Fearless Magic Read Free

lamentations. I leaned over, resting my head in her lap. She ran her fingers through my hair, comforting me absently, while her own tears stained the back of my head.
    "Eden, I don't blame you," she insisted firmly, but still I could not sit up and look at her. "No one blames you. And you shouldn't blame yourself either. What happened was a tragedy of the worst kind, but it was not your fault. That man," her voice broke from barely concealed rage, "that king, has done this before and he will do it again. He has no regard for the sanctity of life or for his people. What you need to do now is not cry over circumstances that cannot be changed, but succeed. Go on, child, and win this war. The future of your people is left in your hands and you alone hold the keys to a kingdom without the scars of this life. You can save us. You can vindicate your grandfather's death and restore the magic. But no more tears, no more wallowing in self pity. Move forward; find the strength to carry on."
    I sat up and looked at her. The tears stopped flowing and my cheeks started to dry. She was right. I must remember the importance of this mission.
    "You're going to want to keep this covered though," she touched the glowing tattoo of the snake curled around and eating its own tail. It was the symbol of the Resistance, of the rebellion that was reduced to this old woman and me.
    "I did it wrong, didn't I?" I moved my fingers through my long, black, tangled curls, pulling them over my shoulder and into a side ponytail, covering the blue ink.
    "Well, yes." she smiled, the hint of humor playing in her dark eyes. "I still don't understand how you were able to mark yourself. You must have been quite determined," she mused, referring to the painful process of administering the mark. Resistance inductees were always strapped down and unable to move so the process could be completed without them lashing out due to the severe pain the process caused. I was not like the other inductees; I did it to myself, all by myself.
    "I was," I agreed. "I still am."
    "Good." She kept her smile, but her eyes turned hard again. "Remember, if you need anything, I am only a phone call away."
    "Thank you Angelica, thank you for everything," I whispered, genuinely.
    "Be careful." She ignored my gratitude and walked me to the front door of Amory's house.
    I nodded in response and walked through her door, across the porch and out into the warm sunlight of a cold February day. There was still snow on the ground at the beginning of February, but the days were getting warmer. Soon, Omaha would be embracing spring, a season I wouldn't experience. I was off to South America, off to find a lost colony of Shape-shifters, off to search out my parents, and off to avenge the injustices not only my family suffered, but my people.
    I was going to fulfill a promise I made and burn this kingdom to the ground.

Chapter Two
     
    The old van rumbled to a stop in front of a faded, red sign declaring the entrance to the Inca Trail, the path that would lead to the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu. The trek would take four days of hiking, possibly longer, since it was wet season and already the sky had opened up, emptying its stores of water onto the earth.
    The trail was technically closed for maintenance during the month of February, but I would be taking it anyway. I hoped that the entire citadel would be emptier than usual, thanks to the consistent and torrential down-pours that plagued the southern hemisphere in the winter months.
    I took my bag from the short Peruvian man that gave me a ride from Lima to here. An old friend of Angelica's, he had driven the thirty hours with me in a much-appreciated silence. I handed him a stack of nuevo sol, the local currency, and turned my back on him.
    Walking forward, I could feel the faint call of magic in the distance. They were out there. Somewhere. I had no idea where, or how to find them, but I could feel the quiet calling of magic and the prickling of