Arcane Kiss (Talents Book 1) Read online

  They were answered by a rolling burst of automatic fire that made all of them duck.

  Sawyer saw them coming and moved toward them carrying a Kevlar vest and a helmet. “I don’t need that,” Gen told him. “Dave’s going to manifest…”

  “Let them put the gear on you,” the tiger interrupted. “You need all the protection you can get.”

  Kurt closed his eyes and let Stoli surge to the surface. The tiger manifested in a brilliant tingling explosion of magic, forming a solid shell of energy that would hopefully protect him against sniper fire.

  Around him, cops jerked back, staring wide-eyed as he headed for the opening of the alley. A cluster of armored officers stood holding automatic rifles and looking frustrated.

  A short, muscular man in body armor turned to look at him. The front of his bulletproof vest read SWAT, with “LT. GALLOWAY” lettered in smaller white letters over his left breast. “You’re the Feral?”

  “Yeah.” What, the glowing tiger doesn’t give me away?

  “Can you see where that invisible bitch is?”

  “I can try.” Closing his eyes, Kurt scanned the scene with his magical senses. Faintly glowing shapes milled around him -- the auras of the surrounding cops.

  Beyond that lay Faraday Square, a long, narrow park that lay like an island between two streets running between the shops. An avenue of dimly shining trees marched on either side of the strip of green.

  Behind one of those trees stood a brightly glowing figure, arms positioned as if holding an invisible rifle; the weapon was non-magical.

  Kurt pointed toward the figure and opened his eyes. “She’s there, behind the fourth tree.”

  “Thanks!” The SWAT team commander bared his teeth in something that definitely wasn’t a smile. Turning, he lifted his AR-15 and brought it to bear with a growl that could have come from a Feral. “Light her up, boys.”

  The entire team opened fire a thundering fusillade.

  Finally Galloway gestured, and the firing stopped. “Did we get her?”

  But when Kurt shut his eyes again, the figure was still there, though crouching behind a different tree. “She’s behind the fifth tree now…” But then he spotted two huge, glowing shapes struggling through the cluster of trees. “Fuck, hold your fire. I’ve got to get to Jake.”

  Galloway swore. “Go!”

  But Kurt paused. “Have you tried concentrating your fire on the bear? If you beat on a manifestation long enough, hard enough, it’ll collapse when he runs out of magic.”

  The lieutenant shook his head. “We tried that when this started. The bastard kept disappearing and grabbing cops until we had to send Nolan in. We can’t shoot at the fucker now without hitting our officer.”

  “Fine. Jake and I will just have to get that manifestation down the hard way.” He stared up the brick walkway between the avenue of trees that led to the Colton Faraday statue in the square’s center. Just beyond that lay a wide empty circle of grass where the city set up a portable skating rink during the winter.

  And that, Kurt thought grimly, is probably where the bitch laid her spell circle.

  They must not consider mere Norms suitable sacrifices, or they’d have already killed someone in it. Jake, on the other hand, might be just what they had in mind.

  Nolan and the bear stalked one another around the base of the statue, snarling like a pair of chainsaws.

  Kurt threw his head back and roared before leaping into a gallop, racing across the road that ran beside the park. People shouted and cursed. Someone fired -- probably the sniper -- but the manifestation carried his body forward so fast, she missed.

  The bear saw him coming, wheeled, and ran up the brick walk toward the grass circle. Kurt raced after him, aware of Jake charging after the bear just ahead of him. The lion manifestation still looked solid, except for a dimmer patch across one shoulder.

  It was a good thing Kurt had come when he had, because the bear was probably directing all his attacks at that spot. If the killer could break through, he’d shatter the manifestation the way he had Fred’s. Then he’d drag Jake into the circle and kill him.

  Unless Kurt got him first.

  With an earsplitting roar, the bear reared over Jake, swinging a huge paw that caught the lion on one shoulder. The force of the blow sent him flying to slam into the base of the statue. The cat manifestation flickered and went out, as if Jake had lost consciousness.

  The bear charged after him, obviously intending to drag Jake into the circle and kill him. Kurt raced after them and leaped, landing on the bear in an explosion of sparks. He clamped his glowing jaws around the back of the manifestation’s thick skull, claws digging into the bear’s massive torso.

  The Feral roared in rage as the magic of their manifestations clashed with the burning sting of fire ant bites. Kurt ignored the pain, clamping down hard, using all his and Stoli’s combined power in a furious effort to crack the magical shell and kill the man beneath.

  The bear reared, twisting as he tried to get at the tiger on his back.

  Oh no you don’t, fucker, Kurt thought, tightening the grip of teeth and claws. You’re going to pay for what you did to my father. As he ground his jaws, magic blazed in his mouth like he’d crunched down on a live wire. Pain detonated in his jaws, but he refused to let go.

  If the bastard got free, he’d drag Jake into that spell and trigger whatever Armageddon the terrorists planned.

  Rearing, the terrorist slammed himself into the statue’s base again and again, hammering blows that sent electric jolts through Kurt’s body. It took all his physical strength and will to hang on, to bite down harder.

  Out of the corner of one eye, he saw Jake fight to rise, his manifestation flickering on and off like a light bulb.

  Beneath his fangs, he felt something give way. The bear manifestation was beginning to fail. Got you now, you son of a bitch!

  The bear dropped back onto all fours, ran a few steps back, then threw himself against the base as his magic erupted in a torrent of sparks.

  It felt like being hit by a lightning bolt, a crushing impact that sent pain flaring through Kurt. He yelped as his manifestation winked out.

  Stoli roared in rage. The manifestation reappeared as the tiger flipped onto his back a heartbeat before the bear landed on him.

  Kurt caught the bear manifestation with all four paws and lunged at the bear’s muzzle. Electric jolts of pain scraped his magical shell as the bear ripped at him. They tumbled over the grass, clawing and biting.

  It was like being in a car wreck.

  Fuck, he’s powerful! Where the hell does he get all the juice?

  Kurt felt dagger teeth clamp down on his manifestation’s throat, digging deep, trying to punch through his shell. Cursing, he ripped at the bear’s ribs with three-inch glowing claws.

  As the bear’s fangs dug in, something gave. Fuck, my manifestation’s weakening…

  A lion’s roar shattered the air. Jake fell out of nowhere to slam down on the bear, sinking his fangs into the back of the Feral’s skull, going for the same vulnerability Kurt had been trying to punch through.

  Yes! Kurt dug in his claws into the bear’s ribs as his friend tore at the terrorist, trying to shatter the energy shell.

  Longer, just a little longer and we’ll have the fucker…

  Except… Jake’s lion looked much dimmer than he’d ever seen it, as if the beating he’d taken had weakened him. Hang on!

  The bear rolled onto his side… and vanished from between them, leaving them both clutching empty air. The terrorist had dropped his manifestation so he could escape paws suddenly too far apart to hold him. The Spook-Suited human bounded up and leaped away before they could grab him again.

  “Damn it!” Kurt spat, only to see the bear reappear behind his friend. “Jake!”

  The cop’s eyes widened through the glow of his manifestation just as the bear’s huge paws seized him and fanged jaws clamped down on his shoulder.

  The lion manifestatio
n popped like a soap bubble. Jake screamed in agony as the bear began to drag him backward toward the spell circle.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” Kurt leaped on the bear, diving for that same neck wound they’d both targeted before. He dug all four sets of claws into the bear’s sides, ripping until the terrorist dropped Jake to land in a broken heap.

  Kurt didn’t even have time to wonder if his friend was still alive as the bear twisted and rolled, raking at him in an explosion of magic and agony. He bit down, trying to keep the bear from tearing free, refusing to give in to the pain. I’m going to kill him for you, Dad…

  Magic exploded around him, an electric jolt that clicked his teeth together and made him see stars. The bear had rolled him right into a spell.

  Oh fuck. He closed his eyes, spotting sigils spinning around them. Kurt fought to maintain his hold, but the sigils rotated faster as the magic tightened its sickening grip. A sensation of evil slid over him, lifting the hair on the back of his neck. His stomach roiled as if he’d sucked in a mouthful of raw sewage.

  That moment of distraction cost him. The bear ripped out of his grip.

  Just beyond it, he spotted Genevieve at the edge of the spell circle. Dave’s human manifestation glowed around her, stretched and distorted as he tried to cover both her and his own tiger form.

  There was no way in hell he’d be able to hold it for very long, and if it went down before Genevieve was finished with that spell, they were all screwed…

  “Now, you little motherfucker!” The bear reared, lips peeled off glowing teeth, about to plunge down on Kurt…

  CRACK! CRACKCRACKCRACK!

  Bullets sparked and whined off Dave’s manifestation as the Arcanist sniper fired at them. A thunderous fusillade answered as the cops returned fire, trying to triangulate on the invisible witch.

  “Arhhh!” A woman’s scream, sharp and high with pain.

  The bear’s huge head jerked around, and he spun toward the sound. “Indigo!” The Feral bounded away. The cops opened up on him in a thunderous explosion of gunfire, but the terrorist kept going, racing in the direction of the female cry.

  Kurt scrambled to his feet, about to throw himself after the killers. From the corner of one eye, he saw Gen gesture, chanting.

  Magic rolled across the circle, foaming over his skin. Closing his eyes, he saw a wave of glittering sparks spilling over the sigils that ringed him. Wherever it touched, the terrorist’s magic winked out. She’s done it!

  But there was no time to gloat. The bear paused for a heartbeat between the trees, magic wavering around him as the terrorist bent to pick something up off the ground. The Arcanist?

  Then the killer was off and running again. Even as the cops blasted away at him, he disappeared down a side street.

  With a massive roar of rage, the cops charged after him. Dave sprang into pursuit, muscles rolling under his thick, gleaming fur.

  Kurt paused just long enough to reinforce his manifestation and repair the damage from the bear’s claws. Then he raced after Dave as his friend easily outpaced the cops.

  They couldn’t let the terrorist get away, or they’d be right back where they started.

  * * *

  Her heart in her throat, Genevieve ran to Jake. He lay in a wide splatter of blood just beyond the boundaries of the terrorist spell. He looked far too much like Fred, lying just like that in the arena, the victim of the same claws and fangs.

  She fell to her knees beside the cop. “Jake! Jake, are you okay?”

  Stupid question.

  Jake stared up at her with dazed, uncomprehending eyes. Blood covered his upper chest from two huge puncture wounds in his shoulder where the bear had ripped into him. And there was absolutely no way she could heal him. She didn’t have her pastels or paper, and even if she’d had them, Jake would bleed to death long before she could cast anything useful.

  “Medic!” she shouted, glancing around wildly. Now that the terrorists were gone, EMTs were swarming over the scene, checking people, loading those who were most injured onto stretchers and wheeling them to the ambulances that were now emerging from side streets “This man is dying!”

  “He’s not the only one!” an EMT shouted back.

  “Fuck,” she muttered. Maybe she could stop the bleeding long enough for one of the paramedics to get to him.

  Clamping a hand over the puncture, she winced at his cry of pain. “Listen to me, Jake,” she told him in a low, fierce voice. “You’re losing too much blood. You’ve got to create a manifestation to block the wound. You know how to do that. They teach it in Basic.”

  Jake blinked slowly. “Can’t… Can’t manifest… Don’t have…”

  “I can reinforce your magic, but you’ve got to create the initial form. If you can start it, I can keep it running.”

  “Okay. I’ll… I’ll try…” He coughed, the sound wet. His golden eyes drifted close, and for a moment she thought he’d lost consciousness. Her heart sank.

  Magic bloomed hot under her hand -- a tingling shell of the same kind of force Ferals used to create their beasts, just wide enough to block the wound. Dave had done the same thing when Fred was bleeding.

  “Yes! That’s it! Hold it, Jake!” Gen poured power through her aura into his, strengthening the manifestation, sealing the wound closed. The bleeding slowed, stopped.

  “Stay with me, Jake,” she told him, concentrating fiercely. “If you go out, I’m not sure I’ll be able to maintain it.”

  “You can… do it.” His mouth moved in the twitch of a smile. “You’re… A keeper…”

  She had to keep him talking, had to keep him conscious. “What do you mean?”

  He grunted. His face was paper-pale, and his skin felt cold under her palm. Gen wondered uneasily just how much blood he lost. He coughed, and the sound rattled. Had the bite hit his lung?

  Frowning, she probed with her magical senses. No, the bear’s fangs had missed the right lung by a fraction, but the collarbone and shoulder blade were shattered. There was also a hell of a lot of damage to the surrounding muscle. He was going to need surgery, assuming she could get him through this.

  “Kurt’s a lucky… bastard,” he wheezed, his lips twitching in a labored smile. “If you two… don’t work out… I’m here.”

  Before she could answer, his eyes fluttered shut. Beneath her fingers, his manifestation softened, on the verge of winking out.

  Gen cursed. Despite its alien magic, she grabbed the structure and poured all her remaining power into it. It hardened again under her hand. If she lost it, Jake would be dead in minutes. Throwing back her head, she shouted, “I need a paramedic or this man is dead!”

  “We’re coming, damn it!” A team raced toward her, pulling a stretcher after them.

  She blew out a relieved breath and began briefing the pair as they checked Jake’s vitals. Five minutes later, they were loading him onto the stretcher and heading for the nearest ambulance, Gen trotting alongside, one hand still clamped over the wound.

  As she crawled into the ambulance, she looked back over her shoulder in the direction Kurt, Dave and the cops had gone. Live, boys. Find those bastards and stop them, but live!

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kurt walked into Jake’s hospital room carrying Genevieve’s sketchpad and pastel box, which she’d asked him to pick up on his way over. Before he’d left, he’d sent the volunteers home, worried that the killers would decide to target them next.

  Which unfortunately left Dave to keep an eye on BFS, since Kurt couldn’t take the cat to the hospital. At least the Sheriff had agreed to assign a couple of cops to help.

  Close. They’d come so close to catching the bastards. So close to being done with this. Stoli paced in his mind, growling in a frustration that echoed his.

  Jake looked around as he entered, his gaze a little vague. “Kurt. Hey, dude.” His voice sounded slurred, probably from fully-justified painkillers. He looked pale and a little dazed. Which wasn’t surprising, considering the bandages that s
wathed his right shoulder where the bear had mauled him. An IV stand stood next to the bed, a unit of blood hanging from it.

  “Hey, buddy. How’re you feeling?”

  “Like I lost a fight with a polar bear.” He grimaced. “I’m gonna get PTSD flashbacks from those polar bear Christmas commercials. I may never drink another Coke as long as I live.”

  Kurt grinned, but the expression faded when his gaze fell on Genevieve, who sat in a recliner next to his friend’s bed.

  Stoli rumbled in displeasure.

  Cut it out. She’s just keeping him company, you jealous bastard. Though he was talking as much to himself as the cat.

  A smile dawned on her face, radiant and lovely. “Kurt! God, I’m glad you’re back safe!” Gen walked around the bed and met him at the door, wrapping her slender arms around his neck. Rising up on her tiptoes, she found his mouth. Her lips stroked over his, soft as peaches and tasting vaguely of apples.

  Though it wasn’t a particularly passionate kiss, desire rose in him anyway, hot and fast and dark. He wrapped his arms around her and just held her, enjoying the solid feel of her in his arms.

  She could have died today. Again. He tightened his hold, pulling her close, drinking her in.

  “Damn, you’re a lucky bastard,” Jake said with a sound halfway between a sigh and a laugh. “A cruel, selfish bastard, but lucky. I don’t suppose you’d share?”

  Kurt pulled back with a snarl on his mouth, only to pause at the smile his friend was wearing. It was that joking, just-giving-you-shit expression he knew so well.

  Jake blinked in surprise, his smile fading, obviously reading Kurt’s anger. “Hey, man. Just kidding. Damn, you’re in a bad mood. I gather the hunt didn’t go well.”

  “Not really, no.” He released Genevieve, giving her a quick stroke of the cheek. She frowned at him, looking troubled, though he wasn’t sure why.

  Kurt picked up a straight-backed chair, carried it around the room, and put it down next to Gen’s recliner. He collapsed into it as she returned to her seat, studying him with a frown.