Arcane Ops

by T. R. Cameron

  She finally located a door and she shoved it with her shoulder. When it failed to budge, she kicked it and the flimsy lock clicked free and allowed her access. She stood in a high-roofed warehouse that looked like the owners had moved out suddenly and never returned. From the entryway, she could vaguely see what she thought might be forklifts, stacks of crates, piles of random metal pieces, and other debris, no doubt covered in dust and rust. The space was dark, and she put her glasses on to have a better look with the enhanced night vision. They immediately signaled to HQ, and Kayleigh’s voice came over the comms. “Cara, Quinn alerted us. What’s up?”

  She tapped the side of the glasses in the code for “Danger,” which encapsulated both her need for assistance and her inability to respond verbally. A scuffling sound to the left caught her attention and she moved ahead and paralleled the short side of the rectangle that made up the building. It stretched some distance on the long sides, and she could see a catwalk above, although she didn’t notice anyone up there. She toggled the glasses to heat-sensing mode and found three figures, each of which was larger than human size. Kayleigh fed her the blueprints of the structure, which appeared in the far-right portion of her visual field. There were two other potential exits other than the one she’d entered by, and both were blocked by one of the glowing images. She saw their strategy and knew that those two, at least, would continue forward to pen her in and most likely attack her together. While she couldn’t locate any others, she had no doubt that they were there somewhere—perhaps outside, waiting to trap her if she bolted.

  Kayleigh whispered, “Help is on the way. ETA nine minutes.” Cara shook her head. There is no way I can hide for that long. There really was no other option. She would have to go on the offensive. She turned left to creep along the length of the warehouse, one stack of crates and debris away from the wall. The assassin who was now on her left was closer, but if she could eliminate the target ahead silently, she might be able to sneak out of the building without them noticing. She crept quietly toward him but when the one she tried to avoid began to angle in her direction, she realized they could see her, too. Damn. Okay, secrecy is out. She drew her Glock from its shoulder holster and ran forward.

  In the green-tinted reality of the low-light display, plus the heat signature overlay, the figure in front of her was like something out of a nightmare, and she tapped the button that would remove the extra detection mode. The creature was revealed as the Kilomea she’d guessed it was and lumbered toward her as she ran to meet it. When they were a dozen feet apart, she pulled the trigger and continued to fire. The bullets pounded into its torso, but it rushed onward, apparently undeterred. Dammit. I’m loaded with anti-magic, not AP, and he has a thick hide.

  There was no time to do anything but react as he swung a giant ax at her head. She ducked beneath it and skittered back, all too aware that one of the beast’s partners could be closing from the rear. She thrust the gun into its holster with one hand and fired flaming darts at him with the other. They penetrated, and he staggered before he bellowed with pain and anger and resumed his charge again. With gritted teeth, she blasted him a second time as she raced forward to escape the footsteps that suddenly thundered behind her.

  Her adversary fell, and she leapt over his body and tapped to activate the heat signatures again. Cara cut left, then left, then right in an effort to create some distance between her and her pursuer. She couldn’t hear the Kilomea anymore, which was far from reassuring, so she paused to assess the situation and turned slowly in a complete circle while she scanned the warehouse for him. A whisper of a breeze triggered her to panic and she leapt instinctively to the side. That was all that saved her as the sword stroke whipped past, barely an inch from her arm. The huge form pounded into her and she fell with a painful, breath-stealing thud. Her glasses shattered on the cement floor and the shards spun away. She barely had time to locate her attacker before she had to roll to the side to avoid the sword again.

  The Kilomea smiled at her as she scuttled back and lurched awkwardly to her feet. “You should give up now, tiny creature.” The voice was identifiable as a female, even though the two genders weren’t really all that different when it came to their species.

  Cara brushed dirt from the shoulder of her leather jacket and spat a mouthful of blood to the side. Talking is good. I wonder how much longer before help arrives. “It’s you who should give up. My people are on the way, they’ll be here any second.” If only she knew how long she had to wait, but with her glasses destroyed, she was well and truly on her own. Her best estimate gave her about five minutes—way too long in this kind of desperate situation.

  “They won’t, of course.” The assassin laughed. And even if they were coming, do you truly believe we would have set up our killing field without a plan for them, too?”

  She shook her head. “This is our turf, sister. You may be hot stuff on your planet but here, you’re merely an oversized cockroach waiting to be splattered.”

  Her opponent sighed. “It is better this way.” She tossed the sword casually from hand to hand as if daring her to try to escape. There was no question that it was a trap, so she feinted in one direction and dashed in the other when the creature reacted. The swing came late and behind her, and Cara reversed course to dart in as her foe tried to bring the weapon around. She delivered a punch to the Kilomea’s face with her full strength behind it, and the massive head snapped back. Almost immediately, she was on the defensive again as the sword chopped viciously at her.

  Dammit, they’re too strong for fists. Diana’s must have been undersized or something. Fortunately, I have another option. Cara had tried not to become too reliant on the daggers, but there was clearly no way she would defeat the brute without their assistance. She snaked her hands to the sheaths hidden under her jacket and drew the weapons to give them a twirl before she positioned herself.

  Her flight had deliberately taken her out of the open area at the bottom of the stairs to near the catwalk, as she judged it likely that the third opponent would have chosen the high ground for protection while waiting for the others to tire her out. The female in front of her wore a concerned look now, and it was Cara’s turn to grin. “Last chance, sister. Get out of here and live to hunt another day. Stay, and I’ll hand you your heart.”

  The assassin growled and charged, feigning outrage on her face while her motions remained calm and controlled. The daggers whispered in the agent’s mind and she followed their instructions to curve Angel in her right hand in an inside-out block that rang against the blade and stabbed Demon at the wrist above the sword hilt. Her foe lowered her arm to avoid the weapon, as expected, and Cara whipped her right-hand dagger up to slash at her face. It cut deep into her cheek, far more damaging than her fists or bullets had been, and the Kilomea backpedaled and swung her sword around in a wicked effort to decapitate her. She ducked and controlled the blade with her left-hand dagger once it had passed, while she snaked Angel in for a blow at the Kilomea’s ribcage, which was exposed by the twisting action. It scraped along a bone, denying her the end of the fight she had hoped for, and Cara disengaged and skipped out of her opponent’s range.

  The creature ran the back of a hand across her face and growled what sounded like a curse. “You’ll die for that.”

  She laughed. “You’ve been trying to kill me for the last minute or so. What makes you think that’ll scare me now?”

  Her opponent bared her teeth. “Before, I was playing.” She reached around her back and produced a long knife that she held confidently in her right hand. “Now, the time for play has ended.”

  The massive assailant attacked and even with the assistance of the artifacts, Cara was hard-pressed to defend against the initial flurry. The blows came at unexpected angles, and she dodged and deflected but could find no opening to counter. She gave ground, knowing each passing second brought the potential for help. All she had to do was last a few more minutes until others would arrive to assist her. She only reali
zed she’d become distracted when the Kilomea’s blade slid off a poorly angled block and pierced her stomach. Agony seared through her and she spasmed involuntarily. Her reaction was instinctive. She raised her hand and released darts of fire directly into her enemy’s eyes from a distance of mere inches. The giant collapsed and released the sword, and the weapon slid noisily across the concrete.

  Cara clawed at the healing potion. Tears streamed from her eyes and her breath refused to come. Her trembling fingers closed on it and she tipped it into her mouth but stopped when she choked. She managed to calm herself long enough to swallow a little, and as it went to work, draining the rest became easier. When the liquid had finished healing her, she could barely move and her body ached like she’d fallen down a mountain although already, the memory of the pain was sliding away. She retrieved the energy potion, and drained it in a gulp, and sighed when the strength surged through her.

  “I’m waiting for you, Cara Binot,” a voice called from above. It was accompanied by a crash followed by a whooshing sound as the floor of the warehouse erupted into flame. Dammit, the exits and backup are now both blocked. They really thought this through. Bastards. She sprinted to the stairs to the catwalk and stopped when she reached the narrow platform. Her opponent stood three-quarters of the way along the one that ran down the center. Behind the Kilomea were windows that would enable Cara to escape the inferno—if she could get to them.

  “I don’t suppose you’d agree to both of us getting out of here and finishing this outside?”

  The assassin laughed and struck her sword—which looked to be a foot longer than the one she’d already faced—against the round shield strapped to her left arm. “I am willing to die to see that you do the same. We can burn together, human. Of course, I believe my hide is thicker than yours, so that may not be the actual outcome.”

  Cara’s magic pulsed in her veins, and delivered a double volley, hoping to end the confrontation before it began. Her adversary brought her shield around to deflect the blasts, and they ricocheted from its surface. “Come now, Cara Binot.” Her enemy grinned. “Did you think I was unaware of your powers? I hope you can do better than that.”

  She wanted nothing more than to get out of the building, which was rapidly filling with smoke, but could see no way to do it other than through her opponent. The creature seemed content to wait her out, true to her words. Cara walked forward slowly as she considered potential strategies and rejected them as fast as they came to mind. A fight on the catwalk would have incredible limitations, especially given the large fireproof shield. She had a spare magazine for the Glock, but the anti-magic rounds wouldn’t drive through the tough hide any more effectively than her fire darts had. She considered trying to slide under her foe but discarded that on the assumption that she’d simply be crushed if she tried. It was Demon who gave her the answer. His voice whispered instructions, and Cara’s eyes widened in surprise.

  “Really?” she said. The creature looked strangely at her, but the internal counsel of her dark guide offered confirmation. Well, it’s not like I have any better ideas right now, anyway.

  She hurtled forward and the smile on her opponent’s face indicated her pleasure at the choice. It flickered into uncertainty and then alarm when she hurled Angel at the Kilomea’s face. Predictably, the shield came up to protect her features and the dagger continued toward it, a little too high to strike the barrier even if she hadn’t raised it. But the objective hadn’t been to actually hit, only to cause her to reposition.

  Time slowed as Cara focused inwardly to talk to Demon. “So, how do I do this?”

  His voice was eager and filled with satisfaction, presumably because she’d chosen to follow his instructions. “First, reach for your flame but do not let it go.” She obliged and found the source of her magic easily.

  “Okay, now what?”

  “Focus it not into your fingers, but into your hand. Stop it before it leaves your palm.”

  That was more difficult but she had all the time in the world, seemingly, to accomplish it. A portion of the magic refused to obey, and she felt her fingertips warm slightly but most of it stayed where she wanted it. “Done.”

  “Now, imagine that the dagger is an extension of your hand. Let the magic flow into it but do not allow it to leave. Fill it with your power.”

  She’d known the artifacts could act as reservoirs of magical energy but had never envisioned them being used in quite this way. Nonetheless, she nudged it in the required direction and was encouraged when it flowed easily into the weapon. Maybe this was why they supported my choice to stick with only fire magic.

  Demon sounded as pleased as could be. “Now, cut that bitch’s shield out of the way.”

  Time snapped into full speed and she raised Demon in a diagonal slice that carved the metal of the shield in half and delivered a wicked, instantly cauterized gash to her adversary’s arm. Angel returned to her hand, and she thrust both weapons forward to stab the stunned Kilomea in the chest. Her foe’s eyes widened in disbelief as her blood spurted, and Cara stepped back from the weak sword strike that accompanied the critically wounded creature dropping to one knee.

  Her opponent looked up in pain and anger. Unexpectedly, she began to chuckle and blood burbled under the sound. Her words emerged between choked coughs. “For so long…you have thwarted us. Two members of the circle dead…now you have claimed a third.” She slumped against the railing, and the agent sheathed her daggers. “When you…finally kill…Iressa and Lechnas… Tell them…Pesharn cursed them…with her…last breath.” Her eyes rolled back in her head and she slid off the catwalk into the inferno below.

  Cara sprinted toward the windows with flames licking at her heels. She gathered all her strength and leapt out blindly, tumbling amidst the falling shards of glass and hoping someone with a healing potion was waiting below.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Diana gazed at the two other ARES women in the fading light as afternoon changed to evening. Cara still moved like she was exhausted from the healing potions as she retrieved coffee from the carafe on the credenza. Kayleigh looked as if something continued to chew on her from within, a situation she’d thought was in the past when they’d extracted Sloan from his undercover assignment. She turned to face Rath, who was in the chair beside her at the table in the fifth-floor conference room. “We’re quite a mess, aren’t we?”

  He laughed. “Is hard winning all the time. Better than alternative.”

  She shook her head as the others chuckled and took their places across from her. “So, the reason I’ve called you here today is…. Oh, wait, each of you asked to chat to me separately, so I have no idea why we’re here. Who wants to go first?”

  Kayleigh raised her hand from the table and bent it at the wrist. That woman can make anything seem sarcastic. Diana nodded for her to proceed.

  “We had a new take from the witch’s apartment late, late last night. Apparently, we’ve pushed her good and hard, right to the breaking point, with the official announcements about the gang. As always, we only had one half of the conversation, but Deacon and I came to the same conclusion independently. She’s calling in the troops—all of them. It started yesterday before the attempt on Cara. She was absolutely crowing about Cara’s death, I might add.”

  “Before? That’s interesting.”

  The other woman spoke. “Maybe they were already preparing to kick the action off once either you or I was out of the picture. You should be extra careful, by the way. That trap was seriously well-crafted. It’s good that Tony and Sloan came up with the clever plan to put the word out that it succeeded because I sure don’t want to face another episode like that anytime soon.” The look in her eyes showed exactly how deeply the experience had affected her. One more thing to make these bastards pay for.

  “In any case, it’s a good bet that something is about to happen,” Kayleigh said. “We activated the early warning plan when we heard, so Lady Alayne and Nylotte have both been alerted, as
have Bryant, Rath’s friend Charlotte Stanley, the chief of police, the SWAT lead, and the National Guard posts nearby.”

  Diana nodded. It had taken considerable debate to decide who to inform and who not to inform but in the end, they’d made the right decisions. “Is that all?”

  The tech shrugged. “Otherwise, more of the same. We’re still running surveillances and still finding leaks among those we’re supposed to be able to trust. The improved pattern recognition software to give the watchers more autonomy is functioning well, so if they do decide to gather and attack somewhere, we should have as early a warning as it’s possible to get.”

  “Have you come up with any new irritants for the witch?”

  She shook her head. “No, we ran out of clever ideas and were working on more when all this happened.”

  “Okay, good deal.” Diana turned to face Cara squarely. “And what did you want?”

  Her second in command looked uncomfortable as if she didn’t want to say what she had to say in front of Kayleigh but made a visible effort to steel herself. “Boss, no disrespect, but it’s time to change our approach to these bastards.”

  “Okay,” she replied levelly. What did you have in mind?”

  “Quit waiting and start acting.”

  “Is this because of the Kilomea?” She was sure it wasn’t but wanted the other woman to be clear about her own motivations.

  Cara shook her head. “I considered that. No. It’s about…well, everything. I had reached this conclusion before coming in here this morning, but what Kayleigh shared makes me even more convinced.”

  “That sounds serious.”