Infinities' Edge

by Andrew Dobell

  ‘See something you like?’ Yasmin asked as she stepped up to Amanda, only inches away from her now, and languidly licked her lips.

  ‘That’s a very forward question,’ Amanda said coyly.

  ‘What’s the point in beating around the bush, life’s too short my dear. Everything is there for the taking, for those brave enough to take action. We live a dangerous life Amanda, and for many, one that is all too short. I intend to live mine doing what I want when I want. It’s the only way that makes any sense, don’t you think?’

  Yasmin’s words sounded so similar to Maria’s, and yet, also seemed to be coming from a very different place. But the sentiment behind them felt identical, and with the recent attacks on her, today and in days gone by, the idea of living each day to its fullest had been hitting harder than ever before.

  Yasmin reached up, taking Amanda’s chin in her fingers, raising her face up to hers as Yasmin pressed in, her lips maybe in inch away now.

  Amanda could feel Yasmin’s warm breath and the feel of her body as it pressed ever so slightly into hers.

  ‘Don’t you agree Amanda?’ Yasmin asked.

  ‘I do… I do agree.’

  Looking deep into Yasmin’s eyes, she felt like she could lose herself in them all too easily, and the depths that path led too did scare her, in an enticing way.

  ‘But… not today I think,’ Yasmin said, and stepped away before her Magic whipped about her and she was gone again.

  Amanda dropped into the nearest seat and took a breath. She really didn’t know what to make of that little encounter. Did Yasmin fancy her a little bit as well maybe? Jeez, it felt strange to look at someone like Yasmin and feel a powerful need to ravish them. She was, by all accounts, a Nomad, and yet everything she had ever seen of this woman seemed to run contrary to that idea. She was dangerous, sure, but so were most Magi, herself included.

  So, maybe not today, but if that day came, would she go through with it? Would she take a walk on the wild side? Only time would tell. In the meantime, she had some cleaning up to do before she returned home to get some rest.

  ‘Sounds like you had something of a crazy night, but thank you for cleaning the place up. I’m sure Yoh will be pleased,’ Maya said.

  Amanda sat in her living room opposite Maya who had listened intently to Amanda’s slightly edited version of what had happened at the Jade Palace last night. She left out the visit by Yasmin, thinking that she would be better off keeping that to herself.

  ‘It was certainly one of my stranger nights, that’s for sure,’ Amanda said.

  ‘And this Demitriov said he knew you from years ago?’ Maya asked.

  ‘Yeah, like sixty or seventy years ago or something. I have no idea what he was talking about. It’s probably just one more crazy person with an axe to grind and I seemed like a prime target.’

  ‘That sounds like the most likely scenario,’ Maya agreed. ‘So, why did you call me over here? Shouldn’t you have called Yoh seeing as it was his property?’ Maya asked.

  ‘Maybe, but there was something else that happened that made it necessary for us to meet today,’ Amanda said.

  ‘Go on,’ Maya said.

  ‘Horlack asked me a favour. He wants to meet with you. I said I would pass the message on to you for him.’

  ‘Horlack? I’m not surprised. We have something of a shared history I suppose.’

  ‘He said the same thing.’

  ‘Did he say anything else?’ Maya asked.

  ‘Not that I remember, only that he seemed to know you from somewhere.’

  ‘Indeed,’ Maya said.

  Amanda felt like Maya was being quite coy and didn’t want to share the story with her, which although Amanda felt curious as to what the story was between Maya and Horlack, she totally respected her privacy. The world of the Magi seemed to be getting ever more interconnected as the histories and relationships between those that she knew grew closer together.

  ‘Sooo… will you meet him?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  ‘I think you should,’ Amanda suggested.

  ‘Oh really, and why’s that?’

  ‘I don’t know, I think maybe he’s turned a corner, he’s trying to prove himself to you and I don’t think it could hurt to meet with him.’

  ‘It couldn’t hurt?’ Maya asked.

  ‘No, I don’t think so. I’ll sort it out, get a date and time. It could happen on the roof of the Jade Palace maybe, out of the way and if we did it at night it would be quite hidden. I feel sure he would behave himself around me.’

  ‘You have no idea of the history I have with him, no idea at all, so for you to suggest such a thing is a little out of place don’t you think?’

  ‘Hey,’ Amanda said, raising her hands, ‘I’m just trying to help here. I’m just letting you know how I see this, that’s all.’

  Maya stood up. ‘Sure you are. But I think that maybe you should take a look at yourself sometime.’

  ‘Is that so?’

  ‘I don’t have time for this,’ Maya said, and turned from the room and walked out the house. Amanda sat and watched her go, slumping back into her chair. First Liz was all confrontational with her, and now Maya. What had got into these people? Everyone seemed to be so tetchy at the moment, she almost couldn’t say anything right at all. But before she could think about it anymore, she felt the telepathic presence of someone contacting her through a Mental Link.

  Focusing on the feeling, she knew it to be Shaun from downstairs. So she opened the link to him.

  ‘Amanda, can you come downstairs for a moment, I have some information for you, and try to be quick please,’ his voice said in her head.

  ‘Of course,’ she answered and stood up from her chair. She wondered what Shaun had for her that needed her immediate attention, and made her way into the basement as quickly as she could on foot.

  Moments later she sat on the opposite side of the desk to Shaun.

  ‘You asked me to find someone for you recently who goes by the online name of Edge, correct?’

  Amanda nodded, remembering her request to Shaun to find the one link to her past that Mr Black had given her, someone online going by the name of Edge.

  ‘Well, we found him, and we think he’s walking into trouble.’

  ‘What kind of trouble,’ Amanda asked.

  ‘It seemed he’s been corresponding online with Angel Alergeri, who’s been telling him about the world of the Magi, and today they’re meeting for the first time.’

  ‘They’re meeting? Where?’ Amanda asked.

  ‘He’s clearly trying to be smart about it and they have chosen a café in London, somewhere public, but I think we both know what Angel is capable of,’ Shaun said.

  ‘Damn right,’ Amanda said. ‘What’s the address?’

  Amanda walked through the small tree lined area of grass and winding paths in London and approached the café she could see on the other side of the road on the edge of the park. The day didn’t seem to be all that cold this morning, and a few people were sat outside the café at the tables and chairs on the sidewalk. She paused at the edge of the park close to one of the exits and quickly saw the familiar form of Angel sat at a table looking like a normal business woman taking a break from her hectic day, but a somewhat sexier one than most of the others around her. She had a bright red handbag placed on the table before her.

  She sat reading the folded up newspaper, sipping at her coffee apparently oblivious to the world around her, until a man walked up and stood next to the table.

  ‘Seraphim?’ he asked. Amanda’s enhanced hearing picking up his voice easily.

  Angel looked up, ‘And you must be Edge, a pleasure to meet you, please, sit down.’

  ‘Thank you, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting,’ he said, as Amanda started to walk over to them. The man didn’t stand out and seemed to be a fairly normal looking man in jeans and coat with a bag over his shoulder. He had a mop of dark hair and wore a pair of black rimmed glasses. Amand
a had never seen him before, and the idea that he would know more about her past bemused her somewhat. But, appearances could be deceiving, and the apparently harmless and yet sexy and appealing look of Angel was no doubt having that exact effect on this “Edge” right at that moment.

  The pair continued to exchange some polite conversation as Amanda made her final approach to the table, no major revelations so far.

  ‘So, err, what do you want to talk about?’ Edge said. ‘Oh, and err, do you want me to call you Seraphim?’

  ‘Call her Angel,’ Amanda said as she pulled the free chair out and sat herself down in it, facing and smiling at Angel, who only frowned back.

  ‘Hey, who are…’ he started to say but stopped as soon as he got a good look at her. ‘Holy shit,’ he said.

  Amanda turned to look at him. ‘Everything okay?’

  ‘Sophia?’ he said, in a shocked voice.

  Outwardly, Amanda made no sign that she recognised the name, but inwardly, she jumped for joy. Sophia had been the name that Mr Black had used for her mother, and now this man also said it when he saw her. The link was clear, but he was still in danger. He needed to leave here and quickly. Amanda considered Porting him away, but she had no idea how much he knew about Magic and she’d prefer that he knew as little as possible really. So she came up with an alternative plan.

  ‘Edge, I want you to get up from this table and leave. Go home, I will find you shortly,’ she said.

  ‘But, I just…’

  ‘GO! Now.’ She said.

  Without any further words, Edge rose from his seat and walked off down the sidewalk without a backwards glance. Amanda watched him go with a second set of senses but faced Angel the whole time. Angel looked back at her, and she could almost feel the simmering rage that bubbled away beneath the surface of Angel’s otherwise calm exterior.

  ‘I wasn’t going to hurt him,’ she said.

  ‘Maybe, maybe not, but you will leave him alone and find your victims elsewhere from here on out,’ Amanda said.

  ‘This isn’t New York Amanda. I will do as I please,’ Angel said.

  Amanda sensed the Magic that Angel worked. It wasn’t directed at her and seemed to be a message or telepathic signal, but with a thought, Amanda countered the Magic and stopped it in its tracks.

  ‘You’re going to sit there and finish your coffee and not make any false moves, understood?’

  Angel smiled back at her. ‘Understood,’ she said.

  Amanda wasn’t sure if she could take Angel in a fight or not. She was a powerful Magus and she suspected they would be fairly evenly matched, but this was a public space and she hoped that Angel would want to keep this as calm and cordial as much as she did. She watched Angel carefully for any Magic use, wanting to give Edge as much of a head start as possible.

  To Angel’s credit, she did just go back to reading the paper and waited for Amanda to leave.

  After maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, Amanda bid Angel good day and left, crossing back over to the park, only to have another Mental Link come through to her as she considered her next move in dealing with this Edge and what he might know about her mother and her past.

  Amanda quickly recognised the presence of Yasmin, and with a deep breath, opened the link to her, a feeling of trepidation settling over her mind as she did so.

  ‘Amanda, meet me at the Jade Palace, I’ll be waiting,’ Yasmin said before cutting the link.

  - London

  Matt had walked away from that meeting with Seraphim, or Angel, whatever her name was, as quickly as he could. He’d walked directly to a tube station before going round the circle line a couple of times, changing trains three times and then heading home, in the hope of losing anyone that might be following him.

  Despite his best attempts to throw off any potential tail, though, by the time he got back to his home, he just couldn’t shake the feeling that someone or something had followed him back.

  But what could he do? When he had seen Sophia there at the meeting, warning him away from Angel, he knew he had to leave. Sophia had saved his life once before, he knew she only wanted to protect him, so he followed her directions.

  With a last glance down the street, spotting nothing suspicious, he entered his house and went back to his desktop computer in the basement.

  He had a message waiting for him, addressed to his online name of Edge, from someone on the Dark Web. The sender called himself Father Time and “a friend of the Redhead you just met”.

  Sophia.

  He gave Father Time the info he asked for.

  Cherub stood across the street from the house she had just watched Edge walk into, and opened a link to her Mentor Angel.

  ‘I have him,’ she said.

  Forbidden Fruit

  New York

  Jan 17th

  Stood over the road from the Jade Palace, looking through the traffic and the people, Amanda quickly picked out Yasmin from the other people sat outside the building. Taking a deep breath and feeling a lot more nervous about meeting her again then she had before, she walked towards the Arch Magus.

  She had met Yasmin a few times now, and they had always been cordial meetings that seemed to go well. But after seeing her yesterday, she just couldn’t get Yasmin out of her head. She had thought about her almost constantly last night and this morning. But the thoughts had changed, evolved from the way she had used to think about Yasmin.

  Last night, their little encounter had ignited a fire in Amanda, and it took her a few hours to admit it to herself, but after she had ended up pleasuring herself and thinking of only one person while doing it last night, she just had to admit the truth of it. She fancied Yasmin. Or, at least, she fancied the idea of sleeping with her. She had no desire to have any kind of relationship with the woman, but a few hours of passion was a little different. No ties, no strings, she just wanted to bed her.

  Yasmin felt like the ultimate forbidden fruit, the mountain that she felt like she needed to conquer to prove something to herself. She was supposedly the chosen one after all. Getting this legendary Magus to come to bed with her, to seduce her felt like a challenge she wanted to take on, if only out of curiosity.

  Walking towards Yasmin now, she couldn’t help but admire how she looked. It might not be how Amanda would personally dress, but it certainly showed off Yasmin's body rather nicely. She wore black wet look leggings with very high black stiletto heels, a black overbust corset that pushed her boobs up creating an enticing cleavage and a small black leather jacket. Her lion's mane of hair remained loose and streaked through with purple today and caught the wind as she sat waiting for Amanda.

  Yasmin looked up at the last second as Amanda approached the table, and smiled at her. Amanda felt her heart beat quicken and her breath catch in her throat for a moment as she locked eyes with Yasmin for the first time today.

  ‘Amanda, thank you for coming,’ she said as she stood up to greet her. Amanda felt suddenly self-conscious and guilty for thinking of Yasmin in a sexual way. She offered her hand in greeting, which seemed to amuse Yasmin. She looked at it and smiled, but took Amanda’s hand in hers and clasped it in between both her hands to shake it.

  ‘No bother,’ Amanda said.

  ‘Please, sit. I got you a coffee,’ Yasmin said.

  ‘That’s grand, thank you,’ she answered as she adjusted the position of the mug on the table, noting it still felt hot. ‘You wanted to see me?’ Amanda said.

  ‘I did, I think we need to talk.’

  ‘We tried that once before, though,’ said Amanda, remembering the meeting she had with Yasmin on her rooftop that didn’t exactly go to plan with Yasmin resisting her questions.

  ‘We did, yes, and I wasn’t very forthcoming, I know, but things have changed a bit, I think.’

  ‘To be sure,’ Amanda said.

  ‘You wanted to know if I was a Nomad if I remember correctly,’ Yasmin mused.

  ‘That was part of it,’ Amanda answered.

  ‘Well, I
suppose I am, by the narrow definition of the Arcadians. But then, any Magi that isn’t a member of the Arcadians is in effect, a Nomad. Even the Inquisition could be considered as such by that position, or at least an enemy of the Arcadians.’

  ‘I’m not sure they consider the Inquisitors to be Nomads,’ Amanda said.

  ‘Maybe, maybe not. But what about the independent Magi of the world?’

  ‘You mean, like Nefertiti?’

  ‘Exactly. She might not be an Arcadian, and her methods can be a little harsh by the standards of most Arcadians, but most Nomads would not consider them to be part of their group either.’

  ‘True. What’s your point?’

  ‘What is a Nomad?’

  ‘A Magus who walks the Dark Path,’ Amanda answered.

  ‘That’s very vague Mandy. I think we can do better than that. I would say that a Nomad is someone who worships and follows the will of the Archons. They submit themselves to the Archon of their choice and do their bidding.’

  ‘And you do not? Is that what you’re saying?’ Amanda asked.

  ‘I do the opposite. The Archons have power, resources, abilities, things that I want for myself. Why should one have to submit oneself to these petty gods to partake of that power? No, I walk my own path. Like I said to you before, life is short and there are things out there for the taking, for those with the strength to do so. I take the things I want, I don’t submit to the power of any Archon, but I have taken the gifts they possess. I walk my own path. If that makes me a Nomad, so be it, it’s not for me to give myself a label when I personally don’t feel I have one.’

  ‘So you don’t consider yourself a Nomad?’

  ‘As I said, that’s for others to decide, not me. But I do have power, and that attracts those who want power. It brings attention to me, sometimes that attention is unwanted, but it’s still there. I think you have some experience with this?’

  ‘I do,’ she nodded and rubbed the tattoo on her arm. Since the events of the island and the rumours that had been spread about her, she had garnered the attention of far too many people, most of which, even if they were technically on the same side, was unwanted.