Relentless

by Michael Arches

  Relentless

  The Sorcerers’ Scourge: Book Five

  By Michael Arches

  Copyright by Pyrenees Publishing 2018

  For special offers on stories and the latest book news

  join my email list here. No spam.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  80409

  Chapter 1

  Thursday, February 25th

  ONE DOWN AND two to go.

  I’d just saved my sister Dana from magical slavery, yay me! But when I woke up to a new day, I still had plenty of work left undone. For example, how was I going to find my other sister and our mom? They deserved freedom every bit as Dana and I did. So, after a good night’s sleep at our clan’s Seabreeze Inn in Monterey, I was through lollygagging.

  First thing that morning, I sent an email to the professional detectives hunting for Cara and Mom and asked for an update. The private eyes had been looking for weeks already. It should’ve been relatively easy to find Cara. She was a semi-famous gladiator. Then all I had to do was fight her owner and win, but it hadn’t worked out that way.

  To improve my future chances, I needed to keep up my training. That was why, at six a.m., my boyfriend Philippe Leroux and I hurried to the inn’s main entrance to meet the clan’s other fighters. Our fearless leader, Ian O’Rourke, insisted that we run for an hour every morning.

  “Moira,” the boss said with a somber face, “I was wondering whether you’d be too tired after your big fight.”

  “Maybe, but I didn’t want to miss the fun.”

  He rubbed his temples with his fingers, and his brow was furrowed. Something was wrong. He was usually bright and chipper early in the day. Very annoying.

  But not today. “Why so serious?”

  He glanced around instead of looking right at me. “I hate to worry you so soon after you’ve gotten back, but this morning, I read surprising news about your sister.”

  My heart seemed to leap into my throat. She’d been losing a lot of fights lately, and she was injured a week or two ago, but something even worse must’ve happened.

  He paused, as though he wanted to give me a chance to stop him before he ruined my day. “Don’t get all bashful now,” I said, “not after freaking me out like that.”

  He gave me a crooked grin. “Sorry, I’m trying to be sensitive to your feelings, but I’m messing it up. Here’s the straight scoop—her owner Wang Hui announced on one of the gladiators’ online betting forums late last night that she’ll fight her farewell match on Sunday.”

  “Oh, no!” My stomach churned. Her fighting career was over? What’d happened? “Is she still scheduled for that challenge match in Las Vegas?”

  “Right. Her other two scheduled fights have been canceled.”

  My tongue tingled with fear. Forfeiting those matches would’ve cost Wang ten grand each. “He wouldn’t have done that if he possibly could’ve avoided it. What’s happened to Cara?”

  Ian shook his head. “No idea, but obviously something serious. It might be that he also wanted to cancel Sunday, but it’s too late. He’d have to pay a hundred thousand bucks to the network for a no-show.”

  Gladiator fights were more profitable than most college sports, and the biggest money came from closed-circuit TV broadcasts. The networks required at least two weeks’ notice of schedule changes, and they’d hammer a promoter who screwed them over.

  “That’s terrible news,” I said. “Wang could’ve sold her, maybe to someone in the Far East. We’d have no chance of getting her back from there.”

  Ian patted my shoulder. “I wish I knew more. Sorry for hitting you with this, but the sooner you know, the better, right?”

  I nodded and ignored my churning stomach. I needed to find her quickly and get her out of whatever trouble she was in.

  Ian took off at full throttle. As usual, we cut across the city to Del Monte Beach. This early in the year, darkness enveloped us, and freezing fog rolling off the ocean condensed on my skin and clothing.

  But the news about Cara chilled me more.

  I couldn’t go out in public as my real self anymore, thanks to the big commotion from my last fight. Home videos of it were circulating on the sorcerer networks. Most of those assholes, at least in California, knew what I looked like—tall, stocky, and dirty blonde.

  Publicity had been inevitable, just one of the costs of saving Dana. So, to avoid constantly being ambushed when I went out in public, I used glamor to transform into what I called Inconspicuous Me. In that form, I was six inches shorter, fifty pounds lighter, and my hair was dark brown. In other words, eminently forgettable.

  After shifting, I sprinted after Ian and the others. As a point of pride, I caught up to him and took up my usual position on his heels, to the right. We dashed through the empty city streets, no tourists this early. When we reached the beach, we headed north, running near the edge of the water where the sand was firmest.

  While we raced along, my mind churned with possibilities for finding my youngest sister. At least we had a few clues to investigate. She was owned by Wang Hui and had fought for him as a featherweight gladiator. The detectives, a couple of Vietnamese witches who were highly skilled at finding scumbags, were searching for more clues. I turned possibilities over in my head for an hour but came up with no new ideas.

  By the time we returned to the inn, I was exhausted. Ian seemed to notice and even slowed

  down at the end so that I could make it back with the group. My fight for Dana had taken more out of me than I’d thought. If I was going to battle for both Cara and Nora, and I was, I needed to build up my stamina.

  As I bent over, gasping for breath outside the Seabreeze Inn, I changed back into my normal self. That helped me recover my breath, then Philippe and I headed back to my suite. My charming sister Dana was dressed and ready for breakfast. I told her Ian’s news. Then I asked, “What do you think it means?”

  She sighed. “Wang might be worried that you’ll tear him apart the way you did my owner. We know Wang has been trying to sell her as a fighter. Now, he’s given up.”

  “That makes sense,” Philippe said. “But why not save the cost of canceling her scheduled fights?”

  That same question kept troubling me. We were missing something. What I did know was that if Wang couldn’t sell Cara as a gladiator, her value had dropped dramatically. Household help, general laborers, and harem women were sold at slave auctions, too, but gladiators fetched much higher prices.

  Then I cringed as I realized the implication. “Cara was always the prettiest sister in our family, Philippe, a real beauty. If she can’t fight anymore, Wang will try to sell her as some asshole’s bitch.”

  Dana and I hugged each other and fought to keep from crying. Gladiators lived rough lives, but harem slaves had it much worse. They were expected to take all kinds of physical abuse without complaint. And the gods only knew what Mom’s situation was. It could even be worse than Cara’s.

  -o-o-o-

  WHEN WE PULLED ourselves together again, Philippe and I took showers. Then the three of us headed to breakfast. As
usual, the O’Rourke family ate at one large round table in the clan’s fancy dining room. Ian’s other disciples and I ate with his family and were treated like nieces and nephews, not as the indentured servants we technically were.

  Dana was welcome, too, but she sat at a separate table with Philippe, several other teachers, and a handful of teenage girls. His groupies, as I liked to call them. Most of them didn’t talk to me. I assumed it was because I’d swiped the most popular guy in our predominantly female clan away from them. Boo, hoo, ladies. I’m not giving him back.

  At Ian’s table, I stayed silent, mostly lost in my own thoughts. Cara’s situation seemed to be rapidly deteriorating.

  As folks finished eating, they drifted away. I hardly noticed until Ian stood to leave. Then an idea began to form in my mind. “When am I scheduled to get rid of another sorcerer, boss?”

  “Nothing yet,” he said. “Moira, I figured you deserved a break while you digest Eichmann’s power.”

  Winning a big fight did tend to mess with any magician’s head. I’d taken all his magic, and that would leave me disoriented for a few days. But I couldn’t afford to take a week off to get my mind right. It was time to get even stronger.

  “No, I’m ready now,” I said. “What do you think of this? What if—instead of tracking down Cara and fighting Wang for her—what if I bought her from him? If she’s as banged up as we think, she could be pretty cheap. Not that money’s a problem.”

  “Wang would never sell her to you.”

  “Not directly,” I said. “They loathe me in that world for getting free, but theoretically, any sorcerer could buy Cara. What if I beat one of those assholes we’re always hunting, and when he’s my slave, I’d order him to buy my sister from Wang. Nobody on their side would know the truth until I had her in my arms.”

  Ian laughed. “Wouldn’t that piss them off? It’s a great idea. I was planning to send Frank to get rid of a sorcerer today, but you’re strong enough to take the dirt bag instead. Be my guest. He’s in Fresno—three hours away.”

  “No worries,” I said.

  Ian led the Garda Síochána, the police force that provided security in the clan’s territory. Our turf stretched over a huge chunk of central California from Monterey in the west past the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Nevada in the east.

  We were systematically eliminating all remaining sorcerers in the region. The smart ones had already left. A few still hid out, here and there, usually because they had some property they didn’t want to leave behind. Too damned bad.

  When the Vietnamese detectives found a sorcerer, Ian or one of us disciples attacked. Each time I won, I received the sorcerer’s power, and I split his property with the clan. Those fights had made me a powerful witch and a wealthy one.

  “The guys are planning to go at ten,” Ian said. “I’ll let them know you’re switching places.” He glanced across the table at Frank who’d been listening. “Okay with you?”

  He nodded, but his brow was furrowed. Frank and I weren’t chummy. I figured he’d prefer to get out of a trip to Fresno, but I was obviously wrong. You have to be kidding, Dude. It’s dull as dirt.

  “Ten o’clock is perfect,” I said to Ian. That’ll give me enough time to introduce Dana to the clan’s leadership and make sure she was welcome.” They liked me, and I expected they’d like her, too. But I wasn’t going to leave it to chance.

  -o-o-o-

  GRACIE HEINZ WAS the clan’s head accountant, and she managed the Garda Síochána. Dana and I needed to talk to her first. I glanced over at her usual table, but she’d already left the dining room. We’d no doubt find her in her office.

  I headed to Philippe’s table to grab Dana. Her plate was empty, and she was giggling at some joke. Her laugh warmed me inside. Damn, it was good to have her close, and she seemed comfortable. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and pulled her close. She reached back with her arms and hugged me backwards. If I played my cards right, Cara and Mom would soon be holding me, too.

  Everybody had been laughing with my sister until they spotted me. About half the faces frowned. My working theory was that they distrusted sorceresses. My father was a sorcerer, and he’d insisted that the only magic I learned was dark. But Dana was raised in the same world, and nobody at the table seemed to mind her. In fact, her aura was much darker than mine, which had lightened considerably from learning the clan’s Celtic magic.

  Our auras didn’t matter. I shouldn’t have been surprised. She’d always gotten along with people better than I, and she was prettier, too. Dana bore a strong resemblance to Nicole Kidman, with the same strawberry blonde hair.

  Whatever the reason, Philippe’s group had taken a liking to Dana, and that was great. I’d hoped so much that she’d fit into this clan where we all would be safe. Whether this particular clique liked me or not didn’t matter. As long as I’d fight for them, the clan’s leadership loved me and showered me with goodies. That was the bottom line.

  Ignoring their frowns, I rested my chin on Dana’s head until she turned her face upward and smiled at me. We shared the same emerald green eyes. Then I kissed her on the forehead.

  That deepened several frowns. Why? Only the gods knew. Maybe they were still pissed about me seducing Philippe. Tough luck, bitches.

  To hide my feelings toward the sore losers, I put on a happy face. “Hey, ladies and gentleman, can I steal my sister now that she’s finished eating? We have to get her settled here.”

  Philippe beamed at me. “Of course. I thought she would stay with you…ah, us.”

  A couple of them shot me dark looks, and I fought to keep from laughing out loud. That was the first time he’d publicly admitted he’d moved into my suite. “She will, I hope.”

  Dana grinned at me. “Isn’t three a crowd, Juliet? I don’t want to cramp your style with Romeo.”

  “You won’t,” I said. “Let’s talk about it later.” I wasn’t about to discuss family business around the frowners.

  Three seemed like a perfectly good fit for my large suite. I’d just bailed her out of a horrible situation for partially selfish reasons, namely that I missed her so.

  Dana gave everyone a friendly wave goodbye, and they all waved back. Then she and I walked away.

  “Just to be clear,” I said, “I’ve been hoping for weeks that you’d live with me. The suite has four bedrooms, and when we find Cara and Mom, they should move in with us, too.”

  Dana cocked her head and looked at me sideways. “I don’t want to crowd your little love nest. You two seemed pretty, what’s the right word, torrid last night.”

  “So? We can be quieter, if it annoys you. You’re a screamer, too, if I remember right. Listen, I want it to be like it was when we were teens, except we can’t share the same room because of, you know, Romeo.”

  She grinned like she knew very well. “Philippe seems so sweet—”

  I put my hand up. “I know you better than that. Treat him like a brother.”

  She pouted for a second. “Fine. You found him first, but you have to help me in that department. There don’t seem to be a lot of hunky guys here.”

  “You bet, but it’s not like you need much help in attracting men. The cute ones always zeroed in on you or Cara.”

  Dana threw her arms around me and bawled like a baby. I simply held her for a moment, not at all sure how I’d upset her.

  Then, through sobs, she said, “Moira, I’ve missed you so much. Over and over, I’ve thought back about how the three of us girls used to bicker with each other. Those were such fantastic times.”

  That set me to wailing, and I hugged her tightly. “You mean the world to me. I knew this would be great. We’ve got to get Cara and Mom back soon, then life can be perfect.”

  Chapter 2

  WHEN WE CALMED down, I said, “Okay, you’ll live in my suite. You can have the room you picked last night or one of the other empty ones. I have a car you’re free to use. I’ll give you a key
. If we both want it at the same time, we flip for it. All the food here is free, so don’t worry about that. I can buy whatever clothes and other things you need.”

  “Okay, what about a job?” she asked. “I’m dead broke.”

  We left the dining room and headed for Gracie’s office.

  I could help her with the job. “We’ll talk to the white-haired lady you met at the party last night, the one who owns the black Scottie. She knows everything that goes on around here. Ian already has a full contingent of disciples, but if you want to fight for him, I’ll be happy to put in a plug for you.”

  “Let’s chat with Gracie first,” she said. “To be honest, I’m sick of fighting. I’ll never be as strong as you.”

  I doubted that. My sister was a terrific fighter. Her win-loss record was almost as good as mine, which meant she’d kicked around quite a few sorceresses. Her only problem was her size. Dana was a middleweight, and I’d been a heavyweight. My powers were also much stronger, and when it came to street fighting, all our opponents would be big, male sorcerers. Size mattered a lot for the physical part of fighting.

  “Up to you,” I said. “I can tell you it’s plenty more fun battling for a good cause, and the payoffs are terrific.”

  She stroked my cheek. “You’re the mighty one. I’m so sick of getting knocked around, at least for the time being.”

  I wasn’t trying to force her. “No pressure.”

  We continued down the hallway toward the clan’s offices.

  “Are you happy here?” she asked.

  I hadn’t thought about it. I’d originally agreed to fight for them as a way to get strong enough to win back my family. Who had time to think about happiness?

  So, I paused before answering and gave her a one-armed hug to reassure her. “This is a great place, heaven compared to how we grew up. And I’m really close to Ian’s family. Weeks ago, he promised to provide the right training and support so I could win you back. And he came through—a genuine Prince Charming. Plus, his little girl, Christina, is my inspiration.”