Today marks the historic debut of the nation’s first super-powered peacekeeping force. With the rise of super-powered individuals in the nation and across the world, many have urged that such an organized force has become necessary, as regular law enforcement can no longer keep up with the demands of public safety against magically gifted villains. Others have argued, as expected, that such a force is an unwarranted infringement of freedom. But in a press release earlier this week, the Crown reiterated that this is not a change in law, only a means of more effectively enforcing the already existing laws, specifically in regards public endangerment. And with super-villainy becoming a terrifying reality in many regions, we could see more teams like it popping up elsewhere.

  The peacekeeping team is of course led by none other than our own Crown Prince Tyrell Andersen, himself a powerfully gifted super. While some officials have expressed concern about his Highness’s lack of experience, at only twenty-three, the crown prince is the only individual with both the magical prowess as well as the political clout to lead this endeavor. Whether his youth will be a detriment remains to be seen, but in the meantime, one thing can be certain. The world will be watching.

  --The Cape Horn Chronicle, front page article from five years ago.

  Tye Andersen hated feeling powerless. Perhaps it had been bred into him, since there were so few times when he actually was powerless. But this was one of them, and he hated it.

  The problem was simple. Will Lark could not be allowed to die. Not only had he saved Tye’s life twice now, but he was also one of the few healers left in the country. To top that off, Tye was remembering the name Will had shouted during their fight, when he was directing his ghost friend. Eirwen, he’d said. And then the rocks had lifted and spun around them, shielding their escape. Coincidence? Perhaps. Perhaps there really was a poltergeist named Eirwen that could move things in the physical world. But Tye didn’t believe in ghosts. He did, however, believe in his sister, a telekinetic who could walk beyond her body. If Will had some connection to her—if there was even a chance of finding her, or at least finding out what had happened to her…

  He grabbed up the oars and pulled toward shore with all his considerable strength. The boat practically flew through the water.

  “So what’s the deal with the mirror?” he asked Will, when the healer had been silent for too long.

  “Stupid healing gift,” Will muttered in reply. He slouched lower against the bench seat. “Can’t spark it unless I look into my own eyes. Ironic…” his voice trailed off.

  “What’s ironic?”

  “Jesamin, the fairy. She’s trapped in a mirror, and made me look into it to try to connect my magic to her so she could get out.”

  His answer set Tye’s teeth on edge. “It didn’t work?”

  “I had my contacts in.”

  “Haven’t you ever been able to heal your eyes?”

  Will snorted softly, but didn’t answer. Fine. That wasn’t the question Tye really wanted answered anyway.

  “So that’s why the Huntsman has been taking healers? He’s working for Jesamin? But why kill them all? And what about the others that have gone missing who weren’t healers?”

  “When she activated their magic and tried to use it for a bridge, or a—a conduit, it fried them. Some of them they just killed. I don’t… she wasn’t too clear on the details.”

  Tye processed that for a moment. He’d been investigating the killings when the Huntsman ambushed him, injected him with some kind of poison, and dragged him back to that island. He didn’t remember much after that. There could have been a mirror, but he’d been in no shape to pay attention.

  “You should know,” said Will, interrupting his thoughts. “Ghost Girl… Princess Eirwen. She says to tell you you’re an idiot. And to hurry up.” His hand slipped off the wadded shirt at his side.

  Tye swore. Before he could get the oars in though, the bloody shirt picked itself up and moved back into place, eliciting a grunt from Will.

  Just then the boat jolted and scraped against sand. They’d hit shore. Tye dropped the oars and rushed back to the healer.

  “Hey. Stay with me.”

  “I’m here,” Will responded weakly as Tye picked him up and stepped out onto the shore. “Ugh. Not the bridal carry. Anything but that.”

  Tye laughed. “I can see the access road down the cliff. That means we should be close to the marina. We’ll have that mirror for you in a flash.”

  “Need water, too. And sugar,” the healer mumbled. “Can’t heal what isn’t there.”

  “Mirror, then sports drink. Got it. Tell me about Eirwen.”

  “She’s all grown up.” His brows furrowed. “Do ghosts grow up?”

  “I don’t think so, buddy.”

  Tye spotted the glow from the marina parking lot up ahead, and started jogging toward it. He did his best not to bounce Will, who groaned anyway, despite his efforts.

  “Tell me about her.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Will was silent for a moment, his eyes tracking something to their left. “She says we look like a bad romance trope and that you should shut up and find a mirror. Ugh. Maybe you should just let me die. I may not recover from this.”

  “You’re going to be fine,” said Tye, laughing again in spite of everything. “And then I’m going to recruit you for my team. Also, how does my baby sister know about romance tropes?”

  “You don’t have a healer on your team,” said Will as they rounded a bend in the cliff and came upon the marina’s first pier, jutting out into the water. “You have an empath, a fire caster, a voice super, and a shielder.”

  “Sounds like you’re an expert.”

  Will didn’t respond. His eyes were closed again. Tye broke into a run, sprinting up the beach and across the boatyard toward the parking lot. There were precious few vehicles there at this time of night, but all they needed was one. He skidded to a stop beside the nearest—a big crew cab pickup truck, and carefully set Will down beside it, leaning him up against the tire. Then he turned and called up his extra strength to wrench the side mirror off the door.

  “Hey. Will.”

  The healer stirred and blinked. He accepted the mirror with his good hand, but just held it, his eyes drifting closed again.

  Tye knelt beside him. “Almost there, buddy. Don’t give up on me when the mirror’s in your hands.”

  Will’s eyes blinked open again, and he focused on the shaking mirror with an obvious effort, pulling it in close to his face. For an instant, a blue spark lit his eyes from the inside. He gasped and sucked in a breath. Cool blue magic swirled around his broken hand, which he pressed gingerly against his side, tilting the mirror so he could see.

  Tye watched in fascination. He had been healed enough times himself that he was familiar with the process, how the magic was visible for just an instant before the healer directed it. Usually it manifested as white light, however, not blue. And he’d never seen the use of a mirror before. He’d also never experienced any kind of healing like the ones Will had performed on him less than an hour ago. Will had mentioned wearing contacts. Did that have something to do with his abnormal gifting? And why had he been so far off everyone’s radar? When healers started disappearing and turning up dead, Tye had gone through the healer’s guild, so he was familiar with their numbers and locations, and was well aware that their number had become shockingly low. But Will didn’t work at any hospital, nor was he employed by the crown.

  Will’s hands were still shaking when he set the mirror down, but his breathing seemed better, and he was more alert now. “That’s as good as it’s going to get, for now,” he said, grasping the hand Tye offered to help him up.

  “Let’s go find you some water, then. There’s a vending machine over by the office, I think.”

  “Lead on.”

  Tye had to slow his steps when the healer quickly started panting again and swaying on his feet. He didn’t like the way he still hunched over, clutched his side, either.

  “You’re sure you’re okay?”

  “I can’t magic myself a transfusion, now can I? I can barely magic at all, at this point.”

  “You know, you really should be on my team. They’re the only ones with the gall to snark at the crown prince. You’d fit right in.” When Will didn’t respond, he said, “That was meant to be humor.”

  “I’m too tired to care.”

  Neither of them had cash for the vending machine, so Tye broke into it. Then he broke into the office to use the phone, since they were both without their cell phones. His finger hovered over the keypad for a moment as he debated. His first instinct was to call the manor’s main line, or else Angel, who’s voice he was longing to hear after his three-day ordeal. But after his absence, the team would have too many questions. He and Will needed help now. Making up his mind, he dialed Gordon’s personal phone.

  The other end picked up on the second ring.

  “Who is this?”

  “It’s Tye. I need you to get the team together and get down to the Lighthouse Marina, five minutes ago. Pickup for me and an injured friend. This needs to be quick and quiet, and have everyone on alert. We’ve got a class ten super who may come after us. Teleportation and invisibility.”

  “Be there in ten.” The phone line went dead.

  Tye dropped the receiver back into the cradle and let out a breath. Gordon was the one teammate he could count on to act first and ask his questions later, bless him.

  Tye slipped back outside, half afraid he’d find Will missing, snatched away by the Huntsman. But he was still there, slumped against the vending machine and passed out cold. Two empty sport drink bottles and a half-finished water bottle littered the ground around him. He didn’t even twitch when Tye picked him up again and started toward the access road. His breathing was steady though, and his heart sounded strong when Tye tapped his magic to amplify his hearing.

  Ten minutes was a generous estimate on his team’s ETA. It would take at least fifteen to get here from the manor, and that didn’t include everyone waking up and grabbing their gear. Whether it was ten minutes or twenty, though, it felt like an eternity as Tye crouched in the bushes beside the road. He wondered whether Eirwen was still with them. Could she go where and when she chose? Why had she never come home? Or had she? What if Will had been lying? But Tye had seen the display of floating rocks himself, and heard Will call her name in the middle of the fight. Most people aren’t thinking about deception when their lives are in immediate danger. Nor were the healer’s actions at all indicative of dishonor or cowardice. He’d saved Tye’s life repeatedly in the space of half an hour, at considerable cost to himself. Then there were his eyes… No, Tye would just have to wait till he recovered to find out more, as much as it killed him.

  His ears, still tapping into his magic for amplified hearing, picked up the low rumble of the team’s tactical van as it made the turn at the top of the access road and started down the hill. The sound came nearer, but the van itself remained hidden. Good. That meant that Gordon was cloaking it. Tye stepped out and waved them to a stop.

  Angel hopped out first and threw herself into his arms, squeezing him till his back popped. “Where have you been?” she demanded.

  “Later,” was all he replied, beckoning Dom to help him get Will into the back of the van. The healer stirred and grumbled once, but never woke up. Tye didn’t relax until they were all inside with Gordon’s shielding back in place. Even then he asked Angel, their empath, to confirm that no one else had slipped in with them.

  “There is something…” she said, cocking her head curiously. “Another presence. They don’t feel like an enemy, but the emotional signature is weird—like it’s not quite there. It could be your friend there, being emotional in his sleep.”

  “Not an enemy?” Tye pushed.

  “No. Not an enemy.”

  “Probably our ghost” said Tye, at last letting out his tension on a relieved sigh. At their questioning looks he said, “Will is going to explain that later, I hope.”

  “Who is he?” asked Ember, their voice super, leaning over the seat to hand Tye a blanket and the medical kit.

  “He’s a healer. He knows about The Huntsman, and I think he knows something about my sister, too. He saved my life just now.” Tye ignored their questions while he cleaned some of the blood away from Will’s side to make sure the wound had completely closed. It had, but a raw-looking scar remained, evidence that the healing had only been a partial one. He draped a blanket over him. “I’ll answer questions later. For now, this guy doesn’t go anywhere or do anything alone until The Huntsman is dead. Understood? He might have to save some of your sorry butts someday.”

  “He’s pretty cute,” Ember said. “Think he’s got a girlfriend? Ow!” She yelped, her hand flying to her head. “Who’s throwing things?”

  “I think your ghost is a poltergeist,” said Angel. “A jealous one, at that.”