by T. G. Ayer
He floated closer and stopped a few feet from us. Raising a hand, he gestured in our direction and I fought against flinching.
Natasha let out a soft breath, lifting her—so recently injured—hand to shoulder length. Her expression made me smile.
More murderous than grateful.
“Do that again Saito, and I will not be held responsible for what I do to you.”
That surprised me, but all the sorcerer did was give her a slow nod, as if conceding and agreeing.
It made me wonder which of the two was the stronger adversary.
Then he turned to me and said, “Let me not waste any more of your time.”
He reached into the air in front of him, pulled a string of small pieces of red-painted wood, and tossed it so it spun in a slow circle. He muttered words I didn’t recognize, words that hit me with harsh pulsating beats of energy, as if he was pounding his power into the wood.
As they spun I began to count them absently, my mind bouncing off what Saito was saying or doing.
I frowned and looked at Natasha who leaned over to whisper, “A magical ward. Protects his spell from being heard out loud.”
“Guy has trust issues,” I muttered watching the spinning charms.
Eight in all, they began to glow and tumble. From the corner of my eye I saw the flash of a red tail as the sorcerer shed his cape and ten-gallon and emerged fully into the sunlight.
I sucked in a shocked breath.
I’m not entirely sure what I’d expected him to look like, but this magically perfect blend of human and fox was so attractive I found my eyebrows rising in surprise.
“He’s . . . “
“Hot?” asked Natasha, the corner of her mouth curling.
I let out a muffled snort. “For a canine.”
She choked on a laugh but I was no longer paying attention. Even the good looks of an arsehole of a sorcerer weren’t able to distract me from my own personal haunting.
Thankfully, I didn’t need to say anything further. The string of wooden beads stopped spinning and as they ceased their tumbling, my eyes widened. He’d formed each piece of wood into a magical glyph, copying every one of the drawings and forming a string of quite cute charms.
Saito flicked a hand out and the charms floated toward me.
“You must keep them all on your person at all times. They work in concert with each other. While you wear them, you will be protected from the possession. But be aware that the spellcaster, the person responsible for sending this pestilence to you, will become aware of its sudden ineffectiveness soon enough. And he will most likely strengthen the spell. Should that happen, you may find me again to increase the power.”
“Why not increased the power now?”
“Because long periods of exposure to the magic can kill you.”
Sounds like I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.
Thankfully, I didn’t say it out loud. Besides, any reprieve from the poltergeist would be good.
I wound the charms around my wrist to form a chunky bracelet and looked up at the sorcerer. “Thank you,” I said, grateful that he’d delivered. I was about to ask about payment when he lifted a hand and cut me off.
“You were sent by the Ancients. I do not require payment in their service.”
I glanced at Natasha who looked about as surprised as I felt.
Neither of us got to ask him any further questions. He floated away, back to his dune, then settled onto the sand.
His dark eyes settled on Natasha’s. “Witch.” He inclined his head and gave her a cool smile. “Until next time.”
Then he disappeared, leaving us alone with his octopus-spider pet.
I took one look at the creature as it gathered itself into a huddle, preparing to leap, and grabbed hold of Natasha’s hand.
“We need to get the hell out of here.”
Chapter 33
We arrived on Natasha’s doorstep so fast that neither of us were able to stop our momentum, and ended up falling onto the floor in a tangle of limbs.
“Bastard,” snapped Natasha as she got to her feet and dusted herself off.
I didn’t point out that dusting her clothing was completely irrelevant since her shirt was covered in bloodstains, and torn in two places from the jagged edges of the stones.
I stood and stared at the charms, wondering if he’d really did as promised.
Natasha must have noticed the focus of my concentration. “Don’t worry. He’s a dick but he’s true to his word.”
I glanced up at her and gave her a half smile.
One she didn’t return.
Uh-oh.
She was angry, yes, but worse was her expression, filled with hurt and anger.
“Natasha . . . I—”
She lifted her hand as imperiously as Saito had. “I don’t need an explanation.”
My mouth hung open, emotions warring within me. Do I force an apology on her now, or do I wait until she’d calmed down? Though an outwardly calm person, Natasha possessed a deep well-spring of emotion which usually fed her magic.
Now, her body sent waves of hurt and anger my way.
“I would have told you—”
Natasha turned and walked to the front door. She opened it, her back stiff, her fingers tight. On the threshold she turned to look over her shoulder at me. “Whatever you hoped to achieve . . . just be careful of the methods you use to obtain it.”
I couldn’t stand the hurt in her eyes. “Darius said—”
She turned to face me, her silvery eyes dark gray and iridescent. “I understand,” she shrugged, “and perhaps I might have made the same call given the circumstances.” She sighed and opened the door, beckoning me inside.
The shadows beneath her eyes screamed weariness—she’d be feeling worse than I was, having had her body pulverized. Even though Saito had healed her broken arm, she’d need time to rest before she was back to her usual self.
I was about to accept her invitation—even if just as a means to smooth things over—when my phone buzzed. A quick glance showed Steph’s name and the word Urgent! blinking in green.
I glanced up at Natasha, my apology ready. But she smiled and waved me off. The hurt was still evident in her eyes but I had some hope we could get over this. I had to believe that considering I was losing people every side I turned.
I should have trusted her, but Darius had expected my confidence.
He’d specifically said to tell nobody.
And nobody included Natasha, no matter how close I was to her.
That she felt hurt by my omission, was both unavoidable and unfortunate. There was nothing I could do apart from apologize and explain.
My stomach twisted as I entertained—for the briefest moment—the possibility that she may never forgive me.
The phone buzzed again, this time Urgent came with four exclamation marks.
Sighing, I gave Natasha a small wave and jumped straight home.
“Is that you Mel?” she yelled.
I hurried up the stairs, shrugging out of my jacket. The inner lining was drenched with sweat and I was sure there was no saving it.
I’d have to throw it out.
Taking care to watch where I was going, I reached the top of the stairs, the clinking of my new wrist bling reminded me that the likelihood of a replay of the stairway-to-pain incident was very low.
I headed up to the comms room, making a face as I peeled my sodden shirt from my back. I needed a shower so badly.
The door to the comms room was ajar and I slipped inside to see both Erik and Steph staring up at the giant monitor.
“What’s going on?”
Erik turned to look at me for a brief second. “The motion sensor finally picked up movement that led to something incriminating. We’ve got a recording.” He’d already turned his attention back to the monitor as he spoke.
I hurried closer, and wasn’t surprised to see Elise on the screen. She was standing over Raulfir, face contorted with fury.
“I guess she found out she’s lost Silvanya. Certainly took her long enough to come to him.”
Steph snorted. “Yeah, and she does not look happy.”
Erik shook his head. “It’s no joke. You do not know what my mother is like when she’s on the warpath.”
I suspected that Erik was concerned for Raulfir and turned my attention back to the screen. Elise appeared to be shouting instructions at the elf king, who was currently staring at her, shaking his head violently. The man did know how to act. You would never tell from his horrified expression that he knew that his daughter was safe.
“Do we not have sound on this?” I asked, annoyed that I couldn’t hear what was being said.
Erik nodded. “There was some kind of a glitch in the feed, but the sound will be back.”
Before I could ask him if he’d already seen the entire video, the sound returned and Elise’s voice echoed through the speakers.
“I don’t have time to waste. With your daughter gone, I’m afraid you are going to have to pick up on the slack. If you don’t keep up with my schedule, I’ll be forced to return to Kil’rith realm and retrieve more of your family.”
The smile on Elise’s face was cold, completely emotionless and downright scary.
Raulfir shook his head. “My daughter and I are the only two people in my realm able to produce these diamonds. The talent is extremely rare. You know this.”
Elise shook her head. “I hardly see that as my problem. If your family is unable to produce the diamonds, it won’t take much to get rid of the lot of them. Don’t elves die in a burst of bright white light, leaving behind not a single trace?”
I was horrified that she would even think of such a thing, but again, I was not surprised. The only problem with her plan was Raulfir wasn’t about to give in to her.
“And don’t think for a moment that I believe only two of you have the power. I’ll level Kil’rith looking for more Agamas Elves if I have to.”
Raulfir’s face paled. He took a halting breath. “Okay. Very well. I will do whatever you ask. Just leave my people alone.”
When Elise moved around Raulfir, her hand came into view—she held something long and metallic within her fist.
The metal glowed with a subdued red light, and my stomach tightened. I’d seen such a weapon, one used by police and law enforcement agencies to subdue rioters.
With one marked difference. Its adaptation from its original purpose, to a tool used across various supernatural races to exact abuse.
A tweak here and there, and the weapon moved from an electrically-charged baton, to a branding iron. Every blow contained a blast of electricity, which included a deadly burn that seared through two layers of skin and sometimes reached bone depending on the force used.
From what I’d seen of Raulfir’s arm, Elise had already taken advantage of him.
She raised the baton and slammed it down on his back. His scream echoed around the room and the hair on the nape of my neck stood on end. Instinctively, I scanned the room, relieved that Silvanya was not here to witness this horror.
Thankfully, Elise kept her torture to a single instance, and stood back to glare at Raulfir. “I can keep going all day. Tell me your decision and I can end this.”
Raulfir nodded, almost sobbing as he gasped for air. “I’ll do it. I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever it is you want, just as long as you leave my family out of this.”
She smiled, a triumphant grin, more demonic than satisfied. “Very well, now get to work.”
She took a few steps back and leaned against the wall watching Raulfir.
Waiting.
The elf shifted position, just enough for me to catch a glimpse of a large container of sand that had been placed in front of his feet.
I hid a wince.
I’d had just about enough sand to last me a lifetime.
Suppressing a shudder, I focused on the elf king. He gazed down at the sand and pointed his long elegant fingers toward it. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly and as the air passed out of his lungs lightning shot from his fingers, white and eye-wateringly bright.
It hit the sand and exploded, the entire room filling with light. Elise had been smart enough to bring shades with her, which in turn was evidence enough that this wasn’t her first rodeo.
As Raulfir sat back to reveal his handiwork, Elise smiled and stepped forward. She rummaged within the grains of sand and withdrew a handful of glittering diamonds.
I let out a shallow breath and relaxed, but only for a moment. The rest of the tape was pretty much the same, as Elise stood watching and the elf continued to send lightning into the sand and give her what she wanted.
The process very much resembled the formation of fulgurites in our earthly plane where lightning struck sand and created strangely-shaped crystals.
I’d never known that such a strike could create diamonds of such purity that people from across the world would bid astronomical amounts to buy them.
It was enough for a girl to lose faith in humanity.
As I watched the tape, steeling myself against the urge to jump straight to Hong Kong and knock Elise’s lights out, my gut hardened with satisfaction.
With this tape, we had enough to put her away for the rest of her life. “I wonder why it took her this long to come see him?”
Erik shrugged. “Who knows. Probably her guards tried to hide their failure from her. Does it really matter?”
I stared at him. “Of course, it matters. We could be walking straight into a trap.”
His eyebrows fluttered. “Yeah. I hadn’t thought of that.” His lips twisted into a sheepish smile and he turned back to the screen to stare at the image of his mother, frozen in time as she gloated over a handful of shimmering diamonds.
I looked over at Steph. “I need a copy of that. Stat.”
She reached over to the table and handed me a small flash drive, giving me a wink. “Way ahead of you, sister.”
I rolled my eyes, took the flash drive and said, “Tell Silvanya that I’ll be back soon. Let’s hope we’re able to return her father to her very soon.”
With the nod at Erik, I headed to my room. My shirt was soaked with perspiration, the wet fabric now growing colder after exposure to the air.
I needed a shower.
Stat.
After a quick and very uneventful shower, which also happened to be strange considering I didn’t remove the chunky jewelry, I threw on jeans and a black shirt, staring at my daggers as I stowed them into my boots.
They were becoming a backup I seldom needed.
With a sigh, I teleported straight to the Elite Headquarters across town.
Chapter 34
I arrived in the front hall of the Elite Headquarters, disoriented for a moment at how homely the place looked. It was a suburban residence after all, converted into the base of operations for the newly-created investigative unit of the Supreme High Council.
The empty hall—the air heavy with the scent of furniture polish and an overpowering floral scent I failed to identify—was all that greeted me and I hesitated, shrugging my satchel higher up my shoulder, uncertain if I should yell for assistance, or exercise patience.
I chose patience under the assumption that being a supernatural agency, they’d have methods of detecting unannounced arrivals.
Man, you are so over-thinking things.
I waited in the front living room for a while, pacing lengths across the floor, wondering if this was the best—or more likely the worst—decision I’ve ever made. What if I endangered Raulfir’s life with our plan? But what if Elise lashed out and hurt his family back in their realm?
But I had to do something about it. And Silvanya was relying on me. I had to believe we would get him out safely.
And the Elite was the only way I knew how.
A slim older woman hurried into the waiting room. She peered at me through black-rimmed glasses, giving me a sweet smile. “High Councilman Carter is ready to see
you now. If you will follow me.”
I hurried after her as she led me down the hall. The place was decorated beautifully, the hall shadowed, but not so dark that it would appear in a negative light. Small flickering lamps dotted the wood-paneled wall, throwing light onto old paintings, making the place seem comfortable rather than imposing.
The secretary drew to a stop and opened a door on our left, waving me inside. As soon as I entered, she closed the door behind me, and my stomach tightened.
I brushed the feeling away, annoyed that I’d fallen into a pattern of questioning everything and everyone.
There was just too much going on and I felt adrift.
An imposing pedestal desk took center stage in the small room, and even seemed to overshadow the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on the left wall. A tall, thin man rose from his seat and reached out to shake my hand.
I hurried toward the table and leaned forward greeting him with a short firm shake before releasing his hand quickly.
His eyes grazed the new jewelry on my wrist, pausing briefly before straightening. “Mel Morgan. I’m High Councilman Michael Carter.” He waved a hand, indicating one of the two armchairs flanking the front end of his desk. “I’m so glad you accepted our invitation.”
I remained standing and shook my head. “Technically this is not about your invitation.” I realized how abrupt that sounded and gave him a rueful smile. “I apologize if that seemed rude. It’s just that time is of the essence in this particular situation and I’m certain you’d appreciate me getting to the point as soon as possible.”
He frowned, but thankfully he didn’t appear annoyed or angry. More curious than anything, for which I was grateful.
He gave me a short nod. “Well, what do you have for me. What is so urgent?” He made a rolling motion with his hand, encouraging me to speak.
I reached into my pocket, retrieved the flash drive and handed over to him. “That has everything that you’ll need. But you have to move fast. I’m hoping you have the resources.” No doubt he did, although it would be complacent not to ask.
