Darius had told me to call Big Jacky. Neither of us were surprised when he didn’t answer, but that meant that my phone was in my hand when it chimed.

I looked down.

Someone was messaging me? Who even had this number?

The name at the top said Conrad Bauer. The message was Where are you?

On the road, I replied. Going to the college.

Address?

I glanced at Darius. He was busy driving, and considering how fast we were going, I didn’t want to distract him. I looked up the address on my phone, then copied and pasted.

Another message: How long until you arrive?

Why did it matter? I plugged the address into my GPS app.

Forty minutes, but Darius is speeding.

For a while, there was no reply.

Then: We’ll arrive ten minutes after you.

If Conrad was only fifty minutes away from the college, then he must have left immediately after I’d hung up with Olivia.

And who was we?

Another bubble appeared.

Don’t tell Darius.

Oh, that was rich coming from him. I considered taking a screen shot and sending the whole thing to Big Jacky, but, technically, I had forgiven him. One pat on the head and some ruffled ears—I was paid in full.

I turned off the screen and lowered my phone to my lap.

“Was that Olivia with the list?” Darius said.

Olivia had sent me the list as we were getting in the car, but I had failed to mention it. It seemed a shame to waste such a convenient mistake.

“Do you want me to read it?” I asked.

“Please.”

The list involved lots of words related to “fire” and “explosion.” With every spell I read, Darius’s frowned deepened.

When I finished, I said, “It does sound like he’s preparing for war.”

“Or he’s getting ready to stand against a Torr enforcement unit.”

“What’s a Torr enforcement unit?”

“Us.”

I blinked and stared at the list again. “I’m flattered.”

“I usually have a few magicians behind me when I go in for someone.”

“Would you be glad to have a few more people?”

“In these circumstances, yes. But we don’t have enough time to send in a request, and it’s not like we’re even sure they’re going to be there.” He paused, “Are you willing to come in with me?”

“…You—you’ll let me?”

“One of my weaknesses is that I can’t see or sense any kind of magic.”

“Yes! Of course I’ll come!”

“It’ll be dangerous.”

“Ha! I’m living on borrowed time. I already owe this universe a death.”

“Emerra, that is not the attitude I want you to go in with.”

“Right. You didn’t hear that. What I meant was, I’ll be extra careful and follow all of your orders the moment you give them.”

The vampire glanced at me, but I was ready with my wide-open eyes and most innocent expression.

“You can’t fight,” the vampire said.

“Agreed.”

“That was an order, not an assessment.”

“Oh.”

“Promise me.”

“Darius, I don’t know—”

“He’s a sorcerer. Can you stop magic with nothing but your bare hands and heroic intentions?”

“No.”

“Your job is to keep your eyes open and stay safe so I don’t have to worry about you while I fight.”

“Yes, sir.”

“If you see any magic, call it out from a safe distance. I’ll be able to hear you.”

“I can do that.”

“If anything happens to me, run.”

“But nothing will happen to you, right?”

The vampire smiled wide enough I saw his fangs. “I wouldn’t have lived this long if I wasn’t good at what I do.”

I felt better after hearing that. It was almost as comforting as the fact that we already had backup coming.

I hoped Darius would enjoy the surprise.

An accident delayed us for five minutes. I know because I kept checking the dashboard clock. We pulled into a parking lot in the center of campus.

As we got out and started walking toward the anthropology building, my phone rang. I was keyed up and expecting the call, so I answered before it could get through its first tone.

“Hey,” I said.

“Mera.” It was Conrad. “Slow down.”

Darius was watching me.

I ignored him. “Slow down? Why?”

“We’re almost with you, and it’ll be safer if we go in together.”

“You’re here?”

I heard the huff of his laugh. “Darius isn’t the only one who can speed.”

My phone was gone. It was so fast, it felt like a twitch in my hand, then my ear was suddenly exposed to the cold October air.

Vasil had it.

He said, “Mr. Bauer, I don’t recall requesting that you join us.”

I heard a deep voice coming from behind me. “Yeah? My mistake.”

Two shadows stepped into the light of the nearby building—Olivia, with her bright red hair, sharp eyes, and crossed arms, and the wolfman, who looked even larger and more menacing than I remembered. I wanted to throw my arms around both of them.

Conrad hung up without looking away from the count. “Are you going to send us away?”

Darius handed me my phone. “You know you can get in trouble for this.”

“Only if you don’t need me.”

The vampire looked at the witch.

“Please,” Olivia said. “What trouble am I going to get into? The Torr’s never told me to stay out of sight.”

“You know the spells that Aubert has,” Darius said.

“All the more reason to have someone with you who can actually use magic.”

“They might not even be here—”

“Someone’s here,” Conrad said. “A human adult. Male. Is the anthropology building that way?” He pointed.

“Yes.”

“We’re five minutes behind him.”

That ended the debate. As we hurried toward the building, Darius gave us our orders.

“We’re going in silent. I don’t want to fight unless we have to. Olivia, how fast can you cast?”

“Less than a second.”

“Good. I don’t want you holding a shield.”

“But—”

“Active magic is the only thing he’d have time to set up a sensory spell for. Stay next to Emerra. Listen to her.”

The witch glanced at me and scowled. The scowl disappeared with a sigh.

“Your job is purely defensive,” Darius said. “I want you to protect yourself and Emerra first. Try to control Aubert’s magic if you can. You don’t have to take him down. That’ll be our job.” He motioned to himself and Conrad.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“I understand,” Olivia said.

“Conrad.”

“Sir.”

“Frost is only a human. You don’t have to use lethal force on him.”

“What about the sorcerer?”

“If Ashworth’s right, he’s very dangerous.”

Conrad nodded.

“Our priority is procuring the device,” the vampire said. “Aubert may have it on him.”

“Why would he carry it around with him?” Olivia asked. “That seems stupid.”

“Not if he was hoping to use it.”

“I thought he already set it off,” I said.

“He can do it as many times as he wants, as long as he’s willing to feed it souls.”

When we got to the building, Conrad led us around to the side.

“He went in here,” the wolfman said.

I tugged on the handle. “Locked.”

Darius nudged a large rock that was sitting by his foot. “Frost must have wedged the door open for him.” The vampire let out a loud sigh. “Twice in one night,” he muttered. “This is really going to slow me down.”

He thinned himself into vapor and poured through the cracks around the door. Olivia and Conrad didn’t comment. They must have seen that trick before.

I wondered how many times I’d have to see it before it stopped impressing me.

Darius opened the door for us.

“This way,” Conrad said.

A line of evening lights were dispersed along the hall. They only shed enough light to keep us from running into the furniture and walls. All the chairs and potted plants that were so unremarkable in the daytime now seemed bigger and full of shadows. The small windows built into the doors of the lecture halls looked like pools of ink.

We climbed the stairs to the second floor. In the middle of the main hall, Darius held up his hand to stop us.

“They’re above us,” he said.

“In the hall?” I asked.

“Right now they’re talking, but it sounds like it’s going to be an argument before we get there. Conrad, there’s a staircase further on. Go up and come back to them. Cut off their retreat.”

Conrad kept his footfalls as light as possible as he hurried toward the stairs.

“You ladies are with me,” Darius said.

Olivia pulled her hair back into a ponytail and rolled up her sleeves.

“No magic until we call for it,” the vampire reminded her.

“I know.”

She said that, but I could already see fine indigo particles dusting her hair and clothes. They gave off a faint light.

We followed Darius back to the stairs at our end of the hall and climbed up to the third floor. We moved down one short hall and turned the corner. I heard the sound of raised voices. We ran, crouched over, trying to stay out of the light.

“You broke into my house,” Frost yelled. “You copied the translation!”

“Yes, that reminds me—how long has it been finished, Professor?” Aubert said. “The last time we talked, you didn’t mention you were done.”

“You said we shouldn’t do anything until the investigation was over.”

“Yet here we are, long before the investigation is over, and you’re telling me that we have to stop—not you, but we.”

“They know, Aubert! They know about the device. You can’t keep using it.” Frost started shaking. I could see it, even in the dim lights, even from a distance. “I never would have agreed to this, and I won’t let you keep doing it.”

“You said you hadn’t told anyone.”

“I haven’t!”

“You think you can stop me, all by yourself?”

“I’ve made arrangements—”

“Arrangements can be dealt with,” Aubert said.

He didn’t raise his arm, but his hand started glowing. In the air under his palm, a white ruin began writing itself from the center, out.

“He’s casting something!” I cried.

I didn’t mean to yell, but I was scared and excited. Aubert’s head jerked up. Olivia stepped out from behind me. As he raised his hand, she raised hers.

The lash of flame crashed against Olivia’s shield. Where it struck, the magic fused into an incandescent white.

Frost stumbled away from the sorcerer and tried to draw a gun.

Without looking away from me and Olivia, Aubert raised his other hand. The gun glowed red. Frost cried out and dropped it.

When Aubert’s fire lash gave out, he swept his hand in an arc in front of him. Where his hand passed, new runes glowed in the air.

“How many spells?” Olivia cried.

“Five!” I said.

She might have sworn, but I didn’t hear her over the sound of the next spell. A painful hum, like a swarm of enraged hornets, chased a line of lightning down the hall. Before it reached the shield, the lightning split into five fingers. The tendrils tried to reach around Olivia’s shield.

She put her second hand on the back of the first. The shield pulsed and grew. The lightning struck the edges. Nothing touched her, but Olivia slid back a foot. She only stopped when her back met Darius’s shoulder. He’d appeared, in that second, to brace her up.

“Can you hold it?” he said.

“I can hold it.”

She sounded as cocky as ever, but I wasn’t sure how long her statement would be true. The lightning hummed around the rim of the shield, scorching the walls, ceiling, and floor, testing every point. Then, abruptly, it was gone.

Aubert had turned the other way. Conrad was there—teeth bared, ears flat, fist already in motion. The blow would have killed any normal man, but it only glanced off Aubert’s shield.

Olivia lowered her arms and yelled for Darius to go.

Before the vampire could move, Frost charged in. The dumpy old professor must have had the soul of a warrior. He lunged for Aubert. I couldn’t guess what he hoped to do. Frost was unarmed and taking on a sorcerer! But the professor managed to grab Aubert’s jacket and hold on for two seconds. The shadows made it impossible for me to tell if Frost was trying to punch Aubert or strangle him.

Either way, Frost failed.

There was no spell. No finesse. Nothing but a pure blast of white power, exploding from Aubert in all directions. Conrad and Darius were both pushed back. Frost hit the wall.

Aubert patted his hand on one of his jacket pockets, then the other. He looked at Frost. “You.”

Frost stumbled to his feet and turned toward us. Aubert pulled something from his belt.

I didn’t like the way it was shining when there was no light to make it shine.

“Darius!” I screamed. “It’s blessed silver!”

It was also a knife, capable of doing plenty of damage on its own. Aubert rammed it into Frost’s back, then yanked it out. The professor let out an awful gasp and stopped, like a puppet jerked back by its strings.

He fell forward.

Conrad and Darius were on their feet again. The vampire got to Frost and Aubert before the wolfman did. It was hard to follow the blur of movement as Vasil danced from the floor, to the wall, to the ceiling, to the other wall, in a corkscrew path that avoided every blast of fire, while bringing him inevitably toward the sorcerer. As Darius’s body passed through the runes still hanging in the air, they rippled and faded.

“Conrad!” Darius yelled. He smashed his fist across Aubert’s jaw.

Aubert managed to raise his shield in time to avoid taking all of the energy from the blow, but he staggered back into the wolfman’s arm.

Conrad wrapped that one arm around the front of Aubert’s chest, lifted him off his feet, and slammed him into the floor so hard the sorcerer’s body shuddered in spite of the shield.

While Aubert was getting one-arm body slammed by a wolfman, Darius picked up Frost in a fireman’s carry and made a straight line for me and Olivia.

The witch let down the shield long enough to admit the vampire and his burden. Darius stopped by me and lowered Frost to his feet.

“Take him,” he said.

I put my arm around Frost’s back. In the no-time it took for my hand to move from his low back to his shoulder, it was smeared with blood. Frost haltingly put his arm over me.

Darius said, “Get away from here. Both of you.”

“But—” Olivia started.

“You have a job!” Darius said.

“Aubert’s magic!”

“He’s got too much power. All you’ll be able to do is hold a shield. Take Emerra and get away from here. We’ll come and get you.” He turned and looked me in the eyes. “Protect Frost.”

I nodded.

There was an angry bark from Conrad. We all looked up. Aubert had managed to plunge the blessed dagger into Conrad’s forearm. Smoke was rising from the wound, and I could smell burning fur. The wolfman took a step back, rolled back his lips, and yanked the knife out with his teeth.

By the time the metal rattled against the floor, Darius was back in the fight.

“Go!” Olivia yelled to me.

It was hard to turn away—harder than I thought it would be. Seeing the flashes of white and blue reflecting off the walls didn’t make it any easier, but I blinked back my tears, swallowed, and forced myself to smile when I looked at Frost.

“Ready to let us help you now, Professor?” I cried over the sound of the battle behind us.

He almost smiled back at me, but then his face twisted in agony.

We limped down the hall like a drunk, two-headed monster. Olivia followed behind us, keeping her shield up the whole way. Every time something struck it, the hall around us glowed an eerie blue. Once, the witch grunted.

“Olivia?” I called.

“Keep going,” she said.

By the time we reached the stairs, I was taking more of Frost’s weight than he was. Beads of sweat with no hair to catch them rolled down my neck. Those stairs were going to be impossible.

“Olivia,” I said through grit teeth, “can you make him float or something?”

I felt her hand on my back. A surge of strength and energy flowed from that spot into every speck of my body.

“Yeah,” I said. “That’ll do.”

I picked up Frost the way I’d seen Darius do it and grabbed the rail. I still had to go down the stairs slower than I would have liked.

“Sneakers, Olivia!” I yelled. “Have you ever heard of them?”

“If I can fight in heels, so can you!”

When we reached the bottom floor, my magic boost started to wane. I put Frost on his feet and hoisted his arm over my shoulders.

“Outside?” Olivia asked.

“We’re not going to make it that far,” I said. “Can you do any kind of healing magic?”

“Some.”

“Good. I can do some first aid.” I hope, I added in my head. I wasn’t sure about my ability to deal with a knife wound to the back. “Let’s find a place to lie down.”

We started down the hall.

My head was right next to Frost’s, so I could hear him—despite how quiet his voice was, despite my heavy breathing, and despite how hard my heart was beating.

“You were right.”

“That’s good to know,” I said with a grunt. “I’m wrong so often.”

“Trev was my best friend.”

I glanced over. We were passing under one of the lights. I could see his face, pale and streaked with tears.

“I have nightmares every night,” he said.

“Join the club,” I muttered.

“Would you believe me if I told you that I never wanted to hurt anyone?”

Sorrow pattered through my ribs like rain dripping from one leaf to another. “I would, Professor.”

“I was scared.”

“I know.”

We staggered over to the first lecture hall. I grabbed the door handle and prayed.

The door swung open when I pulled.

I laughed with hysterical relief. “Come on. You can tell me the whole story once we’re done with all this.”

I reached for the light switch when we were inside, but Olivia grabbed my hand.

“Aubert would know where we are,” she said.

I closed my hand into a fist and lowered it. It took more effort to shut out the implications of what Olivia had said.

She wasn’t sure that Darius and Conrad were going to win.

With that dismal idea playing in my head, I didn’t feel comfortable stopping in front of the door. I pulled Professor Frost toward the stage. Behind me, a faint blue light rose from Olivia’s palm. It was enough for me to see the empty area between the first row of chairs and the raised platform. When I reached the break, I turned and walked along the left wing of chairs until I was in the center of them, then I helped Frost lay down.

He groaned with every movement. By the time he was flat, he was panting. He was so pale that the blue light made him look frozen.

“Do we need to turn him over?” I asked.

“No,” Olivia said.

The light in her hand disappeared. It was replaced by a white glow streaming out of her palms. She held them over Frost’s side.

“Will this heal him?” I asked.

“No, but it might keep him from dying,” She said.

Frost reached up and grabbed my hand. “Thank you,”

“For what?”

He let go of my hand so he could wave his own around in a shrug.

“I tried to stop him,” he added.

“I know,” I assured him. “We all heard.”

“I stopped him.” The words were nothing more than a mumble.

He reached into his sports coat pocket and pulled out something heavy.

“What is that?” Olivia demanded.

I took the stone cylinder from Frost. “It’s the device.” I swallowed and looked down at him. “You stole it from Aubert during the fight!”

“Even if I die, he can’t get the third soul.” Frost’s chuckle turned into a cough that made him cry out.

I wanted to yell at him that it was too late, that Aubert didn’t need the third soul, but the pain in Frost’s face stopped me.

I took his hand again. “Hey. You did good. You got it from him. Now, you just rest, nice and quiet. Olivia and I are going to look after you.”

He closed his eyes and sighed.

For almost two whole seconds, things were quiet.

Those were a good two seconds.

The doors we’d come in through burst open with enough force they were torn from their hinges and crashed into the chairs.

Olivia extinguished her magic. Everything was dark. All I could see was the silhouette of Joel Aubert standing in the doorway.

“It’s too late,” he said. “I know you’re in here. Is Frost with you?”

Frost? Why is he looking for Frost? In a building full of people that want him dead, Frost is the only one less threatening to him than I am!

Then it occurred to me.

“Olivia, stay here,” I whispered. “Keep Frost alive.”

“What?” she said.

“Answer me,” Aubert yelled, “or I’ll light this room on fire to find you!”

I jumped onto the two seats in front of me. The crack of my heels on the plastic echoed through the room—clack, clack.

“Oi!” I shouted. “There’s no need to be dramatic, Mr. Aubert. The lights are right by your hand.”

When the lights came on, they shone down on me, holding the device aloft like the stone hilt of Excalibur.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” I cried.

I didn’t wait for an answer. I jumped off the chairs and went for the exit to my right.

Darius would be so proud of me. I had procured the device, I was protecting Professor Frost, and I wasn’t fighting—I was running.