Contractor (34 page)

"So you can knock me around. You can’t

even get through fur."

"That was 75 percent." Daniel diverted

magic into the tip of his mace. He’d be

somewhat slower, but he could strike with

greater force. "Want to try for 100?"

"I’ve got plenty of tries," it said.

"You’ve only got one."

"We’ll see."

Daniel’s senses flickered. He glanced

up. The ape twitched its head, too.

Magicians were on the way.

Wait. They couldn’t sense contractor

magic.

Daniel bit his lip. Unless they were

coming to see why a few extractors had

mysteriously committed suicide.

The Smasher loped away into an alley;

at the same time, he pushed a lot of his

power down. It wasn’t a full version of the

concealment technique, because he was

moving, but he quickly vanished from

Daniel’s senses. Pursuit didn’t sound like a

smart option with other people so close.

Daniel sprinted down the street, quickly

outpacing the mages. When he was a safe

distance away, he hid himself from their

scrying.

The leftovers of their battle were

everywhere. They’d probably figure out that

it was contractors, but there might be a silver

lining. Knowing the mages were on high alert

would force the Smasher to move cautiously.

Maybe he’d be less brazen with his murders.

Daniel reached the edge of the barrier

and waited. When it fell, he jogged back to

the garage and stripped his armor off. He

was sweaty. He had to ball his hands into

fists to stop the shaking.

If the Smasher had connected, he really

might have died, or been injured enough that

he couldn’t move.

But he wasn’t afraid. Well, a little

afraid. But there was something else.

Adrenaline. Excitement.

Was he actually starting to enjoy

himself?

He gave his head a shake and snapped

the plates off his shoes. He’d had enough for

one night. He finished hiding his armor, then

set off to take his walk.

Chapter Seven

Eleanor Astor

Nickolas, one of Eleanor’s bodyguards,

had the rare talent of sensing magical

residue. Even contractors couldn’t hide their

magic in its totality—at least, not when they

were fighting.

After spending a few minutes inspecting

the scene, he’d returned to the dorm to give

his report to Eleanor and Rachel. He was a

tall, stern-looking man, but Rachel liked him.

He knew what he was doing. "There were

two combatants. One fought using physical

enchantments. The other had some kind of

transformation magic." He looked at the

floor. "It had to be contractors. It makes

sense if we consider the number of Vorid

spawn that have cleaned themselves up."

Eleanor took a sip of her tea. "I agree

with your assessment. Inform headquarters.

We’ll need to spread a net for them."

"Miss Astor. Miss Ashworth." Nickolas

bowed to them and shut the door to their

room.

They stayed seated at their desks.

Neither said anything for a time. Rachel

gripped her knees. Two monsters running

around in Boston. They could be sucking

down souls this very second.

There were already four confirmed

contractors in New York City, and the Wu

had reported nine, five in Beijing and four in

Shanghai. The True Flame hadn’t sent them

intelligence yet, but there had to be more in

Europe. The bottom line was that everyone

had their hands full; they wouldn’t be getting

any backup. She wasn’t sure if they had the

capability to take down two contractors. A

lot weighed on how strong they were.

"Rachel." Eleanor set her teacup down.

"We need to talk."

"About?"

"This is a serious development. We

can’t afford to be playing games."

"If this is about Daniel, I don’t want to -

"

"Enough!" Rachel closed her mouth.

"Your relationship is compromising your

judgment. You’re endangering him, yourself,

and the people of Boston. You saw the

damage to those buildings. They are rapidly

becoming our equals in magical power. We

can’t afford distractions."

"Can’t afford distractions from what?"

Rachel demanded. "My duties? Or just you?"

Eleanor was taken aback. "What?"

"You’ve been against us from day one,"

Rachel said. "Against me! You didn’t want

me talking with Daniel. You didn’t want me

dating Daniel. You didn’t even want me to

be sociable. You pressed me into the same

classes as you. You think my hobbies are

stupid. Well, here’s what I think: you don’t

get to control my life!"

Eleanor slapped her hand on the desk.

"You are my bodyguard, and you will follow

my orders!"

"Not off the field!"

"I don’t approve of him or his attitude. I

demand you end your relationship."

"You don’t know the first thing about

him," Rachel said.

Eleanor folded her arms. "I don’t need

any more than what I already know. He may

be intelligent, but he is irresponsible and

rash. And he is not of the blood."

"Unlike you, I’m from an insignificant

branch family. I can marry outside our stupid

little parade!"

"Rachel, this is -"

"Stop it!" Rachel curled up on her chair.

"Do you just hate it when things go my way?

Is that what it is? I have to be second fiddle

or your little world will fall apart?"

Eleanor shook her head. "Rachel…

matters of the heart can be painful. I just—I

only mean to help you, not hurt you. You are

my sister, and he isn’t good enough for you in

any capacity. I won’t stand for you to be

attached to some…" She waved a hand. "…

some useless vagabond."

"He isn’t a useless vagabond. He’s a

good person. He’s -"

"He is full of himself, and will dump

you as soon as he’s bored with you."

"Can’t you just let me have one thing?"

Rachel’s face was clenched tight. She

couldn’t look at Eleanor. "I just want one,

Elly."

"For god’s sake, compose yourself.

What, are you going to tell me you love him?

After a few short weeks?"

Rachel swallowed. She blinked the

tears to a stop. "I care about him. If you gave

him half a chance—if you just met him

halfway, you’d see him like I do."

"You’re infatuated. He’ll show his true

colors to you soon enough." Eleanor sighed,

then stood from her chair. "I thought college

would put an end to the childishness, the

dolls, the boys. You’ll just have to learn the

hard way. When it's over, we’ll apologize

just like we always do, and everything will

go back to normal."

You mean I’ll apologize to you, just

like I always do. How magnanimous of you

not to hold my hysterics against me.

Rachel spat the words in her mind, but

her lips were sealed tight. She had nowhere

else to go. And so she was trapped.

Eleanor silently changed into her

nightclothes. Rachel sat in her chair, not

bothering to look up. Eleanor turned off the

light and curled into her comforters. She was

asleep in minutes—not a care in the world.

She was absolutely confident that Rachel

would come crawling back to her.

That was it, then. Rachel’s concerns

were too petty for Princess Elly to

acknowledge. Rachel was the one that was

misguided. Eleanor always knew what was

best, just like she did when she threw out

Reggie, and just like she did every time they

had a disagreement on any subject at all for

eight years running.

Rachel fell into her bed without

bothering to change. She held one of her

dolls to her chest. And that’s when it struck

her. She was a doll. Eleanor’s doll.

****

Daniel woke up from his morning nap

feeling more or less normal. His arm

twinged where the smasher got in that

glancing blow. He threw on some clothes

and combed his hair somewhat straight. It

was good enough for brunch. Jack was gone.

Probably eating already.

There was a knock on the door. He

paused, then quickly scryed through the

wood. It was none other than Eleanor Astor.

Alone.

Daniel narrowed his eyes. She wasn’t

here to confess her undying love. He fiddled

with his cell phone for a minute, then opened

the door and feigned surprise. "…dearest

Elly. Always a pleasure."

"Spare me your facetiousness. I have a

message for you. From Rachel."

Daniel slumped against the wall and

folded his arms. "Ok."

"She’s decided she no longer wishes to

see you."

Daniel stared at her. Eleanor stared

back.

"…do you seriously think I’m that

stupid?" he asked.

Eleanor’s cheeks blushed the slightest

bit pink, but it faded quickly. "Whether you

believe me or not isn’t important. You’ve

slighted my best friend with your…" She

eyed his bedhead. "…well. I don’t think I

have to justify her decision." She leaned

forward. "My father is a very powerful man.

I am a very powerful woman. I’d advise you

to stay away from her."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I don’t make threats, Fitzgerald, I make

demands, and I expect people like you to

comply."

"Did you come up with that line all by

yourself?"

"If you so much as look at her, or me, for

that matter, in a way that incites my

annoyance, the full power of the Astors will

lay itself upon your head." Daniel opened his

mouth, but Eleanor cut him off. "Knowing

you, that alone is not enough. But I

understand your father’s position at work is

rather fragile after his long depression. Be a

shame if he lost his job."

"It sure would be."

"And your insurance payments from your

mother’s death? I can have the circumstances

reinvestigated. I could destroy your family’s

financial security with a simple phone call."

"And you’d do all that just so I stop

going out with Rachel. You’re an obsessed

control freak." Daniel smirked. "At least be honest with me. There’s no message, is

there? You’re here for you, not for her."

"Your skull may be the thickest I’ve

encountered in my time on this sad earth.

Let’s try this again." Eleanor brushed a

strand of her white-blonde hair back into

place. "You’re right—Rachel didn’t give me

a message. But now you’ll be the one

breaking up with her."

"And why would I do that?"

"I’ve already said what I’m prepared to

do if you don’t."

"So, let me get this straight. You want

me to break up with Rachel, who I think is

quite happy with how things are going, or

you’ll ruin my life. So…why, exactly?"

"I don’t like you, Fitzgerald," Eleanor

said. "I don’t like your attitude. Your jokes

are in poor taste. Your face twists my

stomach. And I want you gone."

"I think," Daniel said, "you’re just afraid I’ll put Rachel outside your control."

"Rachel and I have something you don’t

understand. In time, she’ll realize I was

right."

Daniel frowned. "Why do you care so

much? I know you don’t like me, but this

seems just a tiny bit extreme. Are you

actually a lesbian or something?"

She slapped him across the face. He let

it hit him, but he ducked his cheek back a bit

to stop the worst of it. It still stung. "How

dare you!" She put her hands on her hips.

"I’m protecting my friend, my best, and truest

friend, because you’ve filled her head with

your polluting influence."

"I’m sure she’s just fine with that."

"And I’m sure," Eleanor said, "that you look at me just like all the others. I’m a

cruel, inhuman bitch, isn’t that right? The

duchess, they call me."

"Took the words right out of my mouth."

"Indeed. You must think it doesn’t

bother me when she’s so wrapped up, so

stricken, that she bites back at me when I try

to point out her mistakes. It hurts me. It

shakes me to my core. But I hide that,

Fitzgerald, I trample on it, because it will not

do for me to display such feelings. I will

bear her pain and her anger. I will be the

rock in her storm, because that’s what

friends do. I will not allow her to sacrifice

everything for…" Eleanor made a face and

looked Daniel up and down. "…for this."

Daniel was taken aback. In a strange and

twisted way, she was incredibly loyal to

Rachel. She just couldn’t see the forest for

the trees. The idea that she was being

overbearing and oppressive wasn’t even in

her sphere of existence.

He only managed a lame mumble in

response. "Glad you have such a high

opinion of me."

"Break up with her by the end of the

day," Eleanor said, "or I’ll make you regret it."