>Want me to find VPD?
No. What happened to your elf?
>Either he was an illusion or he got away.
I’m near Mira, but have lost Haoxin. Find me?
>Will do.
Oh. And one of the damn elves can teleport.
>Bring it, baby.
I laughed under my breath, then had to pause to press a hand to my aching ribs. And as I did, an out-of-place shadow shifted over top of the metal housing of the exterior light at my right shoulder.
“Hey, Freddie,” I murmured, keeping my gaze on the street. A car drove past slowly, looking for parking. “Anything to report?”
The shadow leech settled its wings down its back, regarding me with slitted red eyes. Then it chittered. Rather loudly.
I gave Freddie a look. The leech appeared in as solid a form as I’d ever seen it, talons tipping its wings, rounded mouth full of needle-like teeth. But I could taste only its regular crispy-cinnamon-toast magic, so I didn’t think it had been feeding on anything it shouldn’t have been. At least not in volume.
“Something has you riled up,” I murmured. “Is it me?”
Freddie’s shadowed magical aura compressed inward, solidifying the leech’s body further. It shuddered, its scales lifting and rolling.
I felt pretty sure that was a no.
“Want to come with me, Freddie? You never know, I might find you something tasty to eat.”
The shadow leech stretched forward, practically oozing through the empty air between us. I reached out to it, offering it my hand. Becoming more shadow than solid form, it balled into my palm, then slithered up my arm onto my shoulder. Tiny claws pinched my T-shirt. Kandy would be seriously peeved if they left holes in the fabric.
“Don’t poop on me, leech.”
Freddie chittered quietly, but I could hear the indignant inflection.
“Don’t tell me you don’t poop.” I tucked my phone into my satchel, readjusting it and my katana in preparation for more damn running. “I’ve seen what you eat. Magical toots.”
Man, I cracked myself up. Though apparently, the demon on my shoulder wasn’t amused.
Stepping around the corner in the direction I’d tasted Mira’s magic, I took a moment to scan the immediate area. I could see the towering white pylons of BC Place between buildings, about two blocks away. Whenever I thought of the stadium, I usually pictured its old Teflon dome — despite it having been deflated and replaced with a retractable roof about seven years before. Seriously, I needed to patrol this part of the city more often.
Sensing a hint of Mira’s magic shimmering between buildings up ahead, I started to jog. Freddie’s claws momentarily tightened on my shoulder, but the leech managed to hang on without issue.
As I ran, I felt the overwhelming sense that the entire area I was in might have been completely new. White steel and tinted windows soared above me. A huge building ahead of me and a half block over stood out above the others surrounding it. Even in the dark, it appeared to be constructed out of copper panels, windows and all.
Glancing right, I passed a tiny neat square of a park. One of the green spaces that seemed to appear with each new building. I was pretty sure that adding outdoor spaces, and even small playgrounds, was a city requirement for developers now. The street was lined with parked cars but empty of other traffic. Many of the apartments overhead were brightly lit, though.
I could still feel Warner’s tasty magic, maybe a block to my right now.
I paused at the edge of the illusion I’d spotted. The space between the buildings appeared empty. But I reached out, coaxing the illusionist magic into my hand and tearing it away from the white steel and glass. The space rippled, then seemed to fold in on itself.
Mira and another elf appeared, standing in the middle of a paved roundabout. Even in the dark, its asphalt appeared so new that it might never have been driven over before. The elves appeared posed, as if they’d been waiting for me to tear through the illusion.
The new elf was dramatically thin. Almost emaciated — by my standards, at least. Her hair and skin were paler than Mira’s. She stood maybe an inch taller, arrayed in the same flexible armor that the warriors had been wearing, as well as a dark-green cloak that was so ridiculously long it pooled around her booted feet.
Not a warrior, then. Unless the cloak was an illusion, it would completely hinder any attempt on her part to engage in a fight and have any chance of winning.
Mira and the cloaked elf were backed by a huge, startlingly shiny chrome bear. For a moment, I thought it was some sort of magical construct. Then I saw a baby chrome bear and a gray cobblestone surround half hidden behind Mira, and I realized it was a statue. Presumably one of the many the city made an effort to commission and display.
The copper-sided building loomed to the elves’ right. The white steel behemoth rose to their left. But the area was dark. It felt empty, so new that it hadn’t been occupied yet. The building to my far right was still under construction. No wonder I was turned around.
I stepped between the buildings and onto the paved roundabout, closing the space between myself and the elves. I had to force myself to swallow a sarcastic crack about the cloak. I was the joker with the demon on my shoulder, after all. Plus, I was supposed to be trying to negotiate — even if getting kicked in the chest had really put a dampener on my eagerness to chat.
I couldn’t get a read on Mira’s expression. Stoic, maybe.
Metal, teeming with foreign magic, edged the cloaked elf’s gemstone, radiating out of it and curling into her hairline … like a crown. It was just a guess. But had I gotten an actual taste of it, I would have bet that the metal framing the elf’s gemstone — maybe even holding it in place — was the same metal that the throne and the dais had been constructed of in the first illusion Mira had shown me.
“You didn’t say she was a mute idiot,” the cloaked elf said with a sneer. Her English was heavily accented, especially on the word that followed ‘idiot.’ It was something I couldn’t quite catch the sound of. Mira’s Elvish name, or her title, perhaps.
Mira’s shoulders stiffened, but she didn’t respond. But as I contemplated her expression again — similar to the stoic readiness the warriors had displayed in the dance club — I wondered for a moment if she actually could respond.
“I’m not the interloper here,” I said, keeping calm. But just barely. The cloaked elf seriously gave me the creeps. “It’s you who should have formally announced your presence and stated your business.”
The elf — Mira’s so-called liege — laughed. Or at least I thought it was a laugh.
A chill ran up my spine. Feeling out of place and therefore slightly lost — surrounded by concrete and steel and glass, devoid of life or magic — I instinctively reached out with my dowser senses. I sought the comforting, grounding magic of my companions. Warner was still about a block away, near Haoxin. Kett was close as well, though in the opposite direction.
Freddie chittered, aggressively fluffing its wings on my shoulder. The cloaked elf frowned, her gaze flicking all around me. She could apparently hear but not see Freddie. I remembered, though, that the elf in the park had at least felt it when the shadow leech attacked him, so perhaps Freddie was only shielded because it was perched on my shoulder. Similar to the way I could carry the instruments of assassination around my neck without anyone being the wiser.
I smiled. Apparently two could play the let’s-rattle-each-other-until-one-of-us-pulls-a knife game.
“The name I have chosen for myself is Regina,” the cloaked elf announced haughtily. “It comes from your region’s dictionary.”
Ah, Jesus. Regina. And she chose it herself. Paired with the freaking cloak and the crown, it was ripe, ripe material. But I wasn’t going to laugh. Or make fun of her. I was there to negotiate. Apparently, I just had to keep reminding myself of that.
“I am Jade Godfrey. I’m authorized to negotiate with you on behalf of the treasure keeper.”
“N
egotiate?” Regina raised her chin, regarding me disdainfully. As if I were garbage, actually.
I quashed the impulse to slap the look off her face.
And in that breath, that opening, she tried to grab hold of me with her magic. The damp and woodsy power pulsed across me, besieging the center of my forehead with what felt like a hailstorm of jagged rocks. The taste of saltwater and decomposing wood flooded my mouth.
Freddie’s magic contracted, and the leech disappeared.
I slashed through the thundering magic with my knife, easily severing the connection the elf was attempting to establish.
Regina stumbled.
Mira gasped.
It had just been half a step. But even as I ignored my need to spit the taste of salt from my mouth, I couldn’t help but smirk. “Underestimating me is a bad idea,” I said evenly. “Had you asked, I would have suggested skipping the part of the conversation where you test me.”
“I see,” Regina said, agreeably enough. “Yes.” She glanced over at Mira. “As you said.”
“My liege,” the illusionist elf murmured.
A shadow shifted around the ear of the larger of the chrome bears. Freddie. The shadow leech was lining up directly behind the prey who had just revealed herself to be fair game by attacking me. Oh, for the luxury of having my priorities so clearly laid out.
“The others have returned,” Regina announced, speaking to no one in particular.
For a split second, I assumed that she meant my others, my friends. But when I reached out for Warner’s, Kandy’s, and Kett’s magic, I could feel that they were closer to each other — but not any nearer to me.
Three elves appeared behind Mira — two wounded warriors half carried over the shoulders of the hulking teleporter, who stumbled as he released his companions. All three looked more than a little battered around the edges. One of the wounded was missing whole hunks of his armor, and bore a number of raw, seeping claw marks across his throat. The armor of the second elf was marred with dozens of slash marks, likely from a knife. It was an easy guess that the teleporter’s timely rescue was the only reason the other two warrior elves had survived whoever they’d faced off against. Kett and Warner, based on their wounds. The teleporter, I had stabbed myself.
Anger flitted across Regina’s face, but she quickly quashed the emotion.
“Were you expecting more?” I asked, hazarding another guess. “And for them to be … less worse for wear?”
No one answered me.
“All righty, then.” I fished the piece of elf tech out of my satchel.
Regina instantly zeroed in on the artifact, taking a half step forward before she checked herself.
I flipped the tech up into the air, showing it off. But it still felt like just a deadened hunk of metal to me. No magic, no pretty residual. “Let’s get on with these so-called negotiations. Get the formalities out of the way, before you refuse to leave and I have to kick your ass.”
“Yes,” Regina said. “I understand Mira wishes to leave. That she asked you to convince us to return to our dimension.”
Mira glanced at her liege, her expression showing sudden concern. Maybe even confusion.
The other three elves spaced themselves evenly behind Regina. The teleporter was standing close enough that I knew he’d be able to lay a hand on his liege’s shoulder and disappear almost in the same instant. His picking up the wounded warriors suggested that he could teleport just as effectively with someone else as he could on his own.
“What’s your other choice?” I asked. “To die here? On foreign soil? Your magic is so incompatible with this dimension that it turns to a fine crystal and simply dissipates in the wind. You will come to nothing here. Be nothing.”
The warriors looked a little disconcerted at this information. Apparently, it was news to them.
“This piece is broken,” I said, holding up the elf tech. I wanted to be as truthful as possible. “But if you agree to meet with the treasure keeper, we will find a way to get you home.”
Regina laughed, sending more creepy vibes my way. “My allies brought me a present when they answered my call to gather. Having watched you and the witches bumbling around blindly for months, it was clear that your conquest would be easy. And through you comes the key to keeping the guardians at bay. Such ripe territory makes for … straightforward alliances. And a gladly bended knee.” She glanced imperiously over her shoulder toward the teleporter.
He nodded, though he didn’t seem terribly pleased about it.
“They brought me this little treat to cement our relationship.” She reached into her cloak, pulling out a piece of elf tech that she must have tied to the back of her armor.
It appeared to be the other half of the dimensional portal Pulou had entrusted to me. My stomach churned at the sight, but I ignored my reaction. The tech in Regina’s hand was just another hunk of broken metal.
“So I shall simply take that piece from you. Then I will force you to fix the dimensional gate, bringing forth my full army. Once we lay claim to this land, our magic will supplant all others. And then it will be you who crumbles into nothing. You are a skilled alchemist, aren’t you?”
“Right.” I tucked the piece of tech back into my satchel, then drew my katana from its sheath with a smooth motion. “Little problem with that plan, Reggie.” I snapped my teeth on the impromptu nickname, grinning.
Anger flickered across the elf’s face as she spoke haughtily. “And what is that?”
I didn’t bother answering. Not with words, anyway. I simply lunged forward, slamming a kick to the knee of the first elf who tried to block me from getting to Reggie. Already injured, he went down easily.
Before he’d even hit the ground, I was moving forward, jumping up into a downward slash primed to take Reggie’s head.
She and the teleporter disappeared. But not before I saw a look of confusion cross her face.
Yeah, I moved quickly.
I’d told her not to underestimate me, hadn’t I?
Fix her dimensional gate, and unleash her elvish army into Vancouver? Please.
Mira met my blade with a crystal sword she’d manifested on the fly. I sliced through it easily. She cried out, stumbling back and hunkering down next to the chrome bear as if I’d severed her arm.
Freddie got into the brawl with gusto. The leech appeared and plastered itself to the elves in unpredictable fashion, then disappeared before they could react to it siphoning their magic.
The third warrior was suddenly in my face. He was too close to engage with my katana, so I dropped the sword even as I called my jade knife into my hand.
The elf twisted away, stepping just out of my reach. My knife sliced through his armor instead of skewering him in the heart, and the severed section crumbled into a fine white powder. Armor made from blood? Well, that was new.
Before I could press my advantage, Mira pushed off the belly of the chrome bear and dove toward me.
Thinking she was going for my legs, I danced out of the way.
But she flew past me, intent on reaching my katana.
“Don’t!” I cried.
Too late. Mira closed her hand around the hilt of my sword, rolling forward onto her feet and spinning back to face me triumphantly. Then the magic embedded in the blade, which couldn’t be held by anyone but me, seared her hand. She stifled a scream as she dropped the weapon.
The third elf made another attempt to grab me.
Not knife me.
Grab me.
I slammed the heel of my hand up underneath his chin. He stumbled back and I took out his good leg. Bone crunched. He fell. Freddie was on him before he hit the pavement.
The elves were trying to … hold me? Kidnap me? That was a stupid, stupid idea. How the hell did they think they could keep me confined?
I cast a glance over at the two fallen warrior elves, neither of whom seemed inclined to engage me further. Not yet, anyway. Leaving them to Freddie’s not-so-delightful ministrations, I stalke
d over to Mira. Pulling my sheath off over my shoulder, I retrieved my katana, sheathing it but keeping the weapon in my left hand.
The illusionist was kneeling, holding her badly burned hand but looking up at me steadily. She twisted her lips. “I should have known.”
“What?” I asked, holding my hand out to her. “That the blade would burn you?”
She hesitated for a second. Then she accepted my hand, allowing me to help her onto her feet. “No, that —”
Regina and the teleporter suddenly appeared right behind the illusionist.
I pulled my jade knife, reaching to knock Mira away.
A pale knife appeared through her chest, skewering her from behind.
Mira gasped. Her arms fell slack. She swayed forward.
I grabbed for her shoulders, trying to hold her upright. But Regina twisted, then withdrew the blade with a sharp yank.
Mira listed backward with the motion. Thick white blood bubbled at the edges of her lips.
“My liege …” Mira whispered. “Please, please. I’m … loyal …”
“I know. You’ve given everything you could. You cannot give any more than I have already required of you.”
Mira stumbled, falling between us.
One of the downed warriors moaned. A low, almost inaudible sound of pain.
But I had eyes only for Reggie. She smirked at me, retribution and satisfaction etched across her face.
“It’s not always about who is physically the strongest, alchemist,” she said.
“Yeah,” I said, slashing my knife toward her throat. “I’ve already learned that particular lesson, asshole. Endurance wins every time.”
But the roundabout was empty.
Either the teleporter could move people without touching them, or …
Magic rippled across the pavement underneath my feet, turning it to black sand. The sound of a pounding surf rose behind me. As I pivoted, I saw a deep purple sea lit by two moons.
Mira was at my feet, lying on her back but gazing out at the water.
Misfits, Gemstones, and Other Shattered Magic Page 22
