Arcane Kiss (Talents Book 1)

by Knight, Angela

  Dave grunted. “Whatever the technical issues are, the Fords must have overcome them, or the bastards wouldn’t have killed all these people to begin with.”

  “My thoughts exactly.” She huffed out a breath and rubbed her shoulders. “I’ve got to get Sawyer to call that FBI Special Agent and tell her what’s going on.”

  “Wait a minute.” He touched her arm. “The Fords know that spell is still here, right?”

  “Oh, yes,” a female voice purred from the darkness. “I am well aware the spell was just waiting for the right sacrifice to bring it back to life.” A slim woman dressed in a formfitting white bodysuit stepped out of thin air, a rifle in her hands. A white mask covered her face except for a slit across her eyes. “And look -- here you are!”

  “Fuck!” he spat, and reached for his magic.

  Before he could manifest, a blur of snarling orange shot past. Dave cleared twenty feet in that single leap. For a heartbeat he seemed to hang in the air, huge paws lifted.

  The bear blazed out of nowhere and slammed into him like a defensive lineman sacking a quarterback. The two tumbled across the arena, a clawing, biting ball of roaring fury.

  “Shit!” Gen spun toward them instinctively. It was a fatal distraction.

  Indigo pounced on Genevieve from behind, whipping her left arm around her neck and jamming the point of a knife against her throat. Fisting her left hand in her hair, the Arcanist hauled her backward across the bloody sand.

  “Indigo, let her go!” Sparks exploded as Kurt manifested his tiger and sprang after them. “Or I’ll rip your fucking heart out!”

  Snarls and roars thundered behind him from Dave’s battle with the bear, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off the terrorist and her captive.

  Indigo sneered. “Try it and she dies.”

  Genevieve’s desperate blue gaze met his. A trail of blood rolled down the pale column of her throat, shining wet in the moonlight.

  Stoli roared in the depths of Kurt’s mind, his magic vibrating the surrounding air in a rolling wave. He wanted to crush her skull with one bite.

  She’d slit Gen’s throat before we had time to take her down. Our only chance is to stall, play for time, look for an opportunity to take her off balance.

  “Years!” Indigo screamed at him over the roars of the battling Ferals. “Do you know how many years we worked to bring off that spell? Slipping into politicians’ homes in Spook Suits, searching for hair or half-eaten food -- anything we could get DNA from… And you and this cunt tried to fuck it all up!” She shook Genevieve’s head by the hair, sending another bead of blood rolling from her knife.

  “You can’t kill the President and the entire Congress!” Gen gritted, despite the blade pricking her skin.

  “Shut up, Gen!” In his fury and desperation, Kurt’s magic amplified his voice until it rolled over the arena far louder than he’d intended.

  “Yeah, shut up,” Indigo snarled, digging the knife a little deeper as she hauled Gen backward another pace, trying to put distance between herself and Kurt’s blazing tiger.

  Where the hell are the cops and FBI agents who are supposed to be guarding BFS? Have these psychos killed them all? Hell, considering the number of cops they killed yesterday, why not? They’d already bought themselves the death penalty. They couldn’t be executed twice.

  “Your precious President campaigned on stripping Talents of our rights!” Indigo snarled. “NTRA’s just the first step of tracking us so we can be rounded up and forced into internment camps -- even killed whenever the hell they want. Those bastards are doing everything possible to punish us for crimes we might commit! Not have, might! We have to get them before they get us.”

  “Which will legitimize their bigotry and turn them into martyrs!”

  “Better them than us.” She thrust the knife harder into Genevieve’s throat.

  Gen went rigid, throwing her chin up to avoid the vicious point. Grabbing the other woman’s wrist in both hands, she fought to haul her captor’s arm back, angling her head into the crook of Indigo’s elbow, trying to get room enough to breathe.

  Twisting her fist in Gen’s hair, Indigo cranked backward, hauling the shorter woman onto her toes. “Quit fighting me, or your boyfriend is going to watch you die just like Daddy.”

  Kurt met Gen’s eyes and gave his head a tiny shake. Don’t fight, let me handle her. If he could just distract the little psycho… “Indigo, NTRA is unconstitutional and everybody knows it. We’ve got a chance in the next election. But if you assassinate five hundred people, they’re going to crack down even harder on us.”

  “They’ve got it coming,” the witch snarled. “Ford and I served for three decades in hellholes you’ve never even heard of. I was captured by Al Qaeda four years ago, and they tortured me. Your precious Bigot-in-Chief said they wouldn’t negotiate with terrorists. Virgil had to disobey orders to rescue me. Hell, he had to kill his own Familiar or he…”

  ”What?” It was the worst betrayal a Feral could commit against his Familiar. Then again, they’ve been making human sacrifices…

  “Don’t judge us, you sanctimonious prick! They wouldn’t let him transport Nanuq. They had to meld, so Virgil shot him. It was quick. Before Virgil got me out of there, those bastards raped me. Over. And over. And over. No one gave a shit because I’m just a Talent.”

  Her husband killed his bear to save her. No wonder she’s batshit.

  “Fighting for them and bleeding for them means nothing. Entitles us to nothing. They savor their smug, comfortable careers while we give up our lives, our sanity, our humanity for them, and I’m sick of it!” Her lip curled into a snarl. “They need to die. And so do you.”

  * * *

  Dave caught a flicker out of the corner of one eye, and dared a glance. Oh shit! The female terrorist had grabbed Genevieve and was pulling her away from Kurt, a knife at her throat. Before he could even think about trying to help, the bear charged him. He twisted aside, avoiding the snap of huge jaws by a whisker.

  God, the son of a bitch is huge! And he glowed like a torch, radiating so much power the fur on Dave’s spine rose in reaction. Gen was right -- Indigo must have been strengthening him with part of those human sacrifices.

  The bear reared, towering even higher as he struck out with huge forepaws. Dave threw himself into a backward leap, avoiding the swipe.

  The bear was fast, but he was faster.

  Ford might not be as agile as Dave, but he was bigger and more powerful. To make matters worse, Virgil’s manifestation protected the man beneath from Dave’s claws and teeth, but all Dave had was flesh and blood. The Feral would rip him up before he had time to crack the bastard’s shell. And his own manifestation was human, with weaker muscles that would do no good at all against this bastard.

  “You know you have no chance,” the bear growled, mocking and vicious. “I’m going to tear out your guts and eat them!”

  “Big talk, Nanook of the North.”

  “It’s more than talk.” He dropped to all fours, massive haunches bunching in preparation for an attack.

  Landing on the terrorist, he grabbed the great barrel in his forepaws and dove for the back of the bear’s neck, right behind the glowing skull. Ford roared in rage as three-inch canines sank deep.

  Magic exploded against Dave’s teeth in stinging slaps of pain, but he held on, digging deeper and wrenching his head, trying to break the manifestation’s shell. If he could just punch through…

  The bear roared, flinging himself up and up and up, onto his back legs. Dave tightened his grip and clamped down even harder on the thing’s neck.

  Ford shook his huge body, throwing himself from side to side. Dave started to fall and scrabbled for a better grip, but his claws raked nothing but sparks. He fell. As he tried to leap away, a glowing paw slammed into his ribs.

  The impact felt like the concussion of an IED.

  He hit the arena sand in a rolling tumble. Light flared in his skull, so bright he couldn’t see anything a
t all. Ford landed on him like an anvil falling from the sky. The manifestation should not weigh any more than the man who occupied it, but magic is force, and the Feral directed all that force right down on to him.

  “I’m gonna tear your throat out and complete the sacrifice.” Gold eyes blazed in the creature’s skull as glowing lips drew back from dagger teeth. “It’ll be over before the bitch witch and Briggs even know they lost. And then I’m going to help my wife gut them both!”

  Fanged jaws opened, diving toward his face.

  Dave acted on sheer instinct. The manifestation flared around him, blazing with the magical energy of his raw terror. My human manifestation’s too weak to last. The bear’ll rip it apart. But it was something.

  Dave swung a paw at Ford’s descending muzzle with all his strength, knocking the terrorist’s head back. He didn’t dare let the opportunity go. He grabbed the bear around the barrel and ripped at him, hind legs raking Ford’s belly from beneath.

  “Motherfucker!” With a howl, the bear sprang away from him. Dave flipped onto his feet and circled away, not daring to turn his back.

  Ford’s voice rang with contempt. “Don’t think that trick’s going to save you. It won’t last.” Automatically following the bear’s gaze, Dave realized what he meant. My paws are glowing. He hadn’t created a human manifestation after all. He’d created the shell of a tiger -- over his flesh and blood tiger.

  He’d never done that before. Hell, to his knowledge, nobody had done it before. God bless adrenaline. Better make the best of it while I can.

  Dave charged, rearing to swing both clawed forepaws. The blow glanced off Ford’s manifestation in a shower of sparks. The terrorist lunged, swinging at his head.

  Dave ducked and sank his jaws into the bear’s foreleg. He bit down, grinding his teeth, fighting to punch through. If he could just crack the shell…

  “Bastard!” Ford hit him in the head in an explosion of magical sparks. “You won’t be able to keep that up for long,” the bear sneered. “You’re only putting off the inevitable. You’re going to die and your death will fuel the spell.”

  “In case it’s escaped your attention, Nanook, I ain’t Fred Briggs.”

  The bear laughed, a grating, alien sound. “You don’t have to be. All the spell needs is a melded Feral’s death.” Glowing things flashed. “Which means you don’t dare kill me, because my death would power the spell too. I don’t care who dies, as long as those Humanist fuckers do!”

  “Oh, bullshit!” Dave snarled. “The bitch shot Stoli and that didn’t activate the spell!”

  “The spell needs a melded Feral to work,” Ford taunted. “And right now there are three of us inside the circle.”

  * * *

  Genevieve stared into Kurt’s face over Indigo’s arm, fighting to breathe. She’d truly fucked this one up. Panic and rage burned in his glowing eyes, the terrible knowledge that they were both about to die. She’d failed him. It was her job to deal with the witch, to keep them from falling into traps like this one, but she’d let herself get distracted. Let them get trapped.

  Now her mistake was going to cost Kurt’s life -- not to mention the president’s and those of the entire Congress. She’d be responsible for plunging the entire country into chaos.

  No! Goddamnit, no! There had to be something she could do.

  She met Kurt’s gaze, trying to talk to him with her eyes, trying to reach out to him. Jump her, Kurt! Don’t worry about me!

  A massive glowing shape rolled into her peripheral vision, blazing magic. The bear and Dave clawed at one another, magic snapping around them like the electrical discharge around a live wire.

  “Shit,” Indigo snarled and jerked her aside, trying to avoid the battling predators, probably worried that Dave’s six hundred pounds were going to land on her. Even Kurt sidestepped, looking toward his friend and the bear.

  Hauling Genevieve, she backed away. “Damn it, Virgil, kill him! Finish that cat off and come help me!”

  This is my chance. Now, while the witch is distracted. Gen reached out with her aura, groping until her mind brushed Kurt’s. The spell they’d cast when they made love snapped into place. It probably wouldn’t have worked with anyone but a melded Feral with the Talent to bind mind to mind.

  She couldn’t so much read his thoughts as see flashes of images, feel his emotions -- and his cat’s, and their joined magic, roiling against her senses.

  An idea hit her. No way in hell. My magic doesn’t even work that way…

  But his does. She concentrated, imagined it until she could see it in her mind.

  And sent it to him.

  Kurt’s eyes went wide. She felt his incredulity, his instant rejection of the image.

  But Stoli -- Stoli wants to do it. Now, now before the witch sensed what they planned and cut Genevieve’s throat. Now, while Indigo was so fatally distracted by her husband’s battle with Dave. Genevieve dropped every mental shield she had, knowing she was leaving herself completely vulnerable to the witch’s magic.

  But that was the only way it could work.

  She felt the shadow of Kurt’s fear through their fragile link, the terror that this impossible chance would fail and destroy her, that her body wouldn’t be able to channel so much magic, that it would fry her like an egg.

  They did it anyway.

  Now! Kurt and Stoli surged through their bound auras and into Genevieve’s.

  And into her mind.

  Alien images, alien thoughts, raw emotions she never felt before flooded her consciousness. It wasn’t her magic -- her brain wasn’t even capable of using that kind of power.

  But she’d made herself into a conduit anyway, and Kurt and Stoli used it. Together they seized her aura, and through it her body. Together, Kurt and Stoli drove Genevieve’s elbow into the witch’s ribs with all the tiger’s raw power.

  Something crunched as pain exploded through her upper arm, but it was nothing next to the sheer alien burn that was Stoli.

  With a howl of agony and surprise, Indigo flew backward as if hit with a giant baseball bat. Genevieve whirled and leaped for the witch, Kurt’s tiger blazing around her. It felt as if someone had poured gasoline over her brain and tossed a lit match through her eye sockets. She shrieked at the pain even as the witch went down under Stoli’s charge. Indigo screamed and slashed at her with the knife. Sparks flew, but the blade didn’t penetrate the manifestation. Stoli’s jaws closed over the Arc’s skull, and she screeched, voice spiraling high with stark terror.

  Bone crunched. The scream cut off.

  Indigo went limp, magic draining away as the life fled her body. Genevieve could barely feel it for the searing pain of using a Talent her brain wasn’t designed for. “Get out!” she screamed. “Get out of my head!”

  And the tiger fled, flowing out through her aura and back to Kurt’s.

  The minute he was gone, she fell on her face, curling into a helpless ball, her arms wrapping around her skull. She’d never felt such pain -- as if at any moment, her head would detonate and blow chunks of bone and brain all over the arena.

  Am I having a stroke? It was possible. Kurt and Stoli had hit her like a lightning bolt frying a computer. She could almost smell burning hair.

  Kurt. Where’s Kurt? Despite her pain, she managed to turn her closed eyes toward her lover. His manifestation blazed as he raced toward the knot of glowing fury that was Dave and Ford.

  She wanted to watch, to make sure they didn’t need her, but blackness rolled over her consciousness. The last thing she saw was Kurt’s tiger flying through the air in a magnificent, impossible leap.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Rage burned through Kurt, blinding and vicious.

  Ford had Dave down on the ground, ripping at him. He could see the weaknesses Dave had raked in the bear manifestation, the dimmer tracks of slashes and puncture wounds from teeth and claws.

  Kurt landed on Ford’s back like a Bengal tiger on a water buffalo. Roaring, the bear reared, attempting t
o throw Kurt off. Sinking all four sets of claws deep, Kurt held on, his own roars shaking the air.

  There! Four dim puncture wounds at the base of the bear’s glowing skull. Dave had damn near punched right through the creature’s manifestation to the man beneath.

  Now it was Kurt’s turn.

  As Dave gripped the bear from beneath, Kurt dug his claws deep and bit into those punctures. His teeth sank in -- and stopped, not quite breaking through. Focusing his magic, focusing his rage and Stoli’s, blind with frenzy, he sank his teeth and claws deeper. His enemy’s magic burned and popped against his, but he ignored the pain. Digging deeper, deeper… Magic flared, burning his senses, but he ignored the pain, ignored it just as Genevieve had. They had to kill this fucker. Now.

  Die, you bastard. Die for Dad. Die for Gen!

  Ford strained against him, magic blazing around them in a rain of Fourth of July sparks as the three men’s auras clashed. Kurt crunched down harder, harder, ignoring the pain…

  “Die!” he howled from his human mouth, as Ford cursed him viciously.

  BOOM! CRACK!

  With a sound like a lightning bolt hitting right in front of his face, the bear vanished. Kurt dropped. He landed on something soft, heard a pained human grunt -- Ford’s voice, un-amplified by magic.

  Kurt and Dave had drained him so badly he could no longer hold the manifestation.

  “Shit!” Dave gasped, and flung all four limbs wide to release the unshielded man, who still lay sprawled across his furred chest. His tiger manifestation vanished, leaving only the flesh and blood cat.

  He’s going to let me have the kill! Still manifested, Kurt reared over his foe, lifting a clawed paw, ready to rip the bastard’s head off his shoulders.

  “No!” Dave roared. “Don’t kill him! You’ll set off the fucking spell!”

  Kurt barely heard him, aware of nothing but his rage, his bloodlust. Fred had died just a few feet away. Indigo had almost killed Gen, and Virgil had just tried to kill his best friend.

  No, he wouldn’t use his claws. He’d bite the fucker’s head off. Kurt opened his jaws wide…