Snakeroot

  “Will you deny my call, Ariadne?” Bosque Mar’s words echoed as if spoken in a vast, empty chamber. “Will you rebuke me when I offer you a chance at redemption?”

  Adne didn’t reply. Her whole body trembled.

  “I can give you a family again,” Bosque continued. “Your brother will be restored.”

  “No!”

  It wasn’t Adne who shouted at the shadow figure, but Sarah. She looked like a person who’d just woken from a long, exhausting dream and saw the real world again. She stared at Bosque’s astral form in utter horror.

  At Sarah’s cry, Adne’s eyes flew open, pulling her out of the trance she’d been captured in since Bosque’s arrival.

  “Ariadne, don’t listen to him. Fight back.” Sarah began to move toward Adne. “This is a terrible mistake. We never should have come.”

  “You disappoint me, Sarah,” Bosque said. Beneath the smooth timbre of his voice, irritation crackled. “I thought you loved your son.”

  “My son was born to expel you from this world.” Sarah’s voice shook. “I let myself forget who you are. And I’m glad Shay will never know how close I came to betraying him and everything I’ve ever fought for.”

  “You are as foolish as you have always been.” Bosque’s silhouette crumpled into a dense ball of shadow that hurtled across the room, hitting Sarah full in the chest.

  Sarah cried out and dropped to the floor, unmoving.

  “Sarah!” Adne rushed to the fallen Searcher’s side. She rested the side of her face on Sarah’s chest. “She’s still breathing.”

  “Not for long.” Logan walked toward the women with purpose.

  Adne jumped up, barring his path to Sarah. “I won’t let you do this.”

  Now that Bosque’s spirit—or whatever that shadow had been—was gone, Ren was relieved to see that Adne seemed to have recovered her strength. She faced off with Logan, defiant.

  Logan smiled at her. “Are you going to kill me, Ariadne? I’m sure you want to, but I don’t think you will. You still have too many questions.”

  “Maybe I do,” Adne said. “But as much as I need answers, you need my cooperation.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Let her live,” Adne said to Logan, “and I’ll go with you. I won’t put up a fight. Wherever Bosque has told you to take me, I’ll go.”

  No. The word was burning in Ren’s chest, but he couldn’t shout it the way he wanted to. He couldn’t stop her.

  “We’re bargaining now, are we?” Logan steepled his fingertips in front of his face. “From where I’m standing, I think I’m the one holding all the cards.”

  “If you really think that, then you’ll have no trouble stopping me when I take Sarah and go,” Adne replied.

  Logan’s hands dropped to his side.

  “Somehow you’ve been talking with Bosque Mar,” Adne continued. “And I’m sure you can manage some petty magic, but your real power is gone. You can’t summon a wraith to fight for you. Do you really think you can take me on your own?”

  Logan stole a glance at Chase, whose eyes bulged as he nearly dropped his glass, and Adne laughed.

  “Strength in numbers only works when there’s actual strength to back it up.”

  “Fine.” Logan shoved his hands in his trouser pockets. “I’ll get an ambulance to take Sarah to the hospital, where she can be cared for.”

  Adne shook her head. “She was just impaled by a plume of black smoke. There’s not a mark on her. How will a hospital help her? She needs to be treated at the Academy.”

  “So you’re just going to run home and then come right back?” Logan snorted. “With an army of Searchers, no doubt.”

  “No,” Adne replied. “I’ll open a door to my room and leave Sarah there. And I’ll come back alone—with one condition.”

  “What’s that?” Logan asked.

  “I have to be sure Sarah gets help,” Adne said. “I can’t leave her without telling someone where she is.”

  “How wonderful that I’m beholden to the whims of a lunatic.” Logan glared at her. “You are not telling anyone about this.”

  “You’re right,” Adne said. “I can’t tell anyone. I’d never make it back here.” She looked at Ren. “But he can.”

  “What?” Ren frowned at his sister.

  After giving Ren a brief, sad smile, Adne said to Logan, “I’m right, aren’t I? You can tell Ren where to go and who to talk to.”

  Logan nodded.

  “Then send him to Tristan,” Adne said. “You can wait until I’m here with you and I’ve closed the door to the Academy.”

  “At which point you’ll hand over the tools of your trade.” Logan gestured to the gleaming skeins that hung from Adne’s belt.

  Adne shrugged. “If it makes you feel better.”

  Ren remained silent, muzzled as he was, and watched and listened as Adne and Logan reached an agreement. He watched as Adne wove a door made of light and witnessed his sister and Chase carry Sarah’s limp form through the passage. When they reappeared, Adne closed the portal and surrendered her skeins to Logan.

  Ren saw all of this. And there was nothing he could do.

  Nothing.

  Except remind himself that one day soon he would find a way to free himself and then he would kill Logan Bane.

  THE SCENE IN THE dining hall went from bad to worse as Connor and Ethan watched Tristan grab Anika and shield her with his body. Connor couldn’t remember any gathering of Searchers he’d witnessed devolving into nothing more than shouts and accusations, and he didn’t even know who was yelling insults at whom, but he was pretty sure that he was hearing curses in at least a dozen languages.

  “Good man,” Connor muttered to himself when he saw Tristan forcing his way through the press of bodies to get Anika clear of the scene.

  He’d made up his mind to follow them. Connor didn’t need to hear any more of Holt’s grandstanding, but Ethan swore loudly, and when Connor turned, he saw the other Searcher shoving his way further into the room.

  Connor surged after his friend. “Where you are going?” he shouted over the din.

  For a second Connor thought Ethan had gotten fed up enough to storm to the stage and drag Holt off it. An ill-advised move for sure, but at least it would be fun.

  “Sabine went down,” Ethan called over his shoulder while pointing at the mob ahead. “These fools will trample her.”

  Grimly, Connor and Ethan pushed forward, throwing elbows and shoving bodies hard. Like he had been the night before, Connor was filled with shame and disgust in the face of his comrades’ behavior.

  How could this be happening in the Academy? What the hell has happened to us? We’re supposed to be the good guys.

  Connor felt as though he was surrounded by strangers, enemies even. Confirming his worst fears, the crowd began to shove back against Ethan and Connor.

  What had been annoyed grunts and sour looks became threats. Connor didn’t see who threw the first punch. It might have even been Ethan, pushed past the brink of frustration in his effort to reach Sabine. But what had been a surly crowd took no more than a couple of minutes to devolve into a brawl.

  For his part, Connor tried not to break any noses or jaws. He still believed that most of the Searchers shared his mindset and had been drawn into this chaos from sheer confusion, lashing out at a threat they couldn’t understand.

  Connor groaned when someone socked him in the gut. His own fist landed solidly in the middle of another man’s chest, sending the attacker reeling back.

  “Damn it!” Ethan was trying to knock his assailants aside and keep moving forward, but the fight had turned the crowd into a veritable wall of bodies.

  Lowering his shoulder, Connor lunged forward and plowed past Ethan. They rushed through an opening that immediately closed up behind them. Confusion worked to their advantage as the fighting continued at their backs, but no one pursued them. It was obvious that violence was happening for its own sake and no other reason.

&nbsp
; “I can’t find her,” Ethan shouted, wild-eyed. “She should be here. This is where she fell.”

  A sick feeling seized Connor as he searched for any signs of the girl and saw blood on the floor.

  “Sabine!” Ethan turned in a circle, bellowing. “Sabine!”

  “Ethan!”

  Both men turned toward the sound of Ethan’s name. It wasn’t Sabine calling to them, but Tess. She was at the edge of the crowd, moving toward the rear of the hall. Shiloh was beside her and he had a body slung over his shoulder.

  “Oh God.” Ethan threaded through the crowd. When Tess saw them coming, she nodded and then continued with Shiloh to exit the room.

  Connor tried not to hit anyone on his way out. Angry as he might be, leaving was more important than throwing a few more punches for good measure. Besides, the only person he really wanted to deck was standing on top of a table like the fool he was.

  Holt would get his eventually. Connor was going to make sure of it.

  When Ethan and Connor were free of the crowd, which showed no signs of dispersing, and out of the dining hall, they found Tess, Shiloh, and Sabine waiting for them in the corridor. Sabine was on her feet, and though she sported a nasty bruise on her temple, she seemed otherwise unharmed.

  Ethan scooped Sabine up, crushing her in his arms.

  “Easy there, tiger,” Sabine said. “I think I may be concussed.”

  “We should take you to Eydis.” Ethan set her down gently.

  Sabine shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Just got knocked around a bit. I don’t need an Elixir for this. Though I really miss having Guardian blood right about now.”

  “What the hell was that?” Connor asked Tess, nodding in the direction of the dining hall.

  “Who knows?” Tess frowned. “Holt’s up to something, but what he hopes to achieve with a stunt like that is beyond me. He’ll gain more enemies than friends. You can’t just threaten the Arrow, and that’s basically what Holt did.”

  Connor hoped Tess was right, but he had trouble feeling confident about much of anything, given the general downward spiral of events lately.

  “We should find Anika,” Tess told them. “Regroup. She needs to know she’s not alone in this.”

  “Do you know where she is?” Ethan asked.

  “My best guess: Tactical,” Tess answered. “That’s where I go when I need a strategy.”

  “You don’t think she’d go to her room?” Shiloh asked. “It was pretty brutal back there. She might be shaken up.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” Tess said. “But Anika won’t want to show any weakness. Her authority is being called into question and as much as that’s not pleasant, it will also piss her off. She’ll fight back.” Tess turned to Shiloh. “Would you mind waiting here and keeping an eye on things? I need to know if there are any new developments.”

  Shiloh nodded and headed back to the dining hall.

  “Come on.” Tess waved for the others to follow her.

  Ethan leaned down and said something to Sabine that Connor couldn’t hear, but it earned Ethan a hard shove.

  “You are not going to carry me,” Sabine said.

  “Shiloh was just carrying you,” Ethan objected. “You said yourself that you might be concussed.”

  “If I fall down, you can carry me,” Sabine said. “But until I prove infirm, I will walk on my own two feet.”

  “Besides,” Connor added, noting Ethan’s sullen expression, “Shiloh’s better looking than you. It’s the eyes, man, he’s got amazing eyes.”

  With a wicked smile, Sabine said, “He’s also taller than both of you.”

  “Oh, that’s low.” Connor laughed.

  Sabine tossed her hair and abandoned the Strikers in favor of walking alongside Tess.

  “Shiloh is not better looking than me,” Ethan grumbled, falling into step with Connor.

  “Whatever you need to tell yourself, man.” Connor chuckled.

  Tess’s hunch had been right. Anika had gone straight to Haldis Tactical, and Tristan had stayed with the Arrow. But the third member that had joined their party was a surprise to everyone.

  Connor wondered how long Anika and Tristan had been standing there, staring at the wolf who sat calmly in the middle of the room, watching them.

  Drawing a dagger, Connor moved to Anika’s side. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

  “He just appeared . . . ,” Anika whispered, her eyes locked on the wolf in disbelief. “No more than a minute ago.”

  “Oh my God.” Sabine didn’t hesitate or balk as the rest of them had. She went straight to the wolf, crouching in front of him. “Is it really you?”

  The wolf stood up and wagged his tail.

  Sabine’s voice grew hoarse. “But . . . how?”

  “Sabine?” Ethan approached her slowly, wary eyes on the wolf. “You know him?”

  The wolf glanced at Ethan in annoyance and shifted into the form of a tall young man.

  “You Searchers always sucked at remembering us when we changed shape.” Ren waved a hand at his new body. “Does this help?”

  “Holy shit,” Connor murmured. “You’re dead.”

  “Connor!” Sabine shot a deadly look at him. “Don’t be rude.”

  “Rude?” Connor scoffed. “Can it be rude if it’s true?”

  “Yeah,” Ethan told him. “Not saying rude things that are true is called tact.”

  “Forgive me for not being up to speed on my ghost etiquette,” Connor said.

  “I forgot how annoying you are,” Ren told Connor, but he was smiling, which made the whole situation that much more unsettling. “And I’m not a ghost, I’m a restless spirit. And don’t ask what that means. I’m tired of explaining it. Just deal with the fact that I’m here.”

  “Ren, what are you doing here?” Sabine asked.

  “I have a message.” Ren’s gaze shifted to Tristan. “For him.”

  Tristan frowned. “But I don’t know you.”

  “I just go where I’m told.” Ren shrugged. “That’s about all I can do now that I’m like this.”

  He thrust his hand out and it went straight through Sabine’s chest.

  “Hey!” Sabine jumped back.

  “Yeah, ‘hey.’” Ethan hooked his arm around her waist. “What the hell?”

  “Just demonstrating my non-corporeality.” Ren grinned, enjoying their discomfiture. “Trying to get all the ghost stuff out of the way so we can move on.”

  “I thought you said you were a spirit,” Connor noted.

  “Like he said,” Anika interrupted, “let’s move on.” Speaking to Ren, the Arrow said, “You’re Monroe’s son—Ariadne’s brother?”

  Ren nodded.

  “Do you know that she’s missing?” Anika asked him.

  “That’s why I’m here,” Ren told her. “Partly.”

  “You know where Adne is?” Connor felt the blood drain from his face. He couldn’t see a ghost knowing about Adne’s disappearance as being good in any way.

  The flash of anger in Ren’s eyes only confirmed Connor’s fears.

  “What happened to her?” Connor asked.

  “I have to deliver my message first,” Ren said. “I’m still working out the rules.”

  Connor frowned. “What?”

  “Just give me a second and I’ll explain.” Ren looked at Tristan. “Sarah is in Adne’s room. She needs help from the Elixirs.”

  Tristan’s fists clenched. “What happened to her?”

  Ren paused, as if taking the time to choose an answer. “I’m sorry. I can’t say anything specific about that.”

  Tristan stared at Ren a moment longer, then looked to Anika.

  “Go,” the Arrow told him. “We’ll figure this out.”

  Tristan ran from the room.

  “Tess, go to Eydis and send an Elixir to meet Tristan in Adne’s room.”

  Tess nodded, offering Ren an uncertain but kind smile before she left.

  Ren glanced around at their worried faces. “I
think Sarah will be okay. She hasn’t been here very long . . . waiting for help.”

  “Why are you talking like this, Ren?” Sabine asked. “Everything you say is full of holes. Why are there so many missing pieces?”

  “I’m not here by choice,” Ren answered. “I have very limited agency in this plane, or so I’ve discovered. I’m kind of like a puppet and someone else is pulling the strings.”

  “But is it really you?” Sabine regarded Ren with new suspicion.

  “Yes,” Ren sighed. “It’s me—censored.”

  “Okay.” Ethan nodded. “Can you tell us who’s censoring you?”

  Ren hesitated, then said, “Logan.” He looked surprised when he said the name.

  “Logan Bane?” Anika’s eyes narrow. “That’s troubling.”

  “Damn it.” Connor raked a hand through his hair. “We almost had him at Montauk.”

  Ethan asked Ren, “Do you know where Logan is now?”

  Ren nodded.

  “And can you tell us?” Ethan added when Ren didn’t offer up the information.

  “I already would have if I could.”

  “Ren.” A chill crawled up Connor’s spine. “Is Adne with Logan?”

  “Yes.” The sadness in Ren’s voice made Connor feel even colder.

  “What does he want with her?” Connor asked.

  Ren just shook his head.

  “I think an equally important question is, why did Adne go to Logan?” Anika said quietly.

  “What are you talking about?” Connor bristled.

  “We have to consider the facts at hand, Connor,” Anika told him. “The likelihood that Logan could abduct Ariadne or take her anywhere against her will is very, very slim.”

  Connor shook his head. “Adne wouldn’t go to Logan.”

  “She did.” Ren gazed steadily at Connor. Connor could see the wolf’s dark eyes were full of unspoken answers.

  “Why?” Connor heard his voice was on the verge of breaking. He looked away from Adne’s brother, overwhelmed by a sense of loss as he confronted Monroe’s dead son and the horror of his missing daughter. It was too much.

  “Sarah.” Ren said her name and nothing more.

  “What?” Ethan gave Ren a quizzical look, but Sabine was nodding.