Worlds Collide (Magitech Book 1)

by Serena Lindahl

  “It seems you have ideas about me, and these ideas are very dangerous, Cat. I also wonder how you came to these conclusions considering you have no magical ability.” His voice promised torture. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling an absurd urge to cry. Jenira had trusted her, and she had screwed it all up. The guilt affected her more fiercely than fear of what he might do.

  A tense silence filled the room until he sighed heavily. “You realize I can't let you wander around with your dangerous ideas, don't you, Cat?” He released her chair and stalked to the door while she held back tears. Andrew answered his call, smiling until he saw their faces. Davin slammed the door behind him, and Cat jumped.

  “What's going on?”

  “Cat has decided she will take one of the employee apartments after all, Andrew,” Davin said. “You will escort her there now, she is not allowed to leave, and a guard will be posted at her door. Put her in 210; the apartment is low tech.” The last words were a threat. Davin wouldn't allow her access to tech, correctly assuming it might help her escape. Her heart sank further into her rebelling stomach. Jenira would go insane when Cat didn't come home, and she had no way to contact her sister. Andrew had confiscated her pda when she'd entered the secure area.

  “Are you sure?” Andrew gauged Cat's expression, glimpsing the shimmer of tears she tried to hide.

  “Andrew, I'll talk to you after you escort Cat to her apartment. I advise both of you to smile for the benefit of the team.” Andrew nodded reluctantly. He would do what his uncle asked, regardless of his feelings or opinions. Cat swallowed hard and forced a smile.

  “It's ok, Andrew,” she assured him, belatedly realizing she addressed him by his given name for the first time. He led her from the room, a muscle in his whiskered jaw clenching.

  Cat smiled tightly as they maneuvered through the maze of cubicles. Engrossed in their work, the team members barely noticed them walk past. Cat considered running, but it was futile and would only make things worse. The hard expression on the security guard's face showed he'd already been informed of the situation. She prided herself on being the calm, thoughtful sister, not the hotheaded one. If they got out of this alive, Jenira would never let her leave the apartment again, and she couldn't blame her. She had really screwed up.

  “I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding, Cat, but if you need anything, ask the guards. Even if your ideas don't work, it's given the team something to do. We've been in a slump for a long time. Whatever set Davin off, he'll recover. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding,” Andrew's repetitive babbling revealed his agitation. Cat attempted a weak smile but didn't speak for fear she would only cry.

  The elevator stopped near the top of the building, opening into a bare, blue-carpeted hallway. A pair of security guards dressed in black suits with earpieces waited, and Cat noted they bore handguns at their waists instead of tasers. One was a dog-faced woman and the other a dark, slim man. They were the only average sized guards in the building. A special key-card opened the door marked 210. She might have enjoyed the beautiful apartment under different circumstances. Andrew stood in the doorway surrounded by an air of helplessness.

  “I'm sure Davin will come through.”

  “Don't worry, Andrew. Your uncle has his reasons.” Cat sighed heavily. The door closed, the lock clicked, and she settled onto the blue sofa to wait for Jenira.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jenira

  Jenira paced again. Cat had mentioned shopping, but strong emotions had spiked through the amulet's spell, enhanced by their close emotional bond. She could pinpoint her sister’s location in a suite on an upper floor of the Rialto, a position that hadn't changed in the last hour. Cat couldn't still be working, not with the constant worry and fear echoing through the amulet.

  Jenira slammed her fist into the wall, pleased when the plaster cracked beneath her assault. “That damn man,” she fumed. He had discovered their connection and was using Cat as bait. She hated to play his game, but she refused to let Cat sit in a glorified prison cell overnight.

  Strapping on her weapons, she examined her options. She couldn't phase to Cat's estimated location because she didn't have a mental image, and the rooftop wasn't an option choice because the external security would strand her on the top of the building. Davin's office was too protected, which left his apartment as the only choice. She would work her way down because the guards wouldn't expect her to enter through their boss's personal suite. If she encountered Davin before Cat, she would give him a piece of her mind for exploiting her sister. Setting her jaw, she pictured Davin's suite and phased.

  When she opened her eyes to Davin's living room, the sun cast dark shadows across the floor. Her gaze flashed dark blue with anger; her magic sparking around her in frenzied silver arcs.

  Davin stood with one hip propped against the bar, but he masked his surprise at her arrival quickly. Agitation lit his golden eyes, and his short hair stood on end as if he'd been running his hands through the dark waves. He sipped his drink, looking at her over the rim of the glass. “To what do I owe this pleasure? It's rather rude to pop in here uninvited.”

  “It's also rather rude to kidnap one's sister.” She phased to his side, her dagger’s point grazing the side of his ribs, angled toward his heart. He processed the blade's position with surprise.

  “Your sis... oh.” Discovery lit his eyes, the puzzle pieces sliding into place. His chuckle fueled her anger. “I should have guessed...” he murmured to himself.

  “You didn't know? Then why the fuck is she locked in a room in your building and not home by now?”

  “Maybe you should ask her yourself.” His eyes flickered to the blade which had opened a tiny hole in his expensive dress shirt. “First, put your dagger away.”

  Jenira sheathed the weapon with reluctance, her thoughts whirling. Anger tainted their auras, and the combined energy made her jumpy. If he hadn't learned of their relationship, what had Cat done or said? Or was he lying? She waited impatiently as he drained his glass and placed it on the bar, leisurely strolling to the door.

  The hall they exited into boasted two more guards standing stiffly on either side of an apartment door. Jenira identified the woman as the one she had confronted in the alley. The two women glared at each other while the slim, dark man opened the door on Davin's command. Jenira sensed her sister on the other side, upset and afraid. Her fists clenched.

  Jenira shoved the door open once it was cracked, barely registering Davin following and closing the door behind them. Cat rose from the sofa, her tear streaked face heavy with guilt and her shoes abandoned on the floor beside her. Jenira crossed the room in two long strides and pulled her sister into her arms.

  “What happened, Cat? Why are you here?”

  Cat sobbed against her shoulder, her body shaking. “Jenira, I'm so sorry...” she burbled.

  “Jenira...” Davin's murmur surprised them, and they turned as one. He studied their interaction, his expression unreadable. With his arms crossed over his chest, Jenira couldn't tell if he was angry, impatient, or calculating.

  “Can you leave us alone?” she spat.

  “No, I can't. Your sister,” he emphasized the word, “has possession of my most precious secret. I had wondered how she came by such information, but now it's quite obvious.” His voice accused them. Jenira eyed Cat, recognizing the remorse in her sister’s eyes. Her heart stuttered in her chest.

  “Cat, you didn't.”

  Cat stared at the floor, fresh tears running down her cheeks and soaking her shirt. “Jen, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to; it just came out. That man has this infuriating way of scaring me, and I end up saying things I don't mean to,” Cat babbled. Jenira pulled her back against her chest, unable to bear seeing her cry.

  “It's ok, sis,” she soothed. She glared at Davin over the halo of brown fuzz which had loosened from her sister's braid. “Did anyone hear her when she revealed your nature?”

  “No.”

  “Then we can go.”


  “I don't think so.” Davin approached them, his feet silent on the soft carpet. “First, she knows my secret. Second, she hacked into Rennert's servers. Third, she posed as an applicant to gain access to one of my most important projects. You both owe me an explanation; we had an agreement.”

  “Yes,” Jenira fumed, “we had an agreement. No one could know your secret but my partner and I. My sister is my partner. For such an intelligent man, you are amazingly stupid sometimes.”

  “Maybe I am a little blind where you're concerned,” he admitted. “Sit down, both of you. And please stop crying, Cat, you act like I'm going to kill you.” Jenira would have laughed if her sister's feelings weren't at stake. Davin was clearly unmanned by Cat's weeping. They sank onto the sofa, her arm still around her sister's shoulder. Davin rubbed a hand along his jaw, his whiskers rasping. Cat sniffled but held back a fresh wave of tears.

  “It's a damn good thing I stock all the apartments.” Davin prowled to the bar and poured himself a drink. Jenira cocked a brow at him.

  “Does alcohol actually affect you? Because if it does, I think you have a problem.”

  He shrugged large shoulders. “No, it just calms me a little. I don't have a problem.” He threw back the amber liquid and poured himself another. “Quit changing the subject. You both owe me answers.” Drink in hand, he folded his bulk into the wing-backed chair facing them.

  Jenira stiffened. “We don't owe you anything,” she began, but Cat interrupted her tirade.

  “Just tell him, Jen. I think we owe him an explanation. Besides, he didn't know we're sisters. He could have killed me the moment I revealed his secret, and he didn't.” Wide, puppy-dog eyes pleaded, and Jenira had never been able to say no to them. Cat fumbled with her glasses and put them back on, wiping the tears off of the lenses.

  “Not yet he hasn't,” Jenira muttered. The fight slipped from her as the situation played out in her mind. Davin had been protecting himself, and she admitted she would have reacted in the same way. She wasn't pleased with his actions because her sister was the one affected, but she understood. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

  Davin examined them over the rim of his glass, probably looking for similarities. Though they shared a father, they looked different except for the shapes of their eyes and mouths. The family resemblance was so minimal, it was almost impossible to see even when they sat side by side.

  “You're sisters?”

  “Half-sisters. I'm twenty months older. We've always been inseparable even though I’m a mage and Cat is a techie.”

  “Your full name is Jenira?” He drew the syllables out in a manner that made goosebumps rise on her arms. She nodded, wondering what her name had to do with anything. “And Catrina?”

  Cat shook her head. “Catrianna, but I go by Cat. My mother's name was Anna.”

  “So you're half-sisters. You have different mothers?”

  Jenira sighed. Her fear and adrenaline over her sister’s circumstances had drained her energy. “Had. Our mothers were best friends. They met our father, fell in love with him, and he loved them both equally in return. They were happy together until my mother died of fever when I turned seven. They were both full mothers to us.” Monogamy was still the norm in both territories, but non-monogamy was more common in the West than the East. Their living situation was rarer than the standard nuclear family but not unheard of.

  “Where did you grow up?”

  “Western Territory,” Jenira answered in a curt, clipped tone, denying a more precise location.

  “That must have been difficult for you.” He glanced at Cat with genuine compassion. “When did you leave?”

  “About seven years ago.” Jenira guessed he would align her story with the information he possessed about the Desert Rose.

  “Did you hack into my server?”

  Cat chose a throw pillow and picked at the seam, her eyes downcast. “Yes. I do all the research and tech for Jenira's more difficult cases. I've also been working on an Integration prototype which is remarkably similar to yours. It was my idea to work here, not Jenira's. I wanted to contribute to the project and help with the case. Jenira actually asked me to stay away, but I refused.”

  Davin processed their words, lounged in the chair, and sipped his drink. If Jenira could phase with Cat in tow, she would, and he likely knew that. “You realize this would have been a hell of a lot easier if either of you had told me the truth? I assume a boss isn’t chasing you, Cat?”

  Cat shrugged guiltily, and Jenira spoke before her sister spilled their entire history. “No boss.”

  “But? There's a reason Cat hasn't worked before now. If she were employed by a tech company, you wouldn't need to kill people for a living.”

  Cat winced and Jenira glared at Davin. She hated him for bringing that up; Cat was already feeling guilty enough. “We did what we had to do. We're both unregistered, and I refuse to become a card-carrying mage in the Eastern Territory.”

  “I understand.” Davin's voice was empathetic. “But there has to be more to the story. Cat could create papers for you or her without official registration. Out of all the companies in the territories, I think only Andrew or I would have suspected she falsified the tests on purpose and created a fake ID. I pride myself on being informed about my employees, especially if they are qualified to work on any Integration project. My nephew also happens to be more perceptive than other young techies, so what is that you are not telling me?”

  Jenira sighed, flipping a dagger as she considered what information to relay. Cat's eyes begged her to tell Davin everything, but Jenira knew she would let her make the final decision. “Fine,” she huffed. Davin observed their interaction with thinly disguised amusement as her younger sister bossed her around with her pouting, teary eyes.

  “Unfortunate events led to us leaving the Western Territory.”

  “Tell him the whole story, Jen,” Cat scolded. “It won't make sense unless you start at the beginning.”

  “Ugh,” Jenira growled and rose to pace. Her dagger traced a blur of silver in the air as she flipped it hilt over blade, never faltering. Davin turned so he could see her at all times. Cat picked at the pillow, but Jenira could feel her relief. She was so in tune with her sister, her emotions were never difficult to unravel.

  “We didn’t live far from the border,” Jenira began. “Our father and my mother were both strong mages, and Cat's mother was a brilliant techie. Mama Anna had always rebelled against her Eastern Territory father and was disowned when she fell in love with our father. She satisfied her tech needs with research and possessed an affinity for healing and anatomy. Being away from tech didn't affect her as strongly as other techies because of her aptitude in medicine.” She cast her words at Cat but didn't elaborate. Davin's eyes never left her.

  “The people in our village were not kind to Mama Anna or my father. They tolerated him while Mama Adelie was still alive because they thought Mama Anna was a purely sexual relationship. Mama Adelie was a powerful mage no one wanted to anger, but after she died and our father didn't renounce Cat's mom, the village turned spiteful. The school didn't welcome us anymore, especially after Cat's high-level techie nature was exposed. Her brain worked differently from magical children.

  “The stress finally exhausted our father, and he moved us to a house in the woods. He managed my magic education and physical training, and Mama Anna attempted to satisfy Cat's insatiable need for knowledge.” Jenira grinned, her face bright with memories as she lost herself in the story. “Cat was never satisfied. She designed a water mill for the house when she was seven, an irrigation system for the garden when she was eight, and a flying contraption when she was nine. We foraged the dumps and ventured into a couple old-world border towns for abandoned appliances and gadgets, but it was never enough. She always wanted more.

  “Our father and Mama Anna died in a wagon accident my fifteenth year. The incident always seemed suspicious. There weren't any healers available, and a perfectly constructed
wagon failed in a way the horses couldn't correct. We searched for answers, but only gathered the wrong attention. I had a – problem - at a High Council meeting.”

  “A problem?” Davin interrupted. Jenira shrugged, refusing to meet his eyes.

  “Jenira had a temper tantrum and almost killed everyone on the High Council with her magic,” Cat provided. Davin nodded, his lips twitching.

  “Instead of warning the bastards off though, it only caused more problems,” Jenira continued as if they hadn’t interrupted. “The High Council Magistrate believed his son's power would increase if we mated, especially if we had children together. Magistrate Bly is a greedy and patient man. He sent his son, Marcus, to our cabin, and at first, we thought he was just being nice. We didn't have many friends, and he seemed genuinely interested. When he realized the extent of Cat's brilliance, though, he decided he would add to his father's scheme by manipulating Cat into hacking the Eastern Territory banks and databases. He thought a massive economic downfall would allow the mages to swoop in while the techies were preoccupied. Marcus believed the mages could take control of both territories with minimal bloodshed.”

  Jenira paused, taking a deep breath. Her pacing became more agitated, and she grasped the dagger tightly, ceasing her juggling act. Her gullible teenage years were a source of shame every time she remembered. The thought of ever entertaining Marcus as a friend sent waves of disgust through her.

  “Hacking into the banks or helping mages rise to a leadership position went against everything our parents taught us. I realized Marcus was insane and his interest in us was just a ploy. He wanted to use both of us, each for a different reason. We made a plan to run east. We had been considering leaving home for a while because the West was affecting Cat more every day, but Marcus’s attention sped up the plan.”