by Nikki Dean
“Clearly. But for who? It has no reason to be mad at us, and every reason to hate Luca if he trapped it. It can hear us, but it can’t get out, and it’s saying to save the others, whatever that means.”
“There’s only one thing it could mean,” Nico said. “He must have more stones down here.”
Matt agreed as they reached the bottom of the stairs. A locked door blocked their path and Matt unlocked it to reveal a perfectly normal, shabby little basement.
“Well, that was disappointing,” he muttered. Mallory was inclined to agree.
“See, nothing weird at all. We should go untie him now and leave before we’re too deep into this. You guys beat up his guards and threatened to shoot him,” Paul said. “I know, I know, he threatened to shoot you first, but maybe he saw what happened to his people in the woods and reacted.”
“Don’t make excuses, dumb dumb. He threatened you, too,” Mallory shot back in exasperation. “He’s hiding something big. We just have to find it.”
“By breaking and entering? That doesn’t sound right,” Paul said.
“Technically, Luca invited us in,” Matt replied as he turned on a small flashlight. “What are we looking for, Mal?”
Box. Big box with walls of stones. Close. Show you.
Mallory got the impression of being inside a room of some sort, instead of a box. The sigil grew warm in her pocket and she took it out. Holding it in her hand, she turned around in a circle. It got warmer, nearly hot, when she pointed it toward one wall in particular.
“This one. Whatever it wants is behind this wall.”
“This seems like a really bad idea,” Paul said as Matt went to it and began to run his hands over the sheetrock. Nico vanished, using his powers to look faster. Mallory could sense him on her web, as well as something else.
“Someone is already in there! Matt, stop!”
It was too late. He pressed on something and an entire panel of the wall popped out, then swung open.
Charles Pohler stood on the other side, a gun in his hand. Two guards stood on either side.
* * *
“How did you even get here?” Mallory demanded. He jerked on her arm, hauling her into a chair that he’d dragged into the hidden room. Matt and Paul were already tied together, and gagged, back to back on the floor. Everett was beside them. Pohler had disarmed them first, then taken Mallory’s own gun.
She’d wanted to fight back, but Matt and Everett had both shaken their heads as they let him search them, leaving her to believe that he had some kind of weapon-based magic, like Damon.
Nico was still invisible, hiding inside his speed magic. Mallory was positive that he’d already done something to the guards’ guns though, and he was merely waiting to see what Pohler was up to.
Like Mal.
“Seriously, you’re like a bad case of herpes. You keep popping up when everyone least expects you, but it’s impossible to get rid of you. Plus, you’re disgusting.”
“I’m happy to hear that you think so,” Pohler shot back. “I would have been forced to reevaluate a few things if you liked me.”
She couldn’t prevent the snort of laughter that his response elicited. It was too much like something she’d say.
“Okay, that was a good one,” Mallory conceded. “But doesn’t explain why you’re here, or how you knew we would be.”
“It’s simple, actually.” He nodded to the guards. “Go secure our guests upstairs. Tell them that if they resist, we’ll kill these four. Watch out for the tall skinny one - he has speed magic and you won’t be able to stop him unless he understands the gravity of the situation. Take this.”
Pain shot up Mallory’s arm and she hissed. Pohler handed Damon’s dagger, now dripping with her blood, to one of the guards. “Tell them this is just the beginning unless they comply. Call down to me every three minutes to let me know you’re both still alive, or I start taking pieces off of her.”
Matt and Paul both struggled to get free, shouting protests, and probably other choice words, into their gags. Everett was still, his dark eyes narrowed on Pohler.
She felt Nico’s rage through her web and tried to calm it. I’m fine, I promise. I can heal myself whenever I need to. He’ll tell us everything if he thinks he has the upper hand. Nico, calm down.
Hoping that he could at least understand the sentiment behind her thoughts, if not the words themselves, she gave a little thumbs-up behind her back. Matt saw and shouldered Paul until he noticed, too. It didn’t help much.
Eat him. Stones. The gibberish came from the sigil again.
Look, I don’t know what you are or why you’re in there, but I’m having a hard time here. I don’t see any more leystones, Mallory thought back. So can you please shut up?
The voice growled at her, but subsided.
“Luca called me, of course.” Pohler said, surprising them all. “We’ve met several times over the years, and discovered that we share certain interests.
"Like the amaroq?" she spat. "I hope it eats you."
He paused, contemplating her. "You've met it, I assume?"
Mallory nodded.
"When? Where? Who was with you?" he demanded quickly. A feverish light had illuminated his face, and his voice went from controlled to something bordering on frantic. Mallory could feel Matt and Nico telling her to be cautious.
"At school. It was late. I was walking across campus and saw it."
"Who was with you?" he demanded. "Who else saw it?"
"No one," she lied.
He ground his teeth together as he looked down, then grabbed her arm. She cried out as he squeezed the cut.
"That make you feel better about yourself, you pathetic shitdick?" Mallory demanded. "You like hurting people that can't fight back because it makes you feel powerful? Makes you feel like you're not the failure, even though everyone knows you are?"
Matt hung his head with a curse. She felt Nico's rage like it was a living thing, throbbing across her web even as she tried to calm him.
Eat him. Problem solved. He helped.
Pohler’s eyes narrowed and she felt his flush of power. He draws from other's pain, she realized. He needs it. I wonder if it's every emotion, or just that one?
A black tendril of shadow wrapped around her arm, phasing through his hand to coat her injury in cooling darkness. Like it was trying to comfort her.
Mallory felt Nico leave the room, then heard an answering thud upstairs. "Allen? Trevor? Report. What was that noise?"
There was no answer for a few seconds, then someone called back. "All good up here, boss. Just had to deal with one of them."
Pohler rolled his eyes. "Those idiots are as good as dead. I told them to watch out for Rodriguez, but did they listen? Probably not. Which means he's coming down here, at the very least, and most likely bringing his friends. It's time to even the playing field."
He pulled a little metal disc out of his back pocket.
Oh, fuck, power disc! Mal broadcast the information as loud as she could, but she doubted that anyone heard her. Panicked, Mallory threw herself sideways in the chair, landing on top of Pohler. The disc skittered away on the hard concrete floor.
"Get it! Everett, don't let him have it, it'll cancel out everyone's magic!"
Everett hurled himself onto the disc, his hands and feet still tied. Pohler cursed and tried to shove Mallory off.
She did the only thing she could think of and bit him, hard. Approval echoed from the sigil. He screamed in her ear and pulled his fist back to punch her.
It was useless. Alec's magic coursed through her, doubling and then tripling her strength. She flexed her arms, tearing through the nylon ropes and shredding the chair beneath her.
Mallory reached up and grabbed him, flinching as his bones ground together beneath her grip.
Pohler screamed again. She didn't let go.
He kicked at her, cursing as she got up and held him aloft. Alec's magic made it easy, too easy.
"What do I do with hi
m?" she asked stupidly. "I can't hit him or I'll probably bash his skull in. We need to question him, right?" She looked over at Everett, who had wriggled around to face her. The disc sat in his lap, and shadows waved around him.
"Mallory, pay attention!" Everett barked. She looked back at Pohler just in time to see that he'd managed to reach into his shirt pocket and pull out a second disc.
"Fuck you, bitch," Pohler spat. "I'm going to kill you."
She threw him, hurling him into the concrete wall before she could think about it. He hit with a sickening splat, his head making a dull smacking sound on impact. A fine mist of blood spread out like a halo around his skull, and his hands dropped limp to his sides.
It was Mallory's turn to scream.
To Be Continued… Preorder book 4, Crazy Witch, here.
Also by Nikki Dean
*** Reverse Harem ***
Academy of the Dark Arts
1) Basic Witch
2) Tricky Witch
Reverse Harem Stand Alone Novellas
1) Saving Their Trainer
*** Adult Fairy Tales (MF Non-Reverse Harem) ***
Beauty and the Beast Miniseries
1) Beauty and the Beast
2) Captive
3) Freed
4) Ever After
5) The 4 Book Miniseries Boxset
Little Red Riding Hood
(Can be read as a standalone, but has character crossovers with Beauty and the Beast)
The Little Mermaid Trilogy:
(Can be read as a standalone, but has character crossovers with Beauty and the Beast)
1) The Little Mermaid
2) Silence
3) Currents (release date TBD)