by Honor James
Adjusting the sequined dress once again so that her hoochie was covered, she stalked out of the dressing room and onto the side stage, looking out into the sea of faces with a grin and landing on her friend, Felicity. That’s when she saw it. The look of the woman was off. It was as if she were shimmering from the spell that had been cast on her. Sighing, she shook her head and knew that she was doing just the right thing.
When the MC announced her name, Maya pasted a smile on her lips and stalked onto the stage, the place where she felt completely at home, and started her “show.”
Chapter Three
“Target acquired.”
“Confirmed, target is moving up the hall toward the room. Too many non-combatants here. We need a distraction for a couple seconds.”
That was his cue. “In three, two, one,” he whispered and cast a faint spell. It would dissipate quickly but it would give the large Dragons the time they needed. Keeping an eye on everyone, since spells didn’t always go as they should around him or the bloody fire snotters, he was relieved to see them tranq the man and carry on as if he were drunk.
No ill effects anywhere to be seen, a huge relief for him at least. “Target secured,” he reported to those listening both back at HQ and out on the little craft that was their shadow. They’d decided to drop their man overboard for the craft to pick up. There was no safe enough locale for him to open a Vortex, unless he wanted countless lives lost on his conscience.
Grabbing up his bag, Quincy put his cap on and wandered up the hall, just another of the mindless vacationers wandering about. Holding up his cell like he was on a call, he said, “Moving to drop zone with package.”
“Ten minutes,” grunted one of the oafs ahead of him. “Make that eleven. Motherfucker went and got himself caught on something.”
Yeah, ’cause the drugged-out drug smuggler was at fault for where the molten-lava-for-brains buffoons dragged him. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Skittles prayed for some patience. He had no idea what he’d done to deserve such punishment, but seriously? “You do realize,” he murmured, “the quicker you get him to the DZ the sooner you can go and watch the chick in the flashy dress strut around pretending to do tricks on stage while flashing you her breasts, right?”
“He’s got a point.” Skittles wasn’t sure which of the twins said that but it was amazing just how much incentive that gave them. Of course the fact they were now not exactly inconspicuous with DeMarco draped over his shoulder as he pushed through the humans was a minor detail.
“I swear, I’m going to have a damn aneurysm,” he muttered off comms as he followed at a more sedate pace.
* * * *
Bella Donna looked across the sea of faces and smiled again. Lifting her hands, she brought out a small ring of flowers, letting them dance around the stage. She laughed. She loved this part of the show. It was so easy and it tied her so much closer to nature, which only made her stronger. As the flowers danced they began to bud, blooming from simple Gerber daisies to perfect white roses.
She let the flowers continue their dance and said, “For the next part I need a volunteer.” She looked over the floor and groaned internally at all of the men whose hands shot up without even a second thought. Mentally she cast her gaze and landed on Felicity.
“You there.” She pointed her finger, the floodlight following until Felicity was illuminated. “Come on up here. You are just what I need,” she said with a smile. Thankfully, thank you, Gaia, Felicity had never seen Maya’s show, never knew her alter identity, so when her “friends” all but pushed her toward the stage, there was no hint of recognition in her blank gaze.
Maya felt it then. She felt a pulse of power. No, there were no other Warlocks or Mage on the ship. She knew. She had spent every moment since she boarded meeting people and knew that there wasn’t another of her kind there, but there was! Son of a bitch! Well this was going to get very, very tricky. Damn.
Taking a deep breath, she realized that once she ported Felicity out, the sheer volume of power that she would use would all but tap the other Magic User on the shoulder and punch them, but it had to be done. Thus far, Maya had barely used any juice at all in the show, ensuring that she didn’t alert anyone who might have a nose for true magic as to what she was doing.
As she internalized, she spoke to Felicity and the crowd. “What’s your name, beautiful?” she teased the woman, her voice even on a modulated level during her shows so that no one could connect Bella Donna and Maya Griffon together.
“Felicity,” the young brunette said with that same glazed look on her face.
“Felicity. Ah, beautiful name.” Maya’s voice tinkled like music in the room as she sat her on a stool. “And now, ladies and gentlemen,” she stated and grabbed the hoop that was covered with a curtain. “For my final act, I’m going to make young Felicity here disappear.”
“And will I reappear?” Felicity asked from the stool.
“Absolutely. How about in your quarters?” she answered with a smile. “So close your eyes and think of your cabin,” she told the woman even though she had no intention of sending her there. No, Maya was planning on sending her to the clean room at her father’s home.
“All right, I have it,” Felicity stammered nervously, her hands twitching in her lap.
“And one.” Maya raised the hoop so that the curtain covered Felicity completely. Taking in a deep breath, she opened the small travel slipstream, much smaller than a Vortex and made only for one person, and poured power into it, praying as she did that whoever the Magic User was didn’t detect her. Yeah, like someone wouldn’t detect the Statue of fucking Liberty landing on their heads. “And two,” she called out, smiling all the same. “Three!” she yelled and jerked the curtain away, white doves flying from the seat where Felicity had been settled.
“That’s all folks! See you all tomorrow.” She smiled and added, “Maybe you will be next to be sent to your room,” she teased huskily at the roar of applause and ducked behind the curtains quickly. Grabbing the ever-present gummy worms that her stage hand offered her, she began to shove three into her mouth, needing the sugar buzz that would keep her going long enough to arrange for the van Hemptyn helicopter to come get her. Then, and only then, could she crash.
* * * *
Stumbling, Quincy slammed a hand to the wall to keep himself upright. “What the fuck!” His head was spinning, his gut churning, and his antenna quivering hard. There was a Magic User on board, someone with a lot of oomph.
Pressing his back to the wall, he put his hands on his knees and let his head drop as he breathed slow and deep. He hadn’t been expecting that at all. There shouldn’t have been another on the ship. Activating his comms, he kept sucking air. “Boss, we have a problem.” He breathed in and out, working through the headache, his gut clenching. “There’s a Mage or Warlock on board. Someone just pulled something huge and well, I feel like I’ve been sideswiped by a Mack truck.”
“Who is it?” Bulldog’s voice came back calm but tight. He did not like surprises on missions, especially ones that were all but finished.
“Not a fucking clue,” Skittles said, rubbing at his temples.
“We might have a clue for you, oh great one.” Oh goodie, the snarky twins were still on comms. “The illusionist just pulled a disappearing act on a guest. About the right timing I’d say.”
“Detain her,” Bulldog ordered, sounding much more relaxed again. “If it’s not her we’ll figure it out, but if it is, we need to know just what the hell she did and why.”
“She sent a guest off to her room,” the other twin put in, or at least Skittles thought it was the other one. They seriously had to start saying their names before doing anything on comms. Mac and Sully were easy to tell apart on comms, but these two rocks-for-brains not so much. “Funny thing though, the guest was DeMarco’s girlfriend, Felicity.”
“Grab her and use whatever means necessary.” Grim-sounding Bulldog again. “We’ll pick you up in a half hour. We’re j
ust finished off-loading our drug dealer so we’ll be able to get back in range by then. Back deck, thirty minutes, you’ll be going off the side into the water so make sure your flippers are in place, boys.”
Fuck me, Skittles thought. He hated getting wet. He really did. He didn’t mind swimming in appropriate attire but dunking himself in full dress…Fuck a duck on a twisted stick!
Chapter Four
Maya paced at the top of the boat. No longer was she in her Bella Donna costume but instead she was dressed as she normally was. Jeans, tennis shoes, Alabama Tide shirt, and pullover sweater. With her rugged knapsack close, she pulled out another handful of worms and looked to the skies again. Two minutes. She had to wait another two longer-than-fucking-hell minutes for her ride to get there. She prayed softly that it would go off without a hitch. She and Franco had planned everything out properly.
Felicity would be “leaving” on the helicopter. That would be the story told to the goon that she was dating at least. As far as anyone knew, Felicity had gotten back to her room, changed her mind on the relationship she was in, phoned her father, and flew off on one of his jet helicopters. Yep, that was the story at least. Bella Donna had been only contracted for one night so come morning the Captain of the ship would think that she had gotten off at port and none would be the wiser. Yeah, it was shitty of her to cast spells on people, but it had been necessary.
Chewing the head off another of her favorite red-and-white gummy worms, she looked to the skies and then her watch again. One minute. That’s all that she had left to wait. One stinking, lousy minute. What could go wrong in one minute?
Watching her from the shadows, Skittles frowned. The twins both assured him that her scent was right even though the outer shell wasn’t. Her antsy activity and the fact she had a bag waiting as she stared at the skies gave credence to their logic. Moving covertly, he got close enough and then, when she was distracted once more, he took her down with a spell.
Walking over, he stared down at her body and frowned again, definitely not the woman on the posters. Except for the nose, the jaw line, and the chin. Those all belonged to what’s-her-face on the posters. Waving in one of the twins, he let the man pick her up as he collected her bag and they went back into the shadows with seconds to spare as the helicopter landed. “Go, I’ll catch up,” he muttered to the Dragon.
Standing there, he watched the pilot lean forward slightly and then shift around, obviously looking for someone. “Sorry, buddy, but she had other plans,” Skittles purred with an evil smirk and, with another small spell, sent the guy on his way thinking that he’d collected her. Shaking his head, he followed along the same path as the twin toward the back of the boat. Time to get wet. Yippee!
* * * *
“How pissed do you think she’ll be?” Mac couldn’t help asking as they all stared down into the room affectionately known as the fishbowl. Given the large dome of glass overhead, it was seriously fitting. It was also the only room that could contain a Warlock or Mage, a room that Skittles avoided like the plague. He didn’t even like being up top in the viewing room. The room gave him the heebie-jeebies.
“I’m thinking she’ll be out for blood,” Trey commented, looking down at the female sleeping off the spell on the bed. “Particularly the one that put her down in that room.” All eyes turned on Skittles.
“Oh shut the fuck up,” Quincy muttered from his spot as far back as he could be and still see the female.
Quincy watched as Bulldog entered the viewing room. After a time the large Dragon nodded to the men and said, “Good work out there.” He nodded to the Dragons just inside of the door as well as his Alpha team and Skittles. “So what do we know abou—” Bulldog stopped short as he finally got a good look at the woman sleeping below. “Oh, son of a goddamn motherfucking bitch!” he roared. “Who the fuck’s idea of a goddamn joke is this!” he demanded and whirled on the men in the booth. “Do you fucking know what you just did?” Son of a goddamn bitch! The Warlocks and Mage would be up in Godsdamn arms about this. “Fucking wonderful. Just what the goddamn hell we need. The fucking Royal Family pissed off at us for stealing their daughter.” He growled and looked to Skittles. “What the fuck? Don’t you fucking know who the Royals are? Why the hell did you bring her here? That’s not some fucking illusionist! That’s the sister of the ruling Warlock, you fucking twit!”
“So what?” he asked, shooting his boss a look. “She’s also the illusionist according to Huey’s and Dewey’s noses. She also has power which I felt on recoil when I put her down. She got Felicity out of there, so she was interfering in an active investigation,” he added pointedly. “If she’s an innocent she will tell us everything and you let her go. If not then she’s where she deserves to be. Besides, you know as well as I do, the Royal Family representative is a dick who seriously needs to be neutered and executed.”
“Fuck.” Bulldog growled and looked to his Royal Guards. “Aiden, Allister. Is she the illusionist?” When both of them nodded, he glared. “Anything fucking else that you want to say?” He growled angrily. “Like what the fuck you were doing while you watched her whisk fucking Felicity van Hemptyn off the boat.” He shot his gaze to Skittles and added, “And I thought you fucking said no one could open a Vortex without harming others. Looks to me like she fucking did.”
“I said, and I quote, that the likelihood of non-combatant casualties could, in theory, be too high for us to risk. But hey, whatever, it’s all on my conscience if I take out a three-year-old, right?” he asked, getting to his feet, magic starting to crackle around him. “What the hell do you care if I take out some granny celebrating her fiftieth wedding anniversary, right? I’ll be shouldering the blame if anything goes wrong after all, not you, because I was talked into it. Well I do not find that acceptable, so you can kiss my fucking ass, Bulldog, and hers, too, since you seem to be revving up for it,” he snarled out, barely holding onto the huge buildup of magic. Spinning, he stormed from the room, disintegrating the door in his anger and really not giving two shits.
Bulldog growled and shook his head. Stopping his guard, he said, “Let him calm down.” Running his hands over his face, he sighed. “I’m getting too fucking old for this,” he muttered and stepped over the shredded door and toward the stairs. Wonderful. Just fucking great.
Entering the room where the woman was kept, Talon, or Bulldog as he was known to his men, was surprised that she was sitting up on the corner of her bed. “You are safe,” he explained. “But I have questions,” he stated simply.
“Who spelled me? And questions on what? I was just waiting for a helicopter and then out of nowhere boom, darkness and now I’ve woken with a headache.” She fidgeted slightly and sighed. “And where is my knapsack?” She needed some candy, any kind really, but she truly wanted her gummy worms, dammit. “Where am I?” It was somewhere that knew about magic, that much she knew. Frowning, she cocked her head to the side and swore a vicious streak. “Son of a goddamn bitch. Talon?” She had only then in that moment realized who it was that entered the room. She then got up and began to pace. “Fucking hell. Why the Godsdamn hell have you got me in one of the Council’s holding cells?” Her only thought was that her brother had done something and blamed her, again.
“Because you have been a bad girl,” Talon told her, digging out a bag of gummy worms. “Here.” He passed them over to her as he grabbed a chair. Spinning it around, he sat down facing her, his arms crossed on the back of it. “Since it’s you, Maya, I’m guessing that the ‘sending her to her room’ illusion wasn’t what it appeared and that you actually sent the out-of-line daughter back to her daddy. Which, given who she’s been dating, now makes more sense. But you also interfered in one of our missions. Potentially you could have ruined it all,” he said to her in an understanding manner with a fine edge of steel. “You sideswiped my Warlock, thankfully after the capture and detainment, but you could have done it during the mission and that would have been severely punishable as you well know. So, tell me,
why chance a Vortex with all those innocents in its path?”
“Because.” She chewed on one of the worms and moved to sit back on the bed, her back to the wall. “It wasn’t a Vortex,” she said with a grin. “And I call bullshit on you, Talon. I’ve known you my whole life. You taught me how to defend myself when big brother blacked my eye.” She wouldn’t voice the man’s name. He just might appear and that would suck. For her. “I call bullshit because we both know that you would have had a backup plan, and a backup for that one. You don’t do anything half-assed and we both know it.” She chewed another worm. “As for your Warlock.” She shrugged. “I do feel bad if I hurt him, but I contained it as much as I could, so that means that he was far too close to me when I did what I did.” She hoped that he didn’t ask her about the “not a Vortex” thing because then she would have to admit something she didn’t admit. Ever. “And I was there to save a friend. Felicity has been charmed. Someone has cast a serious fucking spell over her, making her that idiot bastard’s puppet.” She had seen it before, the pain that it caused. No, she had to not think of that. “So I sent her home. Uncle Franco is going to get her all the help she needs. He’s going to find someone to unspell her.” She hoped.
“Explain that ‘not a Vortex,’ please,” Talon said, ignoring the rest as he zoned in on what she was avoiding telling him. “I had a backup plan, true,” he admitted as he watched her scrambling mentally to find an explanation for him. “But it was slim at best given the number of innocents on board. My Warlock was our best shot. As it was, he’s in one hell of a pissy mood with me right now so you’d better tell me what you meant. Because he told me the risk wasn’t worth it but if you did it when he couldn’t, I might have to have him terminated.” Not that he would but she didn’t know that. He had a reputation for being ruthless and vicious. That would help him here.
