Magic for Hire: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Found Magic Book 3)

by J. A. Cipriano

  So what did I do? I pulled out my last grenade and flung it in the direction I was being dragged. The thing exploded, illuminating the water for a split second and blinding me to the point of hopelessness. Still, the tentacles loosened with that sort of slackness that told me the thing holding me might be dead. Not one to wait around to find out, I pulled myself free and made my way to the surface as the blood in my brain pounded and my body started to slow down due to lack of oxygen.

  I exhaled under the water and was surprised at how few bubbles there were, though I couldn’t see so maybe I imagined it. Either way, I had to make it to the surface and fast.

  When my head cleared the water, my first breath was like Christmas morning. I sucked in another lungful, which burned all the way down and tried to make it toward where I thought the wall was, but I was so turned around, I could have been swimming back toward the center. Still, this was a pool. I’d reach an edge eventually.

  I tried to ignore the feeling of leeches on my throat and face as I forced one numb hand in front of the other. After what felt like forever, I bumped into an edge. No sooner had I hauled myself out of the water and flopped over the wall, did I fall several feet onto the ground below. I wasn’t sure what it was made of but it felt like concrete. Awesome? Not really.

  I lay there, my hands scrabbling over my face and trying to pry off the leeches as I sucked in breaths and tried to keep from vomiting with each fattened bloodsucker I pulled off. I wasn’t sure how long it took, but I was sure it had been way too long. Still, why hadn’t anyone come down here to find me? Surely someone must have, oh, I don’t know, heard all the commotion. Besides, I had been dropped into that tank, hadn’t I? Someone had done that…

  Not wanting to wait around to find out, I pushed myself onto my feet and began staggering forward blindly. After about three steps, I tripped and stumbled over something. My arms shot out as I fought for balance, but it was no help. I crashed to the ground and lay there for a moment trying to remember how to breathe.

  Then I was blinded in the face by a spotlight.

  “Hope that didn’t hurt too much. The walls are kind of high,” Graham said. “There’s a warning sign around here somewhere…”

  “No problem, the concrete broke my fall,” I muttered, trying to blink away the spots in my eyes.

  There was a snort of laughter, and as I turned toward it, he decked me across the face. The world sort of faded and my mouth filled with blood. I tried to figure out why it hurt so much when I remembered I wasn’t wearing my helmet because the cold water had shorted out the screen. Then the second blow sent me spiraling into unconsciousness.

  26

  I woke up tied to a chair. It wasn’t super fun, let me tell you, especially since, unlike last time, I hadn’t planned on getting captured. Sitting across from me was Graham, his angular face tight and drawn with deep bags under his eyes so he looked quite a bit older than I’d thought he was originally. Before, I’d thought maybe he was in his early twenties, but sitting this close to him made me think mid-thirties.

  He had his chair backward so he was leaning across the top of it with his eyes barely visible over his muscular arms. When I stirred, one of his brown eyebrows arched up and his lips shifted from a bored smirk into an annoyed frown.

  The room was pretty empty aside from our two chairs. There were some lights embedded in the ceiling, but it looked like they were covered by some sort of protective glass. That was new. It made me wonder why.

  “It’s to keep people from trying to break them,” Graham said, evidently watching where I’d been looking. “You’d be surprised how many operatives seem to think the dark is their friend.” He tapped his temples with one slender finger. “They’d be wrong of course. I can see in the dark.”

  I swung my gaze to him and tried to speak but it came out more like, “Mmph mmph mmph,” which was probably due to the duct tape over my mouth. From the feel of it, they had had actually wrapped several strips around my entire head. Damn. It was going to be hell trying to get it out of my hair.

  “You’re probably wondering why I brought you here, Abigail de la Mancha, when the smart move is to put a bullet in your brain and dump your body in a hole somewhere.” He stood and began walking around me. I followed him as far as I could, but because I was tied to the chair and it seemed to be welded into the ground, there wasn’t much I could do when he moved behind me. That was oh so lame. “At first, I’d thought about doing just that, but what kind of revenge would that be? See, it was always about revenge for me because your mother destroyed Jerusalem. You didn’t think there weren’t going to be consequences, did you?” He leaned down close to me so his breath was hot on my neck. It made a shiver run down my spine and not in a good way. “My mother lived there. She was a baker. Made the best damn cookies… You’d have liked her, you know, if your dog of a mother hadn’t nuked the entire city.”

  “Mmph,” I replied, and he rubbed the top of my head like I was a little kid and laughed. It made me hate him and not just because his strange cavalier attitude rubbed me the wrong way. There was just something about his delivery that made me think he was either heartless or the story was made up.

  Even though so many people had died there, it still made my insides hurt when I thought about it… but then again, I hadn’t done it. Gabriella had. So blaming me was sort of pointless. Then again, vengeance could be stupid that way. I knew from experience.

  “Even still, I wasn’t inclined to do anything about it. I have reasons why, but suffice to say, I knew Stephen was helping you, and I didn’t want him killed. As long as he was with you, I couldn’t make a move because he might die. I couldn’t have that.” He circled back around so I could see him, and his eyes narrowed into thin slits as he leaned in close to my face. “See my dilemma?”

  When I didn’t respond, he slapped me across the face. While it stung, it also pissed me off. Was he really saying the only reason he hadn’t tried to avenge me for Gabriella blowing up Jerusalem was because Stephen had been with me? That sounded a little nutzo.

  “See, and now you’re making me hit you, Abby.” He shook his head like it was my fault he was battier than a belfry. “I don’t like when people make me hurt them. It makes me feel bad because I’m a naturally nice guy. You can see how this affects my self-image, can’t you?” He shrugged at me.

  I waited, wondering if he’d hit me again. He did. His fist connected with my stomach, and my breath exploded against the duct tape over my mouth. It was a weird feeling. I didn’t want it to happen again.

  “But now, here we are, and I have everything I want. I have Stephen, the director, and you.” He punctuated the last word with another slap that left my ears ringing. “I’ve even taken the liberty of removing your suit. Fascinating stuff.”

  “Mmph,” I growled, and he nodded like he knew I had told him to piss off.

  “So anyway, here’s the thing. I don’t want to just kill you.” He shrugged again. “It doesn’t seem fitting, exactly, but you’re so damned dangerous. Do you know how many highly trained people you’ve killed? You even beat an orc in a fight, and I don’t think Winston has ever lost a fight before.” He smirked. “Did you know the analysts want me to have the two of you fight again, just to see how the rematch would go?”

  I glared at him, partially because the idea of fighting the invisible green guy with the strength of ten men chilled me. I’d gotten pretty lucky the last time. I couldn’t imagine what the fight would be like if the creature caught me in another submission hold. My back still ached from the last one.

  But something about Graham’s meanderings told me all I had to do was wait, and if I did, an opportunity would present itself. Hopefully, it didn’t involve the orc I’d fought earlier, but if it did, well, I’d take that chance. I was sure I’d get my chance soon because Graham seemed like he was gearing himself up for something big. He wouldn’t do that just to put a bullet in my head. Hell, if that was the case, I’d be dead already. I wasn’t dead, so h
e was definitely up to something. The only question was what?

  “So I’m left with a sticky situation,” he replied, leaning over his chair so we were eye to eye. “I want to kill you but not make it quick. However, not making it quick invites the possibility you will escape.” He stood back and held his hands out in front of himself. “You see my dilemma.”

  “Mmph,” I replied, which in Abby language meant, “You better hope I don’t get free because I will tear out your spleen, and while I don’t know which organ that is exactly, I’ll tear out most of them to make sure I get it.”

  Instead of replying, he pulled his metal folding chair off the ground and smacked me in the face with it. The metal rebounded off my teeth in a spray of blood that left me barely conscious. My head fell forward until my chin rested on my chest as stars whirled around my head.

  He grabbed me by my hair and hauled my head up so I was looking into his eyes. Unfortunately, I saw two of him. It was disconcerting because that meant two maniacal grins.

  “Did that hurt?” he asked before leaning in to lick my cheek. His tongue left a trail of saliva behind. “Yum. You taste like copper pennies. Did you know that when I was little, I used to chew on them?” He shrugged. Then he licked my other cheek and released my hair. I kept my head from falling forward, but only barely. Everything inside my brain felt sort of squishy and unfocused.

  “Is that creepy? I sort of meant it to be—” I cut him off by smashing my forehead into the bridge of his nose. He cried out, flopping backward as crimson dripped down his face, running between the fingers he clasped his face.

  “Bitch!” he cried, but before he could do more, the door opened behind him. In walked Stephen and some traitorous part of me was happy to see him. He had his hands at his sides and was flanked by two guards who looked stalwart enough to resist even the end of times. Were they guarding him?

  “I told you, she’s a feisty one,” Stephen said sardonically which was altogether weird. His eyes caught my gaze, and I saw nothing in them but emptiness. It made me shiver. That was not a look I enjoyed seeing on him, especially when directed at me. It was just another confirmation he was, in fact, evil to his goddamned core.

  “She broke my nose,” Graham cried, getting to his feet and giving me the evil eye. It was somehow better than the emptiness of Stephen’s gaze. Rage I could deal with. Nothing, well, that sent chills running down my spine.

  “You should give her the director and let her go while you still can, Graham.” Stephen turned so his back was to me. “It’s the smart play.” It was sort of a weird thing to say given our current state of affairs. Was he up to something? And, if so, what?

  “No, the smart play is for me to gut the bitch and wear her intestines like a hat.” A knife slipped into his hand as he took a step forward. “Which is exactly what I’m going to do.”

  It happened so quickly, I barely saw it. One moment, Graham was charging at me. The next, he was slumped against the far wall from Stephen’s kick. Stephen had the knife in his hands, and he whirled, driving the blade into the throat of one guard before they even had time to react. It was one of the scariest things I’d ever seen because there wasn’t even a glimmer of hesitation. The only time I’d seen anything kill like that was when the flit had done it, and that was a soulless demon.

  The guard reached up like he could somehow keep himself from bleeding out through his throat while the other lunged forward. Just as he was about to tackle Stephen, the vampire drove his knee into the man’s chin. There was a loud crack, and the second guard toppled emptily to the ground.

  With a sort of casual nonchalance I knew I’d never have, Stephen tore the knife from the throat of the other guard as the man fell to his knees. He walked over to me, face empty and emotionless.

  “I’m going to cut you out. Don’t move and it will be quick,” he said, and the blade flashed. The ropes keeping me in place fell away, and for a moment, all I could do was sit there. Stunned. Had Stephen really just saved me? I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised since he worked for the agency, but I was.

  “How dare you,” Graham said. He was on his feet across the room, a huge revolver in his hands. “You choose her over me?”

  “Don’t do anything stupid—” Stephen started to say but he was cut off by a gunshot. Pain exploded through my left arm. It hurt so much, spots actually danced in front of my eyes as the white hot fire of the wound became nearly all-consuming. Being shot sucked.

  “I loved you,” Graham said, taking a step toward Stephen. “And this is how you repay me?” He fired again and Stephen cried out, falling to his knees as his right leg buckled. Blood poured from the wound as Graham moved forward and kicked him hard in the face. Stephen fell backward to the ground, eyes distant and glazed. “I should have known better, but I had hoped… I can’t believe I was so stupid.”

  He leveled the gun at Stephen’s head, his muscles tightening as he slowly depressed the trigger. Part of me felt bad for Graham because I knew exactly how he felt. Even still, there was no way I was going to let him kill Stephen since, asshat or not, the vampire seemed to be on my side.

  I threw myself out of the chair. I hit Graham with exactly zero finesse, but it was enough to make the shot go wide and ricochet off the tile floor. We collided with the tile, and his gun went flying. I struggled, trying to get leverage, but he was slippery and strong while I was weak and bleeding. He drove his fingers into my wound, and I screamed, agony ripping apart every thought I had.

  “I’m going to kill you, Abby!” Graham screamed, spraying my face with spittle as he drove his fist into my teeth. Everything went kind of hazy as I tried to kick him off, but it was no use at all. “I don’t even like killing girls, but for you, I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy it.” Another blow rocked me, and I felt his hand close around my throat.

  I reached up and tried to pull him off, but it was too difficult to get much of a grip. Everything was fading fast, too fast. My hands fell away from him as his laughter filled my ears. It was going to be the last sound I ever heard. That pissed me off as I struggled to keep the darkness encroaching upon my vision at bay. My fingers touched something. I gripped it and swung as hard as I could.

  The butt of the heavy revolver cracked Graham across the temple with a sound that reminded me of an egg smashing against the kitchen floor. Air flooded into my aching lungs as his grip loosened.

  He blinked, trying to steady himself, but before he could, I pulled the trigger. His head evaporated in a spray of crimson mist that cascaded down on me as his lifeless body slumped forward, pinning me to the ground as his hot, sticky blood gushed onto me.

  27

  “And that’s why I never wear a white shirt,” Stephen said, reaching out to help me up, a strangely disjointed smile on his lips that didn’t travel anywhere near his cold, angry eyes. Well, I supposed that was better than the emptiness that had filled him before. “Blood gets everywhere.”

  He wasn’t quite standing, rather was sort of slumped next to me on one arm, blood still oozing from his leg as he shoved Graham’s broken corpse off of me. It slid off me with a sort of wet splorch. I didn’t even look at it as the smell of blood, like a bucket of rusty nails, filled my nose. My stomach sloshed as I lay there, Stephen looming over me with one hand held out.

  I shut my eyes. I know I shouldn’t have, but it was all I could do to keep from being sick. My eyes opened. Stephen was still there, still looking me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Part of me had hoped he wouldn’t be there.

  “Why?” I asked, not even really sure what I was asking nor if I even wanted an answer. Instead of taking his hand, I scooched myself backward away from him on my elbows. Pain lanced through my damaged arm. I’d been shot. I’d somehow forgotten, which was odd. It didn’t seem like a thing you were supposed to forget about.

  “Why what, Abby?” Stephen asked, voice filled with emotion like he was about to burst into tears. “Why what?”

  “Why everything?” I replied as I
sat up, and the motion made me woozy. I rubbed my temples, as though touching my own face could make the room stop spinning. It didn’t help, but my brain had better get a grip fast. I was sure someone would be checking on us momentarily. I’d seen enough movies and had enough training to know people had to be on their way here right now. Hell, people should be in here already, so where were they?

  “I will answer one specific question as long as it isn’t ‘why did you save me from Graham’ because the answer to that is simple. My orders were to save you at any costs.” He shrugged as he said the words, and I got the impression he had tried to say them coldly, but somehow anger laced every single syllable. “My orders were always to protect you.”

  “Did you ever really love me?” I asked before I could stop myself, and even as the words left my lips, I felt myself start to break apart. “Please don’t answer…” I tried to whisper, but it got stuck in my throat.

  He knelt down beside the downed guard and sniffing the blood. Then he grimaced as though it smelled off. It made me wonder if they were supernaturals since vampires could only drink human blood. If it was supernatural, it would kill him.

  “No,” he responded. The anger in his words was made worse by the snort he gave afterward. “It was my job to make you think I did,” he added even though he needn’t have bothered because my heart had already been torn asunder. I mean, I knew he didn’t love me already. Knew everything had been a lie, but some small part of me had hoped. And oh how I hated that part.

  I shut my eyes as tears gathered in the edges. I didn’t want him to see me cry, but I wasn’t sure I could help it. That made everything worse.

  “I’m surprised you hadn’t figured that out on your own already,” he said, voice clipped, angry. I heard him get to his feet, and when I opened my eyes he was standing over me, a grimace of pain on his face as he tested his leg. It looked like while he wasn’t incapacitated, moving around still hurt him. Good.