Raised in Fire (Fire and Ice Trilogy 2)

“Wait.” Penny leaned over Callie’s arm and pointed at the edge of Callie’s phone screen. “What’s over there?”

Callie scrunched her brow as she worked the screen. “More lots. Another checkpoint, another entrance. More railroad tracks.”

I shook my head, my chest tight.

“Learn from our mistakes,” Darius said insistently. “Let’s check it out, then move on.”

“What happens if we don’t find the demon in time?” Penny asked.

Everyone fell silent. Callie and Dizzy’s heads dipped to the ground. Darius’s gaze turned fierce.

“No one can know for sure,” I said with a thick tongue. “But judging by the number of parties trying to lay claim to me, I’d say my chances of living a quiet, uneventful life don’t look so good.”

Chapter Thirty-One

“Hurry, you fools!” Agnon shouted, barely able to hold up the human’s head.

The mages had furnished it with a body. A weak, diseased, aged body that was dying as Agnon crouched within it, feeding off its energy. It wouldn’t be long before the human deteriorated, forcing Agnon to eject and drain precious energy of its own.

The male mage worked his knife, trying to get the correct amount of power to enact the circle.

All Agnon needed was a proper banishing spell. It didn’t have to be much, just powerful enough to shove it in the right direction. As soon as it crossed the line between worlds, it could rejuvenate within the Dark Kingdom until it was ready to travel to its sect.

“Banishing a demon should be second nature to a mage,” Agnon hissed, its voice filling the space. “Why is this taking so long?”

“We need a sacrifice to send someone of your strength,” a woman said. “We need more energy.”

“You need a better circle of mages!” Agnon roared, lying on the ground decrepitly. “You must send me off before she finds us. She will be my death if she catches me on the surface.”

But she would be Agnon’s greatest boon if it could get below. The heir had both elements of the Dark Kingdom’s power—something only the Great Master shared with her. Agnon hadn’t seen the incendium magic, the fire, but it had felt it when her sword pierced its body. Luckily for it, the heir hadn’t yet learned the full extent of her power. She was as strong as the Great Master himself, able to move worlds. Alter time. Agnon had felt that incredible might pulsing deeply within her.

And she was only in her infancy.

If Agnon could’ve giggled like one of those silly, tiny humans, it would have.

Its sect could train her in secret. Help her develop her power. Since she had both elements of the Great Master’s power, they could bring in a neighboring incendium sect, form an alliance, and have two halves of the whole.

But first, it had to get below.

“Hurry,” it yelled again.

“Master, there is no way she can find us. We are hidden from view,” one of those insufferable humans said.

“She is the almighty,” Agnon said. “This shack is not hidden from her eyes.”

“It is not a shack, I assure you,” the lead mage said in an arrogant tone. “But we are in a rural place. She’ll find nothing in my home to point her here. I removed all the evidence of this location. Even if she found this place, she wouldn’t know to come all the way to this removed area. Trust me—we have all the time in the world.”

If Agnon had not needed this disgusting human, it would have killed him right then. How dare he disregard the heir’s abilities as merely human?

“I hope she finds you just after you have sent me below,” Agnon said.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“I vote we go,” Callie said. “A quick look. Then we head on. Because really, what choice do we have?”

I glanced at the clock. Middle of the night. Time was flying. Chances were, if it wasn’t here, we wouldn’t find it tonight. Then we’d be hampered by the sunlight. Granted, the magical people could hang, but I needed Darius. He could help me take out the demon, and if not, he could help me keep from losing myself. He might be the end game.

The chances that it wasn’t here were good.

I shook my head and looked back toward the distant parking garage. “There is no way they can hide in the lots. Say they were using a container, or a group of them, and hiding their freaky workshop with a spell. Humans would eventually realize there was an unnatural absence of cargo.”

“Well…that’s not necessarily true.” Penny scratched her nose. “In addition to making something invisible, you could use a spell to distract the human mind so they don’t recognize the gap between things that aren’t invisible…”

“I know, but—” I started.

“The eye wouldn’t notice it, no,” Callie trundled over me. “But the mind, eventually, would catalog it. The mind isn’t so easily fooled as the eyes. It’ll put up with a difference in data for a while, but eventually, it’ll catch on. Then it’ll start forcing the eyes to see. You have to switch the spell, or switch the setup, or switch…something to change things up. Spells wear off, and that isn’t just because the magic escapes. It’s also because human perception gets more intelligent.”

“That. Yes.” I made a circle with my finger, like a coach running out of time. “But now’s not the time to walk the newbie through spells. I think we’re looking for something more secluded. On your map, is there anywhere for a disguised building to go? Or even an electrical station or something? Anything with four walls and a roof?”

Callie brought the phone closer, squinting. “Granted, this probably isn’t to scale. And though it has been accurate so far, that doesn’t mean—”

“Answer, please,” I said.

“It doesn’t look good, but it isn’t improbable.”

“Isn’t improbable. Double negatives don’t save lives, Callie.” I frowned and shook my head, hating how slowly we were going. Feeling the urgency deep in my gut.

As if hearing my thoughts again (he was starting to make me nervous), Darius said, “I can carry you through the park.” He grabbed my arm. “You should be able to detect magic at accelerated speeds.”

His insistence made me pause. No doubt he was feeling bad about not pressing at the start of this whole mess.

He’d been right before.

“We all go together,” I said in a split-second decision. “We’ll move fast. If it’s not here, Darius, you run, get the car, and pick us up.”

“How are we going to get across?” Penny asked, staring at the void that was the tracks.

As if on cue, a speck of light came from around the bend. The train became visible shortly thereafter. It slowed as it rumbled into the rail yard.

Callie rolled her eyes. “You’re telling me that a marathon runner can’t dodge a slow-moving train?”

“No, I meant, how are we going to get around all the trains parked in our way? Going through the places where they join together will be tough. And probably greasy. You don’t want to get that velvet suit all mucked up.”

“Hopefully then she’d throw it away,” I muttered. “Come on, we’ll go around the end. It’s not that far.”

Like a bunch of teenagers, we waited until the train passed—one engine and only a few cars—and then hurried across. The lights of the checkpoint blared not far away, since we’d had to cross in a somewhat public place. To save us time, and sneakiness, Darius took the lead.

The guard lay in his booth by the time we walked through, passed out with a serene smile on his face.

That horrible hot feeling rose in my chest again, my reaction to Darius biting someone else. I was losing my mind.

“Let’s hurry.” I started to jog, not caring if I left the others behind. More cargo containers rose up around me, the same as the ones we’d seen before. Already having lost hope, I just wanted to get through here as quickly as possible and move on to the next thing.

A couple of tracks split off, leading off to the side and down the middle of the cargo areas, and both tracks were currently occupied by train cars in different stages of being loaded.