by Elsa, Sandra
He pulled me to a stop and wrapped his arms around me, lowering his mouth to mine. “Or the sight of my wife storming away from me might have overridden any unnatural desires to return to District Seven. So we’re good?”
“Of course we’re good.”
“Then do I get to know who your friend is?”
Paul waited two steps away; I spun to him and said, “Paul, this is my husband, Harrison--as if you didn’t figure that out.”
Paul extended his hand, “Paul Whitover. And I knew there was something familiar about Frankie when I saw her sitting there on the end of the pier. Didn’t figure it out until I saw the two of you together.”
“Father’s little ploy is still working then,” Harrison’s tone was bitter. “Harrison Kendrel.” He shook Paul’s hand. “If Frankie accepts you, that’s a pretty high recommendation. I just hope you won’t make it well known that we’re staying here.”
“Not a problem.”
“So where do you live?”
“He’s local.” I said, before Paul could spill it.
He grinned at me. “Me and some friends have homes right on the dome.”
“I think we need to get to know Paul better,” I said.
“Tell me why I should be friends with the first man you hook up with after leaving me in the dust.”
“Because he’s interesting and fun.”
“Not what a man wants to hear his wife say about another man.”
“He’s been polite and proper all evening.”
“Me, you pulled a gun on before saying two words.”
“Yeah, well you trashed my home and my office. What did you expect? At least he only showed up to the party naked.”
“Naked?”
“I’d been swimming.” Paul sounded like he thought maybe I was trying to get him killed.
“Besides,” I said to Harrison, “you were naked the first time I ever saw you too.”
“I don’t think we’ll go there.” Pink rose in Harrison’s cheeks. “Not one of the highpoints in my life. Paul, I’d like to get to know you better but I think you’ve had my wife quite long enough tonight.”
“Of course, it’s been a pleasure meeting you. Frankie, thank you for a lovely evening. Poppy’s had her eye on you for awhile. I think she must have realized we had some distinct similarities under the skin.”
“I look forward to seeing you again.” I moved over to him and wrapped my arms around him. With Harrison standing there it didn’t feel like being unfaithful.
Paul only hesitated a moment to return it. “God, I knew you’d feel good. If you want to talk, just tell Poppy. She’ll probably be a bit obnoxious now that she’s been introduced.”
I stepped back. “Have a good-night.”
“Already have. Good-night.” Paul walked back toward the pier.
Harrison wrapped his arms around me. “It still drives me crazy when you do that.”
“As it was meant to.” I winked at him and melted my body into his.
“We should make love on the beach. It’s quiet out here tonight.”
“Not as quiet as you might think. Sex on the beach would be ill-advised if you’re expecting privacy.”
He scanned the shoreline. He was right, there were very few couples walking in the sand. In fact there were so few people it set my nerves on edge. I darted a glance toward the buildings and shadows slunk back out of the light. "We need to go."
"Did I do something wrong again?"
"No. I'm getting a bad vibe, and I don't think it's your father who's setting up this party." My hand instinctively went to my nine-mil and made sure the safety strap wasn't fastened. Harrison caught my nerves and clouds formed overhead. We walked rapidly back toward the restaurants and winds drove sand into the empty appearing walkways.
Chapter 10
Another sensation drew thorny fingers across my flesh as an unknown magic tingled through the stormy atmosphere. I felt it building and reached out with my senses to find its source. Concentrating on allowing Harrison use of his magic while expanding my null field to protect him took my attention away from the hunt. The source was moving and I dragged Harrison along as I tried to keep track of it.
A shot rang out and a lightning bolt struck from above. Two lightning bolts. The first flew off at an odd angle toward a building as though it had been deflected. I reached out with my father's talent and deflected it from the occupied building. The second struck between walkways, followed by a scream of agony.
The magic source stopped moving away. In fact it grew closer and stronger. I stepped in front of Harrison as the energy soared in our direction. A glittering net of emerald energy appeared overhead, interfering with Harrison's power. It settled around us and dissipated. I placed a hand on Harrison's arm, preventing him from reestablishing his magic.
Well-armed thugs poured from several walkways and I nodded at Harrison. Thunderclouds nearly obliterated the moonlight. The yellow light of the lamps lining the walkways dimmed as wisps of haze floated close to the ground.
Several lightning bolts struck their targets but then the clouds left us nearly as blind as our enemies. I could still feel the mage. He hovered at the edge of Harrison's magic, probably trying to figure out what had gone wrong with his net. I felt him cast again and knowing what was coming I didn't wait for my null field to absorb it, but turned it off while it was still close enough for him to feel its demise.
Harrison leaned his forehead against the back of my head and I felt him overlap my talent as he did when retrieving water…only this time he came out with an emerald net and cast it toward the last known location of the bulk of the thugs. Cries of pain rose from multiple throats but we didn't stand around to witness the results. With clouds concealing us and roiling across the beach, we dashed for the nearest restaurant. Gunshots rang out and several bullets pounded into the boardwalk. Harrison's hiss of breath warned me as pain distracted him from his magic and the clouds fell apart. He stumbled and I took his weight and urged him on, fifteen feet from the restaurant he fell to his knees and I rolled both of us off the edge of the boardwalk and drew my nine-mil, firing at the nearest target. Without discretion I emptied the magazine each shot intended to kill, there were too many of them to use anything except deadly force. A bullet grazed my shoulder and I ducked down below the boardwalk and replaced the magazine in my nine.
Magic built again and I snapped it off aggressively. This time I knew backlash hit the mage. The view I had under the boardwalk displayed several pairs of boots approaching. I shot two in the ankles and rose up to kill three more. Harrison groaned and his magic started to build. I needed to get us inside before he could exhaust himself. Ignoring my pain, I got an arm under his shoulder and hefted him to his feet. He staggered, loosing several lightning bolts then sagged against me. His magic flagged as we made it inside the restaurant. I gestured with my pistol and those patrons who had decided to gawk from the safety of indoors scattered backward.
I laid Harrison on the bench intended for waiting customers and turned to get a handle on the crowd and the door. We'd ended up in the same restaurant Paul and I ate supper at. Terry still sat at a table. The woman he sat with pointed a pistol at his head. Without hesitation I put a round in her arm and he pushed her to the floor, picked up her weapon, then hurried to Harrison's side. "How bad is he?"
"How the fuck should I know.” I peered out the door hoping the onslaught wouldn‘t follow us inside. “Kinda busy dodging bullets here. You tell me, where's he hit?"
"In the side. Bleeding pretty bad."
"Dark blood?"
"How would I know what's dark and what's not?"
I glanced down to where Terry had the wound exposed. The blood wasn't the dark color which flowed when major organs were hit. "He'll live. Is it through and through?"
At least he watched enough entertainment shows to understand that. He rolled Harrison to his side and felt his back. "There's an exit wound."
"Good. Get something under his ba
ck and apply pressure to the wound. He's lost a lot of blood."
"So have you, Frankie." Terry looked up and nodded at my shoulder.
"I'll live. If we don't stop his bleeding, he may not. Footsteps thundered down the boardwalk and I cracked the door, ready to fire at the nearest target, until I noticed it was a trooper. Didn't know his name but figured it would be impolitic to shoot the cavalry.
He saw me looking at him and slid to a stop, arms held wide. The men behind him didn't stop fast enough, they knocked him to the ground, but I recognized a couple other familiar faces and stepped away from the door. I finally turned my full attention to Harrison. Terry was already speaking with emergency services. He hung up his phone and without looking at me said, they'll be here in five minutes then returned to applying pressure to Harrison's wound.
I directed the first trooper at my side to Terry's date. A quick glance showed she was nowhere to be seen. Trooper Ralston stepped up and shifted to wolf, nostrils twitching. He dashed through the restaurant, hesitated a moment to sniff the blood on the floor and took off toward the kitchen. I noticed absently that one of the other troopers picked up his uniform and folded it neatly. I laid a hand on Harrison's cheek, his skin was pale. One of the troopers took over the task of minimizing blood loss and Terry stood back staring at the blood on his hands and clothes.
The troopers had bandages and they wadded gauze and bound it in place. I kissed Harrison. "Don't you dare die on me."
His eyes fluttered open, pain glazed them, but he whispered, "Not a chance," before he closed them again.
When emergency services arrived, they checked Harrison over and loaded him in the back of an ambulance while trying to convince me to meet him at the hospital. As many people as had been gunning for us, there wasn't a chance in hell he was going anywhere without me. They made space for me to sit at his side and we crept out the boardwalk to the road. I noticed eight other ambulances around the boardwalk along with a hovercart they were piling body bags onto. I slumped back against the wall of the ambulance.
The EMT looked up, startled into an oath as he noticed the blood on my shoulder. "Are you hit, Ma'am?"
"Grazed."
"Let me check you out." The ambulance hit the street and jolted to maximum speed as he struggled around the cart holding Harrison.
I didn't have the strength to resist as he peeled me out of my jacket and removed my shoulder holster.
"I need you to lie down Ma'am."
"It barely touched me."
"You've lost a lot of blood. Not to contradict you, but the bullet is still in your shoulder. Your holster took the hit which is why you may feel it as a graze, but I assure you, Ma'am, you're not much better off than your husband." He picked up a sterling tray and held it in front of me so I could see the hole in my shoulder.
Grudgingly I followed his orders to lie down and he packed blankets and pillows around me, then bandaged the wound.
I felt that. Nearly clocked him. But he drew away with a flicker of fear and I controlled my instincts. At least the watch had disarmed me. He didn't have anything to fear, I think I was lucid enough I wouldn't have shot him anyway.
At the hospital, troopers formed a cordon to the doors as they unloaded us. A second cart waited in the bay and Trooper Gerrill held it steady as I was placed on it.
Chapter 11
It was several hours later when I awoke. I knew it was several hours later because it would have taken several hours for the people assembled in the room talking quietly, to have gotten here, even powered by magic drivetrains.
My father and Nan sat in chairs near a window. Jordan Drover paced the length of the room, pausing every other turn to add a comment to whatever was being discussed. I turned my head to search for Harrison. He was lying in a bed pushed right up against mine. I convinced my arm to move far enough to lay my pinky finger on his.
Words ceased flowing. Jallahan was out of his chair and at my side. "Francesca." His voice was little more than a breathy whisper as though afraid I wouldn't really be awake. Or perhaps he was afraid to wake Harrison with his father standing over him.
I groaned at the pain as I rotated my head to see him. "Still here." My voice sounded similar to his, but it was as loud as it would get.
"Thank God." Nan stood beside Jallahan, a diamond ring on her finger.
I smiled and stared at it. "Congratulations."
"We'll discuss us when you're up and around."
"Harrison?" I asked.
"He'll be fine," Jordan Drover said. "They inform me you saved his life. Thank you."
"Didn't do it for you."
"I'm well aware of that. Still…thank you."
"Did Trooper Ralston find--"
"We don't know what's going on within the watch. We brought an extra fifteen troopers so they have assistance rounding up the men you didn't manage to kill."
Harrison's finger twitched and I looked over at him. His awakening was much the same as mine. Nan moved around to stand at his side while Jordan stood at the foot between the two beds. Harrison clasped my hand more firmly than I had been able to and whispered, "Love you." then closed his eyes again, a grin on his face.
Looked like a plan to me.
#
The next time I awoke, Trooper Gerrill was sitting in a chair leaned back against the wall right beside the door. My father was still in the same chair he'd occupied earlier. Nan held Harrison's hand. Jordan Drover was absent. Thank God for small favors.
Harrison was awake. He squeezed my hand before I even looked at him. "Life is not dull with you, Frankie."
I squeezed back. "Did you think it would be?" My voice was rusty from disuse but I felt able to talk.
"No. Besides we dug up this trouble together."
"I'm guessing one of the people we called yesterday was not a friend," I said.
"Which would mean the drug trade has its fingers in District Seven."
Trooper Gerrill thumped the legs of his chair on the floor. "Did you call anybody outside of District Seven?"
"Only Trooper Rollick, from HQ, and I trust him completely."
"How much do you know about Detective Alban?" Harrison asked. "Didn't you say Rollick planned to ask for his help getting the information?"
"Don't know Alban much at all. First time I ever saw him, he was accusing me of blowing things up. Tried to stay out of his way since then."
"Then we have to place him in the possible suspect pool."
"He was outraged that Girlo got away because of that bomb," I said. "Girlo was a big supplier to District Eleven."
"District Eleven's legal," Mage Jallahan said, "why were they after him?"
"He supplied more than Eleven."
"So maybe Alban's mad because he had plans for that bomb and they didn't include Girlo's escape?" Jallahan said.
"Anything's possible. Including the fact that drugs are inside District Seven," I said. I closed my eyes and searched for beetles. There were two. They seemed to be attached to the beds. "Isn't that right, Sir," I said before scrunching the life out of the beetles. I looked at Gerrill. "Don't suppose you'd do me a favor and sweep for electronic bugs?"
The door opened and Jordan Drover walked in. "Let me spare you the effort, Trooper."
"How did she know?" Belatedly, Trooper Gerrill added, "Sir."
"My daughter-in-law and I have an ongoing competition to see who can be the biggest thorn in the other's side. I believe it's just a game at this point." He looked at me and I assessed him briefly before nodding agreement. "I've been checking with the local watch and one question has presented itself with utmost importance in my mind."
He stared as though awaiting my permission so I nodded again.
"What did you do to their mage? And how did his allies end up netted in his magic?"
"What I did to him is simple. I turned his magic off. Snapped it a little. I was otherwise engaged when I felt him start to build again. I just went to turn it off at the source."
"With preju
dice?"
"A little, maybe. I didn't have time to spare for his shit. His own spell backwashed on him."
Jordan turned to stare at Jallahan. "You never told her?"
"I knew she was leaving. Thought she was already dangerous enough."
"Then perhaps you'd better explain now. Unless you want me to?"
"I will. She's my daughter."
"Fine. I'll let you tell her how it works. For now all she needs to know is the mage is dead. Which brings us to the next part of my question. How did the cartel ruffians end up ensnared by their own wizard?"
"I did that," Harrison said.
"I know your magic." Jordan Drover argued. "You've never been able to turn another mage's magic to your own use."
"Life changes us, Father. I've had reason to play with my talent a lot lately."
"Then I’ll need you to demonstrate how it was done and add it to your registry notation."
"No."
Jordan Drover straightened slowly and focused completely on Harrison. Persuasion entered his tone as he repeated his demand.
"You should have figured out by now," Harrison said, "you can't persuade me to do what I don't want to."
"It's the law, Harrison. What you claim to have done isn't even classified as a rare talent. It's a completely unheard of talent. Turning another mage's power to your own personal use is simply not done."
"Worried, Father?" Harrison's voice clearly threatened.
A frown crossed Jordan's face. "Should I be?"
"Maybe a little, if you persist in playing your games. We probably would never have been attacked if your hedge-witchery hadn't made me say some stupid things. We were separated most of the evening while Frankie tried to figure out what to do about it. They probably saw us as vulnerable. If I hadn't gotten a phone call letting me know where she was, just before the attack we'd probably both be dead."
"Hedge-witchery?" Jallahan's voice only displayed curiosity. His eyes hardened.
"I was experimenting." Jordan's tone made it sound like the most natural thing in the world.
"On my daughter?"
"I've been lenient with their defiance of me."