Chapter Eleven

Cadiza was as I remembered—perfect. It had all the old-world charm of any European city. Cobblestone streets and old, craggy buildings were a mainstay. A large cathedral jetted up in the middle of a large courtyard. Magic concealed Cadiza from human eyes, but its geographical location was a breezy, beach side location in Portugal. It always seemed desolate growing up there, but I realized just how close bigger cities were.

I came out of the golden portal on the outskirts of town. Luckily, I hadn’t been seen and would be able to use a spell to conceal myself with invisibility before anyone did. A Bruxa’s magic was limited in Cadiza as blocks built into all the old buildings for the Elders’ protection. If I stayed outside and limited to the newer construction buildings, I would be able to sneak around undetected. The Elders could cast a locator spell to find me, but they didn’t know they needed to be looking for me. I had the element of surprise on my side. The last time I was in Cadiza I was a wreck. I just found out my best friends reported back to Jade the Eldest with every detail of my existence. The bitter taste in my mouth was still there.

The only redeeming memory from that day was Malakai being spared. I never wanted to see Cadiza, again. It represented oppression and lies. With Blythe’s information swirling in my head, I now saw the Elders’ council for what they really were—dictators. They wanted to keep the Bruxas and their powers for themselves. Sure, they wanted to use me because I had the ability to dream cast, but every Bruxa was valuable. I needed to find out exactly how much Jade knew about the dark witches. She couldn’t be as unknowing as Blythe insinuated. I took Jade for a lot of things, but a fool wasn’t one of them. If she didn’t want to get her hands dirty herself, she would have someone do the digging for her. To truly understand, I needed to compartmentalize my time with Blythe. If Jade was willing to talk, I must hear her out. I shuffled through my suitcase and realized I lost all interest in changing clothing, given the fact that I may need to fight, run, or both. I touched my talisman to cast the spell to become invisible.

“Solid is my body form. Take it away. I need to transform,” I whispered. I started disappearing gradually and relished the feel of the magic taking control of my body. The cloying scent mixed with glittering light wrapped around my body like a giant, cool hug. The tips of my fingers vanished as the swirls encompassed my arms and legs. Air took the place of my body, and my head was the last piece to melt into nothingness. I was completely disguised. No one would give me a second look. My casting muscles were weak. Holding an invisibility cast for long periods of time was difficult, even if I was in practice, so I set out at a quick jog to find the people I needed to see.

Once in the courtyard, I realized everyone was in a training session. Large groups of Bruxas hovered in cliques while talking about the day. I didn’t hear anything of interest, so I kept my search going until Rebekah the Elder’s name was spoken. I drifted closer to the woman talking and eavesdropped.

“Rebekah set new curfews, today. They should go into effect, tomorrow. Like we weren’t being controlled enough, already? They are going too far.” I was surprised at their obvious distaste for being controlled. No Bruxa ever showed a disobedient quality when I was there. It wasn’t in their nature. It was in mine. I wondered what changed since I last left.

“It’s since Jade came back. They are getting ready for something big. I can feel it. They are mad. The Elders made so many excuses as to why Jade was missing for so long, but I think they were all lies. Remember what that guy said? We’re as good as prisoners,” the woman said. Something was up big time, and I had a nagging feeling it was to do with me. I wasn’t the conceited type, but I was willing to wager it was my fault entirely. I turned on my heel and ran through the perfectly manicured lawn in front of the newer buildings in town. My body blinked in and out like a digital projection. I knew I couldn’t hold the cast much longer. I would blend in better if I didn’t look like a hologram.

“I am empty but not a soul. Give me form. Make me whole,” I muttered and snapped back into my body moments later. I wore the clothes I worked in at the coffee shop the day before. I wrinkled my nose in distaste and tried to smooth out the jeans. My blouse reeked of coffee beans and spilled creamer, but it was better than other alternatives. In my former life, I was lucky to get home without a shirt full of blood. Now that I was in Cadiza, I felt like my old self. I was cocky and angry, and most of all, I was on a mission. I didn’t have to play games and try to be normal for the sake of being normal. There was no hiding here. I was a Bruxa.

I swung my hair up into a ponytail and entered the dormitories the auditors stayed in while working in Cadiza. Malakai stayed in these very rooms when he was there. I couldn’t help but blush when I remembered the things we did and the way I sneaked around to do them. The memory sent a pang of regret for leaving him. He broke up with you, I thought. For the first time since I wheeled my suitcase out of our apartment, I felt sad. I didn’t have the luxury of letting my feelings cripple me, because I had to sort out my mess. The sooner I spoke with Jade, the sooner I could go back and try to patch things up with Malakai.

I sat down on a comfy couch in the lounge area and tried to listen in on conversations. Everywhere I turned, there were Bruxas angry with the Elders’ council. They didn’t want to obey their new rules—they were challenging them. It made me smile but also made me question what was in play to make them all so raucous. There was lively, angry chatter all about me.

I walked to the double glass doors and abruptly stopped. There was an enormous, fiery ball surging at an extreme speed toward the building I was in, toward the very door that separated me from the outside world.

“Everyone down,” I yelled at the top of my lungs. Heads swiveled to look at me with confused, untrusting gazes. I couldn’t help them if they wouldn’t listen, so I just ran. I ran as fast as I could through the throng of bodies in the lounge area toward the back door, yelling as I went. They thought I was utterly mad, I was sure of it, until the fire hit the building. I ducked out the back door just as a large explosion nestled into the very spot where I stood only moments before. Heat and fire licked up as it blasted me to a rolling escape out the door. I smelled the charred remains of flesh and plastic, and I threw my arm over my face to shield it from the raining, black debris. I was sprawled on my back with a few Bruxas nearby lying on the ground. My head felt fuzzy, and my palms were burnt from my rough landing. The fire wasn’t directed at me. It was an act of war.

Who the fuck did this? I was incensed with fury. It was one thing to go after me, but I felt kindred with these Bruxas. They couldn’t help what they’d become. They didn’t know the truth. Or did they? whispered a quiet voice in the back of my mind. Someone told them.

I stood up and screamed at the top of my lungs until there was no oxygen left to expel. If I could have breathed fire, I would. I heard moaning and sobbing all around and the heat—the blazing, unrelenting heat from the fire—was encroaching on the building next to it. I knew what I had to do. It was my job as an undefined Bruxa. My arms were sore from the explosion, but I raised them over my head and touched my talisman. It took time to light up because of the heat, but it responded once I started the spell.

“The clouds are full with dark, wet rain. Release it, now. It will not be tame.” The golden stream of light shot up to the sky and intermingled with the clouds. Then, it rained. It poured down hard, taming the fiery wreckage that was the former dormitory. I kept my hands raised and urged the water to come down harder and faster.

“Stop the flames!” It came out more like an angry sob than a command, but the rain thickened until a flood threatened. It was then that I felt the tears pouring down. I wiped my face, and my hand came away black, covered in soot. Controlling natural elements was obviously what I did when in Cadiza, because it was the last thing I did before I left. It felt poetic, if not for all of the lives lost. I sobbed again and walked away from the building as I ended the cast.

“It’s done. It’s through. Bring a day brand new.” My talisman, which still had black magic in its reserves, glistened as it caught the stream flying back into it from the retreating storm clouds. I couldn’t look at the bodies or the building. I zipped up the tattered remains of my jacket and used a sleeve to wipe my face.

“Thank you for the cast, Samantha.” It was Jade’s icy voice. When I turned around, I didn’t recognize her. She wore a dark-purple sweatshirt and jeans. It was a huge departure from her usual, high-fashion pencil skirt and perfectly coifed hair. She wasn’t even wearing a stitch of makeup. Her lips looked foreign without their signature, red hue.

“It’s me. I assure you. Things are a little different around here. We need to talk, please.” She looked innocent enough, but the last time I saw her, she was locking me in a prison cell with plans to use my dream casting to win her the next Bruxa Elder election. Looks like that won’t be happening, I thought as I flipped back through all the things I heard the Bruxas say.

“I’m supposed to believe you? After everything you’ve done and all the lies you’ve told?” I shut my eyes and breathed out deeply. I was already getting too worked up. I waved my arm toward the catastrophe to our side. Black smoke was rising to the heavens, signaling death. It was awful.

“There is an uprising against the Elders’ council. It seems that in my absence, control wasn’t exacted in the way that works the best.” She sighed and looked completely crushed. My curse was the reason for her absence.

“Why would they do this? Who would do this?” I was confused.

“There are smaller groups of Bruxas who have been targeting certain…” She looked up as if searching for words. “Certain areas and laws they don’t deem worthy.”

“Bruxas are doing this? Why the dorm? Get to the point.” We started walking together, back to one of the old buildings. I stopped before I walked in the door.

“I won’t go in there with you unless I can keep my magic,” I said. The buildings were warded to keep our magic out, but Jade had the ability to grant us pardons if she saw fit.

“Fine.” She saw no need to fight with me. I just helped save the wreckage of one of her buildings. I held out my wrist. She touched it to hers and pulled away, as if I shocked her. Her head moved in a robotic motion as she took off her hood and looked me squarely in the face.

“It’s true, then. Isn’t it?” She sensed the dark magic Blythe gave me to use against her.

“I was hoping you could do some talking, today,” I said as I pulled my hand away and touched my talisman to make sure it would still function inside the building.

“Follow me,” she said in response. I did. I followed her deep into the heart of the cathedral building to her office. She let out a long, deep breath as she sat in the chair behind her large, wooden desk. She unzipped the sweatshirt and placed it over the back of her chair. It looked more like a refugee camp than the professional office it used to be. Water bottles littered the floor, and grimoires lay open on every surface. I momentarily felt bad for her. Then, I remembered why I was there. I shut the door behind me and leaned against it.

“Talk,” I said. I wasn’t in the mood for games. I actually held her responsible for the explosion, if Bruxas were to blame. It was the Elders’ oppression that caused them to take such hostile measures.

“They bombed that building, because it’s where the auditors stay. They don’t agree with having them around, anymore. To be honest, they don’t agree with anything they used to. It’s utter chaos.”

Malakai could have been in that building, I thought with a lump in the back of my throat. I knew he wasn’t, because I just left him, but the possibility was there. I couldn’t believe Malakai let me come to Cadiza without so much as a warning. I felt duped. We had our trust issues in the past, but sending me into a war zone without so much as a, “Hey, honey. Take a helmet,” was just plain horrible.

I felt a wistful sadness wash over me as I realized he really didn’t care, anymore. I bit off more than I could chew. I was now playing both sides. Filtering what I was and wasn’t supposed to say was becoming a problem.

“What else?” I asked as I slid to a seated position on the floor in front of the door. All the chairs were covered in books, but I didn’t care. It felt like wartime. The floor felt safe.

“I know you don’t agree with my choices in the past. That is evident, if not for the only reason I’ve been solid as a statue for the past months. It really was for the greater good. Look at what has happened because I wasn’t here to govern. They’ve turned on each other.” She shook her head and began looking down at the grimoire that lay open on her desk.

“I don’t know what to do except step down and offer new leadership to the Bruxas.” She looked up at me hopefully. “It’s the only way to bring them back under control. We just need someone who can give them a better sense of freedom and lead in a different way than the council was able.”

“The hierarchy is falling. They demand a democracy,” I said half-joking.

“You’re absolutely right,” she retorted with a straight, serious face.

“Why not just let them go? Tell them the truth, and send them on their way? Wouldn’t that be the ultimate apology? I know that would have been an ace card a few years ago when I was running away from this place and from you. Now, they all want it. Why not give it to them?” My questions seemed earnest, and she nodded in agreement with every point I made.

“We can’t do that. It’s not that simple,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“Why not?” I asked. I never saw Jade act so straightforward and earnest before. It was scary.

“War is coming to Cadiza. It will be a battle of light and dark magic. It’s been coming for years. It’s the real reason I needed you here. Our race may die out completely.” My jaw dropped. Jade walked around the desk in her weird tennis shoes and stooped in front of me. She grabbed my chin in a motherly manner and closed my mouth.

“You, my dear, need to lead our Bruxas. Please, accept my offer. I want to make you Eldest.”

I passed out from information overload. It would be too easy to close my eyes to black. I dream cast, instead.