Shadowborn's Terror: Book IV of 'The Magician's Brother' Series

by HDA Roberts

  "There's a ten percent charge for credit cards, Sir," she said.

  I nodded my assent.

  I tapped my pin into the machine; the woman smiled and handed Crystal a key, "Behind me, on this floor are the tier one rooms. If you're ready for a lower one, come back and we'll make arrangements."

  "Thank you," Crystal said, "Come on, Darling."

  Crystal led me by the hand through the door behind the woman and into a black-painted room. There were seven doors, each with a letter on it - P, W, L, E, G, S and A (Pride, Wrath, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth and Avarice respectively). Crystal pulled me through 'L' and into a short corridor with three doors down each side. We went to room three, at the end on the left. She opened the door and led me through.

  And, oh dear.

  The room was almost all bed. It looked comfortable enough, with pink pillows and a thick mattress. Less comforting were the fur covered manacles all over the shop. There was a door leading to a bathroom and a set of drawers labelled 'enhancements and safety gear', whatever that meant, I wasn't eager to find out.

  Not that this wasn't quite enough to be going on with, but my problem was the immediate, mind searing wave of desire that flooded through my system the second I stepped through the door. A problem Crystal was rather evidently suffering from too, because she turned very slowly to look at me, her pupils dilating, turning black as she stared at me with almost laser-like focus.

  She closed the distance between us in a heartbeat, kicking the door shut and fastening her lips to mine, wrapping her arms and a leg around my body. For an instant, a very long instant, the enchantment of that place got under my skin and I responded to her, kissing her back with all I had, my arms around her, running all the way up and down her body, until my brain finally turned over and got back into gear.

  I called my mental shields and almost immediately felt normal again (and also rather ashamed of myself). It took a couple of extra moments to craft a set for Crystal, and all the while she was trying (quite successfully) to get my clothes off and kiss every exposed part of me. I cast the shield just as she'd gotten my shirt off; hers had long since fallen by the wayside, along with her jacket, hoodie and bra. She'd even pushed me onto the bed.

  And she didn't stop.

  "Crystal!" I said, "Did you forget why we were here?"

  She was breathing hard, her lips on my belly, her hands on my chest. At the sound of my voice, she halted, pulling back a little. Eventually, she slowed her breathing down and laid her head on my chest.

  "Oh..." she said, nuzzling away happily; all sorts of interesting parts of her were all over me, "I didn't want to stop."

  "Well, that's Magic for you," I said, controlling my own breathing, "Speaking of which..."

  "Yes, right!" she said, sitting up and blushing at her state of dress, "These rooms really work well, don't they?"

  "Too well," I said with a cough, "I wish you'd have mentioned this little effect before we came in. I could have been prepared."

  And bloody hell; that had been a close run thing. A little less conscious thought on my part and I would have done something unforgivable. And enjoyed every second of it. I was going to find whoever set this place up and do them one hell of a mischief. I could only imagine what horrors would arise if you put two people in the 'Wrath' room.

  "Sorry, I haven't been in one of these for a while," she said, "I wasn't expecting it to be so... strong, and normally there's a button or something to turn me- it, I meant it, on."

  She blushed and I patted her newly clothed shoulder.

  "Don't worry, could have happened to anyone," I said.

  "I don't see you complaining," she said, her eyes drifting over me as I pulled my shirt and jacket back on.

  "That's because there was nothing to complain about," I admitted. It was hardly her fault (or mine, just to clarify).

  Even with the... 'randy field' turned off, I was still very aware of her, I felt an almost primal need to touch her, which worried me enough that I double and triple checked my shields, but everything was fine, it must have been some residual thing.

  "Really?" she said, up against me again, "Am I getting to you, Mathew?"

  She kissed my neck, just a little one, but it made me shiver and she giggled.

  "Oh yes, very definitely getting to you," she said.

  "Do you mind?" I asked, turning to look in her eyes, "I'm working here."

  "Yeah you are," she purred, nuzzling my cheek and neck.

  "If I miscast this mapping spell because you distracted me, then I could break every pane of glass and shatter every ear drum in this place, including yours and mine."

  She sighed, "Fine. Work your Magic. We'll discuss returning to this room later."

  I knew how that discussion was going to go. I started casting the mapping spell, but didn't get half way done before the door slammed open and there were suddenly four goons in the room with us.

  Not just regular goons, they were Ghouls. I hated Ghouls; carrion eaters, yuk. As a species, they tended to look just like regular people, perhaps a little more attractive. These four, not so much, they looked like bruisers and they stood like they knew how to do violence.

  "Miss Sabeta," said a voice from outside, a slick sounding one, "sorry to intrude on your evening."

  That was not good. They'd recognised her after all, and that was just annoying. A hoody had worked just fine for years as a disguise for me. But then it was a lot easier to conceal an average looking male than an astonishingly attractive Vampire...

  The slick-sounding one was taller than the other ghouls, but thinner. His skin was pale and unhealthy, his head bald, his eyes dark and staring. I immediately brought up a number of discreet shields, just in case; that guy looked dangerous. He took in our clothed state with some confusion, but he didn't let it phase him.

  "Would you be willing to have a word with management?" he asked, "I believe we have a guest who's eager to see you."

  Crystal nodded, a little too eagerly and I stood with her.

  "Is your pet trained?" he asked, "I don't want him slobbering on anything."

  "He'll be good, won't you, boy?" Crystal said, her eyes urging me to play along.

  I nodded, and was almost immediately forgotten as we walked out.

  Two thugs led the way, and I trailed behind Crystal and Baldy; the last two heavies bringing up the rear.

  This was starting to stink like a trap. A convenient note, a club built like a fortress. Guards and vice and torture rooms...

  This may have been a mistake.

  "Where'd you find the meat?" Baldy asked.

  "Needed some money for tonight," she said with a shrug.

  "Hey, I don't judge," he said, "Ate me an heiress yesterday, she left me quite a few diamonds to pick out from between my teeth."

  He and the other ghouls started laughing nastily. My eyes narrowed, my Shadow straining to show my displeasure.

  "Did it get darker in here?" one of the guys at the back said.

  "Don't think so," said another.

  I controlled my temper and sent my Shadows away, but after we found Amber I was burning this place down to the bedrock.

  Baldy led us through some back corridors and into a wide lift. I kept my expression neutral while we descended to the floor labelled 'B-3' and they chatted.

  "So, that mean you're done with the guy? He looks pretty spaced," Baldy asked.

  "I haven't fed yet, and the night's still young," Crystal replied.

  "Still, he doesn't need all his fingers, does he?" Baldy asked, eyeing me up in a very unpleasant manner.

  Thankfully the lift doors opened and we were walking again before we had to meander any further along that conversational tangent. We made our way through some drab rooms filled with what looked like junk strewn onto worn carpets, to a pair of wide, wooden doors. Another Ghoul opened them and we walked through.

  The office was wide and comfortable, with an aquarium built into the far wall over a fitted sofa. There was
a massive desk next to one wall, covered in papers and a computer monitor. The whole thing reeked of money.

  On the sofa was a young-looking man, a Ghoul, tall, good looking with blue eyes and dark hair, but with terribly mismatched teeth and a rather nasty under-bite. Amber was sitting next to him. She didn't look like she was in need of rescue. She wore a tight black dress and had her hair in a severe bun, which made the most of her high cheek bones. There was a half-dead girl gasping on the sofa next to her, blood trickling from her neck. A man sat in the far corner, oozing Magic, a Wizard-level Magician, Flesh Affinity.

  Crystal went towards her sister, but was pulled back by the bouncers. I kept quiet. It wasn't time yet.

  "Amber? What's going on?" Crystal asked.

  Amber grinned evilly, showing fang, "What do you think?"

  Oh dear...

  "What?" Crystal said, sounding genuinely confused.

  "You're Price's favourite," the Ghoul next to Amber said, let's call him... Tusk, "Do you have any idea what she'll pay to get you back?"

  "And if she doesn't... well, there's always a room for you here," Amber said nastily, "And what's this? Who's the morsel?"

  "He was with her. We figured you'd want him," Baldy said.

  "Ugh, he's not very attractive, how rich is he?"

  "Very," Baldy said, "Sandra said he had a gold card."

  "That explains it, still latching onto anything with a wallet, eh, sister mine?" Amber said, walking around me.

  "Still latching onto the lowest piece of pond scum, Amber? You always did enjoy the smell of rot," Crystal said coldly.

  Amber laughed nastily, "Osrik, Darling, may I?" she said, gesturing at Crystal.

  "I can't refuse you, Love," Tusk (Osrik) said.

  "Tie her up. Put her in a Wrath Room, level three," she said, her eyes flashing with pure evil triumph, "Let them do whatever."

  Crystal was a Vampire, it was unlikely that a human could kill her with their bare hands, but they could still hurt her... a lot. I was now starting to get angry.

  "What happened to you, Amber?" Crystal said, her voice trembling.

  "I found a place where I wasn't just your sister, anymore," she said, "Where I am valued and loved. Something you'll never have. Do you have even one friend? One person who's not with you just to get in your panties or make money off your arse?"

  Crystal's eyes shed tears, she was completely devastated.

  Baldy grinned and reached for Crystal.

  He never made it.

  Because that had really been the last straw.

  Crystal may not necessarily have the most... friendship-conducive lifestyle.

  But she had me.

  And, if I'm honest, Cassandra was right about me. I was a bit of a Neanderthal. I didn't like it when people hurt women. I didn't even like it when they talked about it. You can imagine how I'd feel about it happening right in front of me. And the whole sibling betrayal thing cut a little close to my open wounds, too. That likely made me just a smidge more brutal than I'd otherwise have been...

  I took Baldy's arm off at the shoulder with a Shadow tendril. Black blood spurted out and he screamed. The Wizard was surprisingly quick off the mark, and was on his feet calling energy in the time it took me to put two more Shadow tendrils apiece through two bouncers. They flew apart, arms legs and organs flying everywhere, coating the room in blood and viscera while Crystal went for Amber and they blurred around the place, tearing into each other.

  I wasn't holding back. These were monsters in every sense of the word, and needed to be knocked out of the fight as quickly as possible (don't worry, ghouls and vampires could take a lot of damage; nobody died). The Magician was conjuring light and his form swirled with Chemical Energy as he started casting at me. This was no place for a duel. It was too easy for a stray shot to take someone's head off.

  He gestured, and a great gout of energy smashed into my shields, peeling away the outer layers before splattering all over the place, including Osrik, whose arm melted down to the bone, leaving him streaked with grey slime that used to be his flesh. He screamed, clawing at the wounds, not that it did him any good.

  I sent my Shadows, swatting Osrik like a sack of potatoes on their way past to tear into the Magician's shields. The Light weakened my attack, but not enough, and the sheer power and violence behind my Shadows ripped his defences to pieces. His were made of Chemical energy, not particularly strong to begin with, but worse against a Shadow attack, because there's nothing for them to eat at. The chemical light drained more energy from me, but combat was obviously not this man's speciality, and it showed. His shields were feebly made, poorly executed and his attacks were unfocussed (if potent).

  I tore his shields down and threw a curse that set his nerve endings on fire from the impact point on his abdomen. A nasty little spell, but it didn't do any actual damage, and it distracted him enough to allow me to drop a Coma Hex into his head and drop him like a stone.

  Meanwhile, Osrik had reached his desk and slapped his hand down on a control of some sort. I heard an alarm blare, and felt minds converging on us, well, something like minds, anyway. Focussing on them allowed me to recognise some of them, and I grimaced before turning back to the irate ghoul.

  He moved fast, heading for the door. By this point I was surrounded by a cloud of Shadow, impossible to see, much less attack, for someone without Magic. Just getting close to me would be nigh impossible.

  He must have realised that, and was trying to escape, but my Shadows were there, and a tendril caught him around the middle. I thought about trying something fancy, but in the end I opted for cutting him in half with a mental flick. Being chopped in half wouldn't kill him. As long as the heart and head were intact and connected, he'd live.

  Reinforcements arrived, two ghouls at the back, along with four Vampires, behind a small pack of Hyde monstrosities. These ones were of the smaller variety, men combined with goats or sheep, all the stitching crude, but effective. Some of the magic leaking off them was recognisable as belonging to the Flesh Mage behind me, though I didn't think he'd made them, not enough magic. Perhaps he was their controller? Their focus?

  That was a telling arrival. There seemed to be a connection between those who'd attacked the Red Carpet, and these people. If the Hyde were mercenaries, then was it the same employer? Had these Ghouls been behind everything?

  Well, that was hardly my problem, and I had better things to do than play detective at that moment.

  There was no reasoning with the Hyde, so I sent my Shadows and started pulling them apart, which was disgusting, if quick. George Romero, the great zombie master, had one thing bang on, take the head or the brain and the Reanimate snuffs it for good. It wasn't long before I was left with a corridor full of twitching man and animal bits and a repulsive smell, which didn't blend well with the stench of Ghoul guts and Vampire viscera.

  The Ghouls and Vamps behind them looked shocked, wavering between attack and flight, so I threw the still screaming half-Osrik at them. They chose to run, which was clever of them.

  They didn't make it far. I got them too, and revelled in tearing those people to pieces. Something very ugly in me enjoyed visiting on these things the pain they'd inflicted on others.

  "Hey! Freak! Stop what you're doing or I'll pull this bitch's head off!"

  I turned.

  Crystal was on her knees, bleeding from her neck, face and chest. Amber had her nails dug into her sister's neck, her knee braced on her back, ready to pull.

  "Don't listen to her, you surrender and she'll kill us both!" Crystal croaked.

  I didn't bother to speak to her; I just tossed a Sleeping spell. Amber never knew what hit her and simply collapsed onto Crystal. The damage was done, though; most of the monsters got away.

  I ran out of my Shadows and over to Crystal, who was curled up in an agonised ball, blood seemingly leaking from everywhere.

  I adjusted my Mage Sight and cast a numbing spell while I went to work, calling Flesh Magic.
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  Right, wounds. Long gash in her belly, stab wound to her chest, puncturing her left lung; severed veins in her left arm and right thigh. I started to weave Flesh Lattices, but when I tried to apply them, her body rejected them. I took a look, and saw that the energy of her body was all wrong. It wasn't anything like it should be, nothing worked the same way. She was regenerating, but was losing more blood than she could afford to while it was happening. I nearly panicked, looking in her eyes, knowing that I couldn't help.

  "Mathew," she whispered, her eyes glazing, "hungry."

  I slapped my forehead.

  Oh, right, Vampire. I didn't know how I'd forgotten that...

  I used a painless extraction spell to remove about a litre of my blood, which formed into a ball above her mouth. Her eyes went wide at the sight and she stuck her face into it, sucking greedily. Her wounds closed before my eyes as she moaned and shuddered. I saw her Aura brighten as she drank.

  It was only at that point that it occurred to me that feeding a Vampire the blood of an Archon might not have been the very best idea...

  Creatures like Vampires had a Well, very much like a Magician, which allowed them to do things like lift cars or move faster than the eye could see. Different creatures refilled that well in different ways. Ghouls ate rotting flesh, Ogres had to sleep in their element (Earth or water, usually), Vampires drank blood. Drinking mine deepened and widened Crystal's well. She wasn't exactly a kitten to begin with, but now her powers had as much as doubled. Permanently.

  I wondered if that sort of thing was cumulative... though I doubted it. A piece of my power integrated with her Well, almost a foreign entity. It shouldn't have the same effect a second time.

  The last of my blood flowed down her gullet and she fell back with an ecstatic sound before smiling broadly, squirming interestingly.

  "Oh, that was amazing," she said, her eyes lidded as she stared at me. I was feeling a little woozy and cast a spell to replace my blood volume.

  "How are you feeling?" I asked.

  "Better now," she said, curling up around my legs with her head on my thigh, "Is she...?"

  "Sleeping," I said.

  "The others?"