by Linsey Hall
I followed them to the elevator, slipping on behind them.
Come on, go tell your boss.
If they took me right to the top floor, I’d be sitting pretty.
Instead, the elevator went down.
Shit.
They got off on the bottom floor.
There was a card swipe here, too, but I pressed the button for the top floor anyway, holding my breath.
Nothing happened.
Of freaking course.
I looked up, spotting a grate in the ceiling of the elevator.
Carefully, I pushed aside the grate and climbed onto the top of the elevator. The shaft was dark and musty-smelling, rising hundreds of feet overhead.
Damn, this was going to be a long climb. I started slowly, getting the hang of it. The structural support beams for the shaft acted as handholds, and eventually I was moving a lot quicker.
Hey, this wasn’t so bad.
As if fate had heard me, a rumble sounded from below. I looked down, spotting the elevator roaring up toward me.
Shit.
I pressed myself against the wall and peered back down. It was nearly to me. And there was no way that it wouldn’t hit me. There was almost no space between the sides of the shaft and the elevator.
“Crap, crap, crap.” Only one option.
The elevator was nearly to me when I jumped, trying to time it perfectly. I landed on the roof of the elevator with a thud, wincing.
Whoever was inside had to have heard that.
I lay perfectly still, not even breathing, as the grate at the top of the elevator shifted open.
Declan’s head popped through. I nearly fainted from relief.
Hang on. How the hell had that bastard gotten the elevator to work?
Declan frowned, turning in a full circle. Then he shrugged and dropped back down into the compartment.
Thank fates.
I looked up, cringing when I saw how close the ceiling was. Holy fates, this elevator was unnaturally fast. We were nearly there, with no time left to crawl into the compartment.
My skin chilled as visions of being crushed like a bug flashed in my mind. Frantic, I scanned the roof of the shaft, finally spotting a small area that looked recessed. It was right overhead. I had less than a second left.
My heart thundered as I curled into a ball, as tight and small as I could go.
The elevator stopped.
I sucked in a breath. Still alive. Not a pancake.
But I didn’t have a lot of time. The doors dinged, opening. Through the grate, I saw Declan step out. I had only seconds.
There wasn’t much room, but I managed to slide the grate to the side and slip into the elevator, then out the doors just as they were closing. It was agony to keep from panting, but I held it in, slowly surveying the huge, fancy hallway.
The first thing I noticed was the prickle of a charm against my skin. I’d bet big bucks we couldn’t transport directly off this floor. A common, anti-theft emergency measure.
Declan was nowhere to be seen, but there was a guard collapsed on the floor.
Damn, the fallen angel was fast.
I moved down the hall, heading toward the sound of a fight. By the time I made it to the huge office, there were four guards on the floor and a terrified little man pressed back against his office chair. He was bald, with crazy eyebrows.
Mauritius.
Declan leaned over the desk and set the tiny crimson orb on the gleaming wooden surface. “Tell me about the crimson orb in Magic’s Bend. It turned people to stone, and I know you made it.”
The man swallowed hard, staring up at Declan with wide eyes. “Guards are coming.”
“They won’t get here before I get my information.”
The man cowered, and I would have felt bad for him except for the fact that his magic reeked of decay and sulfur. A supernatural’s signature was an infallible clue as to the nature of his magic, and this guy was evil.
No matter how he cowered, he was still a dark magic practitioner who made dangerous spells that hurt people. Hurt my friends.
I crept into the room, scanning the space for the object that Lachlan had mentioned. Too big to be carried easily on his body, but probably not enormous. He’d keep it nearby.
Declan leaned farther over the desk, his voice hard. “Tell me how to stop the spell that’s turned people to stone. Why did you put it there?”
“I didn’t!”
I believed that, actually. Not only did he sound terrified and honest, he didn’t do his own dirty work. This might not even be his plan. Lachlan had said he sold magic, and what interest would a former Arch Magus from Toronto have in Magic’s Bend?
He’d sold the magic to someone, if I had to bet. And I’d get the truth as soon as I got his talisman.
I crept toward the desk. Mauritius’s head snapped up and toward me, his eyes narrowing. “Who’s there?”
I froze. Shit.
No way he could see me.
His nose twitched.
Smell?
Nah, I had my signature on lockdown.
Whatever it was, he was suspicious.
Declan turned to look, too, his brow furrowed. With his face fully turned away from Mauritius, he silently mouthed my name, “Aerdeca?”
Oh fates, the fallen angel was clever. He’d probably been suspicious for a while, and he knew about my ghost suit.
Almost immediately, he turned back to Mauritius, looming over him and raising a hand that he ignited with heavenly fire.
He was covering for me by distracting Mauritius. He had an inkling I was here, and he was freaking covering so I could do my shit. I’d bet a hundred bags of Cheetos on it.
Maybe it was wishful thinking, but either way, Mauritius’s eyes snapped to Declan and widened at the sight of the heavenly fire.
He was definitely distracted.
“The magic in the sphere,” Declan said. “How does it work? How do we disable it?”
“I’m not telling.” The man set his jaw.
I moved silently around the room, looking at all the knickknacks lying on various surfaces. There were a few possibilities—a beautiful crystal on a low table in front of the window. An ancient dagger on a stand. A small book.
Maybe.
I turned toward the desk where Mauritius sat.
Declan held the flame near him. “You’ve endangered dozens of lives. Maybe hundreds. Don’t think I won’t use this to get the truth out of you.”
His voice was so cold that it made even me shiver—and I was pretty much made of ice.
“You can’t scare me.” The man’s voice wavered, but there was a thread of steel to it. “This is my business. My client paid for that magic. If I tell some damned fallen angel how to disable it, then I’ve betrayed my client. I’ll lose them all if I do that.” Mauritius’s gaze dropped to a plain white coffee mug on his desk, then up to Maximus.
“Betraying just one client won’t lose all of them,” Declan said.
“You know nothing about my business.” The man scowled. “These people are ruthless. There are a lot of places you can buy the magic I sell. What I also sell is the guarantee I won’t rat them out.”
“Not even to save your life?” Declan tossed the ball of flame up in the air as if it were a baseball. “Because I’d consider it a good day to get rid of scum like you.”
The man’s gaze dropped to the coffee mug again.
I grinned.
“Damned fallen angel.” Mauritius turned pale, but crossed his arms and set his jaw.
He wasn’t going to talk.
Not when his life was threatened. That wasn’t valuable enough.
But his magic…
I grabbed the coffee mug off the counter, spotting the words World’s Best Boss in block capitals. I choked on a laugh as I darted backward.
Mauritius’s eyes widened as his coffee mug disappeared. Once I’d touched it, my ghost suit’s magic had extended to it. Mauritius lunged upward and over the desk.
Declan grabbed him by the throat, and he choked, eyes bulging.
I flipped my hood back, appearing a few feet away from them.
Declan’s gaze fell on me, and he smiled. “I thought it might be you.”
4
“Thanks for covering for me while I found this.” I tossed the cup into the air and caught it, watching with delight as Mauritius gulped like a fish.
Declan frowned. “What is it, exactly?”
“The source of his magic.” I grinned at the former Arch Magus, making sure my voice was icy. “Isn’t that right?”
“N-no idea what you’re talking about,” he stuttered.
“This has to be the world’s stupidest mug. There’s no way such a thing would mean anything to you on its own. And I have it on good authority that most of your magic is stored in a talisman.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he repeated.
I sighed. “Of course you do.” I walked in a circle around him, inspecting him. His magical signature wasn’t actually all that strong. I frowned and tapped my chin. “Is it because you aren’t strong enough to hold all this magic inside you? But you wanted great power so you stole it and stored it here?” I raised the mug. “And now you use it to fuel all the crap you do in this building?”
“It’s not crap!”
He hadn’t denied what he’d done. Who had the bastard stolen the magic from? “You turned my friends to stone. I’d say it’s crap.”
I stuck my finger through the cup’s handhold and began to spin it around. Mauritius paled even more.
“So here’s the situation,” I said. “You tell us what we want to know, or I’ll break your cup.”
“It won’t shatter. It’s protected.”
“Yes, but my friend here has heavenly fire. I’m pretty sure that will destroy it.”
Declan raised his hand. Holy fire flickered around it.
Mauritius squeaked. “But my business…”
“You won’t have any business if I destroy your magic.” I leaned closer. “And I would be delighted to.”
I had very few friends in this world, and he’d hurt them.
“I’d listen to the lady,” Declan said. “She’d do it in a heartbeat. Might as well take the risk of telling us.”
Mauritius vibrated with rage. “My staff will be coming soon.”
“Maybe.” Declan shrugged. “We’re not worried about that.”
“How do you break the spell that turned my friends to stone?” I demanded. “I’m out of patience.”
Mauritius fidgeted, his gaze going from the mug to Declan’s still flaming hand. “You can’t break the spell.”
“What the hell do you mean?” I was going to break the damned mug out of spite.
“Only the person who deployed the orb and cast the spell can break it.” He smiled evilly. “A little safeguard I put in place.”
Dick. “Who deployed the orb?”
He shut his mouth tight.
I strode toward Declan, holding out the mug so he could grab it with his flaming hand. He reached for it.
Mauritius jerked in Declan’s grip. “Wait!”
“Who?”
“An Oraxia demon.”
I frowned. “What is that?”
“Don’t know everything, do you?” He smirked.
“You’re an irritating little worm,” I said. “Now tell me, what kind of demon is that?”
He shrugged. “From the Dark World, I think. Some kind of mercenary.”
Made sense it would be a demon, since the Council had drafted me for this. “Mercenary? Who was he working for?”
This was the biggest question: who would do this, and why?
“I don’t know.”
Damn it.
I believed him. I didn’t want to, but I did. Not only was I good at discerning lies, but he was a bad liar and scared to death on top of that.
“So, only the demon can break the spell. How?”
“There’s a disengagement charm he must say. Just him. Only his voice will disengage them.”
Shit, shit, shit. My friends could be stone forever. And demons were really hard to threaten. They were so violent and goal oriented that they didn’t have a normal creature’s fear of death. It was why they made great mercenaries.
“Wait…” I frowned. “Did you say, them?”
Mauritius snapped his jaw shut.
“How many?” Declan demanded. “How many orbs did you sell him?” He shook Mauritius lightly.
“Six,” he choked out.
Oh, quadruple shit. Six?
Declan shook Mauritius again. “What else do we need to know?”
“Nothing!”
“Tell us. I can see it in your eyes.”
Mauritius frowned. “If he dies, or all of his orbs are deployed, the spell will be permanent.”
Permanent. Just the word made me want to vomit.
My friends’ lives were at risk, and we had no idea who was doing this. And the only way to figure it out was to catch the damned demon. He was our only clue.
The sound of footsteps in the hall caught my attention. At least a dozen pairs, some of them belonging to really big people.
My gaze caught on Declan. “Time to go.”
The first mage barreled into the room a moment later.
He nodded and let go of Mauritius.
“Hey, Declan,” I said. “Catch.”
I tossed the coffee mug to him. Instinct made him reach up and grab it with his flaming right hand. The coffee mug incinerated.
Mauritius shrieked, a sound of such rage that the hair on my arms stood up.
I looked at him and grinned like a shark. “That’s for being such a bastard.”
“You didn’t keep your word.” He turned hot eyes on us, full of hatred.
“Nope.” I only kept my word to Mari. Fuck this guy.
The mage who’d run into the room raised a hand that flamed red, ready to hurl a fireball at us. Four more mages piled into the room after him, their signatures a clashing combination of rotten garlic, burning tires, icy wind, and acidic slime.
There was a door behind Mauritius leading into another part of the building. I sprinted for it, flipping up my hood as I ran.
I glanced back in time to see the fire mage hurl a fireball right at me. At the last second, I darted left, feeling the heat of it against my cheek. Declan dodged a massive icicle that would have pierced his heart.
I sprinted through the door that led to the back room, and Declan followed.
The room was some kind of workshop, full of tables and glass walls that divided it into smaller spaces. All sorts of potion ingredients and tools sat on the tables, with magical charms in various states of creation.
The mages hurtled into the room after us, hurling fireballs, icicles, and sonic booms. The air lit up with magic and color. Declan dived behind one of the glass walls and flipped a heavy table to use as cover.
I sprinted to join him, ducking behind the wooden barricade. All around, the glass walls exploded as the mages pelted them with magic. Glass rained down.
“Where are you?” Declan muttered.
“Two feet to your right.”
“We can’t transport off this floor. We need to break a window.”
“Leave that to me.”
“I’ll take care of the mages.” He popped up from behind the table and shot a small blast of lightning at the closest fire mage. The man lit up like a firecracker.
I sprinted toward the huge wall of windows to my right, drawing my mace as I ran. Magic exploded in the air, fire and ice and lightning. Behind me, Declan took out the mages with his lightning, but more of them were coming.
Mauritius was shrieking in the next room, “Get them! Kill them!”
I neared the window, swinging my mace to work up some speed. Once it was really going, I slammed it into the exterior glass. It shattered, raining out and down onto the sidewalk. I prayed no one was taking an evening stroll.
I turned toward Declan, who was already up and racing toward me. I flipped my hood back so he could see me. His brow relaxed as his eyes caught on me. His wings flared from his back, glinting ebony in the light.
When he reached me, he grabbed me around the waist and swung me up. I clutched him around the neck, and he leapt into the sky, his wings catching on the air and carrying us high.
Bitter wind swept my hair back from my face as we shot upward, away from Mauritius’s building. I looked back, catching sight of the mages standing in the broken glass wall. They threw fire and ice at us, but Declan dodged easily.
Soon, we were out of range.
I laughed. “Holy fates, that was a great exit.”
Declan grinned, gripping me tightly. I looked at him.
Damn, he was handsome. And smart. And brave. And strong.
Oookay, chill, girl. If I was going to have thoughts like that, I might as well get a pink diary with a lock on it and scrawl them inside. But I’d never had that sort of childhood, and I had no plans to regress.
Anyway, I couldn’t trust him. That was the end of things, as far as I was concerned.
I shivered and tucked closer to Declan’s heat, enjoying the warmth that welled within me. I could do that without trusting him.
He flew us toward a flat rooftop and landed, setting me down. Up here, the windchill was absolutely freezing, and snow pelted my face.
I dug a transport charm out of my pocket and met his gaze. “You coming?”
He nodded.
I chucked the transport charm to the ground, then stepped into the cloud of sparkling gray dust. The ether sucked me in and spat me out in Magic’s Bend, on the street in front of my house.
It was cold here, but compared to Toronto, it was basically balmy. A freaking tropical isle. It was much earlier evening here, with people still on the sidewalks. Ancient-looking street lamps cast a golden glow on the street, and the old Victorian buildings rose three stories high on either side of the street. Their grimy exteriors really gave the place a dark-magic feel, but nothing compared to Mauritius’s office tower.
Declan arrived next to me, looking around. “You brought us to your place.”
“Got a better idea?”
“Nope.” He turned to me. “You destroyed his magic.”
“Of course I did. He’s a bastard. No way I’m keeping my word to a bastard.”