Trial by Fire (32 page)

Rowan. He knows who I am. He recognizes me.

Lily felt fear thrill through them. Rowan stepped in between Lily and the man, trying to shield her from his view.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Carrick,” Rowan said.

“Then you’ll lose,” Carrick replied. Rowan took a threatening step forward, his willstone still blazing with power. Carrick wheeled his horse around, his face twisting with scorn, then he rode away.

“Rowan!” Tristan barked. “We have to get out of here!”

Lily ran over to Tristan, who was still trying to help Caleb stand. Rowan went to Elias and began picking him up, but then stopped. He looked up at Caleb, his eyes wide with compassion.

“I’m so sorry, Caleb,” Rowan said. He lowered Elias’s body back down to the ground.

Caleb’s bloody face seemed to crumble. He made a small sound and took a step toward Elias. People from the bonfire started spilling into to the alley.

Rowan rushed forward to intercept Caleb, catching him in a bear hug and pushing him back. “He’s gone, Caleb,” Rowan said, holding his friend tight. “We have to leave him. You know we have to leave him.”

Tristan and Rowan forced Caleb to turn around and started hurrying him down the alley. Lily went after them and nearly tripped over one of the soldier’s dead bodies. She stared down at the corpse, frozen. He was young, and his cheeks were still pink with life. She’d killed four men, using Rowan as her weapon.

Lily!

She shook herself and started running.

Gideon arrived in the alley before they took the bodies away.

“Four men dead, sir,” a soldier reported. “Five, including the rebel.”

Gideon waved him off. He didn’t need to be told what he could see for himself. “Did anyone go
after
them?” he asked, the edges of his teeth scraping together with frustration. The soldier’s eyes widened.

“No, sir,” the soldier replied, trying to hide his shock. “Fall has been claimed by a new witch.” He paused and shrugged helplessly. “He would have killed us all if we’d followed them.”

Gideon rubbed his eyes tiredly. If they’d caught the girl then, in the middle of committing the crime of attacking the city Guard, Gideon could have dragged her before the Council and hanged Rowan Fall. If the guard had managed to survive apprehending him, that is. From the back of his horse, Gideon looked around at the dead bodies lying on the pavement. They had died from having their necks snapped, chests caved-in, and skulls crushed. Rowan hadn’t even used a weapon—he’d killed them all with his bare hands.

“You may go,” he said, dismissing the shaken soldier, who gladly scurried off.

“I saw her,” Carrick said as he rode forward and pulled alongside Gideon. “Different hair, but it was her.”

“Did any of the other soldiers recognize her?”

Carrick sighed. “Not well enough to swear by it before the Council, I don’t think. The alley was dark.”

“So we still need proof or the Council will never back us.” Gideon waved at the carnage. “Especially not now that they have even more reason to fear Rowan Fall and his ‘new’ witch. How bad was it?”

“He tore through men like they were made of paper,” Carrick replied in his shadowy voice. “I wouldn’t doubt that he could have taken twenty mounted men, or I would have chased him myself.”

Gideon studied his new captain. Carrick’s voice was surprisingly level, but somewhere in his eye was genuine hatred. And maybe even respect.

“Proud of your fellow Outlander?” Gideon guessed.

Carrick looked away and changed the subject. “If you close off the city, there are only so many places Fall can take her,” he said. “There are several Outlander safe houses used for smuggling rebels into Salem.”

“Start with the safe houses, but go easy,” Gideon said approvingly. “I don’t want him to feel hunted. Wherever he takes her, I want them to relax and settle in while we think of a plan and look for the Council’s proof. Will you need bribe money?”

“I may.” Carrick furrowed his brow. “Let me see where they land first. There are plenty of Outlanders who hate the Salem Witch and wouldn’t feel too badly about turning in her double. If for no other reason than to avoid having to deal with two of them.”

Gideon nodded his approval. As Carrick wheeled his horse and galloped off, Gideon wondered if the drub wasn’t getting a bit
too
smart for his own good.

chapter 11

They raced through the city streets, cutting through alleys, jumping fences, and skirting around the roaring guardians chained to the bottoms of the greentowers.

The neighborhood changed and became more residential, but it wasn’t a nice part of town. Lily thought she recognized this place. They were in the Swallows. Few people were out on the streets. They slowed their pace, still not speaking. Caleb’s head was down, his massive shoulders hunched. He wasn’t even looking where he was going, and Rowan had to lead him. They reached a small building. Tristan entered first, opening the door with a wave of his hand and a flash of magelight.

As Lily entered, she realized it was the safe house with the tunnel beneath it. A plain-faced woman in her mid-twenties met them in the hallway, the question in her eyes turning to alarm when she saw Caleb.

“What happened?” she asked, rushing forward to help.

Lily recognized the woman’s voice from her other trip through the safe house. Mostly, she remembered how possessive the woman had sounded when she’d asked if Rowan had given himself to a new witch. The woman had brown hair and brown eyes, but she wasn’t quite as dark as most of the Outlanders. Lily looked at her willstone and found it uninteresting. Low strength, Lily realized. This woman was not a witch. Lily recalled Nina’s confusion when she’d looked at the rose-colored stone at her neck, and finally understood it. Nina had seen power in Lily that didn’t fit inside the flirty rose-colored stone she wore. Lily snapped herself back into the present moment and tried to smile in a friendly way at the woman who tended the safe house. The smile wasn’t returned.

“City soldiers tried to take Elias into custody,” Tristan replied.

Caleb broke away at the mention of Elias’s name, storming down the hallway. Rowan went after him.

“Elias is dead, and so are four soldiers,” Tristan continued when Caleb was out of earshot. “We need to leave Salem now, Esmeralda.”

“The tunnel’s blocked. There was a cave-in almost a week ago,” Esmeralda replied. “We haven’t been able to clear it because Gideon had his guards put seismic wards all along the perimeter. One little jiggle underground, and the tunnel, the safe house, everything is lost. They’re clamping down, Tristan. Hard.” Esmeralda’s gaze leapt over to Lily. She narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?” she asked in a less-than-friendly way.

“I’m Rowan’s witch,” Lily said bluntly, taking a challenging step toward her.

Esmeralda took a step back, her face blanching. “Lillian,” she whispered fearfully. Too late, Lily remembered that glamours didn’t hold in direct light. She hadn’t meant to scare the woman.

“Not exactly,” Lily replied in a less combative tone. “It’s complicated.”

Lily. Please come.

“Rowan needs me,” Lily said, excusing herself with a polite nod. She left Tristan to explain to Esmeralda as much or as little as he thought prudent, and went after Rowan and Caleb.

She found them in the kitchen. Rowan had Caleb backed into a corner. He was holding out his arms to keep Caleb from running. Caleb’s face was bruised, bleeding, and his eyes wild with grief.

“Lily,” Caleb said. “Claim me.”

“Would you just
wait
?” Rowan pleaded. Caleb tried to get past him, but Rowan was still coursing with the power Lily had poured into him, and he easily detained the larger man. “You’re not yourself, Caleb.”

“Of course I’m not myself!” Caleb screamed. “And I’ll never be myself again, Ro. Not really. Not without him. You, of all people, should know that.”

Rowan sighed and dropped his arms. “Yes. I know it.”

“I wasn’t strong enough. Now I’ve got nothing.” He broke off, and his chest fluttered with the tears that he managed to choke down. “It’s my decision. I’m ready to be a witch’s fist.” Caleb’s swollen eyes locked with Lily’s. “Claim me.”

Lily looked down at Caleb’s willstone. It didn’t call to her the way Rowan’s had, but it was still beautiful and she wanted it badly. Caleb had power—not as much as Tristan, and nowhere near as much as Rowan, but he was still strong. Lily wondered why he wasn’t some other witch’s mechanic.

Lily. Don’t. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.

Just because you hate that you gave yourself to me doesn’t mean he will.

What are you talking about?

Lily opened her memory to Rowan. She showed him himself, telling Tristan that he regretted giving himself to her.

Is that why you were so cruel to me, Lily?

You think I was the one who was cruel?

She let him feel how much he’d hurt her. How much she’d learned to care about him and how all of that was ruined when she found out he didn’t feel the same.

He looked stunned.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said quietly.

“I notice you didn’t say that in mindspeak,” Lily replied, disappointed. “Why? Are you hiding something?” She hadn’t expected him to blurt out that he didn’t think she was like Lillian at all anymore, but she’d secretly hoped he would. Rowan tried to continue, but Lily strode forward and cut him off. “This is between Caleb and me. You shouldn’t be interfering.”

Rowan’s face hardened and he stood back. “You’re right. I have no right to tell a witch what she can and can’t do. I hope you’re paying attention, Caleb. This is your life from now on if you become a witch’s fist.”

Lily ignored his comment, or tried to. She busied herself by reattaching her willstones to her necklace, wondering why she felt so guilty. Rowan was acting like she was laying down the law, but she wasn’t. She wasn’t in charge here; she was just doing what Caleb wanted. Wasn’t she?

Lily shook off her doubt and stood across from Caleb. He was in so much pain that she could feel it spilling out and around him like a halo. She took his hand in hers.

“Are you going to fight the Citadel?” Caleb asked.

Lily paused. Over the past few weeks she hadn’t thought twice about supplying the rebels with whatever Alaric asked of her. But her motivation for learning magic was not to stay in this world and fight. It was to go home. She looked into Caleb’s desperate face, knowing that she had to make a choice. Did she want to stand up against Lillian? Or more importantly, could she live with herself if she didn’t?

“For as long as I’m here, I’ll fight Lillian,” she replied, hushed by the weight of her decision.

“I need your word.”

Lily thought of that old history teacher in the woods again. She wanted to know his name but wondered if it would be easier or harder to forget him if she did. “I give you my word that if they attack us, I’ll fight her with everything I’ve got.”

“Then you’ve got me.”

Lily’s hand darted out hungrily of its own accord. She noticed that it was moving too fast and managed to snatch it back at the last second. She heard Rowan suck in a sharp breath.

“Sorry! I’m sorry. I’ve only done this once before,” she said, grinning sheepishly at Caleb.

“Well, I’ve never done this with a girl,” he said shakily. “Let alone a witch, and I hear that’s something else entirely.”

“No grabbing,” Lily promised, and crossed her heart.

He took a second, and then nodded at Lily. She raised her hand and ever so slowly took his willstone between the tips of her fingers. Caleb’s eyes closed and he shivered from head to toe. Lily had Caleb’s pattern. She played it back to his stone and saw one of Caleb’s memories. From Caleb’s perspective she saw …

… A beautiful blond boy, maybe twelve, sitting on a brick wall. My dad makes me go back. He’s seen that Elias had his head on my shoulder when he picked me up after lessons, and he tells me I have to go back and punch the sissy in the nose. I don’t want my dad to know I’m like Elias. I walk back. My throat feels tight, but I hit him.

You don’t have to show me anything you don’t want to, Caleb.

… The sachem walks across the room quickly. The meeting is over. The sachem stops and holds his hand out to me. He says I’ve grown. The way he says it makes me laugh. I’m as big as two of him, and I’m not even fifteen. Elias sees the sachem notice me. I’m so proud. Someday Elias will notice me again, too. He’ll forgive me for what I did. Forgive me, Elias.

I wasn’t there for him, Lily.

… Elias lies in the alley. He’s not moving. They tried to take him to get to me, to make me submit. Help me, Rowan. There are too many of them.

I’m so sorry, Caleb.

It’s happened to both of us, you know.

… Rowan is bucking and screaming. I try to hold him back, try to pull him away through the crowd. Curses fling out of him, every one of them for Lillian, standing stock-still on the scaffolding next to the hanged body of his father. River Fall is dead. Rowan’s voice shreds through the silence of the crowd as he screams how much he hates her. None of it will bring his father back, but his vows to kill Lillian with his bare hands might just get him the noose, too. Tristan comes. Together, we drag Rowan away. I’m scared he’s going to hurt himself, so I don’t leave him all night, even though he struggles to get away. But no matter how hard I hold him down as he sobs, I know it won’t hold together everything that’s broken in him.

Lily dropped Caleb’s stone as if it had burned her. She looked over at Rowan.

“Hey!” Rowan exclaimed, stepping forward to catch Caleb as he fainted. Lily put up her hands just in time, and together, she and Rowan guided Caleb’s slack body to the floor. “You can’t just tear yourself away from that kind of deep contact with someone, Lily.”

“I didn’t know,” she said, avoiding his eyes. She couldn’t look at him. “I didn’t know,” she repeated, seeing a black-haired man dangling lifeless from the end of a rope.