They headed for the door, voices fading as the two warlocks discussed eliminating Vander Kines. “I understand Kines travels with his one and only, a pixie of all things. He will be more vulnerable at that time. Accidents do happen during times of travel.”
Danzig’s low chuckled filled the air as he opened the door. “Another worthy consideration, Alistair.”
Blessed silence filled the room with Danzig and Raiden’s absence. Only the far too quiet sounds of Niki’s ragged inhales and exhales breached that silence. Uncomfortably hanging from the restraints, I stared at my warlock, watching his chest rise andfall. As long as Niki was alive, we had a fighting chance. I may not have had a plan before, but that was then, and this was now.
While it was true that I couldn’t reach the part of me that controlled my translocation and transformation magic, what was also true was that I could stillseemagic. Tenzen had known I could do that. He’d also known I could dismantle magical castings and spells. What he’d also known was that meant next to nothing to him. Tenzen didn’t weave magic like witches and warlocks did. The shackles binding me were different than the magic surrounding Danzig and Raiden. Danzig was right, I couldn’t unravel the magic in the shackles because it was myownmagic. Theirs was a different story.
A slow grin lifted my lips and oh, how I wished I could twitch my tails. Maybe I was stuck, but Niki wasn’t. Danzig and Raiden didn’t consider my warlock a threat any longer. They weren’t wrong, but they weren’t right either. Niki just had an empty magical gas tank. He was akin to a vehicle left to rot in the hot desert.
But there were plenty of magical gas stations surrounding us, and that magical gas would much rather fuel a warlock like Nikodemus Holland than the likes of Danzig and Raiden. I’d seen how much magic loved my warlock. If given a hint of a chance, the magic Danzig and Raiden trapped wouldn’t just run to Niki, it would fly. And I planned on giving that magic a lot more than a merechanceat escape.
Twenty-Nine
Hikaru
Time lost any sense of meaning. The djinn, Aurelia, often spoke of time being meaningless. I’d heard Helios say something similar. I hadn’t lived as long as the djinn, but I too often found time slipping by with no way to gauge its passage. Seasons came and went with little to mark their change beyond the natural flora and fauna, and even then, I was known to spend whole seasons underground, playing and causing mischief within the endless tunnels of the Magical Usage Council.
For all my now jaded memories, those were the few that Tenzen’s betrayal couldn’t touch. Those carefree days were often spent with the family I’d created, the family that had been decimated by the arrogant conceit of a creature that refused to accept a changed world order.
The hours that had slipped by this time were not so long. Of that, I was positive. Niki’s breathing was unchanged—no better or worse. My pleas for him to wake had fallen on unconscious ears. I missed our easy banter. What I wouldn’t give for Niki to call me his menace again.
I told myself that I’d hear that word, along with so many others, again. I silently hoped not too much time hadpassed. I couldn’t imagine the panic that would go through Niki’s son’s mind if he couldn’t get in touch with his pops. Knowing Erasmus, he’d fly to California, inadvertently placing himself in more danger. Now that Danzig had Niki, he didn’t need Erasmus. Knowing Danzig’s hate-filled hard-on for necromancers, I didn’t put it past him to attempt to harm Erasmus anyway. I did not want to get us out of this situation only to learn that something tragic had happened to Niki’s son. I would not save him to lose him all over again.
Never one for idleness, I was beginning to get fussy when the door finally opened again. Danzig walked in first, followed by Raiden and then Bailor—all of them wearing ridiculous deep blue robes that dragged the ground. Each robe came complete with a hood that rode low over their eyes. I couldn’t help but scoff at the imagery.
“Something amusing, kitsune?” Bailor asked. Seemed like none of these warlocks cared to use my name. It was a way of making me less in their minds. Calling me by my species instead of my name eliminated my individuality. It was yet another prejudiced justification for their actions.
“The lot of you look ridiculous. Niki wouldn’t be caught dead in something like that,” I answered.
Danzig laughed. “Just one more issue you are wrong about, kitsune. I will make it a special point to bury Holland in one of these robes.”
I just grinned. “Oh, I seriously doubt there’ll be a single one of those robes left when my warlock passes from this world.”
“Cocky bastard, isn’t he?” Bailor sneered.
“It is the way of kitsune,” Raiden answered, as if he’d met a thousand kitsune over the years and found us all tiresome.
Danzig moved further into the room, standing above Niki but thankfully not touching my warlock. “He will learn his lesson soon enough. All of them will.”
I rolled my eyes. “You really think being in charge of the Magical Usage Council is going to earn you that much clout?” Honestly, these warlocks were delusional.
Danzig’s body momentarily stilled. “I suppose our intentions will be known soon enough, though I am curious as to how you know what I desire.”
“Niki and I figured it out because we’re not idiots. By the way, Keir knows too.” I threw out the last to give them a bit more food for thought. These warlocks weren’t going to live long enough to be a threat to Keir or anyone else in the Magical Usage Council.
Raiden shrugged. “A mere complication, and a small one at that. The council is currently too weak to put up much of a challenge.”
“Hmm…I suppose you would think that. Then again, you’ve been wrong about soooo many other things, it shouldn’t be a surprise you’re wrong about this too.” I allowed my lips to pull back into a feral grin. Leaning forward, pushing the limit of my restraints, I said, “You have no idea what those left within the Magical Usage Council are capable of. I almost wish all of you were going to live long enough to find out.”
Ever so slight fidgeting indicated I’d managed to rattle a few mental cages.
“And you obviously have no idea what Huxley left behind within the walls of the Magical Usage Council.” Danzig’s cruel smile distorted his face. “But I do. Or, at least I know where to start looking. Do you think those restraints you’re caught in were the only gifts Huxley gave me?”
“You’ve got a strange definition of the word,gift. Personally, I go for the traditional items. A nice dinner, some lovely flowers, maybe a beautiful piece of jewelry or gift certificate to a lovely salon. A drive along the coastline with the top down. A?—”
“Enough of this nonsense!” Bailor had had enough. That was okay. My shoulders had gone numb long ago and I knew when Ifinally did make it out of these restraints, my joints were going to be pissed. “Get on with it, Stefan. Each of us gets two tails. That’s what was promised and that is what I want.”
Not while I have breath left in my body.
