Chapter 44

Troy, Chase and I left the others to meet up with Victor and Michael at the shed on the roof. Two men I didn’t know where there as well. I gave Troy a curious look and nodded at them.

“Mages.” Keeping his body between me and anyone else there, he went over and looked out the little hole. “How long will it last?”

I didn’t know what he was talking about until he turned and glanced at the two men staying well away from anyone.

“Half hour, tops.” The short bald one said with an uneasy tone.

“That will have to do.” Troy said, looking back down at the compound. “Daxx, come and tell me what’s going on down there.”

Moving closer to him, I looked out. Assessing quickly, I turned and looked up at him. “They’re all out in the compound, loading up trucks.”

“Do you see Marcus?” Chase moved over and looked out the hole then hissed out a breath when he couldn’t see anything.

I shook my head. “No.” Turning I gave the bald man a hard look. “So you two can make it so everyone can see through this magic covering, but you can’t stop Marcus?”

He looked as if he was going to say something unpleasant until his eyes moved over the pendant on my chest, to my arm and then to Troy that stood very close to my side. “Our powers are not that strong. We can toy with his spell and bring down the barrier, but only for a short time.” His eyes darted from Troy to Chase and then he bowed his head. “Huntress,” he said in a broken way as if he were nervous.

I wanted to laugh and tell the guys to knock it off, but what the hell, they liked to intimidate so who was I to stop them. I glanced at Victor. “Your call.”

He nodded abruptly and then looked from brother to brother. Turning to the door, he sent the two mages a cold look. “Let us get in place and then take it down.”

I was ushered out the door feeling like a sandwich between Troy and Chase’s large bodies, Quinton right in front of me and Tim close enough on our heels that I could almost feel his breath on my back.

“I don’t want…” Troy cleared his throat and then spoke in a softer, less demanding tone. “Don’t place yourself in the direct line of fire with Marcus,” his hand moved down my back in an intimate gesture, “please.”

When he added it like that, I had to at least let him know I appreciated his trying without distracting either one of us. Reaching over, I gave his forearm a gentle touch and nodded. “I’ll try.” Gritting my teeth, I stopped there, even though I wanted to get Marcus this time.

“You stay close to Tim.” Chase instructed, slowing his pace so I wouldn’t have to run.

“Don’t mother me, Chase. We got this.” I glanced at Troy out of the corner of my eye, making sure he was alright with his brother this close to me; he seemed to be struggling but made no move toward us.

Quinton paused and looked at me over his shoulder. “Never mind trying to figure out his spells either, if his arms start moving you get your ass clear.”

It was an order, but I understood he was just worrying. “Got it.” I paused and turned to look at Tim, with a daring look in my eyes. “Any orders from you?”

Glancing from one king to the other, he shrugged. “You take them down and I’ll watch your back?”

I grinned, “deal.”

Both men beside me tensed, but they didn’t say a word, just glared at the guard.

I swatted both of them at the same time. “Relax, we all know he’s only pretending to let me be in charge.” I rolled my eyes up at Chase. “He’ll be all over me like body armor and you know it.”

Chase smiled. “He’d better.”

Sighing, I grabbed Troy’s hand and starting walking toward the large group that was only a few yards away now. “I missed the plotting portion of this, so you’ll have to forgive me if I deviate from your carefully laid plans.”

Troy squeezed my hand. “Even if you were present, I know you’d still do it your way.”

I winked at him. “You are a smart man.”

He jerked me to a stop and kissed me hard on the mouth. “Just remember I’m your man.”

I nodded and stood there looking up at him, hoping he would be safe during this. “Let’s do it.”

****

I stood up on a crumbling balcony of an empty building about fifteen feet in the air, with Troy and Chase. I wanted to ask what the hell we were doing up here when the action was going to be on the ground, but the vibrations coming off them were serious psyching and I didn’t want to mess up any of the aura that was humming through me. All I knew was that this had better not be some bogus ploy to keep me clear of the fight.

I watched the movement of those we were about to fight. They were in some kind of hurry to get everything loaded up. All of them seemed nervous and unsure, a plus for us.

“How’s your landing ability, kitten?” Chase asked, a dead serious look on his face.

I looked at the pavement below us. “As long as it’s not face first, good enough.”

He nodded and turned to look beyond the gates, I followed where he looked.

The darkness was just starting to fade when Victor raised his hand and glanced in the direction of the shed on the roof a few buildings over.

Four guards moved into place by the gates leading into the compound, ready to open them. The first through the gate would be the royal brothers, standing there looking like a force to be reckoned with. Tall, fierce and proud. At one end beside the brothers stood Welsley, and he looked more than ready to beat on someone. Standing at the other end was Tim, his eyes on me and not the gates like everyone else. My guess was his first priority was to get to my side when they were through the gate.

“Grab the straps crossed at our backs,” Troy instructed quietly as he watched his eldest brother.

“Fight well, brother.” Chase said in a distracted way.

“Well enough to beat you, brother.” Troy responded automatically. “We’ll hit the ground before you, Daxx, just stay between us on the way down.”

Reaching, I grabbed the leather at each man’s back as they crouched down. There was a loud cracking noise, followed by a breeze that washed over us. Taking a deep breath, I readied for the jump.

Heavy muscles clenched under my hands and I knew the mages had done their thing and everyone could see what I’d been seeing all along.

Before I could take another breath, the twins launched us through the air and we were free falling to the hard surface beneath us. I decided in that moment this was one hell of a rush and from now on would do this to get the juices flowing and battle ready.

Boots hit the pavement in unison and mine a second after them. Letting go, I looked at one and then the other. “Helluva entrance, boys!”

Tim was in front of us a second later, his huge sword drawn and ready. With a nod to the kings, he grinned at me. “My Huntress.”

Pulling the Sais out, I held them back against my forearms, with a quick glance at the brothers, I took off with Tim into the rush of bodies. There would be no pausing to admire the action taking place all around us as three advanced on us before we could get our bearings. Tim grunted as he lunged forward and blocked the first swing.

Putting my new moves to good use, I went down under his swing and came up beside the man he was presently preventing from making a hotdog bun out of him. Stabbing the Sai into the thin man’s leg to distract him, I pulled the scanner off and buzzed him before he could even howl in pain.

There was no time for praise of a smooth move as the other two growled and came at us. Flipping around again, I came up beside Tim and made sure to stay clear of the radius of his swing as he got into it with the first one to swing.

Side stepping, I cleared the blade that was swung at my head. Kicking up, I knocked the blade back to a comfortable distance, more comfortable for my health. With a twist of my wrists, I managed to score a double whammy on the guy before he could swing again. Enough fun with this one, I pulled the scanner and gave him the poof back to the holding cells.

No time to pause, I turned back to see Tim holding his guy on the ground with one well-placed foot. Ouch. No breeding for that one any time soon, I thought as I quickly moved the scanner over him.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a blur. Spinning on my boot, I whipped the Sais out and came an inch close from dicing up Shelby. She raised one eyebrow at me, and took a step back to a safer distance. Her determined look faltered for a second as she took in the tattoo running down my arm, a longing appeared in her eyes. Shaking it off, she moved over and motioned to the last building. “Marcus is in there.”

I knew her coming to me with it was the biggest suck up ever after she’d tried to relocate my face that time, but I’d take it. There was one way to stop this quickly and taking down Marcus was it. With a nod to her, I started toward the end building, skirting my way around any bodies that were scuffling in the path.

Tim was on one side of me and Shelby on the other. I wasn’t going to tell her not to come, I knew she had one hell of a swing on her and if it was for me instead of against me, I’d take it.

We passed Rafael and Leone double teaming this giant of man, and I mean he made them look tiny. I paused for a step to see if they needed help, but then Victor started heading in their direction and I knew they wouldn’t be needing my usefulness.

Turning, I watched Quinton take a guy down with a blow that would have stopped a Mack truck. With a satisfied grin, he turned and advanced on the next poor soul in his reach.

My boys could do the dance, of that there was no doubt. Pausing, I quickly scanned anybody that wasn’t charging or swinging cutting the numbers down to a more manageable amount. Shelby and Tim had my back the whole time. I’d never had a woman fight with me before and I started to wonder if it might not be a bad idea, later on.

Just before we reached the building, a shadow appeared in the darkened doorway. A wave of something moved over me and I knew we’d just found Marcus. Slowing, I glanced to the two behind me. “Watch my back while I deal with this jerk.”

Tim looked like he wanted to object, but he nodded and pointed Shelby in the direction she was to take. Shelby sent me hesitant look but moved to do it anyways.

I stood back from the door, keeping a good twenty feet between us. “Are you going to hide in the dark, Marcus? I thought you were a man.” Another wave moved over me and I knew he was trying to disable me in some way with his hoodoo junk. “Come on, Marcus, surely you know how to fight like a man, don’t you?”

I chanced a few steps closer and shrugged. “You don’t need magic tricks to fight one girl.” That did it, he stepped out into the early dawn light, and looking pissed off like I’d never seen before.

“Do I look like a gullible child, Huntress?” He held open palms toward me.

Another wave moved over my skin, I shook it off and held my ground. “I’m too ladylike to say what you look like, dear Marcus.” Motioning with my Sais all around us, I sent him an exasperated sigh. “Is this really what you want?”

“You have no idea what I want,” he sneered, his eyes glowing that funky purple.

I snorted. “Gee, let me guess.” I paused. “World domination.”

He lifted his hands a few inches from his body and I realized I needed to keep this guy talking so he had less time to spin his little tricks.

“Come on. Whatever the problem is, I’m sure it can be resolved in a civilized manner.” I remembered the last group we’d taken down. “We know about all the lies you’ve been feeding everyone to get them to side with you. How long do you think you can pull that off?”

A shocked look briefly crossed his face before he could mask it from me. “I don’t need much longer…”

I sighed. “Let’s cut the shit and get to the bottom line. It’s over, take a look around you. This is the second time we’ve tracked your ass down and we’ll just keep coming.” I took a few steps in his direction and for a second I thought he was going to bolt, or worse do his disappearing thing again. “You’re an intelligent man, do the math.”

“I don’t want to be anyone’s servant ever again.” He stated with a tone of determination.

I shrugged. “I hate paying taxes, but I know there’s no way around it so I suck it up and do it.”

When he lifted his hands with purpose, I reacted before I could even think about it. My raptor was in my hand and flying toward him. I caught him in the thigh and was momentarily shocked I’d managed to get a hit in on him.

With a snarl, he looked down at it and then it popped out and clattered to the pavement. Now, that I didn’t see coming, it was like his body had repelled the knife. Frowning, I took several steps in his direction, hoping if I got a shot at him again I’d be able to do some real damage at a closer range.

“You’re quite skilled, Huntress.” He said sounding bored.

I shrugged and palmed the second Sai back into my free hand. “Ditto.” The sound of clanging metal behind me started to fade as I focused solely on the lethal man in front of me. I would have felt better if he’d at least take a swing with something physical, but instead he raised his hands and began moving them in a graceful pattern. I tried to pick up something familiar in the movement, but it was nothing like any of the ones Rafael had shown me. “Come on, Marcus. I have a bit of pull with the Kings, we could discuss things in a civilized way.”

His pattern faltered as he looked to me, his eyes moved over the tattoo on my arm. “As the prophecies appear to be coming true, I will have to pass on that. I too have a prophecy to avoid bringing to reality.”

There was something in there that sent warning bells ringing inside my head. All of this was because of another damn prediction probably made an eon ago or longer. Jeeze, didn’t this race believe in shit happens? “Maybe by doing what you’re doing you’re just making it happen faster.”

His eyes radiated the purple hue again. “You can’t possibly be naïve enough to believe that, Huntress.”

The way he hissed huntress was really starting to grate on my nerves. Sighing, I knew talk was done and we were about to get nasty with each other. “I believe a lot of things.” I stepped left, trying for a better angle to get a shot at his abdomen, hoping it wasn’t as knife retardant as his leg. “I believe in justice and fair play. I believe in laws, because without them we are no better than wild animals ravishing the meek and helpless…”

“I believe,” he interrupted, his hands moving again. “I’ve had enough conversation for today, thank you.”

I spotted something I knew in the movement of his hands and braced myself for what was coming. Heat blasted over me, but it never reached the intensity he had wanted. I watched disbelief wash over him and tone down the bold brightness of his glowing violet eyes.

Before I could catch my breath, he began to move them in a jerky way with more speed. This one might hurt was all I had time to think when another wave crushed against me. I might be impervious to his powers, but the back lash still managed to grind at me. My knees began to shake as I stood there trying to keep my breathing steady. It was starting to piss me off that he had to cheat to win.

In a last attempt to get around his power, I dropped down to one knee, trying to make it look like whatever he was doing was working. Letting the Sai drop to the ground, I turned my body so he couldn’t see me reach for the throwing knife.

When he laughed, I grabbed it and hurled it toward him with all the strength I could muster. It hit him just below the rib cage and he howled in pain. Lifting my head, I stumbled back to my feet, grasping the Sais in both hands again.

He had to use his hand to pull that one out and I felt a smug satisfaction knowing I’d really scored this time. With a howl of rage, he flung the knife and glared at me. All at once my head felt light and dizzy as I tried to stay on my feet and face him. I could hear someone yelling behind me, but didn’t take my eyes off Marcus. It was better his attention was on me and none of the others.

I only had one knife left and knew I had to make this one count or I was in deep shit for sure. With weakening legs, I pushed forward, trying to get as close to him as possible, I stumbled twice, the second time I grasped the handle of the long blade and pulled it free.

Marcus stood there, blood flowing between his fingers of his hand as he kept the other palm aimed in my direction. A thought passed through my head and made me almost smile, I now understood Quinton’s loathing of Magicians. Breathing was getting harder, but I watched him jerk and lean forward, like it was draining him too so I kept moving forward no matter how hard it was to force my legs to take steps.

Readying my power hand to grab the blade when I had the chance, it probably looked like I was holding my stomach, if it distracted him I didn’t care if he saw me as weak in any way. Forcing air into my lungs, I focused on his chest and kept my gaze steady on my target.

Another wave took me by surprise and I cursed that he still had that much left in him. Someone clubbing the S.O.B. in the back of the head would have been a welcomed diversion right around now.

Taking one more step my knee almost buckled beneath me. This being my last chance, I palmed the blade and took one more deep breath so I could give the toss all I had. A movement at my left side startled me and the knife missed his chest and embedded in his shoulder.

Troy crossed in front of me, the last thing I saw was him flinging his sword in the direction of Marcus, yelling a battle scream as he hit the ground. Everything faded after that.