Contractor (41 page)

Daniel sighed and ran a hand through his

hair. "This was a one-shot thing to patch

things up because she’s Rachel’s friend. And

you know, it actually went pretty well.

We’ve drawn up a cease-fire."

"…then Eleanor is ok with it?"

"Yep. Looks like I made the cutoff."

"Where’re they at?"

"Eleanor’s in her room. Rachel’s

outside." Daniel grinned sheepishly. "I was coming to see if you were here."

"Right. Because now that the red tape’s

cut, you’ll be fucking like rabbits every

chance you get."

"It’s not like the only thing we do is -"

"I don’t want to hear your bullshit!" Jack

shouted. Daniel took a step back. Jack

swiveled back around and slapped his

computer mouse on the desk. "Go have sex

on the roof if you want it that badly. Room’s

closed. Men only."

"Fine," Daniel said. "Let me know when you feel like apologizing for being a massive

asshole."

He was almost out the door when Jack

stopped him. "Daniel."

"What?"

"You can’t trust her."

"I’d trust her with my life."

Daniel slammed the door shut. It was

more noise than he should have made so late

at night, but he didn’t care. What the hell had

crawled up Jack’s ass?

Rachel walked up to him. "I heard the

arguing."

Daniel marched toward the common

room. Rachel had to hurry to keep up. "…

he’s got this idea you’re sucking up all my

time. Jack…" Daniel sighed. He paused at

the entrance to the lounge. "I’m his best

friend. And he means a lot to me, too. But

it’s different for him. I’m something really

important."

"…it sounds like, you know…"

"You and Eleanor." Daniel rubbed his

forehead. "Out of the frying pan."

"You’ll both think this was stupid in the

morning," Rachel said. She kissed him on the

cheek. "Just relax and talk it out later. And

you should have your poker nights, right? Or

Blade Wing Commander nights."

"That’s Wing Blade Commander."

"You know what I mean."

"I don’t know. I feel like Jack doesn’t

like women in general. There’s something

there."

"Do you think he’s gay?"

"What? Seriously?"

"I mean, it could be," Rachel said.

"…no. That’s not it. Something bigger

than that."

Daniel sighed again. He worked a finger

through the lock of hair on his forehead. Jack

had been furious. Would it really be as

simple as apologizing?

Rachel slapped at his hand. "Stop that."

He made a face at her. "Stop what?"

"That thing with your hair," she said.

She twisted a strand of her hair up in her

finger and lifted it toward him. "You always

do that when you’re worried, or thinking

really hard. Stop worrying. It’ll work out."

"I never noticed." He sighed. "Maybe

I’m overthinking it."

"It’ll be fine. Promise." She kissed him

again. "Did you really mean what you said to

him? That you’d trust me with your life?"

"Absolutely."

Rachel smiled. "That was really…

something to say, I guess. I’m glad you feel

that way."

Daniel gently rested his forehead on

hers. "You know what? Me too."

"Heh. Well." Rachel’s hand gripped his

tie. "Let’s focus on immediate problems.

Like me. In a suit. Being…dominant."

"I like the sound of those things." Daniel

frowned. "But we have a location problem."

"I know a spot." She took his hand and

led him out the door.

****

Rachel brought him off the campus and

into the long series of parks, ponds, and fens

that wound down past the Common. At this

hour, even in downtown, there weren’t many

cars out. Secreted behind the trees and tall

grass, Daniel felt like they were the only two

people in the world.

She stopped in a small grove and sat

down on a bench. "What do you think?"

Daniel rubbed his arms. "…outside, on

a park bench."

"Yes."

"This is your special spot?"

"Is there a problem?"

"It’s a tad chilly."

Rachel loosened her tie. "Are you just

going to stand there and complain or what?"

Daniel sat down next to her. She

grabbed him by the collar and dragged him

into a kiss.

He drew back for a breath. "Yeah,

you’re definitely hot when you take charge."

"Good." They started kissing again. She

undid her tie and threw it around his neck.

Daniel heard a rhythmic sort of thump

coming from their right. He broke the kiss.

"What’s that?"

"What’s what?"

The sound grew louder. Daniel pointed

behind her. "You don’t hear that?"

Rachel frowned. "Now I do." They both

leaned to look as the noise steadily grew.

A hulking monster came pounding out of

the bushes across the grove. Its ape-like face

was surrounded by a mane of black hair.

The Smasher.

He tried to stand. Rachel was faster. She

pushed him behind her. "Run back to campus,

get Eleanor!"

"What are you -"

Rachel spared him a glance. Her face

was hard steel. "Now! Go!"

The Smasher didn’t wait for them to

finish their conversation. It trundled in,

swinging a huge fist up, then down. Daniel

reached for his power. He should have

enough speed to throw them both out of the

way.

Rachel did something with her hands.

There was a flash of light. An arm of rock

and dirt stretched out of the ground and

blocked the fist. The Smasher’s attack

cracked it in half, but the monster reeled

back, clutching its hand.

Daniel got a better look at it the second

time. Rachel made a triangle with her hands

and forced her eyes shut, focusing hard. Two

glowing circles covered with runes and lines

formed on the ground, fluorescent lighting

sitting in the grass.
Sigils.

From underneath the light rose two dirt

and rock statues. Their heads and shoulders

were covered in grass. They marched

forward, nature’s golems summoned to fight

the contractor.

"Rachel?!"

"I can’t explain now!" Rachel’s soldiers

ran toward the Smasher. She pushed at

Daniel’s back. "Run! Get out of here!"

The Smasher punched. The head of one

of the golems was blown away, but its arms

kept moving. It caught the hand. Its partner

kicked at the smasher’s forearm, but it didn’t

do any visible damage. The Smasher roared

and whipped that arm backward, and the

golem holding it was tossed aside like a

ragdoll.

Rachel bent low. She was still focused

in that same position. Three more sigils

appeared in the ground. Three more earth

golems grew out of the dirt, leaving small

craters where they’d taken up material. Their

glowing symbols peeled off the ground as

they rose, resting their backs. Daniel was

reminded of the inscriptions on the

extractors.

The five mud dolls attacked the smasher

from all sides. He thrashed out at them, using

his fists like wrecking balls. The golems

couldn’t match its strength, but even when

they lost arms, they could patch and regrow

themselves using the dirt all around them.

They were zombies that refused to rest.

"Daniel!" Rachel screamed. "I can’t

hold him off forever! Get out of here!"

But Daniel’s feet were nailed to the

floor. Sigils. Real magic. That meant Rachel

was a wizard. A magician. One of the people

that wanted him dead. That wasn’t possible.

But it was.

It fell on him like a collapsing house of

cards. A secret she couldn’t tell him. An

unmentionable family situation. The reason

an eighteen year-old was the bodyguard of a

nineteen year-old. The reason Madame

Flemmet called him mundane, why they’d

gone awkwardly quiet at the party when he’d

casually mentioned magic tricks.

Even the gold and yellow tabards of the

Ivory Dawn matched Eleanor’s bedspread.

She’d treated him like he was second class

because he actually was second class. He

was a normal person playing with fire. In a

way, it had been for his own good.

He remembered Henry’s expression

after he promised to protect Rachel.
Strong

words, Daniel. I wonder if you really know

what they mean.

It had all been right in his face the whole

time. Why hadn’t he noticed?

He looked up. The Smasher was carving

through the golems. They couldn’t regenerate

themselves fast enough—or Rachel was

getting tired. He crushed one to dust,

flattening it to the ground. He grabbed one

that was closing in and threw it against a

tree. Its body cracked in half, and it fell

apart.

It started toward Rachel.

A massive fist came down. Three golem

palms combined to stop the punch. Rachel

was drenched with sweat. The sigils shone

brighter, and the three hands shoved back,

fighting against the Smasher’s power.

The ape brought his other hand in from

the side, sweeping at them while they were

focused on holding back his other arm. Their

legs were blown out from under them.

Rachel was defenseless while her golems

tried to piece themselves together. Her

opponent moved in for the kill.

Daniel’s double-kick caught the

Smasher in the chest with all his power

focused into the soles of his shoes. He hit

hard enough that even the heavy monster was

thrown off its feet. The ground shook as it

tumbled over and over. It came to a rest with

a groan.

"You’re a magician?!" Rachel shouted.

"But—!"

Daniel swallowed. He had to drag his

head back to meet Rachel’s gaze. "Not

exactly. I’ve met that thing before. We

fought. It’s the Boston Smasher."

The Smasher propped itself up with a

hand. It stared at them, but hesitated. Its eyes

darted between the two of them, seeking

some advantage. Daniel crouched low. In the

first fight, he’d been going easy, trying to see

if the Smasher had any special powers

besides size and strength before he used

everything he had. With Rachel standing

behind him, exhausted, there wasn’t time for

caution. He had to go full-on right from the

start. And if that wasn’t enough, well, he

could always outrun it.

"Daniel," the Smasher grumbled. "I can’t believe it."

"…how the hell do you know my

name?"

"What, besides Rachel shouting it?" The

Smasher’s head began to change. The great

mane of hair shriveled. Its skin shrunk and

wavered. Jack’s face appeared. It was tiny,

perched on top of the ape’s giant body.

"That’s how."

"You’re…that’s not…" Daniel’s voice

cracked. "Did you know Rachel was a

magician?!"

"I told you to stay away from her for a

reason," Jack said. "When I was out hunting Vorid, I saw her and Eleanor fighting.

They’re both magicians." Jack pointed at her.

"That makes them our enemies. You know

how it is. You’re the same as me. A

contractor."

"Why are you doing this? Why did you

kill those women?!"

"I already told you why," Jack said. "I’m different now, Daniel. We both are. You said

it yourself. We have the power to change.

We can become stronger." Jack shook his

head. "I never would have attacked you

before, but I didn’t know it was you. We can

work together. You’re someone I know I can

trust."

"What the fuck. What the fuck, Jack?!"

Jack shrugged. "Sorry to be the bearer of

bad news. You had to find out sometime."

Daniel shook his head. "No. No way.

This -"

"You know what we have to do," Jack

said. He pointed at Rachel. "If you can’t do

it, I will. She knows what we are. She’ll tell

Eleanor, and then we’ll be hunted down.

They’d probably hold your family hostage or

something. Why do you think I was so pissed

about you going to that party? Eleanor’s

father is one of the strongest magicians in the

world. Even if you were normal, you don’t

belong with them."

"What are you saying?!"

"We have to kill her, Daniel."

"…Rachel?"

"It’ll just be another murder," Jack said.

"We can make alibis for each other. We

were in our room, playing video games. No

problem." He smiled. "I’m glad I’ve got a

friend in this. I’m glad it was you."

"You’re a contractor," Rachel said.

Daniel turned back. Her face was white.

Tears were rolling down her face. "How

could you do that to yourself?!"

"Rachel, I can explain this," Daniel said.

"I really can. Just -"

"Explain?!" She scrambled back past the

bench. Two of her golems moved to shield

her. "Explain how you murder people to add

power to your own soul?!"