. It’s fine.”

  “It’s just to start you off,” she insisted. “You’re going to need to buy a clothes hamper, a trash can, textbooks… There’s just so much to get, and I…I can’t be there with you.” An involuntary sob broke out of her lungs.

  “Oh, Mom.” I leaned over and wrapped her in a hug. “It’s going to be okay. I promise. I’ll still call you. We can video chat. It will be just like if I went to college in Sea Haven.”

  Was that even true? Carson never said anything about not contacting anyone. He just warned me not to mention anything to them. But then…what was the point of sending me away if I could just call someone up and tell them what I knew?

  I wasn’t going to pretend to even try making sense of his madness. From the moment I discovered Tristan on the beach, nothing made sense anymore. The best I could do was play along with their game and hope no one else got sent away because of me. Being exiled from your own home was literally the worst. But I had to do it. I was too frightened of what would happen if I didn’t comply.

  “Yeah, but you won’t be here,” my mother cried.

  “I will be. I’ll always be right here.” I pointed to her heart. It was ridiculously cheesy, but it was what she needed to hear to pull herself back together. “Are you ready to make cookies?”

  Her expression softened, and she smiled in agreement.

  I held in the tears as I hoisted my suitcase off my bed. This all felt like a dream. This can’t be happening. Wake up, Bree. Wake up! It didn’t matter how many times I wished myself out of the situation. My magic didn’t work that way.

  “Are you ready?” my father asked, peeking his head through my open door.

  I glanced around the room one last time. I couldn’t believe I was leaving all this behind. “I guess so,” was the best response I could muster.

  “I can’t believe you’re leaving,” my mom said for the umpteenth time, pulling me into a hug. “Are you sure you got enough cookies?”

  She’d placed practically the whole batch in a gallon-sized plastic bag for me, but I knew that would hardly last the plane ride. I wouldn’t be able to savor her homemade cookies forever.

  “I have enough, Mom,” I told her. “Besides, I can’t fit any more in my backpack.”

  “Okay.” She squeezed me one last time. “I hope you have a lot of fun in college. Be sure to stay in touch.”

  I shot her a reassuring smile. “I will.”

  I didn’t know what would happen from here on out. Would the council somehow prevent me from contacting my family and friends? For good measure, I’d buried my phone and charger in the deepest depths of my suitcase and then slipped my old phone in my pocket as a dummy. It’s not like taking away my phone would stop me, though. My friends and family had Facebook, and at the very least, I’d have access to computers at the college’s library.

  If I make it that far, I thought. I still hadn’t settled on a theory for what they were going to do with me. Was this all really happening, or was it just a ruse for some bigger punishment? The only thing I could do was hope for the best and see what happened. If I didn’t…well, I didn’t want to know the answer to that.

  “Here, let me get that,” my father said, reaching for my suitcase.

  “Bye, Mom.”

  “Bye, sweetie!”

  She stood at the front door and waved goodbye as I followed behind my father toward his car. He loaded the bag into his trunk before crossing to the driver’s side door. I reluctantly slid into the passenger seat.

  “Dad?” I asked once he pulled out of the driveway.

  “Yeah?” His gaze flickered over to me.

  My voice came out soft, so soft I wasn’t sure he heard me. “Am I going to be all right?”

  His face fell, and he reached over to grab my hand. A tight squeeze meant to reassure me didn’t help as much as I would have liked it to. “Of course you’re going to be okay.”

  I swallowed hard, and my voice came out louder this time. “Then why can’t you tell me what’s really going on here? Why won’t anyone be straight with me?”

  “Because, Bree.” He sighed like it was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to say. “I’m not allowed to talk about it.”

  “That’s so unfair!” My outburst felt strange after being so quiet just a moment ago. I softened my tone. “Why can’t you just tell me what’s really going on here? Why can’t anyone just tell me why I’m being punished?”

  “You’re not,” he stated.

  “What?”

  “You’re not being punished.”

  I blinked a few times, absorbing his words. “It sure feels like it.”

  “Look, Bree. I need you to believe me when I say that I can’t tell you anything. I also need you to believe me when I say that you’re going to be okay. This is really what’s best right now. Okay?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and gritted my teeth. “Fine.” I said it like I was okay with it, but I wasn’t. Still, I couldn’t let one last sarcastic comment escape my lips. “Are you sure Carson Ray isn’t just going to drop me out of the plane?”

  My father seemed taken aback, like it was ludicrous to ever suggest such a thing. “Nobody’s going to drop you out of a plane. I mean it. You’re going to be okay.”

  “Yeah, okay,” I said just as he parked in front of City Hall. I made sure he couldn’t miss the sarcasm in my voice. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and slammed the car door behind me. Why did it feel like my father was walking me to my own execution?

  Six

  My father told me to leave my suitcase in the back until the car taking me to the airport showed up. Until then, he’d said, we had to speak with “Mr. Ray.”

  “Ms. Waters.” Carson smiled as my father and I entered his office.

  I didn’t return the gesture.

  An older man with white hair and wrinkles around his eyes stood next to Carson. I recognized him from the clinic, though he’d never been my doctor. He wore a blue button-down shirt, and his hands were stuffed into the pockets of his tan pants.

  “I trust you’re familiar with Dr. Sloan,” Carson said, gesturing to the man, who returned a smile. “We might as well get started right away. Follow me, please.”

  I wondered briefly what we needed a doctor for, but most of my attention focused on my father. I glared at him as Carson passed by us to lead the way. Why are you doing this to me? Why aren’t you standing up for me? Do something, Dad!

  He stared back at me with an apologetic expression on his face. “Please just trust me,” he whispered under his breath before we left the room.

  How many times was he going to say that? It didn’t seem to matter how many times he said it. The truth was, I couldn’t see a scenario where this ended well. The only thing I trusted was that he was saying it in an effort to comfort me. It wasn’t working.

  “I have some questions,” I stated on our way down the hall.

  Carson stopped in front of the elevator and pressed a button. “Ask away, though I can’t promise you’ll get the answer you want.”

  We stepped into the elevator.

  “Will I ever be able to come back?” I held my breath in anticipation of the answer.

  Carson kept his gaze locked ahead as the elevator descended. “We hope you will.”

  I couldn’t stop the next words from flying
out of my mouth. “Then why am I being sent away in the first place?” I quickly snapped my jaw shut. I knew it was incredibly disrespectful, but at this point, what did it matter? What was the worst they could do to me?

  Nobody spoke. The elevator doors opened to reveal a hallway with a concrete floor and cinderblock walls. Several doors with small windows and a different number on each lined the hall.

  Carson stepped out first and sighed. “I don’t expect you to understand, Ms. Waters, and for that, I am truly sorry. Let’s just call it a precaution and leave it at that, okay?”

  Not okay, I almost said, but I held my tongue. Besides, what did he mean by a precaution? Sending me away didn’t ensure my silence. They might as well cut out my tongue and cut off my fingers if they didn’t want me to say anything. But, as I walked down the dark basement hallway and nervously glanced at each passing door, a shiver ran down my spine. I knew fear was enough to shut me up, and I had no doubt they knew that, too.

  I followed behind Carson as he turned to the right where the hall came to a T. My father’s breathing and Dr. Sloan’s footsteps behind me reminded me they were both still there. I glanced into each of the small windows on the doors as we passed, hoping for some indication of where they were taking me. This wasn’t exactly the place for a limo service. But most of the rooms were black inside.

  “Where are we going?” I asked boldly. Immediately, my heart rate spiked, and my hands shook at my sides. I wanted to be brave, but I wasn’t even fooling myself.

  Carson stopped in front of a door where light streamed out through the window. I expected him to turn to it, but instead, he turned to the door across the hall and placed a key into it.

  “Right here, Ms. Waters. We’ll explain as much as we can in a moment.”

  My gaze remained locked on the room with its light on, but I saw nothing but bare walls. Then, just for a moment, I swear a shadow crossed my line of sight. My father placed his hand on my back just then, startling me. He gently led me into the room Carson had just unlocked.

  I didn’t know what I expected to find, but when I stepped inside, it did not look promising. At least in here, the floor was carpeted, but with no windows, poor lighting, and the same cinderblock walls as in the hall, it wasn’t exactly inviting. The room was small as if it had previously been someone’s office. There was another door to our right, though I wasn’t sure if that led to a closet or another room. The only piece of furniture was a red chair with metal legs placed at the center of the room. All it was missing was the spotlight, and I’d say you had yourself an interrogation room.

  “Please, take a seat, Ms. Waters.” Carson gestured to the chair.

  Oh, God. This is an interrogation room. Are they going to torture me? I’d tell them anything if they just asked!

  I shot my father a worried expression. Even though I was still mad at him, he was the closest thing to comfort I had right now. That and the batch of cookies in my backpack, but I didn’t think anyone would be amused if I pulled them out and began nibbling on them.

  My father nodded to tell me it’d be okay. I had no choice but to at least pretend to trust him, so I dropped my backpack to the floor and sat in the chair as I was told. The plastic was cold against my legs.

  “Ms. Waters,” Carson said, “we’re going to explain this the best we can. I realize that you’ll have a lot of questions, so we’ll do our best to answer them. I do ask that you respect the fact that we may not be able to answer them all. Now, I’ve asked your father to be here to oversee the process, and I hope having him here will help keep you relaxed a bit.”

  The process? Relaxed? What, are they going to do surgery on me or something?

  He continued. “Now, this isn’t going to hurt a bit. It can just be a little…scary.”

  Wait. What’s going on? What are they going to do to me? I gripped the seat of my chair so tightly that the plastic began to dig into the skin on my fingers.

  “It’s okay,” my father insisted. He crossed the room and placed a hand on my shoulder to relax me.

  I gazed up at him, begging him to do something. Save me! Help me! Do something!

  “Please just tell me what’s going on!” I blurted. I couldn’t take their mysteriousness any longer. Was it their prime goal to scare me to death? Was that how they were going to dispose of me?

  My father took a deep breath from beside me, and then he knelt to my level as if he was talking to a child, not a full-grown adult. “This is not very common knowledge among people in Sea Haven, but one of the reasons we encourage people not to leave is because you can’t leave Sea Haven with your magic.”

  I spoke slowly, my tone wavering. “But I do have magic. Does that mean…I’m not leaving?” And if I wasn’t leaving, what were they going to do with me?

  “I think you misunderstand,” Carson answered. “Being of magical descent doesn’t mean you can never leave Sea Haven. It just means that you have to give up your magic to leave.”

  “Give up…my magic?”

  “You see,” Carson explained, gesturing to the doctor beside him, “Dr. Sloan is well versed in medicine, but during his studies, he also learned how to harness one’s magic.”

  Harness magic? Was that possible?

  “He’s one of the only people who has mastered the procedure,” Carson continued. “I assure you that he’s very good at what he does. There’s nothing to worry about.”

  Nothing to worry about? Let’s see you sit in this chair, and we’ll harness your magic. Fear stalled me, preventing me from voicing my thoughts.

  Dr. Sloan stepped forward. “I assure you there is nothing to worry about. It’s quite simple. If you’re ready, we can get started.”

  My father stood to cross the room, and as soon as he left my side, I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “No! Please,” I cried. “I want to keep my magic. Please. Send me away. I won’t say anything. I swear. Just please don’t take my magic.”

  Carson’s face dropped. “I’m afraid we have no choice. Dr. Sloan, please continue with the procedure.”

  The doctor reached out for me, but I dodged his hand and slipped under his arm. I reached out for the door. My fingers just barely grazed the metal knob before an arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back.

  “Get off me!” I kicked and flailed my arms with all my strength, but it was to no avail.

  The arms around me tightened, pulling me back to the red plastic chair. Tears streamed down my face. Why had I let them bring me down here? Why didn’t I just run away while I had the chance? I could have slipped out of Sea Haven and hitchhiked my way far across the country where they couldn’t torture me. I didn’t know where I would have started. I’d never been out of Sea Haven before. The one time I did try to run away as a kid after a stupid fight with my parents, I hadn’t made it far. I’d ended up wandering the roads near Liana’s grandparents’ for hours until I stumbled back into town. My parents hadn’t even noticed I’d left my room. If I hadn’t found my way out of Sea Haven then, would I have managed it now?

  “Stop! No!” I cried again, swinging an elbow at my assailant’s face. It connected with a thud just before he dropped me into the chair. I looked up to see who I’d hit. Surprise slammed into me when I found my father’s face staring down at me.

  My father. The man who used to read me a story every night before I fell asleep. The man who’d taught me how to swim and ride a bike. The man who’d watched horror movies with me when I didn’t want to watch them alone. The man I would have once trusted with my life.

  I couldn’t trust him anymore.

  Why aren’t you standing up for me? I wanted to shout. Why aren’t you helping me escape?

  But nothing came out. Only sobs. And tears.

  Before I could make another attempt at an escape, at fighting the three men off, Dr. Sloan’s hand rested on my head. And that’s when the agony hit. He chanted a string of words I didn’t recognize, but I couldn’t focus on it even if I wanted to. Tears slid down my f
ace.

  “Please,” I begged one last time. My voice came out as barely a whisper as all my energy drained from my body.

  Seven

  Council head Carson Ray was a liar. He said it wouldn’t hurt, but it did. It did hurt. It may not have hurt in a physical context, but it was emotionally excruciating. I could feel my magic drain out of me. In some ways, it felt as if the whole building had collapsed on me. No. Not the building. My whole world. Everything I knew fell apart in that moment.

  Dr. Sloan released me. I tried to blink the world into focus, but the tears made that nearly impossible. When I blinked away as much as I could manage, I noticed a small object in Dr. Sloan’s hand. It glowed a bright blue, and I couldn’t tear my eyes off it. Suddenly, my sobs stopped as I stared at the glass object. I straightened in the chair and leaned forward, wanting nothing more than to touch it, than to hold it, than for it to be mine.

  I blinked several more times, and that’s when I realized it was mine. Dr. Sloan held my magic in physical form. It was so beautiful, so mesmerizing. The glow danced and shifted as if my magic was fluid, alive. It was entrancing.

  And then he turned from me, blocking my view of the vial that held my magic.

  Tears sprang to my eyes again. “You can’t do this to me!” I attempted to stand from my chair, but without my magic running through my veins, I couldn’t find my balance, like all my energy had drained from me and my muscles no longer complied to my demands.

  Dr. Sloan exited through the door I’d noticed before. Carson and my father stepped toward me, but I couldn’t bear to look at them. I buried my face in my hands and sobbed into them.