Destiny's Fire (Kythan Guardians 1)

I glanced at Lana as we walked toward the entrance of Cogs. “Still have my fake ID on you?”

She nodded, but then tilted her head. “Why?”

“Think I might get wasted for the first time ever tonight.” I shrugged. “That’s something to celebrate at least, right?”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Am I hearing birthday sarcasm?” She waved her hand through the air dismissively. “Dez, we’re all scared about the change. But try and have fun tonight. For me?” She batted her eyes.

I mock laughed. “Yup, with trying to divert Narcos and an impending change that’ll have me locked up for a while.” I tugged one of her pink dreads. “Sure. Let’s party.”

As we stepped inside the club, Devon looked up from tuning his guitar and waved. He was setting up the stage with the rest of the members of Current. Lana took the lead, and we followed her over.

“Did you get my data message?” she asked Devon, flashing a sweet smile.

He looked down at her from the two-foot high stage and smiled back. “Yeah, I did.” He adjusted his goggles, positioning them above the rim of his top hat. Tiny wisps of his blond hair feathered underneath. Then he jumped off the stage. “That’s some pretty serious stuff—Narcos looking for ways to use our power. And here we thought they just loved our company.”

Jace sidled up beside me and scoffed. “I think soon they’ll be more interested in certain company.” He eyed my outfit.

“What?” I crossed my arms. “This is all your sister. Blame her.” Lana had dressed me in a dark chocolate mini-bustle skirt and black corset. The bustle ruffles cascaded in back, barely reaching the top of my thigh-high boots. I’d pleaded to wear anything else, but she’d insisted it was my birthday “party wear” and the best choice for tonight’s mission.

I felt uncomfortable, but that was just me. This was a casual outfit for girls every day. I simply preferred my leather breeches. You couldn’t spar in a skirt. Well, you could, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

Jace’s eyes scanned over me again, his eyebrows knit in an expression I couldn’t figure out. Then he turned to follow Devon toward the bar and said under his breath, “I’m going to die tonight.”

Devon led us behind the bar. He pulled back the black curtain along the wall, revealing a hidden door. We stepped through and my mouth fell open. “Wow.”

Clocks and pipes decorated the walls, with pistons and gears randomly strewn about. On the table near the back, quartz and crystal were laid out. It looked like a mad scientist’s lab.

Devon pointed above our heads. I looked up to see three large crystals, a blue electric current jumping around inside them. “That’s how I power the stage instruments and the lights.” He pushed a button and two of the wall gears, one giant wheel and a smaller one with deep cogs, began turning. A pneumatic pipe pumped behind me, venting steam as a grinding noise scratched at my ears. A fake ceiling, slowly moving sideways, covered the crystals—hiding them away.

Devon looked around. “Shouldn’t be a problem to keep most of it hidden from the Narcos.”

I nodded. “Agreed.” I glanced over to Jace. He was handling one of the dormant crystals.

“Hey, Devon,” he said. “Will you show me how you infuse these?”

“Sure. I learned it from my professor at the Academy a couple years ago.” Devon picked up a crystal. “He’s also the one that taught me how to make some stuff on the down-low.” Devon wasn’t into sparring like us, but he loved how things worked. He made our weapons, and figured out new ways to incorporate Charge into them. He glanced over to Jace. “You said the Narcos are going to the Academy this year?”

Jace nodded once. “Yeah. This just keeps getting thicker.”

Everybody was quiet for a long moment. Then I spun around and left the room. I hoped Jace’s theory on why the Narcos were here was wrong. It was going to be nearly impossible to keep them from discovering how to use our power. But if that were the case, wouldn’t our Council already have realized this? I shook my head.

Nick was seated at the bar, helping himself to free beer. I scowled at him, then shrugged. “Give me one of those.”

He popped the cork on one of the dark glass bottles and slid it down the bar. I took a long pull. Tonight was going to be crazy, and my nerves were a mess. Happy birthday to me.

Devon opened the club, and the crowd waiting in line outside filed through the door. Current was on stage, already performing at full tilt. I motioned to Lana, jerking my head toward the bar. The music was deafening, but tonight there were no beat-matching lights, just the low-hung gas lamps. A loud note erupted, and steam spiraled from the pipes underneath the stage, making the club feel dark and eerie.

Lana and I made our w

ay through the mist, and I sat down next to Jace at the bar. He looked me over, giving an appraising scan before furrowing his brow. He hadn’t spoken to me since we first got here.

The bartender checked my ID, and I ordered a Clockwork Tangerine. “Two actually,” I corrected, noticing Lana’s pouting lips.

“Rum?” Jace turned toward me, eyes wide. “Oh, hell no.” He shook his head. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Ordering a drink. What does it look like?” I slipped my ID between my inner thigh and boot. Jace’s hand trailed mine and confiscated the ID, causing my stomach to flip violently as his fingers brushed my skin. “Hey! What are you doing?”

“Taking your ID. You can’t drink.”