Magic Awakening: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Spirit War Chronicles Book 1)

by Stephen Allan

  And it was a presence that truly, genuinely took me out of my head, making me forget my borders with him and my troubles from earlier.

  The evening became just a blur of laughter, drinking wine, eating the food when it came out—damn, they did have much better beef in New Zealand than in the USA; it seemed DJ was saved—and trading stories. Even tipsy, I was careful about what I revealed, but I could mention some of the more exotic locations I’d been to. DJ mentioned to me how he had spent some time in San Diego, getting to know locals and basing one of his short stories on a surfing mentor that he knew there. He told me several other stories about traveling through South America, exploring the Australian Outback, and some of his favorite writers—we had a disagreement on who was better, Brandon Sanderson or Neil Gaiman, but agreed that both were solid authors.

  When the check came, I could hardly believe so much time had flown by, and with such cheer and laughter. DJ refused to let me reach for my wallet, going so far as to gently grab my purse and place it on his side of the table. When I mentioned that a man should never touch a woman’s purse, he said, “Yes, but the rule ‘Let DJ pay so that you may move more quickly to an exciting bar’ supersedes that rule.” Once again, I was left tongue-tied and defeated… admittedly somewhat by my own choice. It didn’t even cross my mind that I’d said I would only do dinner tonight.

  “Come,” he said after he had dropped over two hundred euros in cash on the table. “Let us grab a drink at SkyLounge. I want you to enjoy your visit there, unlike the last time when a series of distractions prevented us from having a good time.”

  My stomach lurched a bit at that feeling. I was drunk enough and trusting enough that I would probably say yes, but the demons from last night…

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “Sonya, any place with you is a good idea,” he said. “But I think we should hang out at the spot where we really started to get to know each other, wouldn’t you agree?”

  Damn, well, might as well. I still have my skills if things get bad.

  Just remember, you’re only hanging out. You can’t kiss him. Do not kiss him.

  Maybe a quick one?

  No! Goddamn, girl. No kiss!

  As we left, this time, instead of offering me his arm, he just went straight to my hand. He did it with such confidence that I found myself pleased by his move, and I curled my fingers around his hand.

  Thankfully, we didn’t encounter anything awkward or demonic along the way. I did notice a few dudes glancing at me, but they seemed more like the jealous type or just your standard leering guy instead of a creepy demon plotting to kill me. For once, it was nice to be seen as nothing but a sexual object instead of a shifter target.

  When we reached the elevator, as the only two people inside, DJ pulled me in real close.

  “You know the nice thing about an elevator?” he said. “The privacy gives you a chance to do what you’ve been thinking about doing for the past two hours.”

  “DJ, I don’t—”

  But he was already leaning in, his eyes closed. I instinctively closed my eyes too—

  And the elevator lurched and stopped on the second floor. Thank God. No, really. I’m thankful. I swear

  I spun to the side of DJ, his arm around me, as we politely nodded to the older couple getting on the elevator.

  We reached the top floor without culminating the moment, and DJ swiftly took me by the hand and led me to the balcony. It being about 9 p.m., the place had started to fill up some, but so far, the patio was empty save for one couple at a table near the door. DJ waited until I was close to the railing and put his hand on my hip.

  “You are a quick mover—”

  “I prefer the term eager and passionate to get what was unfortunately delayed,” he said, and this time, there was not going to be an elevator opening to stop him. He leaned forward, his left hand going to my cheek, his eyes closing. I closed my eyes…

  And at the last second turned my cheek. I’d finally found the thing that got DJ off his game, because when he pulled back, “shocked” was the only adjective I could think of. His hand had dropped to my shoulder.

  Weirdly, I didn’t feel great about the decision, even if I knew it was right.

  Well, maybe that wasn’t so weird.

  “I told you before, DJ, I only wanted dinner. Well, and now some drinks,” I said with a pleading smile on my face. “I am not in a state to date anyone right now. I have my reasons, but I am not going to kiss you.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Tonight.”

  “So perhaps later,” he said, the sudden confidence returning.

  I just rolled my eyes and put my hand on my hip.

  “Don’t you think after a night like tonight, when you’d wined and dined me, that if something were going to happen, I would have done it? I’m sorry, but I don’t want to kiss you.”

  DJ just chuckled confidently, unnerving me.

  “There’s a vast chasm between not wanting to kiss me and choosing not to kiss me. Tell me, are both things really true?”

  I sighed. The dude had a handle on me.

  “I’m a spy. Sometimes I lie. I think you can figure it out.”

  “Very good,” DJ said, his hand rubbing my shoulder gently now. “You’re not the type to just kiss immediately. You need to develop trust. I like that, I really do. It shows the kind of self-worth and high value you hold in yourself.”

  “I’ve told it to you more than twice and I’ll tell it to you again, DJ, don’t get your hopes up. I don’t trust a lot of people, most especially people I’ve known for maybe a day and a half. You may be fantastically good looking, but I’m the spy, I use sexual fire to my advantage, not disadvantage.”

  “Just don’t let yourself wait too long, darling,” he said, and I caught myself smiling at the word. I knew he noticed too. I wouldn’t last long if we stayed out. And I really wouldn’t last long if I drank more. “Life goes by a lot quicker than you’d think, and even people who you think will be here for the immediate future can vanish or change with a single snap. But I understand what you mean. So, for now, why don’t we focus on the present, go have another drink, and then head back to the hostel?”

  I could definitely do that. I loved his company, if not his heavy-handed attempts to kiss me.

  Not hesitating at all, I joined him as we had some gin. As we spoke, two things happened. One, we traded more laughs and stories and funny moments between us and from our pasts. And two, I was evaluating just what it was that I wanted out of him.

  Why was I so insistent on not kissing him? It was true I defaulted to not getting close to guys. Unfortunately, the people I was closest to had a way of eventually vanishing from my life at the most crippling time. And with him as an Australian citizen and the two of us in Europe, that just made the odds of him dashing to America not just improbable, but almost certainly impossible.

  But it was just a kiss.

  Just a kiss. Then just making out. Then just sex. Then just feelings.

  See how quickly that devolves?

  At least for tonight, I’d pushed the question away. But I knew if he followed us to Berlin—a given since I’d basically said I would kiss him later—I would have to either firmly end anything with him, or just let things continue to happen.

  While, I briefly let myself remember, dealing with demons and heaven and hell knew what else.

  But for now, I just sipped my gin and laughed at his story of backpacking in Peru. The laughter and gin continued all the way up to 2 a.m. No demons appeared, and when we stumbled back to Durty Nelly’s in each other’s arms, we belted songs like fools, laughed at the most inane, mundane shit, and danced across the cobblestone. More than once, I felt the physical desire to kiss him, but I swore on my job as a CIA agent that I would wait until I was sober to make a move. Even still, I didn’t want the night to end.

  But that was OK. There was a night two coming. And a night three. And a night four. And…

&nbs
p; And when the time was right, when I felt sure, more than my mind would get blown.

  When we reached Room 115, I had to cover my mouth because I was giggling so much. DJ gave me one last hug and kissed me on the cheek. It was another near-miss that left my body wondering why my mind had to interfere so much—and determined to overcome my mind’s barriers over the next few days.

  Chapter 12

  When I woke up, I glanced at my phone and my eyes went wide at the time “10:11 a.m.” Before today, I would have said that I never slept in, even with the benefit of no alarm and no duties the next morning. But then again, before today, I’d never fought demons or gone on an incredibly sexually tense date with an Australian author.

  I unlocked my phone and checked for messages. I had two new messages on Whatsapp, both of them from DJ—well, I didn’t have his number stored, but the content left no doubt.

  “Hey darling, good morning :-) I see you’re sleeping peacefully so heading downstairs for breakfast. Come on down when you wake up,” he wrote at 9:32 a.m.

  How the hell did you get my number?

  “Think we’re going to go for a bike ride in the countryside today, get the bikes by 11 a.m. Does that work for you?” he wrote at 9:44 a.m.

  Hell yeah!

  Though last night had provided a beautiful respite, I would take every chance I could to stay away from whatever downtown Amsterdam had become. And if we went out on our bike tour at 11, there was a good chance I’d have to miss my appointment with Carsis.

  I knew it wasn’t very CIA-like of me to skip a training meeting like this. But I had forgotten until last night how much I could enjoy this vacation, especially with people I liked (just as friends, I pitifully tried to remind myself); I didn’t have to be “on call” for the spiritual realm at every moment. Carsis wasn’t my boss—he was just someone who offered his services. I knew how to escape hell, there wasn’t much more I needed to do.

  I swung my feet off of the bed, a smile glued on my face, and touched down. Even in this mood, the cold floor didn’t seem like a negative, but a way to better wake me up. I slid on my sandals and made my way to the bathroom to prep for the day—which, given that we’d be riding bikes all day, would require even less prep than usual.

  I shut the bathroom door behind me and looked in the mirror. I rubbed my eyes, put my glasses on, and got a better view of myself. I could still remember Nuforsa’s foot slamming into my eye socket, and though I had never actually seen what I looked like, I knew from feeling the bumps and swelling I looked less like Jennifer Aniston and more like Alex Murphy just before becoming RoboCop.

  The door locked.

  I froze and looked at the door. There wasn’t anyone there.

  “DJ?” I said. “Brady?”

  No one responded. I heard no footsteps. My stomach knotted a bit, but I told myself I was just hearing things—a day like yesterday was the kind to make you jumpy and imagine things. I went over to the door and tried to open it, but despite there being a lock on my side, I could not twist it and leave. I certainly did not need to ask if I was hallucinating, because I wasn’t.

  Still, I turned the water on to splash my face, but after it had reached its full spray, it shut off immediately, as if someone had slid a blocker over it. I went back to the door and tried to slam it with my shoulder, but it remained in place. The only thing moving were shards of wood, threatening to become splinters on my bare shoulder.

  “What’s the rush, Sonya?”

  I turned and saw Tyrus, in his blood-red suit, his hands folded in front of him, and his slick dark brown hair standing in front of me.

  “What the fuck are you doing in here!” I yelled angrily.

  “Relax, I’m not breaking your privacy, you were just splashing water on your face. Even demons can have manners.”

  He gave an exaggerated bow, but I was not about to accept it just because it was “manners.” If anything that made me feel less guilty about trying to kick his sorry ass.

  “What do you want,” I said.

  “What do I want? What do I want? Hahaha, child, that is not what matters here. No, what does matter is what Mundus wants,” Tyrus said. “Right now, Mundus wants you. That much is apparent. He has ordered me, his second-in-command, to get you however I best see fit. What he did not order, however, was the means in which to grab you. Nuforsa wants to break your spirit so she can hand you to him in a shattered state, but suffice to say, I find such an approach ignorant beyond belief. Mundus would not want the one powerful enough to potentially tilt the course of war shattered like China dishes.”

  “I’m sorry—no, I’m not sorry, but stop,” I said, cutting him off as he started to continue his speech. “Clearly, Nuforsa is some sort of psychopathic nightmare. But the tide of war? I’m flattered hell thinks so highly of me, but seriously. What are you talking about?”

  Tyrus snorted and adjusted his tie, deliberately taking on menial tasks to leave me hanging in the air.

  “That is for us to know and you to find out,” he said. “I will give you a hint. You need to find yourself.”

  The fuck?

  “Now then. Nuforsa is a fool, and even if she succeeds in breaking you, Mundus will punish her accordingly. Others want to build you up so that you are as powerful as possible when handed over to Mundus, but that is too risky. One, how are they going to handle you when you have learned all that you are capable of? And if you truly become as powerful as they say, while I do not think you would defeat Mundus, you would certainly give him a harder fight than he would prefer.”

  “And clearly, we’ve arrived at the part where you tell me why your approach is best, so just give me your spiel now so I can slip out, grab Ebony and Ivory, and shoot you.”

  Much to my annoyance, Tyrus laughed maniacally, clearly doing it for exaggerated effect. I’d had enough, and I walked over and wound up my right fist. I swung it… and it went into thin air.

  “Child, please, you need to hear me out before you resort to violence,” Tyrus said, his voice now behind me, near the bathroom door, blocking my only exit. “I have told you many times, Mundus watches all. And when he sees someone taking on an important task, he may choose to give them special powers which carry over to the human realm. Such as my ability to teleport here.”

  I gritted my teeth and thought of lunging forward, but thus far, Tyrus had not hurt me. I didn’t believe for a millisecond that meant he wouldn’t hurt me if I refused, but I at least had the benefit of planning my next step.

  “Now then, are you going to listen, or am I going to have to keep you locked in here until I wear you out?”

  I folded my arms and motioned with my hand for him to go out, albeit with my middle finger extended.

  “You wouldn’t be doing that if you knew everything,” he said, his voice oddly serious, but it soon switched back. “I realize what kind of a person you are, Sonya. You are a strong woman who doesn’t do things when someone tries to force you to do them or doesn’t give you a reason to do so. It’s why you make a strong CIA agent but would make a terrible soldier. You’re high enough in the ranks that you understand the mission objectives and rationale, but had you started as a grunt in the Army, you would get kicked out for asking too many questions. But you aren’t the type of person who refuses to do things only because someone else suggested them. That would not make you a strong woman, but an annoying, obnoxious, immature brat.”

  He came forward, not in a threatening way, somehow, but as if coming to make the heart of his pitch.

  “As a result, I know that you, perhaps more so than your brother and your romantic interest, can be persuaded by logic of the most undeniable manner. And I am here to tell you that the fight against Mundus is a losing fight. Yevon may eventually come, and if that happens, the tide of battle will certainly, at best, come to a standstill, but one cannot say if that will happen before or after your capture and execution. In the interim, Mundus grows stronger and more daring every day. He sends his demons, his monsters, h
is werewolves, his vampires into different cities across the globe—”

  Wait, what? It’s not concentrated here?

  “Oh, yes, I see in your face the surprise. Perhaps a part of you had hoped that because you encountered it here in Amsterdam, home of the Red Light District, crawling with so many sins it would make a Christian faint, that it would mean it wasn’t anywhere else… except, perhaps, Las Vegas and Macau. Well, unfortunately for you and the rest of humanity, Mundus doesn’t really operate under the standard ‘religious’ expectations. Many religions get elements of it right, but the truth is, Mundus just happened to pick this place first because of how easily he could influence the people here.”

  Devil’s Eye.

  “You planted Devil’s Eye here! You sick—”

  “I did not,” Tyrus said, a disappointed look on his face—which suddenly switched. “Or maybe I did. But as much as I would like to take credit for that plan, I leave that in the air of suspense.”

  “I’m waiting on the world’s sharpest pins and needles.”

  “Such information is not to be shared with those who do not ally with Mundus,” Tyrus said. “However, that is the purpose of this meeting, is it not? To sway you. So allow me to pick up before that slight tangent. Mundus is slowly collecting humans he has transformed into shifters when the time is right. He will first take the spiritual realm, a task that, I’m afraid for you, is much easier than you think. Yevon’s belief in the good of all and his absurd commitment to free will means that he will be a passive observer for much of the war. By the time he gets involved, we will have conquered all of the spiritual realm and be advancing upon heaven and the human world. Once we have the spiritual realm, we will be collecting more humans. More everything, really. The Cerberus you saw was once a dog in this world.”

  I tried desperately not to think of that grotesque image, but it flashed in my eyes enough to make me emotional while Tyrus let it simmer.