The Veiled Diplomat Read online

  So Zayn thought it was time to move forward and came down to the living room, where his teammates were deep into their tomes. Portia was sitting cross-legged on the living room table, using a levitation spell to hold her open tome in front of her face while she read. Vin and Keelan were on opposite sides of the couch. Zayn didn't see Skylar at first, but then he heard rummaging in the kitchen. It smelled like she was making nopales omelets again.

  "Can I talk to everyone about something?" asked Zayn.

  The others glanced at each other with a strange lurking smile that Zayn didn't trust.

  Vin cleared his throat. "Uhm, sure. What's it about?"

  "I was thinking we should try to get into the Diamond Court's building—"

  Zayn didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, as his teammates erupted in laughter.

  "How much time? Who won?" asked Portia as her tome crashed onto the table.

  Skylar came running in with a spatula in her hand. "Did I just hear what I think I heard?"

  Zayn had a sinking feeling. "What's going on?"

  Keelan pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket. "We had a bet on how long it would take until you brought up the Diamond Court building again." He ran his finger across the paper. "And the winner is...Skylar!"

  "Bingo!" she said with her arms in a V. Skylar did a victory dance that involved ample gyrating and movements inspired by a strutting peacock. Afterwards, using her spatula like a microphone, she said, "I'd like to thank the Academy for sending me into perilous locations with nothing but a few spells and my friends to bail me out. I'd also like to thank Instructor Allgood, for being a hardass, and teaching me how to 'break skulls' and 'get to work, you lazy maggots.' I'd also like to thank Zayn, the boy of the moment, for being so predictable."

  Zayn blushed and put his hands on top of his head. "I'm really that predictable?"

  "It wasn't a matter of 'if' but 'when,'" said Skylar.

  "The good thing is that gave us a month to think about how we might go about such a thing," said Keelan.

  "Well I feel a little foolish," said Zayn.

  "Don't," said Portia. "You've inspired us to be better planners in order to stay alive."

  "Thanks? I'm not really sure what to say, other than I can't wait to hear what you have to say," said Zayn.

  After reapplying protective enchantments on the house, in case anyone was scrying them, the team crowded around the dining room table.

  "How are we getting into the building?" asked Zayn.

  "The problem," said Keelan, "is that we don't exactly know yet, but we have an idea on how we might figure that out."

  Skylar, who'd been eating her nopales omelet, put her fork down. "We don't think that we can sneak into the building like we did last time. It's just too straightforward and creates too much intention for them to scry."

  "Okay," said Zayn, nodding. "I agree, but then how do we get in?"

  "We need to be invited in," said Vin.

  "And?" asked Zayn.

  His teammates looked at each other. Vin made an exaggerated shrug. "We don't know yet."

  "We think that's why everything's all wonky this year at the Academy," said Keelan. "Priyanka knows something about Queen Zaire's intentions, but if she tells us, or instructs us to do something about it, then the queen will find out. That's why she sent us past the building on the first day, and the classes about obfusium, and how none of the instructors will tell us what's really going on."

  "What do we know about the Diamond Court?" asked Zayn.

  "You know more than most, since you went to one of their casinos last year with Priyanka," said Vin.

  Zayn thought back to the game with the deathhead scorpions and shivered. "I don't think I really learned that much except that the maetrie prefer games of pleasure and pain to chance. Have you done much research on them?"

  "There's a lot about the maetrie, the Eternal City, the War of the Four Courts," said Vin.

  "Three now," interjected Portia.

  "Okay, three. Ebony was destroyed, leaving Ruby, Diamond, and Jade," continued Vin. "The three courts, once four, have been battling for supremacy in the Eternal City for millenniums. Their conflict is older than human civilization. Which is why it's so strange that the Diamond Court has placed an embassy in the city of sorcery."

  "There must be something here they want," said Keelan.

  "Either Priyanka knows what it is, or is trying to find out," said Zayn. "We have to get in."

  "But we can't go directly. We have to hide our intentions, make them invite us to the embassy," said Portia.

  "I know what we need to do," said Zayn. "We have to go to the Eternal City, do some checking on our own."

  "Are you insane?" asked Keelan, screwing up his face. "We can't just waltz in there."

  "Priyanka goes there all the time," said Zayn, thinking about options. "We just have to be prepared. Since we're not going after anything specific, no one will know we're coming. We're only doing a little reconnaissance. Learning what we can about the maetrie."

  "It sounds very dangerous," said Vin.

  "It is very dangerous," replied Zayn. "Which is why we're only going after we've made the proper preparations."

  After some quiet thought, everyone agreed. The study session broke up, and everyone went to their rooms except for Keelan and Zayn.

  "What's up?" asked Zayn, when he saw Keelan lingering by the table.

  "Checking on you," said Keelan.

  "I'm good," said Zayn.

  Keelan's forehead crinkled. "What about the Veil? Still okay there?"

  Zayn didn't have to concentrate hard to feel the sensation of being watched. "It's still there. It's a little closer, but not too close."

  "Figured out what's after you yet?" asked Keelan.

  "None of those books have helped so far. The Veil is the place between the living and the dead. There are a lot of things that exist there." Zayn shook his head. "The only thing I get is that sometimes it feels familiar."

  "That's weird."

  Zayn shrugged. "I'd be okay if the whole thing went away, but I suspect that's not going to happen."

  "If it gets closer, maybe we should try and do something about it, before it becomes a problem," said Keelan. "You'll tell me, right?"

  Zayn nodded. "Hopefully it won't become a problem."

  "Hopefully," replied Keelan as he headed upstairs.

  Zayn looked out the window at the darkened street. Somewhere out there something from the Veil was coming for him. It was just a matter of when.

  Chapter Nine

  Seventh Ward, October 2015

  A blast from the past

  The sounds of drums in the distance woke Zayn from his slumber. He kicked his covers onto the floor, examining the dark room for intruders and hoping he was imagining things. The last thing he wanted to do was to get into a fight while he was naked.

  Only a tiny amount of illumination reflected from the alleyway into his room, but it was enough to see by if he used his imbuement. His whole body was on high alert. His back prickled with the anticipation of a fight.

  "Hello?" he croaked out as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

  The drums grew louder as if they were traveling down a long tunnel towards him. They weren't drums made out of thick hide, but a full set used in a rock and roll band.

  Zayn shook his head as if he had water in his ears, trying to understand why he was hearing the drums. It sounded like they were coming from the east, but that direction was the alleyway. Even if another building was sitting against theirs, they'd enchanted the walls to deaden the sound. What kept their voices from traveling out, also kept the street noises from coming in.

  He might have dismissed it as a dream had it not it been so real. Zayn conjured a flame on his palm to check, squeezing it away when the heat warmed his skin.

  When he heard faint footsteps, his breath came quick. He knew where the drums were coming from, but not why. It was the Veil.

  He could feel
the Presence in the distance; it'd moved no closer. But the footsteps and the drums, they were close, almost on top of him.

  Zayn hastily threw on a pair of pants, nearly zipping himself up in the process. Somehow having the thin fabric on—even without a hint of protective enchantment on it—gave him comfort.

  Why did he die? he thought to himself. He was too busy trying not to be naked to defend himself.

  A shimmering pale green light appeared on the wall, like a portal to the netherworld. Zayn readied himself for battle, though the spells he knew were meant for flesh and blood. He would have fled the room had he not had a sense of familiarity. A shape appeared in the pale green light—slight frame, hair spiked at an obscene angle.

  "Katie?"

  Her button nose wrinkled with annoyance. It was her all right, but without the normal frenetic energy he remembered her by. As she stepped near, the drums dimmed into the background.

  "You're a fool, Zayn Carter," said Katie, her voice tinny and distant.

  Her body was insubstantial, but glowed from within. The bruises on her neck pulsed like a purple stain.

  "You're not the first person to tell me that," said Zayn.

  He couldn't believe that he was talking to the ghost of his former girlfriend and pinched his leg to be sure he wasn't dreaming.

  "You woke what should have stayed in slumber," said Katie.

  "What is it? I feel it. What's coming?" he asked.

  Katie looked into the distance as if she could see something he couldn't.

  "You always did like to break the rules."

  "Is this really you? Or something else wearing your visage to fool me?" asked Zayn as he wracked his brain for supernatural creatures that could disguise themselves like this.

  "You broke our date," said Katie, reaching out towards him, but then letting her hand fall by her side. "I might not have died if you hadn't left."

  "That's not fair. I feel guilty enough about it already." He paused. "Why are you still here? Is this because of what Amber did to you?"

  "No," she said. "I was offered a choice. I stayed."

  "Who gave you the choice? Is it what's coming after me?" asked Zayn.

  "Twilight never dies," said Katie, softly.

  "Why did you stay?" he asked, raising his voice even though he didn't know why he was doing it.

  The drums grew louder. A wistful smile graced her lips, reminding him why he'd liked her.

  "I wasn't ready," said Katie. "Now I can never leave."

  "I'm sorry, Katie."

  Her expression hardened. "I'm not." She looked over her shoulder. "I have to go. Be careful, Zayn. You woke what should be sleeping."

  "Wait? What do I do? How can I stop it?" he asked, but she disappeared into the green tunnel behind her and then the room was doused in darkness.

  Zayn slumped back onto the bed. He couldn't believe it was Katie. Had it not been for the drums and the bruises, he might have disbelieved that it was her.

  He put his hands on his head, trying to imagine what might be after him, but the secrets of the Veil were hard to come by. He was deciding on whether or not to wake Keelan when he heard a glass break in the kitchen, followed by more items crashing.

  He went straight down to the kitchen, hesitating when he neared the door expecting the Presence, but when he heard an egg splatter against the wall, he knew no spirit was at work. Zayn kicked open the door to find a strange person sitting on the kitchen table using a squirt bottle of ketchup to write on the table while tossing an egg with the other hand.

  The gender of the intruder was not immediately evident, though Zayn's brain quickly filled in "male" only because of the destruction. He had curly brown hair with ringlets that fell into his face, wine-colored eyes, and the pallor of someone who rarely went outside.

  "Marvelous, the first has arrived, and here I was, feeling deprived," said the intruder in a melodic voice.

  Zayn barely got a word out before his teammates came rumbling down the stairs, crowding behind him at the kitchen door. The contents of the lime green refrigerator had been liberally dispersed around the room. Skylar's tuna salad was clumped onto the ceiling, looking like it was ready to fall at any moment.

  "Who the hell are—"

  "Call me Dony," he said with a shrug.

  Dony wore a shirt with the sleeves cut off. A glittering rainbow unicorn was displayed on the front.

  Portia marched into the room. Her accent came back in full as she lectured him. "I don't care what you're called. You need to clean this mess up right away and get the hell out of our house."

  "How did he even get in here with all our wards?" asked Keelan.

  As soon as he said that, Zayn readied a spell. His teammates reacted similarly, and the metallic smell of faez filled the room.

  Dony regarded them with detached amusement. He almost looked bored by their aggression.

  He tossed the egg to Portia, who broke from her stance to catch the egg, which immediately shattered in her hand, releasing a monarch butterfly.

  "That was impressive," said Vin, "but you really need to leave our house."

  "Oh, what a tortured world we live in, when youth is in too much of a hurry to enjoy the finer things in life," said Dony as he rose from his sitting position.

  He wore jeans that had been cut off barely below the crotch and colorful tube socks.

  Zayn slid into the room into a flanking position, followed by his teammates. Within moments, Dony was surrounded, but he made no move to flee. He seemed amused by what was transpiring.

  "What are you planning to do, little magelings? Did someone bring a golden net?"

  His melodic laughter filled the room, conjuring images of half-naked parties on rich furniture.

  "If you don't leave the way you got in, you're not going to like what happens next," said Keelan.

  Zayn was standing behind Dony. He made eye contact with his teammates, gesturing a countdown once they had acknowledged him. As defiant as their intruder was, he wouldn't be able to avoid five stunning strikes at this range.

  But as the spell flew from Zayn's fingertips, he found that Dony was no longer on the table. Dony moved like the wind, flitting between them so fast that Zayn barely had time to react when his pants fell to his ankles.

  In a flash, Dony was gone, leaving the five of them bewildered. Zayn yanked his pants up.

  "What just happened?" he asked.

  Vin looked a little starstruck. "He kissed me on the cheek."

  Portia held up a rose. "He gave me this."

  Keelan shrugged, while Skylar was examining the kitchen table.

  "He wrote something in ketchup," she said, squinting. "It says:

  Little Pig, Little Pig

  You let me come in

  Catch me if you can

  For your next lesson."

  Skylar tilted her head as she read the last part. "It's signed, Love Instructor Minoan."

  Zayn looked around at the destruction of the kitchen. "Next lesson? This was a lesson?"

  "There's another message written in mustard on the wall," said Skylar, pointing behind Zayn.

  Everyone turned around and read it at the same time: "If I was a real threat, you'd all be dead."

  "Brutal, but true," said Keelan. "Though I wish he wouldn't have trashed the kitchen. Someone's going to need to go to the corner bodega so we have breakfast in the morning."

  "The first thing we need to do is figure out how he got into the house," said Zayn, scratching the top of his head.

  "Good thing I wasn't tired," said Skylar with a yawn.

  "What about catching him?" asked Portia. "He said we need to catch him for our next lesson."

  "I wouldn't even know where to start," said Zayn. "Let's clean up the kitchen and then work on the house defenses. We'll have to get more creative."

  "Dony moved through us like we weren't even here," said Keelan, shaking his head. "It's going to take more than a little creativity."

  "You're absolutely right,
but I think two in the morning isn't the time to figure that out," said Zayn. "But we'll have to add this to our class schedule. He is an instructor—we'll have to treat his challenge like one."

  "Maybe it'll be interesting and fun," said Vin with a shrug. "Like a game of cat and mouse."

  Zayn pulled the cleaning supplies out of the closet and shoved them into Vin's gut. "Except the mouse has to scrub the tuna salad off the ceiling, or he'll get roaches. Let's get to work. The longer we wait the harder it'll be."

  "Cleaning or the competition?" asked Portia.

  "Both," said Zayn, "but one thing at a time. We can figure out how to stop Instructor Minoan. I'm sure it won't be that hard with the five of us putting our minds to it."

  They shared a collective nod, smiles, and the youthful surety that they would be right.

  Chapter Ten

  Second Ward, November 2015

  Forced vehicular relocation

  Zayn stood outside the embassy of the Diamond Court. The construction walls had been removed, revealing a more obscenely gilded version of the French palace of Versailles. Along with fifty other tourists, he took a picture so he could send it to his mom later. The outside of the building didn't match his memory of the inside, and he thought her expertise in architecture might help discern why.

  The embassy wasn't open yet. There weren't even people going in and out, though Zayn guessed they'd opened a portal to the Eternal City and were bringing in supplies and furnishings that way.

  The crowds milled outside the fencing on the sidewalk, snapping pictures and speculating about the intentions of Queen Zaire, the head of the Diamond Court. Most of the gawkers were tourists, so they knew little about the maetrie, but it gave Zayn cover to observe the building himself. As long as he didn't think about sneaking in, then he was safe to watch from the sidewalk.

  "...seen a city elf before?"

  "...once when I was here on a school trip, I saw one walking down the street, he knocked over an old woman and didn't stop to help her back up..."

  "Is this an invasion?"

  "...give you treasure if you can capture—"

  "That's a leprechaun, you idiot."

  Zayn chuckled to himself. The maetrie were generally misunderstood, even by Hall mages. Zayn didn't count himself an expert, but he'd learned enough about them to know that the maetrie didn't care about other cultures. To them, other realms were inferior to the Eternal City, which was an immense metropolis with no known beginning or end. Their whole realm was one big urban area. He'd read there were buildings that moved on their own, but he didn't believe that.