Authors: Chanel Austen
Not only for me, but for my parents, old friends, and old enemies… life is hard enough for a Normal. I was a mage, magic didn't simplify complex things- it simply added complexity.
I steadied myself under the weight of it all with new resolve. I looked down remorsefully at the motionless body of a girl who would never feel anything again. Someone had taken a human life not fifteen feet from me. Then they put on a taunting display of magical prowess to mock the very same death.
There was no changing the past, no changing fate. But I could shape the future, if I was smart enough. Compensating for my mistakes? Yes, I most certainly needed to do so.
I could start here.
"Everyone move back away from the body now!" Rodriguez shouted, voice ringing out with authority that demanded obedience, "This is a crime scene and it will be treated as such!"
Her words were emphasized by the steady trickle of uniforms squeezing through the crowd at the doors. I could just only see a small swarm of cop cars outside of the UGL, flashing lights refracted by the transparent entrance doors. Accompanying them was a steadily growing crowd outside, which was kept at bay by more officers.
Students now were being ushered away by the growing horde of blue justice. Rodriguez and Wilson stood over the body, talking quietly. I saw Wilson point a single finger towards the now indecipherable smear that had magically formed words only a minute before. Rodriguez shook her head and gestured for him to lower it. I couldn't hear what was being said over the murmurs of the crowd.
Et in Fraternitatis Ego, I repeated them carefully in my head several times to lock it in my memory until I could write it down. I had no idea what they meant, or even the language, though it sounded suspiciously Latin. No doubt they were an important clue to what had happened here.
Many of the library patrons were heading back into the library, and I joined them, rather than follow the crowd that was being forced outside. There were still questions I needed answered, and it took only a moment's stroll to spot the person who might answer them. The very same mage I had chased into the library in the first place- which possibly prevented me from seeing exactly who had committed murder just a few steps away.
He was standing by the stairs I had begun to ascend less than five minutes ago. The crooked smile I had seen before in his first introduction was gone and was replaced with a much more solemn look. I approached with caution, my own features locked in grimly carved stone.
The unknown User nodded to me when I stopped a few feet from him, "Hey," he acknowledged quietly, nearly indiscernible from the buzzing chatter of the patrons moving around us.
"Hey," I mirrored.
He gave a small gesture towards the stairs, "Let's go talk?"
I nodded again and let him lead the way. I eyed his back suspiciously on the way up. This was another mage, different from the one from last night. He had been ahead of me in the library, so he couldn't be the shooter. Still, magic had been done afterwards and I had been unable to discern the source of it in the large crowd. That could have been him.
My instincts told me no. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I might be walking with one of the murderers I had promised to find.
111
The second floor of the library was strangely empty, considering it was the early afternoon of a weekday. Not surprising though when you consider that a murder had just happened right in the middle of campus. I noted that many of the people who had come up the stairs with us were quickly walking to the books they had left behind, packing them away and moving to leave once more.
Pushed against the walls of the second floor were glass-paned study rooms, very much sound proof unless someone started to shout. We moved towards the back of the floor, and I followed my companion into one the smaller rooms meant for two people.
We sat down across from each other, and there was a short silent staring contest. He broke it first and stuck out his hand across the table.
"James Swann," was the short introduction he gave, a small smile returning, "But you can call me Jimmy."
I grasped it cautiously, the familiar presence of another mage buzzed against my conscience, a reminder of our introduction outside the library. Instead of the excited anticipation I had felt before, now I could only feel doubtful mistrust.
Still, I replied, "Nicholas Stratus." After a second's pause, I added reluctantly, "You can call me Nick, if you want."
His smile widened, seemingly oblivious to my suspicious thoughts, "Jimmy and Nick." Swann laughed, "I think that has a nice ring to it."
"Stratus and Swann." I smiled, despite my reservations.
"Swann and Stratus sounds better to me." Jimmy corrected with a playful glint in his eye.
I didn't like that look. It seemed wrong to make jokes with this 'Jimmy Swann' just after we had witnessed the aftermath of a coldly calculated murder. Maybe Swann could brush that off, maybe he was even involved… but I couldn't just forget what we had just seen.
Maybe he read my mood by the dark look on my face because his smile vanished again, and his hands fell back to his side. Swann turned to his satchel quietly and pulled out a thin silver laptop, powering it up and beginning to type.
"That was terrible." He said, sorrow evident in his voice, "No one should have to die like that." Even as he spoke he never looked up from his laptop screen, and I could hear the steady sound of typing from the other side of the table. I had pulled out nothing from my bag in response, instead sitting with my arms folded, acutely aware that my back was towards the door of the room.
"It was." I only agreed, though my tone suggested anger, suspicion- possibly directed at Swann himself. Was he involved? Remorse and guilt went hand in hand; I knew that better than most. Life had taught me not to trust easily, everyone had some angle. It had pounded that lesson into me until I nearly broke. Trust was earned, and Swann was very far from earning mine.
"It wasn't me." James said quietly, eyes downcast. Again he seemed to read my thoughts. But it was no magic, he just had a good read on me. I wasn't exactly being subtle in making my displeasure known. There was no point in pretending that I wasn't suspicious of the only other mage I knew at the scene of the crime- it would be stupid not to be.
"Prove it." I challenged.
Green eyes behind wire rimmed frames looked up to meet mine, and he grimaced, "You know I can't."
I sat up straighter, leaning forward and placed folded arms on the table. I matched his stare with my own and waited for him to say something else.
He didn't, instead looking back down to his laptop screen to continue his sedate typing. It was quiet for over a minute as neither of us said anything further.
"You don't seem as suspicious of me as I do of you." I said suddenly, annoyed by his silence.
A shake of the head, "I know you're not involved… at least I'm pretty sure. You're a freshman, you just started this semester."
"How do you know that?"
The typing stopped, and Swann smoothly turned the laptop around to face me, and I found myself looking at my own Facebook profile, unlocked, which should be impossible since we weren't friends. Swann's mouse pointer hovered directly over the information that declared me a freshman student at UD, it also listed by hometown in Virginia. Swann knew who I was and where I was from, seemingly within minutes of meeting me for the first time.
"How?" I managed to ask, "My profile is set to private."
Swann shrugged, "I hacked it. It's not hard if you know what to do. Also…" He turned the laptop back, made a few muted clicks, and then flipped it back to me once more. This time, it showed another profile, this one of a very familiar girl next to another that I didn't recognize. Both had equally wide smile, standing with arms entangled across shoulders in a successful attempt to clump closer together for the picture. The easy nature of their huddle spoke of a sense of easy camaraderie found in close friends- the kind of people you expected to spend a lifetime with.
It took me a long moment to recognize the girl in the left, to connect the broad laughing grin and bright hazel eyes with the slightly gaping stare and lightless orbs of the very dead young woman just downstairs from me. So different in life and death… yet they were one and the same.
Emily Albright. I now had her name. It only strengthened my resolve.
"She was nineteen." Jimmy said quietly, "Only a new initiate."
"Initiate," I repeated, "She was a part of the coven here."
"Yes." Was the short reply, but Swann didn't explain further, waiting for me to continue.
I didn't disappoint, "She was one of them and they killed her? Or someone outside of the coven, another mage killed her?"
A nod.
"Are you a member?" I asked the all-important question, watching Swann closely for his answer. It was possible, through air vibrations and magical sense to detect lies. However I didn't know the skill, or even have knowledge of the possibility at the time. All I could do was stare my fellow mage down and hope that I could read something from him.
Swann met my gaze steadily, "I'm not," He replied evenly, "But I'm going to join up."
I stared outright at him. He sounded completely serious, "Even knowing that they might be responsible for what happened to that girl?"
"Yes." He said with absolute certainty, and then waved off my next indignant protest, "Listen, Nick. Why did you come to UD? Wasn't it because you followed the clues left online for those talented enough with magic to recognize? The legitimately magical from the fantastically arcane. No User can learn to wield their magic without a coven backing them, and a mage who finds enemies within a coven is dead with no one to help them. It's cutthroat politics yeah, but it's the world we live in. Tell me I'm wrong, dude."
He wasn't wrong, and I knew it. That was almost exactly why I came here, and struck disturbingly close to the problems I had in the past with other mages, though not on all points. After all, there were other threats to mages in the magical world beyond other mages… but I wasn't about to expound on that to a stranger like James Swann, not yet.
Still, James had read me correctly, although in hindsight it couldn't have been very hard to guess why a freshman mage came all the way from Virginia to go to school in Detroit.
"You might not have ended up here, of course." James continued, "If you look deep enough there are trails all over the internet. Detroit, Chicago, New York, L.A, New Orleans. Anywhere in the United States that contains a significant population is statistically more likely to have a significant number of magical users. The trails are all there."
"Detroit doesn't fit that list." I countered, and it was true, the population here was south of a million. Nowhere near New York or L.A.
He nodded in agreement, "Yeah the city has been in decline, especially since the auto crisis. But I think that's one of the reasons its online trail is more pronounced than the others. It makes it easier to track, so more mages could find it." Swann leaned in, a mischievous spark in his eye made more pronounced by his smile, "This time and place, here? It's a time of opportunity. It's a turning point, and we can influence the turn."
I digested his words, weighing them in my mind, attempting to get a read on him. It was a tempting thing, power to change the world to our liking. It was a coveted ability that few had and many wished to gain. To be able to look in the mirror and lazily float my toothbrush above a single hand… I had done it many times. It was power, it came with the certainty that I could affect the world in ways that others couldn't, and make a real difference.
But the road to hell was paved with good intentions. The age old axiom still stood timeless for a reason, and I couldn't ignore that despite magic, I was still human. I could still mess up. The problem that comes with plays for power, when someone screws up, others pay the price. I met James expectant gaze and wondered what he wanted from me, exactly. Why had he drawn my attention outside the library in the first place?
"This coven…" I began slowly, "What is it called?"
Here, James hesitated. A single hand moved from the keyboard to grip the table for a second, and the response spoken was guarded.
"Its name…" Swann leaned in, eyes flicking left and right, as if afraid of invisible spies listening in, "Archanos. The Archanos Society."
"You're afraid."
Swann grimaced, "You're not? You saw that girl. I don't know why she died, but that could end up being one of us. Probably worse, no one would find our bodies… I have a feeling that was a message for someone."
"It was definitely a message." I frowned then recited, "Et in Fraternitatis Ego. Latin?"
"Yup." Swann gave a quick nod, "That was my guess, but I don't know what it means."
"Gonna try and find out?"
"Of course, leave it to me." He adjusted his glasses, "But we need to be careful, Stratus. Without the strength of a coven behind us, we're easy prey. I hate to say it, but that's why we need Archanos."
"Even after what they did to Emily Albright?" I challenged again, unwilling to just let it go, "Even if that could be us, next?"
James shook his head, "Look man, I'm not saying it's right. But we don't know what happened, and it's a cold world out there. You gotta know that. Mages play a cutthroat game and they don't really care who goes down if you get in their way. If they can cover it up, they'll do it. With the gangs in Detroit there's always a fall guy if someone needs to get dead fast, you know? So either ignore the fact that you have power, or get ready to play. There aren't any other options."
It was a blunt way of putting it, but James wasn't wrong. Those were the facts, scary as it was. I suppressed a wince at the spike of pain that casually trailed down my spine, reminding me of my limitations for the umpteenth time that day. My mind was beginning to feel the toll as well, the sleep I had gotten nowhere near enough.
I was tired, and I couldn't concentrate with the steady slow ache developing in my head which would no doubt turn into a bigger one soon enough.