by TR Cameron
Diana asked, “What about the stuff going on tonight. Any inspiration?”
The tech sounded disgusted. “There’s actually a lot more things happening around town than the AET chick said in your call. But I think that the most likely options are Independence Hall, if they’re looking for a political statement, the Taylor Swift show if they’re looking for the easiest carnage since it’s an indoor venue, and the Phillies game if they’re only there to cause visible trouble.”
“Alfred hasn’t come up with a priority list?”
She barked a laugh. “No. He’s being a loser about it. Thirty-three percent each. He did ditch the K-Pop band, though.”
The AI has good taste in music. “Why?”
“His algorithms are fairly complicated, but if I had to summarize, it’s because the place is smaller and not in the city proper. There’s probably a reason that the witch specified Philadelphia and not Camden, right?”
Diana shrugged. “It’s as solid a guess as any.”
A crash filled the comm, and Cara interjected, “Is everyone all right there?”
Kayleigh sounded disgusted. “A helmet prototype fell.”
“Fell?”
“Fell, was hurled across the room and then fell, whatever. It’s not important.”
Diana kept her voice neutral despite the concern she felt for their brilliant technician. “Maybe the time has come for you and I to join a martial arts studio together. We can release a little pressure now and again. Some have suggested that I’m a little high-strung, and I could use a partner.”
“I’m sure Rath would love to do that with you. It could be a bonding experience.”
“Well, your other option would be talk therapy, I guess.”
Another crash echoed through the channel. “Fine. I’ll go.”
Cara asked, “Um, not to break into a tender moment, but what was that noise?”
“Test 3D print of the helmet. It also fell, although it made it further than the other one.” The agents laughed, and Kayleigh finally gave in and joined them. She sounded more like herself as she apologized. “I’m sorry. I suppose the pressure is getting to me. I always had Emerson to look to for leadership, and now I don’t have anyone.”
Diana groaned. “Thank you for the vote of confidence.”
The tech’s sassy attitude returned. “You know what I meant. Not everything is about you.”
Cara’s grin was apparent in her tone. “Now that’s the Kayleigh we all adore. So, back to the issues of the moment, how can we help you to help us?”
It took Diana a few moments to follow the phrasing. The tech got there first. “Well, it depends. If you’re in the AET HQ and you feel confrontational, you might try to convince them to give me drone access. If you’re there and you feel subversive, you could find an open cable port and hook up the computer block, or put it close enough to a server for wireless access. Assuming neither of those appeals, keep an eye out for ports to plug it into when you get wherever you’re going.”
She nodded, even though Kayleigh couldn’t see her. “Got it, we’ll do what we can.”
The connection was interrupted by a ping from Diana’s AI. “Go ahead, Friday.”
“AET is requesting commlink.”
“Grant it.”
A moment later, Michaeli’s voice came over the line. “Divert to the stadium. We received a call that suspicious activity has been seen in the surrounding blocks. We’ll meet you there. It looks like we should arrive at about the same time. We’ll stage about a block away, to the south.”
“Affirmative. Kayleigh, did you get that?”
“Yep. I’m looking for cameras now. Stand by.”
Anik, who’d listened in, nodded when she looked at him. Friday told her to turn, so she wrenched the wheel to the left, driving faster than was wise on the city streets she was navigating. With a curse, she slowed to an appropriate speed and got the car under control again. “When we get the damn mobile armory, it needs to be self-guided.”
Cara laughed. “I like the when part, rather than if. And we could always find a new teammate who is a good fighter and a good driver, unlike you. You know, someone more like me.”
“We already have one witch on wheels. We don’t need another.”
The other woman tsked. “Diana, you shouldn’t put yourself down like that.” Kayleigh’s laughter was salt in the wicked wound.
There’s too many of them. I can never win at this rate. So it’s time to stop playing fair. She grinned. “Okay, this round goes to you. My vengeance will be sudden and brutal.” Then she made another turn and saw the AET mobile command ahead. “Let’s put that thought on pause for the moment. Time to go to work.”
Kayleigh returned as they walked toward the AET post. “I’m into the traffic cameras in that section of town. It looks like we have a large enemy contingent, more than only the Pittsburgh crew.”
Diana peered forward as if they might be visible if she tried hard enough. “That’s not a good sign.”
“Definitely not. There are two groups, both on foot. Our friends are coming from the East, and the rest are inbound from the North.” The AET vehicle was parked to the south of the ballpark, between it and the football stadium. They’re right next to each other, like in Pittsburgh. I wonder who did it first. Michaeli stepped out of the truck and extended her hand, and Diana gripped it with a nod.
The AET officer was calm but concerned. “Your tech informed mine that you know some of these assholes. Do you want ʼem?”
Diana nodded. “We could use another foursome if you have them to spare.”
“Can do. We’ve had people from SWAT training with us for a while. They can fill in the gaps.” She grabbed the walkie talkie clipped to her shoulder. “Send Team A out to join our new allies.”
“Glam, what are the numbers like?”
The tech’s response was immediate. “Somewhere between three to one and four to one odds against you. The other group is bigger, but Philly has more people so it’s about the same ratio.”
“Okay. That works. Can we intercept them before they reach the park?”
“Negative. They’ll get inside at least a minute before you get there. And that’s if you run.”
Diana sighed, then let the worry go. “Okay. It’ll be what it’ll be.” Four AET troops ran up to stop beside her team, and she nodded. “We’re on our way. Friday, link the four comm sources nearest us into our network.” A chime announced that the task was complete. “Welcome, y’all. Time for our evening jog.” She led the way and covered the ground between their position and the stadium in a measured rush.
The explosions and screams began as they jogged through the entrance on the first base side of the park. They shifted into an all-out sprint and reached the stairs leading down to the field in time to avoid being stopped by the panicked crowd fleeing to the exits. Groups of the enemy had already deployed on their side and in the outfield. I hope AET is moving fast, or we’ll be overrun. They reached the bottom and leapt over the low fence onto the field. She issued a brisk order. “Stop them from hurting the fans, whatever you have to do.”
The AET officers dropped to one knee and aimed their rifles at their opponents. Diana’s team arced out to the left and right of them as they ran forward to avoid their firing lines. Anik’s footfalls were close behind her, and Cara and Tony were on the far side. They had agreed on the way in that taking care of the magicals would be their primary focus. Several of the rifle-wielding enemies fell, but shimmering shields appeared between the AET officers and their foes. They switched magazines quickly, no doubt to load in anti-magic bullets, and resumed their fire.
As if they’d waited for that cue, their opponents ran in different directions and spread out to make them harder to engage in multiples. One of them ran into Diana’s path, and she caught him with a bolt of force that catapulted him ten feet away. Shit. I need to conserve my power. I was a little excited there. She reached out with her magic to steal a wand from a witch wh
o faced in the other direction and chuckled until the wizard beside the woman twisted and sent a wash of fire at her.
Diana cast a shield, and Anik stepped inside it for protection. The flames failed to penetrate and subsided quickly. The enemy’s strategy became obvious when they more or less stopped moving in unison, turned, and launched attacks at the four officers who still kneeled and fired. Magical assaults hit them first, each targeted by at least one foe and some by multiples. Auras glowed around them as their anti-magic deflectors absorbed the incoming energy. Bullets followed, but their heavy vests and helmets weathered the initial blows, and they continued their fusillade and reduced the enemy numbers with each volley. Damn. That’s some stone-cold discipline.
Diana and Cara launched their own arcane assaults on the magicals and eliminated several before their adversaries realized they were under attack. Anti-magic barrages from Anik and Tony accounted for a few more. She had a moment to glance across the field to where the PDA, AET, and SWAT response proved effective against their group of attackers, too. Her attention quickly returned to her own battle and she deflected an incoming bolt of ice with a curved buckler to launch it back at her attacker. Her success brought a surge of accomplishment. All right. It looks like we have this.
The thought had barely found life when the second wave of enemies appeared.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cara was the first to see them, and after a quick yelp of surprise, she spoke calmly. “Enemies coming down from the mezzanine.” Diana looked up and saw them—witches and wizards and ordinary people with guns—marching down the stairs on both sides of the park to surround them. The criminals on the ground moved as the new participants appeared and dashed for the outfield, and were quickly bolstered by additional reinforcements from the northeast.
Diana’s team and the AET force backed away from the newcomers and fired as they went until they were arrayed in a wide circle in the middle of the field, as far from the attackers as they could get without bunching up and making themselves vulnerable to a single attack. A gloating voice shouted loudly enough to be heard across the stadium from where she stood behind the plate.
“It’s so good of you to join us, Philadelphia SWAT and AET. We put this little show together just for you, after all.” Diana exchanged glances with Cara, and the other woman nodded. She’d wondered where the lead witch from the Pittsburgh gang of Remembrance idiots was during the initial fight, and now she had her answer. Dammit. That should have been a clue that something was up. Idiot. It meant that Sloan was probably somewhere nearby as well.
As traps went, it wasn’t a bad one. The enemy had the advantage in both numbers and position, and as long as they kept their attacks angled downward, they were not in danger of crossfire injuries. Diana studied the park systematically, section by section, in search of any possibility to turn the tables but found none. Michaeli’s voice rang out from somewhere across the circle from her, possibly facing third base. “How about you all surrender now and we can end this before anyone else gets hurt?”
Sarah laughed, a sound on the border between condescension and insanity that slid toward the latter at a rapid pace. “I’m afraid we’ll have to decline. Hurting you is the whole reason for this gathering. Any last words?” She paused, but the AET officer didn’t respond. “Very well. Goodbye.”
She shrieked something Diana couldn’t make out and a wave of magical attacks emanated from all sides of the encircled officers and agents. A series of popping sounds was added to the noise of the assaults as anti-magic deflectors were consumed. Diana countered as many of the spells as she could, deflected some, shielded against others, and spun like a dervish to keep up with the ongoing strikes. She wracked her brain for a method to shield everyone at once and hoped to think of a way to bring them all into position for a counterattack but was distracted when Michaeli’s voice shouted over her comm.
“Everybody drop—now, now, now!”
Diana flung herself down as a loud buzzing filled the air. Large military-style drones swooped into the stadium over the outfield wall and fired stun blasts as they circled in a line around the venue, then whirled for another pass. The enemy that hadn’t been hit in the first barrage reacted quickly. Spells and bullets careened to intercept the flying vehicles and caused several to crash into the grandstands and onto the field. The remainder continued and lined up for the next strafing run.
“Cara, Tony, Anik, with me. Let’s go get that witch.”
Diana sprinted toward the fence to vault into the seating area. Ahead, members of the gang she recognized from the surveillance they’d done on Sloan raced toward the mezzanine. The BAM agents surged after them, Cara an aisle to the left and Tony and Anik angled for the next one over. Five people—two witches and three men with guns—were in Diana’s line of sight and had almost reached the end of the stairs. They cut to the right when they reached the flat area that was the main path around the stadium, but a flaming drone hurtled in from that side to collide with the top row of seats and cartwheel into the mezzanine. The impact expelled shrapnel into the walkway and instantly started several fires.
They turned and ran the other way, and Diana grinned. That’s right. Get between us, you scumbags. She reached the top and a barrage of bullets welcomed her, and she barely had time to conjure a shield to deflect it. A food stand nearby offered some cover and she flung herself over the counter and hoped the brickwork wasn’t merely painted wood and could hold up against the incoming gunfire.
She yanked the flashbangs from her thigh and threw them, then followed with the pepper and sonic grenades. Sounds of weapons fire came over the comm, as did Cara and Tony calling out warnings to one another. Her hurled bombs detonated, and she vaulted over the counter and charged into the swirling dust, smoke, and debris, coughing as the acrid mixture met her lungs. She was shocked to find double the number of expected enemies and realized that they’d posted a rear guard. Worse, they had the rest of her team pinned down with rifle fire. Well, let’s even that out.
She spread her hands and a wash of flame emerged and spread in a thin fan as it closed the distance to her adversaries. Sarah laughed and cast a counter-wave of ice that intercepted and defeated her attack. Diana flicked force bolts at the witch’s face, but her opponent skipped adroitly aside and returned the favor with a cascade of shadow orbs. She sidestepped to avoid them, and the spheres changed trajectory to track her. With a growl of annoyance, she crouched behind a force shield, and the orbs impacted with surprising strength and required her to expend additional power to maintain the defense. The smoke had intensified, and despite the sprinklers, visibility was minimal and she lost sight of the enemy leader.
Bullets pounded against the shield, and she increased the flow of magic to it. In frustration, she realized they could probably keep the assault up more or less forever as long as the fire didn’t bring the roof down on them all. Not good. Okay, time to turn the tables. She drew her pistol with her right hand while she maintained her defense with the other. With a long, slow breath to focus her mind, she stood and extended the barrier to cover top to bottom. With it held at arm’s length before her, she charged the enemy through the smoke of the fires all around. Her comms returned to normal from the protective silence initiated by the grenades, and she heard her team coordinate attacks on enemies on their side.
Diana had expected to find Sarah directly ahead, but the ranks had reshuffled somewhat and she encountered a pair of men with pistols instead. She pounded the closest of the two in the face and torso with the force shield as she took a step away from the other to clear the space, then shot him twice in the chest with the anti-magic bullets. Blood blossomed from the wound and he fell, so she restrained her finger from pulling the trigger to put a third round into his head.
The man on the opposite side of the shield had recovered and fired into it to drain her power further. When his gun locked empty, she released the magic and stepped in to deliver a left hook to his jaw. The shock glove discharg
ed with a loud snap and he fell without a word.
She rushed ahead and angled toward the stadium seats. The sounds of the nearby battle increased. The thick smoke cleared for a moment and she saw that Anik was face-down on the cement, Tony fired whenever a target appeared through the haze of the battlefield, and an exhausted-looking Cara dodged attacks while she cast her fire darts at enemies. Several non-magicals on the ground with burning holes in them testified to her efforts. Her unpredictable movements had kept her preserved from major damage so far, but she stumbled a little, clearly slowing.
The attack that would have finally caught her was intercepted when Diana cut in front of her and used the curved force buckler to reflect the incoming ice bolt back at the witch who had cast it. It felled her and left six of their adversaries suddenly revealed by the swirling smoke—two witches, a wizard, two men with rifles, and one with a pistol. Sarah shouted a word and raised her wand, and a wall of shadow appeared behind Diana to cut her and Cara off from Tony and Anik. More walls dropped to her right and on the far side of the enemy line to box them in with the witch and her allies.
She was glad for the mask that covered her team’s faces so Sarah couldn’t recognize her. They would be merely two more Philadelphia officers, albeit ones with magical aptitude and training. The witch would probably assume they were with the Paranormal Defense Agency. Diana lowered her voice and yelled, “Give it up. I don’t know who you are or what you’re up to, but it ends here.”
Sarah scoffed at her in reply. “Your teams are dead, and any who aren’t are cut off. Look around you. You’re outnumbered. It’s you who will end here.”
