Infinite Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress Book 5) (2 page)

He stared at me stonily.

So I laughed some more, then finally choked it back and asked, “Wait, you’re serious? You expect me to actually tell you where they are?”

He flicked his fingers, and the Mind Mage stepped forward. “You know what he is?”

“An ugly cretin who’s thrown his lot in with a slime trail like you?” But I eyed the Mind Mage warily.

“He’s a Mind Mage. His specialty is the thalamus.” The bulldog’s disparaging gaze swept over me. “You’re clever. I’m sure you can figure out what that means.”

The thalamus was one of the pain centers of the brain. Damn. I didn’t really want to mess with that kind of power. I was a thief, not a torturer.

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll try to torture me into telling you.” Which actually made my stomach heave, but I couldn’t let him know that. I’d have to be careful trying to get some answers, though. If his Mind Mage got to me before I launched my offensive, I’d be screwed. But I could probably poke a bit more. “Wouldn’t it just be a better idea to convince me to be on your side? Because I can guarantee you can’t force the info out of me.”

“No?” His gaze was icy.

“Obviously not. I’d gladly die before giving up my friends. And you can’t guarantee you’ll get the truth out of me anyway.” I flicked imaginary dust off the shoulder of my prison jumpsuit and glanced back up at him. “I’m sure Victor has told you about me. I’m not your ordinary Magica. He couldn’t get what he wanted from me when I was just a kid. You definitely won’t be able to now.”

“We have our ways.”

“Yeah, yeah. That guy.” My gaze rested on the Mind Mage as I continued to gather up his power and that of the Invisibility Mage. It was swelling inside my chest, ready to be let free. “Why don’t you just tell me what Victor wants us for. And why you’re allied with him? Do the rest of the Order of the Magica know what I am?”

His gaze cut coldly to mine. “They will if I don’t get what I want.”
 

So he was going to stick with the threats. But even those gave me valuable info. Whatever the bulldog was up to, the rest of the Order of the Magica didn’t know about it. He was operating behind their back.

I’d suspected it, but the confirmation was literally the best piece of news I’d had all month.

The two guards stepped back toward the door, blocking it. The bulldog’s right hand flicked toward the Mind Mage, then gestured toward me.

Out of time.
 

I reached out for the guards’ invisibility and stunning powers. They were both elusive strains of magic. One felt like mist and the other sent little electric shocks over my skin, but I got a grip on their gifts.

“How about some incent—”

I cut off his words by throwing a blast of stunning magic at him. The magic shot from my fingers as a glittery blue streak. The bulldog crashed to his knees, his eyes rolling back in his head before he fell to his side.

The Mind Mage’s pale gaze met mine, surprise in their depths.
Didn’t expect me to have my magic, did ya?
 

I called upon the invisibility gift just as he raised his hand to hit me with his magic. My skin felt shivery and wet as the magic raced over my arms and legs, concealing me from everyone in the room.
 

I couldn’t see my hands! It’d worked.

The Mind Mage’s brows jumped as I disappeared fully. With a glance at the guards, I lunged off the bed, trying to stay silent. My bare feet helped.
 

The burly guards rushed forward, their heads whipping around, searching for me. The Mind Mage looked as well, his gaze wide as he raised his hands to send his awful magic at me.

I shot a stunning spell at him, the blue magic streaking from my fingers. I lunged to the side, trying to conceal my position now that the blue magic had given me away. The Mind Mage crashed to the ground, then lay still as a rock.

 
I struggled to hold on to the invisibility as I edged around the room. With the prison’s magic dampening ability, I didn’t have full access to my power. I was running low and would be visible soon.

With one last surge of effort, I reached for the last of my power and sent a stunning spell at each of the guards.

When the big men crashed to the ground, I leapt up and ran for the door. I hesitated over the bulldog’s prone form, staring down at his jowly face. He had evil intentions for me and my
deirfiúr
. I could kill him now. Whatever he had planned for us was probably worth killing him over. The support he provided Victor was bad enough.

But he was incapacitated. And I believed in fair fights. So did my
deirfiúr
. And I had to prove I didn’t belong in prison. Killing folks wouldn’t help that. The Order of the Magica would already be after me, even though they didn’t know my name. I didn’t need to add killing to the list of reasons they thought I should be locked up.
 

I’d never done anything really wrong before. My tomb raiding followed all the laws for the proper disposal of dangerous magical artifacts, so I wasn’t really a thief. And I only killed demons, which was allowed, or those actively out to kill me.

I couldn’t ruin my good name. And killing a defenseless guy might actually ruin my soul.

But I could definitely use that silver bracelet around his wrist. If I had full access to my power, I’d have no trouble getting out of here.

I crouched down and tugged on the bracelet, careful not to touch the bulldog’s sallow skin.
 

It didn’t budge. I frowned as I spun the thing on his wrist, searching for the clasp. It was a heavy silver piece, almost like a cuff. At the back was a tiny hole for a key.

Damn it. They’d locked the things on. Probably to keep things like this from happening. I gave it a few more tugs, trying to pull the bracelet off his wrist, but it didn’t budge. His fist was just too big.

Well, shit. That wasn’t going to work. Looked like I’d be doing this the hard way. But I could feel their magical signatures despite the fact they were passed out. They could come in handy later, so I gathered up a bit of each person’s magical gift, feeling out their signatures and drawing a piece of it into me.
 

As a Mirror Mage, I could use their magic while I was near them. Or I could store up a little bit to be used later. I’d only have enough for one spell, but that was better than nothing.

I stood and left him where he lay, then crept into the hall, my feet silent on the stone floor. Just because I’d defeated the bulldog and his goons didn’t mean there weren’t other guards lurking.

Quietly, I shut the door behind me, locking them into my cell. If I was lucky, it’d be a while before they woke or any of the other guards found them.

Heart in my throat, I glanced around. The stone hallway was dimly lit with flickering yellow bulbs that hung from bare wires. The prison was old, and the renovation to add electricity had obviously been done with a budget in mind. Heavy wooden doors dotted the hall, each with a small hatch at the bottom for food delivery.
 

Emile’s cell was at one end, and my belongings were in a room on the other side of the building. We’d agreed that I’d get my stuff first and come back for him. He was no good in a fight, he’d said. I wouldn’t make him risk himself, and if he really was as bad as he’d said, he’d be a liability.
 

I set off down the hall, sticking close to the wall in case someone appeared. It wouldn’t give me much advantage, but it was all I had.
 

Every now and again, I’d hear rustling from inside a cell. I couldn’t see into them, but the feeling of the occupant’s repressed magical signature made me shudder. Whoever was locked up here deserved it. This place housed FireSouls and real criminals. Murderers and monsters. I wouldn’t feel bad about
not
helping them escape.

Footsteps sounded from ahead. I froze, my gaze riveted to where a new hallway joined the one in which I stood. I tried the door handle nearest me, but it didn’t budge.

The hair on my arms stood on end.
Shit, shit, shit.
There was nowhere to hide.

I reached inside myself for the invisibility gift that I’d taken from one of the guards, shivering as the magic raced over my skin. The damp feeling was still there, which was awful combined with the prison’s chill air.

When I glanced down at myself, all I saw was the stone wall and floor. It’d worked.

And not a moment too soon.
 

Three guards turned the corner, headed in my direction. They were all big men with squashed-looking faces. Some kind of troll maybe. They each wore a heavy silver bracelet.

So they were big
and
they had use of whatever magical gift they owned.

I held my breath and pressed myself against the wall as they passed, praying they couldn’t hear the beat of my heart. It thundered so loudly in my ears, I was certain they had to hear it.

The smallest one—who was still a good foot taller than me—hesitated as he passed me, his blunt nose twitching as if he smelled something.

Shit. I hadn’t had a bath in days. If he didn’t smell my magic, he definitely smelled my BO. I was ripe as an avocado left out in the sun.
 

“Brar? You coming?” one of the other guards asked.

He shook his head as if to clear it, then started walking again, following his friends. “You need to take a shower, Merk,” he said. “You smell like the underside of a hog’s belly.”

Merk laughed, the booming sound echoing off the stone walls.

My heart had climbed all the way up into my throat, making it impossible to breathe. I was so freaked out by his hesitation near me that it took me a moment to realize he’d mistaken my BO for his friend’s. My shoulders nearly sagged in relief as they turned a corner up ahead.

I almost grinned, thanking my awful odor and the lack of bathing facilities in the cell, then continued on, deciding to hold on to the invisibility as long as I could. If I dropped it now, I’d never pick it up again.
 

I nearly jumped when something tiny scurried in front of me.

Ralph.
 

He turned and twitched his little pink nose at me, as if he were finding me by scent, then he turned and ran off down the hall.
 

Thank you, Emile.
 

My friend must have realized I was trying to escape and sent Ralph to lead me to the room where they stored my stuff.

With Ralph leading the way, I reached the room a few minutes later. Fortunately, I hadn’t run into any more guards.

But there was one sitting at a little desk in the tiny room stuffed full of prisoners’ belongings. The woman had a mean look to her face, with drawn brows and pinched lips.
 

She looked up when I stepped into the room. Her eyes widened.
 

“Hey!” She raised a hand as if to shoot me with magic.

My invisibility charm must have run out. I called on the last of the stunning power I’d borrowed from the guard, letting it tingle all the way to my fingertips, and zapped her. She hit the ground before the glittery blue streak of magic faded away.

“Looks like I’m leaving a trail of bodies behind me,” I whispered to Ralph, who ran to one of the shelves and climbed up the side.
 

I followed him with my gaze, grinning when I spotted my twin obsidian daggers. They’d always been my favorite weapon, though these were replacements from Aidan for the original pair I’d lost.

I grabbed them off the shelf, noting a paper tag that said
Prisoner 857
. My gaze skated across the shelf full of objects. Other items were tagged with names.
 

So they really didn’t have my name. Which gave me a temporary reprieve.
Thank magic
.

Quickly, I searched for my charms. I’d had my comms charm on me when I’d been taken, along with a transport charm and a Penatrist charm. My escape relied on the last two, though I wanted the first one back as well.

I found my comms charm shoved on the back of the shelf, along with the Penatrist charm. I grabbled the golden necklace and the small black rock. Next to them was the wide golden cuff that possessed a dampening charm. I’d worn it to control my massive new power. Until I learned to wield my new magic, I’d need that. I took it, too.

But no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find the transport charm.
 

There were no other transport charms, either. Victor Orriodor had been hunting and collecting them. Perhaps the shortage had reached even here. Or they stored them elsewhere.

My stomach dropped as I continued to search, growing more and more frantic as I shoved things around on the shelves. The transport charm was my only surefire way out—otherwise we’d have to leave on foot. I wasn’t sure where the Prison for Magical Miscreants was located, but from the cold air that always seeped through the little window in my cell, it was somewhere chilly. And probably remote.

Shit, shit, shit.
Changing tactics, I searched for clothes or boots. If I had to run for it, Emile and I would at least need shoes. But it appeared they’d discarded all our clothes and footwear. Those weren’t worth auctioning off, apparently. Apparently they didn’t know what my boots were actually worth.

A shuffling noise sounded from behind me, cutting through my distraction. I stiffened and turned.

Eight guards stood in the doorway.
 

Trapped.
 

With no way to escape.

CHAPTER TWO

A guard threw a stunning spell. The glittery blue magic streaked toward me, and I dodged just in time, throwing myself behind the desk. The woman who’d originally guarded the room was still passed out on the floor. She hadn’t alerted the guards, which meant they’d found the bodies in my cell.

I clutched my daggers, debating my options.

But there was only one option.

Fight.
 

Even then, I was screwed. Me against eight guards using my limited magic? And the guards were Magica and Shifters, not demons. I didn’t want to kill them.