Of Thorns and Lightning

  of thorns and lightning

  Fiona Price

  the ascendants

  book one

  For Conor

  For the gift of your friendship, creativity and endless contributions to this work since 2017.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  The Assembly

  The Subway Station

  Caught Red Handed

  The Youngblood Project

  The Compound

  Misconnections

  The Vision

  Oh Captain, My Captain

  Flesh, Blood and Family

  Seeing Double

  What’s Gonna Work? Teamwork!

  Overexposure

  Initiation Night

  Harlem Hijinks

  Bronx Blues

  A Quick Intergalactic Road Trip

  The Club, After Maize

  A New Ruler is Born

  We’re All in This Together

  School Ties

  A Friendly Game

  Mission Possible, Though Terrifying

  Breakfast at Aunt Malorie’s

  Bad at Love

  Bowties and Bad Decisions

  City Slicker

  Not Lovers, Just Strangers

  A Call to Arms

  Battle Royale

  Prologue

  ♦️

  Every kind of pain she had felt over the course of her entire lifetime didn't nearly add up to what she was feeling in those excruciating moments she spent curled up on the cold and cracked cement.

  Her long blonde hair was grouped in clumps of dried blood from a wound she couldn't feel and felt everything of at the same time.

  Every breath felt like knives piercing her lungs, her rib cage felt like it was caving in and crushing her and exploding outward with an immense amount of force when she breathed in and out.

  Her whole body was weak and cold and shaking. If this is what it felt like to die, she could only hope it would be over quickly.

  Each approaching footstep landed on the ground with a heavy impact, radiating through the ground and making her want to scream in pain, but she couldn't. She had nothing left in her for her to defend herself. She let the pain consume her and kept her eyes squeezed shut in an attempt to make it go away faster or hurt any less, to no avail.

  She didn't see who approached her, but she knew exactly who it was. Despite her knowledge, she still flinched at his touch, afraid it would only hurt her more. He was gentle and had a steady and calming hand. He couldn't take her pain away, he knew it, but if she was going to die, she wouldn't have been left behind to die alone. She would die in his arms. Un-abandoned.

  William Townsend knelt to the ground. They were the only two left after the fight. Every other team member had already left for the helicopter and instructed William to leave her behind, not to worry about her and get on the chopper. He wasn't leaving without her.

  The raging fire wasn't dying around them. Smoke was entering their lungs at alarming rate and William didn't know the extent of her injuries or how much time he had to save her.

  William looked down at her and tried to protect her from the flames with his body.

  He didn't have a plan for the first time in his life. He didn't know what he could do or should do to the broken God lying on the ground. The Gods were always there for him when he was injured after a battle. Never before had they left a member in the field.

  This was different.

  She was dying.

  All William had were his words, but even those didn't resonate over her cries of pain.

  He said all he could say in terms of a remedy.

  "Let's go home, Maize."

  The Assembly

  ♦️

  The rain pounded the mirrored, one-way windows of the Tower of the Gods and the sound of Artemis’s high heels echoed down the empty hallway off the marble floor. Her strides were quick as she approached the throne room where the rest of the Assembly was waiting in anticipation to hear Artemis’s urgent proclamation. As Artemis passed the heavy doors that slammed behind her, the room fell silent as she stood by her throne that faced the others. The gods looked at her with undivided attention.

  Before her sat the Greeks, Hecate, goddess of magic and witchcraft, Arachne, the goddess of the spiders and of weaving, Dike, the goddess of justice, moral order and judgement, and Menoetius, the Greek god of violent anger and rash action. On their left was Thor, the Norse god of thunder and Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt. To the right was Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing and science, and Arawn, the Celtic god of the dead, revenge, war and terror. Together, they were the Assembly of the Gods and have spent millenia fighting the world's evils, including their omnipotent enemy, The Order of the Black Rose.

  Artemis began; her audience sat with bated breath. Though they were all gods of equal standing, Artemis was fierce, intelligent and independent. There was a reason she was the head of the Assembly and they wouldn’t dare disrespect her.

  “As you all know, William Townsend of New York has been working with us on what he calls the Youngblood Project." Artemis began, and the tension in the room rose.

  "He has connections to some of our former liaisons, and their children have inherited some worthy and godly blood. We must remember that these are human mortals. I know this council has discussed the implications of this project at length, but William has moved ahead with his plans for the project since some of the mortal children are showing signs of their abilities previously unbeknownst to them. It’s time for us to go back down to the mortal world and meet the young blood, and hope to Zeus and all the titans that he knows what he’s doing. After all, the fates of all the gods depends on it.”

  With that, Artemis adjourned the Assembly and the gods and goddesses prepared to head back down to the mortal world. They had spent their days in the Gods Tower in Manhattan, having no reason to leave. It had been many moons since they had made an appearance outside the tower, and their looks were due for an update.

  Shedding their immortal facade, Dike thought it was high time for a change and took the form of a tall, muscled blonde man with soft blue eyes and a chiseled chin. Arawn returned to his form as a man with a dark, scruffy beard and thick shoulder length black hair, adorned with his leather jacket and biker boots. The other gods and goddesses kept most of their form but changed their clothes, having to consult Artemis before they did.

  “Artemis, what year is it down there? I think the last time I went out it was 1945. How has style changed?” The remaining gods wondered.

  “If any of you bothered to look at the Pinterest board I send you all in the weekly blast email, you’d know!” Artemis answered. “Now hurry up, we can’t be late to meet our successors.”

  On Artemis’s final statement, they all squished into the elevator that would take them down from the top of the tower to the streets of Manhattan. Over the millennia, they had kept a low profile. They were still worshipped by some mortals, but the gods rarely made an appearance and were not able to be identified in a crowd, unless they wanted to be. The gods and goddesses, some more reluctant than others, got into their fancy sports cars or on to their motorcycles and headed in the direction of William Townsend to meet the teenagers that would follow in their paths: Maize Grace Leto, Meaghan Vitale and Peter Lannigan.

  The Subway Station

  ♦️

  It was a slightly overcast Wednesday afternoon in Queens, New York, when Meaghan Vitale and Maize Grace Leto got on the subway after school to head into the heart of Queens to see their friend, Peter Lannigan.

  Their train wasn't usually busy at this time of day, and for that they were grateful. After stepping onto the platform, their train arrived and opened its doo
rs and they walked on. Meaghan let out a sigh of relief to finally take her heavy maroon backpack off her shoulders, then free to run her fingers through her hair and pull it up into a loose ponytail. Maize slid her own backpack off, placing it on the plastic bench seat next to her with her arm looped through one of the straps so it wouldn't go flying down the train at any foreseeable moment.

  "How much do you want to bet that when we get there, Peter's frustrated with a computer code?"

  "Everything. I doubt he'll look at us, he's so determined to program that damn software system of his to impress MIT. He doesn't even have to worry, he's getting scholarships thrown at him from every direction. I mean, we get obsessed over things sometimes, but not like Peter. We can't even take the kid in public, he just looks lost whenever he's away from his laptop."

  "That's going to be today's goal. We're taking him out of his apartment and we're going to go do something. I've had a bad week, were going to have fun, damn it!" Maize exclaimed with a laugh.

  The ride to the stop in Queens closest to Peter's house was over fairly fast, the train didn't make too many stops on their way. The girls grabbed their things and headed towards the doors, ready to step off the train and onto the platform. The walk to Peter's building was scenic and only a handful of blocks. They knew the route well; to them, Peter's house was always their safe space.

  When they reached the building, Peter's Aunt Malorie buzzed them through, and they climbed the stairs to his floor. In the stairwell, the interior was showing its age. The metal railings were losing their shine and had a thin layer of grime on them, and no one had bothered to paint them for years. The vinyl flooring was cracking at the edge of the stairs, slowly flaking away.

  When they reached Peter's floor they opened the heavy door with a small window near the side and stepped into the hallway. Maize pulled out her key ring and sorted through the attachments to find the key to his apartment in case the door wasn't already opened for them. It wasn't, and she heard voices coming from inside, one she didn't particularly recognize. They knocked on the door before unlocking it, opening it and stepping inside.

  Maize and Meaghan put their backpacks by the door, then placing the voices coming from the kitchen. For a few moments, they stayed in the living room, not wanting to intrude in their conversation. They had been heard and the voices began to move with feet accompanying them to the living room to greet the girls. Aunt Malorie was first, then Peter but he was talking to a middle-aged man whose face they had yet to see. He was dressed in an expensive suit and his watch glinted in the afternoon sun, the gold and diamonds reflecting against the walls as he moved. He had a clean haircut and a neat goatee, and a deep tenor voice with no lack of projection that resonated in the apartment.

  Maize looked on the table next to the door and saw the keys for a Lamborghini among the other humble keys. Meaghan saw it too, but she kept more of an eye on Maize who was slowly but actively reaching out to the bowl, her fingers creeping up towards the set of keys that could only belong to the man in the suit. Meaghan pushed her hand away with a loud slap that everyone heard, followed by a harsh whisper of a scold and a piercing look. Maize then shoving her hands in her pockets and keeping them there. Though, in the process of slapping, Maize managed to grab the keys and was holding them in her hand in her pocket, Meaghan unamused.

  "I'll give them back!" She muttered.

  "How?!"

  "Slip them in his pocket when he's not looking!"

  "Yeah, good luck with that."

  Just then, the conversation shifted to them. Aunt Malorie was the first to speak.

  "Hey, girls. Can I get you anything? I've got lemonade and egg salad."

  "Sounds good to me, thanks Aunt Malorie!" Maize answered enthusiastically. Meaghan agreed. Then, Peter and the man in the suit greeted them.

  "Hey, guys! Good to see you."

  "Yeah, yeah, same to you, who's this?" Maize asked, pointing to the guy who looked like a million bucks. He answered for himself with a flat out lie that they saw right through.

  "I'm Peter's Uncle William."

  "Yeah, one that was just leaving!" Peter butt in, slightly uncomfortable.

  "The hell you're not! Don't even try to play, I've known Peter my whole life, Mr. Townsend." Maize called him out.

  "MAIZE!" Meaghan exclaimed.

  "Oh, it's okay. Peter wanted to keep this on the down low, but we were discussing MIT and the Townsend Foundation scholarship. Your friends a cool guy, you know. But he's right, I was just leaving, though." He explained, then he looked confused.

  "Hey, Maize, right?"

  "That's me, Mr. Townsend."

  "Do I know you from anywhere? Are you involved with anything of mine?"

  "No, I guess I have one of those faces. This is the first time we've met, and it's been a pleasure."

  "Okay," he paused. "You just remind me completely of someone that I used to know really well." He mentioned, then seemingly shrugged it off but still was trying to place her. He headed towards the door in the meantime, and Maize took this chance to slip his keys in his pocket.

  "Has anyone seen my keys? I swear I put them down right here." He asked. Meaghan elbowed Maize hard in the ribs, causing her to cough.

  "Maybe they're in your pockets, sir." She suggested innocently. He surely found them there, but didn't know how they got there. He accepted it, though, and said goodbye before walking out the door and leaving. Peter laughed.

  "Maize, since when did you become a pickpocket? I saw what you did." Peter spoke.

  "God, I'm sorry I wanted to drive his car! He's got more than enough money to replace it, a Lambo is probably completely replaceable to him and the cost is chunk change!"

  "Doesn't mean you can steal his keys!" Both Meaghan and Peter agreed.

  "It's still weird he paid you a visit in person. He doesn't strike me as that type of guy. What does he call himself? The millionaire playboy philanthropist?"

  "That's it, but why can't he make a personal visit?"

  "Yeah, I'm sure he does those all the time. He's probably crazy busy! I don't know, guys."

  Peter knew why William Townsend had shown up at his house. William told him to keep it quiet since everything about the nature of the visits was confidential, so he did. So far, he was failing at lying about it; lying never felt natural to him. He couldn't hold his poker face and it just wasn't ever believable. Maize knew it too. She was skeptical.

  Then, to break the silence, Aunt Malorie brought them out their snacks to fuel up before they went out for the evening. They thanked her and she went to relax in her room, leaving the three alone.

  "What do you want to do tonight? I'm thinking about a movie. I need to drown my sorrows in popcorn and an oversized slushee. Thoughts?"

  "I've got homework, guys. AP Computer Science doesn't do itself, no matter how hard I've tried to write a program to do it."

  "Peter, it's Friday! Come on, we miss hanging out with you. Come back to us, let's have a little fun." Meaghan persuaded, poking Peter.

  "Fine, let’s go see a movie. I'll buy the ice cream afterwards." Peter agreed before they all headed out. It was almost as if he was in a trance for so long and it took extensive coaxing to set him free again. Like he needed permission to be himself again.

  The three of them sat out on the patio of the ice cream store and shared an enormous sundae. Maize and Meaghan decided that it was a good time to set an intervention for their friend.

  "Peter, are you sure you want to do this? Like, be a big-name programmer?" Maize asked, out of the blue. Peter needed a moment to think.

  "Yeah, I'm good at it and I like it, I've got my college plan set, why?"

  "It just seems to suck you in and tear you down. You say you like it, but I don't know if you actually like it. I don't want it to be the only thing you've ever tried and set your whole life based on it, never knowing what you truly love." Maize explained. Meaghan chimed in.

  "We're not asking you to change your plan or anything, Pet
er. We just want to make sure you're happy with what you're doing. This just seems to have changed you, you seem different and we're not sure if it's for the better."

  "Thanks for your concern, guys. I'm sorry I've been locked away and impersonal. I just have a lot going on I can't talk to you about." He answered vaguely, eating another spoonful of ice cream.

  "Is that your thing with William?" Maize asked. Peter dropped his spoon. "I just guessed that was the something."

  "Yeah. And if you think I'm different now, I'm not even going to be the same person soon. I don't want to worry you, it's not a bad change but I'm just worried about losing my two best friends."

  They both reached across the table and grabbed one of his hands with both of theirs, reassuring him.

  "Peter, I don't think you could ever lose us." Meaghan said caringly.

  "Yeah, dude. We're not going anywhere." Maize reaffirmed.