by Antara Mann
“But this wasn’t enough for your family. You found a better way,” I said.
Instead of answering me, he summoned his magic, concentrating. Silver sparkles appeared in the air, swirling around his cuffs. This lasted for a few minutes, until the cuffs finally clicked open and fell, broken, to the cherrywood floor.
I gaped. “How did you do that?”
“For every action there is an equal reaction — you know that law of physics, don’t you?”
I nodded.
“Well, it is similar with the elements: Fire is the opposite of water, earth of air, and wood to iron. I summoned wood in a quantity great enough to neutralize the iron. Now, you try it.”
I looked at my hands locked in the iron cuffs. The runes glowed with a pale silver light. They looked beautiful and eerie at the same time, but weren’t as powerful as they seemed. True, it was a hindrance, but I had overcome much greater things. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I relaxed my protective mechanism and allowed my magic to reach me. Even though I’d buried it for only a few minutes, I had missed this vital aspect of my being. I instantly felt whole again, but the awareness of pain hit my senses hard. Worse, the runic symbols neutralized my power. I concentrated harder, digging deeper for my magic and summoning the element wood as Kagan had advised me. The power of it surged inside me and my pain started to fade. The element burst to life, overpowering the power of iron. My handcuffs burst open, just like Kagan’s had done a moment ago. However, in my magic I also found something else: the energy that was always present around the full moon. Now that the full moon was close, this magic sang to me in its own way, begging me to release it. I felt that I could do whatever I wanted with it; I felt invincible, like a god. I reached deep for this strange and unique but, unfortunately, repressed energy of mine, and it filled my whole being. I must be in heaven. This time, for a change, I didn’t intend to bury it. Instead, I closed my eyes and devoured it. The sensation of heat filled me up and the song of fire called me. I had just reached for it when someone else’s magic snapped at me and interrupted my play: Kagan.
“Alex, for magic’s sake, have you lost your marbles?” he shouted, irritated. I opened my eyes and saw the huge fireball in my hand, and smelled the smoke permeating the entire hall. My lungs screamed for air and I coughed. I saw charcoal on the floor beneath my feet. I didn’t even remember burning anything. I snapped the fire shut and hurried to bury my strange magic deep inside me. As usual.
“What just happened?” I stuttered, inhaling deeply.
“You summoned a gigantic fireball and the whole room was about to explode before I broke off your spell. And it wasn’t just elemental magic — oh no. As a fae I know very well about that: There was something else at play in you, something much more powerful and dangerous. In the name of magic, do you really have no idea what you are?” He raised his voice and stared at me expectantly.
I didn’t intend to respond. How could I? I didn’t know.
He continued, saying, “You’ve been avoiding answering this question even to yourself, but think about it: I believe deep down inside of you, you know what your true nature is.” He took my hands in his and stared deeply into my eyes.
I didn’t know how to respond, what say to this. Fortunately, destiny came to my aid just then and I heard Brendan’s voice in my head.
“Alex, the bastard from last night is in front of the Hellfire Club. He’s talking to another guy, and it isn’t a human being. Get your ass over here, ASAP!” With that the mental communication ended.
Chapter 15
“What happened?” Kagan let go of my hands but the look in his eyes was still hard. “Why did you unleash the fire element? You were drunk on magic — your own magic.” He waited.
As if I needed him to tell me this. “I know that, Kagan. I’m not a five-year-old.”
“Then tell me what happened,” he demanded, raising his voice. “Are you going to answer me?”
“There are more pressing matters right now. Brendan just called me mentally and said the guy we followed last night was in front of the Hellfire Club. We have to teleport in and join the shifters.” I glanced at Kagan. I didn’t intend to answer his question, especially not now after the werewolf’s call had brought me back from my shock. But I was close — so close.
Close to what, Alex? You don’t even know who you are. You wouldn’t be able to say anything, since you don’t know yourself. Besides, let’s be honest — this sexy fae only distracts you, said the voice. I ignored it and the way it referred to Kagan.
“Do you want me to teleport us or…?” I didn’t finish my question, nor could I summon the power to look into his eyes. All I wanted was to run away from him as fast as I could.
Kagan frowned and grumbled, “We must have that talk, Alex, sooner or later. We’ll postpone it for now, but don’t think you’ll get away from it — or me.”
Of course not. When have I ever been that lucky, anyway?
He summoned his magic and initiated the teleportation ritual that I was growing used to. We stepped into the sparkling magic portal that had appeared, and it brought us to a wall near the Hellfire Club. I saw the two shifters a few yards away.
Walking over to them, I asked, “Hey, what’s up guys? Where’s the suspect?”
Brendan pointed at the club. “They went inside. They’ve been in there for about fifteen minutes.”
“Any ideas what they’re doing?” Kagan asked. “Did you see them exchange anything?”
Carlos shook his head. “Nope. But Brendan and I both felt that our little friend from last night was in the company of a supernatural — and a dark one, at that.”
“We couldn’t determine whether he was a vampire, but I think not,” Brendan cut in.
“Okay, great. It’s just getting more and more interesting,” I grumbled. “And what happened with the Wiccan coven in my hometown, by the way? I wanted to ask you when you connected mentally with me, but you cut off the connection,” I said, a hint of reprimand in my voice.
The werewolf shot me a murderous look. “We searched for them, but as it turns out, they only gather on Thursdays and Saturdays, every other week. They’re called the Temple of Isis, by the way. I talked to their leader, a Desmond Cohen — a nice guy — in his occult shop. Also quite a nice place. If we hadn’t been working, I might have wanted to see their goods. Anyway, he looked surprised when we asked about the Forbes magazine and who had given it to him. Curious thing is, he said that a friend of his also asked him about it, but he couldn’t remember the details. Desmond thinks that he probably got it from this young guy who started to come to the meetings recently.”
“Well, that could be our boy — the suspect.”
Brendan regarded me for a few seconds and said, “Seriously, you believe that?”
“Why not? It’s a rather odd coincidence that the Forbes issue with Kagan on the front cover was in the hands of a young, gullible occult lover, don’t you think?”
“You are unbelievable, Alex. That issue was printed more than six months ago and bought by thousands of entrepreneurs and business owners — not to mention the fact that there is not even a hint of magic in it.”
“My magic sense told me there’s something about this lead,” I snapped.
“Really? So what is it? Can’t your magic sense just solve the fucking murders and save us the trouble?” the werewolf snapped back.
I was about to use harsher words when the fae intervened. “You two — cool it. I trust Alex’s magic sense. She might have a point, but nothing is proven yet. Now shut the fuck up and let’s watch the bloody club in silence.”
After the fae’s scolding, Brendan and I kept silent and watched the club entrance from our hiding place for several more minutes. Finally the suspect came out. Next to him was a supernatural who must have been the one the shifters had mentioned — he definitely wasn’t a human. He was carrying a cloth-wrapped item. I felt dark magic prickle on my skin. I thought he was probably either a da
rk wizard, a warlock, or something in between, but—thank magic—not a particularly powerful one; more on the low to mid-level scale.
The two men parted ways and our suspect headed straight. We silently followed him, keeping a decent distance between us so that he wouldn’t notice us. Thank magic he was too wrapped up in himself to pay much attention to anything else. He crossed to a busier street and got into an old Ford Mustang. Kagan selected a relatively new Volvo model and, breaking its locks, climbed in.
“What in magic’s sake are you doing?” I asked him. “This is theft.”
“Just get in.” He motioned to me and the shifters. “I will pay the car’s owner, don’t worry. A fae always pays his debts.”
If it weren’t for our tense situation, I would have laughed: Was he serious or had he just made a reference to Game of Thrones and Tyrion Lannister? He pressed the accelerator and we were off. Our suspect was a few intersections ahead of us, driving confidently. That was good: He hadn’t noticed our presence.
“I could have summoned a car,” Kagan added, “but it’d have taken a bit more time than we have.” I glanced at him — his face was stern and he seemed serious.
The chase passed in silence. Kagan was maintaining a safe distance to keep our suspect unaware that we were chasing him, but we didn’t let him out of our sight. After about half an hour or so, the guy turned left and pulled up in front of an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Queens. The building looked run-down and battered. Kagan drove a little farther down the road in order not to attract the suspect’s attention, then pulled to the side of the road and cut the engine. Apparently we would be going to the factory on foot. When we reached the building, we were blocked by a wire fence encircling the whole property. There was a gate, but it was in full view of the factory’s door, so we crept along the fence until we got to an area that was better concealed.
I turned to Kagan and asked, “Do you want me to burn the wires, or would you prefer to have that honor?”
He glared at me — he never appreciated my sense of humor — and put his hand on the fence without uttering a single word. He let his magic spread over the fence, and sizzling ripples began melting the wire. They made a hole in the middle, big enough that we could pass through it. First through was the fae, followed by the shifters. Then it was my turn. But when I touched the fence, ready to slip through, a vision swam before my eyes: I saw the suspect, inside the two-story factory building. He was on the first floor, with a demon-powered vampire, and he held some papers with scribbled descriptions about rituals. I spotted hieroglyphs on the papers, then the vision blurred and suddenly my head felt extremely light, like I was about to faint.
“Alex, are you all right?” Brendan asked, concerned. “Get in here!” He pulled me in. I clung to his magic and it invigorated me, giving me fresh energy, enough to get through the fence.
“What did you see?” Кagan asked me, not standing on ceremony, once I was on the other side of the fence.
“You always cut to the chase, huh?” I remarked. I didn’t want to answer his question, not right now.
“This is serious, Alex. Please tell us if you saw something related to the murders or our suspect,” Brendan pleaded.
“Okay, okay. Just chill out.” I described the vision I had received upon touching the wire. It made sense that my super power had kicked in: We were close to the full moon and I was deeply invested in this case.
The fae listened carefully, then noted grimly, “Hieroglyphs, huh? They are dealing with dark Egyptian magic? We’ll have to search the factory thoroughly for evidence once we deal with our guy and his vampire mate.”
The shifters nodded and went to the factory walls, climbing them. Kagan and I followed suit. The uneven walls made it easy for us to climb. We peeked through the shattered windows and saw our suspect, a wrapped package clutched in his hand.
“What’s he doing?” I whispered to Kagan. He shushed me.
“Probably waiting for someone,” Carlos said.
“Vampires?” I suggested. “Shouldn’t we intervene? I have the feeling that whatever he’s holding is pretty valuable.”
“We wait until his connection shows up,” Kagan snapped.
I mentally grunted: Did he have to impose his will on us all the time? I guessed it was because he was from the magic dynasties. He had been raised to believe he was better than us.
We spent another ten minutes or so pressed against the windowpanes of the run-down factory; then something cracked and a yellow-green light appeared inside the hall, and a vampire appeared before the suspect. As they greeted each other, Kagan hissed, “Attack! Now!”
Before I could ask him how we would get into the hall, he had already jumped through the window. Holy magic! This guy was out of his mind! But so were Brendan and Carlos: They followed him. Didn’t people use the old-fashioned way anymore — going through doors, not jumping through windows like friggin’ Rambos? I cursed my male colleagues and jumped as well, hoping it wouldn’t destroy my boots and clothes. I was still angry over the loss of my jeans at the hands of the three-headed snake. By the time I landed on the dirty factory floor, Kagan and the shifters were already charging at the vampire and our suspect, shooting at them with silver bullets. I heard the human shout and the vampire pushed him aside, stepping in front of us, his crimson eyes gleaming menacingly. As a vampire, he was calculating and sensible: They were pretty high in the monster hierarchy. But then I had fought only against common, bloodthirsty vampires, if we didn’t count the horde of demon-infested vampires from last night. Several silver bullets swished through the air, fired by my colleagues, but the monster ducked them by inches. He directed his gaze on the wall behind us, and it began crumbling over us. Fuck! We ran, trying to avoid the heavy stones and bricks that showered down on us. Kagan summoned the wind element and a swirling gust took them away through the broken windows. A larger brick had hit me, but otherwise I was okay. My clothes were dirty and slightly torn up, but I still had hopes I could save them.
I glanced at the shifters — they had transformed into animals, their eyes glinting with fury and revenge. With inhuman speed they pounced on the vampire, knocking him down. Carlos the tiger bit him hard on his neck while Brendan transformed back into his human form. He took a step towards his gun, lying on the floor, but before Kagan or the werewolf could fire a silver bullet into the vampire’s chest, we heard a sudden crack, and I realized the guy had disappeared. In his place, instead, were ten more vampires. What the hell?
“Great, more fun coming our way,” I mumbled and reached deep inside, summoning my magic. I needed all of it, and right away. Thank magic it was close to the full moon.
Chapter 16
The newly arrived vampires dashed at us, but this time we knew how to fight them. Carlos and Brendan had already taken down three, but half a dozen vampires were kicking and hitting the shifters. The demonic vampires put up a really good fight, though. We needed to get rid of them now. A foreboding feeling gnawed at me and I began to feel anxious. I dodged a blow from a nearby vampire and stood up quickly. He again swung his arms at me, but I kicked him hard in the face, then flung my enchanted silver knife straight into his heart. The bastard screeched in pain and collapsed, then began glowing with a greenish light. Then he disintegrated into dust in the air.
I looked around and saw Kagan fighting off three vampires, and each shifter was tackling two. “It looks like they really do need me,” I muttered and shook my head. I was about to throw my knife again when something hit me hard in the back. My head reeled and I saw stars before my eyes. The pain passed throughout my body, but it washed away pretty quickly. My powers of healing were increasing. I turned in the direction of the attack and saw a ghoulish vampire sneering at me.
“Did it hurt, doll?” he asked, showing his pointy teeth, saliva dripping from them. Ew, that’s disgusting. He charged at me, but this time I jumped, flipping in the air and kicking him in the ribs.
“First of all, nobody messes wit
h me. And second” — I tightened my grip on the silver knife — “never, ever call me ‘doll’ again.” With those words, I stabbed him right in the heart. The greenish light enveloped him like a giant bubble and I stepped back.
My colleagues were doing relatively well: Kagan had taken one vampire down, but two were still on his heels. He would be fine. The shifters had more trouble dealing with the vampires than the fae, though. I summoned all my magic, calling on the element of air. It came to me, its unruly nature palpable on my fingertips. Fire was powerful and highly destructive, but air was a completely different thing: It could take any form and direction you shaped it into. I directed a blast of air toward the vampires near Carlos and Brendan, and trapped them inside the swirl of wind. It felt so good to connect with my growing magic that I did something I wasn’t intending — it just came naturally to me. The sensation of silver, burning silver filled my whole mind, and seething rage exploded inside me. I hurled a huge wind blast at the vampires as well as the two near Kagan. The blast swept them away like a tornado, and they all exploded into greenish light in the air. Dust scattered all around us.
I was very proud of myself until I saw the shifters — their skin was as white as chalk, and they looked on the brink of death. They were barely standing upright. Even the fae seemed dazed and shaken. I immediately felt guilty, even though I knew the shifters wouldn't have been harmed in such a short time — their inner animal wouldn’t allow it.
“W-what happened?” I stuttered, looking at my hands in disbelief.
“Why are you asking us? You’re the one who summoned that blast, Alex, and it wasn’t a good one,” Kagan said, scorn evident in his voice.
But Brendan intervened. “What the fuck was that, Alex? Since when do you summon silver out of thin air?” He was still staggering on the floor, but his face looked a shade better.