"That's it?" she asked Eli. "How do we know it worked?"
The blood prophet stepped forward and touched one of the pieces. "It worked," he said roughly, offering no other explanation.
"How do we know?" Davin repeated.
"I can feel the Magitech's power. It's no longer active in these pieces. Mac's magic creates a nullifying effect on any Magitech device."
"Any Magitech device or any Magitech?" her uncle asked in a low voice, his jaw clenched. Mac's mouth dried at the implications of Eli's answer.
"Any Magitech," the prophet muttered.
Jenira whistled, and Mac shifted uncomfortably as the woman looked at her with renewed interest. It seemed like too much power for one person to master. She didn't know whether to believe Eli. She didn't want to.
"We need to discuss this later," Eli reminded them. "He's not far."
Davin nodded tightly, and Mac moved to the other two tables and repeated the process. The effort to contain her magic pricked at her muscles. Lightning kept pace with her, apparently not scared of her strange power.
Rock watched with a strange light in his eyes. Mac wondered if something had happened to him in her time away. He was acting strangely. Eli tested each table and nodded shortly, indicating it was done.
"Now the locket," Jenira said, motioning to the closed door. Mac's stomach felt like lead. She really hated that thing.
Eli stepped toward the front door. "I can't go near it. Give it a little more juice than you did these pieces."
"I've already cleared the room. There are no other entry points. Let's get this over with," Jenira commanded.
"I'll go in with her," Rock said shortly, the first words he'd spoken since their arrival. Mac grinned, grateful for his backup.
Lightning remained glued to her side. "Lightning too, I guess." She chuckled nervously.
"All right, we'll start moving pieces out," Davin said.
Mac took a deep breath and followed behind Rock as he entered the dark room. He flipped a switch, but the light was feeble at best. Thankfully, it was a small room. The locket rested, encased in velvet, on a table in the middle of the room. Even from the doorway, Mac could feel its malevolence. Bile rose in her throat, and she was glad she hadn't eaten much that evening.
Breathing in necessary strength, she walked the three paces toward the table, focusing her magic with each step. The sooner she got this over with, the better. As she stretched her arm out, the door behind her slammed shut. She whirled around, and Lightning growled.
Rock stood beside the now closed door, an eerie smile on his face. Her skin shivered. Her old friend didn't smile like that. His angular face looked almost skeletal in the dim light.
"Well, now," Rock said, his voice low and threatening. "A null - my least favorite type of mage." He walked forward, his stocky body moving silently. Mac stepped backward. Her butt hit the table, stopping her from retreating further.
"Rock? What's going on?"
"Your - friend - isn't here at the moment." The voice belonged to Rock, but it wasn't his. His lips moved, but the sound seemed to come from elsewhere. She had the weirdest sense that the voice was coming from behind her. She whirled but kept Rock in her peripheral vision. The locket glowed faintly with a sickly yellow hue that made her even more nauseous.
"I suppose introductions are in order," the voice continued as if they were just meeting at a coffee shop. Mac scoured the shadows, but there was no one here but the three of them and nowhere for anyone to hide. The cat snarled and spat, glaring at the man advancing slowly towards them. "I'm Mather, little null.” The voice spoke through Rock's lips and the locket simultaneously.
Mac shivered, the blood freezing in her veins. She knew that name. "What have you done to Rock?" she screamed, moving quickly to place the small table between her and her old friend.
"This lump of a man and poor excuse for a mage?" the voice snarled. Rock's usually impassive face twisted into an ugly expression. "His mind is weak. I needed to borrow it for a minute. I needed to see who my dear son would send. I was hoping for my daughter, to be honest. I didn't know he had a null at his beck and call. Where's your twin, little girl? Every null has a twin. Only mages who were exposed to tech in utero possess your abilities."
Rock's head cocked; his dark eyes bored into Mac's. Her hands shook. The door remained shut, and she assumed no one on the outside had noticed anything wrong. She was on her own. She called her magic, remembering Eli's words. He'd said she could zap without killing. Rock was her friend. What if she miscalculated? An image of her mother's corpse rose into her mind, the flesh melted around her insides like burnt plastic, her eyes staring glassily at the sky. Fear cascaded through her.
The voice continued, oblivious to her inner turmoil. "Mages like you are very special. I have a few of you locked away in the West, you know," he said conversationally. "I considered just torching the building, but it's more practical to keep your kind alive. I will acquire Magitech enemies, and the nulls will do my dirty work. Imagine being an all-powerful Magitech and waking up one day as a dud." The laughter that followed the words was cruel and harsh. It grated on Mac's frazzled nerves.
"You're insane," she snarled. Rock's shoulder moved in a shrug that appeared awkward and forced. Mac wondered how much control Mather had over the massive body.
"Perhaps," the voice agreed. "But only insane people make it to the top. Now, what to do with you? You're too much trouble to keep alive, null. Luckily, I have enough power at my disposal to eliminate you before you can threaten my daughter."
Mather’s strange affection for Eden sickened Mac. She glanced at Lightning. Could she trust the lynx to stall Rock without hurting him too badly? She tried to relay her intent to her familiar, and his muscles coiled in response. Rock's gaze flashed to the cat.
"Aw, what a pretty pussy cat," the voice snarled. "Your familiar, my dear? Animals have so many weaknesses."
A faint hum vibrated through the room. Lightning snarled, tossing his head like he was in pain. The locket vibrated on its velvet bed. If she neutralized the pendant, would it remove the Magitech's power over Rock? She called her magic.
Lightning transmitted his pain to her as he fought Mather's influence. She sent strength to the cat in the form of compassion and love, surprised when the beast responded. He sprang at Rock, moving like a blur. The lynx's claws made contact, but Rock swung a massive fist and knocked the feline against the far wall with a resounding crash. Pain flooded through Mac, sending her to her knees. She crawled towards Lightning, the locket forgotten. Tears coursed down her face.
"Ah, that is a surprisingly welcome effect. I hadn't realized you were fully bonded. You feel its pain." And Mac did. Her ribs blazed with agony and her head pounded. The cat's chest rose with his breath, but his eyes were closed. A sob tore from her throat.
She called on her magic, nearly delirious with pain. Rock continued to advance. Images flashed through her mind: them laughing as they sat at a bar, Mac teasing him and Andrew about the pretty girls flocking around them. Rock smiled smugly in her memory as they played cards and he soundly whooped her ass with his unreadable poker face. He had been as much a part of her life as her uncle.
This wasn't him, though, she reminded herself. His eyes were glassy with whatever control the locket exerted over him. Her hands glowed silvery blue, white-hot arcs like lightning sparking between her fingers.
The puppet's glazed eyes narrowed. "Oh no, little null," the voice whispered. "We can't have that." Rock lunged. Mac imagined the real him was trying to fight, though, because he moved slower than before.
A resounding boom suggested someone had realized something was amiss, but magelight glowed around the threshold, indicating the room was magically sealed. The door rattled in its frame as a heavy body crashed into it, but it didn't open.
Mac sprang toward the locket. She screeched in pain; her skin burned where she touched it. Mercilessly, she poured her magic into it, her entire arm vibrating and glowing with
angry silver light. The metal pendant crumbled in her fist; dust sifted to the floor. But Rock was still not himself.
"You shouldn't have done that," the voice hissed. Rock lunged forward, and Mac's head cracked against the wall behind her. Stars danced before her eyes. The puppet's massive hands wrapped around her throat. She gagged and grabbed at him, her smaller hands not having any effect. His empty eyes burned. "You die now," the voice said nonchalantly.
Mac gritted her teeth, pulling her magic from the depths of her being. Exhaustion and pain dragged at her, but she refused to die like this. Lightning needed her. The team back at the house needed her. She'd just gotten her life back.
"Fuck you," she gasped, her voice hoarse. She focused her energy into the hands around her throat, her vision tunneling.
At the last second, Mac remembered Eli's words. She soundlessly begged her magic not to kill but to drive the malevolent spirit out of Rock's body. Her magic connected with his form. His eyes glowed blue, every vein underneath his dark skin lighting up like a network of spider webs. His body spasmed, knocking her head against the wall again. She gasped for breath as his hands loosened.
Static crackled in the air; silvery blue light surrounded them. She pressed her magic into him until she couldn't call anymore. Rock's eyes rolled completely to the whites, and he collapsed on top of her. Her vision faded from black to blinding white.
Distantly, she heard a resounding crack. Her ears felt stuffed with cotton. Tears poured down her face. Weight disappeared from her, and she struggled to hold onto consciousness as her body tried to float away.
"Kenzie," a voice pleaded. For a moment, she thought her mom was back, but the voice was too low.
"Mac," another male voice said, two pairs of hands raising her gently. "Can you hear us?"
"Lightning," she choked, her head lolling.
"She's fading," the second voice said. The sound of cloth ripping confused her.
"What the fuck are you doing?" the first voice snarled. The loud sounds hurt her head.
Shut up and let me sleep, she wanted to say - but nothing came out. She was tired, so tired. The smothering whiteness was comforting. She wanted to sink into it.
"Let me do my fucking job," the second voice rasped. Cool air breathed against her stomach. A bite of steel nearly made her scream in pain. She fought feebly against the arms holding her. She just wanted to sleep.
Why were these assholes messing with her?
Molten fire replaced the cold touch of steel. A scream ripped from her throat as fire raced through her veins. She burned from the inside out. Finally, the darkness came; she slept.
Chapter Nine
Cat
Cat stared at the pile of parts spread out on the table between Andrew and her, her brain working fervently. They'd assembled a whole automaton as best they could. It stretched out on the metal table like a skeleton whose bones weren't connected.
"I just can't believe it," she breathed. Andrew had gotten used to her talking aloud, encouraged it even, so she often went into rambling monologues. She appreciated that it was only them in the lab that morning. Alec and Eden had been fun and entertaining and imparted their unique viewpoints and information, but Elliott made Cat feel uncomfortable. He'd been in and out of the lab ever since they'd arrived.
"So," she continued, tapping her finger to her chin, "when Jen first mentioned the automatons, I was skeptical. I figured they would be steam-powered or possibly solar powered. But unless the power hubs of each of the six automatons were individually destroyed, the only remaining possibility is that they are really powered by magic."
Andrew nodded. "Yes. We have enough parts to make two full automatons, even though some are mangled and others are rusted from Alena's water attack. At least one power supply should have survived." He glanced at her. "It appears Eden is correct. Magitech is created by Magitechs.”
"Hmm," Cat mused. A few months ago, the discovery might have disturbed her. She'd wanted nothing more than to create Magitech because she thought it was the key to integrating the tech and magic worlds. Now, however, she realized their society was not split into two parts, but three. She frowned. "The implications this has for society is daunting, to say the least. Mages and techies will believe Magitechs are the threat."
"But," Andrew pointed out, "there are more Magitechs than we ever thought, and they are not always born but also made - as in the case of you and your sister."
"Certain factors still have to be in place, though. It would be practically impossible to re-enact the perfect circumstances that created Jenira's and my connection. And us being Magitech hasn't been proven. We are basing our assumption on a blood prophet's word."
"True. But think about this, Cat," Andrew's eyes practically glowed when new ideas occurred to him. Cat studied him instead of the parts. While her relationship with Andrew still confused her, she loved working with him. She adored seeing the light in his eyes when he solved a puzzle or the way he rubbed at his bearded chin when he cracked a code. At the moment, he paced on the other side of the table. His usual white dress shirt and khakis were spotlessly clean.
"You and Jenira are one Magitech because you were raised in close quarters. What if magic and tech weren't separated? What if our entire country was integrated and more bloodlines mixed? Wouldn't that create more Magitechs?"
Cat considered his words. "I suppose. It's almost impossible to tell. There are no societies where integration is so complete that this theory could be tested."
"And why not? It makes no sense if it's something that would benefit the world," Andrew mused.
Cat agreed with him. No accounts of Magitechs originated from any fully integrated societies. So, unless their secrets were zealously guarded, they didn't exist. The integrated societies functioned as usual without the division the territories implemented.
She leaned over so her eyes were level with the table and pulled at a red wire. "You're right of course, but it's not something we need to worry about right now. As to these - things - they are fascinating." Andrew rounded the table and bent over with her.
"We know what worked against the automatons in Canton. Jenira's enchanted daggers were able to slice through wires, but not most of the metal. Water short-circuited them. Davin and that huge beast were able to dent and mangle them, but not really hurt them. And then there's Mac," Cat sighed.
"Right. The story is that my sister bolted one with her magic. It completely neutralized the automaton and kept it from progressing any further or rising again. But if that was the case, we should have a fully assembled automaton here somewhere, and we don't."
Cat squinted in thought and pushed her glasses further up her nose. "Yes. I think we can assume that the automaton she neutralized disappeared sometime between the battle and the pick-up last night. Which means Mather doesn’t want us studying it. I think we can also deduce that Mac's magic is the best defense in our arsenal."
Andrew nodded. It was clear he was still nervous about the events of last night. He'd known the moment something went wrong. They'd been in this room researching possible weapons manufactured in other countries when he'd nearly fallen out of his chair. Later, they realized the exact second coincided with the moment his sister was attacked. He'd been a nervous wreck until Davin phoned, wanting Jay to be on standby to heal a couple people. Cat had watched helplessly, unsure what to do.
It disturbed her that they hadn't been surveying the operation. The mission was meant to be simple - over and done without any troubles. Instead, they'd nearly lost two members of the team, three if one counted Lightning.
Even now, thoughts of the locket made her shiver in fear. Despite the answers it might have been able to provide, she'd been irrationally grateful that she would never see it again. She still had nightmares of the necklace Marcus had worn when he detained her and tortured Jenira. The objects had different purposes, but they convoluted everything Cat knew about the meaning of tech.
"And then," Andrew continued, "we have
this." He picked up the foot of one of the automatons. It wasn't really a foot, just a jointed piece of metal that could accomplish a jerky gait through the use of pistons and tiny ball bearings. But that wasn't what captured their attention. A clear identification plate had been attached to the bottom of the joint. The ten digit number was accompanied by a name - DAVIS INDUSTRIES.
"Way too convenient," Cat murmured. "Who labels their weapons of destruction with the name of the manufacturer?"
"Yes, way too convenient. Still, the creator had to get his parts from somewhere. It's said Davis trades internationally more often than Rennert. We attempted to research those trade deals back at the city and always came up with nothing. It's carefully hidden." He looked up. "You're extremely good at finding hidden things, Cat."
She smiled shyly. "I can look into it, but I don't know if it will give us any clues. It's possible the owner of these automatons stole every piece of equipment, but it takes a lot of metal and wires to make creatures of this size. We have to assume he has more than just these. Such a massive theft would not go unreported."
Cat looked forward to sitting down at the computer and sifting her mind through miles of code and metaphorical firewalls. She loved hacking and had done a damned good job of assisting Jenira's mercenary activities with her skills.
"And then we need to figure out what kind of magic can animate a metal creature, try to harness Mac's power, and prepare a shield so she doesn't go down before she can fight." Andrew smiled, the dimple in his cheek deepening. Cat smiled back. They both loved a good challenge. She sat down at the computer while he began a rough schematic of the automaton on his digipad.
Two hours passed before Jenira and Davin stormed in like a force of nature. At first, Cat had been scared of Davin, but she'd learned his affection for her sister and his family were true. Although his physical presence still intimidated her, she trusted him now - as much as she trusted anyone.
Enemies Allied Page 9