by Jasmine Walt
I hadn’t missed the significant look Aric gave me. Maybe I should just lock him up in the handcuffs and leave him in a corner somewhere.
“Scared?” he whispered behind me at the door into the Passages. “There might be something dangerous waiting in the dark…”
I stepped back onto his foot. Hard.
“Bastard,” he said, between clenched teeth.
I turned to give him a humourless smile. “Shouldn’t startle me like that,” I said, softly. “It might well be your face next time.”
And then I followed the others, stunner at the ready in case he decided to ambush me from behind.
A clamour echoed from the corridor ahead. “There’s trouble,” said the leading guard.
I was already prepared, but a new tension seared my veins. I recognised that cry.
Wyvern.
I couldn’t help it—I glanced at Aric. If he had anything to do with this… but no. His eyes were stretched wide with terror, his face stark white.
We rounded a corner and met total chaos. Sparks of magic danced off the walls, creating a haze of blinding light, and I swore, flicking the stunner to life in my hand. I couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of me, and running headlong towards a wyvern blinded was the height of stupidity. But the others on our team were already on the case.
“I’m calling backup!” yelled the leader. “We’ll take care of the lizard—stop those magic-wielders!”
Hell. Those sparks were pure, raw magic energy—level two. These were the real deal, all right. Blurred figures moved in the dark, and when one of them pelted towards the exit, I took off after them.
I might have been blinded, but I was faster than they were—faster than she was. My arms locked around her waist and sent us both sprawling to the ground. She kicked and squirmed but I held her pinned down. Screaming curses, she twisted around to glare at me from behind wild dark red hair. She was little more than a kid, I realised—but I couldn’t afford to let her get away.
I went for the handcuffs. And the floor beneath us began to shake.
Damn. She’d hit the ground with magic, and with us both down, the backlash could hit either of us. I had the advantage of magicproof uniform, but she didn’t. An untrained magic-wielder? Dangerous, whoever she was. I dragged her away from the backlash, a ripple that pulsed through the air from the spot that she’d hit. The magic was so thick here, I could see the backlash ripple outwards, strike the wall, and rebound. Swearing, I ducked, and the girl took the opportunity to squirm out of my grip. Oh no, you don’t.
I lunged forward and grabbed for her leg, cursing the lights that blurred my vision. Another cry came from up ahead.
“Get away from me!” she screamed, as my hand locked around her ankle. “Let me go, you bastard–”
The air exploded with magic again. I lay flat and it bounced over my head, and the girl threw herself to the ground, too. She clearly didn’t have a clue what she was doing, and if she didn’t stop, this place could blow sky-high.
“You’re going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that.” I pulled on her ankle, dragging her over the metal floor.
“I’m not doing that, idiot!” she yelled, twisting. I went for her shoulders instead and yanked her upright. We needed to get the hell out of this corridor. I couldn’t see the magic rebounding anymore, as it had disappeared into the general chaos. But it was still out there. I could feel it, the static buzz beneath my skin more pronounced than ever. Pushing magic’s temptation away, I tightened my grip on the girl’s shoulders. She swore at me over and over, kicking and hitting with elbows and knees, but I managed to manoeuvre the stunner to brush against the back of her neck, and flicked the switch.
The bolt had more recoil than I expected, vibrating through my hand and stopping as it hit the magicproof sleeve of my jacket. But it had a worse effect on the girl. She gasped, eyes widening, limbs shaking, and her knees gave out. I caught her before she fell, fighting the bizarre impulse to apologise. I gripped the back of her coat. It had been shredded, by the wyvern’s claws. She’d had a narrow escape.
“What have you done to me?” Her eyes glazed over, her teeth clenched in pain.
I didn’t answer. Where the hell were the other two guards? And Aric, come to that. Maybe that reckless magic shot had been his stunner, or one of the other guards’. No way to tell.
Get on with it, Kay. I took advantage of her weakness to get out the cuffs and clamp them around her wrists. The shock brought her back to life, and she fought every step. I steered her back towards the door outside. Hers were the frantic movements of an animal caught in barbed wire, and although it might have been easy to knock her out, it seemed wrong, somehow. Who was she? Outside the Alliance, the number of people who could use magic here on Earth was hardly worth counting. For all her flailing, I could tell she’d had some kind of combat training—but she’d been trying to get away, not do serious damage.
“Let me go!”
A bolt of magic shot over both our heads. I pulled us both to the ground. Someone else was throwing magic around in here. And judging by the vibrant red colour of the energy stream, it was someone with a stunner. Aric.
Moron. He should know that firing the stunner into empty air in the Passages was a stupid idea if you wanted to get out with all your limbs intact. Not that Aric specialised in common sense, but still. The girl was wriggling away from me again, kicking out with her thick combat boots.
“Dammit, Aric,” I muttered, pulling her to her feet again. “You’re going to draw every magic-eating monster from the lower level.”
“You deserve it,” the girl said through clenched teeth. Her eyes were still glazed. The cuffs were only supposed to have one jolt of magic, so… she had an internal source. Had to be.
Goddammit. I dragged her down the corridor by the hands. She fought me every step of the way, and yet she was weakening.
You wouldn’t find someone with inbuilt magic wandering the streets on Earth. Was she even from Earth? She didn’t look British, but I couldn’t put my finger on what was different about her, what might point to her being offworld. Her skin was tan, and her blue eyes were a shade too bright to be natural. Contacts? Her hair was obviously dyed, but that didn’t tell me much.
“Get these freaking cuffs off me,” she snarled, trying to grab at the edges of the door. One more step and we’d be outside.
And then the Passage behind us exploded. Once again, the two of us were sent flying. After the Passages, the shock of hitting the rock-hard tarmac was jarring as I rolled over to avoid the impact, but it was worse for the girl, who’d been flung sideways into the brick wall.
I twisted around in time to see Aric fall out of the Passage, swearing.
“The hell happened to you?” I said, getting to my feet and walking over to the girl. She lay in a crumpled heap, a bruise swelling on her forehead. I tried not to hurt her any more when I pulled her to her feet again by her cuffed hands.
“Wyvern,” said Aric, not sounding nearly as cocky as usual. “They got it, though—wait, who’s that?”
“Trespasser,” I said. Wow—that was almost a civilised conversation.
The two other guards came out of the Passage, dishevelled and covered in dust.
“There you are,” said the lead guard. “You caught one of them?”
The girl spat blood at them, and the two guards moved out of the way.
Aric said, “I think we need to teach this one respect.”
“We’ll take her into custody,” said the guard. “Good job. Want me to cuff her ankles?”
“Knock her out,” said Aric, looming over her.
“None of that,” I said, stepping between them. “We’ll take her back to Central. Right?” I looked to the others for confirmation.
“Yeah. But at least one other trespasser ran away.”
And the other glared intensely at me. “They’ll kill you,” she said. “You’ll be sorry.”
7
Ada
&nbs
p; Captured.
Alliance Guy had a firm grip on my upper arms, just tight enough to tell me there was no chance I was getting away. Bastard. I’d never, ever been overpowered so easily. In the times I’d watched the guards patrolling, I’d never considered how downright terrifying it would be to encounter them up close. From a distance, they’d been a source of fascination to me. I’d wondered what their lives were like, if they lived one step apart from the world like I did, unable to connect with normality. Now, I wished I’d never seen them. In particular, the guy who’d appeared from the shadows like a freaking ninja and presumed to lecture me.
Two other guards walked a few feet in front, a man and a woman, and a second man was behind, the blond, muscular guy who’d threatened me. He kept glaring at me, and though I did my best to glare back, I couldn’t stop shivering. The shock from the handcuffs had left me weak and shaky, and my feet dragged on the ground as Alliance Guy steered me down a road—not the alleyway, but somewhere else. Now the haze of magic from the Passages had faded, I could see the tall dark shape of the Alliance’s Central Headquarters over the rooftops.
Oh, God. No.
No escape. Nowhere to run. I hadn’t seen where Skyla went. Skyla had set off a magic-based firework-type device to distract the guards after the wyvern had fled—whatever the guards had done to it sent it packing. Alber had presumably got away. That was something, at least, but I was still a prisoner.
Hopelessness burrowed in my chest. I had no magic, and they had those freaking Taser-like things. Alliance Guy could have killed me when he’d zapped me. It had been like an electric shock right through my bones. Level two magic, at least. I didn’t think that was even allowed in the Passages. But these guys were the Alliance’s police force, effectively. They could do whatever the hell they wanted.
Nell was right. I should never have assumed I could get away.
I recognised the street now. It was the same one I’d fled down from Central. The gate was locked, but one of the Alliance guys was already unlocking it. I tilted my head to look up at the guy holding me in case his attention had slipped, but it hadn’t. His eyes were such a dark shade of brown they appeared almost as black as his hair, and narrowed when he saw me watching.
The blond guy closed in behind me. “I’ll take her from here.”
“Leave it,” said Alliance Guy, the slightest tension in his voice. Okay, I could tell these two didn’t like each other. Maybe I could use that to my advantage.
I pretended to lose all strength in my legs, going limp.
Alliance Guy tightened his grip in response and held me upright. Well, it was worth a try. Now I paid attention, I realised that my coat was shredded, and there wasn’t a whole lot holding it together. The beginnings of another scheme began to materialise.
I let myself go limper. The other guard finally looked away to follow the others through the gate. My sleeves—or what was left of them—rubbed against the handcuffs. Only Alliance Guy’s eyes were on me now… I slumped my shoulders, and his grip on me slipped. Just for an instant, but it was enough. I moved fast, tearing free of my coat, and sprinted for my life.
“Shit!” Alliance Guy came after me—damn, he was fast—and caught me before I’d moved more than a few metres. I came down on my knees, hard, and clenched my teeth to stop myself making a sound.
Before I knew it, Alliance Guy lifted me off the ground and slung me over his shoulder. If there was one thing I hated, it was being carried. I abandoned all pretence and tried to kick him, but the other guy had already grabbed my legs.
“I’ve got it, Aric!” snapped the first guy. But Aric had already yanked me free of Alliance Guy. I choked as Aric’s hands closed around my throat.
“Stop that,” snapped Alliance Guy. “That’s not necessary.”
“She’s a dangerous criminal,” snarled Aric. “She tried to run.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
Aric’s grip tightened. Spots danced before my eyes. My throat burned.
“Get off her.” The pressure loosened. Alliance Guy’s hand gripped Aric’s, forcing him to loosen his hold. I gasped.
Aric hissed between his teeth. “Get your fucking hands off me, Walker.”
“Stop choking her,” said Alliance Guy and squeezed harder on Aric’s wrist. Aric let go, cursing. There was a scuffle and a yelp of pain, and suddenly, it was Aric pinned to the wall. Instinct took over and I stumbled away—damn these handcuffs!
“She’s getting away!” yelled a voice from ahead. Crap—the other two guards had turned back.
Alliance Guy—Walker?—cursed and spun around, and then both he and Aric were bearing down on me. I tripped over the kerb and fell, knees striking the hard ground again. Hands grabbed me, and I kicked out. My foot connected with someone. I twisted to see who. Oh, crap. I’d hit Walker instead of Aric, my combat boot catching him in the face. Oh, well. They both deserved it. Yeah, he might have stopped Aric strangling me, but he’d put the cuffs on me in the first place.
“Jesus Christ,” said Walker, hauling me to my feet. He ran his free hand over his rapidly bruising face. I couldn’t have responded even if I’d had a clue what to say, as my throat was still raw from Aric’s half strangling me.
“Is there a problem back there?” another guard demanded.
“We’ve got it,” said Walker, apparently oblivious to the blood dripping from his nose. And he didn’t let go of me again.
Aric glared daggers at both of us. If looks could kill… But then, Walker was pretty scary-looking, too, with his face covered in blood. There was absolutely no mercy in his expression now. His pitch-dark eyes were trained on me.
Holy crap. I’d really landed myself in it this time, managing to piss off an entire Alliance guard patrol.
Still. I could glare back. And did so. It was the one defence I had left.
Walker didn’t let go of me until we’d reached Central. Another group of guards had gathered by this point, surrounding us and asking questions. I tuned them all out, concentrating on finding a way I could escape. Opportunity was key, and I had no intention of squandering my chance. Perhaps they’d take the cuffs off when we got in the building.
“Right, we’ll take her from here,” said one of the guards, and Walker handed me over to them. Like a freaking game of pass-the-parcel.
“Sure.” He glanced at me, like he wanted to say something else, then shook his head.
And then I was left alone with the other guards. A sinking feeling descended. Had Alber made it home? Did he know I’d been captured? What about Skyla? Was our house safe—were the refugees safe? Too much to worry about.
And the guards were taking forever. The one who held me had a hand on my back, but relaxed, and he wasn’t looking at me.
I moved, quick as I could, ducking out from under his hand and sprinting through the guards. But I didn’t even make it a metre. A heavy body slammed down on top of me, knocking the wind from my lungs. I gasped for air, blood filling my mouth. I’d bitten my tongue again. Spitting out blood, I kicked blindly at the guard. Without magic, I was useless. I’d never pushed it to its limits before like that, and now I was on Earth, I’d lost my edge. But I had the feeling the cuffs were doing something to me, as well. The burning sensation wasn’t because they were too tight, but it was like a pressure lay on whichever part of me could use magic, making me weak and shaky. I hated it. God, I hated it. It was the stark opposite of the static buzzing of magic in the Passages.
The guards dragged me in through the glass doors at the front of the building, into the biggest entrance hall I’d ever seen in my life. Tall glass elevators waited at the end, while countless doors led off to the sides. Everything gleamed. Adamantine. The cuffs must be made of the same stuff, I realised—antimagic. They were quite literally magicproof.
Damn. I’m screwed.
The guards steered me towards the elevators, but then veered off to a staircase nearby. As they lifted me clean off the ground, blind panic took over. I kicked out at the gua
rds, but there were many of them and only one of me. Two guards carried me downstairs, ignoring my feeble attempts to break free.
Into a corridor lined with rooms. First door on the left—I made sure to memorise the way out. The door led into another corridor with yet more doors. One door was pushed open, and I was carried inside. The guards sat me down on…a bed? The room was bigger than my bedroom at home but with no windows, and bars over the small one in the door. It had only two pieces of furniture—a sink in the corner and the bed I sat on.
“You’ll spend the night here. Your questioning will take place tomorrow.” They said more words, but everything blurred together. Unbearable tiredness descended on me. It was so wrong. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be a prisoner. But I was, and they were removing my boots. They did another weapon search, and when I elbowed the guard—who I was positive was feeling me up—he actually hit me. The sharp pain across my face threw me back onto the bed.
“Don’t hit her!” said another guard. “We’re not supposed to harm her. She’s hurt already.”
The first guard glared at me, and left the room. When one guard remained—I could tell he was senior because of the badge on his jacket, and the long scar on his face told me he’d had a close call with a monster before—he said, “I’m going to remove your handcuffs. If you attempt to fight, I’ll put them back on.”
Yeah, that’s pretty clear. At least this guy—Carl, his badge said—wasn’t as much of an asshole as the other dude. I didn’t fight when he removed the cuffs. The sight of the number of guards crowded outside the door had squashed that notion entirely.
He withdrew from the room, and the door closed.
I was a prisoner of the Alliance now.
I bit my lip. I wasn’t going to break down. Okay, so nothing like this had ever happened to me in my life. And yes, I’d probably deserved to get knocked down a peg for being so convinced I could get away with breaking the Alliance’s rules. But this…