Forbidden Magic: The Complete Collection

by Anya Merchant

  “No,” he said. “I wouldn’t. I’m here for the blueprints of the subway, Annette, and excuse me if I’m being short with you, but I don’t have a lot of time.”

  Annette laughed again, the sound of it reminding Victor of an elegant, finely tuned bell. She gave him a knowing look and then began walking over to a doorway on the left side of the room.

  “The kitchen, then,” she said. “Normally I’d make you wait for me to dress myself in clothes a bit more modest than this old thing, but since you’re in a rush, I’ll make an exception.”

  “Mrs. Lockwood!” snapped Victor. “I don’t-“

  “Ms. Lockwood.”

  Victor gritted his teeth and used every remaining ounce of willpower to keep his hands from balling into fists.

  “Ms. Lockwood, as I just said, I don’t have a lot of time.”

  Annette smiled at him. After a couple of seconds, she pulled the towel free again and made a bit of a show of drying herself a second time over.

  “You’re everything I’ve heard, and more, Victor Anders.” She leaned forward slightly, practically beaming at him. “Let’s go straight to my study, and talk on the way.”

  I have to play her game if I want to save Kiara. I don’t have a choice.

  Annette walked by him, and Victor followed as she led him into a hallway and around a corner.

  “We can skip past at least some of the formalities,” said Annette. “I know who you are, and I know that you’re well on your way to becoming the Eli Monteiro’s chief bloodhound.”

  Victor blinked, a little surprised.

  “That’s… not exactly the case,” he said. “I work for Lucy Wilson.”

  “Who works for Monteiro,” said Annette. “As much as I’m sure you’d like to think that each and every case you’ve worked has been for the common good of society, if you think long enough about it, they all have something in common.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Victor.

  Annette pushed a door open and led him into a medium sized room lined with bookshelves, a large polished oak desk, and a massive electronic fireplace built into one wall.

  “Let me get to the point, then,” said Annette. “There’s a reason why I know so much, Victor, about you and about what’s been going on.”

  He folded his arms, not bothering to take the chair across from her desk that she offered to him. The sight would have been a bit ridiculous, Annette sitting in her bikini behind such a prim and proper desk, if not for the intense gleam in her eyes.

  “I’m the owner and CEO of Blue Horizon Inc.”

  Victor nodded slowly, recognizing the name. Blue Horizon was a massive, multifaceted corporation that in some ways, stepped on the toes of Monteiro when it came to the development of their research applications.

  “And why does this matter to me?” asked Victor.

  Annette grinned at him. She leaned forward onto the desk, letting the edge of it cup her breasts up in a fashion that ensnared the attention of his eyes.

  “Because I want to hire you, silly boy!” She ran a finger across her lips, and Victor felt a few less than noble thoughts edging into his awareness. “There is a lot you could offer this company.”

  She must be out of her mind.

  Victor shook his head slowly.

  “Look,” he said. “I’m flattered. I really am. But I can’t imagine what I could offer your company.”

  “I know all about you, Victor,” said Annette. “Probably more than Eli Monteiro does, in some regards. Your nanites, your distinctive healing abilities… other things.”

  Victor had to work to keep his facial expression steady. He didn’t see Ella in his field of vision and didn’t dare to look around and see if she’d materialized behind him.

  “Is this your game?” he asked. “You want me to come work for you, in exchange for the blueprints?”

  Annette shook her head.

  “No, of course not.” She reached into her desk and pulled out a large manila folder. “I simply ask that you consider it, in return for the blueprints. Whatever you need them for, I can tell that it matters to you.”

  She passed them to Victor, holding her grip for a split second as he went to take them.

  “I’m serious,” she said, in a soft voice. “Think about it.”

  Victor nodded slowly. He turned to leave, half expecting Annette to stop him. She caught his eye and smiled mischievously, and then blew him a kiss.

  “Be safe, Victor,” she said. “I’ve heard some nasty rumors about what’s been going on in those empty subway tunnels. We wouldn’t want this to turn into a major incident, now would we?”

  He walked out of Annette Lockwood’s mansion, unsure of what to make of her, or anything relating to his situation.

  CHAPTER 18

  Victor scanned over the blueprints on the sidewalk outside. It took him longer than he thought it would to identify which of the tunnels connected to the surface. One led to the entrance he and Kiara had gone in through the day before. Another appeared to lead downtown, ending on a street that he was sure he’d walked down before without noticing anything suggesting a route underground.

  And one of them, as Johnathon had mentioned to him, led into the cliffs. Victor tapped his finger on the spot where it appeared on the blueprints hard enough to make it tear slightly, and then took off toward the western edge of town.

  It wasn’t until the buildings thinned out and the cliffs were in sight that Victor began to feel the gravity of the situation he was heading into. He’d lost the first fight, by any standard, up against the Labyrinth monster. He couldn’t think of anything new to bring to the table for a rematch that would give him an advantage.

  After reaching the familiar path through the easternmost park in the city that led up to the cliffs, he slowed to a walk and pulled out his phone. He found Lucy’s cell number and sent her a quick, mostly pointless text.

  “I’ve found the entrance. I’m heading down to bring Kiara back.”

  Victor frowned slightly. He wanted to believe that it really was what he was doing, and that he wasn’t walking headfirst into an encounter that he had no chance of winning. He wanted to believe that he wasn’t on the verge of throwing his life away against an opponent that that was ultimately stronger and better at killing than he was. But he wasn’t sure if he did.

  “Victor?” Lucy’s voice sounded in his ears over the nano connection, startling him out of his thoughts. “Victor, can you hear me?”

  He smiled slightly.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I can hear you, Lucy.”

  She didn’t say anything. Victor knew that she was thinking the same thing that he was.

  It will be a miracle if I come out of this alive, with or without Kiara.

  “Victor, I’m not used to having to rely on other people. Not for things like this.” Lucy paused, and Victor heard her take a shaky breath. “But please… bring her back. Don’t give up. Don’t let it beat you. I can’t lose her. Not her, not her, too.”

  Victor closed his eyes and folded his hand against his head. Kronenberg had told him a bit of Lucy and Kiara’s history, many months ago. Their parents had been kidnapped and killed by a still unidentified serial killer. Kiara had been kidnapped along with them, and somehow, miraculously, managed to escape.

  She’s been through enough already.

  “I will.” Victor’s voice was soft, quiet, and utterly resolute. “I’m going to bring her back, Lucy. I’m going to bring her back.”

  There was another pause. Even without her being physically present, Victor felt a little bit of tension over the line. Lucy was so much more vulnerable than she let on, and it was up to him to ensure that she didn’t get hurt.

  “Thank you,” said Lucy. “I have a few members of the Monteiro private security firm that I can send, if you want backup.”

  Victor paused, considering it.

  “No,” he said. “They would just get in the way. I don’t want to have to worry about
saving anyone other than Kiara.”

  “Thank you,” repeated Lucy. “Come back to me afterward, Victor.”

  “I will.”

  The sound of Lucy’s voice and soft breathing cut off abruptly. Victor looked at the path in front of him and started down it, even though a voice in the back of his head screamed that he was making a terrible mistake.

  There were just enough overgrown plants and roots jutting out to make the trip annoying. Eventually, Victor reached the beginning of the cliffs, the same place where he and Kiara had gone to train a few days earlier.

  “Victor.” Ella appeared in front of him, right as he began to approach the cliff. He realized that again, it had been a while since he’d last seen her. She looked sad, almost like she’d been crying.

  “Ella,” he said. “I know what you’re going to say.”

  “You do,” she said softly. “But I still have to say it.”

  The wind blew across the park from the southeast. Ella’s hair was long enough that if she’d been anyone else, her soft, auburn locks would have been tossed across her face. Instead they remained where they were, ethereal and impassive.

  “I’m always here, Victor,” said Ella. “I’m always with you. I don’t have a choice, and I’m not sure if I’d choose otherwise if I did.”

  Victor stared at her. She felt like the old Ella, more than ever at that moment.

  “You have a death wish,” said Ella.

  Victor shook his head.

  “No, I don’t.”

  Ella shook her head.

  “You do. You’ve had it for a while, Victor. Longer than I’ve been with you.”

  Victor didn’t say anything. He didn’t feel like he could argue with her, but he didn’t want to admit that she was right. The scars on his chest, still as visible as they’d been when he’d first received them months earlier, burned slightly.

  REPENT…

  “I’m not prepared to watch you throw your life away,” said Ella. “To throw our lives away! I die, if you die.”

  “And that scares you?” asked Victor.

  Ella shook her head.

  “No. It doesn’t scare me. It hurts me. You’re risking my life to save… hers.”

  Victor winced. There was god honest emotion in her words, and it was painful to hear, and even more painful to think about.

  “I’m sorry, Ella,” he said. “But I can’t change that. I don’t know what you want from me.”

  “Just remember that I’m here,” she said. “Please. And don’t get yourself killed.”

  Victor nodded slowly. Ella took a step toward him, and then another, and then threw her arms around him in a tight, full body hug.

  “Can we talk about something less serious now?” asked Victor.

  Ella gave him a quick peck on the lips and smiled through misty eyes.

  “Like what?”

  “Well, you’re wearing a skirt,” said Victor, eying the short, black number she had on underneath her t-shirt. “How about you climb up first and I’ll follow behind?”

  Ella poked him hard in the ribs, and Victor let out an exaggerated gasp of pain.

  She’s right. I’m not allowed to die.

  CHAPTER 19

  The climb up the cliffs was harder than Victor remembered. He took a route that he hadn’t taken before, following the map on the blueprints and correcting his course as he went.

  It took him about a half hour of searching to find the entrance, and when he did, he immediately understood why it’d taken him so long to spot. It was only a tiny manhole, sandwiched between two bushes and covered with a light layer of dirt.

  He cleaned it off and spent the next few minutes struggling to get the cover off. It was heavy, and offered almost nothing for him to grip onto.

  “I think you should try something else,” said Ella.

  “Got any suggestions?”

  Ella put both of her hands on the back of his shoulders and brought her lips in close to her ear.

  “Try using the diamond aura,” she said.

  Victor frowned. It was a good idea, except for the fact that he barely had enough practice with the aura to lift a fork into the air, let alone something as heavy as a manhole cover.

  I don’t have any other options.

  He took a deep breath, faced the manhole cover, and slowly began to search his awareness. It was there, hovering just outside the radius of his other, more practiced abilities. He began to summon his energy, letting it course into a single intention, and then bound his diamond aura to the manhole cover.

  Nothing happened. He tried to lift it up. It didn’t work. The cover was just too heavy, and his ability was too limited. Victor sighed and sat down on the ground.

  “Here.” Ella stepped over to him and reached down, taking his hand into hers. “Try it again.”

  Victor closed his eyes and focused. He bound his diamond aura to the cover, from the sides, from underneath, from every direction he could, and then lifted. The cover popped up a few inches, landing slightly askew on the opening. Victor stared at Ella, completely dumbfounded.

  “How the hell did you do that?”

  She smirked at him.

  “I didn’t do anything,” she said. “You just needed some help staying focused.”

  Victor grinned at her.

  “Thanks,” he said. “Come on, let’s get going.”

  A heavily rusted ladder led down into the tunnel below. It was pitch black, with the light of the afternoon sun only providing illumination for the first few feet. Victor went slowly, step by step.

  He was about fifteen feet in when he lowered his right foot and found nothing but thin air. Victor grimaced and bound his onyx aura to his senses, looking down and trying to make sense of the situation.

  The bottom of the ladder was completely rusted out. Victor could barely see into the tunnel, but it looked as though the ground was only ten or so feet below him. He stared back up at the ladder, aware of how tricky it would be to come back out using the same route.

  I’ll find a way. I’m saving Kiara, no matter what it takes.

  He let go of the ladder and fell through the air. His legs were ready to catch him, and it took him totally off guard when his feet hit the ground and kept going. A tremendous splash echoed off the concrete walls of the tunnel, but Victor only heard the very beginning of it as the sludge surged into his ears and eyes.

  He kicked wildly, feeling for the ground underneath him and not finding it. He’d entered the dirty water without taking the deep precursory breath, and his lungs burned, desperate for oxygen. When Victor finally did break the surface, he spent a few seconds gasping for air, and then let out a disgusted groan.

  “Yuck,” said Ella, from above. “And there’s like a layer of nasty sewer film on top.”

  “Gah!” shouted Victor. “Which way? Which way do I swim to get out of here?”

  Ella materialized in the air a few feet to his right and beckoned him over. Victor could only see her through half squinted, grimed up eyes, but it was enough. He swam forward, each stroke through the water splashing up more of the nasty goop and making him cringe.

  After a few minutes, his feet struck aground. The tunnel sloped upward and out of the water, and he walked forward until he was completely out of it. It was only then that he stopped to appreciate the smell, defecation mixed with chemicals and dank mold. He gritted his teeth, wiped as much of it off as he could, and forced himself to keep moving.

  “I’m not going back out that way,” he said. “No fucking chance.”

  “I don’t think you could even if you wanted to,” said Ella. “There would be no way for you to reach up to the ladder. You’ll have to find another route.”

  Victor opened his mouth to reply, and then remembered the blueprints, which he’d tucked away inside his jacket before starting the climb down. He pulled them out and slapped a hand to his forehead as he flipped through them.

  “They’re ruined,” he said. “And I have no chance of gettin
g out on my own.”

  Ella crouched down, meeting his downcast eyes.

  “You’ll find a way, Victor,” she said. “Have faith.”

  He spent another minute cleaning himself off, using the ruined paper blueprints as a makeshift towel, and then continued onward. The tunnel ran straight, without any turns or offshoots. Victor knew that the second it started branching, he’d be picking at random. Every wrong turn he took would cost him minutes, if not hours, and he didn’t know how much time Kiara had left as a captive.

  His onyx aura enhanced eyes picked out something against the darkness up ahead. The way was blocked off by a thick steel grate, inset into a metal threshold running around the edge of the tunnel’s circumference.

  “I already decided that I’m not going back,” said Victor. Ella nodded to him.

  He focused his energy, binding his scarlet aura with all his strength. Out of all of his auras, it was the one he’d been using for the longest, and because of that, it was easier for him to bind it, and often resulted in a stronger effect.

  Victor growled slightly as he thrust his hand forward, launching a medium sized fireball at the grate and bathing the tunnel in bright orange light. It exploded when it reached the barrier, releasing a deafening thunderclap of noise as the flames turned the impediment into shards of flaming shrapnel.

  “Nicely done,” said Ella. “Now do that once more to the monster and we can get out of here.”

  “That’s the plan,” he said.

  From further down the tunnel, something let out an inhumanly loud shriek, as though in response to the noise of the fireball. Victor walked forward, steeling his nerves for what was about to come.

  CHAPTER 20

  The chamber was just as large and imposing as it had been the last time Victor had entered it. The air felt warmer than the air in the tunnel had. The same cloud of unnatural darkness hung on the air, blocking Victor’s view and giving him a warning, or possibly a challenge, of what was to come.

  “Don’t hold back, Victor,” whispered Ella. “You have to hit it hard and fast!”