Page 8 of The Tribes of Magic
“Whoa, there area lotof Knights out there!”
Dutch’s announcement sent all the Apprentices still left on the train flocking to the windows. He was right. The whole platform was full of armored Knights.
“They’re taking the train in the other direction,” Bronte said. “Back to the Castle.”
Until a few days ago, most of the Knights had been engaged inOperation: Free Gaia, the General’s rebuke to Fenris’s insistence that Gaia was weak. The General had sent the Knights to the Park, a nearby district that we’d lost to the Curse. And after several long, grueling days of battle, the Knights had emerged victorious. They’d eliminated the Cursed Ones and reclaimed the district for Gaia. And now they were slowly returning home.
“There are hordes of Fixers too,” I noted.
“The Government wants the district’s infrastructure repaired ASAP. There was a big piece about the Park on the news yesterday,” said Bronte. “The Fortress is way over capacity. There isn’t enough space for everyone. So the Government is sending people to live in the Park as the buildings become ready. They plan to have the whole district up and running—and filled with people—by the end of the year.”
“That’s certainly ambitious,” I said. “The Park isn’t small.”
Dutch shrugged. “It’s mostly forest. There aren’t as many buildings as you’d think.”
“The news claims they’re going to build new houses,” Bronte said.
“The Fixers will need a lot of materials to do that. I guess that’s where they’re going.” Dutch pointed out the window, to the mass of Scavengers lined up in front of a fleet of theWatchers’ SUVs parked in a solid line, all the way down the very long road.
I squinted, trying to see if I could pick out my friend Marlow in the crowd, but the train was moving too fast and the Scavengers were all dressed exactly the same. I didn’t see Marlow’s dog, a husky named Wolf, either. Maybe he was already sitting inside one of the SUVs. Or maybe he wasn’t part of the expedition.
I prayed for the second option. Marlow had already seen far too much pain and suffering in the last week. He’d been abducted by the Brothers, beaten up by their commandos, and then, to top it all off, when Conner and I had gone in to rescue him, he’d narrowly escaped being blown up in the crossfire between the Brothers, Watchers, Rebels, and Templars.
“Hey, Savannah, this is our stop.”
I turned away from the window. Bronte stood in front of the open train doors. I linked my arm in hers, and we hurried to catch up to Dutch and the other Apprentices.
“Sorry, I guess I just got lost in my thoughts.”
“You do that a lot. Where does your mind go when it wanders, anyway?”
“So many places.”
“You pile too much on your plate, you know.”
I sighed. “I know.”
Bronte slid me a glance as we passed under the Interchange’s big, bold sign. “You don’t have to shoulder all of these burdens alone, Savannah. Look, I know I’m not as gregarious as Kylie—” Her voice wavered. “—but I am still your friend, Savannah. And if there’s anything I can do to help, I’m here. Even if it’s just to listen.”
I gave her a smile. “Thanks. I’ll remember that.”
If only I knew where to begin. There was just so much going on, so many secrets rattling around inside my brain. And I’dnever been the trusting, sharing sort. I didn’t even share my secrets with my mom, my brother, or my best friend. I guess I’d just gotten used to holding on to my secrets, and it had all started with my biggest secret of all, the secret I had kept my whole life.
I’d been born with magic.
It sounded like such a silly secret to keep, now that I was an Apprentice, now that I wassupposedto have magic. But there was a big difference between being blessed by the spirits with magic and being born with it. To make things worse, I didn’t even knowhowI’d been born with magic. My whole family was human, and since I looked just like my mom, it was pretty safe to assume I wasn’t secretly adopted.
Maybe it was time to own up, at least to my family. Maybe it was time to tell them my biggest secret. But I just…couldn’t. I couldn’t tell them that I’d lied to them my whole life. I couldn’t stomach the inevitable look of betrayal on their faces.
I’d told Kato and Conner. Actually, they’d justknown. Somehow, they’d sensed the truth buried beneath the false front I’d built up.
Maybe their magic had allowed them to peel back the layers of lies.
Maybe they’d known because there was something that linked us together since we’re all Polymages.
Or maybe our connection had nothing to do with being Polymages. Maybe there was something deeper, something intangible that bound the three of us together. I’d have called it destiny if I weren’t afraid of sounding completely delusional.
Whatever the reason, Kato and Conner and I were connected. It came so naturally to me to share secrets with them. Butonlywith them.
