by Riley Storm
Jessica blinked in surprise. Her errant missile had somehow landed right on his head after all. The mage flailed in surprise, launching his energy right up. The bolt hit a branch right at the base, burning it off instantly. She watched as it plummeted right at the attacking mage, forcing him to throw himself backward out of the path of destruction.
“Get up, Klaue!” she shouted, picking up her makeshift missiles and advancing on the mage.
“Hey!” he yelped as the first one slammed into his hand as it started to glow red. “Ow!”
More chunks zipped his way as she walked forward, taking a step with each throw. Her arm whirled backward, coming down and under as she whipped the fruit-sized chunks at him.
“Fifteen years of softball. Two-time state pitcher of the year, motherfucker,” she snarled, launching one at his head, then another at his groin. Her arm would hate her the next day, but it didn’t matter. Behind her, she could see Klaue starting to stir, getting out from under the tree. She just needed to keep this asshole busy until then.
“Fuck you!” the mage shouted, dodging another one of her missiles. She clipped him in the shoulder, but the next two missed.
Jessica started to panic as her supply began to run low. She only had three left. Then two, though that one opened a gash on his cheek as she connected with his head.
The next one bounced off his stomach. Then she was down to her last chunk of asphalt. The mage grinned and energy started to build up again. Jessica stood from her crouch abruptly, arm whirling, and the mage’s eyes went wide. He rolled to the side, the red glow disappearing.
But she held onto her missile. It was a bluff, and he’d fallen for it. When he stood up and saw her casually toss the chunk up in the air and catch it, his face went red.
“Uh-oh,” she muttered as he unleashed a barrage of tiny red darts at her. She rolled to the side, one of them catching her in the leg. It singed her pants and she could feel a sting on her leg, but it wasn’t bad at all. He hadn’t had time to summon more energy. It was a bluff of his own, and now he was looming above her, his clothing glowing red as the energy swirled brightly around his fist. She’d lost.
An angry roar distracted both of them, the mage spinning to see Klaue on his feet still in bear form, and coming running at them both.
She kicked at the man, trying to occupy his attention for a bit longer, but she missed. He was already moving. The mage disappeared into the bushes and a second later, a bear as big as a pickup truck charged in after him, shrubs and small trees blown aside by his passage.
Jessica rose to her feet, feeling confident that victory was in their hands. Klaue had caught the mage flat-footed, and in his pursuit wouldn’t give him time to recover and focus enough to use magic.
A moment later, the bushes nearby shivered and she opened her mouth to call out to Klaue. But there was no need. The bear was backing hurriedly out of the woods.
“Ah! I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the mage said as he emerged and Jessica wound up to throw her asphalt softball at him. “Do that, and I release this.”
He turned slightly to show her the sparking ball of blue energy he had in his left hand, aimed squarely at Klaue’s head. She went still, the memory still fresh of what the last blue magic had done. Her eyes darted over to the downed tree.
“Good. You do remember. The same thing will happen to your friend here if I hit him with it. I’m on a hair trigger, you understand? I open my fist, and it hits him. Simple as that. Got it?”
Jesssica nodded, trying not to tremble. This was exactly what she’d feared! Klaue had come after her, and now he was in danger, all because of her.
“Now. Do exactly as I say. Drop it.”
Her fingers opened and the asphalt slipped out of her grip, bouncing twice on the ground. Jessica kept as still as possible, not wanting to jeopardize Klaue.
“Good, now walk over to me. Slowly, that’s it.”
As soon as she was in reach, the mage snatched her roughly by the arm and held her close. She tried to flinch away as he raised the blue-ringed fist toward her head, but he was too strong.
“Back away now,” the mage ordered Klaue.
Glaring at him with crazed eyes, the giant bear hesitated.
“It’s fine,” she yelped as the deadly energy came nearer. “Klaue, it’s okay. I’ll go. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me.”
“You should do as she says,” the mage gloated, already backing away and pulling Jessica with him as he retreated toward the edge of the property. “If you come any closer, I’ll fry her, right here.”
Klaue growled angrily and pawed at the ground, but it was just a show. There was nothing he could do, and everyone knew it, even Jessica. She was well and thoroughly trapped.
You’re more than trapped. You’re dead, now.
This wasn’t something she’d anticipated. Klaue had assured her that here, on the grounds, she would be safe. That the mage would be sneaking around the property just as she was leaving was a hell of a coincidence.
Plenty of people inside are probably willing to rat you out though. Most of Klaue’s House thinks you’re a Canis spy anyway. Someone must have called to say they’d kicked you out or something.
Whether that had truly happened or not, her fate was sealed. Jessica figured she would probably be taken back to Moonshadow Manor. The wolves would want to know if she’d told anyone what she knew. After they most likely tortured her to get the truth, they would kill her. She was positive of it.
Why would they hesitate in killing a human if they were already set on ridding themselves of their own brothers and sisters? No, hope wasn’t something she could afford right now. All Jessica could do was try to make peace with what was about to happen to her.
At least I won’t get anyone else hurt.
It wasn’t much solace with her imminent death looming over her, but it was better than nothing at all. Klaue and his brethren would live.
“Come on, dear,” the mage snarled in her ear. “We have a meeting to attend.”
He turned and forced her to start walking, his fist still poised near her head, ready to act on a moment’s notice.
Jessica tried to keep her spine straight as she walked, not wanting to look the part, but it was proving to be near impossible as the fear of dying grew within her. She didn’t want to go. Not yet. Not without spending more time with Klaue first.
What?
15
Where the fuck is everyone?
The place should have been crawling with soldiers by now. Highly-trained men from House Ursa should have descended upon his position minutes after he’d sent up a cry for help. The guards who patrolled the perimeter had answered his call. He’d heard them. So where the hell were they?
Klaue stalked forward, maintaining distance between himself and the mage and Jessica, but always keeping them in sight. Much of his anger was directed at himself, for so recklessly charging into the bushes after the mage like that. How could he have been so dumb as to let himself be tricked?
What he should have done was to have snatched up Jessica and hightailed it out of there the second the mage disappeared. Instead, his lack of forethought had landed them in a rather terrifying situation. One flick of the mage’s wrist and he would char the head from Jessica’s body.
Probably. There was only one flaw to that plan, and that was the fact that Jessica still lived. The mage hadn’t come here as an assassin, that much was clear. He was here to retrieve her, to take her back somewhere. To House Canis? That seemed the likeliest of paths.
Without backup though, I can’t win this. And he’s tossing around blue energy like it’s common!
That bore thinking about. This mage was packing a serious punch. Maybe that was why the guards were delayed. If they’d seen that, they would know this needed someone else. Someone more qualified.
Even Kvoss, the mage-hunting Assassin of High House Ursa, would likely be outclassed by a blue-magic wielding mage. Klaue wasn’t enti
rely sure on that front, but he had a sneaky suspicion the Magi of the House was going to be needed to stop the man who had Jessica.
Great. Just what I need.
Whatever was going to happen, it needed to happen soon. They were nearing the outer edge of the forest, and it wouldn’t be long now before the gates came into sight. If the mage made it through them with Jessica at his side, he could open a rift and be gone in an instant. The wards stopping him were built into the wall and gate itself. Once the mage was outside them, it didn’t matter how powerful they were, he would be free. Klaue needed to stop him before that happened.
Reluctantly, he shifted back to his human form.
“Stop,” he called.
The mage glanced back at the sound of a voice, but he didn’t stop, or even slow. Instead, he shoved Jessica in the back and urged her to pick up the pace. Klaue bared his teeth silently in anger, but he kept up the pace, shadowing the mage about fifty feet behind him.
“There’s no need to do this. I’m sure we can come to some sort of arrangement that doesn’t involve anyone dying,” he called, spreading his hands wide, pleading. It didn’t feel good to beg, but Klaue was out of options. He had no weapons, no way of stopping the mage, and the backup he’d called for wasn’t materializing.
The mage didn’t even bother to look back this time. He just kept going, his focus on the edge of the forest. Klaue could see it coming now, the trees were thinning, and way ahead in the distance were the gates themselves. It was too close. He needed to do something.
Padding forward, uncomfortably aware that he was looking at entering combat completely naked, Klaue tried to close the distance. The mage wasn’t paying attention to him anymore, so maybe he could get close enough, somehow get himself between Jessica and the energy. Klaue didn’t want to die, but if it ensured his mate lived…
“That’s far enough! Back away!” the mage snapped, yanking Jessica around by the shoulder as he pushed his fist and its blue energy closer to her neck.
Klaue blinked as the azure ball bounced off some sort of wall.
“What?” the mage hissed, looking down. “That’s impossible.” He shoved his fist toward Jessica’s neck again, but an inky purple barrier blocked the path.
Klaue, Jessica and the mage watched as the barrier expanded and intensified, becoming a solid hued violet as it separated the two.
“Go get her,” a voice said from behind Klaue.
He didn’t hesitate. Rushing forward at full speed, he slid to a halt, wincing as the asphalt tore at the soles of his feet. “Time to go!” he yelped, grabbing Jessica and lifting her from the ground as he turned and ran back the way he’d come.
The Magi was fully visible now, standing to the left of where Klaue had been, the spell of invisibility having fallen away.
“Get down!”
Jessica’s voice screamed in his ear and Klaue threw himself to the ground, twisting as he went. He had a split second to see a lance of searing blue magic shoot by overhead before his shoulders and ass hit the asphalt. Klaue yelped in pain as skin was torn raw from his behind.
More magic flowed back and forth, and the two of them bore witness to a full-blown mage fight as the Magi and the unknown user tossed spells and blasts of magic at each other with abandon.
“We need to get out of the way,” he shouted as a sheet of green lightning rolled over them, streaking toward the Magi. “That way!” He pointed toward the cover of trees and bushes, the opposite direction the running magic duel was headed.
Jessica, her face white as a ghost, nodded and began a panicked crawl for what he hoped would be shelter from the ongoing fight. This was well above his paygrade, and not something he should get involved in.
An SUV came roaring up the drive from the house, and the rogue mage casually lifted his right fist. Pillars of red-tinged earth erupted from the ground, flipping the SUV through the air.
Beside him, Jessica gasped as the sole occupant launched themselves free of the out-of-control vehicle moments before the Magi reached out with his own hand. A nimbus of green shimmered into being around the vehicle in the shape of a hand, and the Magi slammed the vehicle down on the rogue mage with earth-trembling force.
Klaue thought that would be the end, but a bright orange-red blade filled the space over the mage’s head, cutting through the steel of the vehicle like butter and splitting it into two halves that fell to either side of him. Then he renewed his assault on the Magi. The air was filled with deadly energy. Red, green and the occasional blue as well.
“Is he going to win?” Jessica asked from where she lay next to Klaue, her voice sounding subdued as she witnessed the full might of what a magic battle looked like.
Klaue wasn’t sure. Then the second figure, the one from the SUV, stepped forward, and he felt a buoying of his spirits. “Yeah, I think we have this. Keep crawling that way,” he told her, pointing deeper into the bush. He got up into a crouch.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jessica asked, clinging to him tightly. “Please. Klaue, I...I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He smiled tightly. “I have to help.”
“Can you use magic?” she asked, surprised.
“No, he admitted. “But that can’t stop me.”
“So what the hell are you going to do?”
To his surprise, he cupped her face, kissed her forehead and winked at her. “Something stupid, I’m sure.”
Then he stood up, grabbed the nearest sapling in one hand and heaved. The entire root system wrenched free of the ground and he whirled it around his head, getting a feel for the balance. Then with a wild yell, he charged the mage.
The noise distracted the mage for a second. He held up one hand to block the incoming attacks from the Magi, then focused on Klaue, and lifted his right hand, spinning it in gentle circles, then flicking it away.
“What the…ack!” Klaue felt himself lifted from the ground as a miniature tornado spun up around him, then the next thing he knew, he was flying through the air, landing hard on his back in the brush. At least one stick poked him somewhere none too polite before he came to a halt.
Getting to his feet, he prepared to charge again, but there was no point. The mage struck the Magi hard, stomping a foot which sent a rippled earthquake out to his left, toppling Kvoss, the figure from the car.
Then he clapped both hands over his head, and bright red smoke filled the air for hundreds of feet in every direction.
Klaue thought he heard footsteps heading toward the gate, and a moment later—at a muttered word from the Magi—the smoke evaporated. Klaue caught a last glimpse of the mage as he disappeared into a rent outside the gates just before a blue rope erupted from the Magi’s hands, aimed at the mage. Instead, it found empty air.
Not waiting to see more, Klaue rushed back to Jessica’s side, helping her to her feet. She clung to him, obviously shaken by what she’d just seen. He couldn’t blame her. Klaue had never witnessed a mage fight before, and he had new respect for what his ancestors had been forced to deal with during their fight against the Mage Council.
“Are you okay?” he asked, holding her tight in his protective embrace.
No sooner had she nodded her head, then the Magi approached, fury writ on his face. “You never should have brought her here,” he hissed, his eyes full of anger. “She is trouble. I warned you she had the taint about her, and you ignored it. You’re just lucky nobody paid the price today. But this is the last time I will protect her.”
The Magi sliced his hand angrily across the air and a rent appeared, a seam in the fabric of reality. With one last glare at the pair of them, the elderly, frail shifter stepped through it and disappeared.
Klaue frowned at the space where the Magi had disappeared. Now how the hell was he supposed to figure out how to ask Jessica to stay? That display of hostility would make anyone think twice, even after what had just happened. But how could Klaue let her continue? He couldn’t, it was plain and simple. The second she set foot outside th
e gates, she would be dead.
“Klaue?” she asked from at his side, looking up at him with wide, glazed eyes.
“Yes?”
“Can I go back to the House now?”
Oh. Apparently he wouldn’t need to convince her after all.
16
“Klaue?”
He glanced over to the couch where Jessica sat, staring straight ahead. She was in shock, and he was doing everything he could to minimize the effects of it, but now it was just a matter of time, of waiting for her to come out of it naturally. He didn’t want to push it.
“Yes?”
“That man today. The one who saved us?”
“The Magi, yes.”
“He’s the same one from the kitchen, right? The one who accused me in front of everyone.”
Klaue sighed and went over to sit down, putting a mug of hot chocolate into her hands and holding it there until he was sure she had a grip on it. “Sip,” he ordered.
She followed his order robotically, taking a sip of the steaming liquid.
“Yeah, that’s the same one,” he answered. “He’s a jerk. His name is Korred. He, or his apprentice if he ever took one, are the only shifters in the House allowed to practice magic, and he lords it over everyone. Thinks he’s superior because of it. Nobody likes him.”
“Oh. Why is nobody else allowed to practice it?”
Klaue hesitated, not sure how much he wanted to share with her about the origins of shifters. After all, she could be a spy, and if he and his kind guarded the knowledge of their existence well, they were absolutely ruthless when it came to hiding the true secrets of their origins.
“It’s complicated,” he said at last. “But for a long time, shifters and mages fought each other. Back and forth we went, trying to kill one another. The mages would strike with things like the Inquisition, which was actually a cover to get at us. We fought back too.”
Klaue thought back to his history lessons, explaining it all to Jess. The Black Death had been a shifter-engineered virus that struck only at magic users, even those who had so little power they didn’t know it. After the shifters were driven from Europe, they established themselves in Plymouth Falls in the new world and returned the favor of the Inquisition with the Witch Hunts, a clever ploy that outed mages all over the world.
