Showdown in Magic City (Magic City Chronicles Book 4)

by TR Cameron

  She broke into the open at the optimal distance and leapt into the air at the back of the man who was, unfortunately for him, aiming his weapon over the car’s trunk at Ruby. Her mass slammed into him and bounced him off the limo, rocking the vehicle, and she landed right beside the tire. She extended her claws and stabbed them into the rubber, which immediately hissed as it deflated. She moved ahead, rising to her feet as the one firing over the hood of the car turned to bring his rifle in line.

  Idryll grabbed the barrel, yanked it to the side, and punched him in the face, claws retracted. He took the impact like someone who’d experienced one before, even with her impressive strength, and responded by bringing his knee up at her stomach in a fast smash. She accepted the blow, which turned out to be sufficiently forceful to drive most of her breath away, to deliver an elbow to his skull. The force of his attack knocked her back enough that her strike wasn’t final, but it dazed him.

  She lurched forward, grabbed his head, and bashed it onto the car’s roof. He went down, and she followed him, stabbing her claws deeply into the front tire. The vehicle listed as it deflated. Idryll tore the man’s rifle from the strap that held it and used the handle as a spear, lifting and driving it into the passenger-side window. It took several smashes to get through, and she dropped quickly as the driver unloaded a pistol at her. She chuckled as an idea occurred to her, then took one of the concealment grenades, primed it, and threw it into the car. It went off a moment later, billowing smoke and forcing the occupants to tumble out of their doors. Unfortunately, they both went out the other side. Aww, are you scared? She crouched and circled the trunk to prepare for the next attack.

  Jared Trenton sat in his SUV, several miles from the Casino Graveyard. He watched the action through the eyes of a drone hovering overhead, one of the models that flew over their headquarters at all times since the break-in. He used his encrypted comm to connect with Grentham by text message. “The costumes showed up, but there’s a bunch of other people there, too. Looks like some sort of enhanced SWAT team. The police will be screeching in with sirens and lights in about a minute. Abort your entry. We’ll let them fight it out. Go to Position Two and hold.”

  Grentham replied, “We’re not finishing off the costumes?”

  He laughed out loud and typed, “If there are any left alive at the end, we have the backup plan ready.”

  “What about the gems?”

  Jared shook his head, a familiar frustration flickering through his mind. His partner’s focus on money was troubling at times. “I prefer survival over cash right now, or did you forget the boss’s attitude the last time we saw him? If it makes you feel better, you can always come back and round them up later, once all these people are dead.”

  He got a smiley face emoji in return. “Got it. Heading for Position Two.”

  Rath watched the fight play out below, waiting for the moment he could make the most impact. He saw his opportunity as the group of magicals appeared from nowhere. They’d apparently concealed themselves among the rubble on the far side of the spot where the trade was taking place. Classic double-cross. Everyone should’ve seen that coming. He calculated vectors and trajectories, then took an extra second to gauge the wind.

  He leapt from the top of the crane, snapping out his mechanical wings to carry him past the new arrivals. Unless they looked up, he’d have a clean shot to take them from behind. Just in case, he reached down to his vest and cross-drew a pair of throwing knives, readying them for a toss. His plans changed abruptly when he saw an enemy moving in unnoticed at the tiger-woman’s back.

  He banked in that direction and threw the knife in his left hand at the oncoming figure. It stabbed into the man’s protective vest, but the angle was all wrong, and it didn’t stop him. Rath growled and dove, waiting until the last second to improve his angle while still intervening early enough to protect his ally. The next blade buried itself in his foe’s shoulder near his neck, just to the inside of the vest’s protection. The man’s howl was audible even at his current distance, and the woman spun lightning-quick and delivered a kick to the man’s head that laid him out. He pulled up sharply and collapsed the wings, landing smoothly beside her. She said, “Nice throw, Troll.”

  He grinned. “You owe me one, Tiger. Maybe a throwing competition sometime?” He gestured at the remaining blades on his vest.

  She laughed. “Well, that’s not something I’m any good at, so how about you teach me, instead?”

  His grin widened. “Done deal. In return, you teach me claws. Better get back to the fight.” He ran toward the newcomers he’d spotted, thinking that no one had yet claimed them. Rath the teacher. I like the sound of that. Like Dead Poets Society, but with blades.

  Ruby finished the nearest enemy, having to resort to the pistol and anti-magic bullets to put down the single magical the fence had brought along, a wizard who had interposed himself between her and the gem sellers. They were piling back into their car, so she emptied the rest of the magazine full of incredibly expensive rounds into the vehicle’s tires to disable it, wincing with every shot. If Diana makes me start paying for these, I’m going to be screwed. She ran all-out toward the vehicle, intent on preventing the gems from escaping.

  Her blood went cold as Kayleigh announced, “Oh, hell. The Paranormal Defense Agency is on site.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Ruby heard the drone coming before it attacked, but barely. She dove out of the way as bullets stitched the car beside her. She trusted they weren’t anti-magic, trusted that her bulletproof vest and personal force shield would handle any that caught her, but still, even rounds that didn’t penetrate hurt. One of the dwarves selling the gems took advantage of the moment to shoot lightning at her, and she felt it chewing on her magical defenses.

  She popped up and delivered a left cross to his temple, and it connected with a loud crack as the electrical knuckles detonated. He dropped immediately, the movement so abrupt she couldn’t tell if he was unconscious or dead. She called up a force shield in her other hand and interposed it between her and the drone, and the continuing barrage of bullets bounced off. So, not anti-magic. Thank heaven for small favors. She threw fire at the drone, but it bobbed and weaved out of the way. Toggling her comm, she said to everyone, “Drones appear to be manually piloted or have really good dodging software.”

  Morrigan replied, “I’m on it. Take care of yourself.”

  Ruby grumbled inwardly at the loss of her covering fire, but it was the right move. She primed one of her electrical grenades and hurled it at the drone. She used force magic to compensate for the craft’s efforts at evasion. It detonated as it struck, sending electricity arcing out to cover the device. It sputtered in place for several seconds, then plummeted to the ground, smoking. “Electricity is effective against the PDA drones.”

  She turned off her microphone and, after checking to be sure no more of the killer aerial vehicles were homing in on her, threw a blast of force at the car windows, shattering them.

  Morrigan nocked and loosed arrows as fast as she could, calmly shifting from target to target as they presented themselves. Her second magical lightning arrow struck a glancing blow on one of the drones but was still enough to send it out of control. She didn’t check it off her target list but moved it down to the bottom. Next up was a knockout gas arrow into a pair of the buyer’s guards who had taken cover together. An explosive arrow followed, taking out a drone headed toward Idryll's position.

  She cringed back as gunfire spattered the side of the container she stood on. Apparently, they’ve noticed me. Unfortunate. She cast a veil and moved to the other end, then stayed frozen until the shooter was distracted by someone closer. Then she fired what she thought of as her “screamer” at his position, the burst of light and sound jangling his nerves and sending him stumbling out of cover so her razor arrow could take him in the shoulder. She’d aimed center mass but couldn’t complain about the target she’d hit.

  Boots slammed on the container b
ehind her, and she spun to find a Kilomea a dozen feet away. She pulled out an explosive arrow and launched it at him, but he whipped up an ax and knocked it out of the air. He held one of the wicked-looking weapons with a bladed front and pointed back in each hand and grinned as he twirled them. “Let’s see how tough you are when you’re not shooting unaware victims at a distance.”

  Morrigan nodded acknowledgment and hit the button to retract her bow, slipping it into the holder on her left leg when the transformation was complete. He waited, seemingly comfortable allowing her to prepare herself. She drew her daggers, gave them a quick spin in imitation of his move, and set her feet. “Let’s go, big boy.”

  He moved forward at a measured pace, not committing to any particular action, and she advanced to meet him. His muscles were sufficient to make wielding the heavy axes seem no more challenging than her using her daggers. He brought them across in quick, brutal chops, seeming less interested in ending the battle than in inflicting minor damages that would add up. Sadist.

  She evaded some, deflected others with her blades, and back-stepped when he tried to circle to put the edge of the container behind her. Now, now, none of that. She had options, including loosing her magic or using one of the grenades on her belt, but fighting him with her daggers somehow felt right. After all, if we can’t be civilized murderers, why even bother? She slid in and fell to her knees, stabbing both her knives in at his thighs. He slashed down at her, but the move had been a feint to get inside his guard. She popped up inches away from him, ramming a knee up into his groin only to receive a leg full of pain as it impacted something metal.

  He laughed and smashed his forehead down at her, connecting with the top of her head because of the height difference. Morrigan staggered in a retreat as sparkles filled her vision and narrowly avoided the first ax chop that came down at her. A quick dodge saved her from the forehand stroke of the other one, but he quickly whipped it in reverse and the point caught her in the upper left arm, stabbing deep into the muscle. She screamed and dropped her blades, hurling a force blast at him with all the magic she could reflexively muster. It was sufficient to knock him back three feet, but her brain was too disjointed to pull enough power to do more. She tossed one of Margrave’s concealment grenades at her feet and stumbled backward, looking over her shoulder to find the edge while her good hand scrabbled at her waist for her healing potion.

  When the smoke cleared, her arm was on the mend, but not yet useful. The blow to her head had healed, but the blow to her pride had not. She drew the pistol from her holster in a fit of anger and pulled the trigger three times, putting anti-magic rounds into his chest. He staggered backward, dropping one of his axes to clang on the metal surface, and tumbled off the back of the container. She sank down to a knee and switched out the magazine for a full one while she waited for her arm to heal.

  Cara’s glasses highlighted one of the men in front of her as Kayleigh said, “I’ve marked the leaders for you.” A trio of guards protected him, all elves. She took out the first with a burst from her rifle, cutting his legs out from underneath him thanks to the luxury of time to aim. She followed it with a concussion grenade, then ran in under cover of its sound and fury. A car door that the elf magically ripped off its hinges and put in the way intercepted her next series of shots.

  She shouted, “Impressive, but not big enough.” Her follow-up barrage struck him in the feet, and when he released the shield in shock, she shot him in the chest. The next foe lifted his hands, and she reflexively dropped the rifle and conjured a force shield to protect against whatever he was going to throw at her. Only a moment of crystal intuition allowed her to dive forward and avoid the piece of concrete he summoned from behind her, dodging a nasty blow to the head that probably would’ve killed her if she hadn’t moved.

  She rolled up with a growl and stabbed both empty hands at him. Darts of fire leapt from each of her fingers and curved in at his face. He blocked about half but wasn’t fast enough to catch them all and went down screaming from the burns. Then it was only her and the leader. The man calmly pulled the trigger on the shotgun he’d been concealing behind the guard. She threw herself onto her back to avoid the rounds and called up a large force shield to protect against any further shots.

  From her prone position, she pulled her pistol and shot at him, but the elf with the wounded face hurled himself into the path of her bullets. One scored a glancing blow on the leader, and the others buried themselves in the unfortunate magical’s chest. She climbed to her feet warily under the protection of the shield, and another duo of bodyguards joined the fight long enough to send suppressing fire her way and pull their boss back to their vehicle. She activated her comm and reported, “Group one down.”

  Kayleigh chimed in, “Only four more to go.”

  She frowned. “Four? We had three incoming, and they’ve already taken down the buyer and seller. Who’s the extra?”

  “Rambo found them. Bunch of assorted magicals hiding among the debris.”

  Cara shook her head and cursed. “Boss can handle the rest of these. Vector me in to another bunch.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Rath’s three-foot size provided a distinct advantage as he positioned himself to deal with the onrushing criminals. They were focused on the cars ahead of them, on winning the prize of the gems, he supposed and had no attention to spare for the small troll working his way around behind them. No attention to spare, that is, until the nearest discovered a throwing knife in his calf that caused him to stumble and fall in a sprawling roll.

  Rath charged forward, now heedless of being spotted, and threw blades as fast as he could pull them. Two more went down, one of which would likely find himself in trouble if he didn’t get medical attention quickly, and for the other, a woman, her head striking the ground probably did more damage than the knife in her shoulder did. He swapped to batons as he neared his targets and dodged out of the way of a blast of lightning that tried to catch him. That foe could wait since later in the battle it might benefit the troll to have someone throwing electricity at him to recharge his batons.

  He angled toward a dwarf who had stopped his rush to the cars, turned to face him, and pulled out a lead pipe. That enemy grew a shade paler when Rath flicked his batons out to full extension. His foe interposed the pipe into the path of his first strike. He even deflected the second, but the third and fourth easily caught him on the shin and shoulder. A stab in the middle of his chest with both weapons finished the sequence. The first four blows generated small sparks, but the last discharged a sizeable blast that knocked the dwarf from his feet. Rath looked up and realized a couple more enemies had noticed him, a Kilomea with a nail-studded baseball bat and another dwarf carrying a pistol.

  Rath shouted, “No guns,” and fired his harpoon at the latter foe. It struck true, thanks to the targeting reticule in his goggles, bisecting the man’s wrist and causing him to drop the gun. He bent to retrieve it with his other hand, and Rath shook his head in grudging admiration for his enemy’s dogged persistence. He veered away from the Kilomea and ran up to the dwarf, launching a flurry of blows with the stun batons that put him out of the fight.

  The move allowed the giant creature to catch up to him, and Rath took a kick to his protective vest that lifted him and hurled him through the air in a low arc. Without the impact protection, things inside him probably would’ve broken. He was already shifting before he landed. His vest split along its Velcro straps and fell away as he grew, as did his weapons belt. At his full seven-foot-plus size, with his purple hair standing up in spikes, he knew he appeared impressive and fearsome to most. The Kilomea, clearly not impressed, grinned and waved his baseball bat. “Nice trick. I’m going to smash you down to size.”

  Rath replied, “You have only one weapon. I have two.” They closed at a dash and engaged in a sequence of strikes and parries, testing each other. His opponent broke the pattern with a kick at Rath’s knee, and he jumped in the air into a somersault over his foe
to avoid it. As soon as he landed, he kicked backward, connecting with the creature’s thigh and knocking him away. Rath spun, leading with the baton, but the Kilomea was smart enough to get low to evade the blow. That didn’t save him from the second baton, which Rath stabbed into the small of his back and held in place as it hissed and snapped.

  His enemy growled and spun to bring the baseball bat around in a move that would’ve surely beheaded Rath if he hadn’t compensated. He was already in motion, diving to the side in a roll. He rose and whipped a weapon at his opponent’s head, forcing him to block, then rammed the tip of his other baton into the Kilomea’s groin. This time the snaps and cracks were rewarded with shouts of pain, and while he was distracted, Rath pulled back and delivered a punch to his face with the shock glove. The last dose of electricity overwhelmed him, and the giant creature fell to the ground.

  Rath shook his head at the figure below. “Who brings a baseball bat to a stun weapon fight? Honestly.” He picked up his gear and loped in Ruby’s direction after knocking out the couple who were bold enough to remain and fight him.

  Idryll decided things were too chaotic to rely on her current body. She removed her mask and clipped it to her extendable belt, then released her magic and shifted into her tiger form. Her vision became sharper, her nose much more so, and every step flexed the wicked claws on hands and feet. She moved quietly, staying low to the ground, heading for the men who had escaped out the far side of the limousine. She peered around the corner and discovered the thin man in the suit was first in line. He was about to have a very bad day.