He just needed an excuse to stop this.
“How are we doing this?” I asked.
“We’re going to fight, and I’m going to show you exactly how it works. Then we’ll take it step by step.”
My lips curled into a half smile. “So throw me in and let me drown first?”
“Exactly.”
“Fair enough.”
I’d barely gotten those words out when she came at me, throwing a punch right for my face. I dodged, trying to put distance between us, but she was fast and trained. She stayed with me, her punches fast and insistent.
One of them hit my shoulder, and I spun around before landing on the ground. I stared at the cloudy sky, trying to figure out what had happened. She knocked me on my ass with a punch to the shoulder.
How?
Ami loomed over me with a self-satisfied smile on her face, her eyes bright with adrenaline and pride.
“How the hell did you do that?”
She laughed, her head tilting back slightly.
“Magic. Subtle magic. It throws people off. They expect one thing and then end up facing something else completely different. I used my magic to boost my speed just a little bit, and focused some into my fists as well for additional strength.”
“So trick people?”
She nodded and held her hand out. “Exactly.” She tugged me to my feet. “We’re women, and while the supernatural know that doesn’t mean shit when it comes to strength, they still underestimate us because of their fragile male egos. Our job is to crush that. Remind them that how we look means shit.”
“Show me more,” I said, bubbling with excitement. I was used to flashiness when magic came into play, but I hadn’t even realized Ami had used any until it was too late.
“Of course. Rhett filled me in on your training. Your biggest strength is planning ahead. That is going to be very important for this to work the best.”
“What do you mean?”
“Not every punch or kick you throw will have magic behind it to boost it. Your job is to find that one punch that will connect. That one kick that will find its mark no matter what. That is when you boost it with magic.”
The next hour flew by as Ami taught me how to kick ass, and I loved every moment of it. It was fascinating to see how just the right amount of magic at the right moment could turn a fight completely around.
By the time we finished, my muscles were putting a curse on me, and I had a couple of bruises that would fade away with time. I didn’t care and couldn’t stop grinning. The guys were so screwed now.
“Great, now, let’s go up against Rhett,” Ami said and waved him over.
“Are you okay?” Rhett asked.
“Never better.”
He relaxed at my response, or maybe it was because of the crazy grin on my face.
“Laila, attack with everything you have and with what I taught you. Rhett will defend.”
I nodded and jumped up and down, trying to loosen my limbs.
“And go!” Ami stepped back, giving us room. I didn’t wait and went in. I did a leg sweep, and when Rhett jumped up like I expected, I sent my other foot up with just a little dose of magic. My foot connected with his stomach. He stumbled back and looked down at his stomach and then at me with an impressed look.
“Good job.”
I preened at his response and then went in again, throwing punches at him as quickly as I could. When he went to dodge my left hand, I sent my right elbow to greet him, hitting his ribs. While it was satisfying to hit him, I knew it still wasn’t enough to take down a vampire of his caliber. To him, I was an annoying bat, flapping around. I just didn’t have the strength or the technique to take him down. Yet.
We continued like that, me getting in more shots than I used to. Ami’s method was effective and the results were awe-inspiring. I could hit my target, and ensure they at least felt something when I did.
When we finished, I took a long drink of water and then grinned at Rhett. He didn’t look any worse off than when we began sparring, but he looked at me with a new awareness as he assessed how my new knowledge would change our training. Ami didn’t know it yet, but she was about to have some very long conversations with Rhett so he could push me harder.
For the rest of training, Ami shared more tips, and I listened with every fiber of my existence. What she shared was going to be the difference between death and survival, and the next time I was in a position where a life was in danger, I wanted to be able to say I did everything possible and came out the other side as a survivor, without losing anyone.
Chapter Seven
The city felt wrong, the air thick and oppressive. I wasn’t sure where it was coming from and it set me on edge. My fingers were curled around the steering wheel as I headed to my new home. The owners were going to meet me there and watch as I signed the papers and finalized it all.
I should’ve been excited, I should’ve been singing out of tune at the top of my lungs. I should’ve been hopping around, grinning big. I was about to become a homeowner.
Instead, my teeth gritted tightly together as I kept glancing out my windows. Something was setting off my senses, but I didn’t know what or why or how. I knew nothing, just that danger lurked around the corner.
My phone sat in the cup holder, and I was tempted to grab it and call one of the guys, any one of them. I needed to speak to someone and to break this deafening silence. Even the traffic felt ominous. It was too light, as if people instinctively knew to stay off the streets.
When I turned onto a small side road and blinked past the setting sun, I knew why. Another blackout ward was set up, exactly like the one I’d seen on Saturday with Venni.
Enforcers stood in front of the black abyss, facing anyone passing by, their expressions set in harsh lines, bodies stiff. My skin prickled from waves of furious energy. Someone wanted death, blood to spill. I couldn’t hear anything, but I felt like there should have been a pack of shifters around snarling at each other, ready to have a pack war.
The last pack war in the city had felt like that. The wolves were furious with a clan of cats and they’d gotten into it when I was around fourteen. Their energy had crashed into each other and anyone sensitive nearly choked to death on it.
Something bad was going on. Two wards in a short amount of time. The enforcers were hiding something.
I pulled over a block later, out of sight. My curious self wanted to hop out and go for an innocent walk by them, but I knew better. So instead, I grabbed my phone and called Venni since he’d been with me the first time. Maybe he’d know what was going on.
“Hey, Laila, did you already sign for your house?”
“No,” I said and glanced in the rearview mirror even though I was too far away to see anything.
“What’s wrong?” he asked the moment he heard my voice. There was no hiding the apprehension my tone.
“There’s another blackout ward,” I said.
“Where?” he snapped out, and I heard him moving.
I named off the address. “The enforcers look like they’re about to murder someone. They haven’t told you guys anything?”
“No. They’re freezing us out for some reason, and all of them are tight-lipped. The Council stands on their side too and won’t tell us anything.”
I worried at my lip, nearly breaking skin until I forced myself to stop. “On a scale of one to ten, how worried should I be?”
Venni didn’t answer right away, but I could still hear him on the line. Panic surged through me. Something was going on and everything in me said it involved us.
“Venni?”
“Not yet,” he answered. “Don’t worry about anything until we know what is going on. Lombardi is going to find out. He has contacts he can tap into. Until then, just go sign for your house. Thank you for telling me.”
“Fine,” I huffed out.
“I’ll talk to you later.” Humor slipped into his response before he hung up, and I sighed. If he could smile and
joke around, then so could I. He was right, I couldn’t panic until the facts were known.
I rushed through the signing process, knowing they didn’t hide any important information from me. I was getting exactly what I’d seen. Besides, I was all about projects, so if there was something that needed to be fixed, I’d fix it.
The whole meeting took about an hour and my hands were cramping by the time I initialed the last thing I needed to. I shook hands with the friendly couple, they passed on the keys, and then I stared at my new home.
Mine.
I had so many plans for this place, but first I needed to get it move-in ready and security in place.
As I drove back, I made lists and plans, thought about the schedule and everything I’d need to do to be able to move into the house. My house.
A home. That had me smiling as the reality of it settled in. I had a lot of space now, more than I knew what to do with. Maybe I should get a dog? I’d never had a pet before. Or should I start with a goldfish first and make my way up to something big? Or maybe not. I’d forget to feed any pet.
Images of Siitha came to mind, and I grinned. I was right on the border to the forest. Could he make that place his home? Would he even want to or would he prefer staying out in Nature? I didn’t want to take his freedom away if he liked it out there. Either way, I’d support what that cute kitty wanted to do. There was space on my new property for him to stay with me and still be able to slip away into Nature to stretch his legs. Maybe they could use him for Rhett’s survival camp thing.
I snickered at the thought of my massive kitty chasing the kids around and scaring them.
My thoughts were so consumed by my house and the options I had with it that I almost forgot about the ward. The moment I saw the black abyss blocking the view of the entire street it contained, my mood dampened. I pulled over not far from the street and climbed out of my truck.
My curiosity was winning. It wasn’t like I was going to break into the ward—which I could do if I wanted—I was just going to ask questions and annoy the guards. I was good at reading responses, including the nonverbal ones. They were going to sing to me even if they didn’t say a word.
Three guards stood in front of the ward, backs straight, fists clenched. One of them held a staff and by the magic rolling off him, was the one who’d created the barrier. His staff clanged when he moved to watch my approach. The other two moved closer to him, as if daring me to go through them if I wanted to get to him.
I smiled, playing off looking like an innocent, curious passerby.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “I hope everything is okay.”
All three expressions went completely blank.
“You need to leave,” the guard closest to me said, eyes hard. His energy simmered just underneath his skin. He wanted to hurt someone.
“With a ward like this, to be so strong, it has to be something bad. Is it something airborne you need to contain? Terrorist attacks?”
“Dr. Porter, please leave the area,” the shaman said, stepping in front of the two guards. I looked at all three of them, not recognizing them. Yet, they knew me or at least of me. That told me everything I needed to know and none of it good.
“Okay.” I held my hands up and backed away. “Don’t forget you can always contact Biomystic if you need help. If this is to the scale that I think it is, then we need to work together to ensure people remain safe.”
Their expressions said nothing as I left them standing there. Questions whirled around as I walked back to my car.
They knew me.
They wanted nothing to do with me.
Apparently, they wanted nothing to do with Biomystic in general.
Why?
My phone was ringing when I got back into my car.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t approach them.” Dwight’s deep voice tickled my ear. There was a slight growl in his words, and he sounded frustrated.
“Too late,” I mumbled.
“Shit.”
“What is going on?” I asked.
“Where are you?”
“In my car.”
“Drive away.”
“Why?”
“Because the enforcers want blood, and I don’t want you anywhere near them.”
My throat grew dry. “Who specifically? Anyone? Biomystic? Me? Why?”
“I don’t know what’s going on, Laila. They won’t speak to us. But they are snapping at anyone and pulling in anyone suspicious.”
“Shit,” I whispered. “And approaching them at the scene, going on about working together and trying to shove my head into where it doesn’t belong is definitely suspicious.”
“Get out of there,” Dwight gritted out.
“Already am,” I snapped, starting the truck and pulling away. When I look through the rearview mirror, more people were outside of the ward and the group was turned toward me.
Shit. I may have poked a bear.
I focused on the road and refused to look back even though I could feel their eyes on me until I turned off the street.
Something was brewing in the city and it wasn’t anything good, not if the enforcers were closing ranks and being close-mouthed.
I tried to come up with a reason. What could it have been? But I drew a blank. I kept a pulse on the city just so I could be aware of what was going on, but nothing pointed to an answer. To create a ward that big and block everyone from whatever was inside made my skin crawl. They were hiding a huge secret out in the open, and I ached to pick at it until it unraveled. That was what I did best, digging into secrets until they were uncovered. The enforcers were hiding a huge one.
Dwight’s warning echoed through my head. This could be one secret I needed to leave alone. Besides, secrets never stayed that way for long in our world.
Eventually everything was going to shatter around the enforcers, and we’d know. I just hoped that whatever it was, the city would be able to survive. Despite the bad memories, I still loved Springer City, and I didn’t want to see it razed to the ground.
Chapter Eight
“Do you think it’s going to rain soon?” Elliot asked.
“I hope so,” I said, eyeing the furious clouds. “But not until later, when we aren’t outside.”
We were at a park near my new house, trying to get a lay of the area. After passing a large playground, we headed deeper in, away from the screaming children and laughing parents. The park eventually blended into the forest with hiking trails. For early afternoon, the place was lively, everyone out and enjoying themselves. The next few days were expected to be rain and a lot of it, like the earth knew something was going on in the city and wanted to purge it.
I didn’t blame it. Tensions were high. Since drawing the enforcers’ attention, I’d expected them to burst through the door and tackle me to the ground. I could imagine it now, them cuffing my hands behind my back and then carrying me out of the room, screaming like a lunatic. Darn, Davies and his movies were starting to affect me. Relaxation. I needed a huge dose of it to get my mind off everything.
Hopefully, this walk with Elliot did that for me. Since yesterday, my skin had been crawling, and I swore I was being watched. So, to ground myself back in reality, I dragged Elliot out for a walk. Elliot was as human as human got, and I loved that about him. With his dark brown hair, gray eyes, and runner’s frame, he easily landed in the pretty boy category. He also hated anyone saying that to his face. But it was so hard to overlook his thick eyelashes and bow-shaped lips. And when he smiled like he was right now, I always grew breathless. If I needed a dose of humanity, he was the person I searched for. He had a way of putting everything into a new perspective that made sense to me when all else failed.
“There are four restaurants surrounding your place,” Elliot said. “I already listed them, so you’re going to try them all.”
“Do I have to?” I asked. “I really don’t care about food.”
“You care about good food. I know you don’t n
eed to eat often, but it’ll be fun to explore them. Besides, restaurants say a lot about an area. When you go, look around you, pay attention to the type of people who show up.”
“I should just buy a tent and live in the park,” I said, tilting my head up to look at the dark, cloudy sky. “I always feel so much better when I’m outside.”
“Your magic is nature based.” Elliot grinned at me. “Of course you’ll enjoy it more.”
I hummed in response, letting my magic stretch out a little. Not too much. I didn’t want to brush up against someone and make them think it was an attack. Anyone with a lick of magic or energy was tense over the events that had happened throughout the city with the blackout quarantines. The last thing I needed to do was to be the one to push them to their limits. I wasn’t up to getting beaten to a pulp.
We were silent as we followed the trail. Eventually the open space disappeared into brush and massive trees.
“How far into this do we have to go before I need to start worrying about getting eaten?” I asked.
“The border is miles away still. Anything within it is safe.”
I eyed him as we continued to walk. His long legs easily kept a fast pace, but he always made sure he walked with me. The other guys often outwalked me and then had to slow down so I could catch up without doing that awkward run-walk us shorter people had to do.
“How can you be so relaxed out here?” I asked.
He laughed. “We aren’t in the wild, Laila. We’re still within the city limits. Nature won’t harm us here.”
“You’re still weirdly relaxed.”
He shrugged. “Before my dad died, he used to take me camping.” His eyes unfocused as he thought about the memories, a small, sad smile dancing on his lips. “He loved camping, loved exploring wildlife. Thanks to him, I have a healthy dose of respect for Nature. She’s just like us, trying to survive. He drilled into me that we were the interlopers. We’re the ones who came out of nowhere and started to steal from her.”
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