by Alex Steele
"What do you mean?"
I turned the receipt over and peered at the back. It was faint, but a message was written on the back. I rubbed my thumb over it and the letters darkened.
Do not search for me, I will find you.
That was ominous.
Forty
The muscle on the back of my hand twitched, followed by one in my cheek, then one on my back. With deep, even breaths, I continued moving muscles in isolation. Meanwhile, my magic moved through my body as I breathed.
It had taken me the entire training session yesterday to figure this out. Once I’d gotten it, Sakura had taken it to the next level immediately.
“Now, try again,” Sakura said as she circled me.
I inhaled and let the magic flow directly from my chest to the air in front of me. When I exhaled, I didn’t pull it back into me. Mayhem, it turned out, was unruly. It fought me every step of the way. I was starting to get the impression that the magic disliked me, which was ridiculous. Magic was mysterious but it was not sentient.
Using my second sight to keep an eye on the magic throughout my body and in front of me, I willed the mayhem magic into a sphere. The pure black magic roiled within the shape I’d forced it into. Every few seconds, a small bit of it would lash out like a sun flare, but it stayed a sphere this time. Finally. This must be the tenth try.
Now came the hard part.
Swift summoned her mace in a flash behind me. My magic thrummed in response to the perceived threat. I held tight to the sphere, holding my breath for a moment to resist the urge that grew in me to lash out. An irrational anger grew in my gut but I knew it for what it was now and I ignored it.
There was a brief pause before my partner swung her mace at me. My fingers twitched as I let the sphere go on an exhale. It changed shape, rushing around me like a shadow and blocking her strike. She stepped away for a moment, then attacked again.
I focused on keeping the rest of my magic under control while the mayhem magic I had released reacted on instinct. Sakura insisted it was my instincts and that I was subconsciously protecting myself. It didn’t feel like that. It felt like the magic was acting on its own, but I was able to keep it from going completely haywire now. Most of the time. I had another hole or three to fix.
“Enough,” Sakura said.
Swift released her mace and I slowly opened my eyes, blinking against the sudden brightness.
“That was much better than last time,” Sakura said, her face suggesting she still wasn’t happy.
I stood, stretching out limbs sore from sitting. “But?”
“You are still letting it control you.”
“I’m keeping it from lashing out,” I replied sullenly.
Swift coughed to cover a laugh. Her phone rang and she answered it, hurrying from the room.
Now that we were alone, Sakura sighed and crossed her arms. “Logan, I am not asking you to do this for my own amusement. There is a purpose to this training.”
I dragged a hand down my face. “I don’t doubt that, but the magic it…” I sighed, searching for the right words. “It’s different from the other magic I can use. It feels separate, and sometimes like it’s alive.”
“Anything within you is part of you, and can be mastered.” She turned abruptly and walked toward the exit, motioning for me to follow her.
I jumped up and hurried after her out of the dojo. My legs protested the sudden movement, but it felt good to be up. Meditation exercises were my least favorite thing and we’d been doing them for days. The murder case Bradley had put us on was so low priority it could wait as long as we needed. I was sure to regret thinking this, but doing anything else would be a welcome break.
She led me through the garden and out the back gate. Their property stretched across the side of the mountain and encompassed a dense forest. I hadn’t been back here in years. Nostalgia washed over me as we walked the old paths that I’d taken thousands of times. Master Hiko used to make me run these paths with a bucket of water balanced on my head. Maybe I didn’t miss it that much.
We stopped near the base of the mountain near a small creek. A chill wind cut through the air, making me shiver. Sakura seemed unaffected.
“You have always been stubborn, so I think you might learn best with higher stakes,” Sakura said, a sly smile crossing her lips that made her look twenty years younger...and ten times scarier.
“What––”
Shadows surrounded her and she stepped back into...nothing. She was gone.
I turned in a slow circle, every sense I had telling me I was in danger. The branches creaked as a breeze rippled over the surface of the creek, carrying with it a whisper, “You’re afraid of it.”
My feet flew out from under me.
I rolled as I hit the ground and barely kept my magic contained as it reacted violently to the attack. What she said made me angry. Of course I was afraid of it, it was out of control and destructive. Fearing the magic was just common sense, like being afraid of bears or venomous snakes.
A shuriken zipped through the air. The mayhem magic surged out to block it and I didn’t resist the instinct. She wasn’t going to let me get away without defending myself. Just like Master Hiko had always made me train with a real katana, those were real, sharp shuriken.
The next attack wasn’t just a shuriken. Green fire blazed around the weapon, following up the attack with an explosion that knocked me back toward the creek despite my shield. I stumbled over a rock and almost fell but managed to maintain my footing.
All the awareness I’d developed from the breathing exercises was helping though. Just before she launched each attack, I felt something. Some hint of her magic that acted as a warning.
The hair on my arms raised and I dropped to one knee, avoiding the brunt of the next strike. However, I wasn’t fast enough to dodge the second one. Wind rushed toward me from the opposite direction, lifting me off the ground and throwing me through the air. Right toward a huge pine tree.
The mayhem magic hit the tree before I did and ate through it. I managed to twist midair and land on my feet. Immediately, I threw up my hands. The black magic flowed from my palms and formed a shield in front of me. Three shuriken thudded into it. Instead of falling away, they began to spin, creating bright sparks as they fought to drill through the mayhem magic.
I gritted my teeth against the rage threatening to overwhelm me. This wasn’t the time to hold back, but I had to. If I released the mayhem magic, it could destroy this mountain, and both of us.
The attacks came faster and faster. She was trying to force me to go on the offensive. If I didn’t strike back soon, I wouldn’t be able to. It was already hard to keep up with her pace.
“This isn’t going to end well!” I shouted, my arms beginning to shake with the effort of holding up the shield and holding onto my magic.
“Stop being a coward and fight me!” Sakura shouted back, her voice booming through the trees, seeming to come from everywhere all at once.
The shield cracked, imploding as the shuriken rushed toward me. I managed to deflect one, but the second grazed my shoulder. Searing pain shot through my arm as the sharp weapon cut down to the bone. Magic poured from the wound just in time to block the brunt of the ensuing explosion.
I hit the ground and rolled straight into the creek. The icy water stole my breath and I flailed for a moment, trying to remember how to breathe. Water in my eyes blurred my vision. The mayhem magic rolled around me, cocooning me in darkness.
With a groan, I rolled up to my knees. Blood dripped down my arm but there was no time to worry about that. More shuriken thudded into the shield and I knew it would last even less time now that I was hurt. My focus was wavering already.
I took a deep breath, then leapt to my left, dropping the shield as I did so I could see. A burst of wind hit me right in the chest and knocked me into a tree. My head snapped back into the bark and stars exploded across my vision.
Sakura held me there, pinned like a bug
once again. Debris picked up by the relentless wind battered me. I struggled for a breath as the pressure increased.
A shuriken flew toward me and I managed to block it with a small shield just before it struck me in the face. It spun, grinding into my magic as it sought its mark. I had seconds before I’d be down one eye.
At some point in your life, everything comes down to a moment where you either fold, or say fuck it and go all in. There was no way I was going to fold.
I let the mayhem magic out. It flowed from my body in a river of black magic, pushing back the wind. The shuriken fell to the ground as I grabbed hold of the end of the magic and, with a shout, swung it like a club.
It crashed through three trees, toppling them in a shower of broken limbs, and smashed into the ground. The earth shook and split open from the force of the blow.
Sakura emerged from the trees in a flash, charging straight at me. I planted my feet and forced the magic to go toward her. Lifting from the ground, it whipped at her. She leapt over the sweep of magic, spinning in the air like a ballerina. The wind caught her and lifted her even higher.
Pale blue magic lit up her hands and a thousand shuriken, made of pure magic, shot toward me. I lifted my hand and met them head on with a reckless blast of magic. If she wanted me to stop fearing it, then I would. No matter how bad an idea it probably was.
The mayhem magic ate through the shuriken like they weren’t even there.
With nothing to stop it, my magic continued straight to Sakura. It wrapped around her, and for a moment, I wanted to crush her. Destroy this forest. Destroy anyone that thought they could control me.
Lifting both hands, I wrenched the magic away. It receded enough for me to see her, still hovering above me, encased in a bright blue shield. She was smiling.
“Finally, we see good progress. Let’s continue.”
I shifted my stance and took a deep breath. Perhaps I could control this. And perhaps I was a fool to think I was strong enough to take on Sakura, mayhem magic or not...
Forty-One
“I brought Bootstrap over,” Swift said, sipping at a cup of tea. “Master Hiko cornered him and is making him fix his computer.”
I snorted in laughter. Served the kid right. “Why’d you bring him here?”
She shrugged. “He wanted to talk to you about something, and was getting really antsy about staying at the Manor alone.”
“And Yamashita?”
“Still there. She had no interest in leaving. Yui volunteered to stay with her, and let’s be honest, she’s more likely to be able to protect her than Bootstrap anyhow.”
“I’d say that, but he was surprisingly helpful during the whole...incident,” I said, remembering the way he’d cast those runes that had forced my magic back.
“True,” Swift agreed with a nod of her head. “That definitely wasn’t what I expected.”
Bootstrap appeared in the doorway, looking a little out of breath. His hair was standing on end like he’d been tugging at it. “How old is that guy?”
“Master Hiko?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah, whatever his name is.”
I shrugged. “Old enough to look old. My best guess is around eight-hundred.”
“Mages just shouldn’t live that long,” Bootstrap muttered, crossing his arms.
“Did you get the information we needed on Viktor?”
“I had to call in some uh...back up,” Bootstrap said nervously as he looked around the house with wide eyes. It was odd to see him out of his room, and in clothes other than a dingy bathrobe.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded, my eyes narrowing in suspicion.
The hacker scratched the back of his neck nervously. “So, I’m pretty sure someone has been trying to track me down again. Just a few things that make me think I’m being watched, and maybe someone has noticed me in certain places.”
“Bootstrap, get to the point.”
“That information you wanted on Viktor, the coroner, is pretty sensitive stuff. I hit a roadblock while I was looking for it, so I thought it was better if someone else...someone trusted,” he quickly added. “Got it instead. And they did. So this is a good thing!”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath. This must be what it felt like to have children. “Who did you get to do this?”
“Guy named Zardoz. He was actually my mentor, taught me everything I know.” Bootstrap pulled out his phone excitedly. “Wanna see his cat? He named him Data and he fell asleep on top of this…” He trailed off upon seeing my expression and put his phone away. “Anyhow. He got the information and said that whoever they have after me is getting close. So that’s, uh...not so good.”
“Can they track you to the Manor?”
He shrugged. “Eventually, if I trip up.”
“You should do as little as possible from now on then, until the risk goes down.”
He opened his mouth to object, but I cut him off.
“No arguments. It’s not just you at risk. It’s me and everyone connected to me. If we want to take down the corrupt people in the Mage’s Guild we have to stay out of jail. And alive.”
Bootstrap sighed, his shoulders drooping. “Whatever you say, boss-man.”
“What did you find out?” Swift asked impatiently.
The energy returned to Bootstrap’s expression. “Viktor’s files were deleted temporarily. They’ve been replaced, most likely edited, but we have nothing to compare it to. It also says he turned in his notice two weeks ago now and quit voluntarily. The current address on file is his, but he hasn’t been there in two days as far as we can tell.”
Swift dragged her hands through her hair. “Did you check his accounts? Surveillance footage?”
Bootstrap nodded. “He left the coroner’s office, but never made it home, and I have no idea where he disappeared to between those two points. It’s like he never actually left the building. Moira is covered in cameras. There’s no way he avoided them all.”
“Are they any secret exits out of the IMIB building? Anything that would take him underground?” I asked.
“Maybe? I went over everything I could think of, but I’ll look again.”
Master Hiko appeared in the doorway, his cheeks flushed from alcohol. So that’s what he’d been doing while I was training. “It’s doing it again.”
“Did you click the button I showed you?” Bootstrap asked, taking on the air of the long-suffering.
“Just come show me again,” Master Hiko said, grabbing him by the shoulder and dragging him from the room.
“I should bring him over here more often,” I said to Swift with a grin.
She laughed. “He’d run away.” The smile quickly faded from her face. “Do you think Viktor is dead?”
“My gut is telling me no, but we can’t rule it out until we know for sure.”
“I need to tell Lopez what we found.”
“We can tell her at the office to come back to the Manor this evening. Best not to tell her anything over the phone, and we definitely can’t tell her at the IMIB. Sakura wants me to train for one more morning, but then I have to get back to work. Bradley will have my head if I avoid the office for another day.”
Swift sighed, staring blankly at the opposite wall. “I feel like we’re missing something. With all of this.”
“I know. Me too.” The unanswered questions were piling up. The attacks on Moira. The drug ring linked to a conspiracy we still didn’t know the scope of. All of it led back to the Mage’s Guild, but it wasn’t necessarily related. Then there was the chest still sitting in my father’s office. Once I had a handle on my magic, I had to find a way to open it or I’d go crazy.
Forty-Two
Logically, I knew I wouldn’t lose control of the mayhem magic just sitting here, but I couldn’t help but be a little paranoid. The dampening cuffs were in a pocket in my jacket just in case.
Our drug ring case had been taken away, along with all our files. Since I was in the offi
ce, I was going through the motions of investigating the new case. It looked like it was pretty open and shut. The kind of case they assigned new detectives to keep them busy and let them learn. I hadn’t worked a case like this in twenty years.
I tapped on the tablet with a sigh, bringing up the main suspect in the case. We’d have to go to Central London to investigate this –– as if my week needed to get any worse.
Sergeant Zhang, one of the other agents in the department burst through the door, startling me. “We’ve got a problem. Where is Swift?”
“She went to get lunch with Lopez, why?” As soon as I asked, I had my answer. The unmistakable magical signature of at least three magisters washed over me. They were broadcasting it like a warning, which meant they were here for a reason. “Who are they here for?”
Zhang hesitated, then leaned in and whispered. “There’s a rumor it’s the Chief.”
I stood immediately, my hand twitching for my missing katana. “Why would they be here for him?”
“I don’t know.” Zhang shook his head. “It was Peterson blabbing about it, so I didn’t pay any attention until I saw the magisters downstairs. They’re here in force.”
We hurried out of my office. Bradley’s door was shut. The rest of the department was standing around nervously, watching the elevators as we all felt the magisters draw closer.
“Is he in his office?” I asked quietly.
Zhang nodded. “Went in and closed his door about fifteen minutes ago looking pissed. I think he might have known they were coming too. I heard him talking to someone on the phone a little bit ago, but he’s gone silent now.”
The elevator dinged and we all watched with sick anticipation as the doors opened. Three magisters exited. The man in the middle wore a badge that indicated his rank as Marshal, just like the magister I’d seen right after the first attack on Moira.
He wasn’t smiling, but his expression was smug. This was personal for him, for some reason. They walked straight toward the Chief’s office and I found myself moving before I could talk myself out of it. I stopped in front of the door to Bradley’s office and crossed my arms.