A Lost Light (The Bestiary #4)

14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Andy

T he glowing green ball of death hit the edge of the null field and sizzled out in a shower of sickly sparks. I let out shaky breath and kept walking down the hall. Yep, this was fine. We were good. All good. I ignored the voice inside that was screaming in dread.

There was an elevator and a stairwell at the end of the next hallway that would lead down to where the interrogation rooms were. Bella had informed us that the holding cells were nearby. Apparently, she had traded a favor with my good old friend Jackie the field mage. Jackie, it seemed, was attempting to sort out who was clean and who was dirty inside the organization, and doing her best give the rebels a fighting chance.

It warmed the cockles of my heart to know that the uptight little SA agent might not have to die when this all went down. Although… she did seem to suspect the SA was going to turn against me back when we helped them defeat the O'Leary coven and she hadn’t done anything to help us. She said she didn’t speak up because she thought the SA had decided against the plan to capture me and my people and force us to work for them, or turn us into public enemies when that failed… but there was still a part of me that was suspicious of her.

A few more spells rocketed down the hallway, only to sizzle out when they got near us. Someone got the smart idea to use mundane weapons, but we had already thought of that, after a previous run-in with the assholes left Aahil with a gunshot wound.

A pair of agents in full body armor stepped out from the juncture of the hallways and opened fire. The bullets made it past the null field that surrounded us, since they weren't magical. But they pinged harmlessly off the bubble of protection Hasumi had erected around us.

A wash of heat flared up beside me as Aahil called on his element. The two armed agents scrambled away from the gout of flame that burst out in front of us. They sought cover around the corner, but the long stream of jinn flame followed them, surging down the hall we were in and turning to blaze down the next hallway as if it had a mind of its own.

A chorus of screams rose up in the wake of the flames. Something else caught fire and exploded, sending a burst of light and heat out of the end of the hallway where we were headed, like something from an over-the-top action movie.

“Goddess, Aahil,” I complained. “Not everyone who works here deserves to die. Some of them might be on our side, you know.”

He just gave me a graceful shrug and a wicked smirk. “Then they should be smart enough to get out of our way.”

“Two dead,” Dyre said evenly from up in front. “Shall I bring them with us?”

I shook my head. “Not right now. Let's save the horror show for if we really want to make enemies.”

He sighed as if I ruined all his fun, but refrained from making any new servants. For the moment.

We reached the junction of the hallways and Aahil extinguished his flames with a dismissive wave of his hand. The walls were merely scorched, showing that he had used some restraint. But there were a couple of smoking, twisted lumps of metal that must have been guns lying next to a badly barbequed corpse.

I was never going to be able to sleep again after this.

I hadn't really thought in terms of killing people. Though I knew it might come to that. And they had been trying pretty hard to kill us from the moment we set foot in here. Even if we hadn't stormed into their headquarters, they would have killed us on sight for just walking down the street. Best suck it up, Lovell, I told myself firmly. You can have a crisis of conscience later.

“There's magic up ahead,” Elijah said from behind me. I pulled my attention back to the matter at hand, picking up the spell that I should have been able to detect, if I wasn't so busy getting distracted by my inconvenient morals.

“Spell trap,” Aahil said in an unimpressed tone.

“They tried to use these on Elijah and I when we came here scouting,” Ambrose mused. “Not terribly effective when we could just phase out of this plane of existence. But I'm not sure how they'll hold up against the artifacts.”

I poured more magic into my spell, making sure the amplifier and the nullifier were firmly fused and the spells were as strong as possible. “The nullifier should take care of it, right?”

Dyre did something with his magic, his graceful fingers weaving some complex sigil in the air as pure black magic flowed from him, boosted by the amplifier. I was reminded yet again that he was more than just a necromancer—he had been a powerful, highly trained witch before anything else. The spell trap imploded with a pop, leaving behind barely any trace of magic.

“There,” the necromancer said, unconcerned as always. “Let's take the stairs.”

I muttered my agreement, and we headed for the stairwell at the end of the hallway. I didn't want to get trapped in a metal box. And besides, we'd barely fit in an elevator anyway. I really did have my own small army….

My head started to ache from all of the magic that was flowing through me, and from how hard I was concentrating on the spell. I had to focus all my will to keep myself centered and not let my thoughts drift.

I expected more attacks in the stairwell, and I wasn't disappointed. The door clanged shut behind us and the vents started to belch some kind of sickly-sweet smelling smoke.

“Why does that smell familiar?” I bit out, glancing around us as we hurried down the stairs.

“I'm getting several different kinds of poisonous flowers,” Dyre murmured.

“Altered, though,” Niamh added from somewhere behind me. “That's fae magic.” She did something with her own magic to cast an additional shield around us, just as my vision started to blur.

“Hold your breath,” Hasumi instructed. Then the water weaver's magic rose up, pulling water from the air, creating some kind of steam cloud that filled the protective bubble around us. Then they condensed everything to water, trapping the noxious fumes and pushing them downward with the rain, washing the toxins from the air and carrying them away beneath our feet.

I let out my held breath and sucked clean air into my lungs. “Neat trick.”

Aahil sent out a stream of fire that melted the nearest air vent shut. Then he proceeded to do the same to each one we encountered along the way as we descended. I almost started to feel a little smug. All the SA’s deadly little tricks were nothing against us.

But when we burst out of the stairwell at the lower level, into a hallway lined with interrogation rooms, the big guns were waiting for us.

“Strom,” I said flatly, as we came to a halt. “I'm surprised you came out of the woodwork to actually do something. I thought you preferred to let everyone else do all the work while you fuck people over from behind the scenes.”

The director held twin balls of lightning in her hands. Her bitter expression was exactly the same as the last time I'd seen it. Although, I thought maybe she looked a bit less smug this time around. Less sure of her superiority.

“Lovell,” she spat. “I knew you were up to something with your collection of slaves and abominations. This only proves that I should have put you down before, when I had the chance.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, you probably should have. Because I was harmless before, but now, I'm pissed. And I'm going to fuck your shit up. Move. And take all your idiot lackeys with you, or you're going to end up dead or in a coma.”

She was flanked by a bunch of agents of various paranormal types. All of them felt like high magic users. Leave it to her to keep the strongest agents nearby so she could protect her own ass. My head was really starting to throb by now. I didn't want to kill more people. But this bitch and anyone stupid enough to follow her? I wouldn't feel too bad about that.

“What do you want, Lovell? Who is it you're here to break out?” she ground out, her voice becoming less harsh and more oily as she spoke. “Whatever it is you came here to do, I'm sure we can reach some kind of agreement,” she all but cooed. “You can't be working for the supremacists, not after the hissy fit you threw about your morals last time we met. So you must be here on behalf of those idiotic rebels. I know they don't have the resources to buy a witch of your caliber. But I do. What is it you want? Money? A pardon? Revenge? I can give it to you.”

I laughed. “You really are a dumb cunt.”

She just blinked at me. Then her face hardened. “I see. We had suspicions, of course, but it's you behind the rebels isn't it? Or… is it that traitorous sister of yours? Well, if you've come to get your spy back, you're too late,” she said with a grin. Waving a hand, she sent one of her people scurrying off down the hallway behind me. “He'll be dead before you get there.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know what. I'm done talking to you. I know there is some kind of connection between you and the O'Leary's and whatever corruption has taken hold of this place. I know you're not as high and mighty as you want everyone to think. And I also know you're just an annoying asshole who isn’t worth my time. Move.”

I started walking again, the others moving with me. Strom lobbed her lightning balls at us, but they fizzled out and did nothing. The other agents let loose a shower of magic and gunshots, and I gritted my teething, hoping like hell the spell could hold up to all that firepower all at once.

But it did.

Then the room began to fill with shadows. Dark, writhing tendrils snaked out from the floor and the ceiling, oozing from between the cracks and crevices, the shadows of the people and things around us coming to life, going distorted and nightmarish as they lurched toward the SA people.

The hallway was plunged into utter blackness. Not a single mote of light existed. Even safe inside our ring of magic, I shivered with a stray trace of fear. Then the screaming started. Spells flashed in the darkness, twisting horror shapes visible in the brief bursts of light. Gunshots sounded. Chaos ensued.

In mere moments it all went quiet.

Ambrose's shadows receded and the harsh gleam of fluorescent light returned to the hallway. The floor was littered with SA agents, all either dead or unconscious.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered.

Nightmares. I was going to have nightmares for the rest of my life. They had all panicked and attacked each other under the influence of Ambrose's boogeyman aura.

A hand pressed against my back. Zhong's touch, strong and grounding, urging me to move. Not to stand here staring at the scene that would haunt me.

“Can I grab a few now ?” Dyre asked curiously. He might be teasing me. But then again, he was probably serious.

“No,” I snapped. “For fuck's sake.” He didn't have to sound so eager to flex his necromancy.

I stepped over director Strom's body, not checking to see if she was alive or not. I did not want to see. I did not want to know. I was not Lovell enough for this shit.

Finally, we reached the hallway where the block of holding cells was located. The door to the block was locked, both with spells and mundane means, but we made quick work of that. There were a couple of cells that were occupied. I was tempted to just let everyone out and let the SA deal with it later. But there was a possibility that some of these people were actually dangerous criminals. As I had reminded Aahil earlier, not everyone who worked here was corrupt.

Bella's description of the prisoner we were looking for was sparse. I knew he was a jaguar shifter with black hair. She said I'd know him when I saw him. I hoped she was right, because I had never met a shifter before in my life. They were incredibly rare, even among the magical population on Magea.

I glanced into the occupied cells as we passed. One contained a petulant looking man with a receding hairline who my instincts immediately told me was a witch. He gave me serial killer vibes. I kept walking. The next few cells were empty. The next prisoner we came across was a woman who shouted something about me working with abominations and how witches were the supreme race.

Yeah, she could rot in there.

I almost walked past the next occupied cell, seeing only a lean woman in a long pencil skirt and vest combo in my rush to get out of here. But it was the last cell in the block. I stopped and backpedaled, then watched as the person unfolded from where they had been sitting on the edge of a sparse bunk with their long legs crossed. Black hair cut in a shoulder-length shag. Piercing catlike citrine eyes framed by stylishly nerdy glasses that had to be purely for looks. And broad shoulders and a prominent Adam's apple. Ooops. I had almost made assumptions that caused me to overlook our target.

This was definitely Bella's jaguar shifter. A pair of fluffy black cat ears and the long, swishing black tail were kind of a dead giveaway. Geesh, Andy, are you an idiot? How had I missed that the first time by? Though… my head was feeling a bit foggy, and I thought maybe I was reaching the end of my concentration, thanks to maintaining this fusion spell for so long.

A slow smile stretched across the man's handsome features. “You're here for me?” he said happily, in a voice that was more like a purr. But he didn't actually sound surprised. It was as if he had been expecting us. “Delightful.” He smoothed his hands over his skirt and studied us all curiously.

I shook my head. “River?”

At his nod, I let out a sigh. At least we had found the guy. Now all we had to do was get out of here. “It's a long story, but the rebels sent us to get you.”

He paced over to the cell door with measured steps that I didn't think had anything to do with the classy heels he was wearing, his posture ramrod straight and his sharp gaze taking in everything around him. “Bella sent you. I knew she wouldn't leave me here to die.”

“You know Bella?” Of course he did. That little liar. She didn't tell me he was one of her people. She made it sound like he was completely uninvolved in her rebel games. “You're not actually innocent, are you?” I groaned.

He winked at me. “That depends on the charges.”

Damn it. “Whatever,” I muttered. “We need to get out of here before more reinforcements arrive.”

And with those prophetic words, a portal opened and a group of SA agents stepped through, blocking our way out. Spells flew as they launched their attack, but we were once more saved by the null zone.

I glanced over my shoulder and Zhong stepped forward. Disregarding the spells and wards completely, the gargoyle used his amplified supernatural strength to literally rip the door off its hinges.

River eyed the situation warily from a few feet away, and I hissed at his hesitation. “Come on, get over here with the rest of us and the spells won't reach you.”

“Are you… nullifying their magic?” he asked gravely.

I rolled my eyes. “Do you want to stay here? Cause we are leaving, cat.”

He took a deep breath, barely dodged a stray spell, and stepped forward, moving through the nullified zone.

I don't know how it happened. The combination of nullified zone and Hasumi and Dyre's shields had so far stopped every attack, both magical and mundane. And yet, somehow, as River dashed the six feet or so between his cell and safety, a bright gout of blood sprayed from his side. He stumbled and would have fallen, but Elijah reached out lightning fast, grabbed the shifter's arm, and yanked him inside the amplified zone.

“Lucky save,” the man bit out between clenched teeth, blood seeping between the fingers of the hand he had pressed to his wound. He swayed on his feet. “Though I did rather like this suit.”

I shook my head. How did I always end up saddled with the weird ones. “There's a spell bag in my back pocket for bleeding,” I said tiredly. “Somebody grab it. My hands are a bit busy right now.” The strain of maintaining this spell was wearing on me. We needed to make it back upstairs to the portal room. I had no idea what kind of protections and tech the SA possessed, but there was less chance of them tracing us back to the pocket world through magical irregularities if we used their own semi-public entry point.

A soft touch slid over my ass as someone removed the pouch from my back pocket. I looked over my shoulder to find it was the cat. No modesty or hesitation. Although, he was currently bleeding out. He had a bit of motivation to look past social niceties at this point. Holding out the pouch, he glanced around. “I need a witch to activate this,” he said calmly, despite the bleeding and the utter chaos around us.

Dyre took the bag and dumped the contents out into one of his hands, then muttered an activation spell. Taking the cat by the shoulder, he quickly and efficiently turned River to the side, ripped open what was left of the shirt and vest on that side and slapped the spell powder over the wound. A little surge of his magic—blood magic, which made the spell even more effective than it would have been for any other witch—and the job was done.

“Great,” I said as Dyre stepped away from the cat to reveal that the wound was no longer gushing blood. “Someone take care of that?” I asked, nodding at the group of SA agents who blocked our way. “Preferably without killing them.”

“I've got them,” Hasumi assured me. The water weaver's magic surged as they manipulated the emotions of the people in the room. The agents slowly dropped their weapons and started staring off into space with dreamy looks on their face.

A tiny trickle of the euphoria they felt made its way through our little bubble and I had to shake myself to get my legs to move. “If you could have just done that all along, then why were we killing and maiming people?” I demanded.

Hasumi spared a glance for me. “Because I'm not entirely sure their minds will recover from such heavy-handed manipulation. They might prefer death, if given the option.”

Oh. I just had to ask, didn't I?

“Let's go,” I muttered, leading the way back up the stairs with my little doughnut trick, a herd of murderous weirdos in my wake.