As for leaping off the box and beyond the edges of the pit, the pit was huge, and Josh didn’t have a chance.
He looked up as the door opened. So did two burly warlocks who were sitting in some of the massive ride-on mowers housed on the far side of the room. They’d obviously been biding their time guarding Josh while having some fun on the equipment. Boys do love mowers, after all – especially big ones.
At the sight of us bursting into the room, they jumped down, the heavy sound of their footfall echoing through the room.
I shrunk behind Max. He’d told me to do exactly as he said. Plus, now my powers were useless. I’d found Josh, and that was about as useful as I would be.
I just hoped Max knew what he was doing.
He took a step into the room. He didn’t start screaming and demand that Josh should be let go. He cast his gaze over to Josh, controlled his expression, and shrugged. “You must be Carson’s men, then? He sent me down here,” Max said smoothly. There wasn’t a hint of anything in his tone other than cool command.
Both of the thick-necked warlocks looked at each other, then over at Max. “Who—” one of them asked.
“It’s Max Knights,” the other guy whispered hard under his breath.
“Actually,” Max’s lips spread wide, revealing his glinting teeth, “it’s Maximus Knights. I’m very specific about that,” he emphasized the word specific. “Now, where’s my man?”
Both warlocks looked at each other again. “Over there,” one of them pointed out in the kind of careful tone you would use on someone who obviously couldn’t see something that was literally dangling in front of their nose.
Max cast an uncaring glance Josh’s way.
Josh?
He had a gag on, and I could tell why. After a few seconds of listening to his complaints, no doubt the warlocks would have grown tired of him.
But he didn’t have a blindfold on, so I could see his eyes in full. They were locked on me. I didn’t know if he looked happy to see me or very, very angry.
“I’m not interested in him. I want the informant,” Max said, his lips moving harshly around the word.
“That wasn’t the deal.” One of the warlocks scratched his neck. “The informant’s already been sold. He’s bundled and ready to go.”
“Perhaps you don’t understand how this town works. I paid more for him. Now he’s mine. Where is he?”
You wouldn’t be able to tell that Max was lying. He was acting so smoothly and in-control that it seemed as if he did this all the time. As if negotiating for kidnapped informants was a weekly activity right alongside balancing his books and going for a run.
“We’re going to need to ask Carson,” the smartest of the two warlocks said. “Anyhow, who’s she?” He shrugged at me.
I’d been doing a remarkably good job of hiding behind Max. He’d also been doing a good job of keeping his shoulders pressed as wide as he could.
I didn’t step out from behind his shadow and announce myself with a friendly wave. I shrugged even further back into the protection of the doorway.
“She’s an emotion reader. I only recently contracted her. She’s very good.”
One of the warlocks whistled. The other one – the smarter one – swallowed.
I knew what an emotion reader was. It was in the name. Someone who could read the emotions of others, even if their target was trying to hide them. They were, understandably, invaluable in business deals. They could help their employer understand when someone was lying, holding back, or contemplating screwing them over.
“We have to wait for Carson,” the smarter of the two repeated, casting a wary glance my way.
“I’m on a deadline. Melissa,” Max half turned to me, making it obvious that Melissa was my new name, “are these men lying? Are they stalling?” he added, as if stalling was worse than lying.
I didn’t know exactly how Max wanted me to play this, but I could guess what I had to do next. “They’re stalling. Carson isn’t on his way. Perhaps he’s screwed you over and is making a deal with somebody else?”
“I would hope that he wasn’t that stupid. Because that would mean,” Max took a step forward, plucked the pocket watch from his vest pocket, glanced at it for several long seconds, then placed it back carefully, “that I would have to take everything that belongs to him, including every contract,” he said as he let his gaze slice toward the two guards.
Now even the smart one looked as if he wanted to run. “Hold on,” he brought his hands up in a placating motion, “nobody is stalling.”
“Then why haven’t you told me where Howard is? I’m running out of time. And if I’m running out of time – you’re running out of time,” Max’s voice dropped as low as it could.
Both guards looked at each other, and it was obvious they came to a decision. The smart one cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
God, it was working. Obviously Max had enough experience dealing with criminals and knew exactly how to handle them. Or he was doing it – using his ability – sensing opportunities and taking them.
Just when I thought I could relax, the last thing I wanted to see appeared in the middle of the room. The specific crackle of magic that preceded a portal spell cut through the air with a sizzle.
My back had the time to arch as a race of nerves dashed through my stomach, then I saw him. Though technically I saw his designer glasses first.
I didn’t have the time to latch my hand on Max’s arm and pull him back. Obviously, Carson Black was worth his money, because this portal spell was quick. He didn’t have to appear through the floor, rising up through it as if he were on an invisible elevator. In a little under two seconds, he was standing there a few meters away from Max, his hands in his pockets.
Immediately Carson tilted his head to the side. He took one look at Max, shifted his position, saw me, and smiled.
Max shifted an arm toward me. It was a jerked, quick move. Then I heard his deep baritone. “Run.”
I wasn’t a brave girl. Or at least, before I’d become a bounty hunter, I certainly hadn’t been a particularly courageous person. But now I had standards. And I knew I couldn’t just leave Max alone. But at the same time, I had no choice but to follow his words. Something welled up from within me, and it didn’t take that much effort to realize what it was. It was the same tether that had been haunting my dreams and every interaction I’d had with Max so far. It forced me to twist on my foot and thrust toward the door. Before I could reach it, the door closed with an almighty thwack that echoed through the large room.
A few faint charges of magic escaped over the wood and metal, sizzling like hot coals thrown into water.
Max didn’t say a word. His entire body tensed up until it looked as if his shoulders were about to support the world.
Carson brought his hands out of his pockets, clapped once, then twice, then a third time. “Well, isn’t this one for the books? We’ve got none other than Max Knights,” Carson said, really emphasizing the word Max, making it obvious that Carson wasn’t going to afford Max the dignity of using his full name anymore. “And now I’ve got myself my very own finder,” Carson added.
Max straightened even more. I wouldn’t have thought that would be possible. From the exact line of his back and the look of his tensed shoulder muscles, it looked as if he was already as rigid as he could be. And yet, either he was being stretched by an invisible rack, or he wanted Carson to be intimidated by just how tall and broad-shouldered Max was. “All I can do is warn you about this,” Max said with no preamble. “I don’t see much opportunity for you in the future.”
As insults went, it wasn’t up there. In fact, it barely meant a thing. Until you realized who Max was. And it wasn’t just that he was a finder capable of sensing opportunities. More than anything, it was that he was the major kingpin of Madison City.
Carson didn’t look rattled, though. He put his tongue into his cheek and pressed hard until it looked as if he’d swallowed a golf ball. “I can�
��t say I am that convinced by your argument, Max,” he repeated, again not bothering to say Max’s full name. “You see, though you are a power in this city at the moment, do you think it will last?” There was a clear threat in his words. It was in his body language as he took a rigid step forward, the last few sparks of residual power from the transport spell crackling off his expensive leather shoes and dancing over the concrete floor. “You know, Max, you might have had the advantage until now. But what are you going to do? I work for the Cruze Gang. Do you know who they are? Do you know what they’re into?”
Max’s expression was perfectly even as if he was simply discussing the weather. “Yes, I have heard of them. And yes,” his voice dropped, though it was still even, “I know precisely what they’re into. D 20.”
You should have seen the crazed look in Carson’s eyes as Max said that. It looked as if he’d just taken a hit. He brought his hands up and started clapping them wildly, the sound echoing through the large concrete expanse. “Good boy – good boy. You really do do your research, don’t you? I wonder how many secrets of this city you know? Anyhow, now that’s off my chest, thank you so much for bringing me a locator finder. Do you have any idea how useful one of those will be to the Cruze Gang? I’m sure you do. You were always a man who could see opportunities,” Carson chucked his head back and laughed. “Now that’s been explained, I’m just going to take a wild guess here,” Carson looked down at his feet, then scrunched his eyebrows up and looked at us from underneath them as if he was trying to be genuine, “but I don’t think you can find yourself much opportunity in this situation. You may be a lot of things, but the Cruze Gang are more powerful than you. In fact, if I was a betting man,” he patted a hand on his chest, the sound echoing out, “I’d say you’re fresh out of luck. Maybe you sensed some slim opportunity coming in here. But it’s gone. Now,” Carson switched his attention to me, and the specific look he shot me was like a man sizing up some investment. He even brought a hand up, latched it on his chin, and shifted his fingers in. “The money I can get for her from the gang will far exceed anything you can offer. You might have made your fortune on the stock exchange by figuring out what will succeed and what will fail, but Max,” he gestured to me again, “why go to all the effort of doing that, when you can just steal? God, how long has it been since there was a locator in this city? Hell, how long has it been since there was a locator in the country? I spent the last half hour jotting down ways to test her skills for the gang. Everything from lost treasure to police evidence to helping us hide stockpiles. It’s gonna be a whirlwind.”
Max hadn’t said a word for a while now. I caught sight of the side of his face. It was rigid, but not so much with anger. More with concentration. I wanted to tell myself that he was using his powers. That this was him trying to figure out the best way to help me.
“Now, as I see it, you only have one option. Give her up freely, and maybe we’ll cut you a slice of this. You’ve always been too high and mighty to outright join the bad side of town, but I doubt you’ll have that opportunity anymore,” Carson seemed to take a great deal of pleasure in saying the word opportunity, almost as if it’d been a word that had been banned from his vocabulary until now. “So what do you say? Step aside. It’s not like you have any other option.” Carson gestured to his two warlocks with two clicks of his extended fingers. “You may be a lot of things, Max, but at the end of the day, you’re just a witch and not a warlock. So what do you say?” Carson asked again, this time through clenched teeth.
I knew what Max would do. Or at least, I thought I knew what Max would do.
I expected he would do just as he’d promised – keep me safe.
He didn’t. He pressed a hand into his pocket and stepped aside.
I watched as Josh’s eyes bulged with unmistakable anger. It appeared as if his whole face would crack with it.
Then Carson Black took a step toward me, that smile spreading even further across his face until it looked like a virus. One that would soon spread from him and destroy everything around.
Chapter 16
So this was it, ha? Only a couple of frigging days after learning I was a witch, I was about to be sold to the highest bidder in town. I wanted to say it wasn’t fair. But who was I kidding? Absolutely nothing about this situation had ever been fair. If I had my wish, I’d still be back in the café, working with Susan.
But there was no use concentrating on spilt milk. If there was one thing this new world had taught me, it was that witches were nothing without action.
Everyone kept telling me I was the most powerful witch in Madison City. And in many ways, I was. But I was also the weakest. Somebody with a heck of a lot of utility, but with absolutely no ability to defend themselves. I was like a walking gold statue just waiting for someone to pluck me up. And from the look in Carson Black’s eyes to that sick smile still pressed across his lips, he was about to do just that.
Josh looked and sounded as if he was trying to scream under his gag, but one look at it and the faint sparks of magic flickering across the fabric, and it was obvious it was more than just a little bandage.
As for Max? He wouldn’t look my way.
You would think my heart would’ve just been crushed. You would think that I would’ve thrown away all of the trust I’d gained for him since the conversation with the Justice Department. And you’d think, more than anything, I would finally reach into my heart and unravel the tether that apparently connected him to me. But if anything, it was growing stronger. Almost as if it was begging me for one final time to trust him.
Carson Black walked all the way up to me and then started peering at me as if I was livestock he was thinking of buying from a farm. I was surprised he stopped short of checking my teeth.
“By the looks of it, your powers are still pretty new, but they’ll grow. Especially if we make them. Obviously,” he jerked a thumb toward Josh, “when you’ve got an incentive, you shine.”
Thus far I’d stayed virtually mute. It wasn’t simply that Max had told me to trust him – it was that I’d had nothing to say.
Now? I looked right at Carson. “You’re a monster.”
Carson shrugged. “One man’s monster is another man’s liberator. I did things for this city that no other warlock had the balls to do. And you’re now going to help me.” He pointed at me again. “So who exactly is the monster?”
“Where is Howard – at least you can give me that?” The question was out of my lips before I had thought about it. Despite everything that was going on, the part of me that was the finder still needed to know where he was.
Carson snorted. “Come on, you tell me – where is Howard?”
I was about to snap at him that I had no idea, but I paused.
Carson looked suddenly interested, his eyes widening beneath his thick frames. “Have you figured it out yet?”
Had I figured what out yet?
Howard had been a respected employee of Hancock Industries. Someone who’d obviously risen through the ranks and showed enough skill to secure a middle management job. And yet someone, at the same time, who’d been bullied. He’d found out information worthy of becoming a Justice Department informant. Information that had ultimately seen him run.
Though I knew a lot, I couldn’t form a full picture out of those disparate facts.
Carson started to walk around me. “How about I help you out. Howard is still here in the stadium. In fact, he’s close.”
I looked up at him sharply. “I’m sorry, I have no idea.”
He pressed his lips into a thin smile. “If this is you trying to pretend that you have no ability to track down something on command, there really isn’t any point. Because if you’re not motivated now, you will be soon. I’ll find whatever pain point hurts the most, and I’ll push. Speaking of which.” He clicked his fingers.
The box that Josh was standing on – the box suspending him above the crackling pit of black magic – suddenly became tiny. It became little more tha
n a wire, in fact.
I gasped in terror as I expected Josh to drop. He didn’t. He showed some otherworldly balance as he managed to twist himself like a professional tightrope walker until he was just balanced. He looked at me with wide-eyed desperation.
“Josh!” I screamed. I went to throw myself forward, but Carson got in the way, shoving in close as he pressed his face near mine. “You want to get Josh down from there – without pushing him into a pit of lifeless flame and seeing him turned into a corpse – go find Howard for me. You have a minute. I think Josh is man enough to balance for that long.” Carson straightened up and laughed.
I turned to the one person I thought could still help me. Max.
But Max? Didn’t look at me.
I stood there for several seconds.
“You’re wasting time. If you would rather see Josh dead, I’ll just find someone else in matters to you. Now chip chop. I need to assess your skills for the Cruze Gang before I demand a high price for you. Wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of them.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d mentioned this gang. He’d also mentioned the drug D 20. It wasn’t something you would hear about on the news, but I had seen a couple of messages posted about it on social media. I’d even overheard several customers from the police department talking about it once. It was a magical drug. One specifically honed for warlocks. Take it, and you were meant to increase your powers. But if you weren’t a warlock and you were just an ordinary person, it was meant to push you into an eight-hour long trip of utter bliss. Sure, there was every chance that after that eight-hour period you could face significant organ damage, but to some junkies, that didn’t matter. The risk was worth it.
In other words, D 20 was horrible stuff. I may not have heard about the Cruze Gang specifically, but if they controlled the importation of D 20 into Madison City, then they had to be one of the most powerful gangs in the country.
So why would Carson be here?
Forgotten Destiny Book One Page 14