Sovereign Malpractice (Office of Preternatural Affairs Book 3)

by Voss Foster

  Shit. The front door. That hadn't been there when we first got up on the roof. Rashem had hidden it again after retrieving the note. They weren’t just trying a frontal assault. They were dismantling the barriers, and there was no telling how deep they'd be able to get. Sure they started with the front door, but they'd already cracked that mystery. What kind of lead would that get them?

  Because if they made it inside, that was it. Evacuate or die.

  "Rashem." King's voice chirped in over the earpiece, paired with a faint version of itself from where she staked out behind me. "They're making good progress out back."

  I chimed in too. "And your front door's already back."

  "That's what I was hoping for." He sounded practically elated at the prospect. "Don't fire on them yet. I'm a step ahead of them on this one."

  Oh good. He had something. I laid there, waiting for a change, and watched. The harpies appeared to be down for the count, but the whole front line was now hurling various magic at the entrance. It whizzed and popped through the air, different streaks of Technicolor. Some shrieked through the air almost too fast to see, others bobbed along lazily. At least one, a virulent pink light the size of a half dollar, swung in circles around the head of the casting elf, then finally flew in a wide arc halfway down the street before ramming straight into the barrier. Pink light exploded out, flooding up the house and across the lawn like spilled paint. Then that blew up. Ixel toppled to her knees next to me from the impact, and I only stayed up because I was able to sandwich against the dormer.

  How many of those could Rashem's barriers stand up against?

  I scanned over the crowd and, stuck dead in the middle, I caught two figures working subtle magic. An orc…and a sorcerer. My asshole clenched up and my heart thrummed up into my ears. "I've got eyes on a sorcerer." I looked over them again, trying to see if the face was round enough, or if anything else struck me as this being Afexius. But I couldn't. The orc? He was more familiar. "And an orc." A gnarly, tough-looking one with rust-orange skin. If they happened to be an orc who could perform Gelgaath's War Blessing, shit just got fifteen times more real.

  Silence filled the comms for a few seconds, then Bancroft's quiet, brittle voice came across the line. "Dash, does this orc have an axe with him? Or any other large artifact? To perform the War Blessing, he would need to be able to add blood to the appropriate runes."

  "I can't see enough to tell you that. They're smack in the middle of the cluster." Could Gelgaath's War Blessing be stopped by these barriers? Or was that why they really wanted to take them down? If that was the case, evacuation might not even be an option.

  "They're almost to my little surprise," said Rashem. "Don't act. Save your ammo for when it's going to be useful."

  I nodded, though none of them could see, and kept switching back and forth between the whole crowd and my view of the sorcerer and orc in the middle.

  A flare of light exploded across the whole group. I had to turn my gaze downward, it was so bright.

  Rashem's voice blasted off across my earpiece. "They fell right into it. See how they like that."

  "Jesus, Rashem," said King. "What the hell did you do?"

  "I knew they'd find a way to get through the front door barrier if I put it back in place. So I left some breadcrumbs along with it to lead them straight into a highly concentrated wave of magic. It'll overload anyone who's not strong enough to stand up to it, so they'll be down for at least ten minutes."

  The light cleared and I looked out into the crowd. All the magic had stopped flying. Even the sorcerer and the orc had stopped casting. Most of the crowd around the door were on their knees.

  Then a few of them began to crumble. Elves and goblins fell into piles of dirt and stones and leaves and, in one case, what appeared to be the contents of someone's trash can.

  "The rear party just lost half their numbers," said King. "Golems. Nice move, Rashem."

  "I've got the same up front," I said. "You'll have to get someone in to clean up your lawn, because they left a mess."

  "Dash, King. You ready?" Swift sounded as at-peace as he ever had. "You've got an ice elemental who apparently wants to get her hands dirty. Get her to tie up whoever you can. Anyone still standing after that's enough of a threat to fire on."

  Sounded good. I didn't turn my head to speak. "Ixel, is your magic intact?"

  "Yeah, it's fine."

  "We've got a few minutes where theirs isn't. Lock down as many as you're able to."

  I still didn't look over to see what she was doing. I wanted to keep an eye on the orc and the sorcerer. Any suspicious moves and I was more than happy to fire on both of them. But I felt the sting of ice crystals against my cheek. It was a relatively warm winter day, wherever we were now, but suddenly all the warmth drained out from the air around me. The grip of the rifle turned frigid, spreading an aching burn through my knuckles.

  Then it all left. I watched the streak of ice bolting down. It hit the lawn at the front of the group, then spread out and up. Those on their knees were locked into ice up to their shoulders. Anyone still standing, the ice surrounded them to just under the knees. The shorter races were trapped to their chests in ice. For good measure, I guess, Ixel fired off some more bolts of ice, locking frozen balls around everyone's hands.

  "This should slow them down. Still wish I wasn't up here, sugar?"

  "I sure as hell wish you didn't need to be."

  "I knew I liked you."

  More ice flew down, this time to the sorcerer. He glanced up and smiled, then lazily waved one hand. The ice shattered apart into a fine, sparkling mist. "Ixel." There was that voice again. "You continue to be thorn in my paw. I must say, I don't think I've regretted any hiring decision quite as much as yours."

  She didn't respond, and I didn't have anything quippy to say. I'd seen the axe. Finally. It hung at the orc's hip in a leather sling. "Swift, Rashem. I've got eyes on an axe. Gelgaath's War Blessing is in play."

  "Stop trying to communicate in secret." The sorcerer shook his head. "I can hear everything you all have been saying. And kudos to you, Dash. Your name is Dash, right? You spotted Karth and I out of the whole. I couldn't hold up that many golems from far enough away."

  Okay, we were found out. "You're Afexius, right?"

  "Oh, you've heard of me? Even in the Mundane? My reputation precedes me even further than I would have imagined. Now go ahead and let them know I'm here. I'll wait. I have nothing but time."

  I didn't want to listen to him, but they needed to know. "It's Afexius. His partner's name is Karth."

  "I'm on my way up." Gutt's voice rumbled over the line, then I heard his footsteps on the platform behind me. At least I knew we weren't blocked from remote transport. "Afexius of Tarwald!"

  "N'Gutta of Droshheim, yes? The great and powerful troll who fought so hard to craft this vile organization."

  "You are under arrest. If you come peacefully, nothing will happen to you. I cannot guarantee the same if you choose to go down fighting." A beam of light flew down from behind me. Headed straight for the axe hanging at Karth's side.

  Afexius deflected that with a wave of his hand as well. "I see. You know the plan, then. That changes things." He pressed his thumb to his Adam's apple, and when he spoke again, it resonated over the whole area. If news crews hadn't heard about this yet, they would now. "You have a final chance. Do not fool yourselves into thinking your barriers will stop Gelgaath's War Blessing. You have no one so powerful as to protect you from such ancient magic."

  I peered back through the scope to make sure I was still in line. You didn't count on bullets, you bastard.

  I squeezed back the trigger and let a round fly straight at Karth. It gleamed silver as it sliced through the air.

  Afexius swept his arm upward, raising a sparkling barrier in front of Karth and himself, but the bullet pierced straight through and took Karth's hand clean off in an explosion of blood and bone. He roared low and loud, clutching what was now a stump, and slumpe
d to his knees.

  Afexius scowled. His voice was still amplified. "I see you have chosen to be difficult." He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. I felt the air still. When he blew back out, a veil descended over the entire house. It clung to my skin like Florida humidity, and I struggled to draw breath as it passed over and through me.

  "Your escape routes have been cut off, Office of Preternatural Affairs. Your death is earned and deserved. You were not strong enough to stop me."

  He reached for Karth's axe, smearing it against the orc's bloody stump along the way. I watched the deep blue trickle into the runes. And it stayed.

  "Swift. He's casting the War Blessing."

  He didn't respond, and I had to wonder if it had already gotten to him. Then, in the silence of Afexius's barrier, I heard the distinct, distant creak of a hinge. The front door had opened. My stomach dropped straight down to the basement as I watched a slender form step out. Lenva.

  "No, no, no." Ixel muttered under her breath. "This isn't right. She's just going to give herself up?"

  "Let her do this." Another voice joined us. This time I had to turn, because I didn't immediately recognize it. I saw snakes. Vellius kneeled down next to me. "None of us can stop her. Even with my knowledge-base, I can't hope to restrain her here and now. And if any of us can hope to halt Gelgaath's War Blessing, she would have the best chance." A grim smile tainted her lips. "I can only part with so many more snakes, after all."

  I didn't want to ask, but I damn well needed to know. "Is she going down there to sacrifice herself?"

  "No idea," said Vellius. "She's a Class-A. Free to roam the world, she can basically do anything she wants. Someone as powerful as Afexius, though…maybe it would be enough to kill her, if that's what she was after. Maybe not. Maybe she's just going down to save the rest of us."

  She had as many answers as I did . Great.

  As Lenva approached, Afexius stopped the amplification of his voice, but I could still hear him in the dead quiet outside. "Are you happy to be free of them? At long last, Lenva, are you happy to have your freedom?"

  "They only wished to protect me, and to protect the world from me. That is not a crime worthy of death. Meanwhile, you murder in cold blood, and now you turn your same magic against this house full of heroes?"

  "Anyone not strong enough to withstand an assault has no right to life. This is the way of nature when left unimpeded by social mores. It is not wrong that a greater dragon can eat an elf, it is not wrong that you can reshape the world at your whim, and it is not wrong that these heroes as you call them are too weak to stand against us."

  "And it is also not wrong that people like those inside this house wish to fight against the encroach of nature."

  "The way they choose to do so is unnatural. If I am a threat, and they can do so, I should be killed, not imprisoned. They were able to kill Jörmungandr, so they were able to live. Now a superior being has given them a chance at survival. All they have to do is allow you your freedom, but they refuse to release you to us. If the serpent gives you a chance to avoid being bitten, you deserve your death if you forego the chance."

  I sucked in a harsh breath. This was bullshit, and he was a wordy bastard. Releasing her to them was hardly what could be passed off as freedom in my book. Luckily, I had a way of silencing mouthy assholes. Lenva was well clear of him, so I settled, lined the sights up with his leg—we were under orders to try and take him alive, after all—and squeezed. The silvery bullet flew straight and true, but he noticed. For a few moments, Afexius's whole focus shifted toward that bullet. His hands moved in a blur, weaving some form of magic. He'd seen it go wrong against Karth. Maybe he could better address the threat.

  The bullet shifted ever so slightly, but he didn't have enough time. A grazing shot through his right calf. The enchantment made a decent crater in the ground behind him, but he'd missed the worst of it, even as he staggered and shifted his weight to the other side. But what he hadn't missed was the stupid human who'd shot at him.

  Lenva leapt for him, but too late. He released the collected energy straight up toward the roof. It crackled and sizzled as it slashed through the air, and I had seconds to make a decision. I tossed the gun down and rammed my shoulder into Ixel. She toppled, and the enchanted rifle that would have God-only-knew what reaction with that spell was out of the radius.

  You ever lick a battery? It was that, but every single nerve ending was attached to its own nine volt. Oh, and those nine volts were each actually a transformer. I seized and, no matter what I tried, there was no standing anymore. I didn't know what it actually was, but a dozen screams of pain died inside my lungs, unable to get past clenched teeth. When I could scrabble a breath, everything was ozone and burning. Was it me burning? The house? I couldn't say.

  A sudden rush of cold surrounded me, numbing the pain slightly. I still couldn't speak or move, but I was semi-aware. Mostly just aware of how much I wanted to pass out. Die. Whatever it took to get away from this. Voices played in my earpiece, but I was only coherent enough to pick out my own name from the rabble.

  So much for spending Christmas in Rhode Island.

  Then, suddenly, I could suck in chilled air. I scrambled to get up, but my muscles weren't yet reacting. The world around me was fuzzy, and every inch of my body burned. But I could tell the assault had ended, by one means or another.

  The blur went away, and I locked onto Gutt's face above me. "What?" It was the best question I could manage at the moment, and even that single syllable felt like iron filings in my throat.

  "Lenva undid whatever enchantment had been thrust at you." Gingerly—or as gingerly as he could manage, anyway—Gutt reached down and slowly got me back to my feet. "You need to go inside. I don't know what that was."

  Once he got me on my feet, I shrugged his hand off. And holy shit was that a bad idea. Nearly toppled back onto my ass, but I caught myself. "I'm fine." Two syllables. I was on the mend, then. Woo.

  "You aren't fine, greenhorn." King was still looking over the back of the house, didn't turn around to look at me. "You're just stubborn."

  "You should talk." Three syllables. I bent down and grabbed the HTR from where I'd tossed it aside. That also almost did me in too, but I made it back to the edge of the house and, with the rifle, I had a perfectly valid excuse to lay back down on my stomach and watch through the scope. No fear of collapsing anymore.

  Lenva had one hand stretched out toward the roof, and her eyes were dark as used up charcoal. The magic leaching from her distorted her image. But once she locked eyes on me, she swung her hand around. Her image clarified, but Afexius's blurred. When Lenva spoke, her voice came out amplified and warbling. "If those with the power survive, then we should see who survives." She wrapped her fingers around Afexius's throat.

  The ground around them rumbled and shifted. Thick sheets of magic burst from the earth and surrounded her, Afexius, and Karth's corpse. It didn't muffle her voice any, just closed them in. "Now, let's see."

  Then she shook in place. Blue blood spilled over her lips. So much, so fast. Too much. She couldn't possibly have that much blood in her body. Shit, Karth definitely couldn't either. It was a torrent, running down her front as she stood there.

  "What the hell is she doing?" Slowly, I forced myself back to standing and lurched my way to Vellius. I gripped her shoulders. My throat burned with each word I forced out, and my head felt like it was filled with helium, held down by some thin string that used to be my spine. "What is happening?"

  "I told you, I don't know. This is beyond me." Her yellow eyes burned with pleading, staring straight down into me. "Please release me and find a place to lay down."

  "She wants to die." Ixel stated it as a simple matter of fact. "I was there when she first appeared in your offices. She was begging for death from moment one. Maybe she thinks Gelgaath's War Blessing will be enough to finally get the job done, and save the rest of us in one fell swoop."

  I deflated, and fully leaned again
st Vellius. She held up surprisingly well, considering I was not a tiny dude, and she was a tiny gorgon. We stagger-hobbled our way closer to the edge where we could look over. The other preets were all still working on the ice binding them in place, but my eyes were on the display inside the magical glass cage.

  Lenva spewed up more cobalt blood, then wiped her mouth. "This is our battlefield, Afexius. Only the three of us are touched by the War Blessing. And I have survived for five-hundred years. Nothing yet has killed me. Will you be so lucky?"

  Afexius coughed. Blue blood. He was affected, now. And like the rest of us, he didn't have snakes to sacrifice like Vellius. When he spoke, his voice was clotted, thick. "Why should you die?"

  "Because I owe flesh for every life lost in Solvar and Dar'Thenal." She nodded slowly, then spat. "I would recommend you flee and take the blessing with you. Or you can die here next to me. I'm not bothered either way."

  Next to me, a bright flash of gold appeared. I glanced that way and saw Gutt holding a stack of rings at the ready.

  Eyes wide, Afexius swung his free hand in a circle, then tossed the axe through the portal he'd summoned. He threw Karth through it next, then closed it up. "You're ill. You were damaged by the time they locked you up, and now you desire it. They've broken you."

  "If you don't leave, I'll break you. My breaks are hard to recover from." She snapped and the barrier shattered to dust.

  Gutt threw his rings. Three of them missed completely, but three more snapped tight around Afexius, disabling his left wrist and left shoulder, plus his right foot.

  He glanced up, chin and lips gleaming with orc blood, then back to Lenva. He squeezed his eyes shut, then with his free hand, he cast blinding magic all around himself. When the light cleared, he was gone.

  All of him except the still bound left arm and right foot, still suspended where they'd been caught.

  The world went stiller than ever. Even those trapped in the ice were no longer struggling. Everything was frozen.