Forbidden Magic: The Complete Collection

by Anya Merchant

  “Sorry I’m late,” she said. “The fire drill was the perfect distraction, but it took forever to casually make our way out of the crowd and-“

  Victor pulled her into a tight hug, cutting her off. He pulled his arms more tightly around her than he probably should have, and had to restrain the impulse to kiss her deeply and passionately.

  “Where’s Kronenberg?” he asked.

  “Watching overhead,” said Lucy. “You should get moving as soon as you can.”

  Victor nodded. He crouched down, bringing himself level with Kiara’s comatose face. It was the first time he’d seen her since the accident had happened more than two weeks ago. She looked pale and thin, and her hair was slightly longer than how he remembered it. She was dressed in a thin hospital gown, and Victor frowned when he thought about taking with him in flight.

  “She’s going to catch pneumonia if we don’t bundle her.” He pulled off his sweatshirt, knowing that by giving it to her, he was putting himself in the same position. Lucy took it from him and pulled it over her sister’s head. She also took off her own jacket and wrapped it around Kiara’s waist, giving her a makeshift skirt that would hopefully provide at least some warmth.

  “Victor…” Lucy gave him a serious look. “Please. Bring her back to me alive.”

  “She’s going to be okay after this,” said Victor. “We’ll be able-“

  “That’s what I’m hoping for,” said Lucy. “But if it doesn’t work…”

  Her voice wavered slightly, and Victor knew what she was going to say without needing her to voice it out loud.

  It’s better to have Kiara in a coma and at least still breathing, than dead, and gone forever.

  “I will,” he said. He leaned over to make his eyes level with Lucy, and for a moment, she let her forehead rest against his. Then, she pulled back and turned away, as if already shoring up her emotional walls against whatever the future had to offer.

  “You should go,” she said. “Good luck.”

  Victor nodded. He slowly scooped up Kiara, who was surprisingly light in his arms, and then took off into the night.

  CHAPTER 20

  Victor made the trip back to the facility much more slowly than he normally would have, constantly shifting Kiara around and covering the parts of her legs that were still bare the best that he could. Every minute that went by was a little more depressing than the last. He couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened to her, and he blamed himself for it, even though he knew that it was a waste of mental energy.

  He thought a lot about Kiara, and about everything they’d been through in the short timeframe they’d known each other. She was a friend to him, but more than just that, she was someone he couldn’t afford to lose.

  This needs to work. I can’t leave her like this.

  He finally closed in on the facility after almost five hours in the air, comparable to what it would have been in a fast car. Instead of immediately descending and heading for the entrance, Victor went around it in a wide arc, scouting out the area for enemies.

  There were a group of guards out front, presumably brought in by Annette to hold down the fort in his absence. Victor had the indistinct sense that someone was watching him from afar, but didn’t see anything to back up his paranoia. So he slowly brought himself and Kiara in for the landing, the part of the trip that he’d been dreading since his initial takeoff.

  Crash landings were a minor inconvenience when Victor was flying solo. With Kiara in tow, they were literally something that could mean life or death. She wasn’t able to shield her head, or tuck into a roll like he was. If she hit the ground hard enough, she’d be dead, plain and simple.

  He held his breath as his feet drew in close to a small strip of grass on the edge of the facility’s parking lot. His first foot hit and immediately buckled, as it often did. Victor slammed the heel of his other foot into the ground, lifting off into the air slightly, similar to a fighter jet aborting a landing on an aircraft carrier.

  He dropped down to the ground and tried again, this time flailing his feet in the motion of a sprint before he was actually on the ground. It worked, and instantly, he felt the combined weight of his body and Kiara taking a renewed toll on his muscles. He took a few triumphant steps and then gently set her down on the grass, taking a second to let the lactic acid in his arms disperse.

  “Victor.” Annette was walking over to him from the entrance of the facility. She looked nervous, and seeing her like that didn’t do much for Victor’s own mood.

  “It’s over,” he said. “I made a scene in Eli’s office, got into a fight with his aura binder. I don’t have any choice in this anymore, Annette.”

  She forced a smile onto her face and set a soft hand on his shoulder.

  “You always have choices,” she said. “And I think you’ve made the right one by bringing her here.”

  They both looked down at Kiara for a moment, and then Victor leaned over and scooped her up.

  “I had some of my tech specialists take a look at the machine,” said Annette. “They didn’t have to do much to it. We can give it a shot as soon as you feel comfortable.”

  Victor nodded, his mind racing with conflict that he hadn’t realized was there.

  I have to do this. It’s risky, but it’s the only hope that Kiara has.

  “Let’s do it,” he said.

  The facility had been cleaned up a little since Victor had last been inside. There were more people, and most of them had a tech savvy look about them.

  Several Blue Horizon employees were tinkering with the machine in the basement. Victor, with Annette’s help, carefully moved Kiara downstairs and onto one of the machine’s metal tables.

  “I feel like I’m bringing her in for surgery,” he muttered. Annette nodded solemnly.

  “That’s exactly what you’re doing, Victor,” she said. “But hopefully, it won’t be quite as dangerous.”

  He frowned at that, but only for a second. Gunshots began sounding outside the facility. Victor gave the room one last quick scan, and then hurried up the ladder.

  “Stay down here, Annette!” he shouted. “Make sure Kiara wakes up!”

  Jade was taking on the guards Annette had left outside with ruthless ease. She used her azure aura to completely encase herself in a super hard sphere of ice, waiting until the men stopped to reload, and then killing them without hesitation. Victor pulled one of the guards back toward the door by the shoulder and cut into the fight.

  “Don’t!” he shouted. “She’s too strong for you! Let me handle this!”

  Jade was ready for him. For the first time, something flashed across her face that might have been akin to emotion. She was furious, pushed to the edge of a berserker rage over the way their last encounter had gone.

  Victor waited to use his auras until he could see what Jade’s attack was going to be. She leaned back on one foot and then leaped into the air, lifting up and then arcing down, like the flight path of a mortar. She came at him in a tackle. Victor kicked hard at her face, but Jade caught his foot and twisted, knocking him off balance.

  She landed on the ground and rushed him, throwing punches that had technique and accuracy developed through years of training. Victor had no such training, but he did have his auras. He used his diamond aura at a low level, diverting each punch into a glancing blow with a bit of telekinetic force.

  Jade whirled, sweeping her leg and knocking Victor’s feet out from under him. He was already using his diamond aura and diverted it to his own body, lifting himself ten feet back and into the air. Jade followed after him, and the two collided into a tight, fighting embrace, hanging in the sky, unbound by gravity.

  The goal of the brief struggle was simple. Whichever one of them could orient their opponent toward the ground and smash them into it won. Whether that involved using their diamond aura or making it so the other was too distracted to use theirs made no difference.

  Victor slipped up out of Jade’s grasp slightly and slammed
his elbow into her face. He saw her aura flash to scarlet and felt his emotions flare. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to ignore what was happening between his legs, the blatant eroticism of the situation, and instead continued attacking, hitting Jade with as many hard blows as he could.

  She flared her scarlet aura harder, and Victor let out a muffled groan of pleasure. She felt really nice against him, her toned body promising things if he was willing to relax, and stop being so violent. Victor flared his own scarlet aura in response and felt Jade’s body quiver against his.

  Is this how every fight between aura binders of the opposite sex ends?

  Jade was still wrestling in the air, still trying to slam Victor into the ground. He pushed his scarlet aura harder and felt her legs wrap around him, allowing his cock to rub in between her thighs. Her breasts pressed tight against his chest. The two of them wiggled against each other, wrestling, dry humping, and fighting.

  “You can’t win against me!” shouted Victor. “And I can’t win against you!”

  The implication was there, and dangerously tempting. What were they to do now, stuck at a stalemate, and suffering dearly from the effects of each other’s auras? Victor looked at Jade and saw the arousal written all over her face, along with even more anger.

  He flared his scarlet aura again, and Jade did likewise, more out of stubbornness that tactical strategy. Victor was too horny to focus on much of anything, and let his diamond aura lapse for a second. They weren’t high enough up off the ground for him to have time to rebind it, and they both hit together, still wrapped tightly against each other. Their bodies rolled without breaking the wrestling embrace, and when the two of them came to a stop, they weren’t wrestling any more.

  Victor was kissing Jade’s neck and pulling at the waist band of her tight leather pants. Jade looked furious with him, but her hands moved with a mind of their own, unzipping his jeans with desperate, needy movements.

  He got Jade’s pants off just as she began to return to her senses. She pinned both of his arms down. Victor flared his scarlet aura again and she let out a silent whimper, rubbing her cunt across his rock hard cock.

  She flared her scarlet aura again, glaring at him. Victor pulled her down on his shaft hard, feeling his cock slip into a wet world of pleasure. Jade moaned and pushed him down hard by the chest, still trying to keep a modicum of control.

  They began to fuck wildly, angrily, glaring at each other, and in Jade’s case, blushing furiously. Victor grunted each time he slammed his hips up into her. Jade made no noise, but her body’s shivers and involuntary responses told a story of their own.

  They were having sex that went beyond animalistic. It was combat as much as sex. Victor rolled hard underneath Jade, trying to move them into the missionary position and gain the control he’d need to continue the fight after the fuck. Jade ground her pussy down on his dick in a sensual movement that stole the wind out from under Victor’s aggression.

  “Oh, fuck!” He reached up and groped at Jade’s breasts, managing to pinch one of her nipples through the fabric of her shirt. She shuddered and fell on top of him. They kissed, and Victor fucked her even harder.

  He wanted to beat her, not just in combat, but in sex. He wanted to use his cock to make Jade see the error of her ways. He flared his scarlet aura again, turning Jade’s arousal up to a level that went beyond anything Victor had used on another person before.

  She began to shudder and writhe continuously, as though her body was locked in a single unending orgasm. Still she continued to wrestle, continued to play the game of sex, of power. Victor managed to get her underneath him and put all of the energy he had into fucking her against the ground.

  She caught Victor’s eye, and recognized the emotion staring back at him. It was a mix of rage and lust, with a hint of shame. She wanted to defeat him, but more than anything, she wanted him, and wanted what was happening to keep going, even though it made her loathe the pliable, base instincts that comprised human nature.

  Victor could feel the effects of the scarlet aura fading. It was time for him to pull back, to pull up his pants, and finish the fight. But instead, he pumped into her harder, slamming her hips down into grass with each angry thrust, until he felt the pleasure overload his system.

  He came hard, blasting cum deep inside Jade’s pussy. She shivered as his hot, sticky load spurted into her, and then rolled, pinning Victor neatly. He was overwhelmed by the pleasure of the orgasm, but he still had enough awareness to push Jade off of him.

  They both stood up, and after making themselves decent, they faced each other. Victor was smiling slightly. Jade looked tired.

  “Your boss is on the way here, isn’t he?”

  Jade nodded.

  “How about we call a truce until he gets here?”

  Jade hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. Victor couldn’t stop a laugh from bursting out of his throat, and he saw a matching smile spread across her face.

  CHAPTER 21

  Victor waited for a full hour, making small talk with Jade as much as a person could with a mute. It was the deep, dead of night. The clouds were thick overhead, and outside of a few outdoor lights from the buildings in the industrial park that were still actively used, it was completely dark.

  “How did you start working for Eli?” asked Victor.

  Jade didn’t say anything.

  “Why is it that you never talk? Are you not able to, or are you just shy? Was it written into the contract you signed?”

  Jade didn’t say anything.

  “Hey, can I get your phone number and add it to my late night booty call list?”

  Ella materialized next to Victor and flicked his nose with her finger.

  “Don’t even think about it,” she growled. “And you should probably just leave her alone.”

  Victor raised an eyebrow at Ella.

  “She’s scared,” said Ella. “I don’t know if you can read that in her body language, as a guy, but she is.”

  Victor mouthed the question “So?”

  “So,” said Ella. “Eli most likely has something over her, too. The same way he had Kiara over you, and the same way-“

  A motorcade approached from down the road in the distance. Victor listened to the sound of the engines and watched the lights intensify as it drew closer. The cars stopped in front of the facility and slowly turned into the parking lot, two bulletproof BMWs and a medium sized limo.

  The doors of the BMWs opened first. Eight nearly identical Monteiro agents in black suits and sunglasses assumed firing positions behind the open doors. Victor smiled at them.

  They’re certainly brave, that’s for sure.

  Eli came out of the limo next. He walked forward slowly, stopping before he’d passed beyond the line of defense his guards had set up.

  “Victor,” he said. “Are you holding Jade hostage?”

  Victor shook his head. There was no point in lying, as it seemed as though it might instigate Jade into attacking again, which would be bad.

  “I’m just hanging out,” he said. “We’re all just hanging out.”

  “I know that Annette is inside, and I know that there is something of value here,” said Eli. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

  “I could say the same thing to you,” he said. “If you want to settle accounts with me, that’s just fine. I attacked you earlier tonight. Annette hasn’t done anything, and neither have any of her employees inside.”

  Eli laughed.

  “She stole you,” he said. “She turned you against me. She sent you to assassinate me, and it almost worked.”

  “You’re delusional, Eli,” said Victor. “Just give it up already. You aren’t going to win tonight, not with me standing in your way.”

  Eli closed his eyes and bowed his head for a few seconds. Then, he smiled, and waved a hand at the guard standing behind him. The guard reached into the limo and pulled out a woman with long blonde hair, with a gag taped into her mouth and bindings
on her hands and feet.

  “Lucy!” Victor took a step forward only to see the sights of the guard’s weapons train onto him. Jade moved closer to him and Victor shifted his attention so that he could see her and Eli without turning his head.

  “This doesn’t have to be difficult, Victor.” Eli pulled a gun out of his suit coat and pushed it against Lucy’s head. “You’ve already proven your allegiance to be a pliable thing.”

  “If you hurt her, I will kill you,” said Victor. “I promise you that, Eli.”

  “All you have to do is cooperate, and she’ll be returned to you, safe and sound.” Eli smiled. “But if you try to be a hero, I’ll put a bullet in her head. Jade has already shown herself to be your equal in combat, and I’ll have her distract you while my guards open fire.”

  Victor gritted his teeth. He thought about his options.

  I could use the onyx aura to control the guards around Eli, make them shoot him.

  Jade glared at him from the side and raised her hand, palm extended. He wouldn’t have time to bind a single aura before she’d be on him, and dealing with her would require all of his focus, as Eli pointed out. Lucy tried to say something through her gag, her eyes flashing with anger. Victor’s heart sank as he realized that he’d been beaten.

  “…Fine,” he said. “For Lucy’s sake, I’ll hear you out. What is it that you want?”

  Eli’s smile turned into a full on grin.

  “All I want is to speak to Annette,” he said slowly. “Bring her up here, without her guards, and allow me to have a chat with her in the back of my limo.”

  Victor shook his head.

  “And then what?” he asked. “Are you going to kill her? Or have Jade do something to her?”

  Eli clicked the safety off his gun, the sound managing to be threatening while barely being audible. He pushed it harder against Lucy’s head and met Victor’s gaze.

  “It doesn’t matter what I’m going to do with her,” said Eli. “Bring her to me, or I will kill Lucy.”

  Someone approached from behind Victor. He flinched slightly before recognizing it as one of Annette’s guards. The man held his hands up to show that he was unarmed before approaching Victor and leaning to whisper in his ear.