Magical Intentions

by Jaliza A. Burwell

  “This is a basic duck meal with veggies. This one is fish. Veal. Lamb. Steak.”

  “Steak,” I said. “Steak is safe.”

  We continued like that, leaning into each other as he went over the menu with me. I had to pick out four different meals and already felt full just thinking about. I held in a smile, enjoying the closeness with Alijah. It felt private as our shoulders pressed together, heads inches away.

  “This is a lot of food,” I commented.

  “They’re going to be small serving sizes, spread out over the next couple hours. You’ll be fine,” Lombardi said. “Dinner meals are usually slow going to give time for the guests to talk with each other.”

  I frowned. I didn’t eat a lot. I didn’t have to for some reason. It had always been a concern for doctors while I was growing up. I would be happy with just eating once a day. Even I knew that was weird, especially since magic could take a lot out of you and food was one of the best fuels. That’s why shifters had black holes for stomachs. Just shifting used up all their resources and food was how they recharged.

  I should’ve been the same way, but I wasn’t.

  We placed our orders and Shanton was kind enough to order for me so I didn’t butcher the pronunciation. Seemed like everyone else at the table knew how to order in French.

  After our server walked away, Shanton leaned back and shifted to get a better look at me.

  “How do you like your job at Biomystic, Dr. Porter?” he asked.

  “Cyril,” Lombardi said in a warning tone.

  Shanton sent him an innocent look. “What? I just want a clear vision of how the company is seen through the eyes of an employee. No bullshit.” He turned those piercing eyes to me. “I know when someone is trying to feed me bullshit.”

  I smirked at him, willing to play his little game. “Fine, no bullshit then. I’m not the type anyway.”

  Someone at the table groaned, and I wanted to laugh.

  “I get to blow shit up,” I replied, starting easy. “I’m free to research what I’m interested in, as long as it also interests the company. Luckily for me, there isn’t much out there that doesn’t interest the company. I could probably come up with something as simple and small as a magic stain remover, and the company wouldn’t mind. Luckily for the both of us, I don’t keep it that simple. I’m encouraged to experiment, to spend days inside a lab doing what I love best.”

  “And what’s that?” Shanton asked.

  “Magic. I love magic, and my job allows me to play with it, to come up with creations others can’t. And as a bonus, once in a while, I get to save lives because of what I create. That’s a big enough reward for me alone. But then Mr. Lombardi also hands out bonuses as if they were Halloween candy. His incentives program is the best. Make something good and useful and we’re rewarded for it. Yes, he gets rights over anything created within the company, but he doesn’t stop us from expanding either. I have my own lab at home where I can work on personal projects if I want, and he doesn’t care if I sell those. As long as I don’t use any of the company’s resources.”

  I paused long enough to take a sip of water, noting how I had everyone’s focus as I talked. My face warmed at all the rapt attention, and I continued. I was speaking the truth and had nothing to be embarrassed about. There really wasn’t much to complain about working at Biomystic.

  “Plus, he spoils us with employee benefits. Not many jobs give a month’s worth of vacation time the first year. And we have what amounts to free health care. If I get hurt, I just need to pop upstairs to get healed. If it requires more work than they can handle, then they’ll cover all the costs for us to get the help we need. But that rarely happens, because Mr. Lombardi expects the best of the best in his company, and from what I’d seen, he has that. He gives us everything, so it’s understandable that he expects everything in return. And don’t forget the fact that he builds us up. He pushes us to expand our knowledge with trainings and classes, to go beyond our skills, to grow as not just an employee but as people, too.”

  I didn’t think Lombardi could be grinning any harder after I finished with what I had to say.

  I sent Lombardi a wink before focusing on Shanton, refusing to let him intimidate me to lie. “And that isn’t bullshit. You know it isn’t.”

  Shanton smiled at my boldness. “What don’t you like about this job?” he asked, glancing at Lombardi.

  I didn’t bother glancing at Lombardi.

  “Probably the fact that they drag me out of my lab when I’m not ready to leave. I get so engrossed in my projects that I forget about the existence of time. My colleague, Ami, dragged me out after I spent four days in the lab without leaving. He doesn’t overwork us but we do overwork ourselves. I hate it because like I said, magic is my passion. I’m obsessed with it. It’s my cocaine, my way to get high. I don’t like people interrupting that.”

  Shanton laughed. “You don’t like that your employer cares about his employees?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not used to working for others.” I shifted in my chair. “I’m not used to having others care. That makes this job hard sometimes because I’ll want to keep going, but then I have a meathead coming down and dragging me out to make sure I eat and take a shower, get some rest. I was once barred from the company for an entire weekend with no access to the project I was working on.”

  “People work the typical forty hours a week, maybe even fifty. Dr. Porter likes to push those bounds. She likes to work closer to a hundred hours,” Lombardi said, the underlying amusement in his voice almost overshadowed by his disapproval.

  “I didn’t think you’d noticed,” I said. At least, I’d hoped he hadn’t.

  He grunted before catching my eyes and ensnaring me in them. “I notice everything in my company, Dr. Porter. Especially when it comes to my best employees. I don’t want you burning out. So, yes, maybe I’ve sent others down to get you out of your lab for at least a few hours.”

  “I still don’t like it.” I huffed and crossed my arms, probably looking like a pouting child. I didn’t care. You did not interrupt a magic user on a roll while experimenting. You just didn’t.

  Shanton laughed, the sound deep and loud. “You really know how to pick them, Dwight,” he said.

  “She’s mine,” Lombardi warned.

  Shanton raised his hands up. “I know better than to hunt in your territory. Don’t worry, she’s yours until she says otherwise.” He smirked, and I didn’t like the implications in his words.

  I opened my mouth to say something, but the server came in with our first course and interrupted the conversation.

  The rest of dinner was fine. We ate. We talked, keeping conversation light. I learned more about Shanton Enterprise and why he wanted to create a deal with Lombardi.

  Shanton Enterprise, was first and foremost, a technology company with its fingers in everything from the medical field to aircrafts to phones and televisions. He wanted to create a child company branch that involved tapping into natural resources. That was where Biomystic Security came into play. He needed security to protect his interests. To be there with him since his traveling was going to increase and he’d need the extra protection. He refused to rely just on his own team since they didn’t have the talents our company did.

  In return, we got some of their toys to play with, maybe even improve upon and make our own. That got my interest. I loved a challenge and I could see why that would definitely be a bonus for us. When Shanton talked about some of their toys, I was nearly drooling at the mouth, fingers twitching at the thought of playing with them.

  And then I understood why I was here, because conversation shifted again, going in depth about his products and how someone like me could improve them. This definitely interested Shanton and we went back and forth.

  Before I knew it, dinner was over, I was full, and we were heading back to the company for the night. When we drove through the gate, Shanton leaned forward in the limousine, eyes determined.

  “We’
re going to have to continue this conversation soon. You surprise me more and more, Dr. Porter.” With that, he climbed out of the vehicle and headed inside while I just stared after him.

  I didn’t know if having his attention was a good thing or a bad thing, though I knew it was definitely interesting.

  Chapter 24

  I rubbed at my tired eyes as I stared at the screens. Talkies crackled as the security guards kept constant communication going.

  “You need sleep,” Venni so kindly pointed out.

  “And I will,” I replied, something on the camera catching my attention. I swiped at my pad and sent the camera view to the big screen. I had quickly claimed two of the big screens as my own to shift cameras to when I wanted a better look. No one said anything about it, so it was mine. Besides, as a magic user, I knew some of the things to keep an eye out for.

  “And when will that be?” he asked.

  “Obviously not right now,” I answered and walked up to the screen.

  “See something?” Henzie asked.

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “We got movement,” someone called out and one of the screens shifted viewpoints to one of the cameras at our perimeter, at the back, near the gardens.

  The screen shifted lenses to give us the tiniest of heat signatures. Whoever it was tried to hide themselves completely but either weren’t strong enough or just didn’t get the spell quite right.

  “Zone 2 Sector D,” someone said over the talkies, and other cameras showed a small group of guards converging on the spot. But we didn’t have to worry. They weren’t strong enough.

  They touched the ward and it stripped them of their magic, leaving them unconscious. I lifted my walkie up. “Hold,” I said and everyone on camera froze. “Have the perimeter guards collect them and send them on their way to the enforcer’s guild.” We didn’t need them. We could take them inside and detain them, but we didn’t want to waste our resources on small fries. Lombardi was in agreement with me and had enforcers on standby to pick them up. They would be held in specially made holding cells, questioned, and then from there, depending on what they had to say, either locked away or slapped with a hefty fine and banishment from the city.

  We wanted our hands on the stronger ones—the ones who would actually have answers. These guys were probably approached by some middleman they wouldn’t be able to talk about and given a rip off deal to come try breaking in to kill a dragon. Idiots. I didn’t have patience for them.

  “Well, we know for sure the wards work,” I mumbled.

  “Of course they did,” Venni said. “You created them.”

  I sent him an appreciative smile and went back to my screen, moving closer. I checked my touch screen for the surrounding cameras and flicked up another camera view onto the second screen.

  “What do you see, Babe?” Davies asked, stepping closer. He was about to go onto his shift for security in less than an hour and decided to hang out in the home base while he waited.

  “Still not sure yet. Henzie, can you flip these cameras’ mode to the one for the magic.”

  “On it.” He clicked on a few keys before the view switched. I leaned closer, my nose nearly touching the screen as I focused on a spot. It was a small marking in the grass near the ward, still on the outside. The entrance point would be on the side of the building.

  “I want three guys there, now,” I snapped out. “And put on your goggles. It’s a magic-user.”

  “What is it,” Henzie asked.

  “Some magic needs to be grounded when casted, especially if you aren’t trying to alert anyone to its use.” I pointed to the spot that held my attention. It was only a small patch of dead grass. “That spot there was used to ground powerful magic that we didn’t sense.” I flicked the image over to a different screen and someone yelled out, but I ignored them, already pulling up more screens. “Someone take that camera and go back. I want to know when that patch of dead grass showed up.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” someone answered.

  I went back to looking over the other cameras in the area because there was a really good chance they were inside the ward now.

  “Here, twenty minutes ago.”

  My adrenaline began pumping as the screen in front of me went back to the video image of that spot. I rewound just until the dead patch wasn’t there and then froze the image, getting a good look at the area. I moved the image, frame by frame, and then swore.

  “A really strong visibility spell, about one of the only ones able to get passed us. It hides the person completely. No scent, no energy, or magic markers, nothing. It’s like they aren’t there at all. None of our sensors will go off.”

  “Then how do we track them?” Henzie asked.

  I thought about it for a moment and then grinned. “Lack of magic. They’ll be a little blank spot. Remember, magic is free flowing, all around us. Since we won’t be able to sense the magic within this person, it should read as a blank space, right?”

  “Fucking brilliant,” Davies said. “Can I start my shift early? I want to go hunting.”

  I shook my head but tossed him one of the goggles. “Yeah, take Ami with you. She should be in the training room. Her expertise in magic will help.”

  “No worries, boss lady, we’ll find them.”

  I smiled as he practically sprinted out of the room, a little too excited about doing this.

  We kept an eye on Davies and Ami as they hunted the magic user down. An hour later I was grinning. They had managed to pin the man down, and he ran into a trap, sending him to chill out in one of my rooms, and I could relax again. I put his video feed onto a small screen.

  “Let him tire himself out before you move him. We need the trap to be able to activate again, but it won’t if someone is already in the space.”

  “Dr. Porter,” someone called, and I turned to take in the lanky woman standing in the doorway with a short pixie cut and glowing hazel eyes.

  “Yes?” I asked.

  “Mr. Shanton and Mr. Lombardi would like to question the intruder.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Would they now?” I asked. “And are they already on their way?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” she replied before disappearing, probably running away.

  Sounded like they were about to have fun without me. I couldn’t have that. I never got to sit in on interrogations. This would be good experience for an employee of a security company.

  Nodding to myself, I passed the baton to Henzie, trusting him to see what the others would probably miss. I had an interrogation to go watch.

  I went down to level B3 where the cells were tucked away in the corner of the hallway, surrounded by security offices. The labs on the floor were on the other side, separated by a heavy security door.

  I followed the rumble of voices and found a small room with Lombardi and Shanton. I couldn’t see past their massive frames, but no doubt the baddie sat before them. They’d worked quickly to move him.

  “What are you doing here?” Lombardi asked, not even looking back at me. All his senses were on high alert.

  “Learning experience,” I replied, keeping my answer simple.

  I shifted until I could see their profiles and also the baddie.

  The man was slim but packed with muscles, his dark skin had a soft warm glow to it, and his dark eyes focused on me when I moved into sight. I wanted to move his shaggy hair out of his face. Instead, I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms, ready to watch.

  How did Black Dog and a dragon get their answers?

  Brutally, of course.

  They had the man chained to the wall, shirt ripped off. Then they got to work demanding answers, and for every bullshit answer, they flayed his skin. For every lie, he lost a part of himself, a finger, a toe, his ear. For every silent response, they tested their energy out against him.

  A few times, I had to swallow the bile in my stomach. I formed a little bubble around me to create a sense of distance. It lessened the smell of blood and mu
ted the energy being thrown around. I still heard everything, the way the man’s chains rattled when they hurt him, the grunting, moaning, screaming. The sound of a whip flying through the air and then the smacking of the leather against skin.

  I saw what being a dragon really meant. Shanton demanded attention, he demanded obedience, and when he didn’t receive it, he didn’t hold back. And Black Dog demanded the truth, demanded justice.

  The man before us was no saint, not if he was good enough to break into BMS. He knew how to kill. And by the tattoo on his side, just below his ribs, he had done it often. He had over a hundred kills.

  I couldn’t pity him. He killed for profit, not for protection, not for defense, but because someone threw enough money his way. My stomach churned at the thought. Did he have a line he refused to cross? Did he kill women? Children? Those unable to protect themselves? Those who had done nothing wrong but piss off the wrong person for some petty reason?

  I wanted to ask him. I wanted to know who he killed, how he killed them, and if their family got their body back so they could mourn and begin the healing process. Who was out there waiting for their loved ones because of this man?

  No. I couldn’t pity him.

  The man ended up being a fountain of information once they got him talking. I didn’t understand most of it, but Shanton did and the more the man talked, the grimmer the dragon looked. The names he was spouting definitely weren’t good people and not who he’d expected either.

  My phone buzzed sending a report of someone else trying to get back in.

  “I’m heading back to the command room,” I said.

  Lombardi nodded, sparing me a glance before focusing back on the baddie. As I walked out, I met the eyes of one of the guards, and all I saw in his expression was fear. I looked harder, noting the strain around his lips as he stood still. His eyes flickered to the group and when the baddie screamed again, he looked away.

  I could practically read his thoughts.

  Monster. He was seeing Lombardi and Shanton as monsters for torturing a man. I kept my expression blank because I didn’t see it that way.