The Rise of Ren Crown (20 page)

“She will get no access to me as long as you do not introduce us.”

“How did the dorm head—”

“He has access to a muse. Bellacia Bailey would never stoop so low.” Neph smiled thinly.

“But all of the people I introduce you to don't have access to you.”

Her smile strained. “Oh.” She dropped her gaze. “You
didn't
know.”

“Hey, it's okay,” I said, reaching out. “Do I need to?”

“Every time you widen our circle—
my
circle—you share my specific abilities with the others. Abilities that they don't get from a passing muse or the community. They can draw on me, diluting it from you.”

“Wait.” My voice rose in pitch. “You are subservient to all of us? We can basically
leech
you?”

“No.” She looked at me carefully. “Not with how you defined our relationship. I get to choose. The muse has the choice in what to give and to whom.”

Relief made me sag. “Oh. That sounds okay, then. Right?”

“No. It means that you get none of the benefit, should I decide to place my affections elsewhere.” She reached out and gripped my arm fiercely. “Which I would
never
do.”

“Um. You...could?”

I was completely out of my depth on this. I really should have read all of those muse books that Delia—who was now looking at me darkly, stabbing one thread blindly through another—was always surreptitiously suggesting. But I hadn't wanted to read any of that magicist crap.

Neph smiled. “Will does rather well these days, all things considered. And you...you connect better with the people you accept into your circle more than anyone I know. You share your magic, and create circuits that rejuvenate all who you take into your group. That is powerful Community Magic.”

And something that I'd had no idea I was doing. Or at least not understanding that it was anything out of the ordinary.

“Community Magic is something that many mages accept—it's in all aspects of this campus—but that many have trouble trusting in their own circles. Mages are...not to be trusted, in a lot of cases. When power can be transferred so easily between people, it makes it easy to....abuse.”

Delia cleared her throat. “Back to
Bellacia Bailey
being Ren's new roommate?”

“I have twelve hours with her a day,” I said, trying to keep my voice upbeat. “If I spend eight of those at night, that should be no problem, right?”

“She can do a lot in twelve hours,” Will pointed out, free of his whammy again.

“Which is why Neph gave me something awesome.”

Neph smiled, though she cast a nervous glance at the others.

“Like Leandred's
awesome
gift?” Delia asked darkly. She had seen the clicker in action the day I'd used it.

“No. We aren't allowed to harm mages without explicit orders,” Neph said quickly. “It's a protection only.”

“Explicit orders?” Delia's lips were pressed together, and she jabbed a thread through a hole.

“The scarab doesn't do anything to anyone,” I interrupted quickly, seeing the way the conversation was headed. “It just prevents Bellacia from manipulating me.”

“A scarab?” Will said, voice nearly a whisper.

Neph straightened the hem of her decorative blouse. “I...requested it from the elders during the meeting earlier.”

“And it works great. Thanks, Neph,” I said, wanting to ease whatever was making her nervous. I touched my pocket, smiling.

But Will was looking at Neph through narrowed eyes. “A scarab? What did you have to—?”

“Nothing that I was not willing to—”

“But
what
—”

Whammy number two was deployed, leaving Will incongruously grinning in a silly fashion.

I withdrew the scarab and examined it more closely. It was pretty, and I couldn't see anything leechy about it, but that didn't mean that I would
use
it again if it was. “Neph?”

She sighed. Having moved to get Will again, she was too far away to whammy me too, and Mike was crossing his arms now. “Godfrey almost...you can't be vulnerable like that, Ren. It required some sacrifices to be made in my community standing, but it is
done
, and if you don't
use
it Ren, we will all suffer and that sacrifice will have been in vain. Do you understand?”

Sacrifices? I clutched it in my hand. “That you play hardball? Yes.”

Her expression softened and something pained appeared there. “You must allow us to shoulder some of your burdens.”

A cleared throat made me look to the side.

Delia's gaze was narrowed and skittish. Anything having to do with Bellacia Bailey or muses had always made her uncomfortable—combining both in one conversation was probably more than she could stand.

“I can't do anything for you tonight,” Delia said reluctantly. “But give me until tomorrow. I might have some things for you to use with Bailey...in conversational combat, if needed.”

“Delia,” I said gently. “You don't need to—”

“I won't hex you like Bau to make you shut up, but you aren't going to change my mind about helping.”

“You're already helping,” I said, touching her connection point on my wrist.

Delia's fingers were shaking as she started threading again. “When's the food coming?”

“Soon,” Mike said, squeezing her shoulder.

“So, um, what's the plan tonight?” Will asked, looking for a redirect. “With Axer Dare.”

Everyone looked at me, wanting to know the answer.

I shared the little he and I had discussed, and what we'd been sending back and forth through cryptic messages. We'd hooked up a few members of our two groups—and that seemed to be going as well as it could with Loudon freaking out over “going respectable” and “working with shiving
combat
mages.”

The food finally arrived and we went over some plans for the scarf while eating. Delia was integral in the plans—having made the scarves with Lifen.

Throughout, Neph sent comforting vibes through all access points. But toward the end of dinner, Will was frowning. He and Mike exchanged a glance, and Mike nodded.

“Listen, Ren,” Mike said, turning to me. “We know you work well together and trust him, but it is our duty since Olivia is...not here...to be suspicious of his motivations. Why is Axer Dare leaving the Magiaduct tonight?”

“To help?”

“He's skipping
essential
rest for the All-Layer Combat Competition—the premiere event for every university in the magical world, the only thing that gives him any challenge, and the event that he is, or
was
, likely going to win—in order to court incarceration and ruin by exiting the Magiaduct tonight? Running afoul of the men who want nothing more than to have him under their thumbs?”

“Er, when you put it that way it sounds sketchier.”

“Yes,” Will said baldly, taking over. “If the person taken was one of the combat mages, then it would be a non-issue.” He splayed his fingers. “They wouldn't rest until their comrade was found. That's what they do. But he doesn't know Olivia personally at all.”

“Maybe I'm one of his people?”

Will looked skeptical. “They've been fighting together—life and death—for years.”

“Well, I'm going after Olivia, and I've only known her for two terms,” I said aggressively.

“Yes,” Will said anxiously, expression edging to panic. “And we are going to do the same. You don't have to be fighting together for years to make bonds. You are right.”

My shoulders slumped. They were posing questions for all the right reasons. And playing Olivia's role as Devil’s Advocate, a role to which Will wasn't suited. “No, you are right to put forth an argument. I'm sorry I snapped. I just don't know. I can't do this on my own—a truth I've painfully accepted. And he is coming whether I want him to or not. Is there harm in having him along?”

“Well, your odds of survival greatly increase,” Will said frankly, anxiety erased with my reassurance, like so many things were in Will's accepting nature. “Like tripled or quadrupled. But...if you get caught
together
...”

“Why is together worse?”

Delia broke in, obviously irritated. “Do you know what a Bridge Mage could do on a battlefield? A
warrior
Bridge Mage? A combat mage already as gifted as Axer Dare?”

I imagined it. Dare standing in the middle of a melee. Magic flying in arced beams directly into and out of his control. Freezing his opponents in place—with them unable to do anything. Magic seeping into him from all directions, refreshing him and draining his opponents. A battlefield full of puppets. Or batteries. Unlimited control.

“Huh. Yeah. Okay.”

Delia leaned forward. “Now imagine a mage capable of manipulating the fabric of the reality that we exist inside—the worlds that were created for us to populate and live within—and imagine that mage under the
direct
control of the mage who could control
everyone
around him if he releases his powers—what could a mage like that do with the world and all its inhabitants under his direct control?”

I swallowed. “I guess it's a good thing he's not a Bridge Mage,” I said lightly.

Delia's brows drew tight. “Whether he is or isn't—they've been trying to pin him for years. And, I saw Kaine's expression, heard his words.
They
believe. And they saw a link between you. Any government would want the power of you both under their control. You, you are
specifically
what the Department was created for. They exist above, separated from all governments, in order to secure layer safety. They cannot
allow
such powerful mages to be free of their control.”

My heart was beating double time.

“Pretty sure Dare's actively seeking to make sure neither of us get caught.” Top Circle had made that pretty clear. Not that I could tell any of them about the vine. I rubbed the side of my curled finger over my mouth.

“You can't get caught, Ren,” Mike said, expression dead serious. “If you do, that little incident on Top Circle will look like a toddler's warm-up in comparison to what will happen.”

“You'll drop your student status, Kaine will grab you, and you'll disappear.” Magic appeared in Will's hand, then he fisted it closed. When he opened his fingers, there was only air.

Disappear like Raphael...maybe only escaping when I was just as insane...

“Understood,” I said.

Will leaned forward. “You have to be quick about getting out, then getting back. I mean, not even
five seconds
can pass after you reach the time limit, Ren.”

“Understood.”

“They are professional kidnappers.”

“I got it, Will.”

“They will have nets.”

“And pickling jars, yes.”

“Ren—”

“Will!” I grabbed his shoulder. “I'm trying
not
to freak out.”

“Okay, okay.” He grabbed my hands and took a deep breath. “Me too.”

“Where's dessert?” Delia said. Her fingers were shaking too hard to make the knot she was trying to form.

Mike jumped on the subject change. “Got some.”

After eating some hastily obtained chocolate, more planning, helping Delia work her magic, talking to the other delinquents via our new communication stream, and some silent bonding, I reluctantly re-packed my things. I touched my new memorial armband. Between Lifen and Delia, we all had them now—it had been the most popular memorial piece decided upon across campus. The little metal mountain plaques securing them glinted in the room's lights.

Currently, ours only had an extra auditory feed. We would hook more spells in tomorrow.

No one said anything about these not having the leeching capability of the scarves—a feature only Olivia and I had been aware of until the assault on campus had begun.

Neph touched mine. “It will be fine. Everything will be fine.”

The problem was, I could see no one really believed that.

Chapter Fourteen: In Memory of the Fallen

Tendrils of magic arced up and away from the Magiaduct then pulled sharply back to curve into the stones at the top of the structure, swiftly traveling through the stone arches that decorated all nine levels of the Magiaduct before shooting down into the base of the superstructure.

On the side of Top Track that faced the upper slope of the mountain, the same light show was playing, encompassing the entire giant stone doughnut of rock and light, impaling it with the combined Community Magic of fifteen thousand students.

Everywhere I looked, students had memorial bands wrapped around their arms, wrists, or necks. The silver plaque on top had an imprint of the outline of the mountain, and magic zipped around it. The magic could be set in different ways—most bands had a scrolling feed of magic on the outer edge with the names of each victim in that mage's signature color. Each name completed a circuit, then morphed into a new name.

Eight-hundred-and-thirty-two students had died. Twenty-six hadn't been revived in time.

Those twenty-six names were as etched in my memory now as they were etching the edges of the plaques.

Some mages had chosen to display only the flashing colors around the edges. And still others eschewed the individual remembrances and just had a single silver font that wrapped the plaque.
Excelsine United
.

The intricately wound knitted threads of the bands were as individual as the mages wearing them, but the aesthetics were secondary to the main design, which was unified across every one.

Like the Lightning Festival—a New Year's Eve remembrance for all things—the tone of the vigil was serious. Unlike the Festival's more cathartic expressions, though, most here were pinched and drawn—the pain too raw.

Down a ways, a number of people were standing on the outside edges of the stone barriers that bordered both sides of the track. My breath caught as I looked at their feet. Familiar paper roses were dotted between them. Three were mine, while the others were channeling magic that felt intensely similar—a copy of the feeling that I'd imbued in their threads.

What did that mean?

The mages were arcing magic to each other, then back again, spreading a canopy of aqua light over the section of track between the two small groups. I didn't know what the magic was doing, but from the expressions on the people who passed underneath, it was something lovely and peaceful. A number of people turned for a second pass.