Magic Resistant (16 page)

He shuddered and visibly pulled himself
together. Putting a hand on Karl’s shoulder, he gently moved him
aside. Even with that slight movement, Jackson saw how much
stronger he was than an average human.

Acting as if Gavin hadn’t nearly launched him
across the room, Karl serenely walked over to his desk. The
stiffness of his spine and proud lift of his head told Jackson he’d
deliberately given his back to his friend. He wanted to prove to
the Enforcers they had nothing to fear. Jackson almost laughed.
Only a fool thought a vampire was docile. Make them hungry enough
and they’ll turn on anyone.

Rolling his computer chair out from behind
his desk, Karl positioned it next to the couch. Gavin pushed the
couch back into place and sat down. Jackson and Victor remained
standing, facing the two men. They both relaxed their stance, but
remained cautious. A new vampire could drain them dry during
bloodlust.

“I’ll jump to the important bits. At this
point, Karl needs to hear the rest. I wanted to protect him from
this horror show, but it’ll make him vulnerable.” Gavin glanced at
Karl, pain and weariness sitting heavy in his gaze. He muttered,
“I’m so sorry I dragged you into this. You’re the only one able to
hide me.”

Karl leaned over, resting his hand on Gavin’s
head, not even flinching as he made contact with the greasy,
tangled mess. “It’s okay. I understand. This is what I do. How
about you tell them everything?”

Clearing his throat, he took a deep breath
and slowly exhaled.

Gavin began, “As Karl told you they abducted
me a few weeks ago. Didn’t know where I was at first. Just that I
wasn’t in the city anymore. No constant traffic and it smelled
different. I wasn’t the only one there. About 7 or 8 other people.
Some would disappear while new ones took their place. I didn’t
realize what was happening at first. Too scared and in shock. They
barely remembered to feed us, so I was dizzy and half crazed from
lack of food. One day, maybe night, honestly not sure, they dragged
me out of my cage. Brought me to a torture room. Blood coated the
walls, the floor and a huge table. They strapped me onto that
table, the wet and drying blood sticking to me. I tried to fight
them, but I couldn’t. They were so strong, so damn strong.”

Gavin choked up, his voice strangled as the
horrible memories overwhelmed him.

He stared at his clenched fists, the knuckles
a harsh white. “I expected them to beat me, torture me. Wish they
had. What they did was worse. They injected me with something. I
had no idea what at the time. My body felt like they’d set me on
fire. Every part of me, burning. I thought I was dying. I learned
later I should’ve died. All the others did.

“When the seizures finally stopped, they
dragged me back to my cage and tossed me inside. Couldn’t move for
hours. I spent the time listening. I heard things I shouldn’t, like
heartbeats of the other prisoners. Concentrating, testing my
limits, I heard
them
talking. One of them yelled at the two
who dragged me into the room. He wanted to chase me, hunt me down
and now they’d killed me, made me useless to him.”

Gavin paused, an audible swallow before he
continued. “He said no injections, only feed it to the prisoners.
The blood too strong and would kill me. Something about vampire
cells attacking human cells, destroying them until nothing left and
the body could no longer survive. After the main guy finished
yelling at them, he said soon they’ll have a hunt. They had
gathered enough prey to make for a fun chase.” He spat the last
part out in disgust.

“Steadily got stronger. Actually I felt
amazing, like bench pressing a car or something. I’d thought my
eyesight had adjusted to the dark. Damn, was I wrong. A mouse
scurrying in the darkest corner, as bright as day. My hearing, it
kept increasing too. Perhaps a day passed when it all peaked.
Throughout that day, I had to listen to those bastards laugh and
joke about all the horrible things they wanted to do to us, what
they had done to the previous captives. They’re sick, truly sick
bastards.

“When I felt like there would be no side
effects to the injection, I broke out. Actually, I broke the
fucking steel bars, bent them until they snapped. Wanted to help
the other people, but escaping with them wasn’t possible. I want to
go back, rescue them. They don’t deserve to die like that. No one
does.”

Finishing his tale, he brought his knees into
his chest. His hands linked around them in a death grip.

Nausea rolled in Jackson’s stomach and he
swallowed hard. They’d injected a human with vampire blood. A
horrible, agonizing death, one that destroyed mentally as well as
physically. The victims little better than vicious animals before
they mercifully died. Centuries ago, vampires forced their blood
into a human as punishment for vile transgressions, a form of
punishment long since abolished as too inhumane and cruel.

He didn’t want to hear any more, but they
needed all the information.

“Gavin, Karl told us this had to do with
werewolves and demons. What demons?” He hated pushing him for more
information. Obviously the experience traumatized Gavin. Hell, who
wouldn’t be? It was horrifying listening to his tale, never mind
living through it.

They needed to know what part demons played,
no matter the mental toll it cost Gavin. Still in good standing
with the Coterie, Victor could bring in the Enforcers for a rescue.
First though, they had to plan which ones to bring. Mage Enforcers
consisted of specialty groups, ones trained according to their
talents. Their chance of success would increase with summoners,
ones used to dealing with demons, Enforcers like Victor and
Jackson. He clenched his fist, angry at missing out on this
possible rescue
.

A shudder ran through Gavin’s frame. He
loosened his tight knuckled grip and ran a hand through his hair.
Fingers snagged on several knots. Hair entwined around the long,
thin digits as he ripped his hand free. Despondent, he removed the
strands, letting them fall to the floor.

“The demon is the one who supplied the
vampire blood. Said it was from an ancient and pure, unlike Ire. A
demon had shown up for payment. Didn’t want money though. At first,
it was in its human guise. Looked like an ordinary human.”

He started to shake uncontrollably, unable to
continue. Karl sat down next to him and patted him on the back,
encouraging him.

“It took one of the women and one of the men,
said it liked variety in its food. It dropped its illusion, showing
its hideousness. And then it, oh shit, it ripped them apart, ate
their insides first. When the demon finished, there was hardly
anything left, just tatters of clothes. The werewolves laughed,
said they were going to do that to us on the hunt. This was before
they injected me. I couldn’t help them. You have to believe me.
Wasn’t strong enough. I just... I just closed my eyes. Watching it
eat. More than I could bear.” His voice broke, silent tears
dripping down his cheeks.

Karl shifted on the couch, comforting him as
best he could. He put his arms around the bigger man, trying to
cradle him like a child. A gentle hand smoothed the bigger man’s
hair as he hushed him. Undeniable strength radiated from the
delicate man, an elegant dignity better suited to royalty, not an
information peddler.

“Please, help those other people.” Karl
implored, his rage simmering beneath his words.

“I’m sorry, I want to make sure I have
everything correct. They abducted you on your way home and kept you
in a cage outside of Toronto with several other people. A demon
came with ancient vampire blood, donor unknown. He ate two of the
captives as payment. They injected you with the blood instead of
feeding it to you. It didn’t kill you, but gave you vampire
abilities without the drawbacks. You escaped by breaking the steel
bars and made your way back to T.O. Is this all correct?” Victor
recited the list without emotion, as if talking about a grocery
list instead of horrible atrocities.

Jackson understood why. He needed to distance
himself, pretend it didn’t matter. Each horrible case they took
would chip away at their souls and humanity if they let them.

Victor had once told him to pretend it was a
gory movie, complete with special effects and the always-defeated
villain. Jackson wondered how many nightmares made its home in
Victor before he’d perfected that stance. Many a times, he heard
his friend’s whimpers at night when they were on a stake out
together.

Gavin nodded, not bothering to lift his head
from Karl’s shoulder.

"On my desk, you'll find a map. Gavin did his
best to mark his route. He can't remember exactly where they held
him, but I'm sure you'll be able to find the place. There's a
description of the buildings."

Victor strode to the desk and snagged the
paper. A swift glance before he folded and placed it into his front
pocket. "No problem, we should be able to follow this."

“Do you think you’d be able to recognize the
werewolves again? If we catch them, can you identify them for us?”
Jackson asked.

“Yes. Yes. I’ll never forget their faces,
their voices, their horrible laughs. It’s burned into me, no matter
how badly I want to forget. I... I don’t want anyone to know what
happened to me. That I’ve changed. I don’t want anyone poking and
prodding at me to find out why I didn’t die, creating super
soldiers. And you know they would. Promise me you’ll never tell
anyone or I’ll disappear for good.” Gavin’s voice became steadily
stronger and the tears had dried up.

Shifting away from Karl, Gavin straightened,
his eyes flat and cold. He meant what he said, he would disappear.
Jackson didn’t blame him either. No one wanted to give up their
life, become a guinea pig for the government.

“I swear to you by my oath as a mage I will
not tell anyone the changes you went through.” Both Jackson and
Victor made the promise which neither did lightly. The Enforcer
society was thousands of years old, created when oaths and honour
meant something.

As they were leaving, Victor turned back, a
hand on Jackson's arm to stop him from opening the door. "Karl, you
might wanna keep an eye on your cashier. Think he’s selling
Ire."

If Jackson hadn't seen the anger blazing in
Karl's eyes, he would've assumed the man unaffected as he calmly
said, "Thanks, Victor. I'll check into it."

Chapter
Thirteen

BACK IN THE car, Jackson asked “What’s with
you and Karl? And don’t ask me what I mean. You know what I’m
talking about.”

Sighing, Victor gripped the steering wheel.
“We met years ago. He figured it was a chance meeting, but the
Coterie had set it up. They found out what he had planned and
approved. They wanted everything to go smoothly. Paige asked for me
personally, said I had a friendly demeanor that wouldn’t put his
back up. Said he impressed her. Smart and determined, he actually
stood up to her. That’s damn rare. Completely shocked me when she
said he told her off.”

Jackson laughed. “Are you shitting me? I’d
rather handle demons than go against any of the Coterie leaders,
even the human ones. He’s got brass balls. So what’s he’s doing?
Giving you information?”

“Nope, something way more important.” Victor
smiled, a rare, genuine one. “He’s helping the lost and almost
forgotten. The ones the Coterie want to help but can’t, the ones
who don’t fall under anyone’s jurisdiction because of the different
races involved. Take Karl, for example. The Fae abducted him as a
child, kept him as a slave. We didn’t know about him until he
escaped. They’d hidden him and many like him. We can’t go charging
into Fay to rescue the other slaves as it would’ve caused an
inter-dimensional incident. We don’t have enough evidence to prove
the Fae stole them."

Shaking his head, Victor continued, "Some Fae
became contacts, disgusted by their brethrens behaviour. I can't
tell you who and they only deal with Karl. When he found out I’m an
Enforcer, he wouldn't talk to me. Took me over six months before
he'd trust me again. He's wary and mistrustful with good reason.
What he doesn't know is we gave him the "pay off" money for the
express purpose of him starting his business. A small handful of us
know what he's doing and we help any way we can so he can hide
others like him. He’s oblivious to the extent of our assistance
though. And you can never tell anyone about him. I'm sure it goes
without saying his life would be in danger if the wrong people
found out about him.”

Resting his head against the headrest,
Jackson mulled over this information. It wasn’t unexpected the
Coterie had more going on than he realized, but helping civilians
skirt the law? Very interesting. Of course, he didn’t rigidly abide
by every single rule. Following the spirit of the law if not
necessarily the letter of it sometimes meant the difference between
life and death out in the field.

Kept unaware with nary a hint to the true
purpose of Karl's shop surprised Jackson. Not that he expected to
be privy to every detail of his partner’s work life and contacts,
but he could’ve assisted with this. Keeping his mouth shut was part
of their job, one he took seriously.

Wondering if he should be peeved or not, he
decided his partner made the correct decision. Karl helped many who
had nowhere else to turn, no one to trust. His reputation must be
impeachable among the desperate. If whispers circulated within the
Enforcers, his work would become worthless.

The fewer people aware of Karl, the
better.

Victor interrupted Jackson’s musings as he
said, “Look, man, I’m sorry about Julia. I wasn’t expecting you to
have a woman there and it doesn’t work on men, or at least straight
men. Takes a lot out of me to suppress it. Then, I was just so
shocked I didn’t think about it. Stupid of me not to dampen
it.”