Hunt (Academy of Unpredictable Magic Book 5)

by Sadie Moss

  Because none of us can figure out how to get off the walkway, Cam teleports each of us down to the floor level.

  Now that we’re off of it and I can see again, I realize the walkway has been enchanted to work kind of like a treadmill, rotating over and over beneath our feet so that we weren’t actually going anywhere even if it felt like we were. Thank God for Cam’s ability, or we might have been stuck in here forever.

  Which I’m sure was Agustin’s intention.

  We continue through the large space, and after some fumbling around, we find a doorway that leads us into another narrow hallway, same as before. Dmitri’s in front, holding his phone up for us to see—

  When he steps on a small panel.

  I hear a soft click and look down to see the panel sinking into the floor where Dmitri’s foot is. “Look ou—!”

  A blade slides out of the wall, passing right through him as Dmitri phases out.

  The blade retracts, and Dmitri solidifies again.

  Holy shit. If that had been me, I’d have been sliced in half.

  I grab his shoulders in a vise grip, pulling him back. “You all right?”

  He nods. “Yeah. Startled the fuck out of me.”

  “You almost died!” I practically yell. It’s possible I’m not handling the stress of all this very gracefully.

  “But I didn’t.” Dmitri puts his hand over mine, squeezing. “It’s okay. Let’s keep an eye on the floor. Watch out for any more panels.”

  We walk forward again, gingerly stepping around the floor panels that match the one Dmitri stepped on, until we get out into the end of the hallway.

  Here, there’s an expansive room—it looks like some kind of workshop, maybe.

  We all step carefully inside.

  There doesn’t seem to be anything in here. Thank God. Unless invisible monsters are about to attack us.

  “Any idea which way to go?” Cam asks, eyeing the various doors that lead out of this place.

  “How much do you want to bet a bunch of those are booby trapped,” Dmitri mutters.

  I’m not so much worried about these doors being booby trapped as I am about going down the wrong corridor and getting hopelessly lost. “Asher, any way you can figure out which door we need?”

  Asher frowns, a small line appearing between his brows as he concentrates. “I think… if I try to find their thoughts, I can follow those.”

  I nod. “Yeah. Let’s try that before we go making any guesses.”

  We stand silently for a moment, letting Asher do his thing. He keeps his eyes closed, concentrating, and it looks as though he’s barely even breathing. All around us, the very air seems to be still.

  Then he opens his eyes, nodding. “Okay, I think they’re this way.”

  He takes us to one of the doors on the right, all of us stepping to the side so we can open it without standing directly in front of it. Just in case, you know, a swinging axe or something appears.

  But there’s nothing.

  I peer my head around the corner, then climb up onto the wall using my spider climb, examining the panels on the floor. “I think we’re okay.”

  The guys follow me as I step back down to the floor and proceed down the corridor.

  This hallway isn’t as narrow and seems to be used more often. There’s lighting in it and everything. I wonder if Agustin even normally passes through the last few areas we were in, or if he just keeps up that part for unwanted visitors like us and teleports to wherever he wants to go in this weird pocket dimension place.

  We walk for a while, and I’m starting to get antsy. Is this the right place? Maybe Asher was wrong, or maybe somehow Agustin tricked him, maybe—

  Dmitri, still in front with the phone, turns his flashlight off and stops short. I nearly run into him.

  We’re standing at what appears to be the corner entrance to a large room. “Listen,” he breathes, his voice barely a whisper.

  I’m about to ask him what exactly I’m listening to.

  Then I hear it.

  “Trust me. You don’t want to do this. I know you think you do, but trust me, trust me, you really don’t.”

  Roman.

  It’s Roman, and he sounds exhausted… and in pain.

  My heart clenches.

  “Do you know how many people have said those exact words to me?” It’s Agustin. His voice is hissing like a snake’s. “Do you know how many of them have begged for me to reconsider, to spare them?”

  “This isn’t about me, you sack of shit,” Roman snaps, a growl in his voice. “This is about you killing yourself messing with something you don’t understand and can’t control.”

  I start to creep around the corner, trying to get a look without alerting Agustin that we’re here.

  There’s a crash and a cry, and I dart back. I can’t see what’s going on, but I can hear yelling from both men, crashing, the crackle of lightning, bursts of magic—

  Then silence.

  “Nice try.” Agustin chuckles.

  My heart sinks. Roman must have tried to escape, or to attack him, or maybe both.

  “You think you’re the most powerful person I’ve stolen magic from?” Agustin asks. “I’ve had this power since I was a child. I’m sure you understand the… burden it can be, to be gifted with such strong magic at such a young age.”

  There’s a small pause, and when he speaks again, there’s disdain in his voice. “But unlike you, I didn’t waste it. Look at you, struggling, even now trying to be in control. Pathetic. You could have had the world at your feet if you’d dared to use your powers as they were intended!”

  “Sorry to disappoint you by not turning into a mass murderer,” Roman deadpans, but his voice is strained. Shit. Shit shit shit. How injured is he?

  I finally peer around the corner, and my throat goes dry, my stomach twisting and heaving in fear.

  Roman’s on the ground, wrapped in the lightning whip. It looks like it’s low-wattage electrocuting him, burning him, as Agustin towers over him.

  I’ll be the first to admit that I have a little problem with anger management. I get irritated quickly, I have no patience for people, I snap, I snarl, I keep my walls up.

  But I have never in my life felt rage like this before.

  It courses through me like it’s a separate being, a monster inhabiting my skin. My blood is boiling, and all I can think is that I am not going to stop at murdering this bastard, oh no, I’m going to put him in so much pain that he’s gonna beg me to kill him before this is all over—and if I’m feeling generous then maybe, just maybe, I’ll let him die.

  “My power is insatiable,” Roman manages, a bit of—is that blood?!—dripping out of his mouth as he speaks. “Once you start using it, it’ll want to consume all life around you. It’ll take you over. You won’t be able to stop. I had to learn how to meditate, how to focus my mind, build mental shields—with all the power already inside you—it could very well destroy you.”

  “If it destroyed me, then you’d be rid of me,” Agustin sneers, like he figured out a fucking riddle or something. “So if you really thought that were possible, you’d want me to take it.”

  “Maybe I like being alive,” Roman says dryly. “And I know you’ll have to kill me to take my powers.”

  “No, no. I know you.” Agustin tilts his head thoughtfully. “I’ve watched you, you know. I once thought we might be similar. That I might reach out to you and offer you a place by my side. If you were stronger, more ambitious, we could’ve been brothers in arms. Two Unpredictables against a world that tries to crush us—when we should be crushing it instead!”

  Wow, okay, so, textbook Bond villain. Gotcha.

  Agustin’s lip curls as he stares down at Roman. “You’re too noble for your own damn good. You’d be happy to sacrifice yourself if it meant I’d be stopped—if your power would truly kill me.”

  “Maybe I don’t think it’s worth the innocent people who would die before the power you stole turned in on itself.”
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  “Or you’re lying to me.” Agustin stretches out his hand, reaching toward Roman’s prone form. “You know, so many people ask me how I can do this without thought—steal others’ magic. And I have to admit, it took time. The first time I did this was to a water elementalist. My elementary school teacher. A real pity. I was quite upset about his death, actually. Moped for days. But as time went on, the more I did it… the easier it became. Now? It’s no harder than squashing a fly.”

  Okay, that’s fucking it.

  The rage that’s been simmering inside me, making my skin feel hot to the touch, boils over.

  “Good to know,” I say, and my voice comes out in a venomous, spitting tone I didn’t even know I was capable of using. “You’ll be my first kill, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be moping over you. It’ll be just like squashing a spider. A poisonous, fat, ugly spider.”

  Agustin whirls around, finally realizing he has an audience, but I’m ready this time. I reach out with my magic, feeling for his powers. The water elemental magic is the first one I sense, the strongest—maybe because it’s the first one he stole. But now that I know what I’m looking for, I dig deeper.

  And he’s got—shit, he’s got a metric fuckton of powers.

  It makes it difficult to mirror him properly. There are so many different types of magic inside him that it’s hard to sort out what’s what. But I push harder, sorting through the mess quickly to find the one I want, and a second later, I feel the crackle of lightning in my fingertips.

  I reach out, molding the air, and a lightning whip appears in my hands, the tip of it crackling.

  Fun fact: the tips of whips break the sound barrier when you snap them. That’s where the sound comes from—it’s a miniature sonic boom.

  Seems fitting, given my other power.

  Agustin laughs. “Oh, you think your mirroring is so powerful, don’t you, Miss Sinclair? Too bad it goes away after a short while. You have to be near the person to use it. Whereas once I obtain a power…”

  He releases Roman, who gasps in pain and relief, slumping onto the ground. My throat constricts. I want to run to him, I want to gather him up in my arms and never, ever let him go again.

  “…it’s mine forever.”

  As Agustin finishes speaking, his eyes glow with that preternatural orange light I saw in the demon bird.

  I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say that somewhere along the line, he stole a power that has something to do with demons. Just, you know, a wild guess.

  “So that’s your ability. The dry cleaner was wrong—you’re not a water elementalist at all,” I say, talking just to stall, just to give someone time to figure out what to do. “You’re an Unpredictable, and you steal people’s magic. And then kill them? So they don’t report you? So they can’t come after you?”

  “Oh, no, that’s a part of my power.” Agustin smirks. “I’m afraid they have to be dead for me to take their magic. I can’t absorb it from a live host.” He pauses. “Feel free to tell your other boyfriends to come out of the shadows. I know they’re here.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dmitri duplicating himself as he steps out, his duplicates allowing him to fan out behind me like a rear guard. Behind him, using the duplicates as shields, are Asher and Cam.

  Except Cam…

  What is he doing?

  He’s got his phone poking out of his pocket, and he’s glancing down at it now and again. Is he texting for help? Calling someone?

  Good luck with that. I don’t think we get reception down here in the creepy pocket dimension.

  “How do you not die?” I ask Agustin, glancing away from Cam so I don’t draw attention to whatever he’s doing. And part of me is, against my will, genuinely curious to know the answer. “I’ve had other people’s powers in me, okay? From that stupid oversized turkey you sent last fall. It nearly killed me to have all of those powers in me—and that was just from six other people. I could barely hold it all inside me long enough to give the magic back to everyone.”

  “And a non-Unpredictable would have died on the spot,” Agustin counters. “It’s my power, Miss Sinclair. The way in which I am particularly gifted. But you are just as gifted, just as strong—well, nearly.” He smirks. “Could any normal magic user do what we do? Never. We are the stronger, the better, the ones who should be in charge.”

  He turns away from Roman, his eyes lighting up a little as he takes a step toward me. There’s a fervor in his voice, and I have a feeling that—just like he said he’d been watching Roman—he’s been watching me. I have a feeling this guy keeps tabs on all powerful Unpredictables.

  “All throughout history, magic users have been evolving. Becoming better. Until evolution finally created… me.” Agustin shrugs in an aw, shucks kind of way, like he’s trying to seem humble even as he brags about being the literal pinnacle of creation. “I can hold everyone’s magic. I’m stronger than any other magic user out there. You should’ve seen the faces of the people around me, all those ordinary magical people—Johnson, who thinks his mind is so tough, that he’s on top of his game. Unpredictables who are scared of their power or don’t understand it. My neighbors, who invite me to their insignificant barbecues and holiday parties. None of them have any idea what I’m capable of, what kind of person is sitting, living, breathing right next to them.”

  “Nice speech. Forgive me for not clapping,” I grate out.

  He chuckles, but there’s no humor in it. “Ah, the snark. I’ve missed it so. You make for an… amusing opponent, Miss Sinclair.”

  “Cut the crap.” My hands clench into fists, and the electric whip crackles. “Are you going to monologue all day like you practiced that speech in the mirror, or are you going to actually get some shit done? What the fuck is your plan? What are you after? Oh, and get the fuck away from Roman, or I will use this.”

  I snap the whip in the air. Damn, I like this power. I feel badass.

  Agustin glares at me. “What do I want? I want to live in my rightful place. I shouldn’t have to bow to anyone. I shouldn’t be a second-class citizen. I should be ruling.”

  “And you thought discrediting Unpredictables like you would be a great way to do it?” I reply. “How fucking dumb are you, exactly? Are you even hearing yourself right now? Did you peer review this idea before you put it into action?”

  “You stupid, stupid insolent little girl!” Agustin snarls. “Only Unpredictables like you could possibly oppose me.”

  Oh.

  Shit.

  I see it now. It breaks over me like the sun breaking over the horizon, and as realization dawns, I feel my blood turn to water. Not like I didn’t know it before, but this confirms it.

  Agustin is crazy. Power hungry.

  And smart.

  “So you turned against your own people.” I nod slowly, forcing my voice not to waver. “You discredited us so there’d be fewer of us to try to stop you. And it almost worked. You almost got the Circuit to wipe all of our magic. Too bad for you, they haven’t done it just yet.” I crack the whip again.

  Cam, what the hell are you doing with that cell phone? Please let it be something that will save us here.

  “I’ve made myself into the most powerful magic user in the world by stealing power,” Agustin snaps at me. His voice barely even sounds human anymore. “I have all the elements at my disposal, each of the seven pillars of magic, and more Unpredictable powers than you can comprehend. I am a god. And soon, I’ll have all of your magic as well. The power to kill with a touch… the power to raise the dead…” He glances over at Roman like the man on the ground is a particularly tasty-looking sandwich at the deli. “It will be perfect.”

  He pivots back to face me. “And I’m sure your mirroring powers will only help me in conquering the magical world. After that, who knows? Non-magical humans really seem to be making a mess of things, wouldn’t you agree? Perhaps they just need a firm, guiding hand.”

  Our number one principle is: do not interfere
with non-magical society using your magic. Of course, I’m still a U.S. Citizen—non-magical people and their choices still affect me. I could still be arrested by regular police for drunk driving. And we’re allowed to interact with non-magical people as much as we want as long as we don’t let them know what we are.

  But we can’t use our magic to influence things. Not in any way. That is the biggest no-no. It’s something even young children, even five-year-olds, know not to do.

  And this little worm wants to change that.

  The non-magical world would have no defense against someone like Agustin. They’ve got no clue we even exist. And with… oh, God…

  As if he’s read my mind, Agustin fixates on Asher. “And you.” He smirks. “You got through Johnson or Raul, didn’t you? Perhaps even both. You commanded all my neighbors to go home. Quite a feat. I can only control a very limited number of minds at a time, and it takes too much concentration to do it in a fight.”

  Asher looks pale but stands his ground as Agustin takes a step closer.

  Dmitri and his doubles all drop into fighting stances, letting out almost identical low growls. I snap the whip, aiming for Agustin’s groin.

  I miss, because I’m not used to this weapon, but I hit the ground just to the left of his feet, and he jumps, startled. “Don’t even think about it,” I snarl.

  Behind Agustin, I see Roman start to move. He looks like he’s trying to get to his feet, and it makes my stomach clench with fear. I don’t know what kind of injuries he has—after the fight we heard, how much more strength can he have left in him?

  “With your powers”—Agustin smirks at Asher again—“I could control… oh, hundreds. All those stupid non-magical fools, with such open minds, so soft, so malleable. It will be perfect. So easy.”

  Fucking hell. Cam and Dmitri both look at Asher and me, startled, as if they’re realizing—well, their abilities are certainly nothing to sneer at either, as we just demonstrated. But with my mirroring, Roman’s death touch and Asher’s powerful mind control…

  We might have just brought Agustin his ideal powers on a silver platter.