by K. F. Breene
Emery ran across the front of the bar, weaving between two small wolves with tails low and hackles raised. I followed until I felt the intent of a spell coming.
EXPLODE.
Spinning, I saw magic billow through the front entrance of a building on the other side of the street, clearly created from multiple people with different grasps on spell work. It was both clumsy and powerful enough to do the job.
Letting Emery handle the back door, I surged toward the front, pulling elements fast. Though I would not admit it to Reagan, the bounty hunting gigs had sharpened my reflexes. I concocted a spell that would both counter the mess surging toward me and take out the casters behind it.
That sent off, I caught movement to my right.
“Penny!” Emery screamed.
He’d had a premonition. I was already on it.
The enemy mage got off his spell, but I was ready. My counter-spell cut through it and blasted into him, knocking him off his feet and onto his back. He didn’t even get a chance to scream.
A quick glance at Emery revealed he’d already turned around. He knew I had it handled.
The mages across the street screamed as my spell homed in on them. More screaming came from the side. Three mages were sprinting down the center of the street in my direction.
I braced myself to fire a spell at them when I saw why they were running.
Reagan ran behind them with a grin and an outstretched sword. “Do not pick on my friends!” she yelled.
A horn honked as she shoved them to the ground, cackling manically.
I looked both ways but didn’t see or feel any more magical enemies. The humans that had their phones out, aimed at the woman chasing people through the streets with a sword, would have to be dealt with later.
The cops would be here shortly. We needed to get out of Dodge.
“Hurry up,” I yelled at Reagan. I spun around to check on Emery in time to see one of his spells shooting toward the back door. A huge wolf followed, snarling. A scream died almost as soon as it erupted, but another started up, turning hoarse with terror. More shifters launched toward the back door.
Something tingled my awareness, coming from the right. The wall directly behind the bar was empty, which indicated no one had made it over the bar. That didn’t mean they weren’t using it to hide.
I spread a mini-ward across the door that would alert me if anything came through. That done, I ran forward and peered over the counter, seeing a black mat pocked with holes spread across the brown floor. Something clinked and I caught sight of the heel of a foot.
Thinking of Joe, I hefted myself onto the bar.
Not Joe at all. A skinny man with an open satchel and herbs spilling out. It was a mage, and he was hiding from the opposition.
“You slimy little coward,” I seethed, having fired off a spell to keep him put without even thinking about it. I didn’t have the help of Reagan’s magic, but I had plenty of my own power. I slammed him with it, hearing his surprised yelp before the force of my magic knocked him out.
That was cool.
I pushed back onto my feet, hearing a distant blast echoing from the other side of the bar. Emery was still mid-battle and could probably use my help.
I jumped back from the bar, away from the barstools, and turned, the heels of my shoes squeaking against the bar floor. Before I could move forward, a hand came out of literally nowhere and curled around my neck.
“Holy dump truck ping-pong!” I gasped, immediately surrendering to the surprise and terror. As expected, my survival magic kicked into high gear, electrifying my body and blasting the hand touching my neck.
A zzzzzzz sound preceded the hand flinching away. Shadows moved and coalesced as a massive man stepped away from the wall. At least six-four in height, heavily muscled yet graceful, he slipped around me to block off the exit.
Black clothes covered his body from neck to ankle. Clear blue eyes wrapped in thick lashes the color of midnight surveyed me without emotion. His face was startlingly handsome, but the planes and angles of its bone structure, along with the way his thin nose ended in a slight hook, gave him an almost harsh look, enhanced by the throbbing aura of competence.
His intelligent eyes surveyed me, cool and analytical. Sizing me up.
“I can see you,” I said, as though that were some kind of threat. Magic rolled through my fingers, a weave even a vampire couldn’t outrun.
“I have two contracts outstanding,” he said, his voice like a lullaby, something people wouldn’t mind hearing as they slipped into their grave. “One is to kill you.”
“That’s my cue.” I shot out a line of red, the vermin zapper.
Shadows moved and spun, confusing my eyes. I heard a grunt, three feet farther to the right than I’d anticipated. I turned to blast him again, but an arm suddenly wrapped around my waist before pure brawn sent me into the air.
“Good gravy, that’s confusing.” I shot off a wide spell, guaranteed to wrap him up. Crashing against the wall didn’t even faze me. Practice made perfect, as they said, and I’d been thrown around a lot in my training.
The spell sliced across the collection of shadows, the way he masked himself, and slammed against the wall behind him.
“You can dodge spells?” I hit the ground, not stopping. “Luckily, I am a problem solver.” I zapped off another spell just to keep him at bay, but that dang hand came out of nowhere again, snatching me off the ground and pinning me to the wall.
Survival magic tore through my body and smacked into his torso, flinging him back. He rammed the edge of the bar and knocked all the chairs down around his feet.
Shadows started to collect, pulling around him as he fought the barstool legs to keep from falling. I felt the whisper of his magic against my skin. It connected him to the world around us in such a hypnotic way that I could but stand there for a moment, eyes closed, drifting on his magical breeze.
“Please,” he said, the lullaby wrapping around me. “I did not mean to startle you. The second contract is to protect you. One to kill, and the other to protect.”
Reality seeped in through the dreamlike effect of his magic, waking me up. I blinked my eyes open, meeting that glacial gaze, strangely not cold, just beautiful.
“I’m not sure what’s going on,” I said. “Are you hypnotizing me with magic, or is this another sign I’m cracking up?”
He didn’t respond, and no reaction bled through his expression. “I can name my price in either contract. I have never been in this situation before. I wanted to meet the target and decide for myself if she should live or die.”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news…” Reagan’s voice cut in from just inside the door, my mini-ward having been dissipated without my knowledge. Her sneaking prowess was so good that not even the stranger heard or felt her coming.
Shadows pulled from around the room and flew at the stranger, confusing my eyes. I was magically onto him, though. I could feel the center of that dizzying storm, softly flowing from one place to the next, moving so fast, zigging and zagging, it was hard to keep track of it.
A solid wall of air formed in front of him and slapped him back. His body flew out of the shadows and hit the back wall horizontally. He crashed down to the floor.
“If you choose the wrong side, you will be the one dying. Not her.” Reagan sauntered forward with her sword in hand and magic swirling around her in a complex harmony not even this stranger could match.
His eyes widened as he slowly rose to his full height. He wiped a drop of blood from his lip with the back of his hand. Then looked at it. When his gaze came back up, his eyes gleamed.
“I wondered when I might see another of your kind.” The pitch of his voice changed slightly, dropping just a bit. Putting on a little gravel.
He changed his voice to best affect whomever he was talking to. Strange.
“There is no my kind. I’m just a bounty hunter. It’s her you feel.” Reagan gestured at me, and I realized she’d put herself on
the line in my defense. She might hold back her magic when defending herself, but she didn’t hold back when it concerned me.
My heart swelled. She was sometimes the worst friend imaginable, but underneath her love of torturing me, she was loyal and pure of heart.
“I can feel her magic,” the man said. “Its essence. She has been touched, but at her core she’s still just a mage. You…are not a mage. You…are the Heir. I have met two of you. I have known one. All the other Heirs have expired. But you have the right current through your blood. I feel it. You are true. He will know, soon enough.”
Reagan jutted out a hip, studying the stranger. “My, my, you’re old, aren’t you?”
He didn’t answer, and his expression didn’t change.
“And you’re a druid?” she asked.
He stared.
“Not much of a talker, huh?” She nodded as jogging footsteps sounded from the other side of the bar. Emery came into view, looking around wildly. He caught sight of what was going on and slid to a stop. His eyes pinned to the stranger, and the vibe around him turned brutal and savage. He thought I was in danger, and it didn’t take a genius to know that he would lay down his life to protect me.
My heart swelled even larger. Electricity sizzled through the room, kissing my skin and infusing my core. Even from the distance, our magical energies joined and hummed. My current cracked-up serenity balanced his fire-spitting wildness.
“You,” the stranger said, his voice raspy now. His features did alter this time, anger, pain, and fear rolling across them so quickly that I almost missed it.
“Yes,” Emery responded, magic weaving through his fingers. “I know how to circumvent your magic. If you make a move toward her, you will not see tomorrow.”
“You killed one of my kind,” the stranger said, no inflection in his voice.
“Yes,” Emery replied. “It was self-defense.”
The stranger nodded, his head jerking up once, then back down. “We are banned from taking contracts on you. You are too much of a liability.” Emery didn’t react. The stranger turned his attention to Reagan. “We are also banned from taking contracts on any of the Heirs, through our respect of Lucifer.”
“That doesn’t make me like you better,” she said. “What’s your move here, bub? The cops are nearly here. We haven’t got all day.”
It wasn’t until then that I heard the wails of the police sirens. Yet the bar still felt quiet. No one had entered to check things out. Joe hadn’t come back in to assess the damage or throw insults at Reagan.
It was as if a veil had dropped around our small gathering.
The druid’s clear blue eyes were trained on me. “But my decision had already been made. You are pure of heart, which has earned you the loyalty of those around you. It is commendable. They judged wisely, touching you. I will take the contract to protect you.” He stared at the air in front of him before his eyes flashed, as though illuminated by a light bulb. He pushed the invisible wall Reagan’s magic had created, and I felt a shift in the magic. It didn’t falter, as far as I could tell, but he’d moved it.
Reagan took a step back, as though startled, and her eyebrows dipped. She was a lot more impressed with his moves than I was. “Can you do that with all Underworld magic, or is mine just underdeveloped?”
“Yes,” he said as Reagan released her wall. He stalked forward. “Yours is fully developed but not fully utilized. You still have much to learn.”
“Yeah. Story of my life,” she said, and in that moment, she sounded like I did most of the time. It was nice to know I wasn’t alone.
“When does the contract start?” I called as he neared the door. “And does it protect me from my mother?”
16
Emery let out a shaky breath as he let the weave he’d finished drift back into his surroundings. His legs shook and a bead of sweat dribbled down his temple. That druid was more powerful than the one he’d fought. Older, too, judging from the fact that he’d talked about knowing the other Heirs of Lucifer, people who hadn’t been around for hundreds of years. Emery hadn’t realized druids lived that long.
“That was a trip.” Reagan nervously chuckled and smoothed her hair along her head. Sirens wailed close by. Blue and red pulsed in the frame of the doorway. “That guy’s power was intense. It nearly made my eyes water. Did you see him push my magic back? No one has ever done that before, not even demons.”
“Yeah.” Emery shook his head as footsteps approached from the back of the building. He remembered the feeling that had nearly kept him from re-entering this front section of the bar a few moments before. If not for the knowledge that Penny was still inside, he probably would’ve found somewhere else to be. To go back to her, though, he’d fought the odd feeling.
He’d had no idea druids could do that, either.
“I must’ve gone up against a younger druid,” he said, spanning the space still separating him from Penny and Reagan. “I don’t think I would’ve gotten out from under that one.”
Reagan let out a shaky breath, and Emery could see that she was equally gobsmacked. Penny, on the other hand, dusted herself off as though nothing had happened. She didn’t seem to be affected at all.
“You okay?” he asked as he reached her. She gave him a confused look.
“How did I know I’d come back into my ruined bar and find you standing around?” Joe said as he walked in, sports sweats swishing with each step and his chest bare.
“Your bar is…” Reagan looked around with raised eyebrows. “Mostly fine. Just a few scratches.”
Piercing sirens stopped just outside the bar. More shifters in human form filed into the bar, all hurrying to get some clothes on after their shift.
“They were coming for you, not her,” Emery said, motioning for Penny to get moving. “The battle has begun. Tell Roger. His people need to get out of sight.”
Joe’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded slowly. “I’ll pass it on, though it’ll probably be faster for your people to contact him. I’ll be dealing with a bunch of police tape”—he shot Reagan a scowl—“again.”
“I’m starting to get the idea you are holding a grudge…” Reagan said.
“You might not be fighting, but you’re still a target, Joe,” Emery said as Penny weaved together a concealment spell. “You all need to lie low. Keep your family safe.”
Joe nodded and heaved a sigh. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking around at the bodies littering the ground, the various holes and burns, and the debris from whichever mage had blown in the back area. “I must have bad luck,” he murmured.
“Come on,” Emery said, helping Penny finish the spell before draping it over them. Reagan ducked in, keeping her hands low.
“This is way easier than taking off running,” Reagan said as they stepped out the door. Policemen were blocking off the surrounding streets and surveying the damage.
They wouldn’t be able to get the rental car out of there. They’d be stopped immediately.
“We need to hoof it.” Emery led them to the right, where the cops were just putting up a barricade to keep people off the street. The sun had disappeared into murky darkness, only splotches of magenta and tangerine splashing the sky. “Maybe we should call Darius. Vampires will be out shortly.”
“The mages weren’t expecting us in that bar,” Reagan said as they neared the corner. Another police car pulled in. She pushed Penny to turn the corner and put distance between them and the human authority figures. “Did you leave any of the mages alive to report back to the Guild?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t someone monitoring the attack from a safe distance. They could’ve called for reinforcements.” Emery took Penny by the upper arm, confused by her non-reaction to the events. She wasn’t fired up or freaking out. She didn’t even seem to care that they were still in danger without a plan.
She has been touched, but at her core she’s still just a mage.
The druid had said that. Touched. What did tha
t mean? Had Darius been right about the whole godly power thing?
“Penny, are you okay?” he asked, giving her a small shake in case she was fighting a daze.
“Yes,” she said, and there was a sigh riding her words, pleasant and serene.
Fear wormed through his gut. What had that druid done to her? Had he cocooned her with some type of magic that kept her from properly responding to her surroundings?
He hated all these questions. All these riddles locked up inside of her. If even one of them was dangerous…
“We’re invisible. The vampires aren’t going to be able to find us,” Reagan said. “Let’s either keep moving until it’s dark enough to call Darius or grab a cab. There is no sense fighting anymore tonight.”
“You’re shying away from a fight? That has to be a first. Someone should write that down,” Emery said, picking up the pace. They’d find a cab. It would be faster. He needed to know what was going on with Penny, as soon as possible.
“No, no. You’ve got me all wrong.” Reagan pointed at a cross street with more traffic. She clearly agreed on the need for speed. “I just want to wait for the bigger fight when we have that giant druid shadowing us. I want to see how those suckers move.”
“Quickly,” Penny said, her voice somewhat singsong. “Expertly.”
Reagan finally clued in, pushing up so she could see Penny’s face. “What’s your deal? You fought him for a second, didn’t you? Are you in shock or something?”
“My premonition never went off,” Emery said, remembering his utter shock that Penny had been standing with walking death, and he’d never felt a ping of warning.
“There was something about him.” Penny tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as they neared the busier street. “Something calming. Alluring. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s…pleasant. I hate to let go of it.”
“Crap,” Reagan said. She reached around Penny and punched Emery in the arm. “She’s not right in the head, and I blame you.”