Cinderella Assassin Read online

  I raised my hands in success. My magic had worked the way I wanted.

  “Yay!” Arbor celebrated by rocking her smoky hips. “Dance with me.”

  Dancing with my best friend was better than a prince anyhow. I put my hand on the place in the fog where a guy’s shoulder would be and pretended to hold a hand. Arbor’s smoke and I twirled around the living room.

  The movement and the music had my taut muscles relaxing. I deserved a few moments of fun. We swirled faster, giggling. Already I was happier. “We need more.”

  “Don’t get carried away, Elle.” The note of caution spurred me on.

  Normally, I was cautious. Arbor was the adventurous and risk-taking one. I’d already gotten caught trying out my first intentional magic ever. The elongator spell had prevented me from going to the ball. No one was here to see my weak attempts.

  I threw caution away. “Laser fireworks.” I pointed at the ceiling.

  Streaks of colored light rained down on us.

  I couldn’t believe I’d pulled off more magic. Fun and colorful magic. It wasn’t anything I’d learned or practiced. I’d focused on what I wanted, and made it happen. Who needed fairy training at an academy?

  The front door slammed open.

  Freezing, I knew I’d be in so much trouble from my stepmother.

  “By order of the SCUM,” a harsh voice demanded from the open doorway, and not my stepmother’s. “You are under arrest.”

  Chapter Five

  I froze, and my muscles grew rigid like stone.

  Arbor’s smoke shriveled leaving me dancing alone. Her tiny body fluttered in one place, her wings agitated back and forth and back and forth showing her…well, agitation.

  Slowly, I put down my hands and angled toward the open doorway. Three uniformed guards filled the space. Each held a majik stun gun. Their stern expressions told me they’d witnessed my magic.

  Fireworks. I’m such an idiot.

  My heart throbbed so loud I’m sure the SCUM heard. The over-rapid beats resembled an out-of-control rock drum. After all my pretending, I’d been caught because of a stupid mistake.

  I stepped in front of Arbor—because going from a large smoke form to her regular body type wasn’t an infraction just biology—standing as tall as possible.

  “This is a private residence. You have no legal right to come inside.” I copied Sybil’s disdainful tone.

  “I have a key.” A skinny guard with two stripes on his uniform held up an electronic card attached to a chain.

  “Why do you have a key to my house?” Was this some new technology the SCUM had access to that opened private residences?

  “Your house?” The guard’s face reddened. A threat threaded through his tone. “This is Lady Milford’s house. And she only has two daughters and you’re not one of them.”

  Choking, I cleared the lump in my throat. I wasn’t Sybil’s daughter, but she didn’t even acknowledge my existence out in the city or the fact I’d own this home someday.

  Arbor’s wings thumped faster imitating a hummingbird. The other two guards glanced back and forth as if watching an esports match.

  The guard with the key pointed. “Arrest these trespassers.”

  Holding up my hands, I tried to ward them off. “I’m not a trespasser. I live here.” I held out my wrist with the embedded identity chip. The chip holding my personal information, except the one big lie. “Scan me. I’m Lady Milford’s stepdaughter.”

  A guard with four stripes on his shoulder nodded at the youngest guard. “Patterson, check.”

  Patterson unclipped a scanner from his belt and approached. He slid the device across my wrist and his sweaty scent stung my nose. “Ellery Milford. Human. She checks out.”

  Still didn’t explain why the one man had a key. Or from their perspective, why Arbor was in the house. The SCUM would demand to know that next. They could arrest her for just being present, didn’t matter if she was welcome here or not.

  The best defense was a good offense. “Where did you get the key?”

  “Sybil and I are dating.” The supposed-boyfriend’s cheeks reddened with bright splotches. “I wanted to see her dressed up for the ball.”

  My stomach churned at the expression of devotion on his face. I didn’t know anything about this relationship. Did her daughters? “Well, you’re too late. She already left. Please leave.”

  “I have every right to be here. I have a key.” He held the card higher.

  The guard in charge grimaced. He probably didn’t want to hear the details of this relationship, either. “It’s the night of the royal ball and we have special patrols. If we suspect anything suspicious, we’re allowed to investigate even homes. Special orders.”

  “You can enter a private residence?” What other rights were being broken in name of law and order?

  “We’re expecting trouble from terrorists,” Patterson said.

  Terrorists? Breath whooshed out of my chest.

  “That’s confidential.” In-charge-guard scowled causing his facial hair to twitch.

  Patterson must’ve spoken out of turn.

  I glanced at Arbor and back at the trio of guards. I’d never heard of terrorists in Alandaska. “I’m not a terrorist. I’m only a teenage girl who is too sick,” cough, “to go to the ball.”

  The head guard’s gaze travelled the length of the room. The mishmash of twenty-second century technology, nineteenth century antiques, and my stepmother’s awful decorating taste probably made him gag. “Use of unsanctioned magic is illegal.”

  I fought to breathe. Maybe it was time to magically disappear. If my magic worked…and if that wouldn’t bring me more scrutiny. I needed to play it cool.

  “Ackerman, spray the vicinity,” in-charge guard ordered Sybil’s boyfriend.

  He stomped forward pulling a hose connected to a tank that was strapped to his back. He pumped a fine mist into the air. The mist fell similar to soft snow covering every piece of furniture, and me and Arbor.

  More mess to clean up. Although not my biggest problem. I was going to be arrested for doing magic and be called out for being majik. While Arbor wasn’t registered to this home and had run away from her homeland.

  The music screeched to a halt.

  Arbor shook spreading the mist across my shoulder. No smoke came from her tiny body as if she’d been snuffed out.

  My scalp prickled. “What was that?”

  The boyfriend sprayed more mist into the room. His smirk seemed to be chiseled into his face. He enjoyed his job. “Magic Blocking Fixatif.”

  They’d blocked my magic. Even if I knew how, I couldn’t use powers to escape.

  “It was only fireworks.” I’d beg if they’d let it go. A majik doing unapproved magic would face a courtroom ruled by the regent, and most likely prison. There wasn’t much sympathy. The rumors of what happened were much worse. Everyone was found guilty. “Nothing harming anyone. I didn’t realize…”

  Patterson took out a coin-shaped object. He tapped on it and it popped open to reveal a small wire trap made with neon electronics. The eight-inch wire box had crisscrossing lines forming a tight mesh and glared in a hideous electric green color. I wasn’t sure what the device was. Another way to curtail magic?

  Wearing special gloves, he lunged toward me.

  My heart drummed again, slower and louder and more ominous. I took a step back tripping on a low table and bumping into Arbor. This was it. All my plans had gone awry. My stepmother would get my house if I was sentenced to prison.

  “Wait!” I stuck my hands up and quickly put them to my sides. I didn’t want them to think I was attempting magic. “The Milford name, my father’s name, is noble. You can’t arrest me.”

  Ignoring my plea, the young guard’s hand snaked out toward my shoulder.

  Panic paralyzed my body, while whatever device they’d used to block my magic set off another type of paralysis in my mind. I hadn’t had my magic long, and it hadn’t been very useful up to this point, still I m
issed its existence.

  His hand strayed past me.

  Luck was finally on my side. Maybe I could get away. I could run. Arbor could fly. Maybe they wouldn’t chase us since the magic had been simple and they were too worried about terrorists to bother with a smoke sprite and one runaway, half-fairy girl.

  Patterson grabbed Arbor in mid-air and her tiny body froze as if she’d been shoved in cryonics fluid. Her wings lost their flutter. Her pupils lost their light.

  He shoved her in the small cage and her tiny body lay on the bottom unmoving. Her mouth pursed in a permanent open position.

  My eyes widened taking in the action. I couldn’t run without my friend.

  He secured the cage, and the other two guards relaxed their shoulders pointing the weapons down. What was going on?

  “As a favor to Lady Milford we won’t arrest you for hanging out with a zauber.” Ackerman pounded on the cage with his fist.

  Arbor’s tiny body jostled, and I jumped at the cruel action and words. She appeared stunned and woozy.

  “Is she okay?” I rushed the cage.

  Patterson yanked the cage higher keeping it away from me. “The gloves only stun for a second.”

  “Hey!” Arbor struggled to stand. She pounded on the neon wires and was thrown to the metal ground of the cage.

  “See?” Patterson smirked. “She’ll learn not to touch the wires.”

  Her body flopped and jerked appearing to be electrocuted. Her hair, which normally poked in stylish tufts, stuck straight up. Her tiny, round eyes struck with an odd gleam.

  I gulped. At a loss, I couldn’t make sense of anything. “What’s going on?”

  “Use of unsanctioned magic is illegal. You’re old enough to know that.” The head guard wrote on a sophisticated celltab. “I’ll need to contact Lady Milford about this majik hanging around her house.”

  I bit my lip. “Lady Milford doesn’t know about the smoke sprite.” If I was going to take a fall, I might as well take the fall for everything.

  He perused the boyfriend. “You’re lucky I’m in a good mood, and Lady Milford has a connection here.”

  “I’ll make sure to tell Sybil personally what her ungrateful stepdaughter has been up to.”

  My abs clenched imagining Sybil’s reaction. Not that it mattered. I’d be in prison once they unloaded a bigger cage for me. My poor friend had been caught in my mess. Arbor kneeled in the small cage with her hands fisted around the non-electrified bars. Her gleaming gaze burned through me.

  “Arbor did nothing wrong. I let her stay here. You should let her go.”

  “As I said, even harmless magic is illegal. Only majiks working for the government are allowed to use their powers.” The head guard went into lecture mode. “The sprite should know better.”

  Shaking my head back and forth, I finally put things together. The SCUM believed Arbor had done magic. It wasn’t about her unregistered presence. She was taking the blame for both of us. My stomach muscles tightened, and my pulse throbbed. I hadn’t stood up for her at the mall and needed to prove my friendship.

  “It was me!” I grabbed the mesh to stop them from taking Arbor. A mild shock went through and I could only imagine how strong the sensation felt to a small sprite. “Let her go.”

  Patterson’s lips twisted in an ironic and disbelieving smirk. “Yeah, right. You’re human.”

  All the oxygen evacuated my lungs. I’d always worried about being recognized as a majik, and now that I was confessing, they didn’t believe me. “No. It was me. I did the spell.”

  Arbor lay on the bottom of the cage. Her eyes were open. She seemed more shocked at my admittance.

  “We’ll send a communication to Lady Milford letting her know we’ve arrested the sprite on the property.” The head guard scribbled on the celltab and then tucked it into his uniform pocket. “There will be an inquiry to assess any further blame and infractions of the law.”

  His droning on about laws and infractions were only flies buzzing. I wanted to swat them away. The SCUM believed my only indiscretion was hanging out with a zauber. They believed Arbor had done the magic. Smoke sprites didn’t have those kinds of powers. Shouldn’t they know the skills of the people they arrested?

  I didn’t care what Sybil thought. I cared what Arbor thought. And she believed I was a terrible friend, a traitor, and a liar. I couldn’t lie about this. I felt as if the dirt outside had coated my skin with filth. I couldn’t live knowing I’d let her take the fall for something I’d done. I had to prove my guilt and worry about the consequences later. The SCUM would release her and arrest me. I had to hope my family name would make my punishment less severe. I had to believe my stepmother would negotiate to keep me as her servant.

  “It was me.” Putting more conviction into my voice, I jostled the cage trying to get Arbor’s attention. “Tell them, Arbor.” My screech should’ve penetrated their psyches.

  She sat up. “No.”

  “No? What do you mean, no?” My fingers dug around the wire bars again refusing to let the guard take her away. “Arbor! Tell them!”

  She crossed her thin arms and glared. Her purple eyebrows arched in a stubborn and fierce expression.

  Pain seared across my chest. I couldn’t let her sacrifice herself. She’d been trying to cheer me up. I’d gone over the top with the fireworks, too mad to care.

  Ackerman scuttled toward the door.

  “Watch. I can do magic.” I let go of the cage and waved my fingers at the robo-vac in the corner. “Sweep.”

  Nothing happened.

  The guards’ chuckles scraped against my desperation.

  The boyfriend tucked his gun into his belt showing he didn’t think I was a threat. “If you paid your electricity bills the vac would work.” He must know about our financial situation and thought the robo-vac wasn’t connected.

  My insides heated. Sybil must be close to him if she’d confided the information.

  The head guard exchanged a look with the young guard holding the cage. “Even if we believed you—”

  “Which we don’t.” Patterson rattled the cage.

  Arbor jostled about trying to use her feet and hands to keep her balance.

  I lurched toward her wanting their mistreatment to stop, knowing it had only begun. The state media spoke of fair trials, yet I’d never seen a vid of a single one. Convicted majiks were sent out of the country. If that was so, wouldn’t the outside world know about our little kingdom? Learn our secrets? Pull us into their perpetual world wars?

  Since Concealment Day, the then-king of Alandaska had decided our natural resources couldn’t be depleted by another war. Prince Zacharye’s great grandfather had worked with the majiks to conceal the kingdom. Majiks had been allies and some of our best scientists. Interesting the textbooks didn’t say much about the majiks’ involvement in the development of our independence.

  “The Magic Blocking Fixatif won’t wear off for an hour,” Ackerman explained. “Makes it safer for us to protect the kingdom.”

  “My magic’s not working because you sprayed the mist. Give me time.” Pushing down my panic, I focused on the robo-vac again. Still nothing. Stupid vac system. “I swear. It was me doing magic.”

  “We don’t have time for this. It’s a busy night between the extra security at the palace and the unsupervised majiks in town.” The head guard jerked his chin in a let’s move motion.

  “One down and hundreds more to go.” The boyfriend’s grin expressed how he anticipated the confrontations.

  Special orders. Secret patrols. Terrorists. Each word planted deep in my conscience. I knew things changed every day, situations for the majiks worsened. They were losing their rights. What was happening to my world?

  The head guard hastened out the door.

  “I’m telling the truth. I’m a majik. A fairy.” Each admission dragged out of my mouth leaving a sour taste. This was the first time I’d admitted to being a fairy without a qualifier. One last desperate attempt to convince the
m of the truth.

  “Nothing you can say or do is going to save this creature. She’s a smoke sprite and we witnessed her doing magic.” Patterson’s no-chance tone said he’d witnessed this many times before.

  Majiks were arrested all the time, for real crimes or supposed crimes. The number of missing majiks had quadrupled. Reports of disappearances, and not magical ones, multiplied every single day.

  I grasped the edge of the door frame. “What’s going to happen to her? When is her trial?”

  Maybe as a human coming to her defense, I’d be more believable.

  Again the laughter, crueler and sharper this time. Sharp enough to cut. Cut me down and make me useless. I grabbed the guard holding the cage. “I’m serious. I know you can’t give me an exact date, but she’ll have a trial, right?”

  I’d show up and defend her. If I had to, I’d do magic to prove I should be the one arrested. I’d do anything I could to save my best friend.

  The boyfriend whipped the stun gun from the holster at his waist. “Let go of the cage.”

  By his fierce tone and deadly-serious expression I knew a misting spray wouldn’t come out of the shaft of this weapon. I let go and took a quivering step back. Getting killed wouldn’t help either of us.

  “Listen, kid.” The head guard stood on the front step. “This is a closed case. Three of us witnessed her magic.”

  “As a teen, she’ll be thrown into the auraguillotine machine.” Patterson’s mouth shaped into a fanatical grin.

  The guard in command whipped around. The boyfriend’s mouth dropped open. Another slip by the youngster.

  I shivered. “What kind of machine?”

  “Stop.” Both men glared at Patterson. “She’ll be taken to prison and shipped out of the kingdom.”

  Shipped out. Gone. Forever. My best friend.

  “But—”

  Ackerman gave a final glance around the once-elegant home of the noble family of Milford. “You shouldn’t be friends with a zauber, anyhow. Sybil wouldn’t approve.”