INVISIBLE DUTY (INVISIBLE RECRUITS)

by Buckham, Mary

  Then a poof and she disappeared.

  I only hoped it was back to the Kigali Market.

  There wasn’t time to worry as the shadows that had been aiming for Mandy swarmed around me. Think locusts, flies, or bees all together—a loud buzzing and darkness so thick I couldn’t see.

  The djinn was also engulfed.

  But the spirits were pissed that they’d lost their chance to become physical again.

  One spirit upset was an annoyance. A few spirits angry could cause problems. There must be hundreds of writhing, whirling black shapes pummeling me. What now?

  “Witch?” a scratchy voice wove through the pitch darkness. “Link with me.”

  Was he kidding? A witch and a djinn merging powers? Foolhardy.

  Djinn were unreliable and deceitful in the best of times. And that wasn’t now. This one had just tried to kill me and would do so in a heartbeat given half a chance. And he wanted me to open myself up to him and link?

  No way. Plus there was that whole not-going-to-practice-this-level-of-magic promise I’d made.

  “Do it witch or we both die.”

  There were some things worse than death. But giving up wasn’t in my gene pool either. I hadn’t found my missing brother. Hadn’t said good-bye to my father. And then there was Bran, damn his black warlock hide. Even if there was no future for us I wasn’t leaving things unsaid between us. Not if there was a chance to see him one more time.

  I crouched low, covering my head with my hands and squeezing my eyes tightly closed as the spirits used them as a conduit to one’s soul. I stilled myself as much as possible. Listening to the drum sounds, the one Kelly clapped and the one created by my heart thudding fast and wild.

  If I was going to link with the djinn it’d be on my terms.

  Too bad for him he had no idea what those terms meant.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Like stepping into a strange dark house, linking was disconcerting. I hadn’t done it all that often. Why? Because of the fallout. Think magic times ten, which meant that the backlash of magic was also amplified. First time I’d linked my dad sent me away for months to be trained by a Chinese witch. Not so fun. Second time, I ended up in prison. Third time I’d destroyed my relationship with Bran, and I was still paying for that mistake.

  So yeah, I was on the far side of wary as I eased myself open to the djinn. Maybe I could give him only a wedge of access. Not likely but my gut screamed careful, careful, careful. I did have a plan, I just wasn’t sure how well it was going to work.

  Several weeks as an agent and I was beginning to learn a lot about listening to my intuition.

  I smelled him before I sensed him. A dry, gritty smell. Desert sand and desiccated skin. Age and death. All rolled together.

  A cough gagged me. Decay swept around me.

  “You fear me witch?” he cackled inside my skull, which was downright creepy.

  “No,” I lied. “Get rid of the spirits before I get rid of you.”

  His laugh told me how worried he was against that threat. Not at all.

  Like a thunderstorm building pressure on a sultry, muggy summer day I could feel the tension within me increase. Slowly at first, then faster and faster until I feared my blood would boil and my eyeballs split.

  Was this his plan all along? Kill me from inside my own skin?

  “Not yet witch,” he murmured, as if reading my thoughts. “Soon. But not yet.”

  As if I believed him for a second.

  The darkness around me seemed to be easing though, edging from pitch black to murky shadows. Not enough to open my eyes but enough to have me trusting for a few seconds more.

  I was so busy paying attention to the changes outside me I almost missed the changes inside. Changes that threatened to swallow me whole. Changes I knew the djinn was forcing. Like a pressure cooker being turned too high.

  “Puny witch, now you will die.”

  That’s what he thought. The djinn would try to kill me. It was elementary. But not if I didn’t behave as he expected--like a witch.

  I would behave like a shaman.

  Time to play the game by Noziak rules.

  With my head screaming I winked out my link with him. Exactly what he’d expect a witch to do, but what he didn’t expect was me shifting that link to the spirits still swirling around us. Somewhere among the souls trapped in this realm there had to be those with power. My plan? Tap into that power and use it against the djinn.

  Even as I could hear the djinn’s laugh, one of smug success knowing he’d had me trapped and blocked, I started the chant.

  Adeo. Adeo. Agero. Adepto.

  Come. Come. Increase. Acquire

  Suscipio. Solvo.

  Receive. Break free.

  Were these the right words? I didn’t know for sure but had to believe, had to trust my witch side and my shaman side.

  Singluaris. Praesentia presencia

  Free the power.

  Power roared around me, a whip of energy with stillness at the center. My center. I was the one pulling forth the power still remaining from the spirits. I was the one now laughing as my hair spun around me, the desert-dry sand abrading my skin.

  As thou be, so now change. Thought to image. Image to bind. Bind to blood let.

  I’d forgotten the blood. This was not white magic, this was dark magic and needed blood to call forth the full force of the spell. The only force that could stop the djinn once and for all.

  “Puny witch,” he screamed against the frenzied wind and earth. “You’re too weak.”

  I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and bit down. Hard. Then harder. Enough to draw copper-tainted, magic nurturing blood. We’d see who was weak.

  In the space of a heartbeat I tasted it. The salty tang of my own blood. Not much, but it had to work. I cried the words again.

  As thou be, so now change. Thought to image. Image to bind. Bind to blood let.

  The wind exploded. A scream pierced the air, not a single note but a long, drawn-out wail of anger and pain.

  When it stopped so did I, sliding to the sand, every ounce of me wrung dry.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  I didn’t know how long I lay beneath the bruising sun, my skin chapped by sand and heat, parched and battered before I heard the soft clapping of hands.

  Kelly? Somewhere, far far away she was keeping the beat.

  But I didn’t have anything left to drag myself toward her. So I closed my eyes. I’d fought the good fight. The djinn was gone. I’d pulled on an ability that I’d promised myself I’d never use again. But at least I’d done it in this realm, where none of my team knew I’d used it. Never would, either. Not from me.

  “Murakoze,” a male voice spoke somewhere near me. “Thank you.”

  I propped open one eye. All I could manage. “Gahutu?” I whispered.

  He nodded, his hands folded in front of him, his expression accepting.

  “But...” I didn’t even know what I wanted to say. We failed you. You were killed because you helped us. You didn’t deserve to die.

  “My time was finished,” he said as if listening to my thoughts. “You stopped the bad men. The very bad men.”

  This time. Maybe. But there were always bad men. Always darkness and evil. “Killing the djinn will not bring you back,” my words sounded so raspy.

  “No. But I can leave this place now. My soul is at rest.” He looked in the distance as if seeing something I couldn’t see. “You too must leave.”

  “But—“

  “Your time is short. Go now,” he urged.

  I rose to my elbows. “You’ll be fine?” I needed that. His assurance. His blessing.

  Instead of an answer though he gave me a smile. One that put the sun to shame.

  Then he faded away.

  Only when he was more memory than substance did I realize Kelly’s clapping was fading also.

  My thirty minutes were almost up.

  I closed my eyes again. Except this time not in d
espair, but in trust.

  When I opened them I was back in the Kigali Market, Jaylene leaning over me.

  “You can stop now. She’s back.”

  The clapping stilled.

  “Thank you,” I managed as I saw Kelly’s worried face peek over Jaylene’s shoulder.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Like crap.”

  “Get her some water,” Jaylene barked to someone behind her.

  Mandy’s hand hovered into view with a generic bottle of water.

  “You’re alive.” I guzzled a few sips before continuing. “Didn’t know where you’d end up.”

  “Lucky for you I made it back here.” I think she was trying for a threat, but didn’t pull it off.

  I shook my head. I really was glad she’d made it back alive. Until she opened her mouth again.

  “We’ve got to get going. Our transport is waiting at the Kanobe airport. Can’t lay around all day.”

  “Wait!” It was Kelly who stopped Mandy from yanking me to my feet. “You’ve got to tell us. Is it gone?”

  I managed a nod as I staggered to my feet without Mandy’s help.

  “Then you won the bet,” Kelly said, glancing between Mandy and myself.

  That was the problem with lose-lose bets. There was really no winner. In this case it meant Mandy was going to quit the team.

  All gazes rested on her as she shrugged. “A bet’s a bet. I’ll let Ling Mai know as soon as I can.”

  “Forget that.” I glared at her. “We’re heading to Paris and finding my brother. No way am I letting you walk away from that. We’re a team.”

  I staggered away, and almost fell except Jaylene caught one arm. Kelly scooted up under the other. Mandy?

  She’d come in her own sweet time. We were a team.

  For now at least.

  Who knew what tomorrow would bring.

  As if I asked the Great Spirits for a hint, my phone rang.

  I hesitated as I saw who was on the other end. Bran.

  “Aren’t you going to answer that?” Kelly asked.

  I didn’t think no was an option. Especially since Bran was already in Paris and actively looking for the man who kidnapped my brother. But what if he had bad news?

  My heart in my throat, I answered, “What?”

  “You in Paris?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Then get here. Now.”

  “Van?” I whispered my brother’s name.

  “I’ll tell you when you get here.”

  Then he hung up.

  THE END

  Thank you for reading about Alex Noziak in this novella and I hope you enjoyed her story! I’d appreciate your sharing your feedback via Amazon, Goodreads, or with fellow readers. Books are discovered by the willingness of great readers to share with others.

  I also love hearing from readers! Find me on Goodreads or Facebook or Twitter!

  Want to read more about Alex Noziak and the Invisible Recruit team? Check out:

  INVISIBLE PRISON (novella)

  http://www.invisiblerecruits.com/books.html#prison Discover how Alex Noziak became an Invisible Recruit team member and at what cost to herself, and those around her.

  INVISIBLE MAGIC (full length novel)

  http://www.invisiblerecruits.com/books.html#magic On her first official mission for the Invisible Recruit Agency Alex Noziak discovers that to save the innocent she must call upon her untested abilities. But at what cost? She has nothing to lose, except her life.

  INVISIBLE POWER (full-length novel)

  (coming mid-July 2013 )

  http://www.invisiblerecruits.com/books.html#power When Alex has a chance to save her brother and expose the Were who held him hostage, she must make a hard choice with lives at risk, including her own.

  INVISIBLE FATE (full-length novel)

  (coming Fall 2013)

  http://www.invisiblerecruits.com/books.html#fate Alex Noziak will find out who her friends and who her enemies are. Nothing is clear as she faces a powerful Druid who is using her magical powers to release a three-thousand year-old demon on the world.

  About the Author

  Mary Buckham is the author of WRITING ACTIVE SETTING: Book 1 and Book 2; http://www.marybuckham.com/nonfiction_books.html the best selling book in a three-book series on the craft of writing; co-author of BREAK INTO FICTION™: 11 Steps to Building a Story That Sells, and now the amazingly well-received INVISIBLE RECRUIT Urban Fantasy series.

  When not conjuring preternatural beings, and figuring out how to eliminate them, she lives in Washington State with her husband, and is hard at work on more stories of the Invisible Recruits.

  www.MaryBuckham.com

  www.InvisibleRecruits.com