Chapter 2

Sweating,muscles aching, I slowly climbed onto the other side of the ladder so I was at least on top of it. As I made my way to the wall, the metal shifted, rusty flakes falling down like reddish-orange snow.

My heart thundered and my breath came short.

Thank fates I was near the top. I grabbed a windowsill and climbed on, then shimmied up. As soon as I flopped onto the rooftop, I let the sword fall from my mouth and rubbed my jaw. Damn, I was sore.

"Hurry!" Bree's voice flowed from the comms charm. "Lavender is getting ahead."

I scrambled to my feet, catching sight of Angus, Carl, and Lorence fighting another group of demons. Lavender had left them behind, and frankly, I didn't blame her. They weren't outnumbered, so they should be fine.

I turned to follow Lavender and made a running leap to get across the narrow alley. I pushed my muscles as hard as I could, ignoring the burn. She was nearly to the edge of the Grassmarket, at the section where this neighborhood butted up to the cliff upon which sat the castle. There were narrow stairs leading up to the front of the castle, and no way I could let her get there before me.

For some reason, she'd stopped right at the edge of the roofs and seemed to be staring at the flight of stairs that led upward.

Why the hell wasn't she racing forward? She was almost there.

A roar split the night, making the hair on my arms stand on end.

Holy fates, that had to be why she wasn't going forward.

Whatever was blocking her path sounded big. The Protectorate had to have used a spell to hide this from humans. We were in the supernatural neighborhood, but the castle was near the Royal Mile, where humans could go. And this monster had to be right next to it, from the sound of his roar.

I pushed myself harder, joining Lavender at the edge of the roof. I stared at the steep flight of stairs that led upward to the Royal Mile and the castle. It was bordered on one side by the building upon which we stood, and on the other side by the cliff upon which the castle sat. A huge monster loomed on the stairs, his body roughly human shaped and seeming to be made of stone. His eyes flared bright orange, like flames.

He raised a massive rock hand. Red glowed in his palm, like fire or molten lava.

"Oh fates. Duck!" I dived for the ground as the giant released the blast of fire.

Lavender followed, lunging to the ground alongside me. The flame plowed toward us, surging overhead. The heat was so close that it burned my forehead, and I buried my face in my arms. The creature roared again, the noise cutting through the thundering sound of my heart.

I raised my head to steal a peek, able to spot the top of the monster on the stairs. He raised his hand, which was beginning to glow a faint peach color.

"He's recharging." I scrambled to my feet and looked around for a plan.

Lavender joined me. "So, we're cooperating on this?"

I looked at her, incredulous. "I don't like you, Lavender. But I don't like him more."

"Fair enough." She turned back to the monster. "I tried to hit him with a rubbish bin earlier, but he was too fast."

So I needed to slow him down, then maybe she could nail him.

I spied a heavy rope that led up to a flag hanging from a pole overhead. It was a massive blue and white Scottish flag, and I really hoped people didn't get pissed when it hit the ground. I ran to it, then grabbed the rope and sliced through it with my electric sword.

"I'll yank him down, and you hit him with something heavy," I said.

Lavender rubbed her hands together. "I can do that."

I sidled up to the edge of the building. It was a fifteen-foot drop to the stairs below, which continued up higher to where the stone monster stood. "Distract him if you can."

"Got it." She raised her hands, and her magic fizzed on the air.

From the street below, a bicycle rose, then flew up the stairs, shooting toward the monster.

He dodged it, narrowly avoiding a strike to the middle. Lavender kept the bike floating, making it dart around his head like an annoying fly. He was fast enough to avoid it, but it distracted him.

Gripping my rope and sword, I jumped down onto the stairs below and raced upward. He was so distracted by the bike, which kept bopping him on the head, that he didn't even see me race around his legs with the rope.

Once I'd made a complete circle, I darted up and pulled hard, my muscles straining. The rope tightened, yanking his feet out from under him. He crashed to the stairs below, landing hard.

He thrashed, trying to free himself, but he was awkward and slow. Lavender's magic surged hard, and a massive trash dumpster rose up from the street below and hurtled toward the stone monster. He tried to roll out of the way, but the stairs were too narrow.

It landed on him with a thud, and he lay still.

I grinned, then turned and sprinted up the stairs. I was heading into possible human territory, and had to keep a low profile. For this obstacle course, the Protectorate would have created barriers around the castle so the humans couldn't see us use magic, but I still needed to take a left at the top of the stairs and go about fifty yards up the Royal Mile in order to get to the castle. The street would be bustling with shops and bars, and chock full of humans.

Fortunately, with my black leather and pink T-shirt—and matching lipstick, of course—I would blend in nicely.

Except for the electric sword.

The thought almost stopped me in my tracks.

I didn't want to give up my new toy.

Crap.

I didn't slow my pace—Lavender was right behind me, after all—but I did look down at my beautiful new sword.

Double shit.

It definitely looked magical. No way to pass it off as a toy or prop, and I didn't need the attention. A frown tugged at the corner of my lips as I looked for a place to stash the sword. There were no good hiding places on this stairway, and odds on it being there when I came back to get it were slim.

But I didn't really have much choice, did I?

There was a little gap between two walls on my right, so I shoved the sword inside and kept running. I could hear Lavender coming up from behind me and didn't pause.

When I reached the top, the Royal Mile looked normal. Loads of people bustled up and down the street, ducking into bars and late-night shops that sold all manner of trinkets and souvenirs.

It took everything I had to slow my frantic pace, but part of this job was stealth. A few people looked at me curiously, brows creased.

Oh crap, did I have blood on my face?

Quickly, I scrubbed at it again, hoping that I got the worst of the demon blood off. If I looked like the bad end of a horror film, the human cops might stop me. Then I'd definitely lose.

I was already doing so much better than I'd expected. I was neither dead nor totally embarrassed. I didn't want to ruin my streak.

As quickly as I could, I strode through the crowd, cutting up toward the castle. I got fewer weird looks, so I had to assume the demon blood was off my face.

A quick glance behind showed that Lavender was hot on my heels. Behind her, Carl, Lorence, and Angus appeared at the top of the steps.

Crap. I turned back and hurried faster, resisting a full-out run.

The castle loomed ahead, a monstrosity of stone and age that perched on a rock outcropping that sat in the middle of the city. From this side, the Royal Mile led up to it in a graceful slope. On the other three sides were cliffs, one of which led down into the Grassmarket.

The moon gleamed on the empty courtyard in front of the castle, and as soon as I stepped onto it, the sound of the bustling street below faded. I turned, and the scene of the street behind me was no longer clear. I was looking through a hazy barrier and couldn't really see what was going on out there. The street looked almost empty, in fact. Which meant they couldn't see me, probably.

As I'd thought, it'd been protected against human eyes so we could use magic.

Except there was no moat for me to manipulate, which would have been really danged handy.

Lavender stepped through the barrier a moment later, her gaze triumphant. She didn't even bother to look at me, just strode up to the massive wooden gate, her hands raised. Her magic swelled, and she directed her hands toward a huge iron cannon that sat in the courtyard.

Ah, crap.

The cannon lifted off the ground, wobbly at first. Then it picked up speed, shooting toward the castle gate.

Miserable witch. She was going to break the gate. It was probably ancient as hell and a historical artifact, and she was just going to smash it. The cannon slammed into the gate, shaking the wood.

I scowled, then turned, looking for another way in. Even if she smashed that thing right in front of me, I wouldn't follow her in on principle. But it wouldn't take her long to get through the gate with her method, so I'd need to be fast. I'd started this thing not wanting to die, and now I wanted more. I wanted to win. And maybe rub it in her face a tiny bit.

I searched the castle wall, hurrying around to the left. I was nearing the edge of the courtyard where it ended and the castle wall continued on, built right at the edge of the cliff. It looked like the cliff itself became the castle wall.

Please let there be some kind of entrance.

I could try to scale the wall, but it was pretty smooth. There weren't a lot of handholds. And there were no other entrances near where I was standing. I looked out over the castle wall that was built at the edge of the plummeting drop.

My gaze caught on a dark hole that was about level with my waist. It was at the base of the stone castle wall, right over the open drop down the cliff.

Understanding flared.

Romeo's toilet chute.

I eyed it, considering.

Oh fates, was I going to do this?

I looked around for any other option, but there was only smooth wall looming over top of me. My heart thundered as I approached the dark hole.

Just a peek. A sniff.

I mean, the thing clearly wasn't in operation anymore, right? I saw no stuff trailing down the cliff wall. In the medieval period, it would have poured right out and down the cliffside.

It was definitely big enough for me to fit through. And I wanted to win this.

Gingerly, I climbed onto the jagged cliff wall. I could just shimmy out there and climb up through the chute, as long as the interior walls had a few handholds.

Carefully, I climbed up to the chute's entrance—or exit, depending on your perspective. I shook my hand to ignite the magic in my lightstone ring and stuck my hand into the hole. I thrust my head in after, holding my breath, and looked upward.

The chute went all the way up, sandwiched inside the castle walls. It was narrow enough to prop myself up inside the walls, but not too narrow, and some of the sides had jagged rocks for handholds.

Tentatively, I sucked in a bit of air.

Stale, but not so bad. It definitely hadn't been used in centuries, and surely they'd tossed some water down here to clean it out, right?

I sure hoped so.

Because I really wanted to win.

I didn't waste any more time debating—just started shimmying up through the chute, propping myself up in the little tunnel and climbing.

Claustrophobia began to close in on me about halfway up when the chute narrowed some more, but I sucked in a shallow breath and kept going. I imagined winning.

Actually, I had to win.

Because if I lost and was found stuck in a medieval toilet, I would definitely fail at my goal of not dying of embarrassment.

In the distance, I could hear Lavender's cannon slamming against the castle gate. Good, she was still at it. I pushed myself faster, ascending like a chimney sweep. Frankly, I'd prefer that this was a chimney.

By the time I made it to the top, I was lightheaded from exertion and nerves. There was a wooden lid at the top, into which a hole had been cut. To illustrate the purpose of the little room, I had to assume.

I had a mental image of a big, pale butt sitting on the toilet seat over top of me and almost laughed. A gag was the only thing that stopped the noise, and in truth, it was easy to gag at the idea of that happening.

At the top, I pushed on the wooden board with the hole cut into it. The thing lifted easily, and I shimmied out into a small room built on the castle wall. The guards' toilet back in the old days, I had to assume.

No time to explore, though I did think it was pretty interesting.

Instead, I hurried out onto the rampart and searched for the flag. It was supposed to be on top of the tallest tower. When I didn't spot it, my heart fell briefly.

Then I heard the slam of Lavender's cannon as it finally broke through the castle wall. She wasn't in yet, so the flag should still be here. No way Angus, Carl, or Lorence had beaten her.

What had Romeo said about a tower near the toilet?

I looked up, and realized that it loomed right behind me. I hadn't noticed it when I'd had eyes only for the toilet. But it was here, right next to me, reaching into the sky with a flag fluttering from the top.

Heck yeah.

I turned and began to scale the tower, hand over hand until I reached the top. It was one of those crenelated tops with a big platform in the middle. I was about to climb onto the flat surface when magic flared on the air, my only warning. I looked down just in time to see Lavender standing below me, her hands raised. I didn't have time to search for whatever was flying at my head—I just lunged onto the top of the tower, ducking.

A huge trash bin flew over my head.

That chick really had a thing for trash bins.

The bin slammed into the edge of the tower, trash flying everywhere. Romeo would have a field day. I scrambled to my feet, lunging toward the flagpole. Quickly, I grabbed my mother's knife from the sheath at my thigh and sliced through the rope. The flag fell, and I caught it.

A grin spread over my face.

Hell yeah.

I'd won.

Except, I'd also climbed up through a toilet. Gingerly, I lifted my hand to my face and sniffed.

"What are you doing?" Lavender's voice cracked through the air.

"Nothing." I jerked my hand down. I didn't think I smelled.

Oh man, it seemed like the possibility for embarrassment hadn't quite passed.

Lavender scowled at me. "How the hell did you get up here?"

"I have my ways." Toilets.

I brushed past her, our truce over the stone giant forgotten, and climbed back down the side of the tower, the flag tucked in my back pocket.

When I landed on the main rampart, Bree was waiting for me, her silver wings glinting. I strode toward her, keeping my voice low. "Do I smell?"

She frowned at me, then her brows rose. "Ah, right. That's how you got in. I wondered what that hole in the wall was." She leaned forward and sniffed. "No. You're fine. There was nothing in the chute, right?"

"Not after all these years, but you never know." I wanted to wash my hands right away.

"Did she help you?" Lavender demanded from behind. "Because that's not fair."

I turned and grinned at her. "Nope. Just yelled in my ear that I'm a moron."

Lavender shifted and smiled a bit. "Well, she's not wrong."

"Hey!" Bree snapped. "Only I get to call my sister a moron. Or Ana. Sisters' privilege."

My smile widened. "Aw, I love you, Bree."

"Back atcha."

"Well done!" Jude's voice carried across the ramparts, and I turned, catching sight of her approaching. Jude's stride was long and confident, her braids bouncing against her back and her starry blue eyes glowing against her dark skin. Angus, Carl, and Lorence trailed behind her, pulling up short when they stopped.

"Well, Rowan, it looks like you won." Jude smiled broadly. "Let's meet at the Whiskey and Warlock for a celebratory drink. And you can collect your prize."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, after cleaning up in the pub bathroom and retouching my lipstick—Murderous Magenta, this time, which often suited my mood when I had to deal with Lavender—I joined everyone out in the little room that acted as our unofficial hangout.

I stepped into the small space, tugging at my black leather jacket as I surveyed the scene. Jude sat on a bench against the wall, while Bree and my classmates crowded around the table that was in front of her.

I swung by the shining wooden bar where Sophie stood drying a glass. Today, the bartender's shirt read "Nessie is My Other Ride."

She spotted me and grinned. "I've got just the thing for you tonight."

"Really?" I leaned on the bar and smiled.

"Yep. New beer in from Orkney called the Skull Splitter. Really rich, kinda fruity."

"Sounds great." I loved trying new beers. New anything, really. I'd been kidnapped while still a teenager, so I'd missed out on a lot. I was determined to make up for lost time.

While she fetched the beer, I replayed the race in my head, searching for any ways that I could have done it better. If I wanted to graduate and join the PITs, I needed to be perfect.

Sophie returned, popping the top on a dark bottle and handing it over. "Your sister already paid."

"Thanks." I took the beer and sipped as I turned. The cold, refreshing bubbles tickled my mouth, a reward for a job well done.

I joined my friends, squeezing into a chair next to Bree.

Jude leaned forward. "Well done, Rowan. You won."

I raised my beer and tilted my head toward her.

Jude reached her hand under the table and pulled out the electric sword that I'd hidden back on the stairs during the race. My eyes widened.

"It was good you ditched it," Jude said. "You couldn't have carried it down the Royal Mile without being noticed. But given your performance today, I think you deserve to keep it. As your prize for winning."

I grinned widely. "Really?"

I loved this sword.

"Really. An electric sword was going to be the prize for the winner, but you jumped the gun and took it for yourself." She tilted her head. "I respect that. I respect even more that you let it go when you knew it wouldn't help you achieve your goals. Even though you loved it."

My cheeks heated at the praise, and Jude held the sword out to me.

"Thank you." I grabbed the hilt, my smile growing wider. It would do well in my arsenal. The prize. I looked at Bree. "Can you get your guy to enchant this so it's stored in the ether for me?" It was the best spell in the world, that ether storage spell for weapons. I loved being able to yank them out at any time and use them.

Bree nodded. "I'll call Franklin and ask him."

"You rock." I didn't know the mage she bought the spells from, but she seemed to trust him and that was good enough for me.

I looked back at Jude.

"Well done," she said. "I think you have a bright—" Her eyes widened on something behind my shoulder, and I turned.

Maximus stood in the doorway, his shoulders filling the space. The gladiator mage and my unofficial trainer looked as good as ever, of course. Like a freaking fallen angel. He was well over six feet tall and all rangy muscle, with dark hair and blue eyes. He'd earned those muscles in the real Colosseum thousands of years ago, and I was grateful to the god Virtus who'd brought him forward into present day.

That didn't mean I knew how to act around him, though. The attraction was off the charts, and we'd shared one kiss a couple days ago that we'd studiously avoided talking about. We'd had one fight training session before he'd been called away by the Order of the Magica on an emergency, and the tension had been insane. We'd been in a room with other students and staff, though, so it hadn't been the time.

But all of that combined to make me awkward as hell, of course. It was my MO most of the time, anyway.

His brilliant blue eyes moved straight to mine, and it became even harder not to think of our kiss. My heart immediately began thundering, and a horde of butterflies started having a party in my middle. I swallowed hard, trying to look cool and unaffected. Now was not the time to remember our kiss from two days ago, but I couldn't help it.

I nodded briefly and moved my gaze away. The last thing I needed was for my future boss to see me making eyes at a hot dude when I was supposed to be focusing on my work.

Would my classmates tell him I'd climbed in a toilet? The errant thought slipped into my head.

Would he kiss me again, or was I now Toilet Girl?

I had won though.

Worth it.

Maximus strode toward our table.

Jude stood. "Is there a problem?"

He nodded sharply.

"We'll go to the round room," Jude said, referencing the war room where we often held most of the major discussions.

Maximus shook his head. "This will do fine, actually. The relevant parties are here."

His gaze moved to me, and I blinked.

I was a relevant party?

I had no idea what he meant, but I was suddenly dying of curiosity.

Jude sank down onto the bench. "What's going on?"

Maximus pulled up a chair and sat. "The Order of the Magica has a possible lead on the two witches who committed the murders last week. A seer gave us a tip."

My gaze sharpened on him, my interest piqued. Those damned witches had turned into giant killer birds. Every time they'd killed, the dark magic inside me had erupted. To say that I was invested in catching them was an understatement. I was connected to them, even though I didn't want to be, and I sure as heck wanted to stop them. We might have bound them from harming with their beaks or claws, but they could still use some nasty magic when they were in their human forms.

"Where are they?" Jude asked.

"We believe they may try to infiltrate the Intermagic Games."

I leaned forward. "That big race with a fabulous prize at the end?"

My gaze darted to Bree, and her eyes were as wide as mine felt. We might have spent most of our lives broke and on the run, but even we'd heard of the Intermagic Games. They were a big freaking deal. Apparently the competitions were dangerous and fantastic and weird. They were often like an obstacle course with clues, and occasionally spectators could watch parts of the competition.

"The same," Maximus said. "Every five years, the Intermagic Games hosts the competition for the students from some of the great magic academies. It's dangerous, but the prize is always highly coveted, so people compete."

"We've never sent competitors," Jude said. "It's beneath our mission to compete in a game."

"I know." Maximus nodded. "But that's why we think you can help us. We suspect that the witches won't compete formally—they don't have an invitation—but they'll try to infiltrate the games to steal the prize at the end. We want to enter the games and try to catch them."

"Why don't you just tell the Intermagic Games Council?" Lavender asked. "They'll cancel the games, and the witches won't get the prize."

"They won't cancel the games—they're too profitable. And we hold no jurisdiction there, so we can't force them. We're not sure we want to, anyway. This is a good opportunity to try to catch the witches, since we know where they will be. Even though this makes the games more dangerous, the contestants are aware that the race is deadly. They know the risks," Maximus said.

He was right. It was famously deadly, actually. Years ago—probably at the last games, since they ran every five years—two of the contestants had died in a giant snake pit. I shuddered at the thought.

"We want to send a team to the games," Maximus said. "That way, we can try to catch the witches. At the very least, we can try to beat them to the prize."

"I presume that's where we come in?" Jude asked.

Maximus nodded. "We've bought a spot for one team to enter." A grim smile stretched across his face. "The Intermagic Games Council is easily bought."

They must be, if they'd allow the games to go on despite the fact that evil witches were infiltrating.

Maximus continued. "Four teams of two compete in the games. We can send one team." His gaze moved to me. "I'd like Rowan to compete as my partner. They don't need to know that I'm not officially a student at the Academy. As long as we enter under your banner, we're fine."

My heart thundered. I liked the idea of being invited. I was also scared out of my wits. The snake pit, after all.

"If you've already bought a spot to compete, then the Intermagic Games Council is expecting our Academy to enter. You've already signed us up."

Maximus nodded. "The games start tomorrow. We didn't have much time. And I suspected that you would agree. This is too big of an opportunity to stop evil."

Jude frowned, but she nodded. "You're right. I want in. These witches are immensely dangerous to the well-being of the world, and we won't sit back if this is a chance to catch them. But I won't command Rowan to go." She turned to me. "Today you proved that you're the most qualified. But I leave it up to you if you want to be the Undercover Protectorate's champion at the games."

My eyes widened.

Champion? At the Intermagic Games?

Holy fates, that was a big deal. It even sounded cool.

More importantly—much more importantly—it was an opportunity to catch the witches. I had to take it. I was about to nod when I remembered what he said about the prize. "What's the prize?"

"This year, it's a Truth Teller," Maximus said.

A low gasp sounded through the group. A Truth Teller was a super-rare magical object. So rare that I'd never seen one. Probably no one at the table had seen one. They were almost mythical in their ability to tell you anything you wanted to know. Unlike a seer, who often had blind spots or could occasionally be downright wrong, the Truth Teller knew all.

It would be so valuable to the Protectorate. We'd be so much more effective at stopping bad guys and protecting the innocent. I wanted to win that for our side. We could catch the witches and take home the prize.

A selfish part of me piped up, deep inside. With a Truth Teller, I could find out what kind of Dragon God I was. I could figure out how to get rid of the dark magic inside of me. Forever.

"I'll compete if the Protectorate gets to keep the Truth Teller," I said. "If our team wins, that is."

Jude gave me an appraising look. "Quick thinking. Having a Truth Teller would be a huge boon for the Protectorate. It could help us with our cases. We could save countless lives with it."

We would help no matter what—I knew the Protectorate well enough to know that. But why not try for more?

And I suddenly wanted to win this thing. Somehow, I'd gone from having a goal of just staying alive in this smaller race to wanting to win an enormous, potentially fatal international competition hosted by the biggest magical government of them all. But I could really help the Protectorate by doing this.

Maximus frowned, then nodded. "I can arrange that."

"Perfect." I grinned. "Looks like things are about to get deadly."