Magic Resistant (5 page)

The warmth of his hands on her leg took on a
new meaning. Uncomfortably aware of his long, elegant fingers, she
idly wondered how they would feel sliding further up her body.
Furious with herself, she again jerked her leg away from him. This
time he had a firm grip and lightening slammed through her injured
limb.

Damn it, where was her head? She caused more
pain by reacting instead of thinking.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt
you. I just wanted to heal your ankle.”

His apparent concern and her unwanted
attraction to him had her snapping at him. She needed anger to put
some distance between them. She didn’t want to feel any type of
sexual pull towards him and was ashamed at her body’s reaction.

“If you hadn’t yanked me into that damn
world, I wouldn’t need any healing! I’d still be in one piece and
not hiding out in some crappy room with only one bed.... one bed?!
Why in the nine hells is there only one bed? You know what, I don’t
care. I’m not staying here. Give me a phone so I can get picked
up.”

Looking wildly around the room, she didn’t
see any phone in sight. Using the bed to leverage herself up, she
slid away from Jackson and his tempting hands. Marching towards the
kitchenette to search for a phone, she crumpled onto the floor in
agony.

Didn’t she just berate herself for not
thinking first? Keep this stupidity up and it would take weeks to
heal, making her vulnerable and dependant on his good will. If he
had any.

She glared at Jackson, daring him to say
anything. Grim, he stared back, no hint of pity or sympathy and
offered her a hand up. Swallowing her pride, she placed her hand in
his and braced for the electrical tingle his touch had previously
caused. Sure enough, as soon as his fingers curled around hers, the
sensation came back and along with it, a fluttering in her belly.
Julia used his strength to hoist herself up, keeping her weight off
her injured ankle.

His unyielding chest grazed hers, hardening
her nipples and she hoped he wouldn’t notice. Wobbling, she
clutched at his bicep, the solid muscle contracting when she made
contact.

She told herself she was a grown woman and
above an adolescent crush. Hormones no longer ruled her life, left
behind decades ago. It didn’t help.

Instead her attention focused on his callused
palm, the smoothness of his skin, the faint wood smoke scent
drifting from him and the way the light picked up copper highlights
in his hair. Oh damn, she was losing it. If she didn’t gain
control, she’d do something horribly embarrassing, like throwing
herself at him.

Shifting her weight, a slight stabbing pain
brought her back to reality.

Dropping Jackson’s hand, she hopped
backwards, moving closer to the bed and sank down. It squeaked and
shuddered as it took her weight.

Bed wouldn’t last a good night of marathon
sex
, she thought then scolded herself,
damn it mind, get out
of the gutter
.

“Thanks” She said grudgingly. “What do you
plan on doing with me? I’m casting my vote for ‘Let the innocent
woman go.’ I’m fine with you blindfolding me and dropped me off
somewhere.”

Those gorgeous cinnamon eyes of his stared as
he weighed his options. He didn’t have many. It all depended on how
much she’d learned about their location and whether or not if he
was a cold-blooded killer.

“I want to let you go, really I do. But I
can’t. He got too close to me this time and I don’t know how he did
it. I can’t have you leading him to me if I let you go.” He sounded
genuinely apologetic and pleading with her to understand.

What she understood was the need to keep
quiet. She couldn’t tell him Markus was unable to find Jackson
without her help. She alone knew the tracer spell used to track
him. If he thought the others could still find him then she had
leverage, maybe a way to talk herself out of this situation.

“You know it’s just a matter of time before
they find us. Markus won’t rest until he knows where I am. He’s my
mentor.” She jutted out her chin, hoping this information worked
for and not against her. If he thought killing or sacrificing her
to demons would stop Markus from hunting him then she was in deep
shit.

Jackson relaxed and chuckled, shocking her.
Faint lines crinkled around his mouth and eyes showing he spent a
fair amount of time laughing. He ran a hand through his thick hair,
mussing it up further. Damn, he’d look so hot after a night of
heavy loving.

Mind, gutter, out!
She demanded,
exasperated at her dirty thoughts.

“I’ve been on the run from him for several
months now. Twice he's gotten close. That's it.” He strode to the
door, his back to her (even his ass was nice!) for a moment before
he whirled around. She flicked her eyes upwards. “This room’s so
heavily warded the Coterie would be envious. No one has a clue
about this place.”

Prowling towards the bed, he peered intently
at her. “I need to exam you for any tracking spells and devices,
including GPS. You’d be amazed at how many of the Coterie and our
Enforcers can be tracked through their cell phones. Great way to
avoid them too.”

He stepped closer, making her uncomfortably
aware of the short distance between them. Her face level with his
stomach, she saw the ripples of his muscle through his thin
tee-shirt. If she reached out, it’d be all too easy to lift his
shirt and run her fingers over his flesh. The temptation burned in
her, enticing her. Just one touch to see if he was the same
fascinating mixture of hard and silky soft as his bicep. She chided
herself for ogling him again and tore her gaze away from his
body.

Meeting his eyes, she noticed they were a tad
vacant, focused on her, but not quite seeing her. He’d dropped into
a slight trance to open his inner sight.

The ability to view the world and its
inhabitants on the magical spectrum was present in all mages, some
stronger than others. Some people called it the aura and in a basic
sense it was. However, instead of seeing the essence of a person in
colours, the etheric body showed the true self of that
individual.

Everything connected to the person - be it
emotions, spells woven upon the body or the inner core (the
struggle between good and evil) - was visible while using the inner
sight. Julia never realized how exposed and defenseless she felt
with someone looking at her etheric body.

Squirming, she flushed with embarrassment.
She’d been lusting for him while he’d examined her. Had he seen it,
understood what it meant?

Nervous, she counted off her earrings,
tracing each one. When she touched the pearl nestled in her tragus,
she nearly sighed in relief. That one contained her mental
shielding spell, a permanently running spell to mask her thoughts
and emotions. While it was a rare mage who heard thoughts when
using true sight, it would be just her luck if he was one of
them.

Mental shielding was one of the first spells
Julia had learned to imbue into a gem. As long as she wore the
earring, it protected her. The permanency spell made it so she
wouldn’t need to re-imbue it and unlike other imbued gems, it would
never fade. Guarding her thoughts at all times was a must, lest one
of her colleagues found out she was magic resistant.

The Coterie evaluated all mages at a young
age then stamped them with a pass or fail. If they’re resistant,
they’re executed on the spot. Diligent and rigorous testing
ferreted out all those with the defective genetic code. Very few
slipped through the cracks. Thankfully, it was an extremely rare
condition.

She couldn’t imagine being the executioner,
having to kill defenseless, innocent children. Did they regret it
or see it as a job well done?

A benefactor had kept her safe during the
testing period. He’d changed the results (how, she had no idea
since they heavily guarded the tests), leaving her alive but
regarded as lacking in magical talents. She’d heard the whispers,
wondering why they saddled their strongest field mage, Markus, with
a weak mage.

They had expected her to fail and perhaps
even die young in a spell battle. Determined to prove them wrong,
she poured all her energy into overcoming her genetic flaw. The
past two decades she’d bolstered her weaker spells with her imbued
earrings, hiding behind a careful façade. The whispers died down,
fooled into believing she was a worthy partner for Markus.

Perhaps if she captured Jackson, she would
prove her merit to herself.

A gleaming blade sliced through so swiftly
it took a few moments for death to catch up. A scream silenced,
eyes forever sightless.

Why were these memories plaguing her? She’d
buried them eons ago along with any doubt to the mindless revulsion
and unwarranted fear towards the magic resistant.

Frown lines appeared as Jackson continued
staring at her. Her etheric body had confused him. As he focused
back on the normal spectrum, he opened his mouth to speak and then
firmly shut it. The awkward silence lengthened, annoying her and
she couldn’t take it. Anxious, she shifted on the bed, digging her
fingers into the blanket. Her nerves stretched thin from the battle
and then being kidnapped.

“What? What did you see?” She demanded,
trying to force his hand. He was unsettled and if she could keep
him off-balanced it might work in her favour.

“The spells. They unraveled while I watched.”
Jackson stepped away from her as if afraid she’d contaminate him.
“I’ve spent a lot of time using inner sight. Saved my ass numerous
occasions. But I’ve never seen spells unravel. They’ve faded,
gotten weaker, but never… unraveled. What are you?” His last words
held confusion and a hint of anger.

Damn it. She forgot to dispel all the magic
on her. Spells wearing off was the sole way her etheric body looked
different from other mages. Taught at a young age, she hid this
fact, dispelled as quickly as possible when mages used inner sight
on her. Getting caught “naked” was better than someone seeing the
truth. How could she have been so careless?

Enforcers, as well as civilians, killed mages
like her upon discovery, duty bound to so. Indoctrinated from
birth, magic resistant meant evil. She’d spent many hours at school
learning how corrupt, foul and malevolent she was due to a genetic
anomaly. Considered a scourge to cleanse, a threat to all mages,
she hid in plain sight within the Enforcers’ ranks.

Now, granted, the last well-known magic
resistant mage had killed hundreds of mages before they caught and
executed him, though it seemed a bit extreme to punish an entire
race for one crazy person. The theory was he went insane with
jealousy since he was unable to cast and access magic as easily as
a normal mage. He became delusional and thought “they” were out to
get him. By the end, they were.

She had no idea how many like her existed, if
she was the only one flying under the radar or if others were
hiding out as well. One single person knew what she was and
encouraged her to develop her talent - Keeper.

“I’m a mage, just like you.” Her tone
forceful and a little brittle. It’d been a long time since she
tried to explain away her difference and she wasn’t sure how much
he'd accept.

Would a fugitive Enforcer feel the need to
execute her? She didn’t want to find out.

Jackson looked unwilling to believe her.
Somehow she was different, her etheric proved it but like most
mages, he’d never run into someone like her before.

Surprise, surprise.

While the Coterie and the Academy teachers
expounded on how they were vile creatures and must die, they never
explained
how
to recognize a magic resistant mage.
Shortsighted of them, ignoring such an important detail.

She wasn’t telling.

Taking a deep breath, she decided to tell him
one of her secrets, one that would throw him off the scent. Also, a
secret that wouldn’t get her killed. Her chest tightened and she
had to force the words out. Hiding who she was and what she could
do was second nature to her now.

“It’s my imbued earrings. One of them is a
defensive spell to deflect inner sight. It makes it harder to truly
see me.” Part of that was correct at least. Six earrings in each
ear, they all contained different magical spells imbued into them.
Time consuming, labour intensive and plain hard to do, the art of
imbuing lost through the ages as most mages expended little energy
casting their memorized spells. Why bother spending over a month
creating an imbued gem when it was easier learning the spell?

She, on the other hand, spent too much energy
to cast the simplest spell and sometimes they didn’t go correctly.
Better to have backup spells, just in case.

Keeper had taught her the lost skill when she
was twelve and continued to work with her to perfect the craft.
Almost a decade passed before she imbued her first successful
earring. A tiny glow of pride warmed her when she recalled her
breakthrough. Discouraged, she thought that “Ah-ha!” moment would
never happen. Keeper had been her staunch rock, her voice of
strength. Without him, she would have quit the Enforcers, quit
magic altogether. To finally have a spell stick, to recast it with
the trigger word and the stone not exploding, had been
exhilarating.

STUNNED, JACKSON SHOOK his head. He couldn’t
conceive of someone having an imbued item. They wore out within two
years of their creation, the last known ones created over two
centuries ago. For someone to have working items, simply unheard of
and nothing short of a miracle. Either it had permanency cast upon
it, a difficult spell to learn and energy draining when used, or a
mage still made them.

The imp, Xerix, was a different matter. Bound
by summoning magic, it tied his essence to the diamond. Essentially
a speed dial for demons. Instead of going through a long ritual to
summon him, the ring immediately brought the imp forth. Creating a
summoning ring took talent and only worked with lesser imps.
Impossible to tame the more powerful ones in such a way.