The Four Nations Tournament Read online

Dean Blane led the way across the campus to the main building. Malice hobbled along behind, grimacing with her determination to show no weakness. She barely noticed the passages they followed, the only thing that caught her attention was the chair waiting in a small room overlooking the auditorium.

  Malice barely held in a sigh of relief as she took the weight off her feet.

  “If I’d have known you were bringing guests with you I’d have arranged for extra chairs. If you give me a moment I can have more here in short order,” Dean Blane said.

  Malice waved a dismissive hand. “They’ll be fine. I don’t intend to stay here a moment longer than necessary.”

  “We usually have Conryu go last, but if you’d like I can send him out first.”

  “No. Do nothing that might reveal my presence. The boy and I don’t get on well and I’d just as soon avoid dealing with him today.”

  Dean Blane bowed. “As you wish. Please make yourself comfortable. It will be about an hour and a half.”

  With that final pronouncement, the chattering nuisance left her in peace. Five minutes later the first girl stepped out on stage and performed her summoning spells. The spirits were weak things, but typical for a wizard just starting her training.

  The process continued in monotonous fashion for far too long. Kelsie came and went, passing her final with ease. That surprised Malice and in a distant corner of her heart, a part she seldom acknowledged existed, pleased her as well.

  Perhaps they’d underestimated the girl. After almost a full year with no access to the Kincade fortune, Malice would have bet a substantial amount that Kelsie would have come back begging to enter their good graces once more. It hadn’t happened that way and her daughter wasn’t at all happy. She’d either need to invite Kelsie back, which would be a sign of weakness, or name a new heir from the rather poor selection of prospects.

  Family politics would have to wait for another day. Conryu had just stepped out on stage. This was what she’d come to see. What sort of spirits would he summon? She doubted he’d be content with minor spirits.

  He started with light magic and proved her right, summoning a Golden Lion that towered a foot over his head. The giant beast growled and for a moment she thought he might get devoured on stage. Instead it lowered its head and he scratched between its ears. What she’d taken for growling got louder and she realized it was purring.

  A Golden Lion, a divine spirit that served as a guardian of the gates of Heaven, was purring like a kitten and submitting with seeming great pleasure to being petted by a dark-aligned wizard.

  No, not simply dark aligned. She needed to view him through the lens Dean Blane provided. Assuming he was aligned with all elements the lion’s reaction made perfect sense.

  When the next two spirits reacted the same as the first she finally understood exactly how his unique alignment functioned. Each spirit treated him like he shared their alignment and no one else’s. It was like they couldn’t sense his connection to the other elements.

  While Malice couldn’t understand how that was possible, no other explanation made sense. Her new knowledge made the trip out here well worth it. Now Malice just had to figure out how to make the information serve her.

  And she would figure it out. Her lips curved into a cruel smile. All things served her, one way or another.

  Conryu yawned and stretched as he walked toward the just-arrived train. Everyone’s bags were floating along behind him. He’d insisted Dean Blane teach him that spell and he absolutely loved it. Overhead the summer sun shone bright and warm, and a little breeze ruffled the girls’ hair. You couldn’t have asked for a nicer day to end the year.

  Finals had gone off without a hitch and only three girls in the whole school failed. Dean Blane said that was a record. Conryu’s test took only fifteen minutes and no fire-breathing monsters tried to kill him. As Maria liked to say, that was the way finals were supposed to go.

  Given all that, he should’ve been thrilled. Instead, it felt like the real test was about to begin. He was attending a news conference in three days and two days after that boarding a flight to the Kingdom of the Isles for the tournament. He would have preferred to travel by portal, but they had ordinary people traveling with them and the Department wanted everyone to stay together. He’d never flown in a plane before, so that might actually be interesting.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” Maria said.

  He’d gotten so caught up in his musings that he’d forgotten she was there for a moment. “Just thinking about things. Looks like I’m in for another interesting summer.”

  “Hopefully not as interesting as last year.”

  “You can say that again. The tournament’s tough, but no one has died in over a century. I like those odds.”

  “Me too.” Maria slipped her hand into his and gave a squeeze. “Do you guys have a chance of winning?”

  “I’d say so. Coach thinks we do. At our last practice she said we did acceptable. That’s high praise.”

  They reached the train and followed Kelsie and Anya to the cabin they’d been assigned. Given the lack of attacks and his ability to defend himself, Conryu no longer got a special room surrounded by protective wards. His movement also wasn’t restricted during travel anymore, not that he had any great desire to wander the aisles.

  The little group had barely gotten comfortable when the train lurched into motion. Across from him Kelsie was grinning from ear to ear.

  “What’s got you so happy?” he asked.

  “Just thinking how nice it was to pass this year’s final on my own merit instead of having to rely on you.” Her eyes widened. “Not that I didn’t appreciate the help with the fire kitten.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m glad to help any time you need it.” He turned to Anya. “Do you and your mom have any plans for the summer?”

  “No, we’re just going to play it by ear. It’ll be good to spend a few weeks together instead of just a night at a time.”

  “Sounds nice.” Conryu would have rather hung out with vampires than reporters.

  They spent the rest of the trip talking about nothing in particular. It was relaxing, hanging out with his friends, no threats, no hidden agendas, just pleasant conversation.

  It couldn’t last, however. Ten minutes from the Sentinel City station Prime said, “Quite a large crowd.”

  Conryu got up and joined the scholomantic at the window. Even from this distance dozens of antennas were visible. It looked like all the press in the city had turned out to greet him. There was supposed to be a press conference in two days, what did the hyenas want here?

  “I wonder if hell hounds would be good at herding reporters,” Conryu said, more to himself than to the others.

  “Hell hounds are better at tearing things apart,” Prime said.

  “Don’t tempt me. This is going to suck.”

  Maria moved to stand beside him. “That’s more than when we left the first time.”

  “Looks like it. Do you suppose if I say ‘no comment’ enough times they’ll take the hint?”

  “No, do you?”

  He blew out a sigh. “No, I don’t either. Mrs. Umbra suggested I fry all their cameras and microphones, but I’m afraid that might not be the best idea. Satisfying, but not the best idea.”

  The train slowed, so they returned to their seats. Half a minute later it stopped and students began piling out onto the platform. Conryu renewed his spell and the luggage fell in behind him.

  He’d barely taken two steps out of the train when flash bulbs started going off and unintelligible questions came hurtling his way. At the edge of the platform a group of about thirty reporters and their associated cameramen jostled for position. It looked like a Black Friday line outside the mall.

  “How the hell are we going to get through that gang?” he asked no one in particular.

  Conryu was still debating which spells might work best to create a path when a familiar voice shouted his name.

  He shifted his gaze furthe
r up the platform and there stood Heather James dressed pretty as you please in jeans and a white blouse. He must have been really distracted not to notice her.

  “What’s she doing here?” Maria gave voice to his question.

  “Beats me. No one said to expect her.” He shrugged, and, ignoring the barrage of questions, walked down to meet Heather at the farthest turnstile. “What’s up?”

  She flashed her perfect smile. “I have it on good authority you have a rough relationship with the press. I’m here to smooth things over. Just follow my lead and don’t say anything. The rest of you stay a little ways behind us. Once the reporters are focused on Conryu and I, you should be able to sneak past.”

  Maria’s scowl said she wanted to argue, but Heather’s plan was a good one, for Maria and the others at any rate.

  “It’ll be okay.” Conryu whispered in the language of wind, transferring the spell levitating the luggage to Maria. “Wish me luck.”

  Before Maria had a chance to speak, Heather grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the waiting nest of vipers. Whether accidental or intentional, she pressed her ample chest against his upper arm.

  He forced himself not to react, instead focusing on the lights pointed his way and the faces shouting at him. They all bellowed at once so that he couldn’t make out any of their questions even if he wanted to answer them.

  “Come on, everyone,” Heather said. “You know better than to try to get a scoop before the press conference. I’ll overlook it this time, but anyone that tries again will have their credentials pulled and then you’ll get nothing.”

  There was considerable grumbling, but she stared down anyone that looked her way. It was quite impressive. She must have had a lot of practice.

  “Now make a path so our star player can get home and prepare for the big match. You wouldn’t want him arriving in London without getting enough rest, would you?”

  “I thought keeping him from resting was your job!” a male reporter at the rear of the pack shouted.

  She grinned and squeezed his arm tighter. More cameras flashed. Conryu caught her eye and raised an eyebrow. Heather just winked. What sort of game was she playing?

  Finally, the press let them through. A lot of the returning students and their families had already cleared out making it way easier for him to spot his mom, Mr. Kane, and the girls.

  As soon as they got free of the press, Conryu disengaged himself from Heather’s grasp. “Thanks for getting me through that. My mom’s over there. See you later.”

  “At the press conference day after tomorrow. I’ll be joining you to handle any tricky questions.”

  “And here I thought your job was to make sure I showed up at all.”

  “That too.” Heather broke off and headed toward the parking lot, throwing a wave over her shoulder.

  So much for his hope that this summer would be less complicated. Somehow dealing with shadow beasts sounded easier than handling Heather.

  As soon as he reached them Mom rushed over and hugged him. “I missed you, sweetheart.”

  He shook hands with Mr. Kane and Maria examined his arm.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m looking for sucker marks. That octopus was all over you.”

  “She was a little clingy.” He shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal about it. “Shall we get out of here?”

  Once they’d loaded the car they took off. Mr. Kane looked at him in the rearview mirror. “I forgot to mention this earlier, but you can take three people with you to London for free as guests. I wanted to let you know so you can decide who you want to bring.”

  He glanced at Maria. “What do you say?”

  She didn’t have time to answer before Mr. Kane said, “No need to use one of your spots for Maria. We’re all going as part of the official Department delegation.”

  “That takes care of that,” Conryu said. “Kelsie?”

  “I’m in.”

  “Mom, any chance you and Dad will come?”

  “Sorry, sweetheart. I’m swamped at work and you know your father. We’ll watch your matches on tv, I promise.”

  He looked to Anya, but she shook her head. Conryu didn’t figure she’d want to give up a week with her mother, but wanted to ask anyway. “I’m sure Jonny will want to go. That leaves me one short.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find someone,” Maria said. “It shouldn’t be hard to give away an all-expenses-paid trip to London.”

  At ten o’clock Conryu pulled into the Department parking lot and guided his bike into the first spot he found. The press vans were there already. A quick glance around the lot revealed Mr. Kane’s car, but no other ones that he recognized. The moment the engine stopped Prime flew out of his saddlebag and glared at him. At least some things in this crazy world stayed the same.

  Conryu took a breath and tried to focus. He’d woken up before dawn that morning, too anxious to sleep. He couldn’t see any way for this to end well. Perhaps if he kept his mouth shut and let Heather answer all the questions.

  On the plus side, when he’d grabbed his phone off the nightstand and flicked it on he found one new message, from Crystal. She’d gotten in touch with Sonja and the little fire wizard was keen to join the trip. Unfortunately, both Crystal’s parents and her little brother wanted to go too so she didn’t have a free spot. Conryu had grinned and tapped out a response. Maybe it was fate that he hadn’t found a third person to bring along yet.

  He grabbed his key out of the ignition and started for the doors. The best part of his extended spell repertoire was that he didn’t need to wear a helmet anymore; Diamond Skin offered better protection. Of course, he could have just flown, but he wasn’t ready to abandon his bike yet.

  “Ready to face the vultures, pal?”

  “If any of them become too much of a nuisance, Master, I’ll bite their faces off.”

  Conryu grinned at the image. “I can see the headlines now: ‘Demon Book Attempts to Devour Local Reporter.’ Seriously though, don’t do that.”

  He pulled the door open and grimaced. The entire lobby resembled the room where the president and his advisors met with the press. At one end was a raised table covered in gray cloth. Four chairs with microphones in front of them ran the length of it. Who was the fourth one for?

  It appeared that every reporter from the train station had shown up here. Apparently Heather hadn’t pulled anyone’s credentials. Pity.

  Now, where was everybody? Heather and Mr. Kane were supposed to be leading this wretched affair.

  “Conryu, my boy!”

  “Oh, no.” He turned slowly toward the doors like some poor victim in a horror movie. Striding in wearing his tweed jacket, white hair going every which way, was Angus. Why in heaven’s name was the professor here?

  Angus clapped him on the back. “I can’t tell you how excited I was when I learned you’d be competing in the tournament.”

  “I’ll bet. Why are you here again?”

  “I’ll be traveling to London with you. The Department hired me as a color commentator for the broadcast. I am the foremost expert on male wizards after all.”

  “Right.” This deal just kept getting worse and worse.

  “Master, by the elevators.”

  As soon as Prime spoke Conryu spotted Heather waving at him. She had on her aqua wizard’s robe. He marched over to join her, Angus a step behind.

  “Where have you been?” Heather asked. “Never mind, you need to get changed.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you don’t look like a wizard, you look like a delinquent.”

  He looked down at his jeans and black t-shirt. “This is what I always wear. I’m here to talk, not give a magic show.”

  “Just humor me. All you need to do is throw a black robe over your street clothes, just like at the Academy. Okay?”

  “Fine.”

  She dragged him down to a storage closet leaving Angus behind. Heather pulled out a blessedly plain black robe which he tossed over his h
ead. “Happy?”

  The elevator chimed and Mr. Kane stepped out. He had on a crisp suit in Department gray. “Oh, good, you’re both ready. Don’t worry, Conryu, I’ve only scheduled half an hour for questions so we’ll have you out of here in no time.”

  “Thanks. Do I need to fill out a form or something for my three guests?”

  “No, just have them arrive with you and everything will be fine. Shall we?”

  Mr. Kane didn’t wait for a reply, instead marching straight toward the table. Heather fell in beside Conryu, so close that their shoulders practically rubbed.

  They reached the table and Conryu ended up between Heather and Angus, beauty and the beast as the saying went.

  Mr. Kane raised his hands and the reporters fell silent. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. I’m sure you have a lot of questions so I’ll keep this short. I’m pleased to be joined on stage by the youngest Alliance team member in fifty years, Conryu Koda. Also with us today is Assistant Coach Heather James. I’m sure all of you are familiar with both of them as they’ve made quite a name for themselves. With Conryu on the team and Heather helping with the coaching I think we have an excellent chance to reverse our fortunes this year. The floor is now open for questions.”

  Thirty hands shot up. Mr. Kane pointed at a red-faced man in a yellow-brown suit. “Sean, go ahead.”

  “Thanks, Chief Kane. Conryu, how are you feeling about being a member of such a prestigious team? Given your youth and inexperience it must be daunting.”

  Since no one was going to be trying to kill him, Conryu wasn’t nervous in the least. “I’m just going to do my best and hope I can help.”

  “So you’re not nervous?” Sean asked.

  “No.”

  Conryu and the reporter stared at each other until it became clear neither of them had anything more to say. What did the guy want? Conryu had fought demons, undead, shadow beasts, and dragon monsters of various sorts; play fighting with a bunch of other students didn’t get his pulse racing.

  “Next?” Mr. Kane asked when the silence had stretched to an uncomfortable point. “Samantha, go ahead.”

  A cute brunette with short hair and glasses stood up.