Reader Believes

Chapter 15

            Rika coughed and dodged around another woman hurrying across the street. Even now, she was still having difficulty with the exhaust fumes that filled the city. Safely reaching the opposite corner, she took a quick look at the crowds that covered the sidewalks. She sighed and jumped back into the crush.

            This was why she hated Saturday shopping. If she hadn’t needed batteries, Ahisu hadn’t needed a new toothbrush after Shay melted his old one, and Connor hadn’t given her a list of some groceries they were out of, she’d have stayed at home.

            She turned down a narrower side street, finding a thinner line of people here. Rika took a deep breath, relieved to be able to move without hitting someone every other step. That was one of the biggest downsides to living in the city. She shook her head at her wandering thoughts, smiling.

            Rika had just moved up beside a tall man with a briefcase, hoping to pass him quickly, when she felt an impact against her back. She jerked her head and looked down into wide, green eyes under black eyebrows. The paleness of the boy’s face, he couldn’t be more than eleven, had her frowning, when shouts from behind drew both their attention.

            Two men, dressed in identical grey suits, were pointing straight at the boy. Neither looked happy, and overall looked more like thugs than anything else. Rika could feel the boy flinch, which was what decided her. She grabbed the boy’s hand and squeezed it, hoping he understood she was going to stand by him. Her chin rose and she glared at the two men approaching them, her free hand clenching into a fist. She couldn’t imagine what scenario would make them chasing a scared boy through the city acceptable.

            But the two men had only taken a few steps towards them when the boy moved. Holding Rika’s hand tight, he took off, forcing her to run behind him. She gasped, but he ignored her. Already, she could hear the panting sound of the boy’s breath, and part of her wondered how long he’d been running before hitting her.

            Not that she had long to focus on that thought with the boy pulling them back onto the main street. Once in the crowd, he eeled them through, shoving his way into gaps she often thought were too narrow for both of them. He ignored the muttered curses and dirty looks they got as they pushed their way through, his eyes locked in front of them.

            Waiting until they’d passed two other streets, he dragged Rika down the third, taking two rapid turns, then hurried them both down the nearly empty street that seemed to be filled with apartment buildings. Rika looked behind, but only caught a glimpse of a tree and a woman on the other side of the street before he pulled her down one last opening. It revealed a dead-end made up of brick walls and metal fencing, with only the entrance to an underground parking lot to give the tiny strip of pavement any reason for existing.

            The boy stopped dead for a moment, then spun them around, his gasping breaths giving Rika no illusions about how much longer he could keep running. She was about to suggest they stop, when two figures blocked the way back to the street. Two figures in grey suits.

            The black-haired boy took a step back, one hand dropping to clutch at the pocket of his jeans, his skin turning the colour of paper. Rika took that in and turned her gaze back on the men advancing on both of them. She took a step forward and shifted so she stood in front of the boy. “Who the hell are you and what the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, hands on her hips as she glared.

            The nearer of the two met her eyes steadily. “This isn’t any of your business. Move along, or we’ll be forced to arrest you.”

            “You should run,” came the soft voice from behind her. “They’ll kill you.”

            Rika turned her head so she could see him and keep eyes on the suits as well. “Absolutely not! I’m not leaving a kid to face two grown men,” she said, before her gaze flicked back to the adults. “Unless you can prove to me that you’re not going to hurt him in any way, I’m not budging.”

            “We will use force, if necessary,” the talkative man said.

            But it was his partner that drew Rika’s attention, his index out and looking like he was drawing pictures in the air. It took a minute for his movements to click with her brain, since the fact they were both wearing suits had thrown her off. She’d seen that kind of move before. The silent man was a mage.

            Rika took a step back, one hand reaching behind her back to grab the wand out of the special strap Elthia had made her. She had it halfway out when she froze, realizing that the only spell she had any practice with was of no use in a fight. She hesitated, mind racing, trying to think of a way to fight without closing with either man. Not when she didn’t know what kind of mages they were. Especially not after Damek’s descriptions of what an acid mage could do to an unarmed fighter.

            The memory of her last lesson rose to spark an idea. Grinning harshly, she brought her wand in front of her and pulled up the fizz of her magic until it filled her hands. She released it into her wand, concentrating on making it grow. A moment later, she now held a staff the same size as Ahisu’s.

            The man who’d been speaking stopped mid-step, eyes widening as he stared at her. Rika used his distraction to lunge forward, smashing the crystal sphere into the side of his head, praying the wooden claws that held it in place didn’t break. They didn’t, but she had the satisfaction of hearing a cracking sound from the man she’d hit. He went down hard.

            The sound of his fall drew his partner’s attention to them, one arm still pointed outward from his spell. Rika ran across the distance that separated, not wanting to give him any more time to finish his spell. His face losing colour, his hand hurried through its motions while his spare yanked a gun out from under his jacket.

            Rika smashed that hand first, hearing the skittering sound of the gun sliding across the pavement. She reversed and struck out at the back of the man’s head. Like the first, he collapsed, unconscious. Part of Rika hoped she hadn’t done any permanent damage, but the rest of her thought it served anyone willing to chase a child through a busy city, especially carrying a gun, right.

            She let the staff slide so the bottom touched the ground and she could hold it on-handed. Only then did she look at the boy, who was staring at her, open-mouthed. “So,” she said. “I think we should hide somewhere before we talk.”