The Wizard Heir (25 page)

Barber signaled to the others, and the remaining
wizards separated, advancing toward Seph from three different directions.

Seph climbed partway up the side of the rocky gorge
and turned to face them. The way to the parking lot was blocked, and he had no
hope of climbing the rest of the way without being overtaken or disabled.

It was eerily silent in the gorge. The birds were
quiet, and he couldn't even hear the sound of water cascading over the rocks.
All he could hear was the harsh breathing of the three wizards as they advanced
on him.

“You may think you're a wizard now, Joseph,”
Warren said. “But we think you have a lot to learn. And we can teach you,
back at school.” His voice turned soothing. “Tell you what. You won't
have to mingle with the other students anymore. We'll let you stay in the
Alumni House. We'll be best friends.”

Seph extended his hands. “Back off. I don't want
to hurt you, but I won't let you take me.”

“Please don't hurt us, Joseph,” Barber
mocked. As he spoke, he gestured and a lattice of shadows slid over Seph. He
looked up to see the net descending on him and threw up his hands, speaking the
countercharm. He had been spending considerable time on Weirweb counters. The
net dissolved into gleaming shards of silver that fell harmlessly about his
shoulders. Then he swept his arm out in a broad arc, sending a wall of blue
fame roaring downhill. The alumni threw themselves on their faces in the river
as the flames raked over them.

Seph teased earth out of the side of the hill,
releasing a landslide of boulders, then drove a flash flood of water down the
gorge. He was desperately flinging charms he'd never tried before. Some worked
and some didn't. He had to keep the alumni busy. If he took even one hit, he
was done.

His only advantage was that Leicester wanted him
alive. He was under no such restriction, although he really had no desire to
harm them. They were victims as much as he was.

Except for Warren Barber. Seph was beginning to think
Barber was bad to the bone. Should've killed you when I had the chance, he
thought.

Seph inched up the riverbed toward the parking lot,
fighting the alumni for every foot of ground. He sensed rather than heard the subduen
charm Barber cast, and threw back the countercharm. Warren spun out more
spider cords from his hands—looping, iridescent cords that threatened to
ensnare Seph—but they dissolved under the same counter he'd used on the web.

They pressed against the barricades he put up, seeking
weaknesses, and toppled small trees on the slope above, sending branches
crashing down around him. They sent clouds of vapors toward him, and birds
tumbled out of the sky, stupefied. He was already getting tired. He wondered
how long it would take them to devise something he'd never heard of, or to
simply overwhelm him.

The wizards were soaked, plastered with mud, and
bleeding. They'd obviously expected an easy catch.

“Does Dr. Leicester mind if he's damaged or
broken?” Hanlon gasped.

“I think we might have to damage him. I think it
might be unavoidable.” As if to reinforce his words, Barber swung his
fist, sweeping stones from the river bed into a deadly cloud that flew at Seph.
Seph fashioned a shield and managed to deflect most of them, but a fist-size
stone struck him above the right eyebrow, stunning him momentarily, almost
knocking him from his feet. He staggered backward but managed to stay upright.

Barber said something to the other two, and the three
came forward, pointing at him and firing charms, one after another. Seph
struggled to keep up, knowing that if he lost focus for a moment, it would be
over. He fingered the dyrne sefa and thought about disappearing, but it
would do no good if he couldn't keep up with the spellcasting. He might end up
immobile and unnoticeable, lost in the Vermilion River Gorge forever.

Suddenly he saw movement just beyond the alumni in the
ravine, a flash of light off metal, and a familiar figure, moving fast. The
three wizards were so focused on their intended victim that they didn't realize
their peril until it was too late.

Ellen Stephenson swung her blazing sword in a powerful
two-handed sweep that sliced through Aaron Hanlon's ribcage all the way to the
spine, nearly cutting him in half. Hanlon screamed and toppled facedown in the
river. He lay still, his blood clouding the water. She swung again, metal
singing, slicing through Warren Barber's shoulder. A little different angle,
and she'd have taken his arm off. He spun away, cursing, clutching at the wound
with one hand.

Seph scrambled down the slope to join her, feet
sliding in the loose shale. Ellen was breathing hard, but she was grinning,
triumphant. Now it was suddenly two against two, and one wounded on the other
side.

“You okay, Seph?” She kept her sword up, her
eyes on the two wizards.

“Ellen, I am so glad to see you,” Seph said.
He was appreciating the benefits of having a warrior on his side.

Seph sent a volley of immobilization charms raining
down on the two remaining wizards. Ellen spiraled flames toward them, spinning
off the tip of her sword and advancing on them with grim determination. Warren
Barber staggered backward, feeling the effects of his wound. Now the alumni
were the ones on the defensive.

Seph knew they'd better make the most of their
temporary advantage. There might be more alumni waiting in the wings.

“Ellen!” He moved in close so he could speak
quietly. “I'm going to make you invisible.” He lifted the dyrne
sefa from around his neck and hung it around hers. Then he gripped her arm
and spoke the unnoticeable charm. “Don't let me lose hold of you. Now
let's move!” he hissed, pulling her down off the slope and across the
water to the other side.

The two remaining wizards swiveled about, splattering
flames at random, muttering curses, scanning the sides of the canyon and the
underbrush at the river edge. Frustrated, they closed in on the spot where Seph
was last seen, raking it with wizard fire. Smoke filled the gorge as grass and
brush began to smolder. Barber sent another hail of stones swirling down the
gorge and Ellen hissed in pain as several hit home.

“McCauley!” Barber shouted, his face purple
with rage. “We know where you live! We've been on fricking Jefferson
Street. We'll find Linda Downey and her sister, Rebecca. We'll find your girl.
We'll find your warrior friend. And in the end, we'll find you.”

The alumni charged down the river at a dead run,
convinced their quarry was getting away. Seph and Ellen splashed up the river
in the opposite direction, toward the parking lot. They scrambled desperately
through the gorge, slashed by briars and branches, water and mud sucking at
Seph's flip-flops, Ellen's sword catching in the underbrush. He could hear no
sounds of pursuit behind them, only their labored breathing and the racket they
made as they forced their way through the trees.

They burst through the last of the brush into the
parking lot. Madison was standing by the car, frantically punching numbers into
a cell phone, when Seph and Ellen materialized out of the air, Ellen carrying
her bloody sword.

Madison looked up and saw them. “You found
him!” She shoved her cell phone into her purse. “Thank God! Are you
okay?” She gripped Seph's elbows, peering anxiously into his face,
touching his forehead where the rock had hit him. Then she looked over his
shoulder at Ellen and said fiercely, “I hope you chopped them into little
bits.”

“Do you two know each other?” Seph asked,
looking from Madison to Ellen.

Ellen was in a ready stance, facing the trailhead,
watching for signs of pursuit. “Let's get out of here. We can chitchat
later.”

There were two more cars parked in the lot than when
Seph and Madison had arrived. One was the old Jeep that Will and Ellen shared.
The other one was unfamiliar, a black minivan with a rent-a-car sticker. It
must belong to the alumni, Seph thought. At least he hoped so, because he
melted all four tires.

Seph rode with Madison in the pickup. Ellen followed
behind in the Jeep. Madison seemed accustomed to negotiating country roads; she
drove fast, scarcely slowing for the curves and corners.

What a disaster. He'd been a fool to take a chance with Madison. If not for her odd
resistance to wizards, she would have been killed, hurt, or kidnapped.

If Ellen hadn't shown up, he might be on his way back
to the Havens by now. Which reminded him. “You didn't seem surprised to
see Ellen. And her sword.”

Madison glanced at him, then back at the road.
“Is that her name? I was on my way to the parking lot when she stepped out
of the trees with that thing and demanded to know where you were. I thought
she was standing watch for those creeps. She thought I'd led you into
some kind of trap. It took us a while to sort it out. Then she went tearing
down the trail after you and I went to the car to call 911. Only, I couldn't
get my cell phone to work. It's like, fried.”

She swerved around a slow-moving van. “What the
hell happened back there, anyway? Does this kind of thing happen to you all the
time?”

Seph was scratched and scraped and bruised and his
head was throbbing. He rested it back against the seat and closed his eyes.
“Not too often. Let's just say I made a mistake.”

“Those men were all witches.”

“Wizards.”

“Whatever. So. Are you in some kind of magical
gang war?”

He eyed her glumly, wishing she were susceptible to
wizardry so he could just wipe her mind clean. “I used to go to school
with them. Now they're after me. I don't know why.” He hoped they hadn't
noticed anything special about Maddie. He hoped they wouldn't think about her
at all.

“You want to go straight to the police station?
Or we could look for a pay phone …”

He shook his head, staring straight ahead. “The
police can't help.” She opened her mouth to speak, and he held up his
hand. “What am I going to tell the cops? I was attacked by wizards who
tried to snare me in a spider web? And then that nice Ellen Stephenson, who
plays forward on the girls' soccer team, cut two of them to pieces with her
magical sword?” He thought of Ross Childers and imagined his reaction. Not
pretty. “Just take me home.”

“Do you think they'll give up, after today?”

“No.”

“Well, you can't just wait for them to try
again.”

“I don't intend to.” He had no real choice.
He'd known that all along. He could remain a prisoner in the Sanctuary, waiting
for Leicester to target someone he cared about, or he could act.

She put her hand on his arm. “I'm worried about
you.”

“You should be worried about yourself. People who
get involved with me tend to get hurt.”

“Maybe I can help you.”

He couldn't believe it. They'd only just met, and
they'd just had the date from hell, and she was still on his side. “It's
not up to you.”

By now, they'd passed the city limits, the classy
stone gateway for Trinity College and the sign that said trinity HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION III STATE
SOCCER CHAMPIONS. Seph wondered if the soft barrier worked both ways, if the
alumni knew he'd returned to the Sanctuary. Maybe they could track his
movements all the time. The back of his neck prickled.

Madison swerved into Seph's driveway. Ellen pulled up
behind them, but made no move to get out, giving them a moment of privacy.

Madison helped unload the picnic gear onto the sidewalk.
“Here, I'll help you carry it inside.”

“That's all right. I'll get it.”

Madison leaned against her truck, twisting one of her
tiny braids between her fingers. “I have to say, that was my most eventful
picnic in a long time.”

Seph looked away and swallowed. “No doubt.”

She gripped his hands and looked up into his face.
“But I had a good time before … ah … before the mayhem.”

Seph shook his head, bewildered. “I don't get it.
I had to practically bribe you to get you to go out with me in the first place.”

“Who says we're going out?” She pulled back
her hair, and the beads clattered softly together. “For one thing, my
drawing's not done. I need you to sit some more.” She touched his face
gently, as if mapping the bone structure underneath. “Plus, I think we
could maybe be friends. You're not nearly as arrogant as I thought you were at
first.” She grinned. “You better call me, Witch Boy, or I'll come
find you, now that I know where you live.” She climbed up into the seat.

Seph stood watching until the pickup disappeared
around the corner at the end of the street.

Ellen vaulted over the side of the Jeep. “Need
some help?” She shouldered one of the coolers and stuffed the quilt under
her arm. They managed to carry everything into the kitchen in one trip. No one
was around, but based on the debris left behind, Jack and his friends had
passed through. Ellen drained two bottles of water while Seph put the food
away.

Ellen was a mess. She was muddy and her clothes were
torn. She had a nasty cut over one eye and her cheekbone was turning purple
from the rockfall. She also looked positively elated. Seph was beginning to
realize that Ellen liked nothing better than a good fight, well concluded. He
brought the first-aid kit from the downstairs bathroom, and they sat at the
table, methodically treating each other's wounds.

“You were really good today,” Ellen said,
lifting the dyrne sefa from around her neck and handing it to Seph.
“I couldn't keep track of all the charms flying around. Those guys
definitely got the worst of it. Too bad we had to split, because I think we
could have taken them.”

“Yeah.” Seph swept back Ellen's chin-length
brown hair and dabbed at her bloody ear. “Not that I'm not grateful, but …
why were you at the park?” Seph asked.

“I was—you know—out hiking.”

“I don't believe you.”

Ellen opened the freezer, scooped up a handful of ice,
dropped it into a plastic bag, and handed it to Seph. “Put that on your
head,” she suggested.