by TR Cameron
The sniper reaffirmed their presence as a bullet slammed into her shield at head level. Thank heaven they didn’t bring anti-magic. Probably trusting the element of surprise and the fact that their target wasn’t a magical. Heh. For once, my parents’ decision to hide my identity pays off. She spotted the team’s third member and shifted her path toward the man, who was pulling the trigger on a grenade launcher of some kind, to judge by the canister shooting from the barrel at high speed.
She’d never seen a weapon like it before. Her first thought was that maybe it shot rockets instead of grenades, but she knew exactly how to deal with it either way. She swung her hand in a slap toward the motel, and the projectile veered off in that direction. It hit and exploded, adding to the conflagration. She drew too close for him to use that weapon again, so he went for the pistol at his hip. It looked larger than usual, so she expended more energy to toughen up her shields. The sniper’s bullet that struck the barrier guarding the back of her head had ample force to pitch her forward, and the round from the pistol smashed into her shin hard enough to send her tumbling. Her shields were great at protecting against penetration and at generally dissipating impacts, but those two rounds in quick succession hit it hard.
Ruby somersaulted and returned to her feet to find her quarry running away. “Oh no, you don’t,” she growled and reached for her power to throw out a line. Instead of her dominant right arm moving forward, her left arm did. The tattoo burned, and she guessed what was about to happen. A line of shadow magic reached out and wrapped itself around his feet. She reflexively yanked backward to drop him on his face, then slowed to a walk as she turned her attention inward. You’re not the boss of me.
She pictured the Atlantean as his familiar laugh rang in her head. Is that so? Perhaps not yet. But soon. Very soon.
Her foe in the real world stood, and Ruby punched him in the face, reinforcing the blow with force magic. He went down again, unconscious. She grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him toward the back of the motel, looking for some place to get him out of the way so she could deal with the last member of the team. The long gun barked, and the figure in her hand jerked. She looked down to see that the sniper had killed him, a clean shot to the heart that was spilling blood all over his chest. She dropped the body with a sigh and a curse. “Okay, scumbag. Let’s do this.”
She spared a portion of her magic to call up a veil, then let every shield other than the one running along her skin drop. Her abilities only allowed her to keep so many spells going at once, and the next would require some power. She ran to the back of the motel, then launched herself up and over it at the midpoint, flying through the air toward the sniper’s likely position. From above, she got a clear view of a figure in black fatigues striding along the edge of the gas station roof with a rifle pointed at the motel, slowly panning the scope to spot her emergence.
It was doubtful the sniper would wait for long, but Ruby didn’t need that much time. Before she hit the ground, she launched herself again, the distance requiring a second burst of force magic to get her there. She landed on the dusty surface behind the figure, who spun at the noise, whipping out a pistol. The sniper fired it automatically, almost without looking. The rounds smacked into Ruby’s chest and stomach but didn’t penetrate, thanks to her magic. She let the veil fall and simultaneously blasted the weapon away from the sniper, who turned out to be female. The other woman tried to wrench the heavy rifle around, and Ruby grabbed it with her force magic and yanked it aside to clatter on the roof.
The resolve in her foe’s eyes was clear, and Ruby shook her head. “Nope.” She whipped out a line of force from her right arm, carefully ensuring the artifact didn’t influence her choice again and pulled the woman back from the edge she was about to throw herself over. “You would’ve barely gotten injured, much less killed. If there’s going to be pain involved, I’d far prefer to be the one to supply it.” She wrapped more force magic around her captive to keep her contained, reached down, and ripped out her earpiece. The woman struggled, cursed, and threatened, but Ruby paid no attention. She walked far enough away to be out of earshot and dialed a number on her phone, noting absently that the earlier alert had been a text from him.
Demetrius answered, “Hey Ruby, what’s up? Awful late for you to be awake and not here.”
The flirting drew a grin, even in the present circumstance. She replied, “Yeah, believe me, I’d much rather be there. Got some trouble. I need you to contact our government friends and tell them I have someone I’d like them to keep an eye on for me.”
“I’ll do it right now. Hold on.”
Ruby walked over to the woman. “Don’t fret. You’ll probably live through this experience. Still, I can’t have you reporting back to whoever sent you, so I’m afraid you’re going to take a little vacation. I’m sure the facilities are nice.”
Demetrius came back on the line. “I gave them your location. They’ll open a portal to you soon.”
“Excellent. Listen, someone came after me, and I’m not sure how they found me. It’s possible it was my bike since there probably aren’t too many ARCH 1s around here, but I don’t feel like I’ve ridden it in public. My bigger concern is that they might have tracked me from the house. Make sure all the defenses are okay.”
“Wait one.” He was gone for fifteen seconds, then reported, “Nothing to see here. No problems.”
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. “Great. Perfect. Listen, do a full diagnostic or whatever you do to verify nobody messed with stuff, and lock all the doors. Then, order me a bunch more drones. As soon as I have a free moment, I’ll increase the house’s surveillance and defense capability.”
“Should I be worried?”
“I don’t think so. You should be smart. You know, if you can stretch yourself to reach that lofty goal.”
He coughed out the word “Loser” under his breath. “Hah. You owe me. I expect a real date for all the ongoing nonsense you put me through.”
He broke through the worries that crowded her mind. She laughed. “You got it. I know just the place. As soon as I get a few things under control, we’ll do it up big.”
Chapter Three
Julianna Sloane finished touching up her mascara and rose from the ivory and gold vanity in her dressing area. In the time since her husband’s death, she’d progressed through the stages of grief quickly but intensely. If I have a memoir one day, that would probably be a good title. Her life had always been fast and furious, and she usually came out the other side victorious. As I intend to do on this occasion as well. She smoothed the jacket that matched her grey pinstripe pants, the low black heels underneath a perfect complementary shade. Her red blouse was the only splash of color, and she felt it was appropriate given the vengeance taken at her orders the night before.
She walked down the small hallway that led to the living room, which she’d altered since her husband’s death. The white furniture was out, replaced by black versions that were more modern and less luxurious. More me. Still, it felt strange being there without him. For all that people saw her as a trophy wife, theirs had been a true partnership filled with real love.
She shrugged inwardly. Now I’m on my own again. Certainly not a situation I’m a stranger to. Julianna gave the man in the living room a thin smile. “Smith, good to see you.” He had taken his usual pride in his appearance, his flattop perfectly even, the suit well-pressed. “Any changes to the schedule?”
His tones were lower and more respectful than they’d been toward her when she was only The Nightmare’s wife. “No. All is as expected. Thompson is on her way up.”
That brought a genuine smile to Julianna’s lips. The newest member of her security’s leadership was someone she’d long favored, but her husband hadn’t been as gender-neutral as she was. Or maybe he simply didn’t recognize her talents. In any case, I do. She was the alternate version of Smith—one or the other of them was with her during most of her waking time, or at least on call if she wa
s somewhere safe, like the penthouse.
Julianna sat on the couch, and room service immediately bustled in. The uniformed waiter set a silver coffeepot and three heavy mugs on the table, along with a dish filled with a variety of cookies and berries. She nibbled on one of the latter while Smith poured coffee for the three of them.
Her newest lieutenant strode in, dressed in the standard security uniform of dark suit and black mock turtleneck. Her shoes were utilitarian but had a professional shine. A tight ponytail corralled her hair, giving her a sleek, no-nonsense look. Both the locks and her skin were a deep chestnut. Julianna said, “Good morning.”
“How you doin’, boss?” The other woman’s informality was one of the most appealing things about her. “Ready for the news?”
“Let me have it.”
“Five out of the eight teams we sent were able to act on their targets. Results are one killed and three wounded. One escaped since we received the initial notification of contact but nothing from the team after.”
Julianna frowned. “Who did we kill?”
“The eldest of the Caruthers.”
“That’s a pretty big family, multigenerational if I remember right. No immediate change will occur as a result. Who escaped?”
Thompson had the information ready, no need to unclasp her hands from behind her back to go for a device to look it up. “The Mist Elf family that’s still in town. Achera. Eldest daughter.”
“The human?” Julianna had gone over all the dossiers beforehand and had familiarized herself with the potential targets.
Her security both nodded. Smith interjected, “Yeah, her. The adopted one. Should have been easy, but apparently not.”
Julianna shook her head. “Fifty percent success isn’t a level I’m satisfied with. We need to do better. Include the surviving teams in the next set of operations since a shot at redemption might help motivate them. What did we learn from this experiment?”
Thompson replied, “The targets generally have good protection. Probably they increased it after Goryo did his thing.” A nod urged her to continue. “We can guess they’ll look for more security after last night, which will make the next phase somewhat more challenging.”
Julianna waved her hand airily. “Part of the plan, all part of the plan. So. Smith, introduce Thompson to our security company principals. They are to start aggressively moving to absorb or eliminate their competition. When the casino owners in Ely contract new security, I want to be sure our people are part of whoever they choose. If it turns out they’re not up to it, make a deal with a different company and offer them up as a sacrifice. Either way, we need to be on the inside when the ball gets rolling.”
Smith replied, “Will do.” He sounded eager to cause trouble for the two locals.
“Good. What else did we learn?”
Thompson replied, “Striking from a distance was effective in all four cases. Twice the snipers were adequate on their own, hitting the target with their first shot. In the other cases, the initial bullet was enough to give the team the opportunity to move in and do some damage before the defenders rallied. It’s possible they’ll be on guard against the snipers now, too. Certainly we should expect them to have more than one or two security guards with them.”
Julianna shrugged and sipped her coffee, which was dark, rich, and bitter. She winced and dropped a single cube of sugar into it, poking at it with a long fingernail until it dissolved. Then she replied, “So change it up. I trust you to figure it out. What’s essential is that when an opportunity presents itself, we’re ready to hit it like a bolt of lightning from a cloudless sky. The more we thin out those families, the more likely they’ll sell or get out of town. Speaking of which, what’s the situation inside the casinos themselves?”
Smith replied, “We’ve had teams visiting each of them every day. Heavily increased security, looks like some new detection equipment at the entrances. Both magicals and humans in uniform keeping an eye on things. Doubtless they have a bunch in plainclothes as well. It’s unlikely we’ll be able to get in undetected.”
Julianna laughed. “That’s probably what the pointy ears who owned the Mist thought, too. Right up until the moment it crashed down like a poorly stacked house of cards. I heard they ran back to their planet.”
Thompson confirmed it. “Yep. The property is now in the hands of a trust. Our lawyers are working to see if there’s a way to get at it, but it looks as if the documents were all written specifically to preclude an outside interest.”
“Good choice on the family’s part, anyway. They probably figured I’d have them killed to acquire the land, and they certainly weren’t wrong.” She took another drink of her coffee and ate a cookie, thinking. No other matters of import leapt to mind. “Thompson, get things started on setting up the next round of operations. Smith will be down presently so you can visit with our security company.” She departed, and Julianna stood and wandered the living room. “Feels weird, here, without him.” She looked out at the mountains in the distance. Before, they had comforted her. Now they were irrelevant. Like most things.
From behind her, her lieutenant replied, “Yeah. We were both with the boss for a long time. It’s bound to take a while for things to seem like they’re yours, instead of his.”
An idea flashed through her brain with the abrupt power of an electrical charge. She turned and said, “You know what? You’re exactly right. Inside and outside, everything here reminds me of him. It’s time for a change if we want to leave that feeling behind. This apartment, hell, the whole town, has too many memories.” Excitement at the idea coursed through her. “When you finish with the security company, find us a place in Vegas. Something high up, with a view of the Strip.” She smiled with something approaching real happiness for the first time since her husband’s death. “Yeah. A move to Sin City will be just the medicine I need.”
Chapter Four
Ruby spun and slashed, leading with the artifact blade in her right hand and twisting to stab forward with the training blade in her left. Her imaginary opponent folded over the weapon as it pierced his stomach, then fell away. Ruby was already in motion toward the next, sweeping her lead sword up in a rising block and whipping the other low as she lifted her boot to intercept an imaginary kick.
It was still dark in her Oriceran village, with the sun barely peeking over the horizon. She’d been training for almost an hour, lost in practice, honing her skills and giving her mind a chance to rest. The only one of the people who’d attacked her and survived was now safely secured at Diana Sheen’s base, and the agent had promised they would get whatever information was available from the captive. Ruby was still too keyed up to go home, and even visiting Demetrius, which might otherwise have been a fun way to burn off some energy, didn’t feel right with the stain of the Atlantean artifact still upon her. So she blocked, chopped, and delivered merciless vengeance on a host of faceless and nameless opponents.
She sensed the approach easily, a sign that the other person wanted it that way. The ringing as steel cleared scabbard caused her to alter her flow, rotating toward the newcomer in time to stop her teacher’s lazy diagonal chops with her swords. Ruby breathed heavily, and a note of amusement colored Keshalla's voice. “Turning to training to deal with stress. I wholeheartedly approve. Let’s see how your skills are today.” Her teacher delivered a front kick to Ruby’s midsection, and she backpedaled to steal some of the power from the blow.
Ruby slashed her right-hand sword down in a circle block, and her opponent batted it aside with ease. Her mentor’s attacks came fast, hammering at Ruby’s defenses. A thread of magic coated the blades to prevent unintended cuts, but the danger of heavy impact was significant. The other woman hadn’t used offensive magic yet so Ruby couldn’t rely on hers for anything other than that basic protection. Protection for her, rather than me, naturally.
Ruby turned and dashed away on a vector that took her toward one of the boulders dotting the clearing. She leapt up, claiming the hi
gh ground, and spun to face her opponent. Keshalla gave the strategy a respectful nod, then waded in with cuts to her legs. Ruby blocked some with swords, some with boots, and whipped her sword out at her mentor’s head several times.
Keshalla was almost preternatural in the way she knew when an attack was coming and could shift the targeted body part far enough out of line to avoid it. No wasted movement, complete conservation of energy. It was a technique Ruby was working on, but unless she devoted the rest of her life to daily practice, she would never reach her teacher’s level. I don’t really have that kind of time. What would Demetrius say?
She snorted internally and leapt off the boulder at the same moment the other woman jumped onto it, doubtless intending to smash her off with brute strength. Now Ruby was the one slashing and cutting at her foe’s legs and failing to penetrate her seamless defense. Keshalla shifted the focus of the battle by blasting Ruby with force magic without warning, sending her stumbling backward to sprawl on the ground.
She levered herself back on her shoulders and heaved herself up to her feet, her swords interposing themselves to guide the incoming stabs out to the sides as her force shield materialized around her body. Once it was solid, she threaded a little magic into her muscles, the maximum she had so far learned how to control, to speed up her movements. Again, her teacher nodded acknowledgment of the tactic, and in an instant, had matched and exceeded her improvement.
Ruby growled under her breath, “Unfair,” but kept her mind focused, defending against the incoming blows and watching for additional magical attacks. Both of her mentor’s blades were like Ruby’s dagger in that holding them did not preclude using magic. I wonder if the artifact sword is like that, she thought, followed immediately by, and I’m a total idiot for not having asked that question already. Her internal annoyance pushed her to fight harder, and her muscles started to protest the intensity of the workout.
