Chapter Forty-Four
Talon's possession of Leo's magic complicated things more than just stalling his execution. We had to extract the magic, but the only surviving extractor was in D.H.S. custody, being studied. Luckily, they hadn't dismantled it yet, but we were posed with the problem of how to get Talon into the extractor without alerting D.H.S. of his survival. With the help of my illusion magic, one of the dead Furies was recorded as Talonius Diocinne, leaving me free to kill the real Talon. But I couldn't do that if we walked him into D.H.S. and stuck him in the extractor. Sure, I could put an illusion over Talon, but we'd still need to get him through a building of agents quietly and then out again. Even with the gag in, Talon could still moan loud enough to attract attention, especially when his broken wings were jostled, so that wasn't an option.
We decided that it would be far simpler to bring the machine to Talon, than get Talon to the machine. Alex had been the one to log the machine into evidence and he also had the authority to remove it. At the very worst, he might get reprimanded for destroying evidence—because we intended to destroy the machine after it was done extracting Leo's magic. But we knew who had made the extractor now, so there was nothing left for them to discover beyond how it worked, and that was something we didn't want anyone to know. Alex could defend himself with the fact that he'd promised to allow us to destroy the machine once D.H.S. was done with it. I, however, would not be able to defend murdering a prisoner.
And that was exactly what I intended to do.
I know, it sounds bloodthirsty, but I had been denied the chance to avenge my parents three times. Traegur, Gregory, and Ugela were all killed by other people. I had a lot of pent-up fury to take out on that Fury.
So, we twisted the real Talon to our house in D.C. along with the rest of our team. The support teams would clear the site, collect evidence, and deal with the bodies. Once home, I left Malik and Braxis to secure our prisoner while I twisted Alex to his office in the D.H.S. building downtown. He made some calls to prepare a van and summon a few agents to help us, then we went to collect the extractor.
“Stop what you're doing,” Alex said as we strode into a room with only the extractor and a single agent inside.
Alex had said the machine had been restricted to a very limited team, and I was especially grateful for that now.
“Sir?” the agent asked as he put down his penlight, puzzled.
“We've received some alien technology that will allow for a more thorough inspection of the device,” Alex explained as he waved his moving crew into the room. “Pack it up and get it out to the van.”
“Yes, Sir,” the agents said as they rolled a massive cart past him; it had a crate perched on it.
“But, Sir—” the researcher started to protest.
“You simply don't have the best tools for the job, Agent Jenkins,” Alex said gently as he smacked the researcher's shoulder. “Nothing to be ashamed of.”
And that was all it took. We had the machine in a van and were driving away from D.H.S in less than thirty minutes.
I turned to look at Alex as he drove. “Thank you.”
“You don't have to thank me. Maestro needs his magic back.”
“Yes, but you do realize that we're destroying the machine once we're done with Talon?”
Alex grimaced. “I expected as much. I knew I'd have to get it back to you eventually and that you would then destroy it. Frankly, I know it's against policy but it needs to be destroyed. No good can come from that machine.”
We went silent for a while, the D.C. streets busy outside our windows. It felt odd to be sitting still, riding calmly with Alex, when my parents' murderer waited in my home for magic-extraction and execution. Soon, it would all be over.
“I'm sorry that I threatened you, Alex,” I said softly.
Alex sighed. “I can't begin to understand what you've gone through, Amara. And I can't say that if my parents were murdered and their murderer stood before me that I would act any differently than you intend to. In fact, I'm certain that I would do everything within my power to avenge them. But I don't have your kind of power and, as I said, I can't understand it. Maybe we could both try to remember that the next time we have a disagreement.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Okay.” He nodded. Then he glanced at me and said, “Make that motherfucker suffer, Spectra.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Talon was shoved roughly into the extractor and strapped to the metal chair. The wounds on his broken wings reopened and started to bleed. It didn't matter; it wasn't as if we'd have to clean the extractor afterward.
The furniture in our second living room—the one we used for company—had been shoved against the walls to make room for the extractor. It sat in the middle of the space, surrounded by a ring of supes. We watched somberly as the panel closed over Talon's frantic face, his screams muffled by the leather gag. My kishanos stood to either side of me; they looked at me expectantly.
I looked at Leo. “Would you care to do the honors?”
Leo grinned and stepped forward. He pushed the button, and we watched as the first vial was filled with a pale red liquid. Lily handed Leo a fresh vial when it came time to change it out, and Leo grinned as he did. But once that second vial was full, I stepped forward and hit the button to stop the process. Talon had taken two vials from Leo and that's what we'd take back. I wouldn't risk killing him by extracting anymore; it was too good a death for Talon.
Leo gave me a crisp nod as he removed the second vial, then went to set up the injector gun. The gun, along with the vials of stolen magic, had been found in Talon's bedroom. The basement had turned out to be a normal basement for once, full of boxes of old clothes and furniture instead of a supervillain's lab and an escape tunnel. Everyone but Leo had reclaimed their magic while Alex and I were picking up the extractor. It was Leo's turn at last, but as he moved to set the injector against his inner elbow, I remembered something important. I jerked forward and grabbed his hand.
“What are you doing?” Leo gaped at me. “Let go of me.”
