A Weapon Of Magical Destruction

by Katie Salidas

  With a little help from her street-wise vampire informant, Zack, Sage is able to pinpoint the malevolent force orchestrating this devious scheme.

  But just as she closes in, her human roommate Matt is pulled into the fray.

  And everything gets personal. Stop the Amulet from being completed, or save her best friend? With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, either choice will force Sage to break the very magical laws she's supposed to uphold.

  getbook.at/TasteMagic

  CHAPTER ONE

  Not even nine o’clock and all the temper tantrums and interruptions had worn Sage’s nerves as thin as the cards she held in her hand. Game night was supposed to be fun. Unfortunately, no one sitting around the small table in her kitchen had gotten that memo.

  Rage simmered below the congenial smiles, passing like an infectious disease with the rotation of the dice. Not even Sage had immunity to its effect.

  Outside her window, silence beckoned. Stillness. Calm. Not even a breeze dared disturb the sleeping trees. A picture-perfect summer evening, just beyond her reach, peace that sharply contrasted the raised voices and empty threats flying around the room where Sage sat waiting for her turn to enter the fray.

  Dice clattered against wood. Mournful howls followed. Another defeat.

  “You’re stunned for two rounds, Matt,” Josh called from behind his Game Master’s divider. “Or, wait. Hold on a moment. Do you remember the number on the red die?”

  It shouldn’t take a degree in calculus to figure out if a player failed an attempted attack, but this wasn’t their normal dungeon crawl.

  Julie had already scooped up the dice, to take her turn. A blessing in disguise that prevented any further argument over what number had landed.

  “Forget it. I’m stunned. Let’s just keep going.” Matt’s tone carried a raw edge that failed to mask the annoyance he’d been desperate to hide. Partially to blame for subjecting them all to this hellish fantasy land. Matt’s boyfriend had command of their fate as Game Master. Matt could have taken one for the team and said no when Josh demanded they all play his new game. But love makes people do stupid things.

  Coward. Sage groaned and sank lower in her chair, wishing she possessed the magic to melt into a puddle under the table and slither away. If only. Magic or not, her turn to roll the dice would come soon enough. Death might be her only way out.

  Julie took her turn, whooping and cheering as she successfully snuck past the Black Mage.

  The dice landed like a judge’s gavel in front of Sage. If she played her cards right, she might be pardoned. She took her deck in hand, spotting a winning combination, and a smile etched its way across her face. Luck, at least for the moment, had chosen to be on her side. “It’s hero time!” She laid her playable cards on the table before taking her roll. “Does the Black Mage have any last words?”

  “You can’t use those!” Josh pounced with the speed of a cat before the dice hit wood.

  She ground her teeth audibly in the sudden silence that came while Josh scrutinized her cards. “You need Divine Aura to protect you against the Mage’s attack,” he shoved the cards back toward her.

  “I have magic immunity in my abilities.” Her temper on a hair trigger, Sage teetered on the edge of a self-destructive rage quit that might end game night forever. If he would just let her use the cards she’d chosen…. But no, another damn interruption. Another look at the rule book. At this rate they’d all die of natural causes before reaching the main boss.

  “No one has immunity.” Josh ducked down behind the flimsy shield of his Game Masters folder the moment the words left his lips. It wouldn’t protect him from the angry mob staring at the top of his head. Sage may have been his latest target, but she was far from his first. All the others around the table were shooting murderous glares his way. Nearly every turn had repeated the same pause to check rules. The Game Master controlled the fates of everyone around the table, but clearly Josh hadn’t bothered to study before subjecting them to this indie dungeon crawler. A game that hadn’t passed the crowd funding phase of production.

  “Magical immunity is an innate ability,” Sage argued, slamming her remaining cards down on the table. “I don’t need to use Divine Aura, if my character already has a natural defense.”

  “Who has magical immunity?” Matt cut in sharply, switching from Josh to Sage as the target of his anger. “Where does it say that on your character sheet?”

  More accusing than inquisitive, as soon as Sage realized what Matt had implied, embarrassment replaced the rage she’d been ready to unleash. Confusing fantasy and reality, she’d nearly let her secret slip.

  Among all those she counted on as friends, Matt alone knew Sage belonged to a race as old as time itself. Terras were once members of the three magical races, but the great mother chose them to be her soldiers, and guardians of magical law. Their active powers were exchanged for the innate neutrality bestowed upon them.

  Sage need never fear a Shadowrunner’s deadly mist, or an arc of conjured lightning from an ethereal Pixie. The Fae, Otherkin, Fair Folk, whatever name they choose to go by, none could harm her with their power. But Sage’s gift negated any magic she might hope to conjure for either good or evil. Just like in the rulebooks of the games she played, there must always be a balance. Characters can never be too powerful.

  Had Sage been raised to know all of this, keeping the secret wouldn’t be an issue. But she’d only recently learned about her special lineage. An inheritance passed down with the death of her mother. All at once magic bled like an open wound into every aspect of her life. With the veil lifted she learned the truth of what lurked in the shadows and peeked behind the mask magical creatures wore. A crash course that left Sage’s head spinning as she questioned everything she’d ever known.

  She opened her mouth to reply to Matt. But no words came. What explanation could she give to him or the others now glaring at her. Interruption number…whatever. Her fault.

  Josh lifted his head behind the shield of his GM folder. Waiting. Impatience etching lines across his forehead.

  Awkward silence hung like a fog in the air. Her mind had gone blank.

  “I… uh…” Sage had no explanation for her near slip as she gave up the pretense of searching her character sheet. “I guess I didn’t add that. Whoops.”

  Julie’s chair scraped against the floor. Like nails on a chalkboard the sound drew attention momentarily away from Sage. “Since we’re on a break… again. Anyone want a beer?” Julie helped herself to one from the fridge.

  Matt’s initial annoyance had turned to exhaustion. Sage could see it in his eyes. The desperate pleading for the game to either start going somewhere or just end completely. “Cheating isn’t going to get us through this raid.” He held a red die in his hand. “Divine aura. Roll it.”

  Sage pulled the card from her stack and laid it on the hand-drawn map next to her character token. She rolled the Twenty-sided die and closed her eyes, praying for a 10 or better.

  “Two,” Josh called from behind his GM folder.

  “Dammit!” Sage yelled.

  “Your shield spell failed,” Josh pulled up a page as he rolled his own blue die. “And I rolled eleven so looks like… you’re dead.”

  “Had to go up against the Black Mage, didn’t you?” Julie scoffed as she sat down with her beer in hand.

  “You know me… charge in guns blazing.” Sage secretly prayed her mistake had taken her out of the game completely. “How long do I have to wait for a resurrection spell?”

  Josh shuffled pages behind his shield. All she could see of him was the top of his head, and those long auburn locks Matt adored. “First the team has to defend or safely flee from the Black Mage you just pissed off. And if they do, it will be another turn while they wait for mana regeneration. You’re out for now.”

  Sage threw her cards into the pile in the center of the table. She’d have to draw new cards if her character was ever revived. “Sorry guys,” she half-h
eartedly replied.

  “Relax guys,” Matt tapped the red dice on the table calling the group to order. “Head in the game, let’s see if we can’t get through this one.”

  Sage walked away from the table and grabbed a beer out of habit. Since inheriting her mother’s neutrality she’d found alcohol no longer worked its magic to dull her senses, but it did provide a socially acceptable reason for her to leave the table.

  The game ended before she finished her drink.

  “Great time guys.” Julie looked more relieved than annoyed as she grabbed a few bottles on her way to the door. “Keep the beer flowing and I’ll see you next week.”

  Josh kissed Matt goodbye but didn’t bother to acknowledge Sage as he packed up to leave. He could be angry with her if he wanted. The way she saw it, she did them all a favor, sacrificing herself for the greater good of all their sanity. They would never play that game again.

  Sage picked up empty bottles and cleared out the bowls of popcorn and pretzels that had been strewn about the living room.

  “Where was your head tonight?” Matt asked as he began loading the dishwasher.

  “Knew this was coming,” Sage groaned.

  “Damn straight. We could have beat that Mage had you not gone all Leroy Jenkins with your magical immunity. All we had to do was sneak past him.”

  “Sorry!” She closed the lid on the trash. “It’s just a game.”

  “And your magical immunity?” Matt replied with a passive aggressive slam of his mug down at the sink.

  “I don’t have the patience for a fight,” Sage sighed. “Are we still talking about the game?”

  Matt turned on her, his anger abating with each second as he stared. “You ready to tell me the big secret you’ve been holding onto?”

  “Not sure what you mean.” She shrugged.

  “The ASSET agency.” Matt threw the words at her like an insult.

  “I don’t want to go there,” Sage’s hand found the tree-shaped pendant around her neck as if drawn to it by the mere mention of the agency.

  “I know it’s eating you up inside.” Matt had the dad voice down pat making Sage want to fight back with teenage angst. “You can’t bottle this up. Tell me what’s going on.”

  “Being what I am…” Sage struggled to get the words out. A knot formed in her throat. It was bad enough she had told Matt about being a Terra. He’d taken that as well as could be expected. But the job offer meant the drama she’d just endured with the death of her mother would become business as usual. “My people…”

  “You’re already at the ‘my people’ stage? This must be serious.” He set down the soap and wiped his hands on a dish rag. “Spill it.”

  “Stop it. Don’t make fun. I’m trying to find the best way to say this.”

  “Out with it. When have we ever kept secrets?”

  “My condition… isn’t just about seeing beyond the veil of magic. It comes with a job offer. How’s that?”

  A muscle at the corner of Matt’s lip twitched. “Didn’t you tell Mark you could never work for the company that killed your mom?”

  “That was then. Before I understood the reasons. And Mark doesn’t run the Vegas office.”

  “What exactly does that mean?”

  “My people.” Sage glared at Matt, daring him to taunt her again. When he didn’t she continued. “We’re made for this type of work because we aren’t affected by normal magic.”

  “Sounds like you’ve decided to accept the job.” Matt’s shoulders slumped.

  “I should. I know it. But…I don’t…” she groaned. “This is a really serious decision.”

  “You need someone to push you or you’ll sit here and waffle about it forever. Normally I would but…” Matt sighed. “They killed your mom.”

  Sage clutched at her necklace. “Not exactly. I mean. Working there, yes. It’s dangerous.”

  “You said it, not me,” Matt agreed.

  “But, it is what I was made for. And I should honor my mother’s sacrifice.”

  “By taking on dangerous missions that could get you killed?”

  Sage was shocked to see him so eager to push her away from taking the job. “I could get hit by a bus walking to the pub.”

  “Only you’d probably walk away from that.” He pointed a finger at her like an accusation. “I however, would be dead.”

  “Exactly. I’m kind of bullet proof.” She looked up, meeting his eyes, desperate for encouragement. Deep down she knew what she had to do, but without the nod from her best friend, just couldn’t make the leap.

  Matt gritted his teeth, his nostrils flaring with each breath. His eyes revealed the struggle going on behind his silence. Then, finally, he replied, “You’re built for this life. With all that innate magical immunity…”

  He really knew how to rub salt into the wound. Sage hung her head in shame. “Sorry. I forgot.”

  “You nearly let that one slip,” Matt surprised her with laughter. “Remind me never to let you be my secret keeper. Loose lips sink ships.”

  “I got nothing.” Sage tried to fight the smile blooming across her face. Damn him and his super cute boyfriend too. All the good ones were always gay or taken. In this case both. Double whammy!

  “Look. I want you to be safe. And I want you to do what you were meant to do. I’m not going to say I like you working there. But…” he clenched his fists at his side and released with a heavy sigh. “I think if you continue training with Devon you’ll be able to handle whatever ASSET throws at you.”

  She hadn’t been back to Devon’s gym since the day she’d been forced to kill Rina, nor had she planned to. But he had a point. She did need more training and he was the best of the best in the city.

  “They don’t by any chance offer office position, do they?” Matt waggled an eyebrow.

  She cringed, hissing as if the words had burned her. Working for ASSET Director Ava Williams as an assistant was ten times more deadly than field work. “I’d take on a whole coven of vampires again if it means avoiding clerical work under queen high bitch herself.”

  “Maybe that’s what it will take to get you to make a decision. Do or do not. There is no–”

  “Okay!” Sage stopped him before he went full Yoda. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m going down there tomorrow.”

  Matt ground his teeth. He’d helped her to make this decision but she could see his displeasure. “Be warned. If you join, you will have to tell Josh. I can’t keep secrets from my man. Especially when you come home looking like you’ve been beaten within an inch of your life.”

  “This deal is getting worse with each passing moment. And I haven’t even committed to it yet.”

  “Pray I do not alter it further,” Matt’s Vader was much stronger than his Yoda.

  Sage wanted to laugh at his impression, but a sigh came out instead. “That’s what I’m afraid of. For now, just tell him I’m working for a private investigations firm that takes on special cases.”

  “Only if you promise me one thing.” Matt’s tone turned serious again.

  “Anything.”

  He arched an eyebrow sharply at her. “I’ll hold you to it.”

  “I guess I had better know what else I’m signing up for.”

  “Don’t let your work follow you home. This apartment needs to be our place of normalcy.”

  “I’ll do my best,” she answered truthfully. “I don’t want work invading our happy home either.”

  A TASTE OF YOUR

  OWN MAGIC

  Agents of A.S.S.E.T. 2

  July 2018

 

 

 
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