Firewall (Magic Born) (24 page)

Epilogue

Eighteen months later

Tuyet looked out the window on to the Montparnasse boulevard below. No sign of Hayes. If he didn’t hurry, he would miss the livestream. She returned to the tiny kitchen. The dining table held a tablet, already running commentary from American news broadcasters as they waited for the president. Next to that sat a bottle of champagne and two flutes.

Ten minutes to go.

She opened another window on the tablet and made a video call. It would have been quicker to trancehack but Hayes wanted to see this too. Vadim answered, clearly not used to the mundane technology.

“Comrade! Ready for a party?” Tuyet beamed, so happy to see her friend’s face again.

The camera tilted sideways for a moment, then his face went back to right-side up. Little hands clasped his cheeks and a pair of toddler legs were draped around his neck. Dani was sitting on his shoulders. “I’m ready for all the money this party’s going to make me. Gods, I haven’t seen Sinsuality this full of people in, like, ever.” He laughed, the sound happy but with a manic undercurrent to it.

The ordinance that had turned FreakTown into a prison had been repealed, returning life to a semblance of normal for the Magic Born there. A new normal, though, that involved far more openness than many were ready for. Ready or not, the city was dealing. Within days of the law being overturned, Jason Beckwith had revealed he was a witch. The announcement caused a minor firestorm calling for his arrest, but it quickly died down. He remained free, and the Beckwith family quietly accepted Calla into the tapestry of their lives.

The camera jerked suddenly, the frame filled by Nate’s grinning face. “I know a secret,” he said in a singsong voice.

Tuyet answered with a grin of her own. “Did you finally talk Calla into finding out?”

He nodded. “I told her if she made me wait another four months to find out what we’re having, that there were certain things she could do without in that time.” He wagged his eyebrows, happiness etched on his face.

The former cop now worked as a private detective alongside a retired officer named Mullins. Tuyet had never asked for confirmation, but she was pretty sure the older cop had acted as Nate’s source of information inside the department. Theirs was a small business, mostly divorce cases and fraud investigations, but Nate seemed content to use his skills as an investigator in any capacity. Calla had been able to restart her jewelry design business once the ordinance was repealed and now had an online storefront, a first for a Magic Born. Tuyet had even ordered a bracelet from her the previous Christmas.

“Don’t keep me in suspense, I want to know.” The door rattled as Hayes entered the apartment. “Oh, wait! Dale’s here.”

Tuyet hurried to meet him in the hall, a bundle of nerves.

He kissed her soundly. “Hi, honey. I’m home.”

She didn’t have it in her to pretend to be annoyed with his joke today. “I was afraid you’d be late.”

“No, no way I’d miss this. Though it might have been fun if you’d come to the meeting with me. We could have watched on the vidscreens. Nearly every American in the city must have been in Harry’s by the time I left. I could have auctioned off my seat.”

She’d considered joining him to watch with some of the friends they’d made since settling in Paris, but for reasons she couldn’t explain, this felt like it should be a private moment. Besides, their Paris friends didn’t know details of their past, or about their time in New Corinth.

“Come on.” She took his hand and tugged him toward the kitchen. “Nate talked Calla into finding out what they’re having and he was about to tell me.”

Hayes took a seat at the table and pulled Tuyet into his lap. The screen showed a wide shot of the floor at Sinsuality, which was full of both Magic Born and Normals. A large vidscreen had been set up over the bar, showing the same feed Tuyet had cued up on the tablet’s other window.

The president was speaking. Tuyet pushed a tiny bit of magic into the tablet to switch the windows and raise the volume.

“—decades of repression now come to an end with the signing of this legislation. It will be the start of a new era in this country, one in which Normal and Magic Born must learn to live together.”

Vadim’s voice cut in from the other feed. “I think she’s a little behind on that one. Some of them seem to be living together quite well.”

A snicker that could only be Calla followed.

“Her remarks are a little dry.” Of course Lizzie would critique a politician’s words. She already had plans, and a small staff behind her, to run for city council once the zone was legally its own district. “You would think the speechwriters would bring their A game at a time like this.”

A soft, babyish voice said something indecipherable. Lizzie answered, “We’ll get a snack in just a minute, sweetie. Drink your juice for right now.”

Tuyet focused on the news livestream as the image changed. The president had finished her remarks and was seated behind a desk, an array of pens before her. A sudden knot of emotion welled in Tuyet’s throat and tears threatened. This was really happening. Even as she watched the signing ceremony, she almost couldn’t believe it.

With the final stroke from the last pen, it was official. A sob broke free as the FreakTown video call erupted with cheers. Hayes tightened his hold on her and buried his face in her neck, his lips grazing the skin just below her ear.

“And that is the end of the Magic Laws,” intoned the newsreader on the livestream. “After almost six decades of legal segregation, the Magic Born are now officially full citizens again. Or will be, in three months time when this legislation takes full effect.”

Footage of the president shaking hands with congressional leaders changed to that of what had become known as the New Corinth Video. The virus Tuyet and the others had sent out across cyberspace had gone farther than they’d dreamed, far out of the city and all across the United States. Aided by trancehackers in zones all over, the video was ultimately seen by millions as it was replayed first via the virus spell and then by news organizations. Investigations were launched at the city, state and federal levels. The Magic Laws were debated in ways that the original panic that got them passed in the first place had never allowed. In a much shorter time frame than anyone could have dared dream, the dominoes fell as one city, one state after another drafted their own versions of repeal, allowing varying degrees of Magic Born integration back into society. Now it had just been done on a federal level. The Magic Laws were well and truly dead.

Hayes stared at the recap on the screen, his eyes narrowing at some of the decades-old footage. “Hacktivists started this back then, when they revealed the government knew about magic and used it.” He dropped a kiss to her shoulder and peered around the fall of her hair to meet her gaze. “It feels like hacktivists finished it.”

Tuyet blinked away tears, letting them fall. She’d earned that much at least. No one would ever know what she’d done, what
they’d
done, but it didn’t matter. She closed the newsfeed and let the video call fill the tablet’s screen.

The crowd in Sinsuality was singing. Whoever held the camera had it aimed at Nate and Calla as they embraced, tears running down Calla’s face. Hell, Nate was crying too.

Jason’s voice cut through the din. “My nephew will be born a citizen.”

The enormity of that statement hit Tuyet like a ton of bricks. She cried hot, scalding tears of release, a cleansing emotional storm that left her wrung out.

Jason panned the camera across the revelers in the club. Zinnia and Mekhi were there, along with other familiar faces. Joy filled the place. Disbelief that they’d lived to see this day. Emotions deep and profound and impossible to name, so strong that even a misanthrope like Vadim was obviously affected. As the camera zoomed in on him hugging Lizzie, their daughter squeezed between them, that same emotion clutched at Tuyet’s heart.

She and Hayes could never go back. They were wanted for desertion and various other crimes, though the terrorism charges leveled at them briefly in New Corinth had been dropped after proof was found that Scott Channing was behind the explosion that killed so many. He sat in prison now, which wasn’t nearly as much as he deserved, but she enjoyed the thought that he knew she and Hayes were free.

They kept the video call going for a while but the seven-hour time difference eventually did them in. Long after midnight, Tuyet lay in bed, curled against Hayes. Happy, but unable to sleep. Finally she gave up and returned to the kitchen. He’d left the thumb drive from his meeting on the table. After clearing away the empty champagne bottle and glasses, she plugged the drive into the tablet and trancehacked to take a look at the data.

Twenty minutes later, a notification alarm let her know Silver Wheels was in the game and wanted to chat. She joined him under the perpetual full moon, this time on a street in Tokyo.

“That’s a hell of a job you two are thinking about taking on,” he said.

“Did Hayes already email you?” Of course he had. The two communicated nearly every day.

“I’m just saying, why not take a break? Relax. Go on holiday. Not that vacation shit,
holiday.
Like Europeans. It sounds so much nicer.” His avatar spun through a rainbow of colors as he teased her.

“We did take a break. It’s been, what, a whole six weeks since anybody shot at us?” She tsked. “It’s not good to get bored.”

The kitchen light flashed, Hayes signaling that he was in the room so his presence didn’t startle her out of trance. He strode past her on the way to the espresso machine, his hair a bird’s nest and his stubble a sexy invitation.

“We’re going to take a look at the file together,” she said to Silver Wheels in cyberspace. “I’ll get back to you later.”

“Take a look at the file together,” he said dubiously. “Is that what it’s called these days?” He sped away laughing.

Tuyet returned to realspace and smiled at Hayes. “This job...”

Hayes curled his lip, peering at the coffee machine. “Is it your chore or mine to clean this thing?”

“Yours.”

He sighed heavily. “Witch traffickers in Eastern Europe. It’s an outfit Interpol hasn’t been able to touch. Too well connected, too much money involved.” He sat opposite her at the table. “This contact of mine, he’s a good guy. You never knew him but I met him in my Ranger days. He’s heard rumors about some of our other jobs. Thought we might be interested.”

Rumors of their other jobs. Well, they had been keeping themselves busy. “What is it he thinks we can do?”

Hayes twitched his eyebrows. “Same thing we always do. Help witches who need it.”

A familiar flavor of adrenaline tapped in her veins. “Let’s take a look.” She moved her chair next to his and turned the tablet so they could both see the information from his contact. He snuggled close, an arm around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder.

The man she loved, freedom and a mission—Tuyet gave herself a moment to bask in the knowledge that she had everything she’d ever wanted. Then she tapped the screen and they got to work.

* * * * *

About the Author

Jean Harrington lives in Naples, Florida, with her husband, John. No cat, no dog, no children anymore. After seventeen years of teaching English literature at Becker College in Worcester, Massachusetts, she now spends her days—and some nights—writing the Murders by Design mystery series for Carina Press. Along with Deva Dunne, her amateur sleuth, Jean is having great fun wallowing knee-deep in fictional dead bodies.

Award-winners
Designed for Death
and
The Monet Murders
are the first two books in the series.
Killer Kitchens
and current release
Rooms to Die For
are Deva Dunne’s latest romps with murder and mayhem.

The Magic Born need you as their ally. Read why in
Trancehack
and
Witchlight
, available now!

Trancehack

It’s 2065. Those born with magic abilities live in
government-run zones, without rights or freedoms. Fear of magic
created this segregated world and fear keeps it intact.

A high-profile murder brings Detective Nathan Perez to
Magic Born Zone 13. He’s had little experience with the Magic Born and isn’t
sure what to expect during his first encounter with a witch, but he never
thought he’d be so drawn to her.

Trancehacker Calla Vesper uses magic to break into
computers and aid the Magic Born underground. She has no interest in
helping a cop, even if he is smoking-hot, but money’s tight and Nate offers a
tidy amount for help navigating the Zone. Calla’s determined to keep it
all business, but sparks start flying before the investigation even gets
started.

When Calla’s trancehacking and Nathan’s investigation uncover a
conspiracy, Calla becomes a target. Nate can protect her by keeping her
role a secret—but then who will protect Nate?

Witchlight

Book two of Magic Born

In 2066, the Magic Born are segregated in urban
reservations. The laws do not protect them, or their allies.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Marsden is a powerful player in New
Corinth politics, but a closely guarded secret could destroy her life—she’s a
hidden Magic Born. Her family has gone to great lengths to erase all her
magic-related records, until a trancehacking outlaw discovers the last
remaining one...

Vadim Bazarov smuggles Magic Borns through the
underground railroad and threatens to reveal Elizabeth’s secret unless she
helps him access blank ID cards. Elizabeth wants to hate him for having a
stranglehold on her life, but can’t help being attracted to someone
so sure of who and what he is.

Vadim initially sees her as a political ice queen, but is
intrigued by her suppressed magical abilities. He trains Elizabeth to use
her magic, and before long finds himself falling for her. But their newfound
love may be short-lived as an anti-magic ordinance forces one of them to
make a choice that will change both their lives for good.

Visit Sonya Clark online at
www.sonyaclark.net

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