Federal Agents of Magic Boxed Set

by T. R. Cameron

  She reached deeper and a flush rose in her cheeks as power threaded into her limbs. It was only an echo of what she’d experienced before, but it would be enough.

  Hopefully.

  She yelled at Cara. “Give us cover!”

  The marshal’s voice was calm in her earpiece. “Affirmative. Switching to anti-magic rounds.”

  Diana waited briefly, then stood. “Go, Rath.” She reserved a minimal amount of focus to flick away the descending icicles near her with left-handed telekinetic nudges. Most of her concentration followed her extended right hand as it tracked the troll’s charge while she pictured a curving barrier above him. It almost became visible as the sharpened spikes struck, shattered, and rolled off.

  His arms and legs pumped furiously as he barreled up the beast’s spine with both batons clenched in his fists.

  Cara’s counter-fire joined the mix. Apparently, the enemy was smart enough to learn. Her target chose to duck rather than shield himself. The spiked deluge diminished at least by half, and SWAT was able to evacuate their wounded. The wizard who hadn’t taken cover was at a bad angle for the marshal. He twitched his wand and the frozen rain careened sideways. If he couldn’t break the shield, he would go around it.

  The troll thrust into the attack in a spinning twist and landed cleanly on the head of the T-Rex, then launched himself at the mage feet-first. The man swatted him with a slab of ice and redirected his opponent’s momentum to the side.

  As it had so many times in the past when Rath had been in danger, the rage burned through Diana. She smiled as she hurled a blast of force at the wizard. Since imagination seemed to help shape her power, she visualized the attack as a high-speed baseball. The blow struck his shoulder and glanced off.

  There’s a reason I’m not a professional athlete.

  Despite the initial failure, the attack still bought the troll the time he needed, and a series of cries filled the air as he smacked the mage with his batons. He vaulted upward and stabbed both tips into the middle of the wizard’s chest. The man twitched like a fish out of water. Rath turned a vicious grin on the balcony’s other inhabitant and advanced.

  The second gaped with horror at the troll who now stalked in his direction. He brought up his wand but hesitated as he debated his choices between threats. In that moment of hesitation, blood spattered from the man’s arm, shoulder, and head.

  Diana didn’t wait as the final combatant fell and vanished from sight. She ran to the next exit and followed Cara deeper into the museum. “Rath, find your way to us,” she instructed over the comms.

  The troll sounded as cheerful as ever. “Yep. Will.”

  Tony closed the distance as he hurried after his teammates. Fortunately, he was about six feet away when the trap triggered and dropped a wall of stone that separated the dinosaur room from the one Diana and Cara had entered. They skidded to a stop and cringed at the impending collapse of the museum, but it didn’t materialize.

  The agent’s voice had transitioned from his earlier annoyance to the angriest tone she’d heard from him. “I’m cut off.”

  Diana snapped, “We can’t wait. Go another way, if you can. These assholes are still trying to delay us. We can't let that happen. It’s time to show them what we’re really all about.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Cara’s longer legs put her in the lead as they descended the stairs at breakneck speed. The comms whistled as something in the lower portion of the building interfered with its signals. They crossed one level unopposed and entered the next. Ever the nimble acrobat, Rath soon caught up and kept pace a step behind the duo. The troll was dirty and his hair looked more like an old duster, but he still wore his ever-present smile.

  With the comms down, Diana chose to go for safety over subtlety. They already knew the fighters were coming, after all. “Ignore the comm. Keep moving,” she said

  Cara threw a thumbs-up as she reached the bottom of the steps. Two corridors branched, one left and the other right. Each woman took a moment to check their map before Cara bolted down the right branch. It ended in a ninety-degree turn. She slowed as she neared it and set her back against the inside surface. Diana and Rath soon caught up. The troll tapped his batons together impatiently.

  I know the feeling, little guy.

  The marshal stuck her head around the corner and withdrew it quickly to avoid the rattle of weapons fire that followed. She put her fingers on an incendiary grenade but Diana stopped her and pointed to the sprinkler system above. Cara nodded and selected a flash-bang instead. She hurled it blindly down the hallway and bolted forward when it detonated.

  Two thugs along the same lines as those they’d faced upstairs writhed on the floor as a result of the combined light, sound, and concussion.

  “Rath, tie them quickly and catch up.” Diana didn’t wait for an acknowledgment. She pelted after Cara, who had already almost reached the next intersection.

  The marshal repeated her quick surveillance of the next area. No gunfire followed. “It looks like we found the snack bar. I saw tables and a counter. There are no visible enemies, but there are tons of places to hide.”

  The leader nodded. “Let’s do two. I’ll throw the flash and you follow with the sonic. When we get in, I'm right, and you're left.”

  Cara nodded and primed her grenade. Diana threw, and her teammate rolled hers a second later. They both surged into action before the munitions detonated, counting on their glasses, earpieces, and training to protect them from the grenades’ effects. True to their suspicions, several hidden enemies staggered in disorientation. Two presumed mundanes were armed with rifles, and a wizard held his wand in a limp hand. The sonic must have gone off at his feet, given the man’s dazed expression.

  The marshal raced to the gunmen and ripped their weapons away, then kicked the backs of their knees to force them down. It didn’t take her long to zip tie them. Diana seized the wizard’s wand from his hand and stowed it in the back of her belt, then knocked the combatant senseless with a leg sweep and trussed him. Before they finished, Rath had rejoined them.

  The trio was about to exit the room when two enemies emerged from the doors at the rear, having watched the fight play out. Diana had a moment to berate herself before they waved their wands and summoned two portals that ejected a flood of two-foot-high furry creatures.

  Monkeys. How cute. She squinted. Okay, monkeys with giant fangs and claws. Not so cute.

  Rath growled and raced into the attack without hesitation. She ducked behind a nearby trash container as one of the wizards aimed a shadow bolt at her and barely missed.

  With a muttered curse, she raised her gun and fired a triple burst at the nearest monkey. The anti-magic bullets shredded it instantly. She had a moment where she considered drawing her pistol to see if the animals could be destroyed with normal rounds, but the witch fired lightning bolts at Cara and the situation became too dangerous to worry about being economical.

  The troll disabled his opponent with two powerful swats to the head, then charged at the closest wizard. Time slowed for Diana, and she scanned the field to determine the cause. It didn’t take long. The storm-wannabe witch wore an evil grin on her face as she directed her wand at the unsuspecting troll.

  Oh, hell no.

  Diana pulled the trigger and six rounds thumped into the woman. The corpse fell back against a wall and left a red trail as she slid into a crumpled heap.

  Time didn’t return to normal and Diana panicked at the very real fear that Rath was still in danger. A flood of rage burned through her, and she released the rifle to free her hands. The first yanked the man’s wand out of his grasp. The other punched forward to strike him with a blast of force that rocketed him against the wall. The satisfying crack of bones greeted her ears, and she smiled wickedly.

  Time sped up, and she retrieved her weapon and picked off four more monkeys before it clicked empty. She dropped the magazine and slid in a replacement filled with normal rounds, then swung the carbine to assist Ca
ra. She’d already defeated three of her simian opponents and was in close combat with two others. They hopped and scampered about her and their wicked claws swiped and slashed with vicious intent. The woman dodged and wove, but her hands and face had already gained several bloody scratches. She deflected a creature that swung at her eyes and whirled to deliver a spinning kick to the other airborne menace. Its new momentum was stopped abruptly by a support pillar in the center of the room. It fell and tried weakly to climb back to its feet. Rath ran in its direction.

  The fight ended with simultaneous blows from Cara’s foot and Rath’s batons as they dispatched the remaining creatures. The marshal swapped her empty magazine for a standard one. “Well, those were some expensive little bastards.”

  Diana nodded. “When we’re done, we need to go back and claim everything these jerks have on them as our own. Maybe there’s a local pawn shop with access to high-end magical technology.”

  Cara laughed and her expression was rueful. “Didn’t you promise me big budgets and awesome tech?”

  “I think I specified eventually. How about we simply agree to blame Bryant?” She moved toward the exit that led to the rest of the floor’s functional areas.

  Cara nodded as she stepped into position beside her. “Deal.”

  Rath spoke up as he joined them. “Deal. Stupid bouncy Mirennas.”

  Diana wanted to catch her breath or to at least wipe the grime off her face, but there was no time. The enemy’s strategy was clear—delay the teams with cannon fodder while they did their nefarious thing, whatever that was. The BAM agents advanced through another series of twisting corridors until the narrow passages opened into another room. They repeated the grenade procedure from before, but an instant after they’d thrown them, the ordnance rolled back into the hallway.

  The agent cursed as she and Cara dashed forward to escape the blast range. Even with their precautions, exploding grenades were not something they wanted to be near. The room was dedicated to exhibit preparation and an open space housed four large rectangular metal tables with thick bases that rose to stomach height. The top of the room was a huge transparent affair that allowed visitors above to watch the workers below. A thin railing discouraged guests from stepping on the ceiling itself, although Diana imagined it would easily support them if they did. The glass was comprised of two-foot squares supported in a heavy black grid.

  The enemy was well prepared for their arrival. No rifle-wielders were present—maybe the bastards finally ran out of them—but three wizards and a witch stood at the back of the room to block the only other exit. They’d spread out to avoid the possibility that any individual attack would impact all of them at once. There was a frozen instant in which the opposing forces took stock of one another before the BAM agents raised their rifles and fired a series of single rounds at their enemies. The targets flicked their wands out casually to deflect the bullets. The two women sighed, let their carbines fall to their vests, and closed in for hand-to-hand combat.

  Cara went left, Diana right, and Rath simply sprinted directly ahead at a witch.

  Diana shouted, “Are you sure you don’t want to give up now?” The two on her side of the room laughed mockingly and thrust their wands at her. She slid to avoid the beam of concentrated light that slivered above her and shards scattered from the point of impact. A stinging sensation on the side of the neck brought a grimace but she thought nothing more of it as she pressed into the attack. She’d faced worse before.

  The other wizard reacted to her slide evasion and launched a trail of small shadow orbs in her direction. Diana twisted away from the first few but couldn’t evade them all. The last two struck home and her deflectors absorbed them. One shattered and another went fully dark. The other pair were also faintly colored.

  Okay, so we have a couple of powerful scumbags.

  She bounced up and extended her right hand to aim a bolt of force at one of the shadow mages. He gestured with his wand in a Z pattern, and a swirling ebony barrier sprang up in the bolt’s path. A whooshing erupted as the magics met, and her attack was sucked into the void.

  Diana reached for her Ruger but was forced to abandon that plan as another beam of light sought her out. She ducked behind a nearby table, which proved no protection as the beam burned through it an inch above her hair.

  She rose and stretched her arms. Let’s see how you bastards like this.

  While Rath focused his fury on the witch in the middle, Cara had one-on-one odds with the wizard who remained.

  Lightning sizzled at her, and one of her deflectors popped. Kayleigh had explained that the deflectors created an aura, which was why they intercepted the magic before it reached her electrical protective vest. She ignored the attack and continued her sprint. Her opponent scowled and rotated his arm to make circles with his wand. A coherent rope of crackling power lengthened with each spin to puddle on the floor.

  He flicked the lightning whip, and it snapped an inch away from her eyes as she backpedaled frantically.

  Damn.

  He retracted it and spun it out again with a flick of his wrist. The whip descended toward her in a curve and she instinctively threw an arm up in defense. The attack was too swift to avoid, and two more magic deflectors blew.

  Double damn. He’s actually good with it.

  She ducked behind a table and the vibrant rope curled over the top to lash her shoulder. Her last deflector and several resistors were destroyed, even though it had seemed like only a glancing blow.

  With no choice, Cara clawed for the Ruger in the holster at the small of her back, drew the weapon, and fired as she brought it up. She pulled the trigger three times as quickly as she could. Two shots missed as the wizard spun reflexively to avoid the bullets, but the third reached him before a hasty shield replaced the whip and caught him in the thigh.

  He fell to one knee but maintained enough composure to fire another blast of forked lightning at her. She ducked. This time, the table proved adequate and from her temporary haven, she looked right and caught a glimpse of Rath’s engagement with the witch. The enemy held her wand like a knife in her fist, the point down, and a shimmering blade of force protruded from the end. Rath delivered enthusiastic blows with the batons, but they no longer sparked. The woman was skilled at defense and deflected his blows before she delivered a kick to his chest that hurled the troll to slide back several feet.

  The marshal’s jaw clenched in anger, and before she had time to think about it, she used her left hand to hurdle the table and fired the revolver’s last three bullets at the wizard who had already launched his attack on her. His blast sizzled all around her as the remaining resistors were consumed in a crackling medley of soft pops. The vest didn’t absorb all the spell’s power, though, and she landed hard to twitch and shout as the sparking energy bit into her flesh. The sight of the trio of holes in the wizard’s chest tempered the pain, and she was almost able to enjoy the way he slumped to his knees and fell forward onto his face. She closed her eyes to focus on staying conscious while the lightning wreaked havoc on her nerves.

  Diana stretched her left hand toward the table in front of her and thrust her right at the one that lay beyond it, several feet closer to the enemy. The various objects on them—bones, tools, and a heavy microscope that unfortunately looked very expensive—rocketed at her opponents. They focused on defense. The shadow wizard flung himself to the floor to avoid the barrage, while the other man’s blasts annihilated them before they reached him.

  Oh, that’s cocky. You’re first.

  The residual rage that still lingered flared a little at his arrogance. Diana dashed in a curve around the tables until she had positioned the light-user between herself and the other wizard.

  He tracked her motion and released destruction along her route, and she had a moment of fear that her attack might have been a bad idea before the residual anger that still trembled inside her found a new melody. Suddenly, the key to transforming her passive defensive power to aggressiv
e use was clear. There were still so many questions, but she was out of time. It might only be a theory, but it was the only hope she had. She drew a ragged breath and channeled the energy within onto a different path, and time slowed.

  With the first step, Diana felt exactly how draining an intentional and aggressive use of her defensive magic could be. Her limbs became heavy as she drove herself forward. By the second step, she feared how much more energy the effort sucked from her. Nonetheless, the delay allowed her to dodge the incoming blasts and drive her fist squarely into the wizard’s face. She released the power with a gasp of relief, and time resumed its normal flow.

  As soon as his falling form cleared her line of sight, she thrust her right arm forward to hurl a force blast at the other wizard. It did little more than ruffle his long dark hair. He rewarded her effort with a contemptuous sneer and extended his wand toward her.

  Uh-oh.

  Rath’s patience with the stupid witch had run out. His training had not included much in the way of knife fighting, which he now realized was a definite lack.

  Rambo uses knife. Must train.

  He shook his head at his own blindness as he rolled out of the way of a vicious thrust. He tried a double outside-in slash action with his batons, one from each direction, in the hope that she would have to choose a side to defend. She accepted the blow from one and blocked the other with the shimmering blade that extended from her wand. Her smile pure evil, she delivered another resounding kick to his chest and he tumbled into a nearby table. Pain blossomed in his back.