Hunt (Academy of Unpredictable Magic Book 5)

by Sadie Moss

  We must look like quite a pack, all of us barging in at once to ask questions of the employees. I’ve sort of wondered all day if we’re scaring the people we to talk to. Dmitri and Roman don’t exactly look friendly, and God knows, I’m not a ray of sunshine on the best of days.

  The person behind the counter is an older Asian woman with a set of horn-rimmed glasses. Oh, great, another older person, and one who needs glasses. Is this going to be like the guy at the bar with the bad memory?

  “Hi.” I step up to the counter, smiling. Next to me, Cam and Asher also smile.

  Roman and Dmitri, wisely, hide in the back of our little group.

  “I’m sorry to bother you,” I go on as the woman looks up at me, blinking behind her thick glasses, “but we’re looking for someone.”

  Asher goes into the routine he’s been perfecting all day, flattering her, soothing her, asking if she’s seen anyone tall, with darkish hair, a man. By now, I recognize the tone his voice takes on when he’s reaching into someone’s mind, and I know if the dry cleaner knows anything, she’ll tell us.

  But I can tell by the look in the woman’s eyes—this awful, blank, glazed look—that she has no idea who this person is. Doesn’t help that we’ve got such a vague description to go on. At least, if nothing else, this is giving Asher a chance to practice his mind influencing ability more.

  But that’s a small comfort right now.

  If only the guy we’re searching for had something like a hook hand or a tattoo, something that would make him really stand out—

  Oh my God. That’s it!

  I dig into my pocket for a pen. “Sorry, sorry,” I say, cutting off their conversation. “But could you—sorry to interrupt, but do you have a piece of paper?”

  I don’t have a pen, so I ask for that too and then hand both to Asher. “Draw the symbol Raul gave you.”

  Asher looks confused, but he draws the symbol and shows it to the woman.

  Her eyes light up. “Oh! Yes, yes, I know this. I know him. This is a… a birthmark. It’s very irregular, isn’t it?”

  Holy shit.

  Holy fucking shit.

  I can’t quite breathe, and I can tell by the way the energy changes around me that all the guys are having a similar reaction.

  She knows him. She knows the man we’re looking for.

  It’s still possible the button doesn’t belong to the mastermind behind all the attacks on Griffin, and we’re just one step closer to tracking down an innocent businessman or something.

  But we’re one step closer.

  I’ll take it.

  “Ah, yes, yes it is. Very irregular.” Asher recovers his composure first, finally answering the woman’s question.

  And she’s not wrong. It’s a hell of a birthmark, if you ask me. I wonder if the guy’s magic had something to do with making the birthmark look like that.

  “He’s a frequent customer,” the woman goes on. “I don’t know exactly where he lives, but I know what street he’s on—Whipple.”

  Asher writes down the name, just in case, and even gets instructions on exactly which street it is, in case there’s more than one with that name in the city.

  “Oh, and his name is Agustin,” the woman adds. “I don’t know his last name. Most customers pay by credit card nowadays, but he only uses cash. Very quiet, keeps to himself. Always seemed like such a nice man, you know? He’s not in any real trouble, is he?”

  “Oh, no, ma’am. We just need to return some property to him,” I assure her.

  Thanks to Asher’s soothing mental influence, the woman just smiles at me, completely placated.

  I wonder if that effect will linger, or if it’ll fade once Asher goes, leaving her troubled. I hope for her sake that she remains content and convinced everything’s fine.

  “He’s a very nice person,” she goes on. “I always thought he was a water elementalist. I never quite confirmed that, of course, it’s always sort of… rude to ask, I was taught growing up. Not polite, you know? But he came in once during a horrible downpour, and he didn’t have a drop of water on him. I’ve only seen water elementalists manage to avoid rain like that—with the way the wind was gusting, not even an umbrella would’ve kept him completely dry.”

  Huh. Interesting.

  “Thank you so much for your time,” Asher says, and we hurry out before the woman can grow suspicious or worried again.

  As we pile into the car, I stare at the piece of paper in Asher’s hand, my heart thudding hard in my chest. We have it, finally.

  A street.

  A location.

  Chapter 20

  The street the dry cleaner told us about—Whipple—is in a magical suburb outside of Portland proper.

  There’s a main magical district in the city, but there are also small neighborhoods populated by magic users sprinkled throughout the city and the surrounding area. It’s not like we have designated areas that are the only places we’re allowed to live or anything. The Circuit doesn’t police us like that, and the regular government doesn’t know we exist.

  But if you’ve got a big secret—like, for example, being able to do magic—you end up congregating with the people who have that same secret. You can commiserate over the problems, share the joys, and you don’t have to hide as much.

  It makes sense that we’d all start to live and work near each other, and so these magical neighborhoods and districts exist in every city in the country.

  This suburb is definitely one of the nicer ones I’ve seen. Far nicer than what I grew up with—the kind of neighborhood I imagine Mads and I would’ve grown up in if Dad hadn’t split, if he’d used his money to take care of us properly. It’s pristine, cute even, with nicely manicured lawns, wide porches, and lovingly touched up houses with fresh coats of paint.

  “Gotta be making a cool six figures to live here,” Cam comments, raising his eyebrows as he gazes out the window.

  Dmitri wrinkles his nose, clearly not quite as impressed as the blond mage.

  “All right, say it.” Cam chuckles, reaching across me to punch Dmitri in the shoulder. “Say the snobby comment, go on.”

  “I was just going to say how… quaint… it all looks.”

  Cam cracks up, and I hear Asher chuckle in the front seat.

  “Everything here looks so normal,” I whisper, peering out the window. “I don’t understand.”

  Silence falls in the car for a moment as Roman rolls the car slowly down the curving suburban street. I keep my gaze glued outside, and as we pass several more beautiful houses, I start to speak slowly, processing my thoughts out loud.

  “We have to be on the right track. If someone wants to take down Unpredictables, then a powerful water elementalist fits the bill, right? When he attacked me after the Trials, Johnson was ranting about how Unpredictables upset the balance. That seven is a sacred number, and that there should only be seven types of magic in the world. People who hate Unpredictables the most seem to think we fucked up this perfect natural system or something just by existing. And I always got the sense that elementalists are the most attached to balance and order.”

  Not Maddy though. She’s a water elementalist too, and she’s one of the sweetest, most kind-hearted people I know. Just goes to show you can’t actually judge a single person based on whatever group they belong to.

  “I just don’t understand it.” Cam turns a little in his seat to face us more fully. “The man we’re looking for has been organizing attacks against the school, sending minions against us, summoning goddamn demons, recruiting Johnson and Raul and who knows who else. And the guy who’s been doing all that… lives here? In Normalville?”

  Honestly, I see Cam’s point. You wouldn’t expect someone who’s been basically doing his damn best to start a war to be living somewhere like this, acting like the rest of us. You’d expect him to be above such mundane things, to be cooped up in some villainous lair or up in a penthouse brooding over the city, surrounded by cold riches.

  Yo
u expect them to be detached, in other words. Separate. Not just another member of society to most people. Not just Neighbor Jeff who waves at you when you take the kids to soccer practice.

  Then again… it’s hard to tell what magic someone has just from looking at them. Why should you be able to tell someone’s got evil plans just by looking at them? I couldn’t even guess what Asher wants for breakfast in the morning from just a look, and I know him pretty well.

  Roman pulls over and parks on the side of the road. We need to figure out which house belongs to our target—I suppose we could just walk door-to-door and question all the tall, dark-haired guys we find to see if they’re Agustin. Like Hugh Grant in Love, Actually, except we’re not looking for the love of our lives, we’re looking for a goddamn criminal.

  Also, it’s not Christmas.

  “We’ll cover more ground on foot,” Dmitri observes, scanning the neighborhood with wary eyes. “Should we split up?”

  Roman shakes his head. “No, best to stay together. The last thing we want is someone getting hurt with no one else around to help them.”

  I shiver a little. I’ve been so worried about catching this guy, I almost forgot about the danger we’ll face as soon as we find him. And that danger is no joke. This guy has summoned demons and controlled people’s minds. He could very possibly squash us all to pulp, especially if we’re alone.

  Nope. Not gonna happen.

  No way am I letting him get near one of my guys if I can help it.

  And so the five of us head off down the sidewalk together, trooping up and down the street as we try to find someone who can tell us where Agustin lives.

  Not surprisingly, people aren’t all that helpful.

  We’re not in the 1950s anymore—people have busy lives and don’t know their neighbors the way they used to, and it doesn’t help that we still can’t really describe him properly. There are a lot of tall dark-haired men around, apparently. I mean, given that Dmitri, Asher, and Roman all have dark hair…

  Yeah.

  I’m almost ready to give up, to say that we should just stop and call it a day, this is getting ridiculous… but then I see a house up ahead, a couple houses away from the one we’re in front of.

  It’s painted robin’s egg blue.

  Holy shit.

  I grab Asher’s arm, my fingers digging into his bicep. “Is that the color?” I whisper. “Is that the color you saw in Raul’s head?”

  Asher follows my gaze, and his eyes go wide. He nods, just once, the movement sharp.

  I start striding toward the house as Asher points it out to the others. I’ve only made it a few feet—when someone emerges.

  I freeze.

  A man walks out. Tall, dark-haired, but regular looking. I mean, he doesn’t look like a villain or even an asshole. He looks just like a regular person you run into at the grocery store.

  For a moment, I honestly start to doubt. I know evil can come in any form. I know that. I’ve seen the documentaries about the serial killers who looked like nice people and had friends and sent their moms flowers. You can be polite and kind to ninety percent of the people you run into and then be a completely poisonous snake to the other ten percent when nobody’s looking.

  But still. For that one moment… I wonder if I’m wrong. If this is just a normal guy, and the house color is just a coincidence, and I’m being ridiculous.

  The guy walks down to the mailbox at the curb and opens it up, pulling out some mail. Looks like bills, and a copy of… is that Vanity Fair?

  Huh.

  The guy flips through his mail, head down, and I wonder if I should start moving again.

  As if he can hear my thoughts, the man freezes.

  My heart picks up in my chest, crashing hard against my ribs, but I can’t seem to get a breath in.

  Moving slowly, like an animal reaching out with all of its instincts, the man turns around.

  Dark, fathoms-deep eyes lock onto mine, and it’s like I’ve been struck in the head by lightning. I might not have seen definite features before, when I glimpsed his face through the bird, through the mage at the tower, but I know—I know in my heart that it’s him.

  It’s him.

  I know he recognizes me too—and even if he didn’t, I bet my shock and anger is clear on my face.

  Before I can launch an attack, the bastard turns and sprints for his house.

  Chapter 21

  What the fuck?

  Not that I was excited about the prospect of going toe-to-toe with this asshole, but seriously—he’s running?

  “Oh, no, you don’t!” Jerking into motion, I sprint after him.

  “Elliot, what the hell?” Romans shouts. Then he and the others realize what’s happening, and they start running with me.

  “Don’t let him get away!” I yell, unleashing my sonic boom. “And watch out!”

  The guys are used to my sonic boom by now, and they all make sure to hang back just behind me so I can hurl it at Agustin.

  The sonic boom sends him flying forward, slamming into his lawn. I hear a whoosh of air next to me, and Cam teleports, appearing next to the guy and grabbing him. A second later Dmitri is there, even though he’s still beside me—he’s duplicated.

  A blast of water as strong as a dozen fire hoses hits the guys, and now they’re the ones to go flying, landing on their backs as Agustin jumps to his feet.

  He whirls around, his face contorted with fury, and oh, yeah, I recognize that expression now. He had that same hatred on his face when I glimpsed him through his minions all those times I fought them.

  “That all you got, bitch?!” I yell.

  Probably famous last words and all that, but hey—I’m allowed to taunt the guy who’s been sending his henchmen to attack my school and try to kill me as a side benefit for the past two years. He’s the reason I was in a goddamn coma for three months, and he almost permanently stole Cam’s magic.

  I’m gonna kick this guy’s skinny, lily-white ass.

  I take off toward him, determined to catch him, but Agustin knows we’re here now and he’s drawing water out of—out of the damn sprinkler system, it looks like, which is embedded in his lawn. Water’s going everywhere, and he’s manipulating it a hell of a lot more strongly than I’ve ever seen Maddy do, whipping it at us like he’s a ringmaster fending off hungry lions. I catch a wave to the face that feels like a goddamn slap.

  That’s all the magic he’s using though—water. Looks like the dry cleaner was right about his power. But surely this joker must be loaded down with charms and enchantments like Johnson was when I fought him, right? It almost feels like he’s going easy on us.

  Well, if he wants to sit back on his heels, that’s his prerogative. I’m definitely not gonna go easy on him.

  I focus on the thread inside me, the telltale connection I get when someone’s close to me and I can mirror their powers. I could mirror the powers of any of my guys, even Roman’s death touch. Maybe…

  Shit. No, that would be too dangerous.

  The few times he’s used that power, it’s almost consumed him, the dark energy overtaking him and making him hunger for more—and I’m still nowhere near as strong in my control as he is. This fight is dangerous enough. I’d never forgive myself if any of the guys ended up dead because I borrowed that dark magic and couldn’t control it the way Roman’s been trained to.

  So I focus on mirroring Agustin’s water elementals power instead.

  Water from the sprinkler system starts flowing toward me as I try to form it, manipulate it into something useful. At first, it just takes the shape of a pulsing blob, but then an idea strikes me—when Maddy first got her powers, she leaned into what the water naturally wanted to do, creating these long, almost snake-like shapes.

  I start to construct a giant water snake, pulling more and more water from the sprinkler to feed it. The liquid animal rears up, towering over Agustin, and I make it strike.

  The mage turns his face away just in time and holds up a h
and, summoning his own water to create a shield. The snake’s head smashes against the shield Agustin created, bursting apart in a spray of mist. His water creation held stronger than mine did.

  Dammit.

  Roman’s flinging spells at him, but it’s clear that unlike the rest of us, my dark-haired professor isn’t using his full power. I get why summoning a demon would be a bad idea in a neighborhood like this. Too many possible casualties. Already neighbors are coming out of their homes, yelling, wondering what the hell’s going on.

  “Stay back!” Asher yells, his voice booming unnaturally inside my head, and I realize he’s disengaging from the fight, projecting his command into the minds of the innocent people around us. “Go back into your homes! Stay safe!”

  A few people seem to be trying to fight his commands, but slowly, jerkily, like robots, they start to march inside. The people who were obviously already scared don’t need to be forced by Asher’s mind control—when they hear his command, they just bolt for their homes.

  “Roman!” I scream. I send another sonic boom, but this one Agustin’s ready for, and he dodges it. “Use your powers!”

  His necromancy—his ability to raise the dead—isn’t helpful here either. But Roman’s like me. He’s one of the few Unpredictables who has three powers.

  His third power is the death touch. And as scary as that ability is, it might be the only thing that will work right now.

  But he shakes his head, his nostrils flaring. “No! I’m not taking that chance! Not with you and the others so close by!”

  Dmitri gets slammed into the ground, and his double flickers slightly but manages to recover and go after Agustin again.

  I launch myself at the man too, throwing my hands out behind me and using my sonic boom to propel myself forward. Even as I fly through the air, I reach out with my senses, feeling my connection to Cam.

  Just as Agustin swings for me, I teleport behind him, landing solidly on the ground and giving him a roundhouse kick to the back of the head.