by Ella Summers
She threw a wink over her shoulder at him. “We’re going to see what other stealthy operations we can get up to before our next meeting.”
2
The End of Magic
Alex dangled twenty feet up in the air, one hand gripping a wooden beam.
“I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to do it.”
Alex looked down, past the many layers of the aerial obstacle course, to her sister Sera, who stood with her feet firmly on the dusty barn floor.
“Then why don’t you show me how it’s done?” Alex called out.
Sera’s eyes drank in the insanity that was Logan’s idea of good training. “I think I’ll pass. How did you even get there?”
Alex gripped the beam with her other hand and pulled herself up. “I jumped. And missed.”
She pointed up. Her failed challenge had required her to make an inhuman leap onto a platform crowned with a mini trampoline, then bounce off the trampoline to make an even more inhuman leap toward a gym rope that hung from the ceiling. Yeah, so none of that had gone to plan.
“But luckily, I slammed into this beam.” Alex thumped the sole of her shoe against the wooden plank she was standing on.
“Luck?” A smirk curled Sera’s lips. “Or skill.”
“Oh, right, skill. Definitely skill. That sounds loads better than sheer dumb luck,” Alex said as Logan jumped down from the next level, landing as softly as a cat beside her. She turned to him. “You make it look too easy.”
“Practice makes perfect.”
“You know, honey, I’m starting to have second thoughts about the hellish obstacle course we built in this barn. Being a gravity-defying ninja sounded way cooler in my head.” She sighed. “If I could only use magic, this course would be a whole lot less impossible.”
“Perhaps, but what fun would that be?” he countered.
Alex beamed at him. “Indeed.”
She stared out across the obstacle before them: a wide, empty gap that ended abruptly in a solid wall. There were handholds screwed to the wall, but they were few and far between.
At the edge of the plank they stood on, three words were etched into the wood: mind the gap. Alex snorted. Logan had written that message. He had a peculiar sense of humor. But then again, so did she. That’s why they got along so well.
She kicked off the platform, leaping across the expanse, toward the wall. Her fingertips hooked on to the handholds. Her feet found two small wedges further down. Then she climbed straight up the wall like an oversized gecko. Logan passed her on the way up.
“Showoff!” she called out.
A few more wedges and she’d reached the platform. She pulled herself up, then locked her legs and arms around the fire pole and slid all the way down to the ground.
Sera was waiting there for her, along with her fiancé Kai Drachenburg. Kai was dressed in a fitted black t-shirt and a pair of jeans, as usual. Come to think of it, Alex couldn’t remember if she’d ever seen him in anything else. It was kind of his thing.
“So, what brings you here, sis?” Alex asked Sera.
“Just came over to borrow a cup of sugar.”
Alex grinned at her. “Like you would ask before taking.”
Sera matched her grin. “And like either of us has any use for cooking supplies.”
“True. Our men do the cooking. I’m pretty good at ordering pizza, though.”
“And eating it.”
“We should have another pizza party,” Alex told her sister.
“Oh, yes. Definitely. We haven’t had a pizza party in ages.”
“The last one was four days ago,” Kai reminded Sera.
She nodded. “Yeah, like I said, ages ago.”
Alex laughed. She was so glad to be living next door to her sister. When their friend Naomi had told them the two properties neighboring her own had come onto the market, Alex and Sera had jumped at the opportunity. They were a bit out of the city, sections of some grand old former wine estate, but it was peaceful here. There wasn’t another soul around for miles. They could eat, party, and play loud music late into the night. And no one complained, not even Naomi’s twins. Those baby boys could sleep through an earthquake.
“I do like what you’ve done with the place,” Sera commented, looking around the barn.
When Alex and Logan had bought the property, the barn had been filled with rotting wine barrels and lots and lots of straw. The earthy, subtly-sweet scent still lingered in the air here, even weeks after they’d transformed the barn into a gym, complete with three vertical levels of aerial obstacles.
“This place feels weird,” Kai commented, looking up.
“That would be the total lack of magic you’re feeling,” Alex told him. “Logan saturated the barn in a magic-silencing field.”
It was exactly like the one the Convictionites used.
“It’s all part of my training.” Alex sighed.
“It will get easier,” Logan assured her. “With practice.”
Easy for him to say. The anti-magic field didn’t work on him. He could still use his supernatural speed, strength, and all his other gifts.
“Life never gets easier,” Alex said. “I just get stronger.”
“A good motto to live by,” Kai commented.
“Yes, it is,” said Sera. “Though, just for once, I wouldn’t mind if life could go a little easy on us. At least for a bit.”
“You said it, sister,” Alex agreed.
Logan had put up the anti-magic field so that Alex wouldn’t use her magic as a crutch, so she had to get through the obstacle course on pure physical prowess. She’d been doing stretches every morning and every evening to improve her flexibility, and she’d put in a lot of hours at the gym to boost her strength—but she was still convinced there were parts of the course that were outright impossible without magic.
Alex wouldn’t lie; the obstacle course was brutal. She often had to remind herself of why she was doing this.
Last month, Logan had tracked down and interrogated a former Convictionite general, a soldier who had deserted the cause when he’d learned of his leaders’ hypocrisy, that they used magic to fight magic. And from that disillusioned general, Logan had learned of the horrible, anti-supernatural weapon being built at a facility in Europe.
That Convictionite base in Zurich was the reason Alex had spent the last several weeks training on this ridiculous obstacle course. Because their way into the building was ridiculous and dangerous. Even so, it was the only plan they had.
The base had been decked out with anti-magic generators, devices that effectively silenced any and all magic in the building. She and Logan would have to break into the base without magic–and they’d have to do it from the roof. Hence the aerial acrobatics.
The roof. That’s where one of the Convictionites’ fancy anti-magic generators was pumping out magic-killing mojo. Logan had scouted out the site; he’d stolen blueprints. This was the base’s point of weakness, and they had to exploit it. If they could destroy the anti-magic generator on the roof before proceeding into the building, the tables would turn in their favor. And their chances of defeating the Convictionites’ forces would vastly improve.
If they defeated the Convictionites there, where the bulk of their forces were concentrated, they could end this forever. End the machinations and manipulations. End the nonstop, never-ending hate campaign. End the killings. End the collateral damage. Just end it, once and for all. And then they could focus on rebuilding everything the Convictionites had destroyed.
But if they failed, if the Convictionites unleashed their weapon, then it would be all over. The general Logan had interrogated didn’t know much about the weapon, but he had said this: it was a weapon to end all magic and those who wielded it. The general didn’t have a problem with that part. His issue was with how the weapon ended magic: by using magic. He’d called the weapon foul, horrible, and unclean, and he wasn’t wrong about that. Not because it used magic, though. But because it was d
esigned for mass genocide. That’s what made it so terrible.
And that’s why Alex was fighting. That’s why she was training every day. That’s why she was risking her life. For a better future, a future without people like the Convictionites in it.
“Now that you’re done training, do you think you could turn that off?” Sera asked, glancing at the controls to the anti-magic field. “Kai is right. It feels so weird in here. That empty magic vacuum itches my skin.”
“And leaves a funny taste in my mouth. Yeah, it does feel horrible, doesn’t it?” Alex agreed.
Logan hit the switch to turn it off. Instantly, Alex felt better. It felt like stepping back into the world of color after being trapped in a black-and-white nightmare.
“Thank you,” Alex said, smiling at Logan.
He bowed. “My pleasure.”
“He’s always so suave, isn’t he?” Sera commented to Alex.
“Absolutely,” she agreed. “He even knows the purpose for all the different pieces of silverware they have at fancy restaurants. I find it easier to just eat with my hands.” She winked at Logan.
He was horrified, but he did a damn good job of hiding it.
“Hey, you knew what you were getting into when you proposed to me,” she told him.
“And a very pretty, very public proposal it was,” Kai chuckled. “Stories of it floated down every corridor of—”
“Are you sure you want to finish that sentence, Drachenburg?” Logan cut him off.
“I always finish what I start.”
“As do I.”
Their stares were locked—Logan’s green eyes and Kai’s blue ones.
Sera fanned herself. “Quick, Alex, where’s the fainting couch?”
“There is none. But I am totally going to order one.”
“I hear they have them at Medieval Essentials, that new shop that just opened up south of the city.”
“Meet you there Sunday at ten o’clock?”
“I’ll be there,” Sera agreed.
“Do you need me to fan you a little?”
“No, I’m good. But I might change my mind.”
“Yeah, I’m kind of waiting for them both to tear off their shirts and start wrestling.”
“We’ll need to get some mud.”
“And a camera crew,” Alex added.
Logan and Kai redirected their stony looks…at Alex and Sera.
“Maybe we shouldn’t fantasize so loudly,” Sera said to Alex.
“Nonsense. They like it when we drool over them.”
“Are you two comedians finished?” Kai asked coolly, but he did look kind of pleased.
So did Logan, for that matter.
“I don’t know. Are we finished?” Alex looked at her sister.
“I guess so, if they’re not going to do anything interesting.” Sera winked at Kai, then returned her attention to Alex. “So, anyways, sis, we were hoping you two would join us for lunch.”
Kai’s eyes narrowed.
“Ok, I was hoping,” Sera amended. “But Kai offered to cook, so he must want you to come over too.”
“Well, I am hungry.” Alex’s stomach growled. “Being a ninja is exhausting.”
“You’ve been holed up in this barn for so long that we were sure you and Logan had run off and eloped together.” Smirking, Sera glanced down at Alex’s ring.
In turn, Alex took her sister’s hand and looked at her ring. “Actually, I’m surprised you haven’t gone off and eloped yet.”
Sera sighed. “I have to admit that I’ve been sorely tempted on more than one occasion.”
Alex chuckled. “I’m tempted too, but then I would never miss a chance for a good party. And lots of food.”
Sera’s eyes twinkled. “And a double wedding with my sister.”
Three muscular men dressed in full-body leather armor walked into the barn. Tony, Dal, and Callum worked for Kai. Sera called them his commandos, and that pretty much summed up what they did.
Tony’s dark eyes panned across the obstacle course overhead. “Now that is impressive.”
“If only Alex hadn’t broken it,” Dal laughed.
“It is not broken,” Alex declared, even as a piece of wood hit the floor. She added quickly, “In my defense, the course did try very hard to kill me.”
“How many times has Alex broken this obstacle course, Logan?” Callum asked in his very pleasant, very charming, pretty-blond-boy, kid-next-door kind of way.
“Many,” replied Logan.
He didn’t sound upset. He sounded proud. Logan wasn’t a big fan of damsels in distress. He’d rather have a woman who could break an impossible obstacle course than a girl who couldn’t do anything at all, who couldn’t keep up with him. It certainly was a challenge keeping up with a skilled assassin who’d been magically engineered. He was fast, strong, and resilient to magical and physical attacks. And Alex did appreciate his stamina in other ways too.
“I recognize that evil curl of your lips, Alex,” Sera said.
Oops. Busted.
“You’re plotting something,” Sera continued. “What is it?”
“If only you knew,” Alex replied with a devilish wink.
She didn’t mention that the extent of her evil plans was imagining Logan naked. And her there naked with him.
“So, I heard there was lunch?” Alex said.
“Hamburgers,” Kai told her. “From the grill.”
“Well, then what are we doing standing around in this stuffy barn? Lead the way.”
As they left the barn, Alex fell into step beside Sera, leaving the boys to take the lead down the path of pretty pink bushes.
“So lay it out, Sera. How did the wedding planning go this morning? What’s the latest catastrophe?”
“What makes you think there was a catastrophe?”
“The defeated look in your eyes. And your magic. It’s pretty agitated. Right now, it feels like one of those little wind-up toys.”
“That’s an accurate description of how I’m feeling at the moment.” Sera shook her head. “The only thing keeping me sane through all the planning is that Naomi and Kai’s sister are doing most of it.”
“And my friend Marek,” Alex noted with amusement.
“He is a very nice man, Alex. But I have to inform you that he’s driving Naomi crazy. They are arguing over literally everything. The decorations. The designs. The seating arrangements. The whole damn order of proceedings.”
“Well, Marek does come from a very posh family.” Alex wrapped her arm around Sera. “And so does your fiancé, by the way.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve come to terms with the reality that Kai refuses to recognize peanut butter as food.”
Alex snorted.
“Today Naomi and Marek were fighting over the bridal bouquet. She wants lilies. He wants roses. They tried to drag me into it.”
“What did you tell them?” Alex asked her.
“I told them that if they didn’t stop bickering, I was going to pick dandelions.”
“Did that work?”
Sera shrugged. “They pretended to stop fighting, but they continued to shoot icy glares at each other from across the table. That’s when I decided to get out of there. I went to find Kai, and we walked here to invite you over for lunch.”
“Don’t worry, Sera. Food has a way of making problems just go away.”
“Yeah, it does. I can’t wait to eat some—”
Thunder cut through her words like a hot knife. Lightning danced above Sera’s house. In an instant, a swarm of dark clouds had covered the sunny sky.
Alex sniffed the air. “Do you smell something burning?”
“Oh, crap.”
Sera took off running toward the smoke that was wafting up from her house.
3
The Final Mission
Alex closed in beside Sera. “Did you set the house on fire again?” she asked, her gaze tracking the dark plume of smoke rising up from the roof.
Sera didn’t slow down.
“I never set the house on fire.”
“Yesterday, there was smoke rising from your house,” Alex pointed out. “I could see it all the way from my patio.”
“That was Kai.”
“Blowing out hot air again, Drachenburg?” Logan asked smoothly.
Kai flashed his teeth at him.
“He was trying to fix the old barbecue grill,” Sera said.
“That’s why houses should be made of concrete,” Kai stated. “So they don’t catch on fire so easily.”
“No one wants to live in a concrete bunker, honey,” Sera told him.
Kai snorted. Clearly, he saw advantages to living in a concrete bunker.
Sera frowned at the smoke. “I think they’re at it again.”
They’d reached the old wood farmhouse. Black marks marred the exterior; it had obviously survived its share of fires over the years.
“It doesn’t appear to be on fire right now,” said Alex.
“The smoke is coming from the back,” Logan said.
They circled around the house. There they found Naomi and Marek standing on opposite ends of the large grassy field that was the backyard. Marek’s dark, almost-black eyes were locked with Naomi’s hazel ones. Usually, her eyes were aquamarine, but she’d inherited more than a few tricks from the fairy side of her family, one of those abilities being the magic of glamour.
On the old porch sat Makani. And across from him was Eva, who happened to be both Naomi’s cousin and Marek’s girlfriend. Neither Makani nor Eva seemed to care that a copious amount of thick, dark smoke was rising from the old wooden box of hay behind Naomi; they were completely focused on the chess board that rested on the old wine barrel wedged between them. Each of them held one of Naomi’s baby boys, Draken and Angel.
At the edge of the porch, Lara stood with her back leaning against a support post, her lips curled in amusement as she watched Naomi and Marek’s silent standoff. Unlike Kai, his twenty-two-year-old sister enjoyed a little dash of mayhem in her morning coffee. That was one of the reasons Alex liked her so much.
Naomi’s gaze flickered to Alex, and her eyes turned purple. “Alex. He has to go.” Her gaze flickered back to Marek, and she planted her hands on her hips.
