Chapter 35
Nikki had done a lot of crazy things in their life. But this one, well….
What was that American saying? This one took the cake? That was an understatement. This one might well take the whole bakery.
Sneaking into a Jaeggi town in order to take down the ward sounded easy on paper.
Well, okay, no, that was a lie. It didn’t even sound easy on paper.
But Nikki hadn’t been properly braced for the reality of it.
That became very obvious the moment they came within sight of the town.
Nikki looked it over, and despite the fact it hadn’t been occupied for long, it had the Jaeggi stamp all over it.
All of their towns looked similar to each other.
Small, somewhat remote, and off the beaten path.
There were signs of recent moves everywhere in the stacked boxes on the curb, new signs up for businesses, and a sort of organized chaos reflected in the buildings.
Nikki had seen this exact thing a hundred times, at least.
There were a few other advantages in play too.
Even before Nikki slid into town, their clan and the Sodalicium mages were already at work outside.
The massive glamour they put over this area would make sure no human cops would respond to the shit show that was about to go down.
For this, they didn’t want interruptions or well-intended law enforcement.
And a ward would lay over the glamour, keeping everyone within.
This time, there was no possibility of escape.
And that made Nikki’s soul sing with demented joy.
Streetlights provided illumination, as did open doors, but there were a few spots not lit up.
Nikki entered the ward from the darker side of town, the area the least occupied.
The buildings were more rundown here, and they didn’t seem to be easily usable without some renovations.
It could be why the Jaeggi were choosing not to utilize this section.
Why fix something when you’d move within a few weeks, after all?
Nikki only paused once when reaching the edges of the ward.
It was clearly visible to their eyes, thrumming with quiet power—like a translucent film blanketed the town in a dome overhead.
Make or break, right here. If the Jaeggi had changed the ward’s parameters, Nikki had no hope of getting in.
And then they were really screwed. As far as Nikki knew, there was no Plan B.
They tried a single finger first, poking at it gently, but there was no flashback. No shock. The finger slid through, in fact, and Nikki dared to put a whole hand in, eyeing the entire ward cautiously. Still nothing.
So, they really hadn’t changed parameters at all?
Maybe they thought those who’d escaped from them would never return of their own volition. Even so, this was incredibly stupid. Nikki would never have banked on that off chance. They knew the dragon kings certainly wouldn’t have. They were more careful with their clan’s lives than this.
But, as some ancient philosopher once said (Nikki had no idea who, frankly), never interrupt your enemy while they were making a mistake.
Or was it never correct your enemy while they made a mistake?
Nikki would look that up later. Things needed exploding first.
Alright, the ward was not an obstacle. Yay, Plan A! And score one for the good guys. Nikki slipped through, then hugged the shadows and walls as they made their way around the perimeter.
Because they’d had to explode things before to get out, Nikki knew a few things about the ward generator.
Cameron had at first assumed it was a singular device, but in fact it was a series of devices all connected to each other to form a grid.
It was why Nikki could explode one and open a gate on that first night of escape.
Frankly, no one machine would have the power to protect an entire town—not and still stay portable in size.
It would take a huge generator, something the size of a building, to be the singular power source of a ward.
All Nikki had to do was find one ward device. Just one, sabotage it, and then slip back out again.
Nikki and Cameron had put their heads together and cooked up a bomb with a timer on it. It was part magic, part tech, and the most steampunk thing Nikki had ever built. They were super proud of it and wanted to make many, many more. For reasons.
The bomb rode like a heavy weight in their messenger bag.
Nikki felt it as they moved silently forward along the outer edges.
After so many years of creeping around Jaeggi encampments, Nikki was an old hat at this.
But it was still nerve-wracking because this wasn’t territory Nikki knew.
At every corner, they had to stop and peer cautiously around it, making sure no one was nearby.
Time ticked away loudly in Nikki’s head, and that wasn’t a pleasant sensation, not at all.
Gunter would start losing his shit soon.
Nikki really wanted to head that off. Soothing an unhappy dragon was not on their list of plans for tonight.
Really, it was in their best interest to get in and out quickly.
Nikki flitted between one building and another, and it was then that they saw it. The area was dim over here, the streetlamps not providing a lot of light, so their eyes almost slid right over it before Nikki registered what they were seeing.
A device connected into the ward, the ward projecting front and upwards, protecting the device behind it.
To the untrained eye, it wasn’t obvious.
Just a black box sitting there, looking remarkably like an old movie projector.
It could well be that whomever had come up with the design had used an old movie projector as the base.
It sat on a little metal platform only an inch off the gravel, as innocuous as it could be.
Creeping up, Nikki eyed their surroundings cautiously, but no one seemed to be nearby.
Excellent. Wasting no time, they quickly knelt, drew out the timer, and placed it on the front side of the box, just to make it less obvious at a glance it had been monkeyed with.
No one would be able to see it unless they were outside the ward looking in.
Good, done.
“—don’t unload that here, we need to get by!”
Nikki startled at the voice, sounding so close by. When had people come in this close?!
They skittered quickly backwards, into the side of the brick building, and hunkered in its shadow.
A car door opened and closed, more voices joining in, an argument in progress. It literally sounded as if it was at the front of the building Nikki now hid behind. Dammit.
Nikki’s eyes flew up, looking at the area just outside the ward.
It was all open clearing there, no cover to be found anywhere.
Not a wise idea to run that way, then. But the section Nikki had come in through, there had been a tree line.
If Nikki could just retrace their steps for a minute, that was the much safer option.
And they’d be closer to where Gunter sat waiting for them. Win, win.
Decided, Nikki turned, listened hard, but it seemed like the commotion out front kept people there.
No one was coming this way. Nikki eased an eyeball around the corner, saw nothing except a moving truck, and decided to risk it.
They sprinted to the next building and didn’t stop there, but kept going at a healthy jog until they reached the next corner.
It was definitely busier now than when Nikki had first come through. Why people were unloading this time of night, they had no idea, but it was troublesome. Nikki wasn’t sure if they could even get across this narrow alleyway and to the shadow of the next building without being spotted.
They peeked again. Yeah, no, that was a lot of people. And they were stacking things in the alleyway to offload the truck, so Nikki would be in plain sight if they tried to run now.
Damn, universe. How about cutting a mage some slack, yeah?
And seriously, people, it was bedtime. Go home. Bunch of workaholics.
The sound of a gun cocking froze Nikki in their tracks. That sounded like it was right behind them. Oh, please let that not be right behind them.
“Hello, Nikki.”
Shit. Oh fucking shit. Universe, you betrayer. Nikki turned, heart in their throat, and came face to face with their worst nightmare.
Thomas stood not ten feet away, gun pointed at them, a wild sort of glee written all over his face.
“Thomas,” Nikki greeted levelly. Their mind raced with possibilities. Maybe they could talk their way out of this? Even just a little bit? Because all Nikki needed was time. Time for the timer to go off, time for the calvary to ride to the rescue.
“Imagine my surprise when the alert went off that someone we knew had skittered back through the ward,” Thomas said, gleeful smile turning manic around the edges. Two lackeys, Emerson and Otto, stood with him but didn’t seem to notice, as their own expressions were a near match for it.
“Alert?” Nikki asked. Partially to keep him talking—which wasn’t hard; Thomas loved to talk—but partially because they were really curious.
“Sure. You didn’t think we’d not change the wards after you and the others left us, did you? Of course, we left your permissions in place, but we wanted to know if you returned, so we had an alert put on you. It would be stupid to do otherwise.”
“Very stupid,” Nikki agreed even while kicking themself. Alright, so maybe Nikki should have considered the possibility this had been something of a trap.
“What are you doing here, Nikki?”
“What, I can’t return to the clan who raised me?” Nikki tried bullshitting, even if it wasn’t likely to succeed. “You adopted me after my parents died, after all; this is the only home I’ve ever known.”
“He’s so full of it,” Emerson said to the other two.
Nikki immediately shot him the bird. “You know, Emmy, one of the reasons why I dislike you is that you never use the correct pronouns.”
“I don’t owe you any fucking respect, you weirdo.”