The Rise of Ren Crown (6 page)

I'd bet anything the speaker was a student who had been penned under the Magiaduct dome during the battle.

“You will not be alone, and the eyes of the entire Second Layer security forces will be upon you,” Johnson said, with a forced smile. I could see magic scrolling around him and wondered just how many mental communications he was currently fielding. “Understand, you are all potential witnesses, and we are unable to release anyone until every person has been questioned and every nook and cranny checked. There will be no better security anywhere in the Second Layer. Five countries and the Department are contributing resources, and will be working together in groups that will contain a member from each country and one from the Department. Eighty heterogeneous squads will be manning both sides of the Magiaduct.”

The “heterogeneous group” part seemed to settle a number of people. It appeared that no one trusted any one group on their own.

“At Gemini Rising, every student will be sealed into the Magiaduct under a lockdown witness enchantment. No exceptions. Assignments for where you will be in the hour leading up to it have been sent through frequency and feed and will be closely monitored. The penalty for any mage failing to abide by this edict will be expulsion from this campus, and detainment by the Department. Families are lined up in the Visiting Center, and each student will be able to speak to their family there. Select groups have been called for mandatory assembly.”

Silence met the pronouncement.

“As long as the sweep goes well, classes will recommence on Monday. Indication will be given as to how that will occur.”

Classes?
I numbly stared at Johnson's back as he turned.
Who could think about classes?

Marsgrove cast a loaded glance down at me. It was as much a threat as any he'd ever issued to me.
Don't even think about going anywhere except the Magiaduct
that look said, clearer than if he had spoken the words.

Johnson, Marsgrove, Stavros, and Kaine turned and strode into the Administration Building. Not that I fully trusted my eyes on such disappearances anymore. Other staff members were speaking to smaller sections of the crowd but I wasn't listening to what they were saying.

A crackle of magic echoed, and the hold on the field disappeared—the pen now extending out to include the Visiting Center and an arch to the Magiaduct.

Numbly, I registered the presence of my friends pushing in around me. The crowd lingered around us and I could feel gazes, like a thousand jellyfish stings, but I was too mind-benumbed to care. Then suddenly, everyone was moving.

Dare and the rest of the combat mages disappeared into the surging crowd that was pushing in multiple directions—some toward the Visiting Center, some toward the Magiaduct—while others stood as immobile objects in an otherwise flowing river.

I pulled Olivia's scarf from my back pocket and stared down at it. I pulled it against my chest.

“I need to check on Constantine.” My voice sounded far away.

Will surrounded us with some sort of privacy field, and Neph slipped her hand under my elbow. I could feel her magic trying to comfort me, trying to navigate the tangled paths with a gentle hand instead of the machete that would likely be necessary.

“Are you okay?” Will asked.

Neph made a strangled noise as she traced the damage to my magic and body. “You need to go to Medical.”

“Yes. I need to find Constantine.”

Will shook his head, his gaze anxious, fingers gripping the device he had used to shut out the rest of Top Campus momentarily. “They won't let you see him. Not yet, not with the extent of his damage. I saw him.” Will shuddered. “He's almost definitely in a healing coma right now.”

I looked to Neph, who nodded.

“They won't let anyone into a room when a healing coma is in place,” she said, her voice soothing. “Not even a muse for her charge, unless she has an advanced therapeutic degree. The regulation of the magic is too delicate. Slight changes can prevent things from healing correctly. The medical staff creates the healing environment, then vacates until the coma is broken. No one is allowed to enter except the mage who directly created the environment.”

I needed to study up more on Healing Magic. Neph had been fielding that aspect for the group for the last term.

“I can—”

“They won't let you in now, Ren,” Mike said. He was checking something by frequency; I could see the telltale signs. He looked at me and there was a tangled mixture of emotion in his gaze. Determination. Fondness. Pity. He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Wait for the coma to lift, then see if you can sneak in.”

I nodded blankly, not even trying to prevaricate that I would be sneaking.

“Are we really not going to address the topic of Leandred and what we heard through the scarves?” Delia demanded, hands on hips, eyeliner thickly drawn and sharply pointed at the creases of her eyes.

Mike put an arm around her shoulders and steered Delia toward the Visiting Center. “We will see you all in an hour,” he said over his shoulder. He exchanged speaking glances with Will and Neph, then shot me a supportive one. “Try to rest.”

I could see Delia arguing with him as they strode toward where their families waited to see them. I thought I heard him say, “It will keep her here,” but I couldn't be sure.

Will released the privacy field. It was always a risk to believe in privacy when there were so many mages around campus who either enjoyed breaking the rules or thought that they were advancing the judicial capabilities. The field was usually good for a minute or two of actual privacy, though. A good thing, when I usually cared.

“You can't leave while I'm gone,” Will blurted out.

I blinked at him.

He fiddled with the skin behind his ear, clearly distressed. “My family is waiting and it will be really bad if I don't show. Stay in your room?”

I studied him for a long moment with sudden understanding. “You all think I'm going to leave.”

“Yes.”

I smiled tightly. “I can't.” I could barely call up a spark of magic. Nothing was getting in or out. And with whatever the Administration Magic was now doing… I knew Marsgrove. There would be something specifically in there to keep me on campus. I needed far more juice in my veins before I'd even be able to try.

I tried not to be upset at the relief that splayed across Will's face. I
needed
to find Olivia.

Neph's grip tightened.

“I know. I get it.” And I did. It would be stupid for me, even with full capabilities, to go haring off after Olivia with Raphael sitting in wait.

Raphael was waiting for me, right now. He at full strength, and me at a tenth. And he held my roommate's life in his hands.

I rubbed a hand over my face. “Go. I'll be here when you get back.”

Will nodded, then grabbed me and pulled me against his chest. We collided awkwardly, but then it was all tightly gripping octopus arms and strained magic. I wanted to sob into the embrace. The lingering comfort of Christian still lived in Will. And even without his connection to my deceased brother, I loved Will for who he was—in his own right.

I gripped him tightly, and Neph's soothing hands wrapped around us.

Someone touched my shoulder and I looked up to see Asafa behind Will, with Patrick a few steps behind him. Both made eye contact with me. Saf squeezed my shoulder, not intruding on the moment, but making it obvious that he had something important to say.

“Activate the silencing spell on the plan and scarves as soon as possible, Crown,” Saf murmured. “For the safety of everyone.”

He gave my shoulder another squeeze then retreated to join Patrick. Patrick nodded at us, his eyes glittering with unhealthy emotion. Then they turned and headed toward the Visiting Center with the vast majority of the crowd.

Will pulled back from the embrace and his half-stricken gaze met mine. “Should have reminded you of that on the way up the mountain.”

Neph made reassuring noises. “No one is thinking of everything. That is why we have each other.”

Will shook his head at me, his gaze darting around. “Don't do it here. But as soon as you step foot through the arch, activate the spell.” He looked around. “Soon. Now. Go now, actually.” He looked devastated at pushing me away, but he gave me another nudge. “Every second counts.”

I tripped back a step, nodding, not exactly sure how I was going to activate the spell.

Will gave me a tight nod, and I could see a flinch of something across his face. “They are calling us to the Visiting Center if we have someone there to see us. Administration Magic. I have to go. An hour.”

I nodded—all I could do at the moment—and watched him go. He glanced back three times before he was swallowed by the crowd.

Neph put her forehead against mine.

I felt a tug in my own gut telling me to return to the Magiaduct. The Administration Magic was fully kicking in for me as well. No one waiting for me in the Visiting Center. My non-magical parents were blissfully unaware of what was occurring in the layer above theirs.

I looked at the Magiaduct. Lockdown took on a new meaning.

I looked at Neph, who seemed unaffected by the Administration Magic. As a muse, she was somewhat outside of its control, even as she was bound to it.

“Neph, I need you to do that thing to me. That thing where you get me out from under the control of the Administration Magic.”

She frowned. “I cannot.”

“I need to get to the Midlands.”

She gave me a severe look. “Absolutely
not
. They are already combing the Midlands' levels. The terrorists did something to them.” Neph looked down the mountain, a frown on her face. “I don't know what.”

She turned back to me. “But they will definitely find you, and then nothing will save you.”

“I could—”

“Ren.” Her hands framed my cheeks, making me look her in the eye. “You do not fully appreciate the power of the Legion. They are
not
the Peacekeepers' Troop. They do not wave flashy magic and vow to protect. They are the force sent in for assassination attempts and brutal takeovers. They will have no one watching them while they test and break you.” Her lips pulled into a grim line. “Then they will take you.”

“I won't let them catch me.”

Neph pushed the pads of her middle fingers into my skull. “If you go to the Midlands right now or find a way to leave campus before we return, I will make life unpleasant for you.”

“But it's not safe for any of you. I'm not safe for any of you.” I was panicking, I realized. Shock had flipped again from numbness to panic. “I got Olivia
taken
. They will come after me, and get all of
you
.”

“Olivia made a
choice
. You do not get to make our choices for us.”

The dam broke. “I want everyone to be safe. I can't take it again.”

“Yes, you can,” she said, her voice firm, but hands gentle.

I put my hands over my face. “I almost ended campus. Again.”

“And yet, it still stands.”

“I'm dangerous,” I said, looking up at her.

“So am I.” Neph's brown eyes glowed for a moment. “You've just never attempted to figure out
how
dangerous I am.”

My shoulders drooped. I leaned my forehead on her shoulder. “It doesn't matter. I love you.”

She sighed and wrapped her arms around me. “What part of you being
different
and the three of us knowing months ago and still being around you at every opportunity did you misinterpret?”

“The interpretation part?”

She jabbed me in the back at my weak attempt at humor.

“I'm being called to assemble in the muse's hall.” She lifted my chin and forced me to meet her eyes. “Wait for us, unless I give you this signal.” A wrench of feeling came from the area around my heart. “Then, you run, however you can, as fast as you can, and we will find you later.”

It was such an about-face from what she'd just said, that I stared.

She shook her head. “The community is being called to account. The Department is trying to gain more control of us. I will handle it. But should you ever feel that tug over the next few weeks, you drop what you are doing and run, do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I will see you in an hour or two.”

My feet automatically started moving me toward the arch that would take me to the Fifth Circle of the mountain and into the Magiaduct. I dug my fingernails into the skin of my other hand to keep myself from crying.

Chapter Four: Roommates Forever

Top Circle thinned quickly, most students going to the Visiting Center. But a decent number of stragglers—people without family, or with family that weren't able to come—ambled zombie-style in the line that had queued up for the arch to take us to the Magiaduct.

I could see black-collared Department mages scanning students at the front of the line.

“Your attention,” a magnified voice called out from the ether. “This broadcast is via Community frequency and streaming live on Top Campus. All students who are missing a roommate due to the events of today will report to their Dorm Reassignment Chaplain by Libra Rising to stand in front of a counseling ball in order to be matched with your next closest match on campus.”

I barely got my translation spell to switch back to producing regular times again in my hearing—Libra Rising meant ten p.m.—before horror and denial were pumping through me at what was being suggested.

I would
not
get a new roommate, some replacement for Olivia. I would not let that happen.

The voice continued, more stridently, as if someone had already started arguing with it, “
Every
student who will not have a roommate available tonight
must
report to your Dorm Guide for an analysis. This is for the health and safety of our community.”

“I'm not going.”

It took a few moments for me to realize that
I
had been the one to say that aloud.

“No, I'm not either,” someone near me muttered into the crowd's silence. “If I don't meet their
safety
standards, I'm not bunking with someone who has a one-eighth compatibility. My roommate is in Medical. I'll bunk down there.”