I snorted. “I’d like to see you try.”
His expression warmed with intensity. “Don’t tempt me, Babe. I like playing.”
Realization dawned on me, and my cheeks heated at the thoughts running through my mind. I was almost tempted.
The guys chuckled, even Alijah. The traitor.
“Let’s just do this if you all insist on helping me today. I need you guys to stay out here, and please don’t interrupt. If someone tries to, keep them away. I don’t need to get hurt a second time. I’m going to calibrate this little device to this room.”
The men nodded.
“Sounds good,” Davies said. “I can play bouncer.”
He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his expansive chest. I rolled my eyes. He really could do that. His muscles bulged through the t-shirt, and I half expected the fabric to tear.
I went into the room, closing the door. I needed to be able to focus to get the magic right and not on Davies’ biceps that I wanted to reach out and touch.
The room was the size of a small bedroom. We would seal the door and make sure no one could get in or out without my permission. I walked to one side, going over the dimensions Alijah mentioned. The space would be small enough to contain someone. Not much space for them to work with.
To get into the middle of the room, I had to crawl on top of the conference table. The thing was sturdy as I settled down with my legs tucked underneath me. I’d have the guys remove it later, but for the moment, I placed the device in front of me and breathed out a sigh, relaxing my body.
Magic was intention, taking something untamed and giving it purpose. That was why witches said spells and mages used sigils. It focused the magic. Me, I didn’t have to do either of those things. I just had to think about what I wanted. This was why they labeled me as a magic-user. I didn’t fall into all of the parameters of one type of being.
I aged like a human, at least for now. No one knew for sure if I would stop or not. I healed liked a shifter, but I had human senses. I didn’t need to cast spells or write out sigils. I could sense magic on a deep level, and my sensitivity to energy was decent.
There were some people still determined to figure me out, but I pulled away from them growing up. At first, I thought they had my best interests at heart, but then with all my experiences, I began to suspect they wanted to use me. I was powerful, could do magic many took years to strive to do, like the transportation. Only a handful in the city could do that and I was one of them. I figured it out when I was fifteen. The others were in their middle ages before they learned.
Humans used to think fae and vampires could transport, but the reality was they were just fast. Or they relied on portals they needed time to create.
I rubbed at my face, calming myself down, pushing away all my thoughts. I needed to focus. I wouldn’t want to accidentally send one of the guys across the world. I doubted they’d be happy about that. Besides, they’d make me reimburse them for the travel back. And Lombardi probably wouldn’t be happy to learn he couldn’t use one of his men on a mission because they were trying to figure out how to get home.
I looked down at the black device in front of me. It was small and nondescript, but potent. I ingrained the image in my head, the small box, big enough to fit into the palm of my hand with sigils engraved on the sides to help hold in the magic it was about to absorb. I didn’t want the magic to unravel while unattended and the sigils would help with that.
Just because I didn’t need to use spells or sigils didn’t mean I couldn’t use them.
I shook out my shoulders and closed my eyes, ready to get to work.
I reached from within and tapped the reserve inside, feeling the hum of the magic come alive as it spread through my body, ready to work again. My skin came alive as it worked its way through my body.
I thought about the space surrounding me, creating an image of the conference room in my head. A closed box. Under lock and key. Only way out was for me to open it. Me and only me. I was the very key needed for the contents inside to ever see daylight again. I reached out and grabbed the device, the air in the room whirling around now as if someone opened the window to let in a breeze. My lips moved, but no sound reached my ears as I touched the cool stone. Crystals and stones absorbed magic the best and I used it now to hold what I was about to shove inside.
I kept the image of this location in my head, along with the box around the spot to seal it. I knew this alone wouldn’t be enough to hold a being inside, especially one able to slip through our wards in the first place, but I was just throwing down concrete for a strong foundation. Later would come the support beams needed to hold everything together. It was easier to build on magic rather than trying to make it do everything at once.
The magic slipped into the device smoothly, filling it until it was bursting. The cool air around me filled with the familiar scent of cinnamon as I continued to work. The stone warmed under my touch, and I smiled as it pulsed with satisfaction. The magic settled, getting comfortable. I sat there longer, waiting to make sure the stone didn’t decide to shatter.
I got to my feet, holding onto my little creation. It would work. I could feel the rightness of it all. I just needed to repeat the process a few more times for the other locations.
I opened the door to the men glaring down the hall, arms crossed. I frowned as I stared at them. We didn’t know each other well, but they had always been friendly toward me. It was weird to see rage burning in their expressions. I blinked a couple of times.
“Something happened?” I asked.
They blinked and turned to me as one, their synced movements creeping me out a little.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Davies said. “Just a douche being a douche.”
“What happened?” I didn’t like not being in the know. I cocked an eyebrow, demanding someone tell me.
“One of the grunts wanted to talk with you,” Venni answered when Davies wasn’t going to say anything. Davies sent Venni a glare that didn’t intimidate him at all.
“Why?”
“He didn’t say. But his attitude suggested it wasn’t anything good.”
“Who was it?”
“Just a nobody,” Davies snapped.
Venni and Alijah both glared at Davies but he didn’t care. He had worked himself up good with his anger.
I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes. “What is going on?”
“He’s an asshole who was going to say asshole-ish shit to you. Don’t worry about it. He’s gone and he won’t be bothering you again.”
“No,” I snapped. “You won’t hide shit that involves me from me. If he wanted to talk to me, then I have a right to know what the hell is going on that is making you act like a damn caveman. I won’t be walking around blinded to shit. So talk.”
Davies looked away from me, pressing his lips together.
“Davies,” I warned, the floor shaking from my growing anger.
His eyes widened and focused on me, quickly realizing he had gone too far in his stubbornness. Still, he didn’t speak. Davies was a fun guy, he enjoyed life, but his anger was nearly on par with mine. We laughed, but we fought just as much. It was why I liked the darn guy. There weren’t many I could fight with and then two seconds later laugh with.
I switched my glare to Venni who just cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t know the full story,” he said. “I wasn’t there. But from Davies’s reaction, I’m going to assume some things were said in the locker room earlier, and I’m pretty sure the grunt said it.”
“He doesn’t know shit,” Davies said, fists now clenched at his side. “He’s spreading bullshit rumors because he’s fucking a labbie and the bitch isn’t happy with how things are for her. She just wants to get ahead, and she’s using the douche to do it.”
“You need explain what the hell is going on,” I said, growing frustrated now.
“He’s saying you fucked the boss man so he would give you this assignment. That you’re f
ucking us too to get us to help you.”
My lips twitched at that and before I could stop myself, I was laughing hard.
“This isn’t funny,” Davies said.
I shook my head. “It really is, Davies,” I said, wiping away the tears gained from laughing so hard. I hadn’t had a good laugh like that in a while. “Ignore him. This isn’t high school. There’s no reason to let that shit get to you. People are mature enough to not believe it and half of them know I’m not easy. I’ve turned down a good chunk of them.”
“What?” Davies nearly yelled. His mouth popped open as he stared at me, eyes big. “Those shits are hitting on you? How? When?”
“Calm down, man,” Venni said. “She just said she turned them down. Stop acting like an overly protective boyfriend.”
“Yeah, what he said. Now, can we get back to work? We need to test this out.” I held up the stone contraption for them all to see. The stone was still warm to the touch and would remain so until all the magic inside was released.
Davies eyed the thing like it was about to jump out at him.
“Where are we setting up?” Alijah asked.
“Outside. I’m going to set it up and then come back here. I want to see how it works when someone is transported through.”
“Who’s going through?” Davies asked. I smiled, too entertained by his response. He really didn’t want to go through.
“Venni will,” I said. “I need different beings to gauge how it works for the different power levels. As someone filled with energy, he’ll be perfect. I’ll need someone with a lot of magic to go through to see how it works for them. I can’t go through since I made it and it’ll confuse the magic to fight against itself.”
“I’m going to get us walkie talkies,” Davies volunteered before taking off down the hall.
Venni stared after him, frowning hard. “Alijah, do you mind going with him?” he asked carefully.
Alijah nodded and strolled after Davies.
“You think Davies is going to get into a fight,” I said.
Venni nodded. “He’s always been at odds with Abram. Those two butt heads too often. While Davies is rough around the edges, he’s been taught to treat women with complete respect. Abram doesn’t have those same morals ingrained him. He can be too rough with a woman.”
My expression evened out, going blank as I connected the dots. “I see,” I said, my voice cold.
Venni glanced at me and frowned. “He hasn’t gone that far.”
“But he’s capable of doing it.”
Venni nodded. “I think so. Davies has been keeping a close eye on him, but Abram toes the line, not going far enough to warrant losing his job. Lombardi is aware of the situation and keeping careful watch too. The moment he slips, he’s gone.”
“But someone has to be there for him to slip,” I pointed out.
Venni sighed. “Unfortunately, but he can’t be fired just because we think he might do something. He’s good at his job too.”
“I get it,” I admitted. “I don’t like it, but I get it. Let’s get these tests going.”
We went outside and waited for the other two to join us. We didn’t have to wait long and Davies looked a little too bummed out.
Alijah exchanged expressions with Venni and shook his head. I guessed Davies couldn’t find Abram.
“Here.” Davies held out a walkie-talkie to me.
“Chin up,” I said. “You’ll get him.”
He pressed his lips together instead of making a comment, and I shrugged. I wasn’t going to force him to talk about his feelings. That wasn’t who I was. I didn’t want to talk about my own. Why would I force others to talk about theirs?
“All right, this’ll be simple for now. I’m not setting up the traps just yet. I’m going to place this down and give it a little boost to activate the magic. The idea is that anything within a certain area will activate the trap and be transported to the room where we just were. Don’t approach until I give the go ahead. I really do need to see how the landing of this goes. I don’t expect anything to go wrong, but I could be wrong. I’d been wrong before. So just wait. Alijah, come back with me.”
Everyone nodded their agreement.
We walked back to the room, and I eyed the space.
I lifted up the walkie-talkie. “All right, let’s get this show going. Davies, meet us back here when he walks through. But wait until he goes through. We don’t know if something will happen to him on that end instead of moving him here.”
“What exactly are you expecting to happen?” Venni asked. I could hear the concern for his safety in his voice.
“I expect your butt to show up in this room, but magic can be fickle sometimes, deciding it doesn’t want to listen.”
“Time to do it!” Davies cheered, his voice crackling through the walkie-talkie.
I rolled my eyes. He was way too happy about this, probably because he didn’t have to go through. I should probably send him through just for fun.
“He’s walking toward the death trap,” Davies said, giving us a dramatic play-by-play. “He’s pausing, staring at it like it might eat him alive. This may be the last time we ever get to see Venni Reynards. Let’s all have a moment of silence in his honor. Good luck fellow soldier.”
At this point, my body shook with laughter, I could imagine Venni glaring at Davies, planning his death in the near future.
A light flashed, the air whirled about for a moment until Venni landed before us, slumping down to his hand and knees. His dark hair stood every which way, his skin glistening with sweat. All his muscles strained against his clothes, as if he were about to explode out of them. He was fighting to not shift. The journey did not look like a fun one.
“Fucking shit,” he swore, and I raised my eyebrows in surprise. He rarely swore. When he stood to his feet, his pupils were dilated, the dark brown nearly gone, bleeding into black, proof his wolf was too close to the surface. He stilled, fighting with himself, slowly gaining control.
I went over and lifted my hand to the flimsy shield I created to hold the person inside. The magic recognized my touch and fell away. Venni gasped in a breath, wheezing before calming his heart rate down.
A few moments passed before he climbed to his feet, swaying a bit.
“I am not doing that again,” he gritted out.
“Fair enough,” I replied, seeing how hard that was for him to do. For a baddie, I wouldn’t care, but he wasn’t a baddie, just a volunteer, and I felt bad for putting him through that. “How was it?”
“Like someone yanked me through the ground and left me there. Why couldn’t I breathe when I landed? I couldn’t draw in a breath.”
I frowned and then realization dawned on me. “Apparently when I imagined the boxed in area, it also excluded the air. I’ll have to work on that imagery.”
“How did it go?” Davies called out, making it to our floor. He had the contraption in his hand and waved it at us. “That was so cool to watch.”
His grin turned into a shit-eating one when he got to the door and spotted Venni inside looking like he just barely survived.
“You look like shit.” Davies looked a little too happy about Venni’s situation.
I smiled and grabbed Davies’s arm to get his attention. He turned and looked down at me.
“Your turn,” I sang out.
His eyes widened in horror as he looked back at Venni in his current state. “Fuck no. Not fucking happening. No way in hell,” he said.
“Like I said, I need to test this out on every type of being. Those with magic, those with energy, and those without. You, babe, don’t have a drop of magic and a little bit of energy in your body. You’re the perfect specimen.”
“Well, shit,” he groaned, and I laughed, rubbing his back in comfort and maybe taking some liberties, enjoying the hard ridges if his muscles through the shirt. The man definitely had muscle.
“Don’t worry, we’ll do it on Monday. It’ll give me time to make some adjustments.
If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll have to send Venni through again to see if those improvements were made.”
I laughed when Venni groaned. He came out of the room, sending me a glare, but with none of the heat you’d expect. I knew if I asked, he would do it again.
“Will you at least make it more pleasant?” Venni asked.
“Why?” I asked. “You want the baddies in here all happy and comfortable?”
He mulled that over for a moment and then sighed. “Good point. If they think they can slip into our company to do harm, then they deserve to suffocate to death.”
With those words, Venni walked away.
“See you Monday, Babe,” Davies said, leaning over and giving me a quick kiss on the forehead, surprising me by his affection. He didn’t wait for a reply before following Venni.
I turned to Alijah, who just smirked before heading in the other direction, going toward the security offices on this floor. I stood there for a couple minutes, a little confused.
I sighed. Men. There was no understanding them. I headed to the elevators to go back to my lab and grinned when I saw Ami chatting it up with another man. As if sensing me, she turned her head to look, breaking out into a huge grin.
“I knew you were still working,” she said. She turned to the man and said something in a low tone to him. He nodded and took off to the stairs, deciding to take them instead of the elevator.
“How was your assignment?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Stupid. That entire assignment was bogus, and they only gave it to me because I have boobs. Boobs does not equate to maternal instincts. Let’s get out of here before someone gets on my nerves and I boil over and shoot them. They have a tourney going on at the park today.”
“I forgot about those,” I said, brightening up at the prospect of seeing some good sparring matches. They happened every other Saturday at Grandwood Park, the largest park area in the city. The place was like walking into the middle of a rainforest thick with wildlife. The area began right in the middle of the city and worked its way into the real wildlife outside of the boundaries. Hiking trails weaved through the park while two rivers emptied into a large lake. “I need to go to the lab. Give me about an hour. I want to take down some notes before we leave.”
Magical Intentions Page 8
