Magic Resistant (31 page)

Now, Logan faced a pissed off Markus. She
actually felt a little sorry for Logan. He had no idea what he
faced. She winced as Markus attacked with one of his more powerful
spells.

The Avenging Reaper.

An illusion, but a damn scary one.

He conjured a Grim Reaper out of smoke and
lightning. Its scythe rested on its black cloaked shoulder with its
bony hand gripping the handle. The cowl hid most of its face in
deep shadows with a bony jaw barely visible, adding to the horror
of seeing Death personified.

She understood why he used this spell - to
scare everyone into submission - however it had the opposite effect
on a few of the Mages Elites and the two guilty Elite werewolves.
They went on the offensive, prepared to defend their leaders.

One of the werewolves, Jim, jumped towards
the Grim Reaper, his jaw and teeth lengthening, ready to tear the
threat apart.

Too bad he didn’t use his other senses,
particularly his sense of smell. He would’ve realized he was
attacking an illusion and not a solid creature. He went flying
through the Reaper and slammed into Augustus. Had it been any
other, they both would have fallen over. A vampire, however, was
hard to move, never mind knock over.

The werewolf crumpled at Augustus’ feet,
blood pouring from his broken nose, whimpering pitifully.

Augustus took exception to Jim crashing into
him, even though he was unharmed. Possibly Augustus thought the
werewolf a valid target for his anger over the use of vampire blood
on other races. Either way, he picked up the whimpering and
bleeding werewolf with one hand and bared his teeth. Augustus
buried his fangs deep into Jim’s neck before anyone could react.
With one hand he kept the throat exposed while his other hand
gripped Jim’s arm tight. The sound of his humerus snapping was
swallowed up by furious yelling.

Vampires, as a rule, couldn’t stand the taste
of any blood except human. Fury didn’t begin to describe Augustus’
emotions as he ignored the horrid flavour to dole out
punishment.

Jim’s whimpering escalated to howls of
pain.

How’d he survive training, especially
Elite training?
Julia thought with loathing.

Systematically tortured as part of their
training, werewolves prided themselves on their strength. They
never broke nor turned tail during war. And with their phenomenal
healing recovery, they had it worse. A broken bone healed within
hours. They spent most of their time in pain during their years in
the Enforcer Academy.

Elites proved themselves as the strongest,
smartest and most dedicated to their Coterie leader. A broken arm
was a minor inconvenience compared to everything else they’ve had
to endure. A callous thought, yes, but it didn’t stop her feelings
of repugnance toward this weak, pitiful excuse of an Elite.

The other werewolves hung back, not jumping
to the aid of one of their own. Satisfaction flittered across many
of their faces, deeming this a fitting punishment for his
crimes.

Logan glared at Jim in disgust before
shifting his attention back to the Reaper. He tensed, waiting for
an opening to attack which would never come. Markus didn’t used the
Grim Reaper for aggression, but instead to draw attention away from
him.

The real threat - Markus himself.

It wasn’t often she saw him in action as most
people tended to give up as soon as they saw him. Seldom was
someone dumb enough to take him on in a fight and Logan was about
to find out why. Eagerness wiggled inside her, wanting him bloodied
and put in his place.

As Markus released a magic arrow aimed at
Logan, the other Werewolf Elite, Kim, attacked. Teeth clamped on
Markus arm, viciously shaking it. The arrow went wild and careened
near Mara and Roan. Neither flinched as it whipped past them,
burying itself into the cement wall behind them.

Relatively weak magic, the arrow wouldn’t
inflict much damaged on an unprotected person. And no way were the
Coterie mages unprotected. If she opened her sight, she’d see
layers upon layers of defensive magic.

Once she made the mistake of viewing Mara
with her sight and it took hours for that nasty headache to
disappear.

While neither one of them viewed the arrow as
a threat, the Mage Elites were less inclined to ignore possible
danger to their leaders. These Elites trained daily, rigorous,
painstaking routines, honing their bodies and spells into lethal
weapons. Their goal, safeguard the leaders at all cost. Any one of
them would intercept a death spell.

Julia watched, or more accurately she
blinked, as they formed a barrier to insulate Mara and Roan from
any harm. Damn, they moved fast. One moment, they lined the wall
behind the Mage Coterie, the next, they were several feet forward.
A sea of black clothed men and women, unyielding and grim with
their hands resting near their spell components, ready to
defend.

They made no other move to engage in the
fight or step between Markus and Logan. Their main concern was
keeping the Mage Coterie safe.

Mara wasn’t too pleased with their actions
though. She shoved one aside in order to watch the unfolding event,
glowering at the unfortunate Elite in front of her. Roan simply
towered above the Elites, no worries about them blocking his
view.

Markus never took his gaze off Logan, didn’t
even acknowledge Kim gnawing on his arm. Logan, however, made the
mistake of glancing at Kim. Those few moments of inattention
allowed Markus to strike.

Proving why most feared him, Markus casted in
quick succession an electrical shock spell followed by sleep. His
body thrummed with energy, eyes blazing hot with contained power.
These spells scarcely caused a dip in his reservoirs. Julia had
witnessed him slinging massive amounts of magic before, drawing
from a near limitless well.

Few could cast as swiftly as her partner
without a few seconds in between to replenish their energy levels.
He did it flawlessly. She loved watching him in action.

Incapacitating Logan with as few casualties
as possible drove his spell choice. Shock him, make him susceptible
to the sleep.

Taking out a werewolf wasn’t suicidal if the
mage had access to their spells and not silenced.

A Top Alpha, though, was another matter. With
the strength of their pack behind them, an Alpha is almost immune
to magic. It takes a hell of a lot more to bring them down.

Not surprising, Logan didn’t succumb to
sleep. The shock spell, though, had him howling for a few moments.
A powerful jolt slammed through his nervous system.

If the situation hadn’t been so tense, Julia
would’ve giggled at the sight of the menacing Alpha howling like a
pup. He deserved all the pain he received for the atrocities he
committed against humans. She wasn’t above enjoying the
payback.

Sweeping his arm wide, Markus tossed the
Werewolf Elite to the side. Kim slammed into the wall as the other
Werewolf Elites stepped aside. He crumpled onto the floor in a
daze. Scratches formed on Markus. His shielding had taken its
maximum amount of damage and it’d worn off.

The scent of blood had the werewolves and
vampires sniffing the air. Damn it. Everyone was edgy enough at
this point. Add blood into the mix and it would be harder for the
two races to contain their baser nature. The vampires, though,
cringed when the full scent hit them. Dawn tried to describe the
scent to her, something akin to rotting eggs and moldy sweat
socks.

She saw another werewolf, one she didn’t
recognize, charge toward Markus and Logan. Unsure of his target,
she touched her garnet earring and released the spell stored in it.
Satisfaction coursed through her when he froze in place mid-leap.
She wasn’t as strong as Markus, but she held her own.

The Werewolf and Mage Elites were tense,
waiting to join the fray. They only needed the go ahead from their
respective leaders. Logan was too busy with Markus to order them to
attack and Aaron didn't seem inclined to help. Mara and Roan were
content to let one of their more potent mages deal with the
situation.

The main double doors crashed open, dragging
her attention away from Markus. Mage Enforcers poured through the
entryway. The silent alarm must’ve notified them to the usage of
battle magic. They assessed the situation in a glance.

Unfortunately they were missing some key
information, such as Jackson's proven innocence and the guilt of
Logan and his two Elites. Several locked their attention onto
Jackson immediately, taking in the lack of restraints. Julia saw
the tension in their posture and several gathered energy for
offensive spells. Their training, however, was stronger than their
needed for vengeance and they held off casting. As the Elites and
Coterie leaders were in the room, they knew to wait for
instructions.

Markus threw another electrical spell at
Logan and several of the Mage Enforcers twitched, wanting to join
in, but protocol demanded they wait. They muttered to each other,
trying to understand the situation.

Blood, stronger now, coated the air with
copper. Even Julia’s relatively weak nose picked up the smell. The
Elites restrained their baser instinct, but the desire for carnage
waged within the werewolves. Less trained Enforcers would’ve lost
control. As it was, several of them struggle to contain their
cravings.

A few of the werewolves, the ones under
Logan’s leadership, fought against shifting. Hair sprouted on
exposed flesh, teeth lengthened and eyes glowed an eerie amber. The
affected few refused to let go fully, holding on to their humanity.
Those unaffected touched the others, lending silent support.

Kim, however, didn’t fight it and within
moments, a noticeably crazed large grey wolf stood in his place.
Torn clothing lay on the ground with a few scraps of cloth clinging
to him.

He snarled and shook his head, his ears flat.
Julia hung back, knowing in a room filled with Elites, she was a
little more than a hindrance. They knew the score and would try to
keep the casualties down to a minimum. And, without question,
protect the leaders that needed it. She doubted many would try to
protect Logan, especially since he was up against Markus.

No one was stupid enough to direct Markus’
temper towards them.

She inched closer to Jackson, signaling to
the newcomers she had him covered and not to interfere. A few heads
swiveled her way and astonished shouts of her name sounded above
the ongoing fights.

My, she’d become immensely popular. Get
kidnapped and suddenly everyone knew her name. She had a sinking
feeling the notoriety would take awhile before it died down. Giving
them a quick shake of her head, she indicated for them to stand
down. Without a proper debriefing, they had no idea who was friend
or foe and she had no time to explain.

Logan had recovered from the second lightning
bolt Markus threw at him and looked seriously pissed off. His teeth
and jaw lengthen, his hands changed into sharp claws and deep
growls rumbled from his chest. Partial shifting, when not forced by
an Alpha, was hard to do and harder to maintain. It showed the raw
power contained within him.

Julia suspected he also pulled strength from
his pack. No way did he have the stamina for a partial shifting
after taking two blasts of electricity through his body.

As Julia processed that thought, Logan leaped
at Markus, deciding to ignore the Reaper to his left. He brought up
his claws, ready to rip apart his foe. Julia gasped as Markus
refused to move. He had no shielding left and wouldn’t remain
unscathed if he didn’t move out of the way. She brought her hand up
to her ruby earring and released a fireball, throwing it directly
at Logan.

Hitting his right shoulder, it skipped
upwards and slammed into the side of his head. She stared in
disbelief as the fireball disappeared without causing any damaged.
A faint shimmer from his shielding became visible when the spell
hit him. Damn it, he had a mage in his employ. He wouldn’t have
shielding otherwise. Wasting magic on those who could protect
themselves wasn’t standard procedure.

Had he been expecting trouble?

Horrified, she watched as his claws raked
across Markus’ exposed face. She dug her fingers into Jackson's
arm, drawing from his strength. Could she heal him fast enough?
Were the other mages readying spells as well? She scanned around
and felt no energy signatures, no gathering of magic. Why wouldn’t
they help him? She swiftly looked back at Markus and saw no blood.
No rending tears in his flesh. She exhaled in confusion as the
Reaper moved toward Logan.

The truth of the situation dawned on Julia
and she nearly cheered at Markus’ brilliance.

When attention had shifted to the newcomers,
Markus switched places with the Reaper. Logan attacked an illusion,
unaware of the real threat now behind him. As Markus swept his
bony, and horrifying, hand towards the oblivious leader, Kim again
interfered. He’d recovered from the wall slamming he’d received.
Julia was disappointed to note he appeared fully healed.

Most days, she envied their fast healing.

Today she cursed it.

At least Jim stayed indisposed thanks to
Augustus heartily feeding on him. How much blood did he have? He
thrashed about, trying to break free. Shouldn’t he be unconscious
by now?

Her fireball earring was recharging, its
energy depleted from the useless shot at Logan. Electricity was her
next option. Kim shouldn’t have the same threshold against it as
his boss. While an Elite, she doubted he had any magic shielding
and lacked pack strength to draw on. Vulnerable and she’d take full
advantage of that fact. Touching her amethyst earring, she released
a magic arrow and sent it racing towards him. While he had
preternatural speed, certain magic moved faster.