by Antara Mann
I teleported, again using Naomi’s charm, to the meeting place with Chaos Corporation’s mercenary in the Bronx. He was already waiting for me. I figured the demons had to be numerous so he needed back-up. The mercenary was rather tall, with an average physique — neither slim, nor chubby. He had a pleasant, oblong face. My magic sense told me he was a mage, probably a summoner.
That was strange. For the first time in a while, I wasn’t sure of a supernatural’s precise magical identity. It had only happened once before, in Garrett’s case, but he was an outlier — too powerful, too dangerous, and capable of concealing his magic skillfully.
I greeted him, but he didn’t greet me back. Great, I thought, another asshole to work with. In moments like this, I wished I could be a mere mage instead of a half-goddess. Were I a mage, I probably wouldn’t feel so isolated.
“You must be Alexandra Shaw. I’m Ryan Norton,” he said flatly without even looking me in the eye. There was no hint of emotion in his voice, either. “The demon gang is near the Skull and Bones center — a minute or two from here. Approximately over ten demons are tearing chunks out of each other.” He finally looked at me, mistrust written all over his face. “Before we head there, do you have a gun? I mean, a silver-encrusted gun.”
“I know what you mean,” I said, hastily reaching for my inner jacket pocket where I kept my holster and gun. But they were absent, damn it. “Oops, it looks like I’ve forgotten my handgun, sorry.” His frown deepened, so I added, “I was at headquarters when I got the call. Only went in to finish my paperwork. The gun totally slipped my mind.” I smiled apologetically but his expression didn’t lighten any. The Council wouldn’t like the fact that I didn’t carry the weapons it provided me with. I knew it all too well; I was supposed to carry the gun with me at all times.
“We don’t have much time. Do you think you can manage without it?” he asked, his eyes intent and his expression deadpan.
“Are you kidding me? I’m a half-goddess. I have far more powerful weapons than a Council-issue gun.” My hand moved to touch Anumati’s necklace. Upon my touch, the bronze material sent light magical vibrations to my skin that instantly soothed me, releasing my tension and grumpiness.
“Hmm,” was Ryan’s only comment. Without another word, he turned away and ran down the street. I stood for a second, startled, not sure how to take his response. Then I figured I’d better follow him.
The Skull and Bones center was a run-down building that once functioned as a restaurant for dark supernaturals. Something like the Hellfire Club, but more on the higher-end… or at least it had been once upon a time. From what I knew, the Skull and Bones building had been closed for over a decade. Its owner, a highly influential demon called Agrawahl, had decided to move his business to LA. However, the spot was still popular with dark supernaturals. Demons loved to settle their disputes there. I guess the sinister energy heritage attracted them. As a supernatural establishment, albeit a ramshackle one, it was invisible to the human eye, but the current violence couldn’t go unnoticed by the non-magical world.
My head was full of swirling thoughts and information as I ran to the scene of the disturbance. I didn’t know what had led to the discord between these two groups of demons, but I’d heard about similar conflicts among other supernaturals.
Soon enough, the Chaos mage and I came to the demons’ battle ground. Smoke billowed from smoldering ruins and chunks of debris flew out of the tumbledown building, which now looked much worse than I’d remembered. I spotted a few demons running on the roof, their dark-brown bodies moving like shadows in the setting sun.
Right before our eyes, the building exploded and a fresh wave of debris, bricks and mortar washed over us. We ducked and dodged the worst of it. I was ready to use my elemental magic to shield us when I realized my colleague had already stopped the onslaught. I raised my head and saw an almost invisible protective wall encasing us like a bubble. The slight silver vibrations emanating from it confirmed its presence.
“Nice work,” I said, and was about to thank my partner when a few more demons jumped out of a broken window, demanding my full attention. Their skin was red, with a burnt, dull hue. They landed close to us, their faces smeared in dust and charcoal. All of them had wounds on their dark-reddish faces, and their horns were also smeared in blood.
“Fates, we have to interfere. Let’s go break up the fight,” I said. “Which ones will you take?” I was about to step outside the protective wall, but Ryan’s strong hand held me firmly, his stare glued to the demons still fighting around us.
Just then, the red-colored demons hurled another fireball at the rival dark-brownish ones on the roof. A new explosion boomed so loudly, it might have foretold the impending end of the world. This time, though, the building opposite the one on which the brown demons stood collapsed. Its walls crumbled like grains of sand to the ground. The air turned pale gray as it filled once more with debris and smoke.
The new explosion hit our protective magical wall hard, but it held. As long as we were inside the bubble, we were safe and sound, and no magic could affect us.
It took a few seconds for the debris to disperse. When I could see again, I couldn’t hold back a gasp. Several of the red demons had jumped onto a nearby house, one clearly inhabited by humans, while the other gang was hurling fireballs at them. The humans would have to be blind or dead to not notice the demons.
“Holy magic! We have to stop them.” I turned to the mage, looking for some indication of how he would like us to proceed. He, however, didn’t seem to have the slightest intention to move his ass. “Are you gonna do nothing? Just watch this bunch kill each other and any unsuspecting, innocent humans at the same time?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “I don’t see why I should interfere. The demons, as you said, are clearly going to kill each other. I’ll simply wait for them do that, and then I will make sure to kill the few who survive.”
Mercenaries from Chaos Corporation could kill magical troublemakers who didn’t follow the supernatural law, but the way he put it, I had the feeling he wouldn’t spare their lives even if the demons surrendered.
“I thought that’s what we were supposed to do: kill these demons.”
He shot me a dirty look. “You are really new at the mercenary game, aren’t you?”
I let his comment pass and persisted, “But what if humans get caught in the crossfire? Your plan to stand by and not act is simply reckless.”
“There are always going to be innocents dying. I don’t see why we should be bothering with humans, anyway. We serve the supernatural community. At least, I do,” he said with a strange note in his voice, and I couldn’t decide whether he was making fun of me or emphasizing his point.
His words rendered me speechless. As an agent of Chaos Corporation, he had a duty to ensure there was peace and no one would suffer, not even humans. Or rather, especially not humans. In such battles between supernaturals, humans were particularly prone to severe or even fatal injury. I knew some supernaturals, the arrogant types like Garrett, who thought humans were inferior and didn’t deserve to live, but I held no such views. Now here I was, blessed with having to work with another asshole. Fed up, I reached deep down inside me for all my magic. I called it out, and stepped outside the protective wall.
“Go be a hero if you wish; it’s a free country.” Ryan chuckled inside the invisible magical bubble, and the mere look of his entertained smirk annoyed me beyond reason. The jerk couldn’t care less for me or anyone else. In fact, I suspected he’d probably be happy if I got killed in the fight, too. That way there would be no witnesses to his shady behavior.
He had already stuck a toothpick in his teeth, crossed his arms and watched me. His eyes were daring me, "Go on, then. Let’s see what you’ve got." Very well, then. I’d deal with these demons on my own.
I summoned the fire element, and its raw, destructive power came to me. I drew on it more than I’d ever done before and blasted the few demons nearby with a r
ing of flaming fireballs. It hit their burly bodies square in their chests. They swirled around, their feet unsteady, and finally crumbled to the ground with high-pitched grunts.
Two larger demons remained standing. They were still shooting fireballs at the demons on the building’s roof, not paying much attention to me. I hurled another ring of larger fireballs, their flames sizzling, at them.
My fire didn’t take them down, but I certainly drew their attention. Their dark eyes fixed on me, full of wild rage and brimming over with bloodthirst and insanity. I shivered.
I used their bewilderment to take out two of my enchanted knives. Before they could move, I flung them at the demons, but the blades barely scratched their bodies.
Clearly my enchanted knives or elemental magic didn’t stand a chance at killing them. Uncertain of my next move, I thrust forward my senses. They told me these were common demons without any special superpowers. And yet, they didn’t go down like the others. Why was that?
These few wasted moments cost me my enchanted knives. Just as I was about to recall them, one of the demons stomped down, crushing them. Holy magic — he’d just destroyed two of my most valuable weapons! I’d had those knives as long as I could remember.
This was it! I was going to make the huge brute pay for it. My hand lifted to the necklace, but I didn’t make it that far. With a maniacal grin, he blasted me with a huge fireball.
“Stay away, bitch,” he said, right before his magic hit me straight to the chest. A piercing, dull pain spread through my body, clouding my vision. I staggered and fought to stay upright. The waning moon proved once again how much weaker my magic was during these times, as was my healing power. But at least my weakness made the demons discount me as a worthy adversary. Through blurred vision, I watched them charge at the gang on the roof. The flames of several rapid-fire explosions colored the sky red, orange and dark purple. Their clash of fireballs looked like eerie and sinister fireworks. I shivered again.
Touch the necklace, my inner voice chimed, and for once I obeyed it without questioning its orders. A wave of strength and vigor washed over me, and I no longer found it difficult to stand. The pain in my chest disappeared; I felt like a completely new person.
This happened every time I came into contact with the pendant. Kagan’s warning that I shouldn’t solely rely on it echoed in my ears like a ghostly whisper, but I pushed his words aside. Now wasn’t the time to worry about using it; I needed to win this battle.
My newly found magic pounded in my ears, pulsated in my veins. It practically begged me to release it, like a little child wanting to be let out to play. I summoned as much of it as I could, and hurled several magical balls at the demons. By now those that I had previously taken down had gotten up and joined their comrades.
My magic came out different this time, though. It glowed in dark blue, it felt cold on my fingertips, and tasted ruthless. When it hit the demons it froze them on the spot. I looked at my hand in disbelief — I had never done anything like this in my whole life. My stupor didn’t last long. The demons on the roof began throwing shadow dust and fireballs at me and at the demons I’d frozen. I felt the hits, my vision blurred again, but I wasn’t thrown off balance like the first time.
I was ready to freeze the gang on the roof when a new wave of demons surged from the ruins of the Skull and Bones. Where were they all coming from? Hell?
They surrounded me like hunters do a prey, their horns larger and eerier than ever before, probably an effect of their heightened excitement for the fight. Tiny clouds of dust rolled out of their nostrils.
“Look at what we have here,” one of the demons said, his eyes locked on mine. “A little goddess! Isn’t she lovely?” He chuckled and nodded to his brothers.
They charged at me in unison. I hit them with a new surge of my magic, clutching Anumati’s necklace and praying I hadn’t completely exhausted my goddess powers. If these demons overpowered me, they’d tear me apart limb from limb before they ripped off my head.
The flaming ring of energy balls I shot at them came into contact with the demons’ own magic. The two types of magic intertwined and fought for supremacy. Mine was dark-blue, the demons’ — smoky gray.
I reached deeper within me for more magic, and added a new wave of force to my attack. The demons did the same. But the effort was beginning to take its toll on my strength. Suddenly I felt exhausted, as if I’d run for hours without a break. Droplets of sweat formed on my forehead. My fatigue made the demons’ magic more potent. It was approaching me ominously. Just when I was about to give up and give in to their magic, my inner voice chimed, Alex, for magic’s sake, put up a good fight! You cannot give in to them, girl.
Before I could mentally respond to this line, a huge fireball rushed out of my hand and struck the demons closest to me. Their magic tore off from mine, and I was able to hit them with my power. In the frenzy, the icy dark-blue magic I’d created mixed with the remains of the demonic fiery magic they had hurled at me. The end result was amazing. The demons froze, entrapped in icy blocks of dark-blue pulsating magic, with fire dancing on their edges like a burning flame of a candle.
The demons on the roof had stopped their attack too, entranced by the magical trap I’d inadvertently created. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and neck, and tuned down my goddess magic, afraid I’d drain the lot if I didn’t stop soon.
I connected with my own magical thread in the core of my body, the one I had always known — my elemental magic — and summoned a ring of fireballs in my hand. I hurled it at the demons on the roof.
My renewed attack threw them off balance. Some of them fell over, others shot back large fireballs and shadow magic at me. I dodged these last ones carefully; this type of dark magic would impart unpleasant feelings like despair, doubt, pain and sometimes even madness, and I had no time for that kind of experience right now.
I hurled a blast of my own elemental magic back at them. This time I made it more powerful. It swept away the few remaining demons on the roof.
I smiled and turned to the invisible bubble where the mage had locked himself. He, however, pointed at something behind me. I turned around and gasped. The demons I had entrapped were breaking loose and coming toward me.
The foul-mouthed demon’s jaw was clenched, the veins on his neck bulging, his hands fisted. He smirked and spat, “I knew today I was going to treat myself to some precious little goddess.”
He was about to throw magic at me, but I was quicker. I flung my mother’s silver-encrusted knife. It sank deep into his flesh, making his eyes darken. A small trickle of blood flowed from his mouth, he staggered a step, and finally dropped down. Soon, he disappeared, like all lethally injured demons do, back to his original Hell.
It was very difficult indeed to kill a demon outside of their specific hell. The usual method was to take out their heart and burn it. I didn’t have the time, energy, or even the desire to kill them in that manner. Let Kai deal with those troublemakers and punish them as he thought fit.
Surprisingly, the mage joined me just as I was about to hurl another fireball at the demons. He stretched his hand. I felt the magic surging from within him. Seconds after the surge, a three-headed beast resembling a dog stood next to me, his eyes dark as charcoal. He snarled menacingly and pounced when the demons blasted us with their shadow and elemental magic again.
None of it affected him. He clamped his jaw onto one of the demons, large fangs tearing a deep gash in the demon’s flesh. While the dog was causing a distraction with his attack, I took the opportunity to hurl a few fireballs at the remaining demons. My magic hit them straight into their hearts. I watched their eyes darken, and droplets of blood form on their lips. One by one, all the demons disappeared, and peace descended all around us.
I bent over, hands on my knees, taking a deep breath of air. Slowing my rapid breathing was first priority. Once I had moderately achieved it, I turned to the mage.
“Why the change of heart?”
; He snapped his fingers and the three-headed dog vanished into thin air. He shrugged. “I just got tired of waiting for you to finish this lot off. You’re not exactly the fastest being on earth, are you?”
“Really?” I said, momentarily stumped for words at his impertinence. “How very generous and kind of you, my dear colleague, to finally join the fray. I don’t know what I would have done without you,” I finally replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.
I didn’t care what he thought of me, but it was totally unprofessional and a complete outrage to expect a Council’s investigator to fight a gang of demons without help. This called for a formal complaint. And if it dropped Ryan in it, so much the better. The guy was a humongous douchebag and he deserved everything that would be coming to him. I wondered briefly whether he did that to everyone or something in my behavior ticked him off, but it didn't matter so I put it from my mind. I had better things to do.
“So much anger!” I heard from behind me just as I turned to walk away.
My eyes narrowed. Clearly, he wasn’t done insulting me.
“You got a problem with me? Is it because I’m half-goddess? Is it sheer envy?” I took a step closer to him, challenging him with my eyes.
He chuckled. “Classic. You’ve got a tickle of extra magic you can’t even control properly and suddenly you think you’re the envy of the world.” He laughed derisively. “I dislike you, as does everybody else, because you’re paid more than us lowlifes. All I did was stand back and let you finally earn your money.”
That put my back up. “So you hate me because of a pay scale I have no control over? I’m no different than you. I get up, put my pants on the same way you do, show up at work and do my best then go home again. What they decide to pay me is on them, so go have your pissing match with them not me. I’m not the one who fixes Council workers’ pay rates. Jerk! You don’t even work for the Council.”
A wave of regret washed over his expression. “I did, once.” He took a step closer to me, leaned down so I could clearly see his face and pointed a calloused finger toward my chest. “Then, one lovely glorious day, the chiefs decided to outsource me and many others to a new firm, Chaos Corporation. Same job, more risks. Less pay.” His finger came forward and tapped my chest, giving me a little shove backwards to prove his point.
