Black Market Magic

by Amy Sumida

  “I'm not going to let myself think we're defeated,” I snarled. “You want to give up, Daxon? You can fucking stay down in this basement and suck your thumb in the dark like a scared little boy. But at heart, I am an extinguisher, and we do not give up until we take our last breath.”

  “Well said, Ambassador.” Extinguisher Sam Murdock smiled as the rest of the extinguishers nodded in approval. “We are with you to the death.”

  “Thank you.” I spared him a smile before I turned back to Daxon. “Well, what's it going to be?”

  “I am not, nor have I ever been, a thumb-sucker,” Daxon grimaced. “You want to go out in a blaze of glory, Extinguisher Seren? Fine; then I will burn with you.”

  Burn, burn, burn, the hag's cackling filled my head.

  “We're not going down in flames,” I said. “We're going out there and finishing the mission.”

  “What?” Killian gaped at me.

  “Barra—or whoever is behind this—is throwing everything they have at us,” I said calmly. “To me, that says one thing; they're scared. They're trying to stop us from succeeding. That means we're close; we need to finish what we started.”

  “She makes a fine point,” Daxon said to Ro.

  “That she does,” Ro agreed with a grin. “Besides, I'm too pretty to die in the dark. My death needs to be witnessed, for the greater good.”

  “I just have one question; what the fuck is an abattoir?” Killian asked before we could groan at Ro.

  “It's a fancy way of saying 'slaughterhouse,'” I huffed.

  “I know, I know,” Killian grumbled. “Buy a dictionary, Killian.”

  “Okay”—I ignored Killian and his lack of vocabulary, and looked at the extinguishers—“we need every advantage we can get. Unfortunately, that means that you'll be walking the streets alone; at least for all appearances.”

  “You're glamouring yourselves,” Extinguisher Ethan Kavanaugh nodded. “That makes perfect sense. Plus, if anyone sees us, they won't think to look with their other senses. They'll attack us first and get a nasty surprise when you sneak up and kill them.”

  “You don't mind being bait?” Ro asked him.

  “Nah,” Kavanaugh gave us a good ol' boy grin. “It'll be fun. I enjoy a good bite.”

  “Fucking insane humans,” Ro muttered. “And people think I'm crazy.”

  “You'll search the buildings while we guard the street,” I said to the extinguishers. “Then, at least we can keep you out of sight as much as possible.”

  “Sounds good, Ambassador,” Extinguisher Lee Murdock said. Yeah; we had two Murdocks.

  “Good, but before we go, I'm going to try to scry my Guard,” I said.

  “Seren.” Killian shook his head.

  “Kill, by now, they're either dead, captured, or they've evaded their pursuers.” I gave him a hard look.

  Killian nodded.

  I pulled out my scry phone and tried Conri. He answered on the second chime.

  “Bless Danu!” Conri smiled at me in relief. “We were worried, Your Highness.”

  “Who's 'we?'” I asked urgently. “How many are with you?”

  “I have all of the Star's Guard with me, except for Ainsley,” he said grimly. “Have you tried scrying him yet?”

  “Ainsley is with me,” I said with a smile. “Thank Danu that you're all alive. Is there anyone else there?”

  “No,” Conri said. “They split us into tiny groups. It was all we could do to stay together.”

  “Okay.” I nodded. “Do you know where you are?”

  “In a shitty house under the fucking ground,” Conri growled. “I have no idea.”

  “Cast your glamours and get back out on the street,” I said.

  “What?” Conri blinked in surprise. “They'll be searching for us.”

  “It's better to be in the open than sitting in one place, waiting for them to find you,” I said.

  “Valid.” He grimaced.

  “So, get out there and be vigilant,” I went on. “I want you to keep looking for Barra, but be advised that we have been betrayed. Either someone has fed us bad information, they gave good information to Barra, or another asshole has been gunning for us all along.”

  “So, don't trust anyone,” Conri surmised. “Got it.”

  “If I can, I'll signal you,” I went on. “Keep an eye on the sky.”

  “What am I looking for?”

  “A big, flaming ball of thorns,” I said dryly.

  “Right; got it,” Conri laughed, then he sobered. “Stay alive, Princess. We'll find you.”

  “You too, Sir Conri.”

  I wiped away his image. Then immediately I called Councilman Teagan.

  “Ambassador!” Teagan shouted as soon as he saw my face. “We thought you were dead. The teams from the other undergrounds returned, but no one had any word on yours.”

  “We have a traitor among us,” I told him and then filled him in on what had happened.

  “I already have extinguishers on there way here from other states,” Teagan said. “I'll send them in as soon as they arrive. Just stay safe until then, Ambassador.”

  “I'm not just staying safe, Councilman,” I said. “I'm going to find Barra. I won't let this be for nothing.”

  “It's morning, Ambassador,” Teagan said gently. “Barra has most likely escaped.”

  “No, I don't think so,” I argued. “He's been having way too much fun killing my team.”

  “Then, do what you have to do.” Teagan nodded. “If you can get Barra, that would be wonderful. But if it's too big a risk, please just find somewhere to hide until we can find you.”

  “And how will you do that?” I asked.

  “Do you have any extinguishers with you?” He countered.

  “Yeah. Why?” And then my expression cleared. “They have trackers on them.”

  “Every single extinguisher we sent down has one.” He nodded. “I just need to know who you have with you, and then I'll know which signal to send the teams after first.”

  I told him who I was with, and he jotted down their names.

  “Godspeed, Ambassador,” Teagan said just before he faded away.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  During our searches, we stumbled upon Cyrus and some of our team; including five of his hunters and the rest of Daxon's Elite. It was a small victory, but I took it as a good sign. Maybe Danu couldn't reach us in the Human Realm, but Anu could, and he had helped me before. Danu had said to remember that I was more than my magic; perhaps that's what she'd meant. As much as she and her brother had played a divine game of tug-of-war with me, I believed that, when it came down to it, Danu wouldn't care who saved my life, as long as it was saved.

  But, for the moment, things were going smoothly. The few times we'd seen other fairies, they'd been citizens of the Underground, and they'd given us a wide berth. I kept looking for the nicer area of the Underground—knowing that's where Barra would be—but it took four hours of searching before the crumbling structures started to look more stable, and then, finally, more habitable. The amount of sunstrips overhead multiplied, and it was almost like walking through a sunrise; going from the bleak light of the ghetto into the brilliance of the wealthier section. There were even plants growing there.

  “Ah; we've found the heart of the Underground,” Daxon murmured.

  We were still using our glamours to make ourselves invisible. But now that we had the Elite, Cyrus, and the hunters to bolster our numbers, the extinguishers were surrounded by unseen protection. We were also able to send a few invisible guards to help with the searches and speed things up a bit.

  “It's about time,” I noted. Then I called out in a slightly louder tone, “Next group up. Extinguishers, pull back to me.”

  We were alternating groups of three per building, with the extinguishers taking a building—no sense in mixing seen and unseen during the searches—and three groups of invisible fairies taking three other structures. That left five of us on the street to guard them.
But now that we had reached the nicer area, I expected the residents to be more resistant to our attempts to find their king. These were the fairies who were benefiting from Barra's evil; they weren't going to take kindly to us arresting him, and they certainly weren't going to let us search their homes without making a fuss.

  “Ambassador?” Extinguisher Kavanaugh's stare focused on my general vicinity without making eye contact. He would be able to see my aura, but that was all.

  “These fairies won't be so accommodating about us searching their homes,” I explained. “So, you three are on street duty for the time being. Try to keep out of sight, though. You never know who's going to come out for a stroll or take a peep out a window.”

  “Yes, Ambassador,” he said and motioned to the others to make themselves scarce.

  We cleared the nice section of the Underground with only invisible search teams, and things went well for the most part. We did have two incidents with fairies who were obviously looking for us, but we found hidey-holes each time, and they passed us by. They were getting tired of searching and weren't being as thorough as they should have been. I was starting to have hope that we might just succeed when we came to the most luxurious building on the block.

  It was made of pristine, white stone, with a grand veranda of vine-wrapped columns, and a garden out front. There was even a marble fountain with a peeing cupid. I wanted to roll my eyes at the nouveau-riche feel. Through the open windows and chiffon curtains, I glimpsed lots of gilded furniture, velvet cushions, and tchotchkes tucked away in glass cabinets. Pretentiousness oozed off the place; along with fairy mercenaries.

  “That's the fucking Maut,” Daxon hissed.

  “The what?” I asked.

  “The Maut is a clan of mercenaries, Your Majesty,” Cyrus said. “They're exceptional at their job, and comprised mainly of Hindu shapeshifters.”

  “Like Harsha?” I asked Daxon.

  “Exactly like Harsha,” Daxon said. “They're his people.”

  “What the fuck is the Maut doing here?” Desmond asked. “They aren't based out of Idaho.”

  “Barra must have hired them,” Daxon said. “From the looks of it, he hired all of them.”

  “That explains the suparnas we saw earlier,” Cyrus muttered.

  “I take it they're going to be difficult to sneak past?” I asked dryly.

  “Try; impossible,” Daxon countered. “They aren't lazy or stupid. They'll be guarding Barra with all of their senses, and they'll particularly be on the lookout for you, Your Majesty.”

  “Right.” I narrowed my eyes at the building. We had taken up a position in an alley across the street. “We need a distraction.”

  “Like what?” Daxon asked.

  “Like a big, flaming ball of thorns,” I suggested with a smile.

  “That might take care of most of the guards on the veranda, but what about those on the roof?” Killian asked.

  “I got the roof,” Ro said as he stuck a hand down the back of his shirt, seemed to scratch his back, and then pulled a bow out of his loose collar. “String this for me, will ya', Gatik?”

  Ro tossed the bow to Gatik, who started stringing it as if he'd done so a million times before. Those who weren't familiar with the extent of Rodaidh's arsenal, gaped at him as he unzipped a panel in his pants and slipped his hand inside. He came out with an arrow. Gatik passed the strung bow back to Ro and held his hand out for the arrow. Ro passed him the arrow, then pulled four more out of his pants. All but one went to Gatik; the last arrow went onto the bow.

  “Fuck, Dude!” Killian hissed. “You got some beer in there too? I could use a drink.”

  Ro smirked.

  “Those are iron arrowheads,” I noted with surprise. “How the hell did you have that in your skin?”

  “In my skin, it's only a tattoo,” Ro explained. “Once I remove it, it takes on the physical properties I assign it.”

  “That is fucking bad-ass,” I said with complete seriousness. “And unbelievably handy.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” Ro bowed. “Now, are we doing this or not?”

  I looked around, and they all nodded.

  “Okay, we work fast and silently,” I said. “I'll set the distraction down the street as far as I can throw my magic. Ro takes out the rooftop guards as soon as the ones below leave, and we take out whatever is left on the porch. Got it?”

  They nodded again, and I eased in front of Ro. I focused on a spot a hundred feet down from Barra's palace, higher than the rooftops. I cast out my magic with a toss of my hand, and a fiery ball of thorny vines appeared over the buildings, just where I had envisioned it. Shouting came from the palace; the roof guards were pointing in the distance. Five of the seven guards posted below went running towards the flames. As soon as they were out of sight of the palace, Ro fired his arrows. He did it with the practiced ease of a seasoned archer; never taking his gaze away from his targets, only reaching a hand out for the next arrow—which Gatik supplied. The men on the roof were dead in seconds; iron arrows through their throats. They never even had the chance to shout a warning.

  It was done so quickly that the guards left below didn't realize anything was wrong until we were slicing their throats. I know it sounds harsh, but it's the fastest way to kill someone without them screaming. And these men were mercenaries; live by the sword, die by it—or an iron dagger—whatever. At least they went quickly.

  I motioned the extinguishers over after we cleared the way, and we crept into the house together, finding it mostly empty. A few servants were bustling about, mainly in the kitchen. They went running as soon as they saw us. But we didn't come across anyone else until we crept up to the second floor. The wooden stairs creaked as we went, no matter how hard we tried to soften our steps. Still, no one rushed out of the bedrooms to investigate.

  We cleared the rooms as we passed, getting through three before we came to the master suite. The door swung open silently, and thank Danu for that because Barra was inside; asleep in his enormous bed. I recognized him from the photo we'd passed out to all of the teams; it was definitely Barra. We crept closer, but the further into the room we went, the more uneasy I felt. Why didn't Barra have any guards inside his house? They surrounded the exterior but left the interior unguarded? It didn't make sense. Not until I saw blood at the edges of the Barra's bed sheet.

  “Fuck!” I hissed as I hurried forward.

  The sheet had been pulled all the way up to Barra's neck. I grabbed it and yanked it away. Barra's head rolled to the side... completely severed from his body.

  “Son of a bitch!” Killian snarled. “The fucker's already dead.”

  “Yes, bravo; you can point out the obvious,” a feminine drawl came from the doorway.

  We all turned in shock to see Lana Clach standing in the hallway. She waved her hand, and a horde of mercenaries piled into the spacious room. There was an assortment of Hindu fairies: rikshas, suparnas, vanaras, and nagas. In other words: bear, falcon, monkey, and snake shifters. They all smiled at us with smug menace.

  “You're the traitor?” Daxon gaped at her. “The Maut... I should have fucking known; they're based out of Colorado.”

  “Don't blame yourself, Daxon. You're simply too arrogant to have even considered me. The great Daxon Tromlaighe could never believe that a woman he once deigned to bed would ever turn on him.” Lana laughed scornfully. “I hate to burst your egotistical bubble, but I'm not the only one.”

  Lana gestured someone forward, and Sileas Trachd stepped into view. Sileas smirked and did a little finger wave at Daxon.

  “Well, it looks like your off the hook for her escape,” I noted casually. “Yep; it's all making sense now.”

  Daxon gaped at me.

  “You're awfully calm for a woman who's about to die,” Lana observed.

  “Because I'm not dying here,” I said as I flung a burning wall of thorns up between her people and mine. “The windows!” I shouted.

  Ro already had one open and was pulling
a rope out of his chest tattoo. The tattoo disappeared as he pulled the last of the rope free, and then he tied it off to a bedpost before tossing the other end out the window. Ro waved the extinguishers out as the rest of us headed for the other windows, using our air beags to float down to the street. When I landed, I turned around and saw Killian scrambling down the rope. I looked at him askance after he reached me, and he grimaced.

  “I haven't mastered the flying thing yet,” Killian admitted. “I just can't get my head around it.”

  We made sure that we had everyone with us and then ran down a side alley. But as we ran, more mercenaries poured out of the palace and the surrounding buildings. By the time we were fifty feet down the street, there must have been sixty mercenaries on our trail. We had to slow them down, or they'd overtake us in no time.

  I turned and sent up another fiery wall of thorns, blocking the entire street and extending up to the ceiling of the Underground. It took a lot of energy to create an obstacle that big, and it would take even more to sustain it. But even with its size, the fairies were able to fly around the edges. Mostly it was the suparnas—the falcon shifters—but I knew there had to be more fairies adept enough with air beags to be able to fly. My barricade wouldn't hold them back for long.

  The suparnas landed, and the rest of my group began to fight them off. I had just started to pull my sword when I was distracted by shouting. I glanced over to see a horde of fairies come running up the street with my Star's Guard. Triumphant cries came from my team as the oppressed fairies of the Idaho Underground came to our rescue, led by a barghest knight. I laughed as Conri howled, and the swarm descended on the mercenaries with make-shift weapons and pure rage. They took the suparnas down in minutes, but I knew that despite our increased numbers, the mercenaries would rally, and I didn't want to risk these people in a fight if I didn't have to.

  “Run!” I shouted as soon after the last suparna went down.

  I let go of the magic as we raced down the street, and immediately heard the hiss of fire being quenched. A glance over my shoulder gave me the image of a condensed rainstorm over my wall of fire. The flames were quickly being doused, but the mercenaries—the Maut—were bashing their way through the thorns before the vines were completely extinguished.