Magical Intentions

by Jaliza A. Burwell

  “Oh, sounds interesting. What do you want me to do?”

  “In a couple of weeks, I have an executive client coming for a weekend. I need your magic hacking skills to improve our wards. This man will have all kinds of people looking for a loophole to get to him.” He paused, his expression hardening. “He is not allowed to die.”

  “Especially while they’re here in the top security firm.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Any restrictions?” I asked, sitting straighter now at the prospect of having free reign over Biomystic Security. My magic rumbled through me with anticipation.

  “None.”

  I cocked my eyebrow. “You might regret saying that.”

  “As long as you get the job done and no one’s killed under my watch, I don’t care.”

  “Can I set traps to capture intruders?”

  He nodded. “If you can, I’ll give you a bonus for each one you are able to detain.”

  I stood up. “You have a deal, Mr. Lombardi.”

  We shook hands, and I ignored the brush of energy at his touch. Grinning, I wrapped my magic around me and imagined my lab. I left the same way I came in—with style.

  Chapter 2

  I was about to finish figuring out the right ratio to make a very precise blast—with enough strength and radius—when Ami came bursting in, practically dancing with bubbling excitement. I sighed and put the chemicals back down, resigning myself to not getting anything else done today. Everyone was interrupting me.

  Maybe I needed to go back to locking everyone out of my office. Then again, Ami and Davies would just find a grenade launcher and try blowing the door up to get inside. Those two worked together to make sure I didn’t hide in my lab for too long.

  “Laila,” she sang.

  “Ami,” I sang back.

  She did a little jig before plopping down on a rolling chair and gliding toward me. “He said yes!”

  “Yay!” I faked my excitement. “Who said yes?”

  “Larson. He finally agreed to go on a date with me. Man, that boy is shy. Two months of breaking him down.”

  I laughed and gave her a high five.

  “More good news,” I said.

  “Oh?” She gave me all her focus. The way she looked at people and paid attention was why we were such good friends. She helped me settle into my job. She’d worked here for over a year already, as one of the meatheads. One of the few female meatheads, actually.

  “Your boss’s boss has given me a job for commission.”

  “What?” Her brows furrowed. “Lombardi has?”

  I nodded.

  “Oh shit, what the hell is he thinking?” Her face grew red with anger. “You aren’t a meathead, Laila. You don’t work in the field. You told him no, right? Right? You told him you’re meant for the lab, tucked away safely and away from the dangers of the world. Right?”

  I held up my hand. “First of all, you make me sound like I’m incapable, so I’d stop if I were you before you talk yourself in a corner.” She snapped her mouth closed. “Secondly, I’m not out in the field, relax.”

  She blinked a couple of times. “What is he making my precious Sparks do?”

  “I’m just fixing the security here before his special guest shows up.”

  “Oh!” Her eyes lit up again, and she giggled. “He is definitely a special guest.”

  “You know about it?” I asked. “Once he told me about the assignment, I tried finding some mention of it, but couldn’t.”

  “No, he’s keeping it hush-hush, so there won’t be any mention of it anywhere. It’s all through the gossip mill. There’s been a buzz about it for the last month and everyone is scrambling to make sure everything’s in top shape for him.”

  “This is the first I’m hearing of it.” I frowned. How’d I not know this was going on? “Who is it?”

  “The owner of Shanton Enterprise. A massive conglomerate focused in the tech industry. Very innovative. He’s coming to stay with us for the weekend while hashing out details of a partnership. Something about their technology and our services. They give us exclusive rights to some of their technology, and we provide security for multiple businesses for them.”

  “Sounds important.”

  “Really important,” she said. “And he’s putting you in charge of making sure they don’t get offed?”

  “Yup.” My grin widened. “And every baddie my traps capture, I get a bonus.”

  “Hmm, sounds fun.”

  The phone strapped to Ami’s waist went off in a series of beeps.

  “Crap, I have a job to get to. Tonight. Me and you. We are going out. I have a feeling that after today you’re going to be super busy.”

  She laughed as she danced out in a flurry of movements, just as much excitement radiating out of her as when she came in.

  I stared at the closed door for a few moments before turning back to the table and eyeing all the chemicals. If I got the ratio right, I could blast everyone within five feet of the explosion with a pulse that would knock them out for a couple of hours.

  After I released a breath, I pulled my light brown hair into a ponytail, needing a break to recollect all my thoughts. With Ami’s disruption, I’d lost all focus on my projects, and I needed to get my head in the right space before getting back to work. I needed to work through all the new thoughts floating around in my head thanks to Ami’s information. Shanton Enterprise. I’d heard about them, but never enough to want to look them up. Now I needed to do some research, I needed to understand them. Tonight. I’d be able to do it tonight. For now, I needed to keep working.

  I shook my head of my thoughts and grabbed my gas mask and a small ball, unrelated to my current project. Prototype Two. I peeked out my door but no one was in the hallway. Made me wonder if there was some kind of alarm set up for when I needed a guinea pig.

  I worked my way up, out of the basement. Some people saw me with the mask and dove for the closest room. Locks clicked as I walked past them.

  I didn’t spot a potential victim until I was out the front door. Sitting at a bench, shoulders hunched, with a familiar cloud of depression, sat Elliott. I’d known him for about two months. We met because of an assignment, and then I saw him again last month at a bar, in pain because of a bad break-up. I theorized he was getting ready to propose to her. I bought him a beer, and we talked a little then went our separate ways. Hadn’t had a chance to interact with him since, though I’d seen him around often enough.

  Quietly, so that he didn’t spot me, I snuck up and then sat on the bench next to him. He didn’t even look at me, lost in his own thoughts.

  “The best way to heal is to get out of your head,” I said.

  He grunted before finally looking at me. His grey eyes widened as he took in the gas mask hanging around my neck. He was on his feet in moments, ready to take off.

  I twirled my fingers, manipulating the magic to wrap around him. His runner’s frame bulged with lean muscles as he tried to fight against my magic.

  “Laila, let me go.”

  “No. You’ve been stuck inside your head for a couple of weeks now. It’s time to move on, and I have the best medicine.” I held up the small ball.

  His eyes got even bigger, and he shook his head. “I’ll pass.”

  “You owe me.”

  “I do not.”

  “Oh, yes you do,” I said with an unladylike snort. “Tell me again how you were able to find that little girl again after losing her? And who didn’t tell anyone about your little mishap?”

  He visibly swallowed.

  “Don’t worry so much. It shouldn’t be painful.”

  “I heard you told Sametz that a while back. He ended up with burns on his chest.”

  I shrugged. “Prototype, remember. Besides, this little toy has nothing to do with fire.”

  “What does it have to do with, then?”

  “Illusions. Illusions are like ghosts. They can’t hurt you.”

  “Poltergeists are a kind of
ghosts, and they can hurt very much.”

  “True. Okay. Then more like a vivid dream.”

  “It’ll be a goddamn nightmare.”

  “You know, with all this chattering, we could have already finished.”

  He sighed, and I knew I’d won. I laughed and let go of the magic, letting it absorb back into the environment.

  “Excellent. Now, I just need you to stand there and I’ll give this little baby a toss. It’ll hit you, you’ll see a short illusion as a distraction and gives me enough time to take you down.” I patted my waist where my belt of toys sat.

  “Just get this over with.”

  I smiled and pulled my mask up as a precaution.

  “Hold on, why do you need that on your face,” he asked as he stared at my mask warily.

  “Just in case. I wear it all the time.”

  He stilled, but didn’t say anything as I took aim. I held my hand behind my head and then gave it a good whip. The small ball flew and hit Elliott right in the chest. Bullseye! The ball burst into a light purple cloud.

  Elliott stiffened, his eyes huge, and I knew he was lost in the illusion. I sprinted to him, wrapped my arms around his waist, and took him down in a classic tackle. I pinned him with all my weight, using my hands to keep his arms away. My legs squeezed him tightly.

  Victory.

  I may have been a labbie, but I still knew a trick or two in combat. I wasn’t going to put myself up against anyone trained, but I at least knew to kick a man in his junk and then run away.

  After a few more long moments, Elliot blinked a couple times and let out a ragged breath. Another second later, he was cursing up a storm, his eyes hard.

  Maybe I should have warned him that the illusion would be his greatest fear.

  “Goddammit, Laila. What the fuck was that?”

  I smirked and wiggled on top of him. He really was a handsome bastard and this wasn’t a bad position to be in. This moment was going to feed some of my fantasies for the next couple of weeks. He felt nice between my legs.

  “I’m still thinking of a name, but basically it’s to stick the baddies in the illusion, giving you enough time to take him down and strap him up.”

  “You could have fucking told me.”

  “Or not. They won’t know what hit them until it’s too late, anyway. Not knowing helps strengthen the illusion. If you knew what you were going to see, you would’ve had time to brace yourself for it and it wouldn’t have been as strong.”

  Slowly, the corners of his mouth curled up, and he let out a laugh that sent warmth into my chest. Laughing was a good look on him, relaxing his face to remind us that he was still young, even for a human. He had a couple of years to go before he hit thirty, but the stress of the job made him seem older.

  I smiled down at him, glad to be the one to make him look like the twenty-something year old that he was.

  Someone cleared their throat, ruining the moment, and we looked up to see the big boss man standing over us, an unreadable expression on his face. Elliott stiffened underneath me, and I could feel his discomfort.

  “Yo, Mr. Dwight Lombardi,” I said, refusing to let him make me feel guilty for doing my job. Really, that was all I was doing, working. Not my fault there were some perks to it, like straddling a hot man.

  Lombardi’s eyebrow rose as he looked at us both.

  “Why are you making a spectacle of yourself outside my building and attracting all kinds of attention?”

  I looked around for the first time and realized we’d drawn a small crowd. They probably thought I was one of the meatheads taking down a baddie. I snorted at the thought. I wouldn’t survive a day as one.

  “No worries.” I waved my hand. “My prototype is a success.” I grinned and did a little dance. Elliott made a grunting noise, and I realized I was still sitting on him. “Oh, sorry.”

  I climbed off him, and he jumped to his feet, cheeks red with embarrassment. Elliott didn’t like being seen. His specialty involved tailing others and not getting spotted by his marks. Elliot was a chameleon. Not a real one, he was as human as they came, but his talents were even more impressive since he didn’t have a drop of magic to help him.

  I knew this to be a fact because his files told me so. That alone made him an impressive man and someone I’d want on my team if things went to shit.

  “That’s good, Dr. Porter. Now if you don’t mind, Mr. Baker has an assignment.”

  “Oh, no, that’s fine.”

  Lombardi nodded and walked away as we stared after him. His jeans looked good on him.

  I turned to Elliott, my grin wide.

  “What?” he asked, the wariness heavy in his voice.

  “Do you feel better now?”

  He blinked at me a couple of times and then broke out in a small smile.

  “I do.”

  “Good.” I smacked his back. “She isn’t worth losing yourself over. Just remember, it’s her loss because you have a whole line of women waiting for you to pull your head out of your ass so they can jump you.”

  He let out a chuckle and turned to walk away.

  “Oh, don’t forget to stop by and see me tomorrow. I want to ask you questions about Prototype Two.”

  He nodded and strolled away, his walk smooth, shoulders straight. I hummed to myself as I grabbed my toy and tucked it safely away in my shoulder bag before scurrying back into my lab, my mind running with statistics and possibilities.

  I was going to perfect this beauty in the coming week or so. I just needed to make a couple of adjustments.

  Chapter 3

  “Okay, time to go,” Ami said as she came into the room. A line of dirt covered her cheek, and she had a leaf in her black hair. Slight bruising smudged the outside of her right eye.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, concerned. She looked a little tired.

  She waved her hand as she went to the sink and grabbed some paper towels, wetting them and using the mirror over the sink to wipe away the dirt. Her eyes closed as she wiped around them.

  “Fine, nothing I couldn’t handle, Sparks. Are you ready to dance the night away?” she asked.

  I nodded, carefully packing everything away, making sure the items returned to their spots. All my supplies had a rightful place on the shelves and counters because it lowered the risk of mistakes. Ami usually made it a game to move something to see how long it took me to notice.

  So far, I’d been winning. She hadn’t gotten something past me yet.

  “And are you planning to have a really good night?” she asked.

  I snorted. “No, Ami, I don’t plan on going home with a man tonight.”

  She shrugged as she came over to me. “Just checking to make sure you didn’t bail on me again.”

  I let out a huff of breath. “One time. I didn’t tell you one time. And in my defense, you were too busy playing tonsil hockey with some guy.”

  She smirked as her eyes grew a little distant.

  I rolled my eyes and grabbed her arm. Before dragging her out of my lab, I turned the tubes on the shelf so their labels faced out. She made a huffing noise, and I laughed as I pulled her out and locked up for the night. I didn’t need the other labbies breaking in.

  Since working here, I’d made a name for myself, but that also meant I’d put myself in competition with the other nineteen labbies at Biomystic. Whenever an announcement was made about one of my completed projects, tension rose.

  Ami looped her arm into mine, and we headed to the elevator. When we made it to the parking garage on the ground level, Ami went to her little car while I went to my baby, a Laramie Longhorn. The truck was huge, powerful, and revved my engine every time I looked at the beast. Powerful trucks were my weakness. Probably because it was hot to have complete control over something so strong.

  “Sparks, I’ll pick you up in an hour,” Ami called out as she waved and drove by.

  I smiled and climbed into my truck. My place was about a twenty-minute drive through Springer City, the biggest melting
pot in America. Many cities around the country were controlled by one being or another, like Cornell was run by shifters. They were about an hour’s drive outside of Springer and made the best barbeque. Here, we had everything: shifters, witches, vampires, humans, magic-users, creatures of legends like the Black Dog, dragons, phoenixes, even trolls, leprechauns, pixies, and gargoyles. They ranged from tiny to massive, from beautiful to grotesque, and not all of them had a name. ‘What are you?’ was a big no-no to ask. I’d seen plenty of fights break out because of it.

  Our city was run by a council of the thirteen largest populations of beings in the city, each member a different race, and no race was allowed to have more than one representative. They kept the city running, and everyone from tearing each other apart, but a lot of heads still butted as a result of the cultural mosaic. Crime was probably a little higher than it should’ve been.

  I had to slow down in traffic because of an incident. The city’s enforcers were gathered on the side of the road in front of what looked like a tree giant who was subdued on the ground—his leaves an angry red color, roots tied together so he would stop lashing out. Another being was also tied up, and I saw the glint of a chainsaw.

  I snorted as I drove by. What a dumbass. Probably wanting to take down the tree giant. If I were the giant, I’d be furious too. They’d have to contact someone with an affinity to nature to get the giant calmed down, and the longer he stayed enraged, the higher the risk of him losing his mind. That didn’t sit well with me. The tree giant shouldn’t have to suffer because of some idiot with a chainsaw. He was just protecting himself.

  I released a slow breath, gripping the steering wheel tightly as I sent calming thoughts toward the tree giant. The magic in me slipped out, and I could feel as it made its way to the tree and wrapped around it like a security blanket, warm and comforting. The moment I did it, I swore I felt his attention on me, but I kept driving, not wanting to draw attention to myself. And Ami didn’t give me a lot of time to get ready.

  My home was the top two floors of a twenty-story building. The very top floor was my lab, and the floor below was where I lived. I had modifications made so if anyone tried to break into my lab, they had to go through my living quarters. It wasn’t as easy as most would probably think. I managed to get my hands on the place a couple years before. At first, the realtor laughed in my face because I was too young, but when she realized I had more than enough money, she swallowed her pride and accepted my generous offer. The money spent was worth it. I needed to see the city; I needed to know what was going on. This place perfectly suited my need for control.