Break of Magic Read online

  I smiled. “You’re very perceptive. And yes, I have gained much. Including you. Perhaps I didn’t struggle with it this time, because I learned where my heart truly belongs. I won’t let it go again.”

  “I wish I could’ve met your sister,” Sara said.

  I sadly shook my head. “No. She’d been warped by him. I don’t think you would’ve liked her, not in the end. She was weak and easily manipulated. The total opposite of you.”

  For the first time, she didn’t have a quick retort. I sat back in my chair, folding my arms over my chest and feeling quite satisfied with myself. “Well, well. I’ve finally won one.”

  “Don’t ruin it,” she said with a half-laugh.

  I immediately straightened, wiping the self-satisfied grin off my face, although the feeling it left behind remained. “Of course,” I said. I took a swig of my drink, hiding what was left of my smile.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “I believe this entire conversation has proven you’re perfectly capable of the task.”

  She ignored my barb and charged forward. “Why haven’t you told Mom your story?”

  I put my stein down and scrutinized her. She had silky brown hair to her mid-back and bright green eyes. A beauty. More than one supernatural in the pub was eyeing her up, making me want to scoot closer to her for her protection.

  “There hasn’t been much time. We’ve been a bit preoccupied. Perhaps you’ve heard about this demon plague killing our lot?” I said mockingly.

  “I’ve heard it’s a bit of a nuisance.”

  “Indeed it is.” I drained my mug, and then put it on the table a little hard. “We should get back to our nuisance.”

  “I suppose we should.”

  We walked out of the bar, neither speaking. Halfway back to the hospital, she stopped. “Levi?”

  “Yes?” I said, turning to face her a few steps ahead.

  “For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing.”

  “Destroying my one and only coven? Sure. Always the right thing, breaking up the closest thing you ever had to a family.” I whirled around quickly and started striding away, suddenly very angry with myself. I’d never admitted that sentiment out loud. Yet, I’d spilled the beans to my love’s daughter. Perfect. Just what I needed—a teenager with leverage against me.

  She jogged to catch up. “It wasn’t your coven if they wanted to manipulate you like that. Covens are supposed to be mutually beneficial. Not parasitic.”

  She struggled to keep pace with me, and I cut my eyes to her. “Maybe.” Logically, I realized she was all right. But in my heart, Ann’s death was my fault.

  Unable to dwell on it anymore, I changed the subject when we reentered the hospital and headed for the elevator. “Your blood is the key. I know it. We just have to figure out how to use it.”

  I was explaining how the infected blood fled from hers in the petri dish when we came into the sick bay. Stopping short, I realized only eight beds were occupied. Out of the over two dozen we’d started with.

  “We need to work faster.” There was determination in her eyes, so I nodded once. “Now that we’re reenergized, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem, right?”

  With resolve, we marched to the lab with a new sense of urgency. I was close to something. I knew it.

  Possession is two-thirds of the chaos

  I worked quietly for several hours before Sara interrupted my train of thought. “Hey, Levi?”

  I grunted in response, waiting for the centrifuge to stop its cycle.

  “There still haven’t been any additional cases of the plague in this area. Don’t they spread like wildfire?”

  “Yes. Plagues usually do,” I answered absently. The centrifuge spooled down.

  “This one seems as if it is being planted. Almost like it can’t spread on its own. Like it needs to be introduced to each individual host.”

  I stopped, jerking my head up to stare at her. “What an interesting thought. That implies this is even more terrorist-like than it already is. Like someone is targeting certain people.”

  “Not necessarily targeting certain people. But simply causing chaos,” she suggested.

  “To what end?”

  “Ours.”

  That one word echoed in my mind as the centrifuge came to a halt.

  “Help,” someone in the sick bay yelled. None of the patients had spoken since I’d talked to the one I’d taken blood from, so Sara and I leapt into action.

  “Stay by the door, in case I need you to grab something for me.”

  She nodded, following me. Three patients had succumbed during the recent hours we’d been working. Only five remained. Four of them seemed to close to death. Their bodies were completely blackened. I felt like if I touched them, they’d turn to ash right. They were beyond words. Since that seemed to be the norm, what was this last survivor’s deal?

  His skin wasn’t any less black than the others. How was he so coherent? “What seems to be the problem?”

  “Are you shitting me? I’m covered in this filth. Death is coming for me. Can’t you feel it? Do something,” he demanded. He grabbed my arm hard, with more strength than he should’ve had. Perhaps it was an adrenal reaction, a last spike of energy. It wasn’t unusual. Just because I hadn’t seen it in these victims didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.

  Feeling sick at his touch, I pried his fingers from my bare arm. I’d taken my lab coat off a few hours ago, and I’d rolled up my shirtsleeves when the work had started to get intense.

  The patient’s skin was hard and rough to the touch. It was obvious I wouldn’t get any more blood samples from this lot. Maybe Sara was right. This could end here. We’d never know how it spread or when it would strike again. Someone would have to initiate it. But if Merry stopped it…heck, she could be ending it right now. If so, all of my work, as well as this stress and pressure, would be moot.

  The door to the clean room clicked closed, almost imperceptibly so. I glanced over to where Sara stood. “Hey,” she called, taking off after the man or woman who’d apparently fled. I wasn’t sure. I’d been too distracted by the empty beds when I walked in to notice someone.

  As soon as I was free of the man’s grasp, he fell limp, his eyes closed, and he appeared just like the other four in the room.

  “Well, that was odd,” I said. Deciding I’d better not leave Sara alone for too long, I went to the clean room. But she wasn’t there. I did a half-assed job cleaning up before heading into the elevator, assuming she followed whoever it was.

  The main floor was frustratingly busy. People bustled everywhere. As I approached the desk, I laid on my charms thick. The nurse was very responsive to it, genuinely smiling at my approach.

  “Doctor Pietz. What a pleasant surprise. We don’t get to see much of you up here.” She batted her dark eyelashes at me. My charms were working, so she’d comply, but did she have what I needed?

  “Have you seen my colleague? The young girl? Long brown hair?”

  She frowned, but I couldn’t tell if she was simply jealous of Sara, or if she disapproved of my proximity to such a young girl. She did look visibly younger than me given she’d been turned at only fifteen.

  “No, I haven’t seen her.”

  “Okay, thank you,” I said before she could get another word in. I took out my phone and dialed Sara’s number, knowing instinctually she wouldn’t answer, but I had to try.

  On the fifth ring, her voicemail picked up. “Hey, it’s Sara. You know what to do.”

  “Sara, where are you? Call me when you get this.” I hung up, somehow knowing she wouldn’t get my message, nor would she call me back.

  “Son of a motherless grave digger,” I muttered. Merry was going to kill me, but not before I killed whoever had Sara.

  That time I stabbed a junior dick weasel

  Panic was not something I did. There was always a solution to a problem. Even though this one threatened to take everything I held dear.

 
; Logic. That was what I needed. Where were Oscar and Ike when I needed them? To be honest, Ed was the one I’d spent the most time with, and he’d saved my tail more than a few times. But logic wasn’t exactly his strong suit. He was a fast thinker, but emotional.

  Where would I take Sara if I were a demon out to get to Merry? Would they have left the hospital? If they had, I’d never find them. Something at the back of my mind wondered about the lab. Had they’d wanted us out of it? As soon as the thought took root, my heart began to race. What had happened in the centrifuge? That patient had called out before I’d even gotten to examine it. Had I gotten close to something? More importantly, did whoever had Sara know I’d been close to something?

  The elevator was intolerably slow, and no amount of mashing the buttons helped it go faster.

  I threw the utility door open and ran through the clean room, overriding the system as I went.

  One more bed was empty, I noticed. I raced through the sick bay and to the lab. Smoke rose from the centrifuge, and pixies swarmed it.

  “For Bael’s sake.” I rushed over to the machine, swatting them away as I went. A few of them bit me, and one latched onto the lower part of my arm, just above my wrist. As I shook him off, I noticed something strange. His bite hadn’t hurt. At all. In fact, I hadn’t even felt it.

  When he was loose, I took a closer look at my hand. It wasn’t quite the right shade, almost gray in color. And was that…

  No. It had to be something I picked up from one of the patients. Ash from their bodies, maybe, from when I’d rushed through the sick bay. I ran to the sink and fervently began to wash. But the black speck didn’t come off.

  I shook the water from my hands into the sink, and I leaned heavily onto it. “Well, isn’t that a fine pile of goblin shit.”

  A male voice answered me. “Yes. I believe it is.”

  The voice startled me, and I whipped around. “I believe this will be your end, Levi.”

  It was like nails on a chalkboard for me. “Philip. It’s been a long time.”

  He hadn’t changed a bit. Still gaunt looking, and his ice-blue eyes didn’t help that effect much. He was still pinched around his mouth, as if he were constantly sucking a lemon wedge, and he still dripped with disapproval.

  “What did you do? Take Father’s cape?” I eyed him, noticing how the black cape billowed out behind him.

  He didn’t respond. Instead, he held a gleaming silver knife to Sara’s throat. He had her by the hair, exposing more of her neck. I didn’t react outwardly. In fact, I did my best to seem bored, while inwardly I wanted to panic, scream, and run him through with that knife all at the same time. How dare he threaten her?

  “What are you doing here, Philip?” I added an impatient sigh to the sentence, laying my disinterest on thick.

  “Ending your little escapade. And taking a little bonus back to the boss.”

  “The boss? Who is that exactly?”

  “You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Well, you’re a damned invalid stumbling around in the dark now. And guess who has the flashlight?”

  “What? You never were good at riddles, so quit talking in them now.”

  “You won’t win this,” he said. He took a step back toward the door. I moved forward and laid on just a hint of charm. If he felt it, he’d leave or kill Sara, or both. I wasn’t sure which was worse, but there was no way I was letting either of those things happen. Subtlety was key.

  “What makes you say that?” I asked, feeding the tiniest bit more charm toward him.

  “This is bigger than you, or that slut you’ve hooked up with. Can’t keep her satisfied, eh, Levi? She needs to whore around with other races, huh? How could you even be attracted to that? It’s disgusting.”

  I gritted my teeth, flashing my best smile. “Hey, tail is tail,” I said, knowing it was what he would respond to. Nothing more, nothing less. I knew how to charm, even without my magic. Get on their side. Act like an ally, like I understood them. Related to them. Even supported their opinions.

  “Can’t say I blame you there. She does look good in those tight pants.”

  My mind raced, wondering when he’d seen Merry in person. Or maybe he’d just seen a picture of her. Without knowing who his superiors were, I’d never know for sure.

  “What’s in this for you, Philip?” I asked, laying a little more charm on, hoping he’d answer my question this time without too much back talk.

  “You. I get to kill you, and I’ll get to take something you value while I’m at it.”

  Unable to hold my contempt back, I sighed impatiently. “Please. You can’t still be mad about Father. He was a dick weasel.”

  “That’s awfully colorful for you, isn’t it? Don’t tell me you’ve lost your dignified ways.” Philip looked down the end of his pointed nose at me. But he would’ve done that no matter what I said.

  “Maybe the whore is rubbing off on me.” I couldn’t help looking at Sara when I said it, sending her a silent apology. She was hot, and I could see the fire in her eyes. Her anger would only make the situation more delicate. I needed to diffuse it. Now.

  Philip took several more steps toward the door. A few more and he’d be out. Out of the controlled situation. Okay, so maybe I was playing fast and loose with the word controlled, but out in the sick bay, he could get to the elevator, and ultimately out of the hospital. I had to keep him here in the lab, where his places to run were very limited.

  “Father didn’t deserve that end after what he did for you.”

  “What he did for me? Abused us all for years? Took our sisters from us?”

  “Please. Our sisters? You only ever cared about Ann.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing, but you only ever cared about Father.” I worked hard not to visibly cringe every time I called him that, but I had to speak Philip’s language. Philip had been with Father longer than Ann and I had. He had more time to be warped by him.

  “Of course I cared about Father. He created us. Made our family. You tore it apart.” He took a menacing step toward me, and I marked a point in my favor on my internal scoreboard. Any movement closer to me, and he was further from the door and his ultimate escape. Definitely a win.

  “And what have you done with the life I gave you?” I asked.

  His eyes turned wild, and I erased the point I’d just given myself. Apparently, it was a two steps forward, two steps back kind of day. “You gave me nothing. Father is the one who gave me everything. What have I done you ask?” He turned the knife away from Sara’s neck, and then pointed it toward me as he jerked her forward. It was possible I’d crossed a line. “I’ve bided my time. Waited for just the right moment to exact my revenge on you.”

  “Oh, please. What are you—some lovesick teenager?” Sara said before ramming a scalpel into his leg. It didn’t do much to him, but it threw him off balance enough that I could make my move.

  I overwhelmed him with every ounce of charm I had in me. He glared, and I could tell it wouldn’t be enough to convince him to die. But I might be able to use him.

  “Tell me who you’re working for.”

  “Go to hell.” He jerked the scalpel out of his thigh just as Sara dashed away from him.

  “After you,” I said.

  I put Sara behind me before closing in on him. That silver knife he held between us would be a problem. But it wasn’t one I could solve now, so I chose to ignore it.

  Philip wasn’t a fighter any more than I was. He was weak. With no special skills, he wasn’t much of an adversary. The only thing that made me wary of him was that sharp object he held between us.

  “I’d suggest you leave right now, but I’m guessing you’re not open to suggestions,” I said, watching him as his eyes darted between Sara and me. He had no moves left, and he knew it. It made him dangerous. Desperation made people do rather annoying things.

  He lunged at me, and I stepped to the side. Shockingly, Sara darted forward to knee him in the gut as he went down, and then sto
mped on his outstretched arm. He immediately released the blade, and she seized it. I thought she’d brandish it at him. Threaten him with it in a tit for tat moment. But instead, she tossed it to me.

  “Well, now I think I might insist you go, Philip. Go crawling back to your superiors to tell them what a failure you are. I think I’ll enjoy imagining what they do to you.”

  Possibly the wrong thing to say yet again, but I couldn’t manage to feel badly about it. The unbridled rage dancing in his eyes was so deliciously rewarding. With nothing left to attack me with, he lunged from the floor, using his body to come at me hard. He took me by the middle and slammed me back into the counter. All the equipment back there came crashing down around us.

  But I wasn’t bothered. All I had to do was ram that silver knife into his back. It laid before me, ready. But something stayed my hand. I wasn’t a killer. Not like Merry, not that I held that against her. It just wasn’t me. Instead, I tried my charms one last time, letting them flow from me to him.

  “Philip, I’m going to strongly suggest one last time that you leave. Now.”

  “I go back when you’re dead. Or I don’t go back at all.” A swift punch to the soft part of my back was all the encouragement I needed.

  “Fine then. Have it your way, brother.” I took a breath before finding Sara’s eyes. She watched me drive the blade into Philip’s back. He screamed, and I silently urged her to look away, but she didn’t. She gazed with hardened eyes the whole time. As the man turned to ash before us, I wondered if Merry would recognize the person her daughter was becoming under my care.

  Twatwaffles are delicious with a side of epiphany

  “By the void,” Sara whispered.

  “Indeed,” I said, gingerly stepping around the pile of ash. “The janitorial staff is going to have a lot of clean up down here when this is over.”