Gentle Water sat opposite, obviously concerned about her. Given how much she had been fidgeting while she sat here in the half-light next to the bed, she couldn’t say she blamed him.
Alicia had been laid on the bed for a couple of hours now after Gentle Water had Ported them both directly into this room from Ireland. On first arrival, both Gentle Water and Raven had stood next to the bed, using their magic to see what they could do. Amanda watched, following what they were doing closely, learning as she observed.
Between them they tried to pull the creature out, to separate its spirit from Alicia’s Spirit, her Anima Mundi as the Magi called it.
They tried several times, using different methods, but nothing seemed to work. They didn’t want to force it, to rip it from her against its will as that would almost certainly lead to some kind of damage, maybe even death.
But as time passed, it became clearer and clearer that no amount of magical might would remove the thing and leave Alicia undamaged, the spirit seemed to be just too powerful, too clever and maybe permanently linked to Alicia now.
After a while, they gave up, and the choice was made to wait for Alicia to wake up.
‘I’m more than a little worried, I have no idea what that thing is inside her or what it’s doing to her.’
‘We are here for you Amanda, we will do anything we can to help. You know that.’
‘I know, you have already done so much, I don’t tell you often enough how much I appreciate everything you have done for me,’ she said.
‘Thank you, but there is no need. We do it willingly.’
‘How long do you think she will be unconscious for?’
‘There is no way to know. She fights a battle, deep inside her mind. A battle she must fight alone. The outcome will be made clear soon enough.’
‘I just hate this waiting, not knowing what’s going on.’
‘She knows you’re here. Trust in that and in her strength, and she will prevail,’ he said.
Amanda nodded, her mentors’ wisdom always helped her in times of stress. There were times when she didn’t know what she would do without him. He had been there after Georgina’s death back in Ireland and through his gentle guidance, he had pulled her through the grief of that loss.
He’d been there for her every day since then, being a mentor, a friend and in some respects, a surrogate father to her. The Nuns in the orphanage had to some extent played the role of mothers, but she had never known a true father figure. Not that she felt she had suffered because of it, but it felt good to have someone like Gentle Water who she trusted with her life and who she knew would be there for her in the darkest times.
She did wonder who her parents were sometimes though. Why had they chosen to leave her on the steps of that Orphanage, what had been going on in their lives that had led to that choice? She’d never considered looking for her real parents, not really. Not in any seriousness. It just didn’t play on her mind at all. She felt content in the friends she already had.
She looked over at Alicia, she remained motionless, serene, almost at peace if you didn’t look into the depths of her mind.
She looked back at Gentle Water where he sat in a chair against the far wall.
‘Did I miss anything while I was away?’ she asked.
‘Nothing. All is calm.’
‘How did Liz’s date go?’
‘I don’t know, I’ve not seen her.’
‘She’s gone out-out then,’ Amanda said, ‘the dirty stop-out.’
Gentle Water eyed her for a moment. No doubt pondering the turns of phrase she had used.
‘If you say so,’ he said finally.
‘Urgh,’ moaned Alicia from next to Amanda, making her jump.
Amanda stood up next to her bed and looked down at her friend. ‘Alicia, are you alright. Don’t move,’ Amanda said.
‘Amanda, where am I?’
‘My place, you’re safe. Keep still, how do you feel?’
Alicia lay there, she’d tried to move, but struggled to do much more than lift her head a few inches from the pillow before dropping back down again, breathing heavily from the effort.
‘Relax, rest. You’re in good hands here,’ Amanda said softly, holding her friends hand in hers.
‘I’m… tired,’ Alicia gasped.
‘Then rest. There’s no need for you to do anything.’ Amanda said, wishing she could do more for her friend. ‘Do you remember what happened?’
‘Not much. Just, bright lights, and then darkness and a really odd dream.’
‘Dream?’ Amanda asked.
‘To be sure, a dream of smothering, and it felt like I was fighting in the darkness, something, slippery, something…’ Alicia shivered suddenly. ‘I, I can’t really remember much else. Just the students… oh my word, the students, are they ok?’ Alicia said, suddenly animated and trying to sit herself up.
Amanda pushed her back down.
‘They’re fine, I made sure of it. They got back to the school safely, there’s no need to worry.’
Alicia relaxed back onto the bed.
‘Thank you Mandy…thank you…’ she said, her voice trailing off as she slipped back to sleep.
Amanda let out a heavy breath, and then stood up straight.
‘She seemed… okay,’ Gentle Water said.
‘Hmmm,’ Amanda said, her tone none comital. ‘We’ll see.’
The doorbell rang suddenly, making Amanda look back at Gentle Water in slight confusion.
‘Did Liz forget her key?’ Amanda asked and walked out the room. The guest bedroom Alicia was in happened to be on the ground floor only a short distance from the front door. Amanda walked towards the door, looking into the other rooms. From what she could tell, only herself and Gentle Water were in the house at that moment, Raven must have gone out.
‘It’s not like you to forget your key Liz,’ Amanda called out as she approached the door. She automatically sent out her senses to check who had rung the bell, a habit she had made a point of getting into since her encounter with Lucian on this very spot. It came as something of a surprise not to see Liz stood there, but instead, there stood Yasmin, looking straight into the magical senses Amanda had just placed outside the door.
Amanda froze, stopping mid walk just a foot from the door and almost didn’t dare move, she sent a lightning quick thought to Gentle Water to warn him, just a single word, Yasmin.
The message brought Gentle Water to a sudden stop as well, he looked over at Amanda, a look of surprise and fear on his face.
‘Hello Amanda,’ Yasmin said, still looking straight into the senses Amanda had placed outside. ‘I came here to talk. I have something to tell you. I wish you no harm.’
Amanda didn’t answer, she just listened to the Yasmin’s voice, biting her lower lip as she thought.
Yasmin the Dark, Red Yasmin, one of the most infamous Nomads of all time, now stood a few feet from her on her doorstep. Yasmin wore all black, a skin tight cat suit, it had a wet sheen to it that glistened in the city lights. Falling from her shoulders, down her back and around her legs, inky black smoke fell languidly about her, almost moving in slow motion compared to Yasmin herself and the world about them. Her sharp features and powerful cheekbones stood out proudly giving her face a cruel countenance, framed by the waves of dark hair that fell about her head like a lion’s mane.
Amanda couldn’t deny it, Yasmin look stunning. Powerful, dangerous, not to be underestimated, but stunningly attractive all the same.
‘I know you’re there Amanda, there’s no need to stand like a statue.’
Amanda relaxed her stance, but remained still. Yasmin, by all accounts, had reached the rank of Arch Magi, the highest rank that a Magi could become. By that point you wielded powers that were almost godlike, so it seemed odd that she would be standing on Amanda’s door step like this. But only because ringing a doorbell seemed like such an ordinary thing, below the notice of such a powerful being. But, here she stood, just a few feet from Amanda
on the other side of a door that, compared to the power that Yasmin could bring to bare, might as well have been tissue paper.
‘What do you want?’ Amanda said, finally. Realising that keeping silent wasn’t actually doing them any favours.
‘As I said, I have information. Now please open this door so that I may come in and we can talk. It’s only polite,’ Yasmin said, dead pan.
‘What guarantee do I have that you won’t…’ Amanda mulled over her choice of words for a second, ‘…break my trust,’ she said in the end.
‘None. But you have two choices, either open the door and let me pass through this Aegis, or, I rip down your Aegis, destroying the last couple of weeks work and walk in anyway, a little more pissed off then I am right now.’
Amanda raised her eyebrows at Yasmin’s candid answer. She hadn’t expected that, but Yasmin made all good points, and Amanda had no desire to annoy an Arch Magus or to have to rebuild the houses Aegis.
She reached for the door and opened it, while her mind sent out the signal to the Aegis to let Yasmin through.
Yasmin stood in the doorway, hands behind her back, feet apart in a commanding pose and looked at Amanda, then across to Gentle Water before returning to Amanda. She smiled, but the emotion behind it remained inscrutable, hidden from casual viewing.
She stepped inside, the smokey cape dissipating to nothing behind her as she walked into the reception area just inside the front door, her heels clicking on the hard tiles as she moved.
‘Lovely place you have here Amanda, you must feel right at home.’
‘I do,’ she said curtly, not really wanting to get into a conversation with this infamous Nomad. ‘You said you had information for me.’
‘Not you too,’ she sighed, ‘No one ever wants to indulge in a little pointless conversation with me, it’s always right down to business. It’s such a shame.’
‘I.. um..’
‘Of course, I understand why,’ she continued conversationally. ‘My reputation precedes me, and no doubt you’re feeling a little threatened by my presence,’ she said, still looking about the hallway and into the adjoining rooms, talking in an offhand and light hearted way. ‘Perfectly reasonable reaction from you. You want to get this over with and for me to by on my merry way. Is that right?’
‘Well…’ Amanda said, agreeing without actually saying so. Yasmin sounded almost pedantic during that little outburst.
Yasmin stepped forward to her now and came in close, invading her personal space, her voice low and measured, threatening almost. ‘Of course it is. But I am not here to hurt you. I have no desire to see you come to harm today. I’m here to help,’ she said quietly, her face mere inches from her own, Yasmin’s bosom pressing against hers.
Amanda looked up and met Yasmin’s gaze with her own having pointedly avoided it so far. ‘And what exactly are you here to help us with?’
Yasmin smiled, her eyes glittered with mischief in reaction to Amanda’s retort. She seemed to be enjoying this verbal sparring.
‘There it is,’ she said in a happier tone. ‘There is a little fire in you, I like it.’
Amanda took a step back, putting some space between them and raised her chin a bit. She felt a bit more confident now, seeing Yasmin face to face like this, talking. She didn’t feel any threat from her. She didn’t feel that Yasmin intended any harm to her at all. That wasn’t to say that this Dark Magi wasn’t dangerous, far from it. Amanda knew she could look at her with her Magical sight and see the intense power that Yasmin radiated. But the truth was that she didn’t need to look into the Magical spectrum, she could feel the power flowing from this Magus a mile away. Even though her confidence had started to grow, that sheer power would always mean she would feel slightly vulnerable around this Arch Magus.
‘I’m pleased for you.’ Amanda said, a little sarcasm creeping into her voice.
Yasmin smiled. ‘Of course, I’m stalling. Okay, let’s get down to business. Lucian has gotten somewhat more ambitious and has kidnapped your apprentice, Liz Fox.’
‘What!?’ Amanda yelped. When, where?’
‘The details of her capture are unimportant, suffice to say, she’s no longer in New York.’
Amanda turned away and immediately sent out a link to Liz. Her Mind reached out and tried to find and talk with her apprentice, but she got nothing. She couldn’t sense her in any way, which most likely meant she would be hidden behind an Aegis somewhere that would stop such communication.
Amanda glanced back at Yasmin, who stood a short distance away, her hands clasped behind her back again and smiling, clearly enjoying the moment.
Thinking for a second, she reached out and Ported a small but valuable item from Liz’s room, into her hand before reaching out once more and trying sense her location, hoping that whatever Aegis she sat behind, that there might a weak spot somewhere and that she might show up.
She wasn’t surprised to find she came back blank. As a last ditch effort, she tried to call Liz’s phone, but she only got a message about the person not being available. She stabbed the button to turn the phone off and forced herself to take a breath and calm down, she could feel her blood boiling, her anger and frustration at Lucian and his actions building. This was it, he had gone too far now.
She stopped, and looked up into the middle distance, her mind racing. She couldn’t locate her, but she would be willing to bet that Yasmin knew where Liz had disappeared too.
Amanda turned back to Yasmin.
‘You know where she is.’ Amanda said.
‘I have a vague idea, but I didn’t follow it up, not for me to do. But I know someone who does know where she is. Which leads me quite nicely to the next bit of information, that is, your house is under surveillance,’ purred Yasmin.
‘I thought as much, by who?’ Amanda said, this new bit of information side tracking her anger over Liz for a moment.
‘He’s a Scion, his name is Shaun Murray, and he’s in…’ Yasmin walked over to a nearby window and pointed out of it, ‘…that apartment right now. He works for Lucian as an information gatherer and knows intimate details of Lucian’s operation. He’s also harbouring something of a grudge against Lucian right this moment. I’m fairly sure he would be more than willing to help you.’
Amanda looked out at the Apartment window, her keen eyesight now able to pick out the feint hint of camera lenses in the darkness of the room over there.
She eyed the window a moment longer, feeling the anger rise once more before returning to look at Yasmin, who had wandered over towards the front door.
Amanda moved away from the window and stepped over towards Yasmin, a question suddenly popping into her head that had been troubling her since arriving in New York.
‘Yasmin, I have a quick question. Did you tell Lucian not to attack us?’
Yasmin smiled.
Amanda studied that wickedly seductive smile and knew she had been behind it. For some reason, she had told Lucian not to kill her, or maybe even hurt her. ‘May I ask why?’ Amanda said, hoping that the lithe woman in black might give up some small bit of information.
‘Be seeing you Amanda.’ Yasmin said, and immediately disappeared, Porting from the hallway in a whip crack of air rushing in to fill the void she left behind.
Amanda stared at the spot Yasmin had been stood in, before walking over and closing the door behind their departing guest. She might not have actually given Amanda much information verbally, but it did seem that Yasmin had some kind of vested interest in Amanda, a reason to keep her alive. As useful to know as this was, the why of it would have been more interesting. She put that to one side for now though, she had much more pressing matters. She needed to find Liz, and as her thoughts settled on this issue once more, the anger and frustration also started to return. She turned to Gentle Water.
‘Go, I will watch Alicia,’ he said.
‘You’re sure?’
‘Of course.
‘Thank you,’ she said, before concentrating; pl
acing her senses in the apartment to make sure she wasn’t porting into trouble. A second later, she Ported away from the house and appeared in the main room of the apartment with a whip of air.
Two people were in here with her, a woman who sat at the computer desk, her arms crossed on the desk top, her head resting on those arms. Across the way, a man in all black clothing paced up and down the room. The man’s disfigured face marked him as a Scion, as did his magical signature. Amanda could see no heartbeat and his body, although up and moving about, would be considered to be medically dead.
She’d seen this before in Maya and also more recently in Yoh, who were both Vampire Scions. She guessed this would be Shaun and that he also happened to be a Vampire like her friends.
Shaun stopped pacing almost immediately and looked up at Amanda, caution on his face. She stared at him, not trusting herself to start the conversation unless she just started shouting at him.
‘Well, I knew we wouldn’t remain undetected forever. Welcome Amanda, I’m Shaun and this is Vanessa.’
Vanessa sat up with a start at Shaun’s voice and jumped again when she saw Amanda stood a few feet from her.
‘Holy shit, you’re here,’ said Vanessa.
‘You know who I am?’ Amanda said. It seemed like Shaun wanted to talk, so she indulged him.
‘’Hell yeah,’ Vanessa said.
‘You’re Amanda-Jane page, you’re a Magus from Ireland originally and you live with Gentle Water and Elizabeth Fox, your mentor and your apprentice respectively. Yes, we know who you are. We’ve been watching your house for a couple of weeks now.’
‘Which means that you no doubt know why I’m here,’ she said.
‘My guess, either to kill us or to ask for our help, I’m hoping the latter ideally.’
Amanda walked around the room a little bit as she talked, taking in the surroundings. The place looked like a bomb had hit it. There were food wrappers everywhere, crumbs crushed into the carpet and half-finished drinks dotted about the place. Walking helped her control her anger, gave her something to focus on that wasn’t violence.
Magi Saga 2: Shadows of Darkness Page 20
