The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0)

by Meghan Ciana Doidge

  “We,” Fish corrected. “We just destroyed everything.”

  “Fine,” Zans snarled, eyeing me. “We. But that’s the last choice you make for me, Amp5.”

  I laughed darkly. “No. It was the first choice you made for yourself, Tek5.”

  Zans’s hands flexed as if she might have been contemplating hitting me.

  I widened my smile. She had a couple of inches on me, but had always relied on her magic. Even drained, I was the stronger, better fighter.

  “Fine,” she repeated. “How do you suggest we find the fucking vehicle yard, assuming you haven’t destroyed that as well —”

  “We,” Bee interjected. “We destroyed.”

  Zans inhaled deeply, then exhaled with a hiss. “There are no landmarks.”

  I pointed past her shoulder. “Except that.”

  She spun.

  In the far, far distance, a red dot hovered just between the horizon and the rising sun. A balloon, at best guess. A flare would have left a streak in the air, and not lasted as long.

  Zans looked over at Bee. “You had Jackson mark the location?”

  Bee shook her head, then eyed me. “I’d guess Calhoun.”

  “So we didn’t murder everyone,” Knox said.

  Using the red balloon as a guide, I started forward, picking my way carefully through the debris. If there were magical traps or adversaries lying in wait, I wouldn’t feel them. But given the utter annihilation of our current surroundings, I was fairly certain the only thing threatening us was time. There was no way we could take down the compound and not draw attention from the remaining members of the Collective.

  Still, I’d told Calhoun and Jackson that we’d meet them if possible. So there was a good chance that Bee was right. That Calhoun had left the beacon. In fact, I would have bet that what I saw as a red balloon was actually magical in nature. But I couldn’t see or touch or feel magic anymore.

  And I was okay with that.

  As we started the long hike toward the red balloon, I began to worry about how far the destruction of the vortex had gone. But as we walked on, the horizon slowly started to reveal the sight of wind-bent trees through the glare of the relentless sun.

  When we finally drew close to those trees, Zans brushed past me, picking up the pace as the debris that had been hampering our progress eased away.

  “What do you think?” Fish asked from behind me. “Five-kilometer radius?”

  “Feels like it,” Knox murmured. “So ten klicks … with three of us drained, and Zans fighting a death curse.”

  Ten kilometers. And an indication that I would have been capable of wreaking far more destruction if those I’d drained had been at full capacity themselves.

  “That would cripple a small city,” Fish said. “Easily annihilate its downtown core.” Keeping his pace steady, he reached down and scooped up a piece of twisted metal. “Well … the Collective will be pleased.”

  He tossed the metal away, picking up his pace as well. He glanced at me sideways as he came abreast of me. “I imagine you’re happier now that you agreed to help Zans destroy the place?”

  “Sure,” I said. “Give me the files you two got off the servers and I’ll be blissful.”

  He laughed. “Nah, Socks. Blissful wouldn’t suit you.” He jogged away, following Zans beyond the tree line.

  I paused, glancing up at the balloon just ahead of me now. It didn’t appear to be tethered to the ground. “That’s what magic looks like. When I can’t see the energy that fuels it. A red balloon.”

  Bee laughed quietly, continuing through the trees after the other two.

  Knox stepped up beside me. Paisley was perched on his shoulder, though she’d walked alongside me for most of the trek.

  He touched my hand.

  I pulled away automatically.

  “It’s a red balloon, Socks.”

  “Sure. Just floating by itself above the ground, unaffected by the wind.”

  He smiled grimly. “It’ll come back. The magic. You’ve drained people before, fully.”

  “Killing them. Retaining the power for myself or funneling it into one of you.”

  “You figured how to take it without taking their lives.”

  I laughed. “Yeah. And how long do you think the Collective let them live after that? Who do you think the people the black witch sacrificed were? My victim pool. Bee’s and mine.”

  “So maybe the magic doesn’t come back. Does that idea relieve you? Do you think it would be easier to move forward without magic?”

  “It would for you,” I said, gazing at him thoughtfully. “Wouldn’t it?”

  “Most definitely.”

  “But you wouldn’t be relieved.”

  He smiled softly. “No. But then, I believe in fate. Destiny. You and Fish don’t. Bee and I do. Zans doesn’t want to discuss it.”

  I laughed quietly.

  He reached up and brushed his fingers against my cheek, then rubbed them together. “When was the last time I could touch you without glimpsing the future?”

  I shook my head, not certain he’d ever been able to touch me that way. Not even after I learned to control and contain my magic.

  A vehicle engine turned over, then caught somewhere nearby.

  Knox passed Paisley to me, then held out his hand. “Come now. Let’s go take a look at our future.”

  Four black SUVs and a garage filled with supplies stood in a fenced clearing between the trees. A single road ran out through an open gate. A few of the short-range electric ATVs used for patrolling the forest around the compound were neatly parked along the fence line. The red balloon hovered directly overhead.

  The parking lot area was wide enough that it could have easily contained a dozen vehicles, and numerous relatively fresh tire tracks seemed to indicate that at least a few people had escaped. Hopefully that number included Becca and Mark, as the presence of the balloon suggested.

  With the fate of the Five unknown, it was no surprise that they hadn’t waited.

  Zans pressed a bottle of water into my hands as she passed by, carrying supplies. She was loading the back of the nearest SUV.

  I placed Paisley on the ground, crouching to pour water into my cupped palm for her to drink. She eagerly lapped, splashing water all over my wrist and forearm.

  Fish started another of the vehicles. He was systematically checking them, making certain they were operational and gassed up. Zans crossed back to the garage. Knox followed her.

  Four vehicles.

  Five of us.

  We’d be strong, formidable, safer if we stuck together. But sticking together would only increase the size of the target on our backs. Even if our magic never returned.

  I took a long swig of water, then gave Paisley another drink. She patted my palm with her paw, splashing the water playfully.

  Knox wandered out, carrying two stuffed-full backpacks. He’d found a change of clothing. Blue jeans that were slightly too big for him, and a white T-shirt that made his skin appear more golden than usual. New tactical boots.

  He tossed me a package of beef jerky as he carried the packs to the vehicle next to the SUV that Zans had been loading.

  I ripped open the jerky, tearing off a piece and feeding it to Paisley. Then I took another long swig of water.

  “Found it!” Bee cried from the depths of the garage. As she hustled out toward me, the sun glinted from her short-cropped yellow hair. She could grow it as long as she liked now.

  And so could I.

  I straightened as she approached. She had also changed, into a long cotton skirt and a green T-shirt. She was carrying a backpack over her shoulder, another pack in one hand, and a set of passports in her other hand.

  The others stopped loading supplies into the vehicles, moving to join us. Zans was tugging a long bright-blue cotton dress over her armor. It fell past her knees.

  Bee dropped the backpack at her feet, crouching to open it so we could see inside. It was full of bundled cash. American curr
ency. Twenty-dollar bills.

  Bee straightened, offering me one of the passports.

  I took it, opening it to find a picture of a woman with shoulder-length red hair, pale skin, and bright green eyes.

  No.

  Not just any woman.

  Me.

  The Canadian passport had my Photoshopped picture in it.

  That was what I would look like with hair.

  I laughed involuntarily, then I looked at the name. Emma Johnson. “Emma. My name is Emma.”

  “Yeah,” Bee said, passing out passports to Knox, Fish, and Zans. “Jackson and I were short on time, so we just ran down the popular names the year we were born.”

  “To blend in,” I said, feeling oddly lightheaded.

  “Christopher,” Knox said.

  Fish laughed. “Daniel.”

  We looked at Zans. She grimaced. “Samantha.” She laughed, a little breathlessly.

  “Amanda,” Bee declared proudly. “Amanda Smith.” She nudged the backpack with her foot. “And twenty thousand each to get us started. We didn’t have time to get bank accounts or anything else set up. But the passports will get us across the border. Actually, being Canadian, we can travel just about anywhere in the world, even without visas.”

  I ran my thumb across the picture in the passport.

  Emma.

  Emma Johnson.

  The other four were staring at me, patiently waiting. Waiting for me to deliver their final orders. I laughed, then I cleared my throat and stepped up. One last time.

  “We each take an SUV. At the first opportunity, Fish heads north, Bee south, Zans east. I’ll go west.”

  “And me?” Knox asked.

  “You pick … Christopher. If your magic comes back, you need to be with one of us.” I glanced at the others. They nodded in agreement.

  He nodded, looking down at the passport in his hands. “I’ll go with you, Emma.”

  Some sort of heat bloomed in my chest. A sort of pleasure. At being named.

  “And that’s it?” Fish asked flatly. “That’s all?”

  “Together, we’re bigger targets,” Zans said.

  “And if we need each other?” Bee asked.

  “Don’t,” I said. “Don’t need us.”

  She looked at me steadily. “So when we do need you? You won’t come?”

  I wanted to say no. I wanted to walk away and never look back.

  But if one of them called, I knew I would go. It was in my breeding, after all.

  “I’ll come.”

  “How are we supposed to find each other?” Fish said, his tone becoming heated. His gaze was on me.

  “Paisley,” Zans said. “Paisley was bred to be able to find us. So? Who gets the dog?”

  “She goes with whoever she chooses,” I said.

  Zans nodded, crouching to pluck her share of the bundled cash out of Bee’s bag. Then she crossed over to the nearest SUV and shut the back hatch. She turned back, looked at us, then down at the demon puppy at my feet.

  “Hey, Paisley,” she said in the most pleasant tone I’d ever heard from her. “You want to come with me?” She patted her thigh.

  Paisley wiggled her butt, gamboling around in a circle. But then she just flopped down and panted.

  Zans laughed snarkily. Then she glanced at all of us in turn, resting her gaze on me. “Today is gone,” she said. “Today was fun.”

  “Tomorrow is another one,” I said, finishing the quote from the children’s book from which Knox had nicknamed the telekinetic.

  She laughed, climbing into the SUV.

  Bee fished her share of the cash out of the bag, tucking it into the backpack she’d been carrying. She pressed a kiss to my cheek, then to Fish’s. She lingered to kiss Knox deeply. I glanced away.

  “Paisley?” Bee asked, crouching down to scratch the demon puppy on the top of her head. Paisley accepted the caress, but didn’t follow Bee as she straightened and stepped away without another word.

  Zans backed out of her parking spot, lifting her hand in a wave as Bee darted around to the third-farthest SUV, shut the hatch, and climbed in.

  Before I’d even seen him move, Fish pulled me forward into a crushing kiss. I accepted the gesture, feeling the anger behind the embrace even without my empathy powers.

  I pressed my hand against his chest. He didn’t loosen his hold. I gave him a more forceful push. He grunted, frustrated. But he stepped back, keeping hold of my upper arms. Too tightly.

  He swept my face with a dark-eyed gaze. “That’s it, then?”

  I didn’t answer. The question was rhetorical. The decision already made.

  He laughed. “I give you six months, Amp5. By then —”

  “Emma,” I said coolly. “My name is Emma.”

  He looked shocked, as if I’d slapped him.

  He stepped back, dropping his hands. Then he shook his head. “Why should I be surprised? It was always on your terms, wasn’t it?”

  “No, Daniel. We all made the best of the situation. I didn’t come to you expecting anything other than that moment. Just like I didn’t question when you chose to have similar moments of intimacy with Bee, Zans, and Knox.” I glanced over at Knox. He was watching Fish steadily.

  I looked back at Fish.

  He smiled wryly. “Some jealousy would have been appreciated.”

  “I’m not certain I have the capacity for it.”

  Knox stepped forward, hugging Fish. They thumped each other on the backs, murmuring quietly.

  Bee backed her SUV out of its spot, following Zans out through the gate.

  Knox broke the embrace, scooping up the backpack with the cash, then fishing out a few bundles and handing them to Fish. Then he zipped up the pack, slinging it over his shoulder. He wandered over to the SUV he’d already loaded with two other backpacks.

  Two.

  Knox had already known he was coming with one of us. And I had been the only one not putting together a pack for myself. So even without magic, he’d glimpsed our future.

  “Come on, Paisley,” Knox called over his shoulder. “Give Socks a minute.”

  The demon puppy licked my ankle. Then she hustled after Knox. He picked her up and climbed into the passenger side of the SUV.

  I glanced back at Fish.

  He grinned. “Six months. You’ve got the means to find me, with or without magic. I’ll be waiting.”

  I laughed. “Don’t wait, Fish.”

  He snorted, turning on his heel and climbing into the final SUV. He drove out through the gate as I crossed to join Knox.

  Climbing into the plush seats of the SUV, I glanced over at Knox and Paisley. Both were chewing on beef jerky.

  “So …” Knox said. “West?”

  Zans and Bee were waiting for us a little ways down the road, taking off again as the last two SUVs pulled up to follow them. At the first crossroads, Zans turned right, heading east. Bee turned left, heading west to find the next main road running south. I followed Fish for another few klicks until we reached the next chance to turn off.

  Up ahead of us, Fish slowed to a stop. I couldn’t see him through the tinted windows of his SUV, but he waited long enough that I could have opened my door and called out to him.

  I didn’t.

  He continued on, heading north.

  I turned left.

  West.

  The road stretched out before us. Christopher reached forward, fiddling with the stereo until he found some music. I didn’t recognize the tune, but I had nothing to compare it to. Pop or rock of some sort.

  “Where to?” he asked, leaning his head back and watching the empty road before us with a slight smile.

  “The coast,” I said, making the decision in the moment. “Then north. Across the border.”

  “Then bank accounts and credit cards.”

  “Sure. But first I want to walk on a beach … and eat ice cream. In a cone.”

  Christopher laughed quietly. “And then? The world is ours?”

  �
�For as long and as far as we get.”

  “And you don’t mind dragging me with you?”

  I glanced over at him. He gazed back at me seriously. Then Paisley started chewing on his finger and he laughed.

  “I’m … I’m glad I’m not alone,” I said. To my own surprise, I meant it. “And I’m glad it was you and Paisley who chose me.”

  He laughed quietly. “They would have all chosen you, Fox in Socks. Even Zans. Without you …” He looked away out the side window, not finishing the thought.

  I didn’t push him to elaborate.

  I gazed down the road before us, pressing my foot to the gas just a little bit harder. Eager for the next moment, the next experience, the next choice.

  And if the magic didn’t come back?

  I wouldn’t mind. Not one bit.

  Keep reading for the bonus novelette, Close to Home (Amplifier 0.5) and for a preview of Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1)

  Close to Home (Amplifier 0.5)

  Author’s note

  Author’s Note:

  * * *

  Close to Home is a prequel novelette for the Amplifier series, which is set in the same universe as the Dowser, Oracle, and Reconstructionist series.

  * * *

  The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0)

  Close to Home (Amplifier 0.5)

  Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1)

  Close to Home

  February 2018.

  Gravel crunched out front, pulling my attention from the grimoire I was still trying to figure out how to read, let alone understand. It was one of three books my lawyer had sourced for me without questioning the content — magical transference. Or at least that was what was supposedly written within the leather-bound, handwritten tome. I was still working out a key and waiting for a couple of additional sorcery texts that I hoped would be able to help me piece together the rune-based language.

  Sorcerers liked their secrets.

  Not that I could cast any of the spells or incantations the grimoire supposedly held. Though I might have possessed an excess of power, knowledge was an armor I was severely lacking.