Magaestra: Tested: An urban fantasy series

by Katherine Kim

  The man turned at the sound of his name and hissed, sending his power out to try to intimidate Aldric into a mistake, but it barely felt like more than a flicker in his awareness. The man was powerful, strong, and had certainly fed on a mage— the human magic was prominent in his power.

  "Aldric! Watch out!" Faith shouted as the other vampire rushed at him and he had no time for anything but the fight.

  19

  Faith got Crissy out of the medical room and down three aisles of shelving before she ran into her first major problem.

  "Where is the Magaestra?" Conti's voice echoed through the warehouse. Outside the sounds of fighting were getting louder and Faith knew it was just a matter of time before her friends could get to her. It would no doubt help them, though, if she could get herself and Crissy some place safe. Somewhere to their left, from what she imagined was the back of the warehouse, the snarls of blighthouds sounded way too loud for her comfort.

  "Shit. Shit shit shit." She muttered.

  "I don't know what those things are, but if I never see one again I'll be okay with that," Crissy muttered.

  “Agreed," Faith nodded. She peered around the box they crouched by and her eyes snagged on a door. It was across the wide open side of the warehouse, with nothing to screen them from anyone's sight, but it was probably their best chance. And, strangely, Faith felt a pull in that direction as if that door, specifically, somehow represented more safety than any other option.

  Not that they had any other options, really.

  "Okay, sis. Put as much as you can into this. I'll try to carry you as best as I can, but you have to help, okay?" Faith said, keeping her voice low. There was a ripping noise and a crash, and she realized that Conti was following her trail. "Shit! Okay, Cris. We're going to that door as fast as we can."

  "There's vampires freaking everywhere!" Crissy's eyes were huge and darting around.

  "Yeah, but none of them are paying attention to us. They're all more worried about the attack outside. Conti is the one we have to get away from." And with that she pulled Crissy up, and half dragged her down the aisle to the open side of the warehouse.

  The crashing behind them grew closer and Faith tried to pick up the pace, but Crissy was still a full grown woman and Faith was still just Faith. She scrabbled for her magic to try to get some help. If she could levitate Crissy, even a little…

  "You!"

  She was out of time. The damn door was so close, but there was no way she could beat vampire speed, even if she wasn't carrying her sister.

  "Did you think you could escape me?" Conti bellowed. His eyes were almost fully black and his whole face was sharper. He hissed, pulling his lips back and flashing those deadly fangs. "I am Sandalio Conti! Right hand of Reyher Cherro and we will rule! You are nothing!"

  "I am Faith Latham, Magaestra of the Frostwalker Clan, and what you are is a psychotic asshole!" Maybe taunting the psychotic asshole wasn't the healthiest of options, but if anyone needed to be called on his bullshit it was this guy. "Your side lost almost a hundred years ago, and you're about to lose again."

  She got her mental fingers around her magic and pulled just as he rushed toward them. Her shield flared brightly around them, a bubble of pure, solid magic, and Conti snarled in frustrated rage.

  "You will die slowly!" he hissed. "I will keep you alive and aware for years as I drain you to power my army!"

  "Something tells me that isn't going to happen." Her magic flared with recognition and she couldn’t stop the grin if she’d had to.

  "Faith! What are you doing? Don't make him even angrier! He's crazy!" Behind her Crissy grabbed her shirt and clung to it as they both folded toward the floor. Faith was dizzy again, the fog from when she first woke up teasing the edges of her vision, but she kept her grip on the magic and brought both hands up to brace the shield.

  The door behind Conti, the one she had been trying to reach, for slammed open just then and she had never seen a more glorious sight in her life. There, silhouetted by bright daylight, was Aldric. He was more fully vampire than she had ever seen him, his face was chalk-white and against that his dark hair and vampiric eyes resembled what she imagined a black hole looked like. They just absorbed the light and didn't reflect any.

  "Sandalio Conti," he hissed. She could see his fangs from here, some twenty feet away, and that, too was stunning. Faith's brain bubbled up with the idle thought that maybe she should get some therapy if the sight of Aldric like this, crashing in like some sort of avenging demon, was the hottest thing she had ever seen in her life.

  Conti whipped around at the sound of his name and Faith could feel his power crash over her, like fire ants all over her skin. Behind her Crissy whimpered.

  Fiery sparkles danced behind Conti's back, and Faith had just enough time to cry "Aldric, look out!" before the two vampires were clashing together.

  They moved way too fast for Faith to see, just two blurs to her eyes, but the snarls and hisses and blasts of power battered against her.

  "Faith," Crissy's voice was more of a whisper than a real question as she clung to the back of Faith's shirt.

  "It's going to be fine now, Cris. Aldric is here, and that means the rest of the Frostwalkers are, too." The women both flinched as a roaring challenge came echoing down the warehouse from what seemed to be the back.

  "It's going to be fine," Faith said again, making sure her voice was firm and confident. She didn't take her eyes off the blurring movement that was Aldric and Conti. Snarls and hisses punctuated the blurs, and Conti taunted Aldric with threats to the Frostwalkers Clan, Aldric's family, and Faith herself. It felt like the fight lasted for hours.

  The vampires separated as Conti went stumbling backwards a few steps. Cheers from the other side of the door rose and the voices of wolves sang through the air and the clamor from behind them increased. Both vampires were covered in blood. Aldric's black t-shirt hung in two long flaps, clinging to the bloody edges of what must be claw wounds under the smears of blood. Conti's elegant suit was in tatters and he held his left arm stiffly against himself.

  "You and your fleabags won't stop us," Conti snarled. "You may win this fight, perhaps, but we will take our rightful place. Vampires belong at the top, and you know it, Donnelly."

  Aldric said nothing. Behind her Crissy whimpered as another wave of power crashed into them from somewhere else, oily feeling and tainted somehow. Aldric snarled in response to the sound and his own power felt soothing and gentle to Faith as it brushed away both Cherro’s and Conti's efforts, but Conti flinched back again.

  Conti's gaze flickered to the women huddled on the floor and his expression changed slightly.

  "The woman is important to you, personally, I understand," Conti's voice was enticing and soft now. He took a small step closer to Aldric, who stood like a stone wall. "How about a compromise. You can join us, keep the woman to feed from yourself. We can store her blood for distribution easily enough, but she can stay in your quarters."

  No response from Aldric. He just stood there, breathing heavily, his blood-darkened eyes watching, waiting.

  "Don't you want to be on the side of those that rule the world? Cherro will recover and his rule will be glorious!"

  Conti took another step forward. Something at the side of Faith's vision flickered, and she tore her gaze away from the confrontation in front of her to look. Sparks of fire wove around and through the boxes behind Aldric, white hot and silent.

  "Aldric, look out!"

  She flung a hand out to wrap her shield around his exposed back in time for the sparks of fire to crash into it, stinging burns into her palm as the magics clashed. She saw Aldric glance back as he stepped away from Conti's magic attack, and the other vampire hissed, thwarted for a second before crowing in delighted victory. Faster than she could track, he was in front of her, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her close to his body.

  She could smell the stale blood on his breath when he leaned close and licked up the side of her neck
.

  "No wonder you want to keep this one!" His voice was gleeful and she tried to cringe away when he went to lick her again, but his grip on her hair was too tight, and he had his other arm wrapped tightly around her. Faith couldn't remember any of Tamika's lessons now, as terror and disgust fought for control of her brain.

  "Let. Her. Go." Aldric's voice was inhuman. "This is your only chance."

  "You have lost. I will feed on her then kill you, then I will take care of the rest of those mutts," Conti gloated. He moved to bite down on the flesh he had exposed before him, but something warm and soft hit her skin instead. She peeled her eyelids open-- when had she squeezed them closed?-- and looked around as well as she could in Conti's unforgiving grip, but she couldn't see his face through the fog that surrounded him.

  "What—?” Conti's voice was muffled through the thick white cloud, but she could hear him sputtering and gasping. His grip loosened and she yanked back, stumbling when she was freed. Crouching by Crissy and automatically shielding them again, as her sister clung to Faith and sobbed, they watched in shock as Conti staggered and tried to claw at the mist that covered his head.

  She would never be able to say how long she and her sister held each other, crouched behind her shield, watching Aldric suffocate Conti, but in the end, the once elegant zealot lay still on the concrete floor and Aldric crouched over him, stone-faced, and punched his claws into Conti's chest to pull out the other vampire's heart.

  Crissy whimpered as Conti started to shrivel and even Faith shuddered to watch it happen. She had seen dead vampires before, but she had never seen one age in front of her like this. And she had never seen Aldric kill so coldly. He dropped the wrinkled husk that was once Conti's heart on top of the pile of shredded, bloody clothes wrapped around the desiccated corpse and stood.

  When he turned his gaze on Faith, she felt Crissy yanking on her shirt, almost overbalancing her. Aldric closed his eyes and took a deep, slow breath in. He repeated the process twice, three times. Then as he blew his breath out again, his features softened, his skin took on more color, and she watched in fascination as his clawed fingers shrank and rounded.

  She blinked up at him and he stepped over to crouch in front of her, the corner of his lip twitching as he peered at the air between them where her shield still sat.

  "You saved me," Aldric murmured. "Again."

  Faith swallowed and lowered her hand, the shield fading. A wave of dizziness hit her and she wobbled on her knees, only to be caught in Aldric's arms. She glanced up at him, his lips definitely pulling up at the corners now.

  "We must stop meeting like this, Magaestra. It is becoming a habit," he said.

  "Yeah, well. At least it wasn't rogue werewolves this time?" Faith said, fighting her own grin. How they could joke like this was beyond her ability to understand and frankly, she didn't have the energy to worry about it.

  "You are safe now. Both of you." His eyes flicked up to include Crissy in the promise. "Our clan is here, as well as allies from a nearby coven and a neighboring pack sent a number of their enforcers. Conti is dead and Cherro will not live much longer either, if Master Arthur has not already ended his life. There will be none left to lead this faction. You will be safe."

  "And when you get hungry? Will we be safe then?” Crissy asked. She lifted her chin, but Faith could see the trembles in her shoulders, and feel them through where Crissy still clung to her shirt.

  "Magaestra, there is nothing I can say that will assure you. I understand that it will take time for you to judge me by my actions, but I swear to you, as the Head Enforcer for the Frostwalker Clan, and as a Donnelly, you will be protected."

  "Cris, he's a good man. You can trust him. I'll tell you all about everything, but first, can we please get out of here?" Faith looked up at Aldric as she asked the last question, and he smiled. Just as he nodded there was a piercing howl, and dozens of voices picked up the cry.

  "Cherro is dead." Aldric smiled.

  Faith grinned and tipped her head back over his arm and let her own voice join the chorus, which caused a surge in volume as her clanmates heard her and knew she was safe.

  20

  Faith heartily hoped that this was the last time she spent the night with someone in a hospital bed.

  Okay, so it was really one of the guest rooms in the clan house, and super comfortable, but still. Crissy lay in the bed with an IV hooked up, dripping whatever it was Madeline had gone on about the night before. As it turned out, aside from being weakened from having her blood collected at far too frequent intervals and being underfed, Crissy was actually in relatively decent shape, so that was a massive relief.

  She had nightmares, though, and wound up sleeping with Kaylee on one side of her, Faith on the other side, carefully leaning on the bed from a chair to avoid tangling the IV line, and a puppy Jake curled up on her knees. Both Marc and Aldric checked in regularly, which Faith knew because she barely slept at all.

  Madeline bustled in and patted Faith's shoulder.

  "It's four in the morning. You should go to bed and get some real sleep," she said when Faith sat back to let the doctor close enough to look over the equipment.

  "I can't..." Faith started to object.

  "Faith. For your own health. You need rest. You had a pretty traumatic day yesterday and you need to recover as well." Madeline crouched down to look Faith right in the eye. "Crissy will be fine. She is safe and sound, and will probably be resting for another day or two, but nobody with ill intent is going to get anywhere close to her. Rod is right outside, and I know Lucy and Eldridge are going to bring in breakfast in a few hours. You can be back for that."

  "She's right, sis. Go get some sleep." Crissy's voice was quiet but much stronger than it had been just the night before. A look of hesitation and nerves crossed her face when she glanced at Madeline but was quickly replaced with determination. "I'll be fine. I've got the best guard dog available here, so don't worry, okay?" Crissy grinned down at the soft lump of fur that was Jake, who was wiggling around to flop half on Kaylee's ankles just to huff back into little puppy snores.

  It took another ten minutes to convince Faith to head back to her room. Rod, lounged against the wall right across the hall from Crissy’s door, as Madeline had said.

  "I'll keep her safe. I promise you." His giant frame and bald head made him look more than a little intimidating, but he smiled at her and his blue-grey eyes crinkled at the corners, making him look a little like a biker elf.

  "I know. I just..."

  "You just got your sister back after weeks of stress and worry and fighting. The adrenaline and the anxiety won't let go easily, but they will. Get some rest and a few meals into you, spend some time with Aldric and then come back to your sister. She'll be here. I won't leave her alone, even if I have to shift and catch a nap on the floor, okay?" Rod winked at her. "Jake's not the only good guard dog around, you know. Kenya and Ori are just down the hall sleeping until it's their shift on watch, and Tamika's downstairs prowling around. Marc and Aldric are also still on alert since we haven't tracked down Molin yet. We've got you."

  Faith rolled her eyes at him, but then ducked in and hugged him tight.

  "Thanks, Rod," she said into his chest.

  "Anytime." He patted her shoulder. "Now go on and get a little snack, grab a nice hot shower, and get some rest. You'll feel about a thousand times better."

  Faith stepped back and nodded. "I will. Thanks."

  Faith made her way down to the kitchen, stumbling on the last step, but she made it under her own steam and was weirdly proud of that. The light was on and a figure sat at the kitchen table, his back to her. It wasn't a familiar back, and Faith paused just outside the door, wondering if she should just go to bed and eat later.

  She was about to turn around when the man tipped his head, then turned to look at her. She vaguely remembered him from the warehouse. He had helped the Frostwalkers keep a clear path while Aldric and some wolves she didn't know got her and Crissy to
an SUV and away from that awful place.

  "Good morning, Magaestra," he said. his voice was pitched low, probably to avoid waking anyone else in the house. It was stupid o'clock a.m. after all. Sane people were asleep.

  "Um, morning," Faith answered. She hesitated for another moment then stepped into the kitchen. It was her home, after all. Er, sort of. At least it had been. Was she still welcome here now that they had Crissy back? Would Marc expect them to leave? Oh, hell. That was another whole set of problems that she wasn't ready to face.

  "You look exhausted. I hope that doesn't mean something has happened with your sister?" The man frowned, worry clear in his gaze. "Is there is anything I can do?"

  "Um. No. No, Crissy's sleeping, and both the kids have joined her. Rod's keeping an eye on them all. Madeline ordered me to come get a snack and go to bed." She shrugged and opened the fridge. "I don't think we managed to actually meet each other."

  "True enough. It was rather a busy moment when Aldric whisked you out of that warehouse." The man smiled slightly, a twinkle lighting his gaze now that reminded her of Marc. He stood and faced her and bowed slightly. "I am Arthur Minton, Master of the Ulfred Coven and ally to the Frostwalker Clan. It was my honor to assist your people in clearing out that viper pit."

  Faith blinked. A master vampire. Because of course a master vampire was sitting at the kitchen table at 4 am having what looked like chamomile tea and toast. A blob of jam practically gleamed on the crumb-covered plate next to his cup.

  "Faith Latham. Um, freelance accountant," she said. "And I guess you know the rest." She bobbed her head, feeling very clumsy and tired and, well, human.

  "Exhausted mage, worried sister, and beloved of Aldric Donnelly,” Master Arthur nodded, a faint smile showing now. "I have heard a few things, yes. Why don't you sit and I'll make you something to eat. I don't think the toast was quite enough for me, either. Scrambled eggs sound good?"