by SA Magnusson
If nothing else, this time I was determined not to leave Brad alone after he came around.
“Let’s go see what you think you need to show me.”
9
Once out on the street, Matt turned down the alley near us, and waited for me. There wasn’t any movement at this time of night, and the sweat I had recently washed off reappeared immediately the moment we stepped out into the humidity. It was awful. How had I managed all day in the ER with this heat?
“All right. You have me out here. Now what?”
“Hold on,” he said, palming a small coin, and looking at me. It was a spell, and I wasn’t sure what he intended to do with it, though I suspected; given the power he was able to use through them, I had little doubt he would trigger something that would transport us.
He seized my hand. I was tempted to jerk my hand away from him, but figured that if nothing else, I would play this out and see where he was going to take me. The transport spell wrapped around us quickly, and as it did, I felt as if I was stretched out, as if everything in my being was drawn into a long line, before even that snapped back into place.
When we stepped out of the transport spell, I let out a heavy breath. Looking around, I tried to determine what I could about where we were, but there wasn’t anything here. It was dark. No lights were around, and the sudden change in lighting made it difficult for my eyes to adjust. For the first time since Matt had arrived, a brief surge of fear washed over me. Had he brought me somewhere on behalf of John Adams?
Maybe I should have been smarter about my willingness to go with Matt, especially after I had seen the kind of things he would do. He was far too eager to use his abilities against me, and I had seen he was equally willing to use me for his own purposes.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Just a place I have.”
“Why is it dark?”
“Because you need to let your eyes adjust. Don’t worry, Dr. Stone, I don’t intend to do anything to harm you.”
“I think I would be more likely to believe that if you hadn’t already assaulted me as you have.”
“I haven’t assaulted you. I might have used you—"
“Is that supposed to be better?”
“Not necessarily better, but I’m trying to say I haven’t been the one to assault you.”
“And yet, I’ve been assaulted because of the things you led me into.”
“Just come with me.”
I could barely make him out and saw him as little more than shadows against the darkness, but was able to follow him. The longer he went, the easier it became to follow.
I wasn’t able to determine anything from him, other than the fact he guided me along what appeared to be a hallway. Every so often, I felt a flash of magic, the sense of it burning along my wrist from the bracelet. The first time I felt it, I worried it came from someone else other than Matt, as if he wasn’t alone here. Without knowing where he’d brought me, I wasn’t sure whether to trust him. The second time I felt the flash of cold, I thought it came from Matt, but that didn’t seem to be the case, either. Now I wondered if it came from something else around us. Could he be triggering spells as we went?
“What am I detecting?” I whispered. It didn’t seem the place or setting for me to talk loudly, and though it might be foolish for me to whisper, I still felt as if I needed to.
“What you’re detecting is a series of protections I have set up.”
“Why am I feeling them flash?”
I had a sense Matt turned toward me. “You know, we haven’t talked about how you are able to detect spells as easily as you are.”
“Who said it was easy?”
“You’re a hedge mage, Jen.”
“Jen now and not Dr. Stone?”
“I thought you wanted me to call you Jen.”
“I think it would be easier, but you’ve been reluctant to do so.”
“Anyway. What you are detecting is a series of protections I’ve placed. They are designed to be triggered by me, and if the spells were to detect anyone else, the effect would be unpleasant.”
“How unpleasant?”
Matt glanced over to me. I could make out the faint outline of his face. Was the light in here getting brighter or was it just that my eyes were adjusting to it? “Stinger unpleasant.”
I had seen the effect of that spell, and at least now I understood what it looked like, and though I didn’t love the fact I had been forced to use it, I couldn’t shake the feeling I had needed to do so.
“What about me?”
“You are with me, so you are protected against it. If you would try to come through here on your own, I have the spells targeted in such a way that you wouldn’t be able to do so very comfortably.”
A certain morbid curiosity to know just how painful it would be struck me, though I had little doubt Matt had set up his spells in such a way as to be violent and painful.
We reached the end of the hall. Matt stopped in front of the door, and he pulled something from his pocket— likely another spell—and this time, the surge of magic I detected came from him. It was distinct, and it burned up briefly along my wrist. I wondered if there might be a way for me to use the bracelet’s ability to detect spells, to come up with a way of using that same power? If I could use the bracelet to help me uncover the way that power was drawn, I might be able to re-create it.
Once inside, there was nothing in the room other than a chair. The operative sat upon the chair, and he looked up at us. A dark grin spread across his face.
“Are you sure he can’t get out?” I whispered.
“You took care of his spells, and I have him placed in a binding which prevents him from doing anything else.”
I approached slowly and saw his ankles were tied together with a thick zip tie, as were his wrists, now bound behind him. He made no effort to struggle, and I figured that should be worrisome to us. Shouldn’t he be at least a little bit concerned about the fact he found himself confined in this way? If it were me, I would be panicked, terrified, and I would do anything in my ability to try to get out.
Yet, I had no sense of magic drawn. Even Matt didn’t attempt to draw any power. Still, he had this operative confined somehow, though I wasn’t sure how.
“He went and got you?” the man asked with a sneer. “And here I thought he was far more capable than that.”
I glanced over to Matt. There was a slight tension in his shoulders, and he clenched his jaw.
The irritation shown when he had come to my condo began to make sense. If he had been dealing with this guy throughout the day, then it might be that he just didn’t have the patience for much else. Not that it made it any better, but it certainly made it more understandable.
“I suspect you want to know how to help your friends.”
My heart leaped, surging within my chest. “What did you do to them?”
Matt looked over at me. “What happened?” he whispered.
“The attack left a half dozen people incapacitated.”
“Only a half dozen? A shame. I thought I had been more effective than that. Perhaps the next attack will be different.” He grinned, and I took a step toward him, but Matt grabbed my wrist, shaking his head.
“That’s what he wants,” Matt said.
“Why?”
“Because little Matty here has placed a circle around me. Has he taught you about how to break them?” The operative glanced from Matt to me. “Or maybe he’s been too busy trying to get down your pants. Not that I blame him. Most of the time, the organization keeps us moving so we don’t have a chance to get to know women like you. I imagine Matty has taken the time to really get to know you.”
I shook my head. He was captured, and was trying to get a rise out of us. Not only that, but I thought he felt as if he needed to do so in order to have a chance to break free.
“What does the circle do?”
“It prevents him from using any spells of his own.”
“Yo
u can do that?”
“With the right additional spell.”
I had to wonder what additional spell he had used. Would that be something he had let me access? Probably not. If it were, he would have told me how to do it, and he hadn’t shared anything about any other spells. There were only the ones he had written down on the card stock, nothing more.
“Why did you want me here?”
“I didn’t realize he had left people injured at the hospital. If you want, I can go and see if there’s any way of countering the spell used on them.”
“Do you think you know enough to do that?” It was something of an insulting question, and I could tell from the way Matt stiffened suddenly that it irritated him I would even ask. It was not because I had more knowledge than him, or because I thought I would be able to use power more effectively than him, but I did have experience in the ER that he had yet to go through. In that regard, Matt was still a resident whereas I was now an attending.
“I know enough,” he said curtly.
The operative laughed. “Uh oh. Do we have a lovers’ quarrel?”
I leaned toward him, careful not to disrupt any artificial barrier which might have been set up and glared at him. “Careful, or I will use another Stinger on you.”
The smile faltered.
“Yeah. I have some spells.
“That you barely know how to use. And yet, you’re playing at things you should not." He shifted his attention, focusing on Matt. "You should warn her that if she keeps at this, she's going to find herself caught up in something more than she can manage."
"I think she can manage more than you know," I said.
"Oh?" He leaned forward, his grin returning. “Now I understand why Matty likes you. He always did have a soft spot for women with a little attitude. Too bad this one won’t be alive for much longer.” He leaned back, closing his eyes.
“You know him?”
Matt nodded. “I know him. He is one of the Shara.”
“What are the Shara?”
“They are our equivalent to the Navy SEALs and Army Rangers.”
I turned my attention back to the guy, looking at him with a renewed interest. “So, like you, only on steroids?”
“Everything about me is all natural.”
“Easy there, Mr. Macho. It wasn’t an insult.”
“I’m sorry. I get a little touchy.”
“Don’t blame Matty,” the Shara operative said. “He never did like not being asked to come and play.”
I glanced over to Matt. “You wanted to join them?”
“Most who work within the organization would like to take the more complicated jobs. Some look to get into leadership, but that was never my interest.”
“And you wanted to be a part of the Shara.”
Matt nodded. Was that a look of disappointment in his eyes?
“And let me guess: John Adams was the one who led the Shara.”
“Among other things,” he said.
The operative chuckled. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into,” he said. “You will learn, though.”
“Is this what you are concerned about?” I asked Matt.
“Something like that,” he said. “When I realized John had returned to Minneapolis, I knew I had to help you. This is exactly what he would do.”
“What about the rest of the organization?”
“The rest are doing what they can to ensure we clean up any other infiltrations, but…”
“You don’t know how deep it goes.”
“We don’t, and worse than that, with John having such a hand in the Shara, it is both deeper and more dangerous than we had realized.”
None of this was the reason Matt had wanted me to come. There was something more than just this. Whatever reason he had for wanting me to join him was something he had yet to reveal. All of this he could have just told me, and if he had, then I would have still understood the severity of the threat.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Look at him,” Matt said.
“I am looking at him.”
He shook his head. “No. Really look at him. Do you see anything?”
I shook my head. “What am I supposed to see?”
He was shirtless, and bound as he was, his muscles still rippled with every movement. He had the same physique everyone I’d met within the organization possessed, a powerful muscularity which was, as Matt had said, all natural. Combined with their magical prowess, I had found it incredibly terrifying, but at the same time, there was something equally attractive about it.
I started making a circle around the operative, looking at him, this time, carefully looking, studying him the way Matt seemed to want me to. There had to be something about him he wanted me to uncover, but what was it?
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to show me,” I said softly.
“Keep looking,” Matt said.
From a distance, it was difficult for me to tell anything. Maybe it wasn’t anything I could see on him. What if there was something magical Matt had wanted me to detect? Would there be any way for me to do so?
I summoned power, drawing it through me, pulling upon it faster than I had most of the day. As I did, I sent that connection through the bracelet.
Using that, I tried to see if there was anything I needed to do. It was more than just finding something out about him. This was about trying to get a better understanding of what magical influence he might have.
As I pushed, sending power through the bracelet, I didn’t come up with anything. Was that what Matt wanted me to uncover? Was he trying to will me to realize that whatever it was about this guy, I wasn’t going to be able to detect it?
I continued to push power out from me, letting it creep outward, sending more and more energy through me. There had to be something here, a way to uncover what it was that had happened. Why was Matt so eager to show me this? It wasn’t magic, so there had to be something else. Had I missed something with him?
I suspected I had, and that was why he was trying to make a point of showing me. I had to trigger the spells. That was what he wanted from me.But if I did, was there something I would accidentally unleash? I didn’t want to give this operative a chance to break free, and at the same time, didn’t know if I had enough control over triggering that if something were to go wrong, I could withdraw it.
I didn’t feel like I could do anything else.
Pushing outward, there was resistance. I flowed beyond the power he held, and with that, I felt the ongoing resistance coming back. If I could push beyond it, if I could find a way to overpower it, I thought it could be what Matt wanted. As I pushed, drawing more and more power, resorting to using the necklace Barden had given me, I had a strange thought occurred. Why hadn’t Matt done this himself?
Unless… it wasn’t possible for Matt? I couldn’t think like that. I doubted he was trying to use me again. But then, he had brought me here, and he had knocked out Roberts before doing so, and all of which was far too familiar. Drawing more power, I overwhelmed the resistance. With a flash, I felt the spell’s release.
Where had it come from? It was within the barrier Matt held, but I was unable to determine anything more about it. I turned my attention to Matt.
“Now I did what you wanted, can you tell me why?”
“Not here.”
He started to turn, before pausing and looking back at the Shara operative. “You’ve lost your tracker, now. Even if I were to release the binding, they wouldn’t be able to find you. You are mine.”
The man glared at Matt, but Matt motioned toward the door, encouraging me to follow him. Once outside, he raised a coin, and lights glowed brightly.
“Okay. What’s that all about?”
“I’m sorry. I needed you to trigger his tracking spell.”
“His tracking spell?”
“It allows John—or whoever his handler is—to know where he is. I suspect John is the handler for all of the Shara, tho
ugh I’m not able to make that claim with any real certainty. I’ve been trying to determine whether that’s the case or not, but he hasn’t been all that forthright.”
“Let’s assume John is the handler for the Shara. What does that mean? Why does it matter?”
“What it means is we might be in more trouble than we realized.”
“This is about more than just John and finding people who are loyal to him.”
Matt nodded. “Unfortunately.”
“And the attack on the hospital?”
“I’ve been trying to figure that out. He claims it was because of what you did to John, but…”
“You don’t think so.”
“I don’t. If that’s all it was about, there would be an easier way to attack. He didn’t need to do it at the hospital where it would draw attention.”
I should have thought of the same thing, and yet, I had considered the possibility there was more taking place than only revenge on me. “If it’s about more than just me, then what is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not very helpful.”
“I realize that. Yet, it is what it is. The fact of the matter is that John has returned to Minneapolis, one of his operatives has come after you, and unfortunately, we don’t know enough about why.”
“And you want me to stay by you so you can help figure it out.”
“It wouldn’t be the worst idea for you, but that’s not what I’m getting at.”
“Then what are you getting at?”
“I think you need to be prepared that there’s something at the hospital he might be after.”
“The hospital?”
Matt nodded. “Either that, or he really does just want you. The last time he revealed his intentions, it was all about power. He wanted the power of the vampire elders, and he wanted to be able to turn other vampires. I doubt he would make another play at that so soon, though I can’t be certain he wouldn’t. Yet, what I’m concerned about is what other sorts of power he might be after.”
“Considering the use of spells he has, I have a hard time thinking it would matter.”
“You’d be surprised. He has a significant facility with the spells, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t need more.”