The Firedragon (13 page)

“
Quiet down.” He put his
hand on her shoulder and dropped his voice. “You’re not the only
one who wants change. Neither was Vilk. And neither am
I.”

She looked up at him, shocked by those last
words. He’d been the one who warned Vilk that such talk could get a
person arrested, so why was he agreeing with her – and speaking
those words himself? “What do you mean?” she asked.

He straightened. “There are those of us who
believe that the Triumvirate is broken beyond repair. Not only
because of the way they oppress Norms, but because they stifle
freedom and hold absolute power over their people. Sometimes, the
old must be destroyed to make way for the new. If you want to know
more, I’ll tell you later.”

“
What?” What did that
mean? And how could he say such things? They were clearly in
–

Oh. She caught a glimpse
of a silver shimmer and realized that he must have cast a silencer
spell when she wasn’t looking. A good thing, too – everything she’d
said since watching the mirror could be seen as treason. Not to
mention the things he’d just whispered. She watched him in
anticipation, thinking that the spell
must
have meant he had more to say,
some secret to share.

But instead of replying, he just turned and
walked toward the door. Aurelia watched him, puzzled. He said he
wanted change as much as she did, but it sounded like he didn’t
think the Triumvirate was capable of making that change. It sounded
like, instead of just modifying it, like she’d wanted to, he wanted
to replace it.

It sounded like he was talking about …
revolution.

But that was insanity … wasn’t it? How could
anyone take on the Triumvirate? They held more power than any other
government in the world. She was about to call after him and ask
him what he’d meant, but just then the door opened from the
outside, and someone else entered.

Aurelia gasped when she saw who it was.

Connor?!
Why was he here? Was it to yell at her for
breaking his arm, giving him a concussion, and forcing him to
forfeit the competition? That had to be it – if he’d done the same
to her, she would have wasted no time in letting her temper loose
on him. Nervousness gripped her, but she held her expression
steady. She had to explain herself to him, whether or not he’d
listen.

Williams stepped out of the way to let
Connor in. “Hello, Connor. I assure you, she’s perfectly all
right.” He started toward the door, then turned back, his brow
furrowed. “Aurelia, how did you kill the fangbeast?”

The question brought her back to those
frenzied-yet-blurred moments she’d spent with the monster. She
wished she had an explanation, but all she remembered was that the
fangbeast – and its clones – had been unusually predictable. She
knitted her eyebrows, trying to come up with the words to explain
that. “I don’t know. It’s like I could see what was gonna happen
before it happened. I’ve always been fast, but … it’s never been
like that before.”

“
Interesting. There may be
more to you than …” He trailed off and left without another word,
leaving Aurelia to wonder what, if anything, he had meant by that.
His silencer spell remained in her room, its silver shimmer still
surrounding her.

Her eyes flicked over to Connor, who stood
in the doorway with his arm in a sling. The guilt that had flooded
her when she’d fallen to the ground, crying beside his unconscious
form, flooded back into her mind, and she dropped her gaze, not
daring to look him in the eye. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“
For what?” he asked
gently. “Saving my life?”

She looked up and saw him standing beside
her, his expression holding only kindness.

Then he lifted the corner of his mouth into
the smile that she knew so well. “I’m here to thank you. If it
weren’t for you, I’d be dead.”

For a moment he just
looked at her, and though she knew he expected her to reply, she
didn’t know what to say. Too much happiness and relief flooded into
her heart at knowing she might still have her best friend. She felt
the corners of her mouth tugging upward, wanting to spread into the
widest grin she’d ever given, and pressed her lips together to keep
from looking like total idiot. Did he understand after all? Did
he
not
hate her
for what she’d done to him? Of all the things she’d been wrong
about, this might be the one thing she was glad for.

But what was she supposed to say? Her mind
couldn’t come up with anything meaningful, so she let out the only
words that came to her mouth: “Yeah, I knew you were a goner. Had
to stop you from getting yourself killed.”

“
You were right.” He drew
a breath, and the smile fell. “I also know they lied about what
happened with you and the fangbeast. That’s … awful.”

“
I
hate
the Triumvirate.” She couldn’t
stop the words from leaving her tongue, and glared at the ground in
frustration. “They’re freaking evil!”

“
I agree.” He sounded
offhand, but even though those two little words could be
interpreted as treason, and Aurelia looked up, surprised. That was
the last reaction she’d expected from him.

“
Really? But your dad’s
the head honcho.”

“
You mean the dad who
threw me away to tighten his grip on power?” A dark look clouded
his eyes. “He’s been in power long enough.”

Aurelia realized now why
Williams had left that silencer spell in the air – he must have
known that Connor agreed with him. Her heart clamored with
excitement at the idea that she wasn’t alone in her hopes of
bringing freedom and equality to her people, and suddenly the world
no longer looked bleak and hopeless. A larger war was brewing –
that
must
be what
Williams and Connor were talking about – and she wanted nothing
more than to join the fight. It was what she’d always wanted, she
realized now. Knowing that her best friend wanted to fight by her
side made her all the more eager.

“
So what happens next?”
she wondered aloud. “How do we get rid of the Triumvirate when
they’re so powerful?”

“
We can’t do it alone,”
Connor said, meeting her gaze. “But there are others who think like
us, and we need to find them.”

She nodded. Anger still smoldered in her
heart, but she could feel it growing into something more than the
raw fury that had overwhelmed her before. It was morphing into a
sense of purpose and steely determination. She wouldn’t bow her
head, slink back into her previous life, and stew in silence, like
the Triumvirate wanted her to. She already knew of two people who’d
fight the Triumvirate with her – Connor and Professor Williams –
and she was certain that if she looked hard enough, she’d discover
others. From the way Williams had talked, he already knew who some
of them were. Together, they would rally behind their shared cause,
becoming an unstoppable force. They could take down the
Triumvirate, right the wrongs, and bring about a new era of
freedom.

She could still change the world.

The Triumvirate may have won this time, but
she hadn’t lost – not yet. The Challenge was meant to prove how
dangerous the monsters were. It had served its purpose all right,
except that in the end, it hadn’t galvanized her against the
supernatural like it was supposed to. The fiends and beasts were
bad, yeah, but the real monsters were right here in the city,
manipulating people, using lies to keep them in line. Killing them,
if words wouldn’t do it.

And if there was one thing Aurelia knew how
to do, it was how to take down monsters.

Light streaks across the
night
sky, guns boom, and supernatural
beasts prowl the land. But this is no war. The war ended long ago.
It is instead a holiday, celebrating the magical Enchanters’
victory over the Lord of the Underworld, who once ravaged the
earth. Now, as the Triumvirate, the Enchanters rule the former US
with an iron fist, condemning anyone who questions them.

Sixteen-year-old Flynn Nightsider, doomed to
second-class life as a Norm, knows the history as well as anyone
else. But he doesn’t buy it. Fed up with the Triumvirate’s lies and
secrecy, he longs for change. And when he stumbles across a clue
that hints at something more – secrets in the dark, the undead, and
the man that once controlled them – he realizes that he might be
destined for more than just the life of a non-magical citizen.

Flynn Nightsider, Norm orphan, finds his
voice. And he begins fighting the system.

Before long, however, he realizes that all
is not as it seems. He finds himself hunted not only by the
government, but also by nighmarish monsters and a man with
supernatural powers…all seeking him for reasons he cannot
understand. Underground rebels – his only allies – entice him with
their vision of a better world, but seek to use his unrecognized
talents. The world around him grows dark and threatening, and as
the vicious creatures of the Underworld become bolder and the
nation teeters on the brink of revolution, he is forced to admit
three things.

The rebellion is not what it seems.

Flynn himself might be more than he
seems.

And the fate of the world now rests in his
hands.

Break the enchantments. Find the truth.
Ignite the revolution.

Mary Fan is a hopeless dreamer, whose mind
insists on spinning tales of “what if.” As a music major in
college, she told those stories through compositions. Now she tells
them through books—a habit she began as soon as she could pick up a
pencil. Flynn Nightsider and the Edge of Evil follows a
well-received debut novel, a space opera titled Artificial
Absolutes (2013), and is the first in the Flynn Nightsider series.
Mary would like to think that there are many other novels in her
bag, and hopes to prove that to the world as well.