by Cameron, TR
The pair ended up dazed, whether from the impact or the grenade, and Hank delivered a series of punches to each that dropped them to the floor, their rifles falling away as they tried to protect themselves. He was adept at striking any part of the body, and it was a simple matter to avoid their body armor and make sure his knuckles met flesh. Eventually, the aggregate pain rendered them mostly immobile. He stopped punching and knelt to tie them up.
Anik laughed. “Feel better, Hercules?”
He joined in the mirth. “Actually, yeah. Do yours need a few reminders of why it’s bad to mess with us, too?”
“Nah. Between the electricity I gave them and the damaged legs you provided, they’ve had plenty. I’ll have them tied up in a second.”
Hank toggled his comm to the group channel. “Twenty seconds or so until the base won’t be quite as operational, maybe.”
He turned to see Anik shaking his head. His partner observed, “That’s what I love about our jobs lately. The deep sense of certainty about everything.”
He nodded. “Same here, my friend. We’ll guard the door until they go off, then see what other trouble we can cause.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kayleigh announced, “Red dots appearing. The anti-magic emitters must be down unless they’ve found a way to make the local penguins into combatants.”
Diana suppressed a curse and continued to dash toward the vault. The door was closed, and she didn’t have time to deal with unlocking it. She said, “Class, help me blast it.” Every time she spoke his callsign, even now when things were tense, it made her think of their early days together, when he was Bryant Classified, to her.
He replied, “On three,” and counted down.
At the appointed moment, she hit it with force magic as he did the same. The pressure wouldn’t have been enough to get through the bolts if someone had thrown them, but it was sufficient to snap the latch that ordinarily kept it enclosed. The door swung inward, and they ran into the large room.
As they arrived, a portal opened, and two figures charged through it, followed by a third. Standard operating procedure was for the spellcasters to handle the magicals and Rath to deal with anyone who wasn’t hurling magic. Diana dashed at the wizard, who was already waving his wand to send out an offensive spell. Bryant crossed behind her, going for the female magical whose ostentatious wooden bracelets were doubtless her wands. The troll ran up the middle toward the man in body armor.
Kayleigh said, “Did I mention there are a lot of red dots?”
Diana summoned a force shield onto her left arm and used it to intercept the thin line of flame emerging from the wizard’s wand. She launched a burst of force at his feet, hoping to catch him off guard, but he nimbly skipped aside. She growled, “All right, people. Time to portal out.”
Deacon interrupted, almost shouting, “I have cameras.” Her glasses filled with their standard display, showing red dots and feeds from the cameras near her. She corrected, “Okay, keep at what you’re doing, but as soon as there’s a threat, get out. Do not let them capture you. Remember what I said.”
She readied a fireball to throw at his face, then remembered the whole nonlethal thing. With a growl, she grabbed and tossed one of Ruby’s electrical grenades at him, but he bounced it back at her with a look of condescension. She redirected it across the room, then focused on defending herself as the wizard summoned a wall of shadow and threw it at her.
* * *
Rath ran at the man, dodging and weaving to avoid bursts from his rifle. His batons were in his hands, and he used one to bat the weapon aside as he arrived. His opponent released it, and his right hand dipped down to his pistol while his left snapped out in the troll’s face.
Impressive, not fazed by hitting a troll or by the fact that I’m smaller than him. We hate competent enemies. He’d heard other team members use the phrase often enough that it was now part of his regular vocabulary as well.
Rath bobbed his head out of the way of the punch and slashed his other baton at the man’s feet. His foe brought his foot up in a quick kick to deflect the attack. Rath rushed forward, getting inside the man’s angle with the pistol. He increased his size, reaching five feet by the time he stood toe-to-toe with the man and continuing to grow.
He’d assumed his opponent would be taken aback by the sudden change, but instead, he stepped backward, trying to bring the pistol around again. Rath slapped the gun from his hand with a quick baton strike and stabbed the other one at him. His enemy brought his arm up in a circle block to knock the weapon aside, avoiding the stun tip and kicked at Rath.
The blow hurt, knocked him back a step, a decidedly unexpected development. He’s got skills. Another of the man’s talents manifested as he yanked two long knives from behind his back and held them in the grip of an experienced fighter, the left one forward with point extended, the right one reversed along his forearm, ready to slice and stab with equal speed.
The troll smiled. “Fun.”
* * *
Bryant spotted the witch’s bracelets instantly and recognized them for what they were. When Diana angled at the male magical, he’d redirected toward the woman. Her face was neutral, and he imagined if they were in an action movie, she would say something like, “It’s business, not personal.”
It’s pretty personal to me, gotta be honest. He summoned fire bolts with both hands, sending ten darts flying, each taking a different path, curving and twisting as they flew in at her. A small part of his mind had expected her to be impressed, or at least a little alarmed, but she simply waved, summoning a sheet of water in the air that hung there only long enough to extinguish his attack. She thrust her other arm forward, and a web of shadow flew out, growing as it moved.
The spell was unexpected, but he’d had lots of experience with adapting to unpredictable moments. He created an extra-long force sword in his right hand and slashed through the expanding net. With his other, he coated the floor under her feet with ice. Some of it latched onto her boots to hold her in place.
She shook her head. “Is this amateur hour?” A wave vanished the ice, and she skipped forward and punched with the other one, fast enough that the move had to be aided by magic.
The blow split his lip, and the taste of blood focused him. “Speak for yourself, lady.” He created whips of force with each hand, sending one out to wrap around her neck and the other one down to entangle her feet. He yanked one hand to the left and the other to the right.
She managed to deal with the lower line but was pulled off balance by the other. He summoned a portal behind her, then ran forward and jumped, kicking out with both feet.
The witch blasted him with force magic halfway there, taking away most of his velocity. Still, he outweighed her by a good bit, and mass mattered. His heels slammed into her chest, propelling her backward through the opening he’d created. He landed on his back hard enough to drive the breath out of him but closed the portal. Ha. Wench. Now who’s the amateur?
* * *
Rath focused on blocking the incoming knife strikes, which were a blur of slashes and stabs. His skill with knives was more in the throwing of them, and he momentarily wished he’d chosen that option rather than moving close to engage. He’d been annoyed and had wanted the feel of direct contact. Stupid troll is stupid. Well, maybe not stupid, but definitely indulgent.
One of the strikes got through, scraping the skin along his forearm. The flesh underneath parted as well, and Rath pulled the injured limb back with a snarl. He tried to backpedal and disengage, dropping his baton and reaching for one of his throwing knives, but the man stayed with him. He grabbed the blade and launched it at his foe’s feet, a weak throw meant mainly as a distraction. His enemy stopped and spun, narrowly avoiding having a knife sticking out of his foot. It gave Rath time to grab another, and he threw that one center mass.
The man whipped a knife across and blocked it, his speed and control impressive. He dropped one knife and grabbed the rifle dangling from the s
trap one-handed, bringing it back up toward Rath. The troll growled, “No way,” and snatched a grenade from his belt. He delayed several beats after priming it, counting the seconds off in his mind, then threw it at his opponent’s face as he pulled the trigger.
Bullets flew over his head as he shrank to three-foot size and fell to his back. He watched the grenade smash into the man’s head and go off, the boom of the concussion and bright light of the flash overcoming whatever defenses he might’ve had ready. His foe dropped his weapons, hands instinctively going up to cover his face. Rath leaned backward on his shoulders and flipped himself to his feet, eager to take his unexpectedly skilled opponent completely out of the fight.
* * *
Diana traded magic with the wizard, who, she had to admit, was rather talented. Of course, if I was able to try to kill him like he’s doing with me, things might be different. That requirement had put her on the defensive, and she spent most of her time blocking his attacks and looking for an opening. When one came, she slashed a line of lightning along his leg, causing him to cry out in pain and start to limp. Now I’ve got you, jerk.
They both flinched when a concussion grenade went off beside them. Because it was one of Ruby’s devices, her glasses and comm didn’t get a signal to dampen the effect. He recovered a second faster than she did, and her last sight of him was as he opened a portal and dragged Rath’s opponent through it.
She took a step toward the rift to follow, but a set of advancing figures in heavy armor carrying rifles filled the other side of the portal. She threw up a wall of force to keep them at bay and gave another order she didn’t want to give, like the last time she’d been in the vimana. “Okay, people. Everybody out of the pool, right now.”
Bryant created a portal, and they all dashed through it, headed to a neutral location in case anyone somehow followed. Not a total win, but if all we accomplished was to put these scumbags on notice that we’re not going to take their actions lying down, it was more than worth it.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The sense of togetherness was almost overwhelming after what they’d been through since being forced out of the vimana. Diana laughed inwardly. We weren’t even apart for that long. Is this what codependence looks like? Ruby had brought several cases of beer from the nearby abbey, where the head Abbott was also a brewmaster.
The other woman had included four different varieties, and so far, Diana had thoroughly enjoyed the two she’d tried. The place didn’t have a refrigerator big enough to handle that quantity, but when you had a bunch of magicals who could summon ice at will, such things weren’t a problem. They’d repurposed one of the equipment cases as a cooler and were using several others as low tables to hold drinks and the many, many pizzas their host had provided.
Those rested in random places around the room, nothing in it capable of serving as a buffet, and Ruby unwilling to let her workshop be part of their revels. Rath and Max had dashed from one to the next, making sure to try each of them. The predictable argument about whether pineapple belonged on pizza was happening in a corner, with the troll taking the position that everything was good on pizza and Sloan doing a series of imitations of famous people arguing against that opinion. They had attracted a small audience, and both seemed to revel in the attention.
Idryll and Ruby were deep in conversation with Tony, probably over something to do with law and order in Magic City. The young woman had taken a lot on her shoulders, both on this planet and Oriceran. Diana wished her well in those obligations. I guess, while we’re in this rebuilding phase, we’ll have time to help her with some things if she needs it.
Ruby’s sister, Morrigan, had also joined them and was talking with Kayleigh. The gestures they shared suggested the potential for new tech arrows for the archer.
All in all, it spoke of family and safety. Something that had been clenched inside her stomach for days finally released. She looked over at Cara, who nodded and said, “Yeah. This is perfect.”
Diana grinned. “Reading my mind, as always. I’m not quite sure of the next step. Hopefully, Deacon got some data we can use.”
Her second in command shrugged. “All we need to do is stay safe and not arrested. After that, it’s gravy.”
Diana chuckled. “You know as well as I do that if we don’t keep these maniacs occupied, they’ll make us both crazy.”
“True that.” They shared a laugh, and Ruby walked over to stand nearby.
The Mirra of the mist elves asked, “What will you do now?”
Diana replied, “We found an ordinary everyday citizen up in Massachusetts infected with an artifact.”
Ruby glanced down at her arm. “That’s no fun.” She knew firsthand since she was also an unwilling host to one of the magical items.
“Exactly. I wonder if it’s more common than we think. If so, trying to find and help those people gives us an objective while we work on our big picture.”
Cara added, “Plus, we need to scope out a new base. No offense, but this place is a little cramped.”
Ruby laughed. “I get that. You all host the next pizza party. I’ll expect local beer, though.”
Diana nodded. “Done. Most importantly, we’re going to figure out how to clear our names and get these bastards off our backs. It seems that this situation escalated unnaturally quickly. That tells me there’s something more going on than is visible yet. Once I find out what it is, the real fun will begin.”
Cara laughed and imitated Rath. “I’m so very in.”
* * *
At the same moment, in an office park in Washington, D.C., Kevin Serrano sighed and leaned back in his chair, his eyes on the ceiling. “Those people suck. I still see stars.”
Tash, across the desk from him, replied, “Seems to me that if that jerk was going to portal me somewhere, it could have been to the beach, rather than into a damn snowbank.”
He laughed. “Could’ve been worse, I suppose.”
She nodded. “A lot worse. He might have sent me to the World In Between.”
Kevin knew enough about that dimension not to want anything to do with it. “You have to admit. It was a bold move on their part. Plus, they executed it well.” He let his chair tilt forward and faced her.
She shook her head and crossed her arms. “I don’t need to admit a damn thing.”
“Don’t be a bad sport. We’re still in the early phase of a long match. When all is said and done, we’ll wind up on top.”
The witch grumbled, “Next time, I’m throwing that guy into a volcano. See how he likes extreme temperatures.”
Kevin snorted. “Okay, Tash, let it go.”
She sighed and made a visible effort to do so. “What’s our next move? Vacation someplace warm and islandy?”
“Afraid not. I think we’re going to have to turn to our NSA friends for a little help.”
“Surveillance?”
He nodded. “Total surveillance.”
“I read about something like that once. Wasn’t that program shut down, considered too large an invasion of privacy?”
He shook his head. “You, of all people, should know by now that nothing useful is ever ‘shut down.’ It only gets renamed and buried deeper. A few days from now, assuming my connections are still intact, we’ll have access to every camera in the country: military, police, civilian, whatever. If it communicates wirelessly or uses the Internet, we’ll own it.”
Tash nodded once, a look of satisfaction spreading across her face. “They won’t have anywhere to hide. I’ll make sure the team is ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.”
“You do that.” He picked up the phone. “Time for me to refresh some contacts and see what it’ll take to get them dancing to our tune.”
Rogue Agents on the Run
The story continues with book 2, Rogue Agents on the Run, coming soon to Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
Author Notes - TR Cameron
August 14, 2021
Thank you for reading the first book in
this new series, and for continuing on to read these author notes! I am so very thankful for your interest in these stories and in whatever babble I put at the end.
Way back when (okay, a couple of years ago) when I finished the Federal Agents of Magic series, I didn’t think I had more to say about them. In retrospect, I think I was probably just tired from life stuff and needed something lighter, which is why I shifted to the very fun Scions of Magic series with Cali and Fyre. Creating New Atlantis gave me a different creative outlet than working in the “real world” had. Magic City Chronicles did the same.
But what was strange was how the characters I thought I was done with kept showing up. Nylotte, Diana, Rath, and some of the others found their way into those other series. It made me realize for sure that I wasn’t tired of the characters at all. Which led to the series you’re now reading!
My amazing collaborators Martha Carr and Michael Anderle are really good at laying out a path for their stories and following it, as near as I can tell. I’m… not. I start with a strong outline for a story, but it never, ever, EVER, winds up where I think it was going to. Which, to be perfectly honest, is a lot of the fun of the process for me. So, I’m very curious to see where this one goes. It’s already taken a left turn from my initial plan, which didn’t involve the counterattack on the Vimana. But that just seemed like the right thing for them to do, and after writing it, I think it was.
I expect Amadeo the assassin to return at some point. He was a fun character, and as I recall, Rath still owes him a favor.
I’m hopefully headed to Vegas for the 20Books show in November and will be around for the author signing event on Friday if everything works out. If you’re going to be around, let me know, I’d love to say hi!