by SA Magnusson
I was this far in already; what was a little further? Besides, having someone near me who understood who—and what—I was wouldn’t be a bad thing. It’s not like Aron, the only other person besides my grandparents who knew anything, had been around. Maybe Derek could be my confidant.
“Whatever happened to him was intentional. I don’t know how I know that, only that I do. And when I pushed back against the magic I detected within him, I felt as if I could pull it off.” Had I only another moment, I might have managed it. I had been so close.
The wheels were spinning behind Derek’s eyes and he gasped softly. “You think you could undo the spell the council used to burn off his magic.”
“That’s just it, I don’t know. I’m not even sure his magic was burned off. It seemed more that he simply didn’t have a way of reaching it.”
“Were you hoping that you could figure it out so that you could remove it from yourself?”
I sighed. Damn, but Derek did have a quick mind. “Like I said, I didn’t know what I was doing. When I pushed against the spell, I didn’t even know what it was. I’m still not certain about what I detected. It’s possible it’s not even the council’s spell.”
“What else would it be?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. And maybe it’s best that I don’t.” I met his eyes and felt as if he might swallow me up with the warmth in them. Were it another time, I might yearn for something more with him. “I chose this life for a reason. I don’t want to get involved with the magic on the other side of the Veil. I like taking care of patients, seeing them improve, saving those I can.”
“I get it. You know that I do. But are you sure that you chose it, or was it more that you feel you had to hide from the council? Because if you chose it, then that’s great. I understand that feeling. If it’s that you feel you have to hide from the council…”
That was the heart of the issue, and it was one that I thought I’d settled long ago. I’d been hiding who I was—and what I might be—for so long that the idea of getting to choose otherwise seemed impossible.
“Since I don’t know what my father is, and the council has little tolerance for alternative magic, it’s safest for me to keep it hidden. And I like what I do, Derek.”
“What about the other guy?” he asked.
I remained silent at first. How was I supposed to answer that question? I knew who he meant—Derek had been with me when Aron had been hurt, and he knew Aron had magical ability. “I haven’t seen the other guy in a while.”
“I thought…”
Forcing a smile, I looked up at him. “It wasn’t what you thought. He had me working with him for a little while, nothing more than that.” That’s not to say that I couldn’t want more than that. With Aron, it was hard to deny the attraction. He might not have been my usual type, but the intensity within him was hard to ignore. Somehow, he managed to draw power out of me that I didn’t know I had.
Derek watched me for a long moment, and I wondered if he was going to challenge me on that, but he only smiled. “I’m glad your grandparents asked me to watch over you.”
“Really? You don’t think I’m more trouble than I’m worth?”
“From what I’ve seen, you’re definitely trouble, but you stand up to the turds and you keep the job interesting.”
“The job is always going to be interesting. That’s the nature of what we do.”
“That’s not quite what I meant. Other than you, I’m not terribly impressed by the other residents in your year.”
“Don’t say that to Jen.”
“She’s fine—”
“And don’t say that to her, either.”
Derek ran his hand through his hair, laughing. “I should probably let you get back to finishing that bottle.”
“You could stay and have another glass with me if you want.” It surprised me, but there was a certain easy comfort between us and I didn’t necessarily want him to leave.
“Another time, Kate. When do you work next?”
“Tomorrow, same time, same place.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” He started to leave, heading out of the kitchen, but paused. “Hey. You should let your grandparents know about the visit today. They’ll want to stay informed.”
I nodded. I’d already tried to call Gramps but got no answer. I’d want to try again, if only to figure out which member of the council had graced me with his presence. “That’s my plan.”
He paused with his hand on the door, looking back at me. “Good.”
If it was good, why did he look worried?
5
When I heard the sound near the door, I jerked awake. How long had I been sleeping? Long enough that I still felt like I was out of it. The couch could sometimes suck me in, especially after a long day working, and even more so after a glass—well, two—of wine.
After rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sat up, trying to figure out what it was that had caught my attention. Noise in the hall didn’t usually wake me. The walls were solid enough here that it wasn’t that I heard every sound, and my neighbors weren’t the type to have loud parties. If anything, I was usually the one keeping them up, not that they’d ever tell me that.
I sat fully upright, looking around. The Fresh Prince danced across the TV screen on Nick at Night, giving me some idea of time, not that I would admit that to anyone. My head throbbed more than it should from the wine and my entire body ached, something I suspected came from the magic I’d drawn earlier. It had been that way the last time I’d used any significant magic.
No other sounds came. What had startled me?
Maybe it wasn’t anything more than one of my neighbors. Marvin kept odd hours at the post office, but since the DVT I’d help diagnose, he’d stuck to a more normal schedule. None of the others would have reason to come all the way down the hall. That was part of the advantage of this unit: I didn’t have to worry about people wandering past my door on their way out. It wasn’t an issue during the night, but with as many overnights as I worked, I needed to be able to sleep during the day and didn’t want anyone keeping me awake.
Could it have been nothing more than a dream? I didn’t often recall my dreams, but there were flashes of something that drifted to mind, almost as if I should remember what I’d dreamt. Dreams lately had consisted of visions of the demon king trying to cross through the Veil, and every so often I could feel a reflection of power, as if the demon king searched for me. Those weren’t dreams at all, but nightmares.
The sound came again, more distant this time.
There was no mistaking the fact that there was a sound there, but it was muted, almost as if whoever was out there was trying to make an effort to remain hidden.
My heart started pounding, sending adrenaline through me, waking me up more than a cup of tea would and burning off the last little bit of wine.
Then I felt the surge of cold along my spine.
Someone was out there.
Not only someone, but someone able to use magic.
Could Derek have waited behind, thinking to protect me? I didn’t get the stalker protective-type vibe from him, but he did see himself as watching over me, and since he’d gotten the assignment from my grandparents, I wouldn’t put it past him to do whatever he thought was necessary to keep tabs on me. But staying near my door and using magic? That seemed too much.
That left another possibility.
The mage councilor had warned me that he would watch me, and I had the distinct sense he didn’t believe Derek had been the one to use magic. There was something about him that made me uncomfortable, and that was why I’d tried to get a hold of Gramps.
With my heart racing, magic began to seep up from deep within me, almost unbidden.
Most of the time, I would have fought it, but if it came down to figuring out how to resist having my powers burned off, I might use it.
My door handle moved.
It wasn’t much, but enough to test it to see if it would
turn. After Derek had left, I’d locked the door. The complex was safe, but we were still in downtown Minneapolis.
Shifting off to the side of the door, I watched, waiting for notice whether someone was just passing along the hall and deciding to check my door, of if there was something more afoot. If only I had a weapon. The sword I’d taken from the demon remained safely tucked away in the back of my closet. I didn’t want to look at it, not needing the reminder, but at the same time, I didn’t want to give it to someone else, especially after learning that there was something unusual about my ability to even hold a demon’s sword.
Cold raced along my spine again.
My mind raced through all the different types of approaches I might use when confronted by someone, and in none of them did I have to worry about the kind of spell they might throw at me.
As I watched the door handle, it didn’t move again.
The cold eased away from me, fading.
Maybe the mage on the other side of the door decided to back off.
I couldn’t be that lucky, could I?
Power exploded, my door slammed open, and cold surged along my spine at the same time.
Without waiting to see who might poke their head through the door, I spun, driving my heel through the doorway. If anyone outside my door was supposed to have been there, they wouldn’t have destroyed my door.
My foot connected.
I dropped, taking a moment to survey the hallway. Three men created a half-circle around the door, each of them ready. Power surged off all them.
Mages.
None looked like the guy who’d come to the ER.
That troubled me.
What troubled me more was how much power I could feel them using. It filled the hallway, practically enough to overwhelm me. Not just magic, but unfamiliar magic. Dark magic.
I’d been frozen by a dark mage before, forced to stand motionless under the power of that kind of magic, and I didn’t want to be subjected to that again.
It meant that I would have to go on the offensive.
Which meant magic.
As much as I didn’t want to use magic against them, what choice did I have, especially if I wanted to survive? There was no question they were here with an intent toward violence, but what could I do against them?
The power that burned within me started to bubble up. I focused on it, trying to hone it rather than letting it unleash in a torrent of power, and targeted the guy nearest me. He had a plain face and a goatee, making him look even more evil, almost comically so.
My spell struck and my foot followed.
I drove my elbow into his temple, not wanting to leave him with even the chance of getting up. The man collapsed and I turned, staying low as I swept my foot around in an arc, trying to attack.
The others were quicker. Either that or the fact that I’d struck the lead guy rattled them. They backed away, giving me space.
That gave me a moment to survey them. Both were taller than me, which meant that I’d be forced to figure out some way of using their momentum against them. The one on the left carried something in his hands I couldn’t quite see, but given the icy sensation along my spine, I worried it was something magical. The other guy eyed me like you would a dangerous animal.
Whatever else happened, I didn’t have much time to linger.
Movement at the end of the hall caught my attention.
Others were coming.
Now this was getting more interesting than what I wanted.
I let the magic flow, no longer resisting the way it welled up within me, burning through my core. What was the point of fighting it? If they caught me, they’d likely destroy me anyway. After Lexy had died, I thought my exposure to dark mages over, but what if I’d revealed myself trying to help Tony?
Figuring the guy who was holding something was the more dangerous of the two, I unleashed my magic on him first.
It exploded out of me, swirls of deep purple power that struck him in the chest.
Derek had been able to see the magic I’d done before, something I knew was unusual enough, but each time I used magic like this, I was able to see it. There was always the same deep purple coloration to it, something that had made me even more certain it was dark magic. Only… maybe it wasn’t.
I followed the spell with an attack, sweeping my leg low, trying to knock him down.
The other guy grabbed me from behind.
Damn, but he was quick. He gathered my arms behind me, pulling them tight behind my back and pinning them. A hard jerk wasn’t enough to free myself and anything too hard might dislocate my shoulder.
Keeping my arms rigid, I dropped to the ground.
And then screamed.
I thought that I might be able to pull my way free, using leverage to get my arms out, but I’d misjudged, and he now held my arms upright, with me kneeling on the ground.
This was an even worse position.
I couldn’t move.
Anything that I might do left me helpless. Pain shot through my body, and too late I recognized the spell building.
When it struck me, I really couldn’t move.
The mage dragged me into my condo and threw me onto my couch. The other dragged the fallen mage into my home and picked the door off the ground and shoved it into the frame. Surprisingly, it mostly fit. The hinges would need to be repaired and the wood around the frame had split, but it wasn’t a total loss.
Why was I thinking about that?
What I should be thinking about was how I was going to get out of this spell.
It was familiar to me. The last time it had been used on me, there had been a demon summons. Somehow, I’d managed to get free then, though I don’t know if that was because of adrenaline or whether I had figured out some way of countering it. More likely than not, it had been luck.
“You do have some power,” the mage who had grabbed my arms said, staring down at me. He didn’t even bother to keep his distance, but then, why would he? I wasn’t a threat lying on the couch, body frozen and unable to move.
“We were told—”
The guy shot the other a hard look. “Careful.”
“She’s not going anywhere.”
“She nearly managed it once. You saw what she did to Bill.”
“Bill was foolish to get too close to her.”
Bill? What kind of evil mage’s name was that?
It was probably the guy I’d dropped in the hallway who now lay motionless on the floor. The kick to his sternum might have broken something, and I imagined a pneumothorax but would need to examine him to know with any certainty. Maybe it wasn’t the kick that had dropped him. The magic I’d unleashed on him had been potent enough to hurt.
The spell holding me eased off, but only a little.
They wanted me to talk.
“If you let me go, I—”
“You’ll what?” the mage said, leaning close to me. “You won’t kill us? With this spell, you won’t be able to do anything anyway.”
“Why are you here?”
“If you’re what we think—”
“It doesn’t look like you do much thinking.”
It was hard getting the words out, but I wanted to insult them. Angry men made mistakes. If I could get them upset enough, I might be able to move. From here, I would race back to my room, grab the demon sword out of the closet, and use that to help me completely escape.
That was too many steps.
Even as the plan came to mind, I knew it was unlikely to work. They had me outnumbered, and there was still the piece about the mage holding something I suspected to be magical. What if that was some way of holding me?
Angering them might only end up with me getting hurt worse.
“Let me place the bindings so we can get out of here. I don’t know how long we have before we draw their attention.”
“They won’t detect us here.”
“How do you know?”
The first mage glanced down at me. “There h
as to be some sort of protection placed on this home to prevent the council from detecting her. I can’t tell what it is, but there is subtle magic here.”
Shit. Could Gran and Gramps have thought to protect me from the council by doing something like that? It wasn’t hard to believe, and I wouldn’t even be aware of it. They likely wouldn’t have expected me to need to draw the attention of the council, thinking instead that they would use it to keep me safe from notice.
“And if there’s not?”
“Then place it on her so we can get going.”
The taller guy approached, holding out something that looked like a glowing net that stretched between his hands. The binding.
Not just any net, either. The magic coming off that sent ice along my entire backside. Whatever they had was powerful. And I very much didn’t want it to reach me.
I might not be able to move, but could I find a way to use my magic?
Not terrified like this. It was hard enough to focus on my magic when I wasn’t scared, but all I knew right at this moment was terror. Everything in my being screamed out, almost as if it recognized that binding as a specific kind of danger.
As much as I tried, I couldn’t tap into my magic.
I was trapped.
Power continued to build, and another power joined it.
I flicked my gaze to the first mage, trying to figure out what he was doing. He had to be adding something to the first spell, but what? It wasn’t that they needed even more magic to hold me. What they had summoned already was enough, and more than what I could overcome.
There was something in that power I recognized.
It didn’t come from either of these mages.
And then I remembered the movement I’d seen along the hall.
I had thought they had others with them, meaning that I was truly captured, but what if they had already drawn the attention of the council and those who served it?
The familiarity gave me a different sort of feeling.
Aron?
The taller mage reached me with the binding, holding it over me. “You’re not going to like the way this feels, but after what you did to Bill, I think that’s fine.”