Shattered Spirits

by C. I. Black

  A bank of glass elevators sat on the far side of the rotunda. To the left, a massive stretch of windows looked out onto an outside courtyard created by two sections of the complex. Red bled across the sky. The sun was setting already. It was close to 5 p.m., which meant the pre-gala events would start soon. How was he going to find Capri in this, or the man he’d seen in the flash?

  “How many of these people are dragons?” Maybe Grey could help narrow down the options.

  “A lot. You really shouldn’t be here.”

  “The odds of anyone noticing I’m a mage and not a dragon are slim.”

  “Still, not odds I like.”

  “Well, deal with it. I’m the only one who can point out the drake who’s going to kill Capri.”

  Grey growled. “Fine. I’d say our best bet is to find Barna. That’s where Capri will be.”

  “Agreed.” Pimm was after Barna and Diablo had gone to get Capri to stop him. If Ryan was running the operation, he’d stake out Barna and wait for Pimm to show up.

  “If Barna hasn’t headed to the gala, he’s probably in his office. In the very least, someone there might be able to track him down,” Grey said. “East wing, top floor.”

  “Which is why you parked in the east garage.”

  “I do have a little experience with this kind of thing.” Grey flashed a hint of teeth—a sign of dragon excitement, among other things. “Come on.”

  They stepped into the crowd and headed to the elevators. Ryan searched the people, his mind whirling and the future flash tugging at him. A familiar coif of brown hair caught his attention. Melissa. She turned and caught his gaze before he could hide. Shit.

  Her expression darkened, and she stormed through the crowd toward him.

  “Bringing a big friend to confront me isn’t going to stop me from running my follow-up story,” she said.

  “Bringing a what—?” He had no idea what she was talking about.

  Her gaze jumped to Grey then back to Ryan. Her eyes were even harder than before.

  Swell. She thought Grey was hired muscle, an attempt to scare her into not running the story… wait a minute—

  Her words rushed through him: stop me from running the follow-up.

  Shit. Shit. Shit. She ran it. The bitch ran the story connecting Capri to Ryan.

  “You almost got lucky,” she said. “Someone’s house blew up and I almost got bumped, but they squeezed me in. You should have met me at the boat house.”

  Movement over her shoulder caught his attention. A tall man with short-cropped dark hair, wearing a tailored suit, strode toward the elevators.

  The future flash billowed, jerking his vision closer to the man. It was the guy Ryan had seen going after Capri.

  Someone grabbed his arm, wrenching him back to his body. Melissa. “Didn’t you hear what I said?

  “And I’ve got more important things to worry about.” Like saving Capri’s life. He yanked out of her grip. He’d deal with the fallout of her story later. It was the only thing he could do. He nudged Grey.

  “What?” Grey asked.

  “Over there. It’s him.”

  “You can’t just brush me off.” Melissa stepped in front of Ryan.

  He grabbed her shoulders and moved her aside. “Honey, you’ve done your worst. You’ve proven you’re still a selfish bitch. I hope you’re happy. Now, get out of my way. I have lives to save.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “You what? You’re not working. You’re—”

  He shoved past her. He was done with her and had more important things to deal with right now, like not losing this guy.

  The man entered the elevator, and Ryan pushed past a couple dressed for the gala.

  “Hold the door,” he called.

  The man met Ryan’s gaze, then glanced up and over—likely at Grey. He pursed his lips, and the doors slid shut.

  Ryan hit the call button, the doors to the next elevator opened, and they rushed in.

  “Are you sure that’s the guy?” Grey asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Shit.”

  “Let me guess. You know him?” Ryan kept his gaze locked on the other elevator. He needed to know what floor the guy got off on.

  “Yeah. That’s Katar. He’s Barna’s second in command and a rising star with Regis.” Grey pulled out his phone. “Oh, and I’m guessing that was an ex back there.”

  “Uh huh.” Ryan didn’t want to talk about it.

  “You’re with Capri now. She’s family, or as family as it gets with us. That means your problems are my problems. Just say the word…” He shifted and the tip of the sword poked out from the bottom of his coat.

  “Thanks, but not the way I usually solve my problems.”

  Grey jerked the sword back up and dialed his phone. “I didn’t mean that. Financial ruin is more my thing.”

  “I’ll think about it.” Not that he wanted to destroy Melissa, but a part of him didn’t want her to get away with ruining Capri’s career.

  The man, Katar, got off on the ninth floor.

  “That’s weird,” Grey said, pulling Ryan’s attention back to the chase. “I wonder why he didn’t go up to Barna’s office.”

  “Maybe he has an office on nine.”

  “I doubt that. Hey,” Grey said into the phone. “Give Capri a heads-up to watch out for Katar… Yeah, from her human.”

  He hung up as the elevator door slid open. The hall beyond was empty, filled with painting equipment and tarps, but it wasn’t in the stage of construction as the future flash.

  Regardless, Katar couldn’t have gotten too far. Ryan stepped out and Grey followed.

  A voice rumbled somewhere down the hall. Ryan glanced at Grey, whose expression hardened—and not just as a ferocious creature trapped in a human’s body, but as a warrior who’d seen years of battle. Sweat glistened at his temples. He was a warrior who’d seen too much. Ryan had noticed that look before on cops who’d been in bad situations.

  The voice rumbled again. Another one, higher pitched, answered.

  There wasn’t time to ask if Grey was going to keep it together or not. Ryan was just going to have to pray he would. The man was a dragon, after all. That had to count for something.

  Ryan headed down the hall. His future flash rippled at the edge of his senses. Grey was silent behind him.

  “The mages are going to start in five,” the rumbling voice said. He sounded down a bit and around the corner. “Barna is set in the arboretum, where he usually is before the gala.”

  Ryan slowed, edging to the corner, and glanced down the hall.

  Four men and one woman were in a sitting area covered with painting tarps. A door to an unfinished office stood open. Two of the men had pulled aside one of the coverings and were sitting on a black leather couch. The others leaned against the walls. All looked at Katar, who stood with his back to Ryan.

  Ryan jerked behind the corner, his future flash vision whirling back down the hall.

  Katar checked the time on his phone. “Remember, none can be left alive.”

  “And I’ve got the boss man,” the woman said. She flipped a lock of platinum blonde hair from her eyes and slid her hand to a long knife—or was that a short sword?—hidden in the folds of her long coat, just like Grey’s.

  It sounded like they were plotting Barna’s murder, and those mages who were starting in five were somehow part of the plot but were going to be betrayed.

  “So where’s Fletcher?” the middle-aged man on the couch asked. He was squat with sandy blond hair and while he didn’t look imposing, he still gave off the predator vibe that everyone else in the group did.

  Behind Ryan, the elevator dinged.

  “Crap,” Grey hissed. “If I’m recognized, this could be bad And there are too many to stand our ground.”

  Except there was nowhere to go. Behind was whoever was in the about-to-open elevator, and they needed to walk past the hall in clear view to escape.

  No time.

  Forward, past the ha
ll, was the only option. Maybe no one would notice.

  Ryan rushed forward, and Grey followed.

  “Hey,” a voice said.

  Damn. They’d been spotted. Ryan’s vision twisted back to the seating area. The old guy had spotted them. Katar swung around, scowling.

  “Was that the Handmaiden’s bitch?” the woman asked.

  “Grey,” Katar growled.

  Grey grabbed Ryan’s shoulder and his vision shot back into his body. A vortex whirled in front of them. Behind, the man from the elevator rushed toward them and Katar and the others raced around the corner, guns and swords in hands.

  The woman lurched through the vortex, her blade drawn.

  “Whatcha doing, silver drake?” she asked. “And who’s your friend? He’s cute.”

  “Back off, Ginger,” Katar said, his voice low and threatening. But the menace—and his gun—wasn’t directed at her; it was fully on Grey. “Seems we have a problem.”

  “Yeah. We’re lost and you’re ugly,” Grey said.

  “Not the problem I was thinking of.” Katar flashed his teeth, looking even more feral. “You’ve stumbled across Major Brown business.”

  “And it’s none of mine. Whatever happens with the Major Brown Coterie stays in the Major Brown Coterie,” Grey said.

  “Why is it that I don’t believe you?” Katar asked.

  Grey frowned. “I really don’t know. I’m quite a trustworthy guy.”

  “Oh, yeah, now I remember.” Katar tapped his gun to his temple. “Trustworthy to your friends. And your blue drake friend can’t keep her nose out of my business. She and her team just keep going after my mages, my hired and groomed assassins.”

  “Don’t forget fall guys, too,” Grey said.

  Katar snorted. “Yeah. It would be bad if they died too soon. Which is why Capri is such a pain. See how I did that? Full circle.”

  “Well, you know, when anything involves mages, it’s kind of Capri’s job to stick her nose in,” Grey said.

  Ryan’s sight tugged at him, jumping from the woman back to the men. He struggled to stay focused. “I do like the plan.” The only way out of this was to talk. There were too many of them and they were too well armed for a fight—at least Grey still hid the sword. That could be a useful surprise at the right moment. “So you hired the mages—”

  “Repurposed them from a fellow, but overly ambitious, green drake,” Katar said.

  “Okay, repurposed them.” As if they were tools that could be taken and not people. “You hire them to attack your boss and then you swoop in to save him so you’ll look like a hero.”

  “He’ll look like the new doyen,” the woman, Ginger, said.

  The older guys glared at him. “Who the hell are you?”

  “No one. Just visiting from out of town.” Ryan shrugged. “You know, if your mages are showing up in five minutes, you should probably get moving.”

  “We’ll stay here,” Grey said.

  “Yeah, you will,” Katar said. “Fletcher, you were late. You watch them. A security detail will be up in two minutes.”

  “Why can’t I kill them?” Ginger whined.

  “Because I say so. They might end up being useful.” Katar jerked his chin. “Search them, Cestus.”

  Shit.

  The older guy, Cestus, patted them down and confiscated Grey’s sword and phone—so much for that—while another man, a guy in his mid-twenties with shaggy blond hair, called security.

  “When this is done, maybe I’ll think of letting you go. Or maybe I’ll ask Regis to throw you in with your blue drake girlfriend for a time with Odyne, until the Handmaiden comes back and Regis has you reborn.”

  “Really not necessary,” Grey said.

  “Just remember. Start to summon a gate and Fletcher will shoot you. You’re not Diablo. You can’t gate like he can.” Katar glanced at Ryan. “No one can gate like he can, and I doubt he can gate faster than a bullet.”

  Katar snorted and strode down the hall to the elevator with the others following, taking Grey’s sword and phone with them.

  “So.” Grey rocked back on his heels. He slid his gaze from Fletcher to Ryan and raised an eyebrow.

  This was their only chance to escape. The security team would be here any minute and right now it was two against one. Only there were still the terrible odds that one of them would get shot.

  “So.” Ryan’s vision shot up, swirled around him, then flew down the hall. It swept around a corner to a plain security door. The door banged open and four security guards rushed out of the stairwell.

  It was now or never.

  He lunged at Fletcher. The drake leapt back. He yanked his aim from Grey to Ryan, but Ryan had leapt too close and slammed his hand up and the shot hit the ceiling. Fletcher twisted, trying to point the weapon at Ryan. Grey grabbed Fletcher’s shoulders and tossed him back. He slammed him against the wall. Ryan grabbed for the gun.

  Fletcher bucked against Grey’s grip, yanking the gun out of Ryan’s reach. Someone yelled at the end of the hall. The leader of the security team. He pointed his gun at Ryan, while another man pointed his at Grey.

  “Shoot them!” Fletcher smashed his elbow back, skimming Grey’s cheek.

  Grey jerked away and Fletcher spun around. Ryan grabbed at his gun but Fletcher rammed the butt against Ryan’s hand. The security team leader fired. The bullet slammed into the wall by Ryan’s shoulder.

  Grey grabbed Ryan and tugged him back. “Let’s go.”

  They scrambled away from the security team. Bullets blasted into the wall beside them. They raced down the hall toward the sitting area. Ryan could only pray there was a way to hide or get to the stairwell unseen—since waiting for an elevator right now wasn’t an option.

  They bolted around another corner. Ryan’s vision swam around him, jumping from the security team and back to him. The team chased after them, guns ready. They’d seen which hall Ryan and Grey had rushed down. They had to lose them. The question was, how? And Ryan needed to find Katar again. It was the only way to save Capri.

  “We need to get out of here. Can you make a gate?”

  The security team stormed into sight.

  “I need a bit more breathing room than what we’ve got.”

  Ryan’s vision shot down the hall, away from the security team. Two more men were coming the other way. They were going to be trapped if they didn’t take the element of surprise.

  “Come on.” He rushed down the hall, hit the corner, and surprised the two extra men.

  The first guy yelped. Ryan punched him in the face. He staggered back and Ryan snagged his gun, while Grey rammed his elbow into the second guy’s throat. The man went down, coughing.

  Ryan and Grey bolted around another corner, and Ryan grabbed at the first door in the hall. Locked.

  Grey tried the second door. Unlocked. They scrambled in and Grey flicked the lock on the door but it wouldn’t catch. Swell.

  CHAPTER 39

  Capri reached for the door to the arboretum as Odyne’s pain washed through her again. The hall darkened and she gripped the door handle to keep standing.

  “Breathe,” Diablo said, his voice low, close.

  She sucked in air and the door to the arboretum swam out of the darkness. Her reflection in the glass panel stared back at her—too pale, too drawn. Diablo stood at her shoulder, close but not touching her. A touch could set off more pain. Behind her, Gig watched with big eyes, while Swipe scowled. He was probably going through the odds of how useful she’d be in a fight and realizing she wasn’t going to be much help.

  Yeah, well. She wasn’t here for a brawl. None of her team really were magically set for a fight. She was here to contain whatever any humans remembered.

  She yanked open the door, sending a shock of pain searing through her and drawing a growl she tried to swallow.

  “Hey,” Swipe said.

  “What?” she asked through clenched teeth.

  He held out his backup gun. “I hope you won’t need this.”<
br />
  “You mean stand back and let the big boys handle things?” She couldn’t look weak, not even in front of her Second—maybe particularly not in front of her Second. Swipe could use it as an opportunity to take control of the team. But did she really want control? With Ryan in her life, being a member of the Royal Coterie became complicated. And so far, Swipe hadn’t made any move to oust her—which he could have done back in Regis’s dungeon.

  “That wasn’t what I meant,” Swipe said.

  “Sure it was.” Diablo flashed his teeth. “Capri, you’re next to incapacitated and we need you ready to use your earth magic. Containing situations is your team’s goal.”

  Capri took the offered gun. “Way to charm a girl, Death-to-all-mages.”

  Diablo’s smile deepened. “The truth is the truth. I thought girls liked guys who didn’t lie.”

  “Okay, this is great and everything,” Gig said. “But those mages’ cell phones are getting closer and we’ve yet to find Barna.”

  “How close?” Swipe asked.

  The elevator at the end of the hall dinged and the doors slid open, revealing four men and two women. Their auras flared around them with the promise of power and danger.

  The woman in front—a tall blonde—raised a sword and yelled. Lightning shot from the blade and arced down the hall.

  Diablo shouldered Swipe and Gig deeper into the arboretum and slammed the door shut. The lightning shattered the glass and crackled over the metal frame.

  Swipe fired through the now-glassless door, hitting the lanky black man beside the woman. The bullet ricocheted off him, drawing a chuckle. Swell. She had lightning and he was impervious. It was likely the rest of the group had just as powerful earth magics, too.

  “Capri, you and the kid find Barna. Swipe and I will hold them off,” Diablo said.

  Swipe fired again, but the impervious guy jumped in the way, protecting the others.

  “That’s a terrible idea,” Swipe growled.

  “Oh, yeah? What have you got that’s better?” Diablo asked.

  Capri sucked in another breath. The mages were human and her magic could deal with them. “Gig. Find Barna. I’ll take care of the mages.”