by B N Miles
“That guy is the key component to some world-ending spell the Medlar are obsessed with.”
“Yeah, right, I get it, end of the world and all that, but there are people suffering in there right now and I’m not going to stand back and let it happen.”
Jared held up his hands and nodded. “You’re right. I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t attack it.”
“Besides, Wieland will be a good source of information,” Lumi said. “Even if he doesn’t know where Wade is, he’ll know where other facilities are hidden.”
Jared grunted and looked at Izzy. “What do you think about this? Can you handle more girls?”
She touched her cheek with two fingers. Her dirty-blond hair was pulled back in a long braid that hung over her shoulder. She wore a peasant top and a pair of old jeans, her feet bare, her face devoid of any makeup—and still she managed to radiate warmth and beauty.
“I think so. The last group that came in was in bad shape, but they’re improving rapidly with normal nutrition and regular healing.”
“I don’t want to overwhelm you,” Jared said.
“That’s a bad reason to let a bunch of women stay captives.”
He shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. We could hire someone else to help take care of them.”
Izzy laughed and leaned up against the wall. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” She’d become the default guardian of the new girls, and her role was half doctor and half den mother. He knew it was a difficult position for her, but it was one she’d stepped into with relish. He felt impressed watching her grow closer with the refugee girls while taking care of their medical and emotional needs. She was one of the newest members of his little family, and he wasn’t sure what to expect from her—but after what happened in Arizona, she’d dedicated herself to the Meta refugee girls and never once looked back.
Bea flipped open a folder and pushed more black and white photos across the table. Each one showed a large, square, nondescript building with no windows and a flat roof surrounded by a cracked blacktop parking lot.
“This is the facility.” Bea jabbed a finger at one particular photograph, which showed a man wearing a windbreaker and a backpack walking in through the front door. “Not many people come and go. We’ve speculated that maybe they live in there, but I’m not so sure.”
“Has anyone actually spotted Wieland?” Lumi asked
She shook her head. “No known Medlar associates. The people we’ve identified so far have been civilians connected with University labs.”
“They’re farming out labor?”
“Could be. Who knows what they’re doing inside.”
“You know I hate going in blind,” Jared said. “I want to help the girls in there, but I also want to make sure we don’t lose any of our own.”
“I agree,” Bea said, pulling up a picture of the backside of the building and turning it toward Jared. “I have one of my teams getting into position back here, along this tree line. They’re going to break in through these windows here, here, and here, and scout as much of the building as they can.”
“Who are you sending?” he asked.
“Three Elves,” she said. “Each of them good with their invisibility and with strict orders to do nothing more than recon.”
He nodded and stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Depending on what they find, we can move within the week.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“Alright. Get your people prepped and ready. I’ll talk to the others about providing backup.”
“How many will we bring?” she asked.
“A third of your militia, and all of mine.”
“Works for me.” She gathered up the photographs. “I’ll prep the girls and get the recon op moving.”
“Keep me updated.”
Bea gave him a wry salute, shoved the folder under her arm, then left the back room. Izzy leaned up against a wall with her arms crossed, chewing on her lower lip, while Lumi paced around in front of her.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I’m just wondering—when was the last time the Medlar made it so easy for us?” Lumi stopped and looked at him. “You know my family. They don’t take chances.”
“You think this is a trap?”
“I think it’s not what it seems at least.”
“Bea’s sending her scouts inside. We’ll know what we’re walking into.”
Lumi mussed her hair and let out a frustrated sigh. “Yeah, I know you’re right. I’m just on edge.”
He walked over to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. She tilted her chin up and he kissed her. “We’ll figure it out, I promise.”
“I know we will—it’s not us that I’m worried about, it’s all those girls out there.”
“We won’t let them get hurt.”
She nodded again, kissed him one more time, then drifted out of the room, leaving him alone with Izzy. He turned to her and tilted his head, meeting her gaze.
“What do you think?”
She let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head. “You know me. Always worried.”
He walked over and leaned against the wall next to her.
“I’m worried too, you know.”
She snorted. “Obviously. You’ve got this whole thing on your shoulders.”
He shook his head and touched her hand. “I don’t think about it that way, you know. None of this would be possible if it weren’t for you girls.”
“Oh, true. You’d still be bumbling around like a headless chicken.”
He laughed softly. “Want to hear the worst thing?”
“Absolutely. Always do.”
“When I was a Marshal, I spent all my time trying to hide from what I am. I had a good desk job and was happy to pass the days staring at a computer.” He looked at her and thought about the way they’d met, how Nikki had brought her into his life to heal him. At the time, it seemed so fascinating that she never seemed to feel shame over what she could do. Her powers weren’t a source of anger or frustration—instead, she took them and warped them into something that suited her. She became a healer because that was the sort of person Izzy wanted to be.
Meanwhile, Jared hid from what he could do. He was afraid of what his family and the Magi families had warped him into, and he buried himself under tedious, mindless tasks. His power was a source of shame and frustration for all those years, and he’d been pathetic, he’d been weak—and he could see that now, see it so clearly. Izzy was everything he wanted to be back then, and everything he hoped he was becoming.
“How did you manage to stop using magic?” she asked.
“It was hard at first. Those early days were awful. Looking back at it now, I must’ve gone through some kind of withdrawal.”
“I’ve seen it before,” she said, nodding. “Other Independents have gone through it, decided to stop using and get clean.”
He blinked at her. “You’re talking about it like a drug.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Of course I am. That’s what magic is, isn’t it?”
He let out a bitter laugh as the realization hit him. Of course, magic was a drug, it’d always been a drug—when he used it, he wanted more, and when he stopped, he felt like the only way to feel good again was to touch the priori. He thought that because other drugs could dull the feeling, that magic was something else, but no, of course not, they were all addicts fumbling around with powers they could barely handle.
It scared the shit out of him for a moment. How the world had survived thousands of years of addicted Humans with the ability to destroy cities seemed like a miracle.
“You’re right. That’s not how they taught us to think about it, back in the families, but of course you’re right.” He turned his hands into fists. “I was numb in those early days. Hell, I think I was numb up until the afternoon that I met Cassie for the first time. I was so annoyed that Wyatt forced me out of my safe little world and onto that transport, but now I�
�m happy he did it. Otherwise I’d probably still be behind a computer screen, wasting away, and the Medlar would be out there doing whatever they damn well pleased.”
Izzy took his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’m glad you were on that transport, too.”
“None of this would’ve happened if not. Funny how the world can work, isn’t it?”
“Some people might call it destiny or fate.”
“Nah, I call her Cassie.” He grinned and kissed Izzy. “You know I love you, right?”
“Of course.”
“All of you. Even the other girls, each one we rescue—not in the same way that I love you and Cassie and Lumi, but I care about each and every one of them, and each new girl pisses me off a little bit more.”
“I know. We all see it in you.”
He nodded and sighed then pushed off the wall. Izzy released him and he felt her eyes follow him to the door. “We’re heading out in a couple days. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help prepare for an influx of new girls.”
“We could use more space. And some more medical supplies.”
“I’ll get it done.” He reached the door then looked back. “You’re a good person. I’m not sure where we’d be without you.”
She waved a hand. “Kerrin would probably do more. In fact, she’d probably run this place with an iron fist if I weren’t around to check her.”
Jared laughed. “True enough.” He stepped out into the hall and lingered there. He saw Meta girls sitting in the living room, talking to each other, laughing, watching TV, reading books, sprawled on every surface: Elves, Dwarves, Dryads, a couple Plethoaks, Trolls and Pixies, all different shapes and sizes, beautiful and horrible and everything in between, and each of them scarred in some way, broken by the Medlar, experimented on, used and discarded over and over again. He felt another flare of rage—which softened when he heard someone call out to him.
“Come on, come sit with us!” A tiny girl named Trish with pale blue skin waved at him. Her butterfly wings, normally folded on her back, quivered out behind her. She sat with an enormous Ogre named Jen and a slim Troll named Katie.
Jared hesitated, then walked over. He sat at the table and the Pixie girl Trish tossed him a few cards. “What’s the game?”
“Some Pixie thing I’m fairly sure she’s making up on the fly,” Jen rumbled. “I highly recommend you run away and save yourself.”
Jared laughed and shook his head. “Nah, I’ve got some time. Let’s play.”
Trish beamed, clearly delighted, and the other women smiled at him. He grinned back and played the game, because these women mattered to him, even if they were strangers, even if they were only passing through his life.
Because he wanted to be better, and he was.
9
Jared leaned against the basement wall and crossed his arms. Bea stood in the middle of the room, hands on her hips, watching as her militia girls locked and loaded their weapons. Lumi sidled up next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. She wore dark jeans and a simple black long-sleeve shirt, a backpack slung on her back.
They were prepping to leave for the next Medlar facility in a few minutes. He should’ve felt nervous, but the way Bea had her militia girls dress and prep so efficiently reminded him that they were professionals, and he didn’t need to worry about them.
“What are the chances that Wade will be there?” he asked.
Lumi shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Your cousin Wieland. Is he powerful?”
“He used to be, but his mark didn’t seem too impressive the last time we saw him. I think either of us could take him without a problem.
Jared nodded. He’d gotten a lot stronger over the last few months. He’d surpassed his old abilities easily, and lately he’d been drawing even with Lumi in their sparring—and even beating her in a few cases. He didn’t want to get ahead of himself, but he knew he was starting to get stronger than Lumi Medlar, and that was no small thing. His own mark had become deep black, an almost terrifying miasma of darkness that covered his body—and that only other Magi could see.
He felt other auras tickle against him as Bea stalked through her soldiers and performed spot checks. She was critical and firm, but not downright mean or demeaning, and he could tell that every single woman in that group loved and respected her, and would lay down her life if commanded. Even still, their auras were jagged and difficult, and he knew they were nervous.
“I think we’re ready,” Bea said, wandering over to Jared and Lumi. “The girls are in good shape.”
“The girls are professionals,” Jared said. “You’re hard on them.”
Bea scoffed at that. “Nobody’s going to be easy on them out there.” She glanced back to where her soldiers fell into a loose cluster, fifteen battle-hardened women with various military-grade weapons. “I’d better not make them soft in here.”
“Spoken like a true drill sergeant.” Jared pushed up off the wall and nodded. “Shall we get moving?”
Bea motion to the door. “After you.”
He walked to the steps and climbed up with Lumi on his heels. He went right and moved through the main house. The other girls, the ones that were staying behind, new girls and injured girls and girls that couldn’t fight, lined the room and watched silently as Jared led a parade of warriors out. He always did this when they went on a mission—he wanted them to be seen, wanted the girls here to know that they were going out and risking their lives for them. But he also wanted Bea’s people to see the reason why they fought.
The evening air was cool and crisp. Bea’s team filed into two different vans. He gave them a nod and they pulled out.
“Where’s Cassie and the others?” he asked Lumi.
“They went to get food and gas,” she said. “She’ll be here in a second.”
He nodded and looked around. The street was empty and quiet, and he smiled to himself. They owned half the block already, and he’d put out feelers to the few houses left that he didn’t own. He figured they’d own this little chunk of the city sooner or later, and he’d build a tiny enclave of refugee Meta women—and once this was all over, maybe he’d rent the houses and apartments out to them. He’d always keep Chapter House as a place where Metas that needed help could go and find refuge though.
He turned to look down the other end of the block and paused as several figures walked toward him. The sun barely peeked up over the horizon and their shadows stretched long behind them. He didn’t recognize their faces, though they stared intently at him and walked directly toward him.
There were three men and two women. The men were big and burly, dressed in loose clothing, but carried no visible weapons. The women were smaller, thinner, and beautiful—but they were dressed the same.
“Bechtel?” the lead woman called out. She had long, flowing blond hair and pretty blue eyes.
“I’m Jared Bechtel,” he said, walking toward them.
The blond woman grinned, revealing two long fangs.
He realized with a start that she was a Vampire.
There were plenty of Vampires in the city, but Nikki had control over them. She was the Underlord of Philadelphia, which meant she was the head of the hierarchy and in charge of all Vampires within the city limits. He relaxed slightly and figured she’d sent some of her underlings to bring him a message, or maybe to help them with their mission.
The sun dipped down and set. The last vestiges of light squeezed up in bright orange and pink. The vampire group came toward him, and he saw the blond woman’s smile turn into a vicious grin. A strange feeling washed over him and he found himself reaching for his power, not sure why he was doing it, since the Vampires were supposed to be on his side. But something felt wrong—the blond seemed too eager, the two men seemed too wary, like they knew something was about to happen.
The Vampires blurred, so fast he couldn’t follow them, and he found himself getting slammed down to the ground. He unleashed a spa
rk of fire, superheating the air inches above him. The blond screamed and staggered back as fire raced down her face, melting her skin. Jared scrambled to his feet only to be slammed from the side by one of the other Vampires. He stumbled, confused and dizzy. He didn’t understand why the Vampires would attack them right now, or what they could possibly want from them. As far as he knew, the Vampires had been waging a secret war against the Medlar family for centuries.
He heard Lumi scream and felt her power flare—but then it died down and disappeared. He struggled to his feet, shocked, as the blond woman’s hands dug into his arm. He grunted and tried casting again but her fist snapped out and caught him in the face.
“You fucking Magi scum,” she growled. “Look at my face. Look at my fucking face!” He looked at her, and she didn’t look great—her skin fell down like rubber left in the sun.
Jared grinned at her. “I did you a favor.”
She growled again and hit him harder then threw him to the ground. He felt one of his ribs crack and let out a gasp. If he’d been more prepared, he never would’ve let the Vampires get so close to them, but although he’d been put on edge he never really thought they’d attack. It made no sense: they shared a common enemy, and they were supposedly under the control of Nikki.
He felt one of the men kick him in the chest then roll him over onto his back. He saw the blonde’s face again, wrecked and horrible, as she shoved a hypodermic needle into his neck.
Pain flared, and he pulled his power into him—but nothing happened. He tried to focus, but couldn’t turn the raw energy of the priori into a controlled shape. He realized with a terrible, horrible sinking feeling what had happened, and guessed that was what they’d done to Lumi.
Oh god, Lumi, he couldn’t let them do this to her, couldn’t let them block her again, not after what her own family had done to her. He struggled, tried to fight back, but without his magic he was only a man. The blond put her foot on his chest and held him down.