Perhaps a spy for Markus, that didn’t mean she was entirely off-limits.
Resisting the urge to nibble on her earlobe, he waited for her reply.
“Lockers. Via Rail ones. Let’s go.” She tugged on his hand, encouraging him to move.
They threaded their way through the crowd, bumping and jostling as they went. Nearing 5 P.M., the peak of rush hour, everyone was impatient to get home. Jackson led the way as they passed between more pillars, down the gently sloping walkway and through another arching door. He glanced at Julia then swept his arm wide with a flourish and a cocky grin.
“After you, my dear.” He leaned down to kiss the top of her head, thinking he could get used to this. A near silent sigh slipped from Julia, the warm air brushing against his throat. Tramping down on his almost uncontrollable need for her, he stepped away, fists clenched to stop from holding her close to him. If he gave into the urge, he’d find himself teleporting them to the hostel, stripping her naked and exploring every delectable inch.
Neither of which was possible. Using a large amount of power like teleporting could give the Enforcers a fix on their location. And he wanted her total surrender when he indulged in his fantasies starring this luscious mage.
Watching her walk to the row of lockers, he admired her graceful, fluid prowl. No one would mistake her for harmless. She held her body in a state of readiness and each flowing movement reminded him of a dangerous predator, waiting to pounce. He wanted to tame that dark, dangerous side of her in bed.
Or have her completely ravish him.
Either worked for him.
She pulled out a key and opened one of the lockers in the middle. Placing a padded envelope in it, she then went over to the nearest garbage can and stuck the USB key to the side facing the wall. Julia had explained the process before they reached Union Station. The padded envelope was there to either fool those breaking into the locker or to give Nathan a reason to walk to the trash can and grab the key.
“Okay, we’re good.... darling.” She said with a light, flirtatious smile. “Let’s go home.”
To his surprise, she sidled up to him and slipped in under his arm, a hand resting on his chest. It felt right, having her next to him, the loose strands of her hair brushing against his arm. Her personal scent of vanilla and cinnamon teased his senses. He wanted to lose himself in it.
For days now, it had tantalized him. Both dreading and anticipating her showers, her scent lingered in the bathroom. He tortured himself with images of her naked, soaping her enticing body and had to restrain himself several times from joining her. Instead he took to teasing her, walking around in just a towel to see if she would react. A few times he thought he’d seen lust shining in her eyes, yet he wasn’t absolutely certain. Some part of him spurred him on, made him push the boundaries.
Not that he had much to offer her. He was a fugitive, had no job and a limited amount of cash. Several of his friends kept giving him pre-paid Visa cards, but he tried to use them sparingly. He also kept track so he could pay them back if this nightmare ever ended.
Lost in thought he broke the first rule of Enforcers - Always Pay Attention. After leaving Union Station, they turned down an alley to use as a shortcut. Most alleys downtown were relatively safe due to the amount of foot traffic.
Becoming complacent though was a rookie mistake and it cost lives. He hoped Julia wouldn’t pay the price for his preoccupation.
The lack of sound was his first clue something was wrong. The second clue: the werewolf detaching himself from the wall. Brown from his hair to his clothes to his skin and ordinary looking, he reminded Jackson of the massasauga rattlesnake. Harmless in appearance and deadly to the unsuspecting.
The smile he flashed was anything but friendly. While he wasn’t in wolf form, currently wearing his human shape, Jackson could tell by the feel of his essence as to his race. Mage Enforcers learned early how to distinguish between the races by the personal signature each had, almost like a scent only more intangible.
Jackson had spent many hours a week blindfolded identifying different races. It was tedious work and one he didn't wish away. The knowledge of what he faced saved his life many times over years. It also whispered a secret to him.
Another werewolf was sneaking up behind him.
Whirling around, he faced the other one, slightly surprised to see a woman. Her bleached blond hair cut short, the pixie look would’ve been cute on a softer woman. On her, it emphasized the strong bone structure of her face. The wiry build of her body suggested many hours of working out and a certain comfort level in breaking bones.
He sized up the tall, muscular woman, trusting Julia to handle the man. Should he make the first move or let her? Sometimes it was easier to judge your opponent with their opening, if they were more offensive or defensive. Of course, he could end up at a disadvantage if she was strong with her offensive. She’d be harder to take her down if he was too busy dodging hits. Studying her paid off when he saw she adjusted her weight to attack first.
Trying to get him off guard, she threw out a fast punch. Ducking the swing aimed for his head, he rapidly jabbed her in the kidney when her body turned with the momentum of her punch. With a soundless grunt, she shifted her weight to one foot and swept the other foot at him, catching him across the ankles. Losing his balance, Jackson staggered backwards and tried to steady himself. Her next punch scarcely connected with his jaw though with enough contact to whip his head around.
His teeth snapped together and he promptly remembered werewolves were a bitch to fight physically. Meaner, nastier, and they healed quicker. And their human form was just as scary as their wolf form. He needed to level the playing field. He needed to keep her off-balance, but when he tried to cast a spell, no sound came from his mouth.
Horror dawned on him. He hadn’t heard a single noise during their fight. Not a rustle of clothing or footstep penetrated the encompassing silence.
Shocked, he looked at the female werewolf while she smirked at him. A mage was working with them, one impossible see or sense nearby. The spell either activated before they entered the alley or else their presence triggered it.
Made no difference how it happened. Without spells the werewolves gained the upper hand. He had to rely on his physical attacks now against one who healed swiftly and had a higher threshold of pain.
He gritted his teeth, refusing to fall to a wolf when he’d spent most of his adult life battling demons.
Chapter Seven
JULIA SQUARED OFF against the male werewolf. While Markus may have sheltered her from the more gruesome aspects of being an Enforcer, he always insisted she fight her own battles. He never pulled any of his punches and today she was eternally grateful.
The first blow to her head took her by surprise. The second took him by surprise. She used his distraction while he sizing her up for the second hit to her advantage, activating her fire shield.
Not all of her earrings required spoken triggers. Some of them either ran constantly or needed her to mentally project the triggering word. The fire shield required the mental projection. Once it activated, her attacker would receive the damage they inflicted returned to them as flames.
The harder the hit, the worse the burns were to her attacker.
Unfortunately, he had dealt with mages before. Instead of continuing to use his bare fists, he pulled out a wooden bat hidden behind a nearby dumpster. This was looking more and more like a setup. A spur of the moment attack wouldn’t have them this well prepared.
Julia’s eyes narrowed and she started mouthing curse words. A setup meant the attackers would be ruthless in either capturing or killing Jackson, possibly her as well. This werewolf wasn’t going easy on her as expected of a rescuer. He was treating her like a threat.
Swiftly rifling through her memorized spells, she found a sad lack of silent spells. Most of them required a spoken word to trigger them. If she made it out alive, she was burying her nose into grimoires to research more of them. As
her first time fighting in total silence, it was unnerving.
Her fire shield was no longer as helpful as it could’ve been. While an attacker would be wary of hitting her with bare flesh, a baseball bat removed the fear of pain. Well, for the attacker at least. She would feel every single blow until the wood burned or she found some way to stop him. Eyes darting around the alley, she searched for anything helpful while she dodged a swing of the bat.
A gleam of metal caught her attention, tucked under old newspapers and other trash. Ducking under another swing, she ran for the shining metal. Pulling it out from under the garbage, she gripped the perfectly weighted knife. A savage grin on her lips as she whirled back to her attacker.
She knew this knife. Even better, she knew it had a high content of silver, ideal for hurting a werewolf. She fell into her training, cleared her mind and let instinct take over.
Relying on magic to win fights was pointless due to her body’s natural resistance to it. Having it backfire during a crucial moment was always a possibility. If she had access to magic, great. If not, she had other ways of winning.
She also suspected the werewolf thought he had an advantage. No questions, they knew they were up against mages, but doubtful anyone warned them about Julia’s prowess with a blade. One of the few things the Mage Enforcers admired and feared about her.
Testing the waters, she took a quick swipe at him with the knife. His reaction swift with no sign of caution. Good, he didn’t realize it was a silver blade. She didn’t want to show her hand too soon, so she feigned several attacks, drawing him out.
Searching for an opening proved difficult when the bat kept coming perilously close to her head. A few times, he managed to clip her on the shoulder and once on the hip. The bat had numerous scorch marks and, in one spot, a large burn.
After several minutes of cat and mouse, she saw the opportunity she needed. Crouching down to avoid another hit, she scuttled forward and swung the sharp blade into a wide arc across his stomach.
A soundless scream erupted from him as the silver burned in the gut wound. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would take longer to heal and perhaps leave a scar. The bat fell to the ground as he clutched the gaping injury. Blood pooled between his fingers and he reeled backwards until he hit the alley wall.
Julia shifted her gaze from him and saw Jackson fighting with the other werewolf. The female had the upper hand although Jackson gave no ground. Their hands and feet were a blur as they fought until she staggered, having scented the blood from the male werewolf.
A howl of anger muted by the silence spell. Anguish crumpled her features and in that unguarded moment, Jackson put her down with a solid punch to her jaw. She dropped to the ground, dazed.
Julia seized the chance to escape. She grabbed Jackson’s arm as she ran by and they raced out of the alley.
The silence spell deactivated as they exited onto the street. An agonizing scream from the male rung out before it ended abruptly. A loud whimper from the female peaked sharply into a yelp and then she too was quiet.
Julia continued tugging Jackson along by his arm. They pushed their way through other people on the sidewalk, heedless of the angry shouts. Passing by several small stores lining the street, she found what she was looking for, a large electronics store. She wanted the anonymity a box store would offer. Other customers would pay them no attention and sales people would ignore them which made for a perfect situation.
Making their way to the back of the store, they passed several rows of electronic goods. Studiously avoiding eye contact with any zealous sales associates, they stopped near the washrooms while staying close enough to “browse” the merchandise and not arouse suspicion.
“What the hell?!” Jackson whispered to her. “How did they find us? I have a constant anti-tracking spell on. No way in hell could they have found us and so quickly. They must’ve been waiting!”
“I’ve found you... twice. Maybe someone else found a way around your spell?” She tilted her head, checking him over for any obvious wounds. Her stomach clenched at the thought of him hurt.
“You found me? Wait, that was your tracking spell?” Something sounding suspiciously like pride laced his voice.
“We’re getting sidetracked.” She didn’t want to discuss why she modified it. “The most important thing is making our way back to the hostel. No one has attacked us there, so your wards are working.”
“How are we getting back? We could be spotted at any time. The werewolves can track by our sent. Hell, our scent is all over that alley.” Jackson ground out as he paced, frustration coating his words.
His agitation seemed out of character. Compare to his normal job, this should’ve been a breeze. Werewolves were nothing after facing off against demons.
“Give me a minute.” Figuring out how the werewolves tracked them would wait. A more pressing matter required her attention, how to get back to the hostel, unharmed and without being followed.
“Do you know any deodorizer spells? I don’t have any memorized, but I can invis us both.” She ran her finger over the charged diamond earring.
His eyes glazed over slightly as he went through his mental catalogue.
“Ah good, yes I do.” He focused on Julia again, giving her a lopsided grin. “Last time I used it, a disgusting smelling demon had me in a bear hug. Cracked three of my ribs and made me stink for a week afterwards. Only way I could stand myself was with deodorize. The cracked ribs, easy to handle, but that smell…horrifying!”
She suppressed a chuckle at his disgusted look and made a mental note to stay away from smelly demons. More important, though, not to let them hug her.
“Do you have any garlic powder hiding in your never-ending pouch?” He grinned at her and looked disappointed when she pulled some out in a little bag. He had spent over a week trying to trip her up, see if she didn’t have a component. Julia, however, was well stocked and prepared.
She laughed and told him to hurry up.
As he casted deodorize, she mentally prepared to cast invisibility on them. Her diamond earring had five charges on them and she hated to use two of those charges, but saw no other choice. The way things were going, she’d be recharging her earrings again soon. She sighed. That would require her workshop and several weeks’ worth of work.
“Remember,” she reminded him, “no casting spells and no making any aggressive moves or the spell drops.”
“Yes dear.” He said in a nasally, suffering voice then winked at her.
Julia pinched his shoulder in retaliation before casting invisibility on him then on herself.
“Lead the way. And don’t walk me into any walls.” She joked as she kept her hand on his arm. If she focused enough, his ghostly form appeared. A rare ability, one of the advantages of magic resistance. Illusions didn’t fully work with her when she concentrated on seeing past them and invis counted as an illusion.
“There goes my fun. Worst kidnapped victim ever.” He drawled before they reached other customers. Both kept quiet, the entrance their destination.
Weaving through the pockets of meandering people, Julia took care not to touch or bump anyone. No sense alerting the public mages were in the building. With unspoken agreement, she stopped behind Jackson as they waited near the automatic doors. Their patience paid off as another person left, opening the door for them. Movements tracked by video feeds were a distinct possibility, one they wanted to avoid.
The next few minutes passed uneventful as they made their way to the hostel and into their room. Once safely inside with the wards in place, Julia dispelled her invisibility and deodorize as he did the same. Tossing the stupid hat onto the bed, (how she hadn’t lost it was a mystery) she shook out her hair before finger combing it into a messy ponytail.
“So, uh, where did the knife come from? Have you been hiding it all this time?”
“No. I found it in the alley, hidden. Odd thing is... this is my knife. I last had it when Markus knocked me unconscious.”
Chapter Eight
“HOW DO YOU know it’s your knife? Maybe it’s a similar one?” Her weapon just happened to show up in a random alley moments after the werewolves attacked. Yeah, not strange at all. And Jackson was a demon lover. Add in an almost perfect trap sprung on them the first day they left their hiding spot and he no longer believed in coincidences.
“It’s mine. Markus had it made for me and inscribed my name on the blade.” She ran her fingers over the scrolling lines and whorls on the silver blade.
She grabbed a rag from the kitchen and wiped away the blood. Energy swirled around the knife as she used a spell to sterilize and sharpen the metal. A rusted blade was useless unless she hoped to kill them with tetanus.
“He had my name stylized- Julia Hill. I’d told him I wished I had a pretty name, so he made it pretty for me. Both of my knives have the same inscription.” Her expression wistful and a little sad.
“I miss him.” She continued. “I’ve never been out of contact with him for so long, even if it’s a random text throughout the day. He’s been my mentor for almost 30 years and well... I miss him. I left a message with my friend. Let my parents know I’m okay. They’re gonna worry and I don’t want that. I haven’t spoken to them since the first night.”
An unusual tightness in his chest distracted him. Analyzing his emotions, he realized it was a mixture of guilt for dragging her along and sadness over her distress. Guilt wasn’t familiar to him. Difficult choices filled his life, ones he made for the safety of the populace. If he spent his time worrying over his actions, he’d never get out of bed.
Keeping her hidden away from her friends and family bothered him. At least he could talk to his friends when he needed, alleviating some of the loneliness. Julia didn’t have that option. It’d be too easy for a careless word or a tapped phone to lead his enemies here.
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