Echoes Read online

  Maksohm blew out a heavy breath and I could see the weight of yet another worry settle on his shoulders like a millstone. I felt bad about it, because the last thing I wanted to do was worry him, but at the same time we couldn’t just keep ignoring it. Bannen was not going to get better that way.

  People always think that Bannen was the one who got me into trouble. That he was the bad influence. Actually, for me, he was the responsible one. That’s been true since day one. Sure, sometimes he was reckless, because at heart he’d always be a thrill-seeker, but his priority had been and always would be me.

  The thing that no one seemed to realize about Bannen, though, was how he responded to Chi. Bannen was a thousand times more reckless around him. Everyone knows that doing stupid and dangerous stuff was way more fun when you had someone trailing after you and telling you, that’s a terrible idea, I bet you can’t even do it. The reverse held equally true, too. I wasn’t even sure what the root of it was, honestly, just that if I wanted one of them to do something? I got the other to instigate it. Worked like a charm every time.

  Which, really, was my only prayer of getting them to talk with someone.

  “If it helps any, I think we can use this to our advantage? Chi’s more likely to go to therapy if Bannen’s going. And if we pitch it to Bannen that we’re using his cooperation to get Chi to go, he might do it without too much fuss. Chi really worries him.”

  Lifting a hand, Maksohm see-sawed it back and forth. “I can see why you think that. They do play off each other. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to try. Shall I ask?”

  “I think it’ll come better from you,” I admitted sheepishly. “He already knows I want him to go to therapy, so if I broach the subject, he’s more likely to distract me and make a run for it.”

  “Right.” With a determined look on his face, Maksohm cracked his knuckles into his other palm, like he geared up for a fight. “Then let’s try it.”

  We reached Foxboro just as summer kicked in, and that was poor timing. The sea breeze helped cut down on the heat some, but there was a reason most of the city was crafted with thick adobe walls. The streets got hot enough to sizzle an egg, and the sun beat at anyone unwary enough to leave the cool shade of a building. And this was barely a week into the season! I couldn’t imagine what it would be like during the height of summer.

  Choosing to not live in Foxboro was a very wise decision on our part.

  We’d traveled light this time around, just a suitcase for each of us, and we hired a rickshaw to carry us to headquarters, as none of us wanted to lumber up the very steep hill. As we rode, I inquired of Maksohm, “What are they going to have us do next, do you know?”

  “I haven’t heard any word of a mission that needs your particular skillset,” he admitted to me, glancing thoughtfully at the pink building as it came into view. “Not that I’m really in the loop for such things. I have no doubt there’s something that the director needs us for, however; otherwise we wouldn’t have such a strict check-in date.”

  True.

  “It’s not Toh’sellor and it doesn’t involve monkeys,” Chi announced cheerfully, eyes crinkling up in the corners, “and that’s all I currently care about.”

  Bannen waved a fist into the air. “Here, here.”

  The rickshaw pulled to a stop in front of the main doors and we all hopped down, giving the driver a tip and collecting our bags. It still felt a little strange to walk into this building in MISD blue, but I had a feeling the uniform would feel like a second skin in time. As we walked inside, Maksohm directed us to a set of offices on the ground floor where we did the paperwork to check in and notify our bosses we were mission-ready.

  At least, that was our intention.

  The agent sitting behind the main desk looked up at us over her half-moon glasses. Filing cabinets crowded in behind her like stodgy sentinels, and thick stacks of paperwork sat on top of her desk, all of it encroaching on her personal space. It gave her the air of a crochety librarian. Or maybe it was the stern expression on her creased face that gave me that impression. “Excuse me, agents. But where is your Form 32-A?”

  Maksohm, Vee, and Chi all winced.

  “We just arrived in town an hour ago,” Maksohm sought to explain to her, manner hopeful. “We, ah, haven’t had a chance to do anything else.”

  “Hmph.” Reaching behind her, she snagged out several forms from a lower desk and handed them to him. “See that these are done. Also, I have a transfer form submitted here from an Emily Garner. She’s been given a stamp of approval from the director to join your team, but I need you to review and sign it.”

  Maksohm heard the underlying, You will properly review it before signing, otherwise I won’t accept it as clearly as the rest of us. His smile became somewhat fixed. “Yes, ma’am. Ah, is there a schedule available for—”

  Anticipating his next question, she collected a clipboard that hung from a hook on the wall and handed it smartly over, all the while staring at him in a not-quite-glare.

  “Right. Thank you.” Maksohm put it all together in a pile under his arm and shooed us into the next room, which only had a table and about eight chairs.

  I had a bad feeling about that Form 32-A. It felt rather like an argument that hadn’t started yet. And the way that Maksohm stayed planted near the door, barring all chance of escape, did not waylay that notion one bit.

  Bannen noticed it too, and his expression went cagey as he glanced between everyone. “I have a distinct feeling that I’m not going to like this form, and the way that Maksohm is hovering near the door, like he’s going to tackle me to the ground, that’s not helping my nerves any, so while I love all of you like siblings—except for my beautiful wife, of course—I’m going to make it clear right now: I will run over all of you to escape if I have to.”

  “It’s a general health and wellness form,” Maksohm informed us with careful neutrality. “I’d half-forgotten it, as it’s been so many months since we were here, but after a major mission like the last one, we have to be declared fit for duty. I think I can get us in for a quick physical today, as there’s two different doctors on duty with open slots, and we should be cleared soon enough.”

  Oh. Was that all? Wait, that couldn’t possibly be all, it didn’t explain why Chi looked so mulish. I caught Vee’s eye and gave her a confused hand-gesture, which she rightly interpreted. Pointing to her head, she mouthed silently, Mental health.

  In other words, a mental checkup too? Huh. I’d talked to Maksohm about this on the way down here, but I didn’t think it would happen this soon. Had he had a chance to sound Bannen out about this at all?

  Maksohm was an old hand at dealing with stubborn teammates, so he handed out the forms and ordered us to fill things in before covertly dealing with the health and wellness forms. I glanced at him periodically as I bent over my thin stack of forms, judging how much trouble would head our direction soon. From the growing frown on his face, it would not be pretty.

  He stepped out three times to talk to the agent in the other room, submitting things, bringing in another batch of forms, soap, rinse, repeat. We were in there for at least two hours doing all of the paperwork before he came back with an expression that boded trouble.

  Not that he seemed willing to go into it now, as he said instead, “Everyone done?”

  “More or less,” Vee answered, handing her stack over. “What now?”

  “I’ve been informed these will take several hours to process, so I vote an early lunch, then we check in at our favorite B&B before returning mid-afternoon. I have several of you slotted for a health and wellness checkup starting roughly at three, so we’ll need to be back before then.”

  Thankful to be done—Maksohm hadn’t been kidding about how much paperwork the MISD ran on—we turned everything over before quickly escaping the office. I think we all were of the opinion the scary agent at the desk would catch us if we didn’t put some pep in our step. As we left headquarters, suitcases once again in hand, Maksohm steppe
d in closer to me and confided, “A message from Director Salvatore was passed along to me. It says: Need you to investigate possible third Void Mage in Sira.”

  I startled so badly, I nearly tripped over my own feet. “A third Void Mage?!”

  “I thought three Void Mages at once was impossible?” Vee queried in confusion, leaning down so she could read the note over Maksohm’s shoulder.

  “I’m trying to remember all of those history lessons that Mary drummed into Rena’s head,” Bannen said aloud slowly.

  “That should be difficult,” I snarked at my husband-familiar, giving him a pointed look over my shoulder, “since you honestly weren’t paying attention most of the time.”

  “Guilty,” Bannen admitted cheerfully, not at all embarrassed.

  Since he wasn’t helpful, I filled the rest of the group in. “Not impossible, just extremely rare. It’s only happened once, and even then it only lasted for three days. The oldest Void Mage died shortly thereafter.” I worried at the bottom of my lip. “I realize Master Mary’s old, but she’s not at death’s door.”

  “I sure hope not,” Bannen pitched in fervently. “Mary is in fact one of my favorite people and I’d hate to lose her so soon.”

  “Maybe this isn’t a Void Mage. I realize the director didn’t say much in this,” I waved a hand to indicate the message, “but the way he phrased it makes me think he’s not so sure of this claim.”

  “I’m certainly not sold.” Maksohm nodded decisively at some internal conclusion he’d come to. “Let’s get more information on this. You might need to check on this in person.”

  “Sounds good to me. We don’t need to assemble the team for this, do we?”

  “I wouldn’t think so. It’s not like we’ll be fighting anything.” Shrugging, Maksohm headed back down the hill. “Let’s go to the bed and breakfast first, drop off the luggage, then follow up on this after lunch.”

  We went to the wharf for lunch, as they had the best collection of hole-in-the-wall restaurants that served amazing seafood. We sat in the shade of one of them, munching through our fried fish and chips, but it was hard for me to enjoy the food. Another Void Mage…really? That seemed entirely impossible, but if it really was the case, it would be a historical moment. As far as I knew, nothing like this had happened before, not really. I found myself impatient, shifting on the wooden bench like it was crawling with ants.

  “Maksohm, will you please call the director,” Bannen requested dryly with a pointed look at me. “She’s not going to be able to settle otherwise.”

  “I can see that,” Maksohm allowed, expression sardonic.

  I flushed, caught out, but not apologetic about it. I wanted an answer, sard it.

  A mirror hung on the side of the building, a little grimy from being outside, but Maksohm apparently found it serviceable enough. Pulling out his grimoire, he spelled the mirror to be receptive toward magic, then placed a call to our director. The call connected and Director Salvatore took one look before stating brusquely, “You’re calling about the possible Void Mage?”

  “Yes, sir,” I responded hopefully.

  “I’ve no time to talk now. Call Nora Maksohm.”

  Eyebrows arching, Maksohm agreed, “Of course.”

  The mirror abruptly went blank.

  “Hopefully that wasn’t an emergency,” Bannen muttered rhetorically.

  Vee snorted. “There’s always an emergency, trust me. Alright, apparently Nora knows something about this. Let’s see if we can catch her.”

  Trying again, Maksohm called his cousin. It took a few seconds before Nora came into view. She was sitting at a desk, supposedly hers, and she lit up in a smile. “Why hello there, my favorite people. How is everyone?”

  “We’re doing well,” Vee answered with a smile of her own. “I’ve got the house half-furnished. Chi’s completely taken over the kitchen, which I have no intention of fighting him over.”

  Nora chuckled. “I wouldn’t. The man knows how to bake. Has construction on your house started yet, Rena?”

  “It has. In fact, they got the last of the foundation before we left. We hope they’re going to finish ahead of deadline.”

  “Good, good. I expect to see it when it’s finished. I think I recognize where you are. You’re in Foxboro already?”

  “Arrived this morning,” Maksohm filled her in, idly dipping a chip into his tartar sauce. “We’re still in the process of doing our paperwork, though. We just called because the director sent us your direction about the report of a third Void Mage?”

  Nora lowered her voice a notch, leaning in a little to share her words in confidence. “The way I hear it, it’s about a little boy up on the very northern tip of Sira. We sent an agent up to verify, but we’re still waiting on his results. From the initial report we received, he was cautiously optimistic it was a different type of Void Mage. A lot of people are very anxious for there to be one more of you, Rena.”

  My smile morphed into a troubled frown. “A little boy, you say?”

  Bannen might have slept with eyes open through a lot of those history lessons, but even this part he apparently remembered. “Then it’s even less likely he is. Almost all Void Mages are females.”

  Nora’s head jerked back in surprise. “Truly?”

  “No one’s quite sure why, but every recorded Void Mage we have in recent history were female. We have legends of male Void Mages, but the documentation on them is so scarce as to be almost myth.” I spread both palms out in a shrug. “The odds of a male Void Mage are extremely low.”

  “Now that is something I didn’t know. Interesting.” Nora’s head cocked a little as she took this information in. “Director Salvatore will likely want you to go up and double check our findings, but at the moment we’re in a waiting pattern until our agent on site gives us his take on the situation. I think your priority at the moment is getting cleared for duty.”

  I had a feeling she’d say that. “Well, for now we’ll get back to it. Want to meet us for dinner?”

  “Absolutely. I assume you’re at our favorite B&B?”

  “Of course,” Maksohm assured his cousin. “Where else would we go?”

  “Yes, deities forbid you try somewhere new.” Nora snorted and promised, “Meet you there at six.”

  Another Void Mage…. I’d dearly like to go up and check into this personally, but the idea of boarding a train right now made me vaguely ill. And we still had to be cleared for duty.

  That, I had a feeling, would prove to be quite the battle.

  We trooped back to headquarters just shy of three and reported back into the office where the scary paper-pushing lady sat. I had this feeling that when Maksohm said ‘health and wellness’ checkup, it wouldn’t be anything pleasant, but I could put up with a doctor prodding me and admiring my manly self for a few minutes. Of course, it also included therapy; I knew that, as he’d spoken to me about how to get Chi to go. My wife seemed to think that if I cooperated, Chi would as well. Why she thought that, I didn’t know, but Rena was sharp concerning people. And I had to admit, Chi had scared the ever-loving daylights out of me last mission by being so sleep deprived. I did not want to go through that again.

  Packets with our names on them were handed out by the scary lady, then Maksohm retrieved both mine and Chi’s, and that did not bode well. It meant he expected trouble from us and I hadn’t even done anything this morning. That he knew about.

  He pulled open the envelopes, glanced over the top sheet for both of us, and then braced himself like he expected a fight. “Bannen,” Maksohm informed me with an authoritative you-shall-obey tone, “you have a therapy session in ten minutes. Chi, you’re to wait for him, as your session is immediately afterwards.”

  Yup, had a feeling. I stared at the packet in dismay. It had a room number and the therapist’s name on the top, written in very bold ink. Couldn’t I just pretend to go? Wouldn’t that be enough to get Chi through the door?

  “Why is it just me and Bannen?” Chi deman
ded of our team leader.

  “I did mine immediately after the battle,” Vee answered smugly.

  “Yeah, that’s not something to be proud of,” he answered, face scrunching up in a grimace.

  “Neither,” Vee gave her husband a very pointed look, “is using your teammate as a security blanket.”

  Offended, Chi put both arms around Rena’s shoulders and hugged her to him, which made Rena snicker and hug back. “Excuse you very much, my Rena is an awesome security blanket.”

  “Therapy,” Maksohm maintained, prying Chi off of Rena and shoving him toward the door. “Both of you. Go.”

  Chi slung an arm around my shoulder and gave Maksohm a reassuring smile. “It’s alright, I’ll take him. Come on, my brother.”

  I protested, because I was fairly certain this was not the plan, and I felt all sorts of betrayed. Pretend to go to therapy. Wasn’t that my agreement with Maksohm? Chi didn’t care about my protests, dragging me along anyway, then paused when we hit the stairwell. He leaned in to murmur, “Therapy’s mandated in the MISD if you encounter a bad enough situation and live through it.”

  This now made more sense. Toh’sellor would definitely count. Maybe I just had to survive one session? “So you’ve been through this before.”

  “To be more correct, I’ve gotten out of this before.” Chi waggled his eyebrows at me.

  “Oooh. Gotcha. What did you do last time?”

  “Stared at a wall and refused to speak for three months. She eventually signed off just to get me out of her office. But I’m thinking, we could probably get this one to crack faster, especially if we go in together. I don’t know a therapist named Clara. That means she’s new.”

  New therapist? In the MISD? I almost felt bad for her. Not bad enough to skip using every trick of making her crack and send us away, of course, but a smidge bad. “Alright, here’s the plan. I’ll go in first, get the layout.”