by SA Magnusson
Movement in the distance caught my attention. Crawling forward slowly, I readied the spell, prepared to unleash it.
But there was nothing. It had been my imagination. I was certain of that. Either someone had disappeared—something I suspected mages were capable of doing with the right spell—or they had gone off, moving away from me.
I approached the end of the line of cars slowly, and as I did, I tried to suppress the heavy hammering within my chest, my heart threatening to leap out of it. I could imagine someone here could hear my heart beating wildly, giving me away.
Magic surged, and it appeared to come from behind me. Spinning, I thrust up my hand, and the man standing in front of me continued to build power. Triggering the Paralytic, I focused on him, sending that spell toward him.
There was a moment of resistance, but I pushed, and it flooded through the coin, and into the man, causing him to go stiff and collapse. It worked.
I raced over, crouching down next to him, and searched through his pockets. If he was a hedge mage, he would have other coins I could harvest that would be valuable to me. As I sorted through him, I found a dozen, all within a pouch like the one Matt had given me. The symbols on it were different, and the style too, but I suspected the function was the same. It was meant to prevent me from triggering all their spells. I hadn’t even considered doing that. I had been so focused on reaching him and had been prepared for my own need to attack, I hadn’t even considered the possibility I could use a spell against him like that.
“What were you doing down here?” I whispered.
He remained motionless. He was breathing, and his eyes stared up at me.
“You can answer. I know this spell allows you to answer.”
“You won’t survive this.”
“It seems to me you won’t succeed.”
Magic surged near me, and I rolled off to the side. It was just in time. A spell struck him—something painful, based on the way he tried to scream, though he couldn’t move since the Paralytic still had a hold of him. Another Shara operative stood opposite me, framed by two cars. I squeezed on the other Paralytic, sending a surge of power through it, focusing on him. The spell triggered, and as it did, it flooded toward him; power flowed out of me toward the other operative, and when it met a hint of resistance, I continued to push more and more power out.
When it took hold, it did so largely like it had with the first man. It exploded against him. He collapsed, dropping to the ground, and gasping.
As I had with the other guy, I hurried over to him, and sorted through his pockets. If he was a hedge mage—and I suspected they all were hedge mages—I needed whatever coins he had on him. His collection was slightly larger than the first guy’s, and I added them all to my pocket, keeping them separate. I didn’t want to inadvertently grab one of theirs until I know how they might work.
“Tell me what you were doing,” I said.
“Do you think we are the only ones here?”
“No. Do you think I’m the only one able to stop you here?”
“Yes.”
I was tempted to kick him, but refrained, getting to my feet and looking around the parking garage. There was something down here they had been after. It had to be about destruction, but what were they trying to destroy? I couldn’t shake the sense it was all tied together. They had knocked out the power, then the backup power, and then there was the spell out on the patio.
I came across a spell on one of the walls. Although I tried to dig it out, I couldn’t. Studying the surface, I couldn’t make out anything to help me explain anything more about it. Then again, perhaps I couldn’t unravel more.
Matt was coming now—I knew that—and all I needed to do was keep these other operatives incapacitated for as long as I could until he made it here. Then we could work together to figure out what they were planning.
There had to be other spells like this down here, and I searched through the parking garage for more. I came across another one, also on the wall, and it was set at the same height as the other. I suspected that was significant, though I wasn’t sure why. The symbol was a little bit different from the last one, and though I couldn’t remember what the symbol had looked like on the first I’d come across, I suspected it was different to that, too. Now I understood the nature of these spells, I recognized there was no need for them to be matching. The only part which would match would be the center part, not the part signifying who had created the spell.
Hurrying around the parking garage, I found a total of five. They were all on outer walls, and if they were a destructive spell, then the end result would be that they would destroy the parking garage. Not only the parking garage but they’d probably bring down the entire hospital above. Why, though?
I hurried back to the first of the downed operatives. He was still crying out, the effect of whatever spell the second had used on him leaving him useless to me. The second man still lay there. He struggled against my paralytic, and I wondered how long the spell would work on him. I was tempted to use another on him, but if I did, I would end up wasting spells.
I sorted through the spells I had collected off him. What might he have that I could use on him? What I wanted was the threat of a Sleeper, maybe even a Stinger. Now I knew what to look for, it wasn’t as difficult to sort through them, to try to find which of the coins would have the desired effect. I might not know what each did—yet—but I knew which part of the symbols to ignore.
“Why target the hospital?”
He grunted, and as he did, I felt a tingling surge of power.
Bumblefuck. If I waited too long, he would probably break through the Paralytic.
I couldn’t let him break free of it, not yet; I would have to figure out which of his coins I could use against him, or would have to use one of the coins Matt had given me for such a purpose. The other option was to torment him, if only a little bit.
“You do understand what my particular talent is?”
He didn’t say anything, but his eyes flicked toward me.
“Good. I thought you did. I can trigger spells. I don’t even need to know what purpose they’re for. That’s an advantage for me. But, in your case, it’s probably a disadvantage.” I pulled out a handful of the coins I’d pulled off of him and the other guy. I recognized a couple. Thankfully, they had Sleepers, beneficial if it came down to talking about and finding a way of incapacitating him long enough for Matt to arrive so I could get answers. “Now, the only downfall is I don’t always know what a spell might do. That doesn’t bother me like it should bother you. In your case, seeing as how I have no idea what some of these spells might do, I could simply trigger one, and see…”
I grabbed one. The shape was similar to the Stinger, but I doubted it had the same purpose. Just because it looked similar didn’t mean it would work the same. What I really wanted was one which looked more like the destructive spells attached to the walls.
“Now, I also realize you are currently working to break free of this Paralytic spell. I don’t know how long it will hold you, and while I could just place another one, I don’t want to waste them on you. I have no idea how many others I might need.”
I wondered how it would look if anyone were to come across me in the parking garage. Here I was, a doctor dressed in my scrubs, still with my stethoscope around my neck, I realized, crouching down next to a man who was lying incapacitated, seemingly needing my help, but I was tormenting him instead.
“Considering the fact I suspect some of these are designed to destroy, what if I happened upon one of those?”
“I don’t fear death.”
His arrogance suddenly struck me. There was a reason he didn’t hear me. It was the same reason Matt had called me to wherever he was storing the other guys. They had a tracker spell.
Bumblefuck.
Shifting the focus of my magic, I pushed on him, sending more and more into him until I triggered that tracking spell. Now I knew what I was doing and how it felt, I knew ho
w hard to push. When it disappeared with a pop, I changed the focus of my attention to the other guy still lying there, occasionally moaning, and pushed on him—and his tracking spell—until it disappeared.
When I was done, I took a deep breath. “You know what I just did?” He didn’t answer. “I’m not sure you do, so let me be quite clear. You had a tracking spell of some sort on you or perhaps in you. That’s a little bit grosser, though, but I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised by the things you all do. Anyway, I have neutralized that spell. I’m sure your people already know where you are now, but what happens if I drag you out of here?” I flicked my gaze to the line of cars. “What if I throw you in the back of my car, and drive you out of here? You might not fear death because you thought you would have someone coming for you, but what would you fear if there wasn’t anyone was coming for you?”
I forced a dark smile at him and felt dirty by the threat. I could feel him continuing to fight, trying to resist, and as I watched, he wiggled his fingers.
“We can’t have that.”
I grabbed one of his Sleeper spells, and quickly sent a surge of power through it, triggering it.
As it took hold, he dropped unconscious. He was still breathing, and the residual effects of the Paralytic made it so it lingered within him, still holding on, but now I had a better understanding about how long the Paralytic would hold—not nearly as long as I would have liked. It appeared they were able to use their own innate power to overcome the nature of the spell.
Then again, the same thing could be said for what Barden had done. He had overpowered the Paralytic, and in doing so, had been able to avoid the dangerous effects of it. These might be hedge mages, but that didn’t mean they lacked talent—if anything, I knew they were indeed talented.
A surge of magic came. I spun, looking to see if another of these hedge mage operatives was behind me, and realized too late that the one who had fallen first was no longer down.
Worse, I didn’t know where he was.
13
Looking around the darkened parking garage, the air heavy with the heat and humidity and carrying the stink of something rotten, I searched for signs of the fallen mage. He might be gone, but I had the advantage of having claimed all of his spells—other than those he had placed in the walls.
I couldn’t linger here. I had to do something. I had to figure out if he was still down here, and if he was, then somehow I had to figure out a way to stop him. Whatever he was after was going to lead to the destruction of the hospital, and I was the only person able to stop him.
Where was Matt, anyway? It had to have been fifteen minutes, hadn’t it?
Magic began to build. I focused on it, sending power through the bracelet, not hesitating to borrow from Barden’s magic, using that to help me focus on where I could find this guy. As I did, I forced power through the bracelet, using it to help guide me, and felt the power of the man.
I spun, racing toward where I detected him, and felt for a Paralytic. At least the Paralytic spells were unique in how they felt. Since Barden had placed them on quarters, they were a little bit different to the coins the operatives preferred, though not that much. I was able to find them more easily and pulled a single one out of the pouch before thinking better of it and taking a second.
There had to be a better way to keep track. I needed to be able to reach them quickly, to have a way of finding the coins as fast as possible and coming up with a way of triggering them without getting trapped.
I found the fugitive near the wall. Power was building from him, and I focused on him, sending a surge of power through the Paralytic, and focusing on him.
But there was resistance. He turned his attention to me, holding both hands out. His brow furrowed. “That’s a neat spell, but once I’ve encountered a spell and managed to defeat it, I won’t be tricked by it again. That is my talent.”
Power built from him, pushing against the Paralytic. I struggled, trying to force through it, trying to do what I could to overwhelm him, but as I did, I failed.
The magic within the Paralytic disappeared with little more than a puff.
I scrambled, reaching into the pouch, but what spell could I now use that he wouldn’t have encountered before? All of the spells he had would likely be ones he had encountered, wouldn’t they? I could feel whatever he was doing was building, and knew I didn’t have as much time as I needed, so I searched desperately for something—anything—that would allow me to overpower him.
What could I use? As I fumbled, I realized I was reaching in the wrong place. Not in the pouch, but I needed to go into my pocket, to use one of their spells. I wish I’d kept them separate.
I found one, pulled it out, and focused on it. I kept the operative in mind, and a strange stirring built, rising up through me. It flowed out, toward the operative, and as it did, it struck him. This time, he tried to resist, but the power of the spell increased, flowing with a cascading effect. It washed through him.
The operative screamed. It was a horrible, high-pitched scream, the kind of sound that was agony, and his eyes widened, blood began dripping from his nose, and he reached for his head.
I dropped the coin. What had I done? I’d wanted to stop him, but I didn’t want to kill him. I was a doctor.
Something grabbed me, and I panicked, spinning around, holding my fist out ready to trigger the Paralytic… when I realized it was only Matt.
“Come on, Dr. Stone.”
“Matt?”
“You don’t want to look at it.”
“What did I do?”
“No worse than he would’ve done to you.”
“That doesn’t make it better. What did I do?”
“That’s one we call the Neutralizer.”
“The what?”
“There won’t be anything left of him.”
“I… I didn’t know.”
“I know you didn’t.”
The operative continued to scream, and I tried and failed to get the sound of the screams out of my head. They continued to echo, bouncing off the walls in the small space here. I was thankful there weren’t any cameras operating. I didn’t want anyone to know what I had done.
“You should go back to the staircase. I’ll finish this.”
“I don’t want you to finish it.”
“There’s not going to be a lot to finish with him,” Matt said.
“But the spells on the walls—"
“I can take care of them.”
I nodded, everything within me feeling a little numb. I couldn’t shake the strange sensation, the hollowness I felt, and yet, all of this was my fault. I had caused this man pain.
It was easy to claim it was either him or me, and while I knew that was true, and knew if he’d succeeded, he would have done the same or worse to me, but all I had wanted to do was knock him unconscious. Then I could have… What? Given him over to Matt? I had already seen the things Matt was willing to do, the way he was willing to interrogate. And that didn’t necessarily make it better, but it certainly didn’t make it any more my fault.
When I reached the stairwell, I stood there. I didn’t feel the surge of magic anymore, but then, everything within me felt hollow. It was almost as if I was numb. I lost track of how long it was before Matt finally returned. He held five coins in his hand as he joined me.
“What about the other guy?”
“What other guy?”
“There was another operative.”
Matt frowned. “I didn’t see another operative.”
I sighed, trying to look past him into the garage. “I just hit him with a Sleeper, and figured we’d have a bit more time with him.”
“Those can be a little bit unpredictable against operatives, especially against Shara. They’re trained to know how to counter spells like that. Most are able to avoid the effects of a spell.”
“The last guy said he only needed to experience one once.”
“I suppose that’s true. Once you figure out how to
work your way through something, it’s easier to counter it.”
“Why were they here? What did they hope to accomplish by destroying the hospital?”
“We don’t know that’s what they were after.”
“No? Why don’t I trigger one of those and we can see what it does?”
“Not here.”
“Right. Because you and I both know whatever they were up to is dangerous. Did you figure it out?”
“You’re not going to like it.”
“That means you uncovered something.”
“It does. And as I said, you’re not going to like it.”
“There’s not much about what’s been going on I like. Why don’t you go ahead and just tell me?”
“John Adams wants to draw out your friend.”
“Barden? There would be other ways to do it if he was after Barden.” Then again, Barden would react in order to try and protect me, so I guessed it wasn’t terribly surprising they’d try to use that technique in order to succeed, though I had a hard time thinking it would be all that effective. There would be better ways to do so, and not just better ways, but more effective ways which were more likely to succeed.
“Not Barden. While he may be interested in him, he wouldn’t come here in order to do so.”
“Who, then?”
Even as I asked it, it dawned on me. It was the reason I thought Matt had been after me in the first place, the reason I thought the organization had begun to be active in Minneapolis.
Kate. If they learned about her, and if they learned the level of power she had, there was no telling what they would do and how they would use it. I had no idea of the extent of her power, only that the things she could do were different to the things I or others could do. She was a mage of some sort, and as far as I knew, an incredibly powerful one. But then, she had left before I had an opportunity to know, and long before I had known about my own connection to magic.
“You know which friend of yours they want. She has apparently been acquiring items of power, and they would like them.”