Forbidden Magic: The Complete Collection

by Anya Merchant

  Lucy took a right through a crowded intersection and then slowed the car down as they approached a towering skyscraper. It was created in a modern architectural style that made it look like a thin, oversized, vertical diamond, jutting from the earth as though forced from the depths of the mantle.

  Victor’s memory of Monteiro was of a small, rundown office on the outskirts of town, and of his father working long nights for little pay. His jaw dropped open as he looked up at the behemoth building, stretching up to the heavens in a defiant statement of power and accumulated corporate wealth. A large, several lane car entrance led down into a dim parking garage, and Lucy pulled into it.

  “We’re here.”

  CHAPTER 5

  “Hold on. Wait a second.”

  Victor was following after Lucy through the parking garage, the cold air and soft acoustics giving the space a foreboding ambiance. Several elevator doors stood against the back wall, and Lucy pushed the call button for one of them as they came to a stop.

  “What?”

  “Does Monteiro rent space in this building, or…?”

  Lucy chuckled.

  “You didn’t see the lettering on the outside? This is Monteiro’s headquarters.”

  “You work here?” He shook his head, feeling a bit stupid at how long it was taking for him to come to terms with the situation.

  “I’m a program director here,” she said. “Basically, I’m in charge of the entire 13th floor.”

  “You’re in charge of the entire 13th floor?”

  “Is there an echo in here or something?”

  Lucy’s demeanor had shifted. She’d relaxed a little, and was smiling at Victor as the elevator slid open. The two of them stepped inside, and the elevator chimed as the doors closed.

  “The first ten floors are mainly administrative, excluding the lobby on the ground level, the conference rooms on the ninth, and the cafeteria on the tenth, though we have our own kitchen on the thirteenth floor.”

  The elevator slowly rose up above ground level, and Victor noticed for the first time that it had a long, rectangular window that looked out onto the world. He could see other nearby buildings, along with cars driving by on the street, and the clouds overhead.

  “Floors ten through twenty are the main research and development levels,” said Lucy. “Monteiro has other facilities around the world, but most of the core research happens here.”

  “Huh.” Victor spoke more to break his own silence than to add anything substantive.

  “Above that are a couple of floors devoted to recreation, the Monteiro marketing division, human resources, the headquarters of a couple of think tanks Monteiro funds, and of course, the President’s office.”

  “That’s… a lot to take in.”

  “You don’t have to concern yourself with most of it.” Lucy tapped on the elevator’s display as it continued to blink from number to number. “Just remember that my office is on the thirteenth floor, if you ever need to find me.”

  The elevator finally reached its destination, and the doors opened with a chime. A single night security guard was standing on the other side of it, and he hastily broke from a cell phone conversation and stood to attention as Lucy stepped off.

  “Good evening, Ms. Wilson!” He all but bowed in greeting as Victor and Lucy approached.

  “Good evening, James. I’m working late tonight. You can head home early.”

  The man nodded gratefully and slipped into the elevator as the doors closed.

  A hallway led through a couple of rows of bland looking cubicles and into a larger room that looked a bit like a military command center. Motion sensor lights flicked on as they walked, illuminating the eerily empty 13th floor. The floor sloped down to a flat depression in the center with several work stations set up on the edge of it.

  Huge monitors hung from various spots on the walls and ceiling. A large window looked out onto Undercliff City. Various high-tech devices and attachments sat on wheeled carts in several places. Lucy led him over to a small room set into the wall in the corner of the central area.

  “Well then,” she said. “Let’s get down to business.”

  “Indeed! It’s far too late at night to be dilly dallying around.”

  Victor jumped back in surprise as a new voice cut into the room. He looked in the direction that it had come from and didn’t see anything, though he could hear the faint hum of an electric motor.

  “Victor Anders,” said Lucy. “Meet David Kronenberg.”

  A small automated drone hovered into view from behind the shadow of a desk. It was about the size of a large bird, with four copter blades set into cylindrical rims, mechanical spider legs protruding from its underside, and a small dome on top that turned orange each time its audio speaker made noise.

  “A pleasure to meet you, Victor.” The voice that came out of it had a strange tone to it, low, heavy, and without accent. “You can call me David. Nobody does, but the option is there.”

  “Kronenberg is the assistant manager and lead software engineer of the Nano Aura Department,” said Lucy.

  “Nano Aura Department?” Victor shook his head, feeling his confusion coming on again in a thick wave.

  “I’ll explain everything soon enough,” she said. “Come on, if I don’t get a look at you soon, you’re going to be in a lot of pain.”

  Her words reminded Victor of the flashes, and of why he’d come there in the first place. He took a step after Lucy as she walked into the room and felt another one coming on strong, as though on cue. He winced and felt one of his knees buckle. Lucy moved to his side, looping an arm around him and helping him along.

  “It’s a wonder that you found him when you did,” said Kronenberg, through the drone. “He’s like a pot of water about to boil over.”

  “Come on, I got you.” Lucy pulled him into the small room, which looked like a futuristic version of the school nurse’s office.

  He collapsed down on a small bed with clean white sheets and rolled onto his back. His skin was alive with painful tingles, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead as his fever intensified.

  “Hold still, Victor,” said Lucy. “This might hurt a little.”

  She slipped a needle into a vein in Victor’s left arm, but the sensation was muted by the other pain he felt. He watched as she slowly pushed the plunger down and felt cold relief sweep over him.

  “I’ve seen heroin addicts look less sated after getting their daily fix.” Kronenberg’s drone buzzed in a bit closer, and two of the spider arms folded across each other in a mimicry of the human gesture.

  “It’s just a basic anti-rejection serum for the nanites. The ones he has in him aren’t as clean as the ones we have here in the lab.”

  Victor sat up as the pain continued to fade. Lucy had apparently donned a white lab coat in place of her blazer and was taking notes on his reaction. He shot her a suspicious look and frowned.

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Anders,” said the Kronenberg, through the drone. “We may be mad scientists, but I assure you that our intentions are pure.”

  “Shut up, Kronenberg.” Lucy pulled over a chair and took a seat facing Victor, crossing her legs and holding her clipboard on one knee. “Victor, in order for us to help, I’m going to need to know more about your exact symptoms.”

  Victor blinked and then slowly raised an eyebrow.

  I mean, I guess this is what I came here for, right?

  “Please, Victor,” said Lucy. “I already saw what transpired between you and the cop in her squad car. That’s evidence of you being able to bind the scarlet aura, at least.”

  “The scarlet aura? What are you talking about?”

  Kronenberg buzzed through the air above Victor, dipping into a slow glide in front of his face.

  “Oh, it just basically means that you’re a bit of a superhuman now, Vic,” said Kronenberg. If the drone had been capable of facial expressions, Victor was sure that it would’ve been smiling.

  “Don’t listen to K
ronenberg, he tends to exaggerate.” Lucy brushed a few strands of straight blonde hair out of her face as she spoke. “Nanites, or nanomachines, at least of the type that you have in your bloodstream, are capable of being used in a number of different ways.”

  Victor nodded slowly.

  “I… I think I accidentally used them,” he said. “There was a woman at the bar, to start. And then, well, you saw what Officer Mathews was doing.”

  He blushed and Kronenberg chuckled in the background.

  “Okay, I have to give you some minor props for that. I can’t think of any better way to ‘come’ into one’s power, if you know what I’m saying.”

  Lucy glared at the drone and then turned back to Victor.

  “Scarlet auras can be bound to intensify the emotions of other people,” she said. “I’m a little surprised that it turned out that way for two women in a row for you. If you bind your scarlet aura randomly, typically you’ll get random expressions of strong emotions in return.”

  “Uh… okay.”

  “Anything else unusual happen to you recently?”

  Well, there was the fight outside the bar.

  “Fire,” said Victor. “I accidentally lit someone on fire.”

  Lucy nodded, a very slight smile creeping onto her face.

  “That’s the scarlet aura, again,” she said. “When you focus your energy into it and charge the aura before binding it, the effects manifest as heat, or fire, even, usually pushing out of your body and into wherever you’re aiming your hands or touching.”

  “Doesn’t it usually take months for an aura binder to get to the stage where they can use their nanites with that kind of control?” asked Kronenberg. His voice carried a hint of excitement in it.

  “In some cases, a person can progress more quickly,” said Lucy. “Anything else, Victor?”

  He thought for a moment and then shook his head.

  “That’s it,” he said.

  “Good. I can’t imagine how much trouble you’d have gotten into if you’d started unintentionally binding the other three auras, too.”

  Victor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could feel it now, just on the edge of awareness. A burgeoning seed of power, as though an immaterial part of his body had been plugged in.

  “What are the other three auras?”

  Lucy slowly crossed her arms and frowned.

  “All four auras are separated into pairs, and each one has different effects based on whether you bind it at a low level, or a high level.”

  Victor nodded, though he was still confused.

  “The azure aura, which will generally give off a blue glow when used, is the opposite of the scarlet aura. You can use it to dampen emotions, calm people down, or even put them to sleep. At higher levels, you can pull energy out of materials or the air, creating ice.”

  “Neat,” said Victor. “If I can figure that one out, I’ll never need to refrigerate my drinks.”

  Lucy rolled her eyes, her face still otherwise very serious.

  “The diamond aura, which gives off a bright white glow, works similar to what might be called telekinesis. You can move small objects around with it at low levels, and at higher levels, move yourself around, modifying your speed, strength, and even giving yourself the ability to levitate. Theoretically, at least.”

  “And aura number four?”

  Lucy nodded, her frown deepening.

  “The onyx aura,” she said. “It affects the mind and senses.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Lucy opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, an alarm began blaring in the background. The ceiling lights flickered, and then went out.

  “Fuck,” said Lucy. “Not this again.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Kronenberg hovered in front of them, the dome on the top of the drone illuminating the room with bright orange light.

  “It’s her,” he said. “She’s got company with her this time.”

  Lucy swore under her breath and slammed her fist against the metal doorframe.

  “We’re getting out of here. We’ll be sitting ducks if we wait where we are with the elevators out.”

  She pulled Victor to his feet and started out the door. Kronenberg followed at her side, lighting the way.

  “Wait a second, what’s going on?” Victor shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere until—”

  “There’s no time to explain,” said Lucy. “If you stay here, it’s very likely that you’ll die.”

  Victor gritted his teeth.

  It’s just one thing after another.

  Lucy, Kronenberg, and Victor hurried across the main room. The light from Kronenberg’s dome created interesting patterns of shadows on the furniture and walls. Lucy stopped in front of a door next to the elevator and pushed it open.

  “Stay close, Victor,” she said. “We have to move fast.”

  The stairs were only wide enough for a single person to walk abreast. Lucy half dragged Victor in front of her, pushing him along as they made their way down flight after flight of stairs.

  “Careful!” Victor regained his balance after nearly tripping on a step from Lucy’s nudging. “I’ll be just as dead if I fall down the stairs and break my neck.”

  Lucy started to respond and then froze. A door a few floors down from them opened and three people stepped out through it. One of them was clearly a woman, and she had a powerful flashlight in her hand. Her body gave off a dark purple aura that pulsed outward with strangely surreal intensity.

  “Fuck!” Lucy grabbed his shoulder and tried to pull him back. “Upstairs, quick!”

  Their escape was almost immediately cut short. Victor opened his mouth in surprise as the glowing woman climbed over the railing of the stairs into the open shaft in the center. Instead of falling, she began to rise, as if lifted by one of the invisible harnesses used for special effects in movies.

  “Victor!” Lucy had thrown open the nearest door and was trying to pull him through it. Victor moved to follow, but the floating woman moved faster, slamming into him and knocking him onto his back against the stairs.

  Lucy slammed her fists ineffectually against the door separating them, which had locked behind her automatically. Kronenberg moved in front of Victor as though preparing to defend him and was immediately disabled by a gout of fire the thickness of a magic marker from the woman’s hand.

  That’s the scarlet aura. She can bind nano auras, too.

  The only light left illuminating the stairwell came from an exit sign that had been caught by the flames, but it was enough to give Victor a clear look at his attacker. The woman was attractive in a deadly, femme fatale kind of way. Her figure was lightly sculpted and athletic, beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

  She had a scarf tied across the bottom of her face and wore a black long sleeve shirt and leggings. Her body now had a reddish glow to it now, but it shifted back to purple after a second. Two larger figures appeared behind her. Both of them were men, and both of them moved with odd gaits, their heads turning a bit more stiffly than they should have.

  “Where is he?” said the woman. “Tell me or die.”

  Victor just shook his head. Fear coursed through his body, and his heart raced like a drum roll inside his chest.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t work here, I just—”

  She held her hand out and another jet of fire blasted toward Victor. He scampered up a stair or two, but the flames licked against the sleeve of his jacket, setting it aflame. He let out a cry of pain as the fire singed his skin, only barely managing to pat it out before it spread up his arm.

  “Fuck!”

  Victor gritted his teeth together and threw his hand out in front of him, palm flat and outstretched as though pushing something back. He could feel the power of the nanites inside of him, but they were unfocused, and he was unused to bringing them to point.

  A burst of flames came out from his hand, splashing out wildly as though he’d set off a firewo
rk incorrectly. The woman flinched back slightly and then smiled at him.

  “You work for him, don’t you?” She stepped forward and slammed a fist into Victor’s stomach with more strength than her petite body should have been capable of. He gasped and fell back again against the stairs.

  The window on the door that Lucy was trapped behind shattered. She reached her arm through and managed to open it from the side of the stairwell. The woman looked over to the men with her and waved a hand. The glow around her turned back to purple, and Victor realized what she was doing.

  “You… you’re controlling them?” Anger smoldered inside Victor’s chest.

  They have no will of their own. It’s just like what he did back then, when it all started for me.

  The woman’s glow shifted to a reddish orange, but Victor bound his scarlet aura to match hers. His flames exploded out at the same time as hers did, still unfocused and uncontrolled, but with enough raw emotion behind them to form a protective wall.

  The fire alarm went off, along with a water sprinkle installed on the bottom side of the stairway above them. Lucy worked her way past the two mind controlled men and pushed her hand, which held a taser in it, against the woman’s shoulder. Her body went rigid and then collapsed to the ground.

  “Get up, Victor!” yelled Lucy. “It won’t last long!”

  Even as she spoke, the woman in black was recovering. She looked at Victor warily for a moment and then slid down the stairs, throwing open the door on the next flight down and disappearing through it.

  “Are you okay?” Lucy helped him to his feet. The water from the sprinklers was soaking them to the bone. Lucy’s clothes were plastered against her curvy figure, letting Victor see the outline of her bra through her white shirt. He tried not to gawk.

  “I’m okay,” he said. “That was… insane.”

  He shook his head.

  I can’t believe that just happened.

  “Come on. We’re getting out of here.”

  Victor felt her leading him down the stairs. He blinked his eyes and tried to snap back to reality.