Keeper(73)

We’re not sure, but Ty has a bad feeling. We need to go.

Roger that. As soon as I get down.

I sighed and shoved the phone back into my pocket.

Ty was standing stiffly at my side, his eyes scanning the crowd, looking for any signs of trouble.

I had no idea what to look for, but I scanned the crowd too. Adrenaline was pumping through me to the rhythm of my pounding heart. Every sound made me jump, and the bright lights of the carnival suddenly felt too warm. Shivers were racing up and down my back, and there was something hanging in the air that made my stomach churn with nausea.

“Ty,” I said, my voice strained, “you’re right. Something’s wrong.” I sucked in a shallow breath. “I can feel it.”

The golden rings around his eyes were growing brighter. He pulled me closer to his side, his arm a welcome and protective weight around me. “We really need to get out of here.”

“I know,” I whispered, watching as Maggie’s pod moved inch by inch toward the ground. The operator seemed to be giving each individual pod a turn to stop at the very top. I chewed on my bottom lip, my fingers tapping an impatient rhythm at my side.

There were only three pods left in front of Maggie’s when the screaming started.

The air erupted with horrified wails and shrieks of terror. I twisted my head back and forth but couldn’t locate the source of the cries. The people around me had grown eerily quiet as the screams floated through the air. Then I saw it.

I stood frozen, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. There was a strange orange glow illuminating the sky. The amber hue seemed to glow against the contrast of the dark night, but the feeling in my gut told me this was no carnival trick. This was deadly.

Ty stood beside me, his eyes too fixated on the sky.

“Ty, what is—” I broke off. The realization came crashing down. “Oh my God. It’s fire. The corn maze is on fire!”

As if my words had broken some kind of spell, the crowd around us erupted in panic and began running toward the exits. Carnival workers and volunteers were yelling at the crowd to remain calm, that everything was under control, but the air was already thick with smoke, and a wave of heat seemed to blanket the grounds. The corn maze bordered the fairgrounds on two sides, and with each passing minute, the screams grew louder, the thick orange haze growing brighter.

I wasn’t sure what compelled me, but I pushed through the crowd and ran toward the main entrance of the corn maze. As the blazing field came into view, I skidded to a stop and assessed the scene. About five feet away from the entrance to the corn maze, three carnival workers with fire extinguishers were trying to put out a large blaze that appeared to be one of the kettle corn vendor carts. Though the cart fire looked frightening, it was nothing compared with the flames that rose up behind it in the midst of the dry cornfield.

Ty stood wordlessly at my side, the bright flames dancing in the reflection of his eyes.

“The wind must have carried the embers!” I shouted over the noise, indicating the cart. “The cornstalks are so dry they burn like paper.”

A small contingent of policemen were trying to organize a rescue plan for those trapped inside the maze, and a tall carnival official barked into a walkie-talkie. People were running in all directions as the tall orange flames flickered and danced along the edge of the field, engulfing everything in their path. Black smoke billowed out behind the flames, and the air was filled with the roar of flames and burning cornstalks.

With the cart fire finally out, the carnival workers ran over and tried to extinguish the blaze with the fire extinguishers, but their efforts, however admirable, were no match for the appetite of the all-consuming fire.

Sirens sounded in the distance, but as the flames continued to spread, it became clear that in a matter of minutes there would be nothing left of the maze but ash and smoke.

“Lainey.” Ty’s gruff voice was low in my ear. “I don’t think it was the kettle corn cart.” He nodded at the burning stalks. “Look at the flames. Even with the dry conditions, it’s moving too fast.”

I stared at the fire. Nearly the entire corn maze had been consumed by the flames in a matter of seconds. Ty was right; even with the dried-out stalks, there was no way it could’ve burned that fast. It wasn’t possible . . . No, it had to be magical.

“Oh my God,” I said, feeling my knees start to weaken. Ty gripped me under the elbow. “Someone’s using magic, aren’t they?”

The hard look on his face said it all. My knees weakened again. “But why?”

“It must be the Scavengers. Only they would resort to something like this. They must be trying to draw out magic-

wielders—only someone with a lot of power could stop the fire.”

“Well, then, we have to do something,” I shouted over the noise. “There are people trapped in there!” I held up my hands, the green lightning already crackling between my fingertips.

“You can’t!” Ty shoved my hands back down at my sides. “It’s too dangerous. We need to get you out of here, now!”

“We can’t just let them die!” I screamed at him.

He stared at me, his face a mixture of emotions. “We don’t have a choice. If the Scavengers find you—”

“There’s always a choice.” I gripped his arm, my fingers digging into his skin. “You taught me that.”