Her mentor's disdain for those clothes was clear and as soon as she’d been able to wear something different, she had. In fact, she’d gone to the other extreme.
Where the nuns had forced her to wear shapeless things, now everything was fitted, showing off her shape. The nuns liked long, frumpy skirts, so Amanda wore jeans, and as an extra “feck you” she usually liked them to be ripped or distressed. Where the nuns made Amanda wear what she often called “orthopaedic shoes” with neatly tied laces, she preferred trainers and didn’t worry about the laces.
If Amanda did wear skirts, they were also something the nuns of her childhood would have seen as scandalous. They were nearly always short, well above the knee, and paired with spiked heels that looked like torture instruments to Liz.
To some extent, Liz envied Amanda’s carefree attitude. The way she seemed to breeze through life and never let things get to her was something of an inspiration to Liz. So when Lucian’s men had taken her to Columbia earlier this year, Liz had thought about Amanda and tried to imagine how she’d react. She’d been determined to be strong. She wouldn’t allow them to get to her the way the Nomads and Inquisitors had in London and refused to let them win.
She’d been scared, terrified even, but she knew that Amanda would come. Liz felt that she’d come out of that ordeal a good deal stronger, and from that point on, she knuckled down with her Magical and martial arts studies. She wanted to be strong. She wanted to be able to defend herself and not to have to rely on the strength of others. It had almost been embarrassing being the damsel in distress in Columbia. Even in the fight at the Pit Club with Lucian’s gang, she’d only barely escaped with her life.
Over the past six months she’d worked hard, training with Amanda, Xain, and Orion. She’d even progressed enough in her Magic to be officially classed as an Adept. Amanda seemed impressed with her progress and agreed that Liz’s experiments with Magic with her sister had probably helped and maybe even had kick-started her learning.
“To be sure. The other day, in fact,” Amanda answered.
“Jesus, I’ve been so busy that I didn’t even notice they’d gone. Do you know where?”
“To be sure. They picked out an apartment close to the Dark Side Night Club. A nice place from what I saw.”
“You saw it?” Liz asked.
“I did. I helped them settle in. I wanted to be sure they were okay, so I did.”
“So, they’re not heading back to Los Angeles?”
“They’d rather not, I think. They seem awfully spooked by the attack. We talked about it again and they asked if I would go to L.A. and look into it for them.”
“And will you?” Liz asked.
“Yeah, I think so. I’m curious about what happened,” Amanda mused.
“And you know what that did to the cat.”
Amanda smiled. “Hasn’t stopped me before.”
Liz raised her eyebrows briefly. “So, what are you waiting for?”
“They contacted Victoria, on my suggestion so they did, and they’re waiting to see if the Liberty’s Children will do anything.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll do a good job in L.A. for them,” Liz answered.
“Heh. Yeah, I doubt they’ll do anything, either. You never know, though.”
“Will Toni and Tabitha go with you to L.A.?”
“I’d prefer it if they did. I’ve never been there and wouldn’t have any idea where to start. I could use their guidance.”
“Hmmm,” Liz mused. Her mentor’s good nature was once again getting her into possible trouble. In Liz’s opinion, as much as she admired Amanda’s willingness to help others, sometimes she needed to learn to say no. Her escapade in Ireland six months ago meant that she’d been out of the country when Liz had been kidnapped by Lucian’s men. Would things have been different if Amanda had been home when that happened?
Probably not. What difference do a few blocks, as opposed to a few thousand miles, make to a Magus?
So, it seemed that Toni, Tabitha, and their celebrity friend, Melissa, had left them and headed out into the world once more. She wished them well. They had been friendly and the perfect guests while they’d been there.
“What?” Amanda asked, no doubt seeing the consternation on Liz’s face.
“Oh, nothing, it’s just you’re too kind sometimes, Mandy. You need to learn when to say no.”
Amanda sighed. “Maybe. But these girls have been let down by the system. If Victoria is mired in politics again and can’t do anything, then it falls to us to see that justice is done.”
“That’s admirable, but it sounds like a dangerous situation out there,” Liz replied.
“What’s dangerous?” said Yoh as he and Stella walked into the bar.
“Amanda is thinking of heading to L.A. to look into the Nomads who attacked Toni and Tabitha’s coven.”
“Bold move, Amanda-san. You want to kick the hornets’ nest again?”
“I’ll just be having a look round, that’s all. I’m not heading over there looking for a fight. I want to help, sure, but I’m not planning on hunting the Nomads down. At least, not right away.”
“Your crusade is an honourable one, Amanda-san.”
“What do you think, Stella?” Liz asked.
Stella looked up from tidying a few things behind the bar. Liz had taken a liking to Stella since working for her. She’d thought Stella might be something of a jobsworth at first, but she’d mistook pride in her work for being a bitch, and felt bad that she’d misjudged her. She might be a Magus, but she seemed content to stay out of the politics and manoeuvring that had been going on in this city recently, preferring to stay focused on her job. Liz could sympathise. She could see Amanda getting drawn into it more and more each day. Hob-knobbing with the Council and now, potentially interfering with an issue that should really be handled by the American Arcadians did not bode well for her mentor.
“I honestly couldn’t say. I don’t think I know enough about the situation, really.”
“Some Magi from L.A. want Amanda to head over there and look into the Nomads who attacked and killed their coven mates,” Liz explained.
“Well, I’m not sure I could do it, but sure, if you can help?”
“Looks like I’m outnumbered,” Liz said.
“Not at all, I value your opinion,” Amanda reassured her. “I’ll bear it in mind.”
Screeching tyres from several cars sounded outside in the darkened street as headlights from at least three black 4x4s lit up the inside of The Jade Palace.
Liz had barely registered the noise before Amanda shouted, “Duck!” She body-slammed Liz off the stool and onto the floor as high calibre Essentia-charged bullets slammed into the building. Three huge machine guns, mounted inside the front passenger seat space in each car, fired with a deafening sound, releasing streams of metallic death into the restaurant.
Liz landed on her back with Amanda on top of her, the wind knocked out of her lungs as furniture and fittings exploded around them.
“Aaagh,” Liz moaned in pain.
“Feck me,” Amanda said on top of her. “It’ll be grenades next, and then they’ll come in. Get your Aegis up and get ready.”
“Right,” Liz said through gritted teeth as Amanda rolled off her. Liz could feel Amanda’s Magic grow. The local Essentia flooded into her mentor as she fuelled her Aegis and prepared to fight.
Liz called on the same energy, strengthened her Aegis as the machine guns emptied their magazines into the building. To her right, Amanda sat up in a crouch, the last few bullets ricocheting off her shield with a whine and slamming into the walls.
Liz looked to her left, past the end of the bar where she’d been sitting and saw Yoh and Stella also on the floor. Stella was also powering up her Magic and getting ready for the fight which was sure to come.
Yoh looked furious, but continued to hug the floor as he waited for the guns to stop firing.
Just as it ended, several canisters and tennis ball-sized o
bjects sailed into the room through the smashed windows.
“Cover your eyes,” Amanda called to them and protected her own as the grenades exploded. Two or three burst open, filling the room with thick choking smoke. A couple more were flashbangs, exploding with a powerful blinding phosphorous flash meant to blind and disorientate the enemy. The rest just blew up, sending deadly shrapnel through the room.
Liz stayed down for these few seconds of chaos, her Shields doing their job and protecting her from harm.
“They’re coming,” Amanda warned, and disappeared into the hazy smoke. Liz caught some quick shadowy movement from Amanda as she took out the first enemy she happened across.
Liz still didn’t know who was attacking them, not for sure, anyway. She suspected it might be the Inquisition. Maybe one of the Magi the Inquisitors had tortured and killed recently had divulged the location of the Magi meeting place at The Jade Palace during their interrogation.
Liz got up and backed away from the entrance, feeling shocked and more than a little disorientated. She’d been on a couple of missions with Xain and Orion, but this was another level entirely.
The smoke grenades had done their job well, and Liz couldn’t see more than a few feet in any direction, but she could quite clearly hear the sounds of fighting and the occasional burst of gunfire from within the mist.
She flinched with each gunshot, afraid she would be hit by stray bullets at any moment. She edged around the back of the room, not really sure where she was going until she saw the shadows in the haze of two soldiers closing in on her. She turned to look the other way, the direction she’d come from, but her escape route had been blocked by a third figure.
She’d have to fight her way out of this one. She quickly pulled off her business jacket and reached down to the side of her pencil skirt. Pulling on either side of the seam, she tore it open, exposing her leg and giving her more freedom of movement.
She ran towards the two in front of her, bounded onto a chair, then a tabletop, before leaping into battle.
Both figures were dressed from head to toe in black tactical gear with body armour, helmets, gas masks, and holsters holding weapons.
Leaping into the area between them, she kicked out in mid-jump. Ripping her skirt further as she sent a foot each way, she smashed their guns out of their hands as Essentia slammed into their bodies.
As she landed, both men recovered quickly and they dropped into a fighting stance. Liz could be just as quick, though, maybe quicker and delivered a spinning kick to the man on her left. The attacker spun away and stumbled, allowing Liz to concentrate on the other one.
Her movements fluid, she followed her momentum and delivered an Essentia-laced punch to the second figure. It hurt him, but it didn’t stop him from throwing punches of his own. A couple of them connected, but they didn’t register much through her Aegis. She caught the next one and quickly twisted him forward and off-balance. She bent the man forward presenting the handle of the sword he wore strapped to his back to her. She grabbed it with her right hand and drew it out of its scabbard.
Sensing the second man was once again approaching her, she spun as she drew the sword. Swinging it in a wide arc, it clanged against the blade of the second man’s sword.
He stepped back. She twisted the weapon in her hand and brought it low, under, and up into the first man’s belly. Continuing to turn, she spun around, withdrawing the sword from his abdomen and forcing it up as she did so.
As she turned to face the second man, she saw the thin line of blood smudged upon her blade.
She didn’t have time to think about it as the other man charged in. They exchanged blows, their swords ringing out as they clashed.
Seeing movement from the corner of her eye, she turned to move around her opponent and put him between her and this new threat. The third man raised his gun and fired.
Liz ducked. The bullets slammed into the back of the man she fought, into his Kevlar vest. The force of the gunfire threw him forward with a shout of pain. Liz dodged around him and launched herself at the third man swinging her sword into the man’s gun.
It connected perfectly and sent his weapon tumbling from his grasp. Liz twisted and brought her sword around to slash at him again. He caught it in his gloved hand and struck her across the face with the other.
His gloves discharged Essentia into her Aegis and Liz staggered back from the attack, dropping the sword.
Spitting blood on the floor as it filled her mouth, Liz said, “Ah, Jesus Christ.”
The man grabbed her by the throat with one hand and slammed her against the rear wall. Pain flooded her mind as her vision swam. She grabbed his wrist and clawed at the hand that gripped her neck.
“Blasphemy! You will die tonight, Witch,” he spat as she heard him draw his sidearm.
A single gunshot rang out to Liz’s left. Blood splattered across her face as a bullet slammed into his head. He went limp. Letting go of Liz’s neck, he dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Liz looked left and saw Stella there with a gun pointed at where the man had been.
“Why you…” said the Inquisitor who’d been shot in the back, looking at his colleague. He tried to reach for his gun as he got to his feet.
“Try it,” Stella warned him, aiming her gun at him.
The man looked around. The smoke had thinned and it was painfully clear that the Inquisitors had lost. Yoh stood in the middle of a pile of bodies, blood soaking the huge claws on his hands. Amanda stood in the middle of the room, her Magic holding an Inquisitor up off the floor by the neck.
The last of the Inquisitors to attack Liz backed off, and along with a couple of other survivors, moved gingerly out of the building.
Liz rubbed her neck and turned to Stella. “Thank you. You were just in time.”
“Of course,” she replied.
“Who’s that? Liz asked, indicating the man Amanda held up with her Magic.
“No idea,” Stella answered.
Liz approached her mentor through the debris, noticing an illusion had been cast over the front of the building to hide the attack from the public.
“You leave this city today, and if Mary has a problem with me, you tell her to come here herself rather than send more feckin’ idiots like you. Got it?” Amanda said.
The man barely managed to nod, but it was clear he agreed.
Her Magic let him go and he dropped to the floor. He started to get up as Amanda looked down at him.
“And take your dead and wounded with you,” she ordered him.
The man nodded and hobbled out of the room towards the waiting cars. Liz stood with Stella and they watched in silence as the survivors helped remove the bodies from the building under Amanda’s watchful eye.
No police came, no one saw the events that night, and within moments of the Inquisition leaving, between them all they had cleared up the mess, fixed the furniture and décor, and made the place look as good as new with their Magic.
Liz helped, but as they finished off, she had to leave the others to it. Wandering out into the Japanese rock garden in the centre of the building, she felt she needed some time alone.
She sat on one of the small stone benches and looked at the ground. She felt exhausted and mentally drained from the fight.
Amanda had been right, the Inquisition was back, and they didn’t seem to like Amanda or her coven.
Liz looked at her hands and turned them palms up. She realised they were shaking a bit. Maybe the adrenalin in her system caused it, but looking at her dirty, battered hands she couldn’t help but think back to the events surrounding the deaths of her friends and family. Both the Nomads and the Inquisition were to blame, but Liz felt the Inquisition were most at fault. The Nomads were unapologetic in their approach. They were evil incarnate and made no bones about it. The Inquisition, however, should really be the good guys. The way Vito had been friendly at first had put them off their guard, and then when Mary killed Stephen and her sister right th
ere in front of her, it just made her feel incredibly angry.
She knew now that she hated these Inquisitors just as much, if not more than the Nomads and she felt a burning need to make them pay. Mary Damask, especially.
-The Dark Side of the Moon Nightclub, New York.
Tabitha embraced Toni and gave her a lingering kiss on the lips.
“We’ve bought it. I can’t believe it. We’re the owners of a night club!” exclaimed Tabitha.
“I’m so glad you’re happy. I know you’ve been thinking of getting a club for a long time.”
“Looks like we’re staying in New York, then,” Tabitha said.
“Looks that way. I hope Melissa doesn’t mind.”
“She’ll be fine. I think she’ll fall in love with this place as much as we have.”
“Toni and Tabby’s Dark Side of the Moon Nightclub. It’s got a good ring to it.”
“Tabby and Toni’s, I think you’ll find,” Tabitha said, teasing her girlfriend.
The sudden whip-crack of air and the powerful Magical presence brought Tabitha up short as she looked to see who had Ported into the room while she brought her Aegis up to strength in an automatic reaction. Toni had a similar reaction as they looked at the man standing nearby.
“Who are you?” Tabitha asked.
“My name’s Trevelyan, and I’m a member of the Magi Council, much like your coven mate, Jonas was before he passed.”
“Jonas was a member of the Council?” Tabitha said incredulously.
“He never mentioned it,” Toni backed her up.
“Hmmm, he did like to keep things quiet. Can you tell me what happened to him?” Trevelyan asked.
Both girls looked at each other. The memories of their friends’ deaths were still raw.
Holy Plans
The Vatican
Mary strode down the corridor, walking with purpose, and approached a door partway down. She had someone she wanted to see and she despised waiting. The fact that Marco had returned to the Vatican and had come here, rather than straight to see her, annoyed her enough that she felt he needed to be reminded about how things worked.
Magi Legend Page 49