Magic Resistant (24 page)

Most likely dabbler mages, ones with an
affinity for magic, but not the energy to sustain them. They casted
a few spells here and there, impressing humans and called
themselves a mage. Well, technically, dabbler mages are mages, born
of mage parents, but not in the same class as the Enforcers or even
regular mages.

The cream of the crop, Enforcers showed
strong talent and control of magic, and had high intelligence.
Regular mages could cast many different spells, but had a hard time
maintaining them for long periods of time or to cast more than one
spell. Dabblers could cast simple spells which didn’t require a lot
of energy.

Dabblers also didn’t live in fear of
execution by the Coterie. Mages didn’t hate them since spells and
the laws of magic still affected them, unlike Julia.

Before she mastered imbuing, she’d endured
the whispers, the rumors from other jealous juniors implying she
was a dabbler. Markus as a mentor was a prize many vied for,
wanting to learn from him.

After a few fights, including some dirty
fighting from both parties, they backed off.

With the help of her earrings, she eventually
proved herself a competent mage, able to cast and maintain multiple
spells at once. A true test of an Enforcer's skill. The duration of
her spells she kept hidden.

That, and Markus refused to give her up as a
partner. Long before she’d partnered with him at age eighteen, he’d
shown an interest in her magic and schooling. He found her ways of
adapting fascinating although he believed she changed spells
because she was imaginative. She’d shown him new ways to maintain
and shape energy which he claimed helped him in the field.

Looking down, her eyes not seeing the man
crumpled at her feet, she dismissed him and the security concern
from her mind. If Markus said they wouldn’t come then they wouldn’t
come.

She shook her head, anger bubbling up as she
remembered the last time she saw him.

“Why in the nine hells did you try to kill
me?” She grounded out, hurt and furious. She trusted him with her
life, and he left her there.

Chapter Twenty

Glaring at him,
she saw the shock written on his face. “Try to kill you? I’ve never
done that. What are you talking about?”

“The night we went to the office building.
You casted a sleep spell on me and then you casted Devouring
Plague. I would’ve died if Jackson hadn’t dragged me through the
Fay portal. I almost died there anyway!” She shuddered, remembering
the stench of the burning troll, the fear of dying in Fay. “Talk
about a bad day.”

“It’s not what it seems. You should’ve stayed
put, not tromped off with Jackson. I never wanted you involved in
any of this.”

Regret and a touch of sadness flitted across
his face. Vulnerability in Markus didn't sit right with her. Always
so sure of himself and full of confidence, his arrogance a
constant. He was unshakable. Wasn’t he?

“There are things I can’t explain to you, not
right now. I’m in the middle of a huge investigation. You might get
hurt. I won’t let it happen. I needed to protect you.” He scrubbed
his hand across his face and muttered, “I almost didn’t with those
damn wolves.”

His last statement nearly escaped her. She
blinked in shock, unwilling to believe the implications of his
words.

“What do you mean, with the wolves? You left
my knife. You’re the only possibility.”

How else did he protect her from the wolves?
Did he kill them? Had Revenant left the message on the bodies after
Markus finished them? Could she accept that possibility, her mentor
killing those two werewolves?

She felt torn. On one hand it horrified her.
Murdered in cold-blood, the man weak from blood loss, the woman in
shock. They’d died so quickly after they left the ally, no time to
defend themselves.

Then again, the assassins tried to kill her
and Jackson. Hard to dreg up any pity or sorrow for them as they
blindly followed orders, attacking first. Did they even question
why a kidnapped woman was one of the targets? Her disappearance
would’ve filled the rumour mill, spilling over to the clean-up
crew. Their job alone depended on them gathering information and
assessing their prey. They could’ve verified, but didn’t.

Her heart hardened; no tears would be shed
over their deaths.

“Yes, I left you the knife. Invisible and
deodorized, I helped direct your attention to it; gave you an
advantage. I felt the buildup of spell energy when the trap
triggered. Dismantling it would’ve shown me. Since I didn’t want to
tip my hand to the werewolves, I didn’t interfere.” Markus paced
the room, raking a hand through his hair, his long coat flapping
behind him. “I would’ve if you and Jackson needed help, but you did
a fantastic job. I’m so proud of you. Once you were safely out of
the alley, I left as well.”

A glow of happiness at his praise warmed her.
Compliments from him were rare. He just expected her to live up to
his expectations without whining or complaining. And he
hated
any whining whatsoever. He'd once teleported an
extremely annoying junior Enforcer to Antarctica. At least he'd
been nice enough to also shield him against the cold. A few hours
later, he brought the silent and cowed Enforcer back. The other
juniors learned to behave in his presence.

Slowly, she released the breath she’d held.
It wasn’t an answer, but she wouldn’t get anything else from him.
If he’d killed them, he had his reasons. Markus wasn’t an
indiscriminate killer, taking life for pleasure.

As a senior Enforcer, he thought some things
she didn’t need to know. His clearance higher than hers, he was
privy to sensitive information. While it annoyed the nine hells out
of her, pushing wouldn’t give her any answers.

Instead she had another, more important
question she wanted answered. One that had nothing to do with the
werewolves.

“Explain to me why you left me to die. Why
did you cast Devouring Plague while I was unconscious? I'm placing
the blame squarely on you. You put me to sleep!” Anger licked
through her veins, consuming her relief and happiness. If he didn’t
have a good reason, she might punch him to feel better. Rarely did
she have so many violent feelings, but the stress of the past
little while destroyed her natural equilibrium.

“Julia, you know I can’t cast those kind of
spells. My expertise is illusions. I’ve spent my life perfecting
them. And after almost three hundred years, I'd say I'm pretty damn
good at them. So good, in fact, many can’t tell the difference
between my illusions and reality.” He stated this without any pride
or conceit, nothing but fact.

His illusions
were
superb. Some days,
even she had trouble distinguishing the truth from fiction. Her
magic resistance, however, made it easier for her to see through
them. Which meant it was near impossible for a human, mage or any
other creature to see the truth.

“Are you saying you pretended to cast
Devouring Plague? Why? What possible reason did you have?” Her head
pounded. Chaotic emotions swirled through her. She was happy to see
Markus, angry at him for leaving her, scared he wasn’t who she
thought he was and so damn tired of the hiding.

“Jackson needed to run, hide. Poking around
brought the attention of the wrong people. He’s safer hiding.
Didn’t think he’d take you with him.” Irritation seeped into his
words. “That’s why I took your weapons. Didn’t want him grabbing
them from you. He wouldn’t hurt you, but I didn’t want him taking
your knives.”

He closed his eyes, a gesture as familiar to
her as her own. He was centering himself, blocking out any
disorganized thoughts. Slowly, he became his usual impenetrable,
unflappable self. His shields to keep others at bay rock solid once
more.

Julia saw through them. She always had. He'd
proven over the years he cared deeply for her. The question was,
how much? Would he do anything to keep her safe or was he feeding
her a line? He'd left her alone, vulnerable and unable to defend
herself. Could she forgive him for that? If she accepted his
explanation, it meant he wanted to keep her safe and was playing an
end game she wasn’t privy to. Why wouldn’t he tell her? Did he not
trust her?

“What are you hiding from me? It hurts you
don’t trust me. I’ve put my life in your hands more times than I
can count. Blindly followed you into dangerous situations believing
you’d keep me safe and yet, you can’t trust me. What more do I have
to do to prove myself to you? We’ve been partners for thirty years.
I’m no longer a child who accepts everything you say at face value.
If you don’t want me as a partner, tell me and I’ll walk away.”

Her heart pounded into her throat, cutting
off her air and a little of her sanity. How could she force this
ultimatum on him? He might walk away; decide she wasn’t worth the
trouble. Hundreds of Enforcers wanted Markus as a partner.
Replacing her, easier than ordering take out.

His gaze hooded and showed her nothing of his
thoughts. She was groping in the dark. Had she hit a nerve or did
he even care?

He pinned her with his scrutiny. “Are you
sure? There are many things I’ve done that aren't public knowledge.
Things that would forever change your mind about me. I’ve loved you
as a daughter for so long. Protecting you is second nature to me.
Everything I’ve taught you has been for your protection. One day, I
won’t be your buffer and I want you ready before that happens.”

“How can I be ready if you won’t tell me? If
you hide things from me then how can I be ready?” She pleaded. The
glimpse into his dark depths, depths he'd kept well hidden from
her, scared her. She needed to know, were her fears unfounded?

“And you’ve kept nothing from me?” His tone
implied he knew she had and after the argument with Jackson, this
hit close to home. She
was
keeping secrets - her imbuing
abilities, her magical resistance and her training with Keeper.

Who was she to demand absolute truth? What
hypocrisy. She hung her head in shame, her cheeks burning. Whatever
he'd done couldn’t compare to hiding a deficiency which carried an
automatic death sentence. If he ever found out, would he still love
her or would he feel compelled to carry out the sentence?

“I’m sorry. I had no right to demand that of
you. Everyone has something they keep close to themselves. You’ll
tell me if and when you’re ready. I know that.” Tears threatening
to fall and she forced them back, refusing to cry twice in one
day.

Being in love had done some screwy things
with her hormones. Usually it took a broken bone to cause a few
tears and now some harsh words caused waterworks. She needed to get
a hold of herself, remember her Enforcer training.

Taking a deep breath, she calmed down and
cleared her mind. Jumbled thoughts were of no use to her and served
no purpose. Trained for critical thinking, not emotional guesswork,
she re-examined Markus’ words. Had he given anything away?

Investigating the demon trafficking, he'd
pushed Jackson into disappearing for his own reasons. And somehow,
he’s been able to find her twice now.

She sucked in a gasp as that last thought hit
her. “How did you find me? You were there in the alley and now
here. Do you have a tracker on me? Jackson checked me for one and
didn’t find any. I didn’t either.”

She pinned him with a hard stare, wanting the
truth this time and not an evasion.

“It wasn’t me. It was Keeper.” Unexpected
words, very unexpected. Markus and Keeper working together to find
her. Had Markus approached Keeper? Or did Keeper approach him?

“Keeper?” She tried hard to keep the panic
from her voice, to appear calm but curious. No one knew about her
connection to him. They both agreed to keep it under wraps or
suspicions would be aroused as to why she needed training from
him.

“Who else would I ask? He
is
the
Keeper of All Knowledge. If anyone could find an obscure spell,
it'd be him. And don’t bother asking about the spell because I
don’t want you throwing it off. You’d find a way to break it.” His
black eyes unwavering and his lips in a firm line. She’d get
nothing from him.

She almost forgot how well he understood her.
While she’d learned and studied from him, he had done the same with
her.

Her mind processed new spells differently
during training. Afterwards, since energy didn’t leave her body in
a smooth, steady stream like the other Enforcers, she made
necessary changes. Hence why she’d modified her tracker spell and
as of yet it couldn’t be evaded. Markus had picked up on those
changes. He’d never said much about it except to encourage her
experimentation. He told her a stagnant mind was a surefire way to
an early grave.

Magic was flexible, malleable to the whims of
the mage, very little set in stone. Rituals were the sole exception
to this; either follow the exact steps or prepare for disaster.

“I won’t tell the Coterie where you are or
even that I’ve seen you. It’s clear you’re not a prisoner or you
wouldn’t be here. And I saw how well you two worked together in the
alley. That wasn’t the actions of someone desperate to escape.”

Relief flooded her. She leaned against the
desk, gripping the edge hard. The pain in her fingertips told her
to loosen her grip. Markus keeping quiet was more than she hoped
for. While people worried for her, going back wasn’t an option, not
when so much was unclear. She'd either become a target once she
left Jackson’s side or make him a bigger target. She wouldn’t do
that to him. Which reminded her...

“Speaking of Jackson, you two were friends?
Why didn’t you tell me?” How could he shut her out, treat her like
an unwanted relative? Full disclosure on his life, she didn’t
expect. Markus made it clear certain cases remained classified, out
of her pay bracket. But his personal life, hadn’t they moved past
partners, becoming friends?