twice cursed mage 05 - claimed

by J. A. Cipriano

  “What promise?” Duane asked, and he had a strange, angry lilt to his voice as he shuffled along behind me.

  “I promised to help him save Ricky from old Junkyard if he helped me rescue you from Ivy,” Jack said, and as he did, I heard a hard intake of breath.

  “Well, ain’t that some shit,” Duane replied, and even though I couldn’t see him, I was inclined to agree. Yeah, it was some shit, and I was done fucking around. No, it was time to start crossing names off my list. Junkyard was next, then Bruce and Sargent would follow. If I found Jenna on the way, so much the better. I wasn’t sure what the two of us had really had, but I no longer cared, and not just because she’d joined this council of seven. She’d shot me in the stomach and left me for dead. As far as I was concerned that was a deal breaker in the relationship department.

  Chapter 14

  We’d barely made it out of the cave when Jack’s phone started to ring. He fished it out of his pocket as I turned to glance at the old vampire. Why hadn’t he put it on silent? Did he want us to get shot full of holes? While that tended not to be a problem unless they were etched with runes, it most certainly was for me.

  He stared at the phone’s screen with a bewildered look on his face for way too long for it to be good. Then, just as I was sure he was going to miss the call, he hit the green button and lifted the phone to his ear.

  “Maya?” he asked, puzzlement evident in his voice. While I couldn’t hear what was said because I didn’t have vampire super hearing, I could tell by Jack’s face that it was not Maya on the other end. Fuck. “Fine.” He held the phone out to me with an angry expression marring his features. “It’s for you.”

  I took the phone from him, and as I did, I glanced at the screen. Maya’s name along with a grainy selfie of the two of them filled the screen. Obviously, whoever had called had done it from her phone. That wasn’t even slightly good. I lifted it to my ear and prepared for the worst.

  “Mac’s all day cleaner. If you’ve got a mess, we’ve got a way to clean it up. How may we help you?” I asked because if I didn’t try to joke this off I was going to get pissed and that wouldn’t help anyone right now. When I found who had Maya and killed them, I could let my rage loose.

  “Cute, Mac,” Jenna said, and her voice struck me like a dagger to the heart. Before I could stop myself, I actually staggered backward a couple steps. It had been one thing to say I’d kill her for what she’d done, but at the same time, hearing her voice conjured up the memory of our trip to Afghanistan, and a sudden surge of guilt welled up inside me. I’d failed to save her, and because of that, she’d sold her soul to Asmodai. Sure, she’d made the decision, but I should have saved her. She’d been my partner, and now she had Maya. Double fuck.

  “What do you want, Jenna?” I asked, gripping the phone tight enough for my knuckles to turn white from the effort. As I realized what I was doing, I eased off because I didn’t want to accidentally break it. While I didn’t care so much about the phone, and there was no way I was going to buy Jack a new one even if it did break, I wanted to hear what Jenna had to say. I may not have remembered much, but it wasn’t like her to call me, especially since, you know, she was trying to kill me.

  “We don’t have a lot of time, Mac. If Asmodai finds out I’m calling you, things will get worse.” She heaved a breath into the phone that made me wonder what was going on. “And not in a ‘before they get better’ sort of way.”

  Well that was certainly interesting. Was she going against Asmodai? For me? No, it had to be a trick. After all, she’d shot me… only, only she hadn’t killed me. How hard would it have been to put that bullet into my heart or my skull? Not very. No, if Jenna had wanted to kill me, I’d be dead. Goddammit. I hated when things got complicated, and thirty seconds before this phone call things had been simple. I would kill the fuck out of all of them, now I had to reevaluate.

  “Jenna, what’s going on?” I asked, and the urgency in my voice surprised me, especially since I’d been about to go save Ricky. I mean, to be fair, Ricky was pretty fucking capable, and given enough time I’d sure she’d wreck Junkyard’s shit, but at the same time, I didn’t want to leave her in the guy’s hands if I could help it.

  Unfortunately, whatever Jenna had in store was really going to derail that plan. The best thing I could do was hang up on her and go after my girlfriend, but then again, she was calling from Maya’s phone, which obviously meant she had Maya’s phone. If she had Maya’s phone, then the girl was in trouble. Still, Maya wasn’t Ricky, and if it came down to a choice between the two of them, well, that wasn’t even a choice.

  “Jun has Maya at the Stalwart Hotel on Fourth Street. If you don’t hurry, Jun will probably bring her into the Council and you’ll be well and truly fucked.” Before I could say anything in reply, the phone clicked off, and I stood there listening to it like a dumbass for longer than I cared to admit. To be fair though, I didn’t say “Hello” several times. I mean, who does that?

  “What’d your ex want?” Duane asked, but as he did, Jack turned toward the old Druid and shook his head.

  “Jun has Maya and is trying to get her to join the council.” A ghost of a smile passed across his lips. “Seems they’ve got a couple of vacancies.”

  “We can’t let that happen,” Duane replied, and the look on his face made me feel pretty horrible. Hell, I already felt horrible. Everything in me knew I needed to go after Maya, to save her from Jun and keep her out of the council, even if I only did so to save myself from having to kill her myself. Still, could I really go after her while Ricky was in the care of Junkyard? It didn’t seem like the right call…

  I’d already delayed so long from helping Ricky, and I had no idea what she was going through. One thing I did know though was that if Ricky could endure, she’d want me to go after Maya first, and knowing her as I did, I was pretty sure she would be okay. Pissed off, sure. Hurt no doubt. But she’d live, of that I was certain. Still, the need to go after her was almost overwhelming, and for a second, I considered leaving Maya to die.

  Unfortunately, I knew one thing to be fact, and not just because she’d imprinted on me or whatever. No, it was because of who Ricky was. If I saved her at the expense of Maya, she’d be right pissed. Why? Because of what had happened outside the laundromat. Ricky had left to fulfill her duty to her pack instead of helping me even though I had needed her.

  Sure, things had worked out, but I’ll be honest, I was still kind of pissed about that along with how she hadn’t told me about my family after I’d gone through so much to save them, but still. Still. Could I really leave her in the hands of a madman so I could go save Maya? I mean the girl had tried to fillet me to sell my flesh on the black market. It wasn’t like she was my bestie or anything. Still, I knew what Ricky would want me to do.

  “What do you want to do, Mac?” Jack asked, moving close to me and throwing one arm around my shoulder. “If you want to split up, we can do that. If you want us to all go after Ricky or Maya, we will. You helped me get Duane back, so it’s your call. Whatever it is, we’ll help.”

  “If we split up, can you save Maya or Ricky by yourself?” I asked, looking at the cowboy, and the look in his dark eyes told me the answer long before he shook his head.

  “Unlikely. At least, not with Duane as he is.” Jack smirked. “I mean, I’m ready to rough and tumble, but him. Well, I could knock him over with a feather.” Well, that was just great. Duane was useless. Damn, why couldn’t things just work out for once. Why did I have to handle business for everyone?

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Duane asked, glancing from Jack to me and back again. “Of course we’re not splitting up. We have to go after Maya.”

  “It means you’re too hurt to do any good, and you couldn’t take Jun even if you were up to speed.” Jack sighed. “I’m not even sure we can save Ricky as it is. I was counting on having Maya with us when we took Junkyard on. Without her, there’s no one to stop his freaky mojo from pulling our entrails out
our mouths.”

  I took a deep breath, and as I did, it felt like the weight of the world was settling on my shoulders. If what Jack said was true, we’d need Maya to save Ricky, although I wasn’t sure why I couldn’t just put a silver sniper round into Junkyard from a thousand yards. Sargent had been tough, but the more I thought about him and Jun, the more I had begun to suspect something. The fight with Ivy had cemented that.

  They weren’t actually much faster than me. No, as I replayed every single time I’d dealt with a council member, I realized something. They were predictable. Not in the way you’d expect but more in the way that they seemed to know what you were going to do before you did it and reacted accordingly. All I had to do was switch my moves at the last second. Easier said than done, sure, but I was sure I was onto something because that had been what allowed me to take down Ivy so easily. By switching from an attack with Hellfire to an attack with my elbow, I’d caught her off guard. Surely I could do that to all of them.

  I wasn’t sure if Jenna’s call was part of Asmodai’s plan or not, but there was no doubt in my mind that they’d expect me to go after Ricky despite Maya’s predicament. So what was I going to do? I was going to go after Maya, and I was going to rain destruction down upon those motherfuckers. After all, I didn’t have a particular order to kill them in. Besides, it sounded like we’d need Maya’s help because as fun as it sounded, I most certainly did not want my entrails pulled out my mouth.

  “Here’s the plan,” I said, glancing up at Jack. “While Swamp Thing,” I gestured toward Duane, “lays in a bog or whatever to recharge, we’re going to get Maya, and by we, I mean you’re going to drop me off at the Stalwart Hotel on Fifth Street. After that, I want you to go find Ricky and scout the perimeter. Give me an update on how she’s going, and hey, if you can save her, go for it. If not, come collect Duane and wait for me. I’ll be along shortly.”

  As I said the words, guilt surged up inside me. I couldn’t believe I was leaving Ricky in the hands of Junkyard for a minute longer, but she’d just have to endure if we had any chance of winning this thing. If the council could really see the future, our only chance was to keep them off balance.

  Chapter 15

  Jack dropped me off about a block from the hotel just like I’d asked, and as I watched the taillights of his spare truck disappear into the distance, I took a deep breath and steeled myself. There was still time to call Jack up and go after Ricky. After all, I’d gotten a nifty burner cell before he’d dropped me off, and his number was in it, but well, I wasn’t going to do that. I’d come up with a course of action, and I’d have to live with it, no matter the consequences. After all, what would John Wayne do? Not turn back, that’s for damned sure.

  I tore my gaze from the street and looked around, trying to find what I was looking for as I headed toward the hotel. If chaos threw off the seven, well, I’d give them chaos, Mac Brennan style.

  It didn’t take long to spot a tooled out utility truck just a few feet away, and as I approached, I pulled a crisp one hundred-dollar bill out of my pocket. With practiced ease, I walked up alongside the passenger side, making sure only the driver was inside the cab, and stuck the hundred-dollar bill beneath the passenger’s side windshield wiper.

  The driver had just started his truck, but as he saw me walking away, he turned his attention toward the hundred bucks on his window. I was already circling back as he hopped out and scrambled around the truck to collect his prize. As he snatched it free, I slid into the driver’s seat and pulled the door shut.

  A cry of rage and confusion burst from the driver’s lips as I shifted the truck into drive and stomped on the gas. The front of the blue truck clipped the back end of a silver Camry and ripped its bumper off as I tore out of the parking lot and barreled toward the Stalwart Hotel. Soon the guy I’d jacked would be calling the cops and bringing them down on me. That was fine. I wanted them to come. More people meant more chaos. With any luck, there’d be a helicopter.

  As I approached the hotel’s lobby, I ground my foot into the gas pedal, gripped the wheel with all my strength, and angled toward the big glass sliding doors in front. The doors shattered in a spray of glass as I drove the big truck up into the hotel’s lobby and jerked the wheel hard to the left. As I pressed the brakes to the floor, the tires skidded across the tile before slamming into the side wall. The truck came to a sudden halt that smacked me against the driver’s window and made my teeth snap together. Pain shot down the length of my body, but I pushed it away as I unfastened my seat belt and hopped out.

  Alarm bells were going crazy in the hotel as I made my way across the debris strewn lobby. Thankfully, there were no rent-a-cops in the vicinity. Guess today was my lucky day. I’d have taken them out, but I didn’t want to if I could help it.

  As I reached the stairwell, I called upon my power in an effort to locate Maya. Light flickered across the surface of my blackened arm as I reached out while focusing on her. It was partially successful. I didn’t find her exactly, but what I did sense several floors above were two signatures similar to the ones I’d felt from Ivy. I wasn’t sure if the cat was going to help me, but evidently today wishes were horses.

  “Ignis!” I cried, and as I did, I hurled a fireball right at the truck’s gas tank before leaping though the door to the stairs. The explosion threw me from my feet anyway as the fire sprinklers went off, dousing me in cool water as I looked up the stairwell. I took a deep breath and tried to pull myself off the concrete floor. It didn’t work. I collapsed back to the floor and lay there as water poured over me.

  The deafening boom of the explosion rang in my ears as I reached deep down and tried to summon a reservoir of strength, and as I did, I felt the cat in my head watching me curiously.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, sidling up to me in my mind’s eye with her tail held high.

  “Trying to man up and ignore the effects of being blown up,” I replied, gritting my teeth as I spoke the words into the empty hallway.

  “Oh.” She pursed her lips which was altogether weird looking on her face. “I can show you how to do that, but it will cost you.”

  I glanced at her, and unlike usual, there was a look of concern on her face.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, wondering what exactly she meant by costs. As she’d said before, she already owned me, what more could she offer me, and even more curious, was the concern on her face. She never seemed concerned about what happened to me.

  “I can lend you some of my strength. You will be able to get up and do whatever you need to do. You can draw upon my power.” She took a deep breath. “But if you do, the bond between us will grow.” She squirmed, and I got the impression she was leaving out some important bits of information.

  “Will it kill me?” I asked, and as she shook her head, I decided to do it. As I’d said earlier, she already owned me. What did it matter if the bond between us grew stronger? I’d have a sudden addiction to catnip? Besides, I needed to get up there, and I’d been dumb enough to blow myself up thinking it was a good idea.

  “It will not kill you,” she affirmed out loud when I didn’t immediately respond.

  “Then do it.” The moment I said the word, she vanished into a cyclone of scarlet flame that swirled around me. As it did, I felt her strength thrum through me, healing me, no that wasn’t quite the right word. It improved me in every possible way, but as it did, I felt her presence stronger than ever before. Instead, she’d been like a neighbor I could hear through the walls and see through the windows. Now, now she was in the same house as me, and the knowledge of that crawled through me like a stampede of slimy bugs.

  “It is done,” she replied, and I caught the brief flicker of her sitting on the steps in front of me. I shook my head to clear my head and looked again. This time, I didn’t see her. Either way, this time I was able to push myself to my feet .

  I wasn’t sure if I was just getting used to the whole always having to climb stairs thing, or if it was just th
e power boost I’d gotten from strengthening my bond with the cat, but either way, I was barely out of breath by the time I reached the top floor. I’d seen people pass by me in a mad dash for escape as I’d moved up the stairs, but since none had tried to shoot me, I’d ignored them.

  As I leaned up against the wall next to the door into the hallway that led to the rooms where I sensed the power, I slid the Desert Eagle free from the waistband of my scrubs. I’d thought about using the pimp cane I had strapped to my back, but at the moment, I was inclined to leave that for when I ran out of bullets. No sense getting close if I didn’t have to.

  I wasn’t sure if the police were here yet, or if they were still on their way because I couldn’t hear anything over the hotel’s own alarm bells. Either way, I was sure it wouldn’t be long. Then things would get real interesting. Still, I was glad for the blaring alarms. They’d cover any noise I made. With practiced ease, I cracked the door and glanced out into the hallway.

  Two men wearing expensive “off the rack” suits bulging in places that made me think “concealed weapons” stood just outside a door in the middle of the hallway. Wariness and apprehension painted their features as their hands tensed, desperate to draw their weapons and confront an unseen threat. One was looking in my direction, scanning the hallway for attackers while the other was looking down the other way. As the guard made eye contact with me, I pulled the trigger on the Desert Eagle.

  Before he could cry out in alarm, the .50 caliber round caught him in the forehead and sent him pitching backward into his friend, who stumbled forward. As he caught his balance and tried to turn toward me, I fired again. My shot removed the top of his head from the rest of his skull, and he fell lifelessly to the ground. I sprinted across the hallway, stopping just long enough to pull open the closest thugs’s suit jacket and grab the MP5 hidden beneath.