by SA Magnusson
He hesitated. “What was that?”
If I was wrong, then what he planned might hurt. What the hell was this binding that he brought to me? It looked like nothing more than a net, but the magic radiating off it told me that it was something much more than that.
The door to my condo exploded inward for the second time tonight. Thankfully, it hadn’t been fully reattached, but it still pained me to see my home destroyed like that.
An unfamiliar woman stood on the other side of the door. She was short and compact, with chocolate brown skin and dark eyes. Her mouth quirked in an amused smile. “Hey, guys. I thought I’d crash the party.”
The taller guy with the binding turned toward her. “Lupita.”
Power exploded toward her, but she simply waved her hand. Whatever they threw in her direction bounced off, careening toward my wall.
The two men ignored me, heading straight toward Lupita.
“One knight for the two of us?” the shorter guy asked.
A knight?
I had met a few knights over the last year, but none of them had been anything like Lupita. Then again, I didn’t have much of a chance to interact with them while they were awake and upright. For the most part, the knights had rolled into the ER, either dead or dying from attacks meant to weaken the protections around the city. None of them had been like her.
It wasn’t only the magical power she exuded, it was the confidence and the way she simply dismissed their spells as if they were nothing.
Knights were trained to handle dark mages, but I hadn’t realized that they were so gifted. Even Aron had struggled when confronted by the dark mage.
“I think one is enough.”
“Then you would be wrong.”
A spell built, and I heard her gasp. From where they’d thrown me on the couch, I couldn’t see much of anything, but each spell sent a pulsing of cold along my spine, practically numbing it.
With their focus diverted, would I be able to get free?
The shorter guy had already relaxed the spell he’d used on me so that I could talk. All I had to do was figure out how to unravel the rest of it.
My martial arts training kicked in. Focus. Start with breathing.
That was the first part. Somehow, I had to calm myself and find a way to focus. If I could do that, then I might be able to draw upon my magic.
I needed Lupita to distract them long enough for that to happen.
Without being able to see what they were doing, I didn’t know how much time I had.
Which meant that I’d have to work quickly.
I closed my eyes, trying to push back everything that was happening around me. There wasn’t anything I could do about it until I managed to get free anyway. The sense of magic was there, burning deep within me. I had to welcome it, let it fill me, but the blocks that I’d placed upon myself all these years made it difficult.
I hadn’t wanted to reach for that magic all that often, and I certainly hadn’t tried to get it when scared. Before recently, the only time I’d really been scared had been when applying for graduate school. Without medical school and the promise of that life, I hadn’t known what I would do with myself. And with that, I had very much wanted not to reach for magic.
It was there, buried deep within me.
How could I reach for magic when other spells exploded around me?
Focus.
I took a few steadying breaths, connecting to my breathing. Doing so let me push away thoughts of what might be happening around me. With each breath, I found myself more centered, and I let that draw me in.
Another few breaths.
There.
The power burned. It was so different than the cold I felt when others used magic around me, different enough that I knew my magic didn’t have a mage origin. No, mine was demon magic.
The thought nearly unsettled me.
More breathing.
With each breath, I continued to reach for that place of focus, a place deep inside me where the magic existed. I knew it was there, if only I could reach it.
For me to use it—to really use it rather than to simply let power explode from me—it had to burn within me. That much I remembered.
Pain seared within me, burning.
That was the sensation I needed.
I could draw upon power, and I could draw upon power.
Getting free from this paralytic spell required the latter.
Fire crawled through me, starting within my stomach. It worked through me, building with intensity.
The first thing it did was push away the cold along my spine. I could still detect the spell used outside my home, but it didn’t feel like an icy grip anymore. The heat continued to spread, moving out from there to fill my arms and then legs. Movement returned. I waited, letting the magic flow all the way through me until it reached my head.
Then I jumped up.
Maintaining this connection to magic was the key. I wasn’t going to let one of the dark mages use their strange paralytic spell on me again, and the only thing that might protect me was holding onto my power in this way. The idea of going for the sword and using that against them was tempting, but if I did, I ran the risk of Lupita knowing that I had a connection to demons, and I wasn’t interested in having her turn on me when she finished with the dark mages. If she finished with the dark mages.
That meant I’d have to be careful with my magic.
I kicked Bill, making sure that he was still down as I stepped out of my home. It wouldn’t do for him to get up and come after us. He didn’t make a sound as my foot connected.
Magic filled the hallway.
It flickered out in streaks of power that hammered against me. Power from Lupita struck the dark mages, but each time it did, they managed to deflect it. They attacked her, sending spells flying toward her, and she deflected those down and away.
I’d never witnessed a fight quite like this before.
The battle with the demon king had been brutal, but it had mostly been about confining him, keeping him from crossing the Veil. This was skill and power, a different kind of fight that almost reminded me of watching two high-ranking black belts spar at the gym.
I wanted to throw myself into that?
It might not be entirely clear what was taking place, but Lupita needed my help. Each attack forced her back a step, and with each attack, her ability to deflect the dark mages faded.
Without giving it much thought, I raced forward.
I could slam into the nearest mage and maybe knock him down. I didn’t need to reveal myself in the attack. Magic filled me, burning within me, begging for release, but I refused. I needed it for protection.
The taller man turned toward me and flung his hands out.
I threw myself to the side of the hall.
The binding—that strange magical net that he’d been carrying—went flying past me. The air whistled with power, and electricity from it made the hairs on my arm stand up.
What would have happened had that connected to me?
I very much didn’t want to know.
He threw a spell at me that struck me in the chest, sending me staggering back. Had I not been filled with magic as I was, it might have been too much to withstand. It still hurt, knocking the wind out of me, but the power burning within me acted as something like a shield, deflecting the worst of it.
The tall guy stormed closer to me, a frown on his face. “You are more trouble than you might be worth.”
Another spell exploded from him. This time, I ducked. It slammed into the hallway where I’d been standing.
I glanced over at the door. God, if Marvin was home, I prayed that he didn’t open the door. I didn’t need him poking his head out to see what commotion might be in the hallway, but that was just the sort of thing he’d do.
The tall mage neared and I launched myself at him, throwing my shoulder into his stomach. He doubled over, dropping to the ground near me. I dropped my elbow onto his head and he stopped moving.
/> That left the other mage.
When I had first been attacked, I hadn’t thought the other mage had been the one I’d need to worry about. He had a look about him that screamed harmless, but he was anything but.
A spell bounced off Lupita and whatever shielding she used. Had I not been paying attention—and not had the ability to detect the use of magic—I might have been hit by it. I managed to roll out of the way and it struck the wall, practically melting it.
I tried to roll over, but something held me.
The other guy had a hold of my leg. Power from whatever spell he planned built.
“I don’t think so.” I pushed out with magic, keeping it tightly bound together so that I could strike him with it. Power punched out, catching him in the hand where he’d grabbed me.
The mage screamed, jerking his hands free.
Apparently, my kicks hadn’t been enough. Taking this guy down would require a different approach. Could he withstand a magical punch to the chest?
Using the same spell that I had used on the first attacker, I unleashed my power, slamming it into him.
Wrapped up as I was in the power, having it burning through me, I didn’t judge just how much magic I was able to pull on nearly as well as I should have. It streaked out of me, slamming into him, throwing him back. When he hit the wall, purple streamers of color started winding around him, working off his arm and racing down to his legs, twining around his ankles. He shrieked in pain, a sound unlike anything I’d ever heard a man make before.
The chill of death built within me.
I watched, unable to take my eyes off what was happening, powerless to stop it.
The magic worked almost on its own, turning inward, dragging through the mage, eventually quieting his shrieks. All the while, the cold grip of death clung to me.
Strengthening me.
That was the part I hated the most. It was the part I tried to avoid.
When the man died, taking his last breath and finally cutting off his screams, a strange power hummed within me.
I finally managed to pull my attention away from him, looking for the other mage. Nausea rolled through me, but there would be time to deal with that later. For now, I had to get through this fight.
They watched me.
Not only the dark mage, but Lupita watched me, a spell held out in front of her that prevented an attack, her eyes narrowed as she regarded me like she was trying to piece together a puzzle.
And the only answer to that puzzle was something dangerous.
6
The last dark mage smiled at me, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. I hadn’t realized it before now, but we had made it almost to the end of the hallway. Much farther, and they would have reached the stairs. From here, there would be nothing to stop them. Lupita continued to hold her spell, the energy of it sizzling off her, and as much as she held her attention on the dark mage, almost as much of it remained fixated on me.
The mage darted off to the side before shifting, taking a step back and diving toward the wall, a spell held out in front of him.
What was he doing?
When he struck the wall—what had always appeared so solid to me—he passed through. Like a ghost. The only thing on the other side of that wall was the outside.
I didn’t have to think too hard to figure out why he would have jumped through the wall. He’d seen the kind of power I wielded, and he must have recognized it.
Lupita glanced at me before diving after him, her spell shifting so that she somehow passed through the wall the same way that he did.
That wasn’t anything I could do. I’d be lucky if my magic didn’t simply blow a hole in the wall, so trying to phase through it like something out of a movie was out of the question. There had been enough destruction in my complex tonight—and I had no idea how I would be able to hide that from all the other residents. Considering everything that had happened here so far, I’d probably have to move. And I liked it here, even with Marvin so close. It was close enough to the hospital I could walk to work, and the building didn’t have anyone that I couldn’t stand, which probably meant I was that person.
The stairs led down and into the lobby. They were simple stairs, concrete all around with metal railings, and I thundered down them, leaping onto each landing until I reached the door leading out and into the lobby.
When I reached the lobby, I slowed. It was late enough that there wasn’t much activity, and I hurried outside.
A cold wind struck me.
I was underdressed, but that didn’t matter. The magic burning inside me kept me warm, giving me the opportunity to ignore the chill. How long would that work? Probably not long enough to stave off frostbite, though it wasn’t quite that cold. I hoped it was enough to let me ignore the weather and find the missing dark mage and Lupita.
As I reached the corner of the street, looking up to see where they would have passed through the wall, I hesitated. Should I even try going after them? Would it matter? Lupita had it in hand, and after what she’d seen of me, I didn’t think I wanted her to find me after the battle.
Magic surged and I turned toward it, everything in my being ready for another attack. I still held onto my magic, prepared for the possibility that I would have to use it but hoping I wouldn’t. After what I’d done to the mage, I didn’t know whether I could trust myself or not. Would I lose control of my spell like I had before, melting someone else? And then there was the strange thrill I’d felt when he’d died, as if I had somehow pleased death.
No—it was that death enhanced my power.
That might have been the worst of it.
A pair of mages stood near the entrance of my building.
If they went in, they’d come across the destruction and likely end up tearing through it, looking for who caused it and how it had happened. My neighbors didn’t deserve that.
They didn’t have the look of mages of the council, which suggested they were rogue mages—maybe dark mages. And if they were, I didn’t have to wonder why they had come.
Me.
“Hey, guys!” I started toward them, trying to play it cool. I wasn’t dressed for the night and it would only take a moment for someone with keen eyes to notice I didn’t really fit.
The nearest of them turned toward me. He was dressed in a navy wool jacket that hung to his knees, and his neatly combed dark hair seemed to ignore the occasional gust of wind. Flat eyes watched me.
As they did, the pull of the magic within them slowed my steps.
The paralytic.
One of these days, I’d have to learn how they did that spell. There were times that would be useful. It wasn’t just that it kept me from moving, but the spell limited my ability to reach my magic. Would it do the same for others, or was it only my inexperience?
The only way I knew to counter the spell involved focusing on my magic. As I had already held onto it, not letting go of it, it still burned within me.
I let it flow outward.
It burned away the paralytic and I raced toward the nearest mage.
His eyes narrowed and the cold of his attempted spell practically burned me, but I ignored it, throwing myself forward.
If only I had the sword now.
Having the sword would have been useful several times tonight. Not only to help me reach for my magic—and somehow, the sword augmented my magic so I could more easily reach it—but also as a weapon. I’d rather cut a guy down and leave him with the possibility of recovery than melt him with a blast of uncontrolled magic.
At least I had my martial arts training.
The other mage slid forward, blocking my jab with a fluid movement. I darted back, resetting my footing, and kicked. He blocked again. A smile parted his mouth, spreading to his eyes.
“Shorin-ryu?” When I nodded, his smile deepened. “I have been studying it since I was twelve.”
I kicked, sweeping my leg up in an arc that he managed to catch, throwing me off to the side. His reflexes were quick, an
d I still had to deal with the other mage.
Where was he?
Darting back, I surveyed the sidewalk again. The karate mage was at least as proficient as me, and probably better. There was more fluidity to his movements, something Master David had been training me toward, but I still had never managed the simple ease of movement. Mine was forced, power going into each blow.
And if I had to deal with the possibility of another mage using a paralytic spell on me, I would be outmanned.
Where was Lupita?
I could use her help about now. I could use anyone’s help about now.
The karate mage slid toward me and I deflected his kick, dropping and moving off to the side. As I did, I pushed out with my magic. There wasn’t anything controlled in what I did, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I somehow find a way to get the spell out.
It unleashed toward him. A full blast. Body melting.
And missed.
Had he known what I was going to do?
The smile on his face deepened and he darted toward me, power exploding from him as he punched.
Without my ability to detect magic, I don’t know that I would have known the combination was coming.
I didn’t even try to block, which was a good thing. Had I tried, his spell would have slammed into me. There was enough force in it that I heard the sound of rock shattering behind me.
Movement behind me alerted me to the other mage.
I spun and unleashed my magic.
It was too much.
The spell—or whatever it was, since it wasn’t so much a spell as it was merely a release of power—bounced off a barrier of magic. He’d been ready for it.
And when my magic was gone, it left me vulnerable.
The paralytic took hold.
I hated the spell. It had been used on me so often that I wanted to cause pain to the mage who created it. And I couldn’t tell if it was karate mage or the other. Either way, my magic wasn’t fast enough—or strong enough.
“I will watch her. Go check on the others,” karate mage said.
The other mage nodded and started off.
Magic built with sudden power.
Why would they use a spell when they’d already captured me?
