Hells Magic (The Armistice Book 1)

by Leslie Vatenar

  “What happened here? And what are you doing here, Karl?”

  I heard his deep, domineering voice, and I opened my eyes. Karl, who had gotten up, looked at me with hatred and silently promised me a tragic end to our previous fight.

  “I was just passing by to see how you were doing and I thought I’d give you a hand. I know this is where you keep your prisoners. Or where you torture them,” he said, looking at me with an awful smile.

  If the hulk hadn’t been holding me, I’d have collapsed. Torture? No… I was trying to remember, but I was sure we weren’t taught at university: “How to survive torture.” Now that I thought about it, I realized it would be helpful to add it to the program.

  He kept that perverse smile that made me want to fling the most powerful blast of energy in his face. “I wanted to make myself useful.”

  The man holding me raised his right hand, and I looked at it in shock. A blue flame surrounded his hand. An immeasurable power emanated from this magical flame. Karl’s eyes bulged with dread. The flame grew and spread throughout the room toward the necromancer.

  He fell to the ground, surrounded by the magic fire. He writhed in pain as he screamed. As fast as it had begun, the flame disappeared, and he stopped screaming. He got up, straight as a pole but breathless. He was blinking rapidly as if struggling to regain his senses.

  “The next time you intervene in my affairs, I will burn you alive. Did I make myself clear?”

  “Yes.”

  I didn’t know if he understood because if he understood as I understood, he’d have run like the wind toward the door, without ever turning around.

  My heart sped up its frantic pace and I once again used my powers to create a magical attack. Our two powers clashed, but soon his magic swallowed up mine.

  My entire body was shaking, finding no solution to my situation. Magic, I had tried, physical attack, I had tried. Nothing worked, which only fueled my despair. I’d never seen a blue flame that gave off that terrifying magical aura. It corresponded strongly to the aura of its holder.

  Where the hell am I?

  Karl swallowed with difficulty. “Leroi sent me to inform you he’s waiting for your decision on Project Twenty.”

  “I’ll let him know when I have made my decision.”

  “Mr. Rik—”

  “Enough! I’m close to cutting off your head and putting it on a glass tabletop to give to Leroi as a decision. I don’t like being pressured.”

  My blood froze in my veins, not in the face of the outburst of anger of the man who was holding me, but at that name. Rik. The man holding me was Jayden Rik? The one who had to save us? But this man wasn’t a hero, he was a public danger. His power grew as much as his anger.

  The pervert had to anger him too. This man was definitely useless.

  Jayden’s power came out of him in waves, barely touching the surface of my skin. It was Karl who received the whole wave surge. In this vicinity, it was difficult to miss the danger and power that emanated from this man.

  “Now go. I have work to do.”

  His grip tightened further, and it was my turn to swallow my saliva with difficulty. Karl left the room without a word. As soon as the door slammed, Jayden suddenly released me and I collapsed to the ground. He advanced toward the center of the room.

  “About this member…”

  And I immediately got up, motivated by these simple words. I ran to the door he had left through, but it seemed far too easy, even for me. His power enveloped me, and I could no longer move. He looked at my undone ties on the ground and left the room. He returned a few seconds later with two lengths of rope.

  “No, no, no,” I repeated.

  At this rate, I wasn’t even ashamed to beg, I was distraught. He released the spell that immobilized me and came to me, his eyes set on his prey. Me. He was doing it on purpose. He liked it. The chase. But I wasn’t going to sit there and do nothing. I ran again toward the door, even though I knew it would be useless. Hope apparently springs eternal.

  A gust of wind attacked me and I fell to the ground with a thud, using my hands to avoid direct contact of my face with the ground. From the corner of my eyes, I saw him bend down. His knee came to the ground as I tried to get up.

  With a sudden movement, he turned me over. He grabbed my hands and tied them before he lifted me. He kept the other end of the rope and threw it toward the ceiling. I watched with horror as the rope passed through a hook. He straightened it and my body stretched until I was on tiptoe. He tied the rope to another hook on the wall, keeping it tight.

  His gaze swept over my body, focused, and went up to my face. His calculating, cold gaze came across mine, distraught and desperate. I didn’t see how I could get out of this situation. He went to get another piece of rope from the ground and bent down to tie my feet. Staying upright was even more complicated. The repeated fights had exhausted me, so I was sure I wouldn’t last long in that position.

  “So, I was saying,” he said as he was getting up.

  “Please,” I whispered.

  He studied me saying nothing; his gaze analyzed every part of my face. It was awkward to be stared at in this way. And to think I could have paid for a man like him to notice me. I couldn’t lie. His beauty was above the norm. He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen. Too bad he was as dangerous as he was handsome. And I was sure he was contemplating where to begin to remove the skin from my face.

  My arms were beginning to hurt; my stretched body begged me to alleviate its suffering.

  “I hear you’re looking for me.”

  “It’s a mistake,” I replied far too quickly.

  “You were looking for a Jayden Rik.”

  “My ex. His name is Jay Denrik. Denrik is his last name.”

  I knew that Alice expected me to find Jayden. But the man in front of me seemed far too dangerous and cruel to be the one she wanted me to find. And I was panicking way too much to find a credible excuse.

  “You’re a terrible liar.”

  “But that’s the truth.”

  Yeah, even I wouldn’t have believed it.

  He grabbed my chin and while I was expecting violence, his grip was firm but not painful. “We won’t get along if you lie to me.”

  My voice trembled almost as much as my body. “Please. Let me go, I was wrong.”

  “You were looking for Jayden Rik; you have him in front of you. I want to know why you were looking for me. Otherwise, it would mean that you’ve wasted my time, and that’s hardly better for you.”

  I took a deep breath, closing my eyes, hiding from the terrible reality. “Alice sent me to find you. She told me you would help us.”

  I opened my eyes to see his reaction. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t contain his shock.

  The door burst open.

  “Jay! Leroi is here!” Liam seemed panicked and out of breath. His eyes passed from me to Jayden with concern.

  “Hide her,” Jayden said. He untied the ties to the ceiling and those that bound my legs, but he kept those that held my hands together. “If you try to escape, I’ll find you and kill you. Got it?”

  I nodded gently before Liam grasped my arm. He drew me to the back of the room, placed his hand on the wall and it opened in half. We both went inside. We were in another room, almost identical to the first one. There was also one painting, and the walls were just as dull and sober. But there was also an office and a window. A wonderful window. Liam noticed my look.

  He increased the strength of his grip on my arm. “Say nothing and try nothing.”

  I ignored my wish to run to the window and waited for the right moment. But if the Jayden Rik I’d just met wasn’t the man Alice wanted me to find, I’d have to start all over again and put my life at risk again. Because I had no way to defeat Craid on my own.

  “To what do we owe the honor of your visit, Leroi?” Jayden’s deep voice pierced the walls.

  Liam beckoned me to shut up by
sticking his index finger over his mouth.

  “My friend, you don’t seem happy to see me.” The other man had a higher-pitched voice.

  “I’d have preferred notice. I’d have received you in due form.”

  “I appreciate it. But time prevents us from doing everything in due form. Your answer is overdue. Maybe you don’t realize what’s at stake in this project.”

  “I know what’s at stake. That’s why I want to be ready. What we’re about to do is revolutionary. I want everything to be perfect.”

  “Yes, revolutionary. That’s exactly the word. I’m glad you’re a realist. How much time do you need?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll let you know.”

  “You said that to me last week.”

  “We can botch the job and risk a mistake. It’s up to you.”

  “Okay. I’ll give you another week, but this is your last deadline.”

  “Fine.”

  “Karl told me about a woman he saw here. A prisoner of yours.”

  My heart missed a beat. Liam’s alarmed gaze turned to me.

  “It seems she has character.” A light yet harsh laugh came to us. “You know that’s how I like them.”

  “She’s dead.”

  “Why?”

  “As Karl told you, she had character. I like them docile,” Jayden said.

  My heart was beating a hundred times faster than it should. I was going to have a heart attack.

  “What a pity! My friend, you have a lot to learn. Where’s the fun if she’s docile? How can you feel the power you have over her? When you take everything from her and you see that spark of life and hope in her eyes disappear as she recognizes that next to you she’s nothing. And the best—” A joyful laugh cut off his sentence.

  This scumbag took pleasure in it; he took pleasure in torturing women.

  “The best thing is when they develop this syndrome, Stockholm syndrome. Really impressive phenomenon. It signs their death warrant, as you’d expect, but it’s fascinating to watch.”

  Liam tightened his grip on me again, but his gaze, riveted on the wall, was filled with anger and disgust. At least there was a normal one.

  “You’re right. I’ve never done that. I’ll try, my friend,” Jayden said.

  At those words, I snapped. This man was a danger; I had absolutely nothing to do there. I took advantage of the fact that Liam was focused on the conversation to untie my ties with a beam of energy. I placed my hand on the back of his head and released a small blast, just enough to knock him out without hurting him.

  He collapsed against the wall. I walked to the window. With a slight shock wave, I smashed the lock and opened the window. The floor was close, so I jumped.

  There was a forest in front of me that seemed dense. I walked along the wall to the other side of the house, but Jayden was already escorting Leroi to the front of the house where a black SUV and a black sports car were parked. Leroi got inside the SUV. If I waited for Jayden to come back, I was dead. All I had left was the forest. The idea was to avoid getting caught. Later, I’d see where this forest could lead and how to get out of it. I preferred to be confronted with a bear rather than a Jayden Rik.

  I ran to the forest.

  CHAPTER 5

  Tree branches hit my body as I ran at a crazy speed as far away from the house as possible. As far away from Jayden Rik as I could get. I ran for long minutes. I prayed to all the saints that this forest wouldn’t be inhabited by any dangerous animals when my brain thought it was the perfect time to have fun listing all the dangerous animals that would feel good in a forest like that.

  My heart was pounding in my chest and I felt as if I was going around in circles. Every tree, every nook and cranny, everything seemed the same. It was also dark, and the path to freedom was all the harder to find. I was lost. Safe and sound. But lost.

  What kind of shit did you get me into, Alice?

  Suddenly, something caught me from behind. Two arms surrounded me firmly by the waist.

  “What did I tell you?” Jayden whispered in my ear.

  I struggled with fury, elbowing and kicking him.

  “Calm down!” he ordered.

  With a final blow, combined with a bolt of magical energy, I finally struck him in the stomach and he lost his grip on me. Free, I ran, but he soon caught up with me in the same way as the first time. My God, I could have fought with a grizzly bear and I’d have had more chance. He was way too fast and far too strong. I attempted magical attacks, but, like the first time, they didn’t seem to reach him.

  “Calm down, damn it!” he growled.

  He was trying to move, I supposed, toward the house, but I was struggling like a rabid dog, using everything I had in my possession. I kicked him in the shin, elbowed him in the stomach, hit him with the back of my head, and struck him with energy attacks of all kinds.

  All this slowed him down, but he was still going too fast for my liking. How was it he still didn’t let go of me? Correction, if I’d have fought with The Rock, I’d have had more luck. In my madness of struggling, I closed my eyes. And he stopped.

  I opened my eyes and saw two enormous dogs, almost as tall as me, with red eyes and sharp teeth out, growling fiercely before me. I stopped dead.

  He let go of me. “You want to leave? Is that what you want? So, go ahead.”

  I stood there, petrified, in front of the dogs that were slowly approaching me, still growling. I’d never seen dogs like this before, and I was one hundred per cent sure they didn’t exist.

  One of them barked and a trail of fire came out of his mouth. Sweet Jesus, they were hellhounds from the Hells. There were two hellhounds from the Hells in front of me. My heart began to pack its bags; it was clearly going to leave me on my own, unable to bear such rapid and strong beats.

  “No! Wait,” I said, extending my arm to catch Jayden.

  The two dogs barked, and I resumed my motionless position. My panic was such that I felt I was dying. I was starting to appreciate this outcome, rather than being eaten by hellhounds. It was impossible to escape them. And to think I thought my situation couldn’t be worse, life wanted to show me it had a lot more imagination than me.

  Jayden turned to me. “You have a choice, either you go away or you come with me, calmly.”

  I wanted to crush his handsome face against a tree. How was that a choice? If I left, the dogs would attack me and burn me to ashes.

  He extended his hand to me. “If you come with me, they won’t do anything to you.”

  I looked at the hellhounds while gently stretching my hand toward Jayden’s. Their red eyes didn’t miss a beat, and I expected them to pounce, but they did nothing. I grabbed Jayden’s hand, clinging to it with both my hands as a cat would cling to its owner to avoid a bath.

  We passed near the two hellhounds glaring at me. Their black fur absorbed any light and they could take anyone’s life at record speed. These dogs were killing machines.

  I clutched Jayden’s hand all the more. How ironic. I was doing everything to escape this man seconds earlier, and now I was never close enough to him. I was holding his arm against me and, with this closeness, I was certain he could feel my heart beating against my chest.

  After passing near the hellhounds, they heeled us. I was panting as if I were on the verge of a heart attack. What was I saying? I was on the verge of a heart attack!

  Sometimes I would risk a look behind us. The gigantic dogs were still following us. I always felt like they’d attack me from behind, despite Jayden’s promise. He took all his time, expanding the torment.

  I noticed his gaze in my direction, but I couldn’t decipher it. He frowned slightly. His blue eyes were like two crystals. His gaze was penetrating, captivating, but I couldn’t associate any emotion with it.

  CHAPTER 6

  And here I was again, trapped. I was sitting in a chair in a room similar to the first two. This time, no painting came to embellish the sober walls
. Two closed windows hidden by red and white curtains let the light of the moon pass behind my back. I was facing two scary supernaturals.

  Liam had his arms folded, but, contrary to what I thought, he didn’t seem angry that I had knocked him out. But hey, I didn’t intend to trust appearances. The dogs disappeared when we got back into the house and they didn’t bother to tie me up so the message was clear. If I crossed the threshold of the house, the dogs would reappear as fast as the first time and they would take care of me.

  “Why did Alice send you?” Jayden asked me calmly.

  I didn’t answer. Revealing our weakness to this man didn’t seem like a great idea.

  “Katy, don’t make things any worse. Tell us what you want,” Liam added.

  “If I do, will you let me go?” I asked, staring at the ground.

  None of them answered. Damn it, the mages needed me, I couldn’t stay there.

  “We’ll let you go,” Liam blurted.

  Jayden turned to him, clearly displeased with his answer.

  “There is no reason to keep her here. What are we going to do with her?” Liam asked with both arms outstretched.

  “There is a reason to keep her here. And I know what we can do with her if she doesn’t answer my fucking question.”

  Fantastic, they spoke as if I wasn’t there. And to make the situation worse, Jayden was getting angry. And I was sure I didn’t want to see what it looked like if he was mad at me. Thanks to the pervert named Karl, I’d had a glimpse of what would happen; I’d pass.

  My right leg was twitching because of the stress, and Jayden’s look was sweeping over my body with austerity and concentration. That brief look that judged my size to determine which coffin might be suitable. My left leg started twitching too. One solution, Katy, one solution.

  Right now, all I could see was the truth, and it was probably the worst solution. This man was clearly not a choirboy, so if I told him about Craid, he could join his cause and extend my list of problems, which was rather long so far. But I wouldn’t be able to remain silent for long.

  Jayden stopped looking at me to stare into space, alerted by something. “Liam, will you look outside, please?”