city of dragons 03 - fire magic (24 page)

I stared at Lachlan as if he were insane. “I’m not letting you talk to him alone.”

“Come on, Penny, this is our future we’re talking about. This guy might have the answers that will keep us from getting locked up in Roxbone away from our son, and we have to do this right.”

“What if something happens to you? I need to be there. I have strong magic.”

“It’s not as if I have no magic on my own.”

“You get magic from drinking my blood,” I said.

“Right,” he said. “So, you let me drink your blood before I go in there—”

“I can breathe fire.”

He sighed.

“And if I’m close, we can touch, we can use our blood bond.”

“You are seriously overreacting about this,” he said. “I can take care of myself.”

“I’m not saying you can’t,” I said. “Look, I’ll stay out of sight. I’ll stay further back, away from the cell, so that I can watch, but he can’t see me. But I’m not leaving you all by yourself. I couldn’t handle it if I lost you.”

“All right,” he said. “That works. You’ll be my backup.”

I turned back to the stove and seized a bottle of soy sauce. I began liberally dousing the broccoli and mushrooms. “We’re a team, Lachlan, don’t forget it.”

He was behind me, wrapping his arms around me. “I won’t,” he whispered in my ear.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

When we got to the Order the next day, the doors were locked. We’d never really had to get in without Darla’s being there to greet us right away, so it was a bit strange.

We knocked on the door, but no one came.

Just then, a guy came up from one of the nearby restaurants. He was carrying two bags full of take-out food. “Hey there,” he said. “Door locked?”

We nodded.

He tried both the knobs, but for him—the door opened just fine.

“How’d you do that?” I asked.

“Little trick to it,” he said. “You gotta put your shoulder into it.” He pulled the door shut and demonstrated. “I come here all the time. Usually, I deliver to the front door, but every once and a while, someone meets me at the back door on the other side of the building.”

I had seen that door when we were driving up the other day. It was the only other door to the building I could see.

When we got inside, there was no one in the foyer for a minute.

All three of us walked about four feet into the room, and two men in uniforms like Sid’s came out.

“Stop!” they said.

The delivery guy held up his bags.

“You got food?” said one of the guards. “Go on through.”

The other guard turned to us. “And you?”

“Uh, we’re—”

“I recognize them,” said the other guard. “Darla vouches for them.”

“Oh, good,” said the first guard. “Go on ahead, then.”

We went directly to the wing where Caleb was being kept.

Sid was there, sitting at his post, which was a desk with a series of dials and switches that controlled different aspects of the cells. They were all controlled by magic, which explained why they looked like they’d been created in the 1800s. Truth was, knowing how old the Order was, they probably had.

“We need to talk to Caleb again,” said Lachlan.

Sid shook his head. “Can’t let you do that.”

“What?” I said. “Why not?”

“Darla said that she doesn’t think it’s safe for you to have any more contact with Caleb,” said Sid. He looked at me. “She’s especially concerned about your well-being, since you’re pregnant.”

“We’ll be fine,” I said. “I have magic.”

“Well, magic doesn’t work inside the cells,” said Sid. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter if you would be okay or not. I’ve got orders from Darla.”

“We’re not going inside the cell,” said Lachlan. “It’ll be just like last time. We’ll talk to him outside, through the bars.”

“Like I said, I have my orders,” said Sid.

Lachlan glared at him. “Come on, Sid. Darla doesn’t have to know. Why don’t you go and take a break for a few minutes, and pretend you never saw us?”

Sid furrowed his brow. “I can’t do that.”

“Caleb might have very important information for us,” said Lachlan. “Information that we need to clear our names.”

Sid looked unsure. “Darla said—”

“We’re going to have a baby,” said Lachlan, “and unless we figure out who actually killed Alastair Cooper, we’re both going to jail for the rest of our lives. Our son will be left without his parents. We can’t let that happen. Please, Sid?”

Sid squeezed his eyes shut. “How long do you need?”

“Thank you,” said Lachlan.

“Yes, thank you, Sid,” I said.

“We only need fifteen minutes or so,” said Lachlan.

“All right,” said Sid. “I don’t take breaks, but I can say that I got a false alarm for help with another cell block.” He pointed at a red light at the top of his desk. “Thing flashes all the time when it’s not supposed to. Magic’s buggy.”

“Thank you,” Lachlan said again.

Sid started for the door. “Fifteen minutes. I never saw you.”

“Fifteen minutes,” said Lachlan.

Sid disappeared through the door.

Lachlan turned to me, eyebrows raised. “Let’s do this.”

I nodded.

Lachlan went first, and I followed a few paces back. After all, we were trying to convince Caleb that Lachlan was alone, so I didn’t want Caleb to be able to see me.

When we got closer, I stopped, sticking to the shadows, while Lachlan approached.

I could see Caleb’s cell and Lachlan standing in front of it, but I was too shadowed for Caleb to see me.

Lachlan stopped in front of the cell and stared inside, hands in his pockets. He looked casual, as if he was waiting for a bus or something.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Caleb wasn’t visible from my view of the cell. He was further back somewhere. He probably hadn’t seen Lachlan yet.

Lachlan didn’t make his presence known. He simply waited.

“Lachlan!” came the cheerful voice of Caleb. “You’re back.”

“Couldn’t stay away,” said Lachlan, giving Caleb a knowing grin.

Caleb sauntered into view. “Now, you’re teasing me.”

“I’m here to make a deal,” said Lachlan. “You said that you’d tell me what you knew about Alastair Cooper’s death if I did something in return for you. What do you want?”

Caleb raised his eyebrows. “You wouldn’t do what I want, I don’t think.”

“Why’s that?” Lachlan lowered his voice. “Isn’t it… decent?”

Caleb snickered. “You’re a very naughty man, Lachlan.” He stepped forward, all the way up to the bars. He gripped them and took Lachlan in greedily, gazing at every inch of his body. “A beautiful, naughty man. And I don’t trust you.”

“Well, I don’t trust you either,” said Lachlan. “I’ve been assured that you’re lying to me, that you’re just going to use me for your own little sick games.”

Caleb laughed softly. “I wouldn’t mind playing with you, Lachlan, I’ll admit that.”

Lachlan took a step closer. “What’s the deal, Caleb? What do you want from me?”

Caleb dragged his top teeth over his bottom lip.

Lachlan lifted his chin. He licked his lips.

Caleb swallowed visibly, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Come inside the cell with me.” He was breathless.

“You know I can’t do that,” said Lachlan. “The cell is locked.”

“You have magic, right?” said Caleb. “Open it. You can manipulate the catch easily enough.” He pointed.

Lachlan looked up at the catch to the door.

It couldn’t be that easy to open the cells, could it? If it was, then why were we bothering with this? It was easy enough to understand how all this went down. Alastair’s magic hadn’t been completely drained. He’d been too powerful. So, he’d used his magic to open the cell and escaped. It was that simple. We didn’t need Caleb at all, and he was obviously lying about everything.

I really didn’t like the way Caleb was looking at Lachlan.

Not only because I felt fairly possessive of Lachlan, but because there was malevolence there. Caleb desired Lachlan, but he was also keen on hurting him. That made me feel itchy.

Lachlan gestured at the cell door, and it opened. A visible spark of bright magic went through the bars, lighting them up for a moment. The air crackled.

No. What was he doing?

I rushed forward, but Lachlan was already through the door, blocking Caleb, who’d run toward the opening.

Lachlan pushed the door closed behind himself. The locked clicked back into place.

I stood in front of the bars, my heart in my throat.

Caleb saw me. “Well, well, what have we here?”

My toes curled. “Lachlan, get out of there.”

Lachlan waved me away. “Forget about her, Caleb,” he said, his voice rich and intense as he focused on the other man. “I’m here. Right
here
. Let’s make a deal.”

Caleb reached out and grabbed Lachlan by the throat.

Lachlan thrust out one hand, trying to use magic to force Caleb off him, but nothing happened.

Sid had said that magic didn’t work inside the cells!

I let out a little cry of dismay, and I threw power at the cell, aiming for Caleb’s head.

The magic hit the bars and the bars lit up again, sparks flying.

Caleb chuckled.

Lachlan struggled.

“What’s the deal?” Caleb whispered. “Oh, I don’t know, Lachlan. What did you have in mind? You think I’d trade important information for a cheap thrill? You think all I want is to look at your body, to touch your body? Or would you have offered to touch mine?”

Lachlan aimed a kick at Caleb, catching him in the upper thigh. A miss, I thought. He had been going for the groin.

Caleb let out a yelp. He let go of Lachlan for a second. “That hurt,” he said through clenched teeth.

Lachlan reached back for the door, trying to use magic on the catch again. It wouldn’t budge. “Penny!” he yelled.

I tried it too. But my magic just hit the bars and sparked them up again. The bars glowed orange.

Caleb laughed again. “Once magic hits the bars, it charges them up. That’s how they get the jolts.” He shoved Lachlan back into the bars.

The bars came to life again, sparking and glowing.

Lachlan screamed as his body convulsed against them.

“Stop it!” I cried. “Stop it, don’t hurt him!”

“I want out,” said Caleb over Lachlan’s yells. “If you want to know what happened to Alastair Cooper, you will get me out of this cell.”

I pulled air into my lungs, gathering up my fire magic. I breathed out a wall of fire, sending it straight for the bars, but when it hit them, it only seemed to strengthen the magic in them. They glowed bright red, and Lachlan writhed and shrieked and sparks flew.

And then Lachlan stopped making noise.

His body was still jerking against the bars, but he was unconscious, and he wasn’t aware of what was happening.

“Help!” I yelled, but Sid was gone, he’d left us all alone, and now it was up to me.

I ran to the bars, reached through them to touch Lachlan.

But the bars touched my arm, and a jolt of horrid pain went through me.

I jerked back, my hand going to my stomach. The baby!

Caleb grinned at me. “Let me out.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to do that?” I said. “I can’t open the cell.”

He shrugged. “You could figure out something, I suppose.”

I turned and looked around at my surroundings. Could I use magic to pick something up, something huge, and throw it at the bars at full speed? Then I could knock in the bars and free Lachlan. I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let Caleb go free, though. I would wring his neck.

Lachlan was still jerking against the bars.

“Let him off them!” I said. “I’m not doing anything until you let him off.”

Caleb gingerly reached forward, but the minute he touched Lachlan, a jolt went through him. He stepped back, shrugging. “Sorry.”

I let out a cry—mingled rage and fear. “Is he okay?”

Caleb shrugged again. “I don’t know. I’ve never been jolted for that long before.”

Oh, God, oh, God. There had to be something that I could do.

I looked around again, but all I could see was the empty cell that used to contain Alastair. I waved my hand at that door, and the catch opened, the cell door swinging inward. The bars on his cell glowed and sparked as well. Using magic did charge them up somehow.

I pointed at the bed inside Alastair’s cell, tried to make it float through the air. Maybe I could use it to break down the bars.

The bed didn’t move. Right. Magic didn’t work inside the cells. I could go and try to drag the bed out…

But no. I could see that it was bolted to the floor.

I let out a mangled sob.

I went running out of the room, back to Sid’s station. I threw myself behind the desk and began turning knobs and flicking switches.

“Penny?” said a voice.

I looked up. Darla was in the doorway.

CHAPTER THIRTY

“I told you to stay away from Caleb, didn’t I?” said Darla, as she rushed past me.

I came out from behind the desk and went after her. “We had to know if he had information. Lachlan said it was too important to let it go.”

She came to a halt in front of the cell. “Oh, dear.”

“Lachlan opened the door with magic, but then the bars seemed to get charged with magic and—”

“Yes, yes, I know,” she sighed. “Listen, Lachlan, you’re best to just get down now. Stop trying to stay up. If you get up, it means you want more.”

“He can’t get up!” I said. “He’s unconscious.” And why had she said
that
? That was word for word something that Alastair always said to me when he was beating the shit out of me.

“Unconscious?” said Darla. “Oh, dear.”

“Can you help him?” I said. Tears were starting to stream down my face.

She turned on me. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”

Caleb started to laugh.