Mine to Fear (21 page)

“
Nathaniel has discovered a power
plant that's not well guarded. It's far from any town so they don't
think anyone knows about it or would bother to try something
with
it
.”

“
That's the one we need to hit, then,”
Cynthia says.

But Bethany doesn’t look so sure.

“
What's the problem?” I ask
her.

“
Just the location,” Bethany says.
“It's one of the few areas in Chardonia that's not forested and
it's flat.”

Lovely.

“
We attack at night then,” Cynthia
says, her enthusiasm never waning.

If I was as powerful as she is and
accomplished such feats, I'd be just as enthusiastic. Though, in my
defense, I did help at Ryan's and to save Nelly. I can do this too,
no matter how fearful it makes me.

“
With a bigger team than last time,” I
say. “Not too many, but some we can trust.”

“
What happens if we all go and the
worst happens?” Tawny says.

“
Some of us should stay behind,”
Chadwick says, giving her a pointed look.

“
Definitely,” I say. “Tawny would be a
good choice. And Annabelle, if that's all right?” I can't have
something happen to her and have her husband lose her before we
save him. Serena should stay behind as well, but knowing her
stubbornness, I'm not going to be the one to bring it
up.

“
I'm fine with that. I think the
people here are growing fond of me.”

“
I'll stay with her,” Theodore
says.

“
Bethany?” I ask, unsure which side of
this she wants to be on.

Her lips pinch. “I want to go. I really do,
but I think I should stay behind this time.”

“
Jack?”

“
I'm going, of course.”

His response surprises me. I thought
he'd want to stay behind and protect Annabelle. I'm glad he's going
to be with us, though. “That's great. We will put a group together,
then. We head out for the attack in a we
ek
.”

Chapter
Thirty-Seven

K
atherine's
final
ly
come! She's walking
straight toward me with a male tarnished at her side. He looks to
be just a year or two older than her, and his tattoos don't glow at
all
.
Her tattoos glow deep
red, the color they were when Zade was captured. She must not go
anywhere public with the wrong color. The law officers would take
her as soon as they saw her.

I wrap her in a hug. “I've missed you so
much. It's so good to finally see you.”

“
Even better to see you.”

I release her. “Who is your friend? I don't
believe we've been introduced.”

“
This is Charles. We are… that is to
say, we were going to be married.”

“
Married! I didn't even know you were
serious about anyone.” I shake Charles’s hand as he steps forward.
“You had better take excellent care of her.”

“
Wouldn't dream of doing anything
else.”

Suddenly, I turn back to Katherine. “Wait,
you said were. Why were?”

She clenches her jaw before a neutral
expression takes over. “There's too much going on right now. What
with the rebellion, Zade being captured, and people being taken and
killed. Not to mention there's no one who we could find to perform
the ceremony.”

“
Oh, Katherine.” I wrap her in another
hug. “I swear sometimes this is the stupidest place on the entire
planet. I'm done with all these Chardonians getting in the way of
important things, especially lo
ve
.”

She gives a half grin. “I knew you'd
understand. Where's Serena? She's met Charles before but didn't
really get a chance to know him. And then we can talk about how we
can help with the rebellion you're taking part in.”

“
I'm so happy you're here!” I start
toward the cave opening. “Serena's inside, probably with someone
that has all sorts of concerns and wants her to fix
them.”

“
She's changed since I first met
her.”

“
You're telling me.”

The view darkens as we enter the cave.

“
What's a tarnished doing here?”
someone calls out.

Lands. I finally get their trust in me, and
we're going to have to go through it all again with Katherine.
She'd better not have to almost die for someone to earn her trust.
“She's here to help.”

“
How can a tarnished possibly
help?”

“
This tarnished can do more things
with clothes than you could ever think of.”

“
Clothes? Truly? We're supposed to be
happy about something less than a shadow to help us with a bunch of
silly clothes?”

Heat boils in me, but before I can snap a
reply, Katherine puts a hand on my arm. She gives them a withering
look. “I can camouflage you so you can hide in a forest or get
close to a house or party. I can make slots for you to easily carry
weapons. I can disguise you so you look like you fit with any
group, including the upper class. I can keep you alive with a bunch
of silly clothes.”

I want to tell her how majorly impressed I
am but not in front of everyone

Those gathered aren't so easily swayed,
though. It's enough that the hassling stops, but they still keep a
close eye on her, watching her every move. I hurry to get her out
of sight, toward the cavern Serena is staying in.

“
Sorry,” I tell Katherine. “They're
very mistrustful.”

“
I know what you went through to gain
their trust. Ridiculous rumors. I had been hoping they'd be more
open to me since I'm a Chardonian woman just like many of them,
just like Serena and Cynthia. Seems it was wrong to
hope.”

“
Give them time. They should come
around without anything drastic having to happen. You're much less
abrasive and blunt than I am. People like you.”

She bites her lip. “Maybe, yet there's too
many things dependent on a good relationship here. If they can't
trust me, I can't give them my full help.”

“
I wish we could change it faster for
you,” I say.

“
Posh. For now, I'll still help how I
can without interfering too much. I'll send
cloth
es
at least.” She turns
to Serena. “And this whole debacle has turned me rude. Serena, do
you remember Charles?”

She smiles. “I do, yes.”

“
We are trying to find a way to be
marri
ed
.”

Serena squeals with delight. We spend
the next hour lost in a world of love and weddings. Only, no matter
how long we're distracted, there's still the real world out there
waiting to destroy us
.

***

Once she's had a chance to talk with
everyone she wanted to, I bring Katherine to my room to chat. I
wish Jack was here to introduce her to, but he's away getting more
food. It's just as well. There's much to discuss without
introducing her to a man I'm not certain how I feel toward
exactly.

“
How have things really
been?”

“
It's been difficult not being able to
go anywhere in public. My whole store was broken into. A warlock
stole all of my clothes, material, and designs—after which he
destroyed the shop.”

“
Oh, Katherine.” I give her a hug.
“I'm so sorry. These warlocks are going to get what's coming to
them. I'll make sure of that.”

“
I have no doubt you would show them
exactly how you feel about it.”

I guess I'm not very good at hiding my
spells or my feelings. “Can I unspell your tattoos to no longer
glow?” I ask her.

“
You can try. A few others have tried
and haven't been able to take the color out.”

“
Let me see what I can do.” Though
hearing others have tried and haven't gotten anywhere with it is
discouraging.

I try to study the spell, see what
exactly it's doing. It appears simple enough, just light glowing
from her tattoos. There has to be more to it, though. I know
there's some sort of tracking system related to it, but she
shouldn't have that piece. Not with Zade taking care of it for
h
er
.

I focus in on the colors, taking them out,
and cast the spell. The spell is clear except for some light gray
streaks. It moves over her face in light waves, covering the
redness glowing from her tattoos. The redness seems to fade under
the spell, and my hopes rise. I pull the spell back only to have my
hopes dashed again. They are as red as ever.

“
I'm sorry,” I say. “I thought I had
them.”

“
Don't worry about it.”

“
Wait, maybe Tawny can do it. She's
dealt with invasive spells before.”

“
I'm willing to try anything at this
point.”

I hurry to get Tawny, who wants to try.
Serena comes over to chat with Katherine by the time Tawny and I
return.

“
No promises,” Tawny says. “But I will
do my best.”

Tawny takes her time studying the spell.
While she tries to discover how to counter the spell, I glance at
Serena. She is twisting her hands but otherwise appears calm. Why
is she so stressed about this? Even if Tawny can't counter the
spell, Katherine has been living with this for a long time. Things
will be all right. Unless, of course Katherine, isn't the problem.
It's Tawny. I should have never brought her here, given not only
how volatile things are, but also how rough her being here is on
Serena.

I move to Serena and give her a quick
squeeze, letting her know I'm there for her. We wait a few more
moments, and Tawny finally tries her counter-spell. It's clearer
than mine was, with just some faint yellow sparks. It focuses in on
Katherine's tattoos, covering them all. Just like my spell did, the
red fades as the spell covers over them. Unlike mine, it stays
faded when the spell pulls back.

“
You did it,” I say.

“
Really?” Katherine reaches up to
touch her face. “They're really gone.”

“
Let me run and grab a mirror,” Serena
says.

She returns quickly with a small mirror in
tow. I don't bother telling her we could have spelled one easily
enough. She may have accepted magic, and even wants to learn it,
but she can't seem to remember how much it can really help in
everyday life.

Serena holds up the mirror, and Katherine's
entire face transforms, lighting up with joy at the sight of her
unglowing face. If only it was so easy to get rid of her tattoos so
she didn't have to continue life as a tarnished.

“
Thank you,” Katherine tells
Tawny.

“
Of course.”

“
Maybe at some point, I'll let my hair
grow o
ut
.”

“
What color is it?” I ask.

“
Dark brown. I haven't missed it,
though, other than when I'm cold.”

Chardonia feels cold to me, at least in my
heart. I hope we're changing that.

Chapter
Thirty-Eight

T
he time to
attack the power plant has come, and I'm not at all ready for it. I
don't even know what to expect this dark night. Katherine made us
all a fabric drape to go over our clothes that looks like
camouflage. It helps us blend in even though there's no forest to
hide in. The building up ahead doesn't look sinister. Not at all
like I'd expect one to look like that's using people for their
magic to power a mad man's dreams.

It's plain brick with one wooden door in the
front. The only thing odd about it besides the wires coming out of
it is the lack of windows. I can't imagine staying in a place with
no sunlight streaming in.

“
Is everyone in position?” Jack asks.
He's such a natural leader. I can't imagine anyone else taking his
place except maybe Chadwick. But of course the Chardonians are ever
stubborn. They may have become more accepting toward us, but that
doesn't mean they're ready to let us lead. No matter, as long as we
can help.

When Jack gets affirmations all around, he
motions for us to head out. From here on, there won't be any
talking unless absolutely necessary.

The first spell we come to is like a simple
brick wall. It's like even red rectangles with white lined between
them, only this wall is transparent. Cynthia hits it with a dark
gray spell, plunging a hole big enough that the ten of us can get
through.

Chadwick takes our rear while Jack and
Cynthia head us up. They get through three more spells similar to
the first, the last one leaving Cynthia panting. But there's no
more spells between us and the building.

I motion Cynthia to take my spot while I
watch Jack's back. The door of the building is unguarded. Probably
due to a mixture of having the spells guarding it and being too far
out here. Jack motions all of us to move flat against the wall. As
soon as we're all hiding, as best we can, Jack knocks on the
door.

Several moments later, a burly warlock with
a stench I can smell all the way over where I'm at, answers.

“
You my replacement?”

“
Yes, I am.”

“
It's about time you got here. Get in
here.”