Trial by Fire

Rowan’s chest swelled with incensed breaths. He finished pouring out three shots of moonshine and passed them around. He didn’t wait to toast before drinking his and pouring himself another. His cheeks were flushed with anger and embarrassment. Lily felt bad for him.

“I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!” she said, and gave her best Wicked Witch of the West cackle. She got blank looks all around. “That means something where I’m from. Trust me—it’s really funny.”

Rowan smiled at her, his eyes softening at her attempt to cheer him up.

I’m sorry about that, Lily.

Lily didn’t have a reply for him. She couldn’t tell him in mindspeak that it didn’t bother her, because it did.

“Our funny Lily,” Tristan said. He squeezed her and kissed the top of her head. Rowan looked away.

“Little witch, if you’re not going to drink that, pass it over,” Caleb said as he slid into the booth next to Rowan. Lily gladly passed her untouched shot of moonshine across the table to Caleb. He looked tired, and his right eye looked swollen. Lily glanced down at his knuckles and saw that they were all bloody.

“Were you in a fight?” Lily asked, her voice louder than she intended.

“No,” Caleb replied casually. He did his shot and looked over his shoulder. “Where the hell is my boyfriend?”

“What happened?” Rowan asked.

“The city guards have been going crazy for weeks now. There’s a new captain. An Outlander,” he replied, disgusted by the betrayal. “It’s not a big deal. They’re just roughing up anyone who comes in and out of the city a lot.” Caleb looked anxiously over his shoulder again for Elias and then turned back.

Lily watched an understanding pass between him, Rowan, and Tristan and knew they were sharing mindspeak.

Tell me what’s going on, Rowan.

It’s the supplies we’re sending the rebels. The quality and volume are too high. Lillian’s been seeking three Outlander scientists and clamped down hard. She’s given Gideon and his new captain a whole squadron of inquisitors to harass Outlanders, and our gifts to the sachem got noticed.

But we can’t stop yet. They need the antibiotic we made tonight.

It’s too risky. Gideon may be hunting those scientists for Lillian, but he is also hunting you, and now he has more power to do it. He’s following the supply chain back to the source, and he’s linked our product to Caleb and Elias. Coming here was a mistake.

But the fever, Rowan. The antibiotics—

It’s over, Lily.

Lily was just about to open her mouth to argue with Rowan properly when Caleb burst up from his seat, nearly knocking over the table, and ran toward the back of the building. Tristan and Rowan jumped up as well, chasing after him. Lily followed in their wake, alerted by the fear she felt ringing through Rowan, and knew that something bad was happening.

Lily burst through the back exit and found herself in an alley. To her left was a dead end. To her right, dozens of soldiers blocked the outlet onto the main street. Unconscious on the ground, in the middle of the alley, lay a slender young man with pink hair. Elias. Behind his slack figure, Caleb struggled with four soldiers as he screamed. The soldiers were beating him with cudgels, trying to bring him down. Rowan and Tristan ran to help Caleb.

Lily saw a bright flash before she heard the crack of gunshots.

“No,” she gasped quietly.

She raised her hand and felt the raw energy exploding out of the soldiers’ guns. It was a compressed heat, hotter for a split second than an open flame, and it contained enough energy to fuel her mechanic for hours if she asked it to. A witch wind gusted down the alley as she absorbed all the heat and momentum from the bullets, and they fell to the ground, pinging off the pavement like a bagful of dropped marbles. Energy flooded Lily’s stone in a hot rush.

So that’s why they also carry crossbows here, and not just guns. Explosions feel wonderful.