Magi Saga 2: Shadows of Darkness (8 page)

She smiled to herself, she was still trying to justify herself to him, even in her head.

Well, it didn’t do her any good waiting here, so she walked round the club and got closer to Howie, stopping a few meters from him and stood with her back to a stone pillar, facing him.

It took a minute or so for him to see her, and he did a double take when he did spot her as a look of surprise and disbelief crossed his face. She smiled back and motioned her head for him to come over.

He excused himself from the conversation he had been part of and walked over, dodging drunk dancers as he approached her.

‘Amanda, wow, it’s great to see you, how are you?’ He asked, clearly happy to see her.

‘Hiya, I’m grand thanks, it’s great to see you. One of the guys said you’ve been promoted, is that right?’

‘’Yeah.’ He said, rubbing the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed about his success. ‘I run the security for this whole place now, I’m not just on the doors these days. Seems they like what I do here.’

‘That’s excellent Howie, I’m pleased for you.’

‘How about you? How have you been? It’s been ages.’

‘I know.’

‘You’re looking great by the way.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Are you still with Georgina?’

Amanda’s face fell slightly at the mention of her friend. Howie clearly didn’t know what had happened. But he saw right away that her mood changed.

‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…’

Amanda smiled and put her hand up to stop him mid flow.

‘It’s fine, don’t worry.’ She said, and took a deep breath. ‘Georgina has, passed away.’

‘I’m so sorry.’

‘No, it’s no bother. It was a few years back now, I’m over it, mostly. Took some time out, went back to Ireland, made some new friends who helped me get through it so I did.’

‘So are you just visiting New York?’

Amanda smiled more fully again, looking back up at Howie’s soulful eyes.

‘No, I’ve moved back, so I’m here permanently.’ It felt good to say that. To hear it out load that she would not be leaving the city any time soon. Not of her own choice anyway.

‘That’s great Amanda, are you working then? What are you doing?’

Amanda wasn’t sure if Howie was fishing to find out if she were back on the streets or not, or if this was just a genuine question, either way, she chose to put him out of his misery.

‘No job at the moment. I came into some money a little while back so I’m just enjoying life. I have no desire or need to go back to the streets either.’

Howie flushed slightly, clearly realising that she knew what he had been wanting to know and feeling embarrassed that she had seen through him.

‘I know you didn’t like me working the streets Howie. So, here’s me saying sorry to you. Alright? Are we grand?’

She could see him relax as she spoke, clearly happy.

‘We are. I’m just happy to see that you’re alright, and obviously doing well.’

‘Thank you. Would you like to get a drink?’ She asked.

‘I can’t I’m afraid. Work stuff. We have a busy night tonight so I’m going to be run off my feet. Can we take a rain check?’

‘Of course Howie, anything for you, another time maybe.’ Amanda felt disappointed, but it wasn’t very surprising. She had just waltzed in here and kind of expected him to drop everything for her. He had responsibilities now that he could not just walk away from. They hugged and said goodbye before she ambled out of the Club. The music becoming muffled as she stepped outside into the cool night air.

She found a nearby low wall and sat on it. It didn’t seem to be her night at all. It had been great to see Howie, and they had swapped numbers now so they could arrange to meet up again. Something she felt keen to do soon. But that didn’t help her tonight. She wanted to talk to someone, get some reassurance and just some comfort really.

There was one final person she could try, he’d be in and maybe he would be happy to see her. So she jumped up from the stone wall, brushing the debris off her rear and left the Club behind her.

Moments later she stood outside the back door to the Jade Palace, and reached out to Yoh’s mind. The link she had previously created with Yoh let her presence be felt by him, even though he were inside his Aegis protected building. She felt the link open up right away and could feel Yoh’s presence.

‘I’m outside, can you let me in?’ She said.

‘Sure Amanda-San, are you ok?’ Yoh asked.

‘Grand, just grand.’

It didn’t take long, within a few short moments she sat in his private quarters at the top and back of the building, relaxing into a chair across from Yoh holding a drink in her Lap.

‘Thanks for coming over. You certainly dressed up for me.’

Amanda laughed, looking down at the tiny figure hugging outfit she had on. It really didn’t leave much to the imagination.

‘Yeah,’ she said, drawing out the word in a sarcastic tone.

‘I take it you’ve been out tonight?’

‘Visited an old friend at a Club not too far from here.’

‘Aaah, I see. You don’t seem too happy about it.’

‘No, I am. It was great to see him. He was busy though, so…’

‘You came here.’

Amanda nodded, looking down at her drink. She wasn’t entirely sure if she should be here now. Sure, it felt like a great idea back at the club. But she really wasn’t sure what she wanted from Yoh now he sat not six foot from her.

She’d gone to see Raven, if she were being brutally honest with herself, for some affection and maybe some sex. When she found out he had been getting that elsewhere tonight, she ran out to the club to see Howie, on the rebound. Seeing him had been great, but their lives were so far apart now. She wouldn’t have been able to talk to him. Sure, she could have bedded him, she felt fairly confident of that, but why? What was the point of doing that when it could serve to just ruin what remained of their friendship?

Her mind in a spin, she then came here, still on the hunt for something that, maybe she just didn’t need. She barely knew Yoh really and here she was, alone with him in his apartment wearing a sexy little dress. She felt cheap, like she’d been out for one thing and one thing only and now she’d given herself some distance from it, some perspective, she felt like she could see herself from the outside and wondered if her desperation for some affection would be as obvious to others?

‘Forgive me for saying so Amanda-San. But you seem a little… off balance, if you don’t mind me saying so.’

Her eyes flicked up and she looked at him from under her scarlet eyebrows.

‘That’s probably accurate. With everything that happened today, with Lucian turning up like that, it’s thrown me into a bit of a tail spin I think.’

‘Hai. He can do that to you.’

‘I don’t understand how he found us though. We were so careful.’

‘He has his resources, I suppose it was inevitable eventually. I’m surprised he has not found me yet actually, although, my circumstances were somewhat different.’ He mused.

‘Different?’ Amanda asked, curious as to what he meant.’

‘Well, no one knew I had come here. I didn’t announce it to the US covens, I just slipped in, quietly and kept myself to myself for a long time. I of course soon found out about Lucian and even talked with Victoria.’

‘You were more careful, is what you’re saying.’

‘Maybe. I also keep to myself and don’t interfere with Lucian or his plans.

‘Fair play to yeh.’

Yoh smiled. ‘You seem to have a period of grace with Lucian yourself though, something that’s totally out of character, I must admit.’

Amanda took a deep breath. She could feel the butterflies in her tummy return, the nerves of having to deal with another Nomad, someone who must clearly be skilled enough to hold his own. She had heard the stories of the Arch Magus that sponsored Lucian though. Some Voodoo Priestess out of Haiti by all accounts who only really turned up when Lucian needed her help. Someone else Amanda didn’t feel like meeting any time soon. Tonight’s antics were almost certainly linked to the threat of Lucian, the need for some affection and wanting to do something she felt confident doing. She’d spent two years on the streets of New York as a Pro, she was good at that, she felt confident when it came to sex, she didn’t feel anywhere near as confident when it came to her Magical abilities. But Lucian knew where she lived now, she knew he would be after her and probably wanted her dead. Maybe he knew others had been in the house with her, maybe he knew that she had back up and that’s why he didn’t attack, He was assessing her strength maybe, deciding whether he needed to ask his master Nymira for assistance.

‘Oh shite, what have I gone got myself into this time,’ she said, lifting her head to the ceiling, talking to no one really other than herself.

Seconds later Yoh squatted down in front of her and took her hands in his.

‘Look at me,’ he said.

She looked back down and gazed into Yoh’s dark eyes.

‘What you have done, in coming here to Manhattan in incredibly brave. And it seems like “The King of New York” has given you some space. Something I have never seen before. We’re all here beside you on this Amanda-San, we will help protect you if you let us. We’re not out of options yet.’

‘You promise?’ Amanda said, feeling a bit pathetic.

Yoh shifted onto his knees, which raised his head up level to hers.

‘Of course.’

She looked back at him, and smiled, and for a moment they just stayed like that, looking into each other’s eyes. As she looked at him, and he stayed right there, not moving but looking into her soul, holding her hands in her lap, the moment just seemed right.

It happened without her really thinking about it, she moved her head towards his, just a touch, parting her lips as she did so. He responded, and started to lean in, so she finished it and went in for the kiss.

It felt soft and gentle to Amanda, hesitant almost as if Yoh, like Amanda, wanted to be sure this would be the right thing to do.

The kiss grew into more kisses, and slowly he pulled her in, closer to him.

She liked it, it seemed right. She’d been admiring him from afar since she had arrived, and she’d wanted to do this since the first day she’d arrived here. Amanda reached over and put her drink on the coffee table to one side, before reaching round his waist and pulling him closer, spreading her legs to pull him tight up against her chest where she sat perched on this chair.

The movements grew more passionate as they both realised they felt the same way.

‘I wanted you since I saw you.’ She said as he kissed her neck, his hands moving over her back and along her thighs, pulling her dress up over her hips.

‘I know!’ he replied. Looking meaningfully at her as he said it.

Amanda giggled at the Star Wars reference, did he do that on purpose or not? She didn’t care.

‘Do… Do you want to do this?’ He asked her then.

She nodded at him before saying, between breaths, ‘Feck yeah I do.’

He pulled on her dress now, pulling down over her breasts. He pawed at them, kissed them and sucked on her nipples, and it felt great. It had been far too long since she had done this and having this powerful man hungrily kissing and touching her made her feel so horny it was untrue.

She sat back and put one high heeled foot on the table next to her as he went down on her. She held his head in her hands, pulling his mouth onto her. She threw her head back and moaned with delight as his tongue worked its magic.

After a while she pushed him away and stood up before him, she pulled the dress off completely in one fluid magic fuelled moment, leaving her stood there in nothing but heels.

‘Let’s take our time, we have all night after all.’

Everything changed in New York after the fire at the Crystal Palace. The official story of events that night differs from what actually took place.

Details are sketchy, but the fire certainly seemed to be Magical in nature. Regardless, it’s not the fire itself that we’re concerned about here, but the events after it that led to the Nomad Coven known as The Harbingers of Darkness taking control of New York.

At that time there were a number of Arcadian Magi living in New York, but following that fire, all the Magi in the city were killed. We don’t know who did this, but they were quick and left no trace of who they were.

The city had been left wide open and Nymira saw an opportunity. The Harbingers arrived in New York and with the help of Nymira, defended it from attack.

Lucian, the current leader of the Coven had been a young member of the Coven at the time. He soon rose through the ranks as he grew in power until he came to lead the Coven.

But let’s go back and look at the events on the night of the fire before we examine the purge of New York…

- The Purge of New York by Louisa Hunt, Magi Scholar of the Ordo Obscura Coven

The Morning After

May 13th

Battery Park, New York

The waves in the Upper Bay, where the Hudson and East River met before heading out to sea, undulated gently. The waters were calm and today seemed to be turning into a fairly warm day for mid-May.

Amanda stood in front of the railings, leaning on them, her forearms holding her weight as she looked out over the bay towards Liberty Island and, in the distance, the Verrazano Bridge, the gate way to the Atlantic Ocean stretched across the narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island.

The light wind whipped her hair around her shoulders in waves of red that stood out against the faded blue of the denim jacket she wore to compliment her fitted boot cut jeans. She held a coffee in her hands that she had bought from a street vendor moments ago and listened to the water lapping against the side of the dock below her.

The morning sun felt bright against the left side of her face, while the sound of children playing the in park behind her lent a sense of normality to everything.

Everyday life continued all over the city blissfully unaware of the things in the shadows.

Liz stood next to her in leggings, trainers and t-shirt, leaning against the railing, but facing the city rather than the sea. She sipped on her coffee, seeming introspective and thoughtful.

Amanda stood up straight and leaned her hip against the railing.

‘How you holding up?’ She asked her apprentice.

Liz blinked and looked up at Amanda. There wasn’t too much difference in height between them, Liz stood just a couple of inches shorter then Amanda.

‘I’m good, thanks.’

‘Even with everything that’s been going on?’

‘I’ll cope.’ Liz answered.

‘I don’t mind telling you, I’d be lying if I said I was fine don’t you know. I’m optimistic, I think we’ll be ok in time, but right now, I’m scared. Lucian turning up on our doorstep? That scared the shit outta me.’

Liz sighed. ‘Yeah, me too. How the hell did he find us? That’s what gets me. We were careful, Porting everywhere. We never left through the front door.’

‘Never underestimate a Magi, let alone a Nomad.’ Amanda mused.

‘Don’t you worry about that. I won’t.’

The pair fell quiet again as they enjoyed their surroundings.

Amanda put her bum to the railing, mimicking Liz. Her apprentice had been through a lot these past couple of years. But she had come back from the brink, built herself back up and Amanda thought she seemed to be stronger now than she had ever been. Losing your family and friends in the space of a couple of days must be tough. Amanda felt she could relate to it a bit, having lost Stuart to violence and Georgina to illness. In those early days after the incident on the train, Amanda had stayed with Liz day and night, and when she felt ready to talk, Amanda had been there and they had talked for hours. The tears had been many, as they relived the emotions of the events. Liz swung from the deepest lows of despair to being relatively normal for a while as she tried to deal with the powerful emotions. Her world had been shattered by the machinations of the Magi, with Liz and her friends being the unwitting victims of some horrific violence.

It took months, but slowly Liz had crawled out of the darkness and eventually started to smile once more.

She would never be the same, that grief would always be with her, it would never leave her, but Liz didn’t want it to either, because that would mean she had forgotten her sister and her mother, and her friends. Something she hoped would never happen.

Amanda felt immensely proud of her for everything she did. Liz could quite happily have taken the easy route and ended it all, but instead, with a little support from Amanda and Gentle Water, she had taken the difficult path.

Amanda took her on as her apprentice, and had enjoyed the challenge of teaching Liz. Amanda hadn’t been sure she would be considered old enough to be a mentor, but Gentle Water had encouraged her to do it. Liz had latched onto her, and they were almost attached at the hip for a while. No one else could have gotten near her to even attempt to teach her, so Amanda seemed like the natural choice.

Gentle Water had coached her, taught her how to pass on her knowledge. Liz progressed a lot slower than Amanda had, something for which Amanda felt very grateful. It gave her time to learn the ropes and to see what worked.

Amanda had also been starting to teach Liz the same fighting style that Gentle Water had been teaching her, The Art of the Phoenix. Again, Liz wasn’t quite the natural at it that Amanda appeared to be, but she worked hard and over time, improved greatly.

These days, Liz didn’t talk about her Family and friends much. They came up in conversation from time to time, but it didn’t seem to bother her like it used to, providing the conversation didn’t dwell on them too long.

Amanda wanted to change the subject, in fact, she had something she really wanted to talk to Liz about.

‘Sooo, I slept with Yoh last night.’ Amanda said, almost to no one.

Liz froze part way through lifting her drink to her lips, and stayed there for a moment.’

‘Oh.’ Liz said.

Amanda waited, but Liz kept quiet. After a few moments more, Amanda felt she couldn’t just leave it at that.

‘Is that it? Just, “oh”?’

‘What do you want me to say Mandy? You’re a big girl, I’m sure you can make your own choices in life now.’

‘Well, yes, I can. But, what do you think?’

‘I’m not sure it was the best thing for you to do, sleep with our guide here. But, I suppose I can see why you did it. He’s a bit gorgeous isn’t he?’ She smiled at her mentor.

‘He’s grand.’

‘Go on then, you can’t keep me in the dark, how did this happen? And anyway, I thought you liked Raven?’

‘I did. I mean, I do. But, well I went to him last night. I don’t know. I suppose I needed some comfort so I did. But, he had someone in his room with him. A girl. I didn’t see her but they were having a good giggle about something.’

‘Aah, OK, but I thought he was single?’

‘Apparently not.’ Amanda said flatly. Her emotions on the subject showing through slightly.

‘He didn’t bring her down with him this morning. She must have left early.’

‘Good thing too I say.’

‘I’m sure she’s lovely.’

‘I know. I’m just…’

‘…Jealous.’ Liz said, finishing Amanda sentence.

‘Nice.’ Amanda commented. ‘OK, well yes, I suppose, a little bit.’

‘I think I can guess how you ended up bumping uglies with Yoh then. Can you say, rebound?’ Liz commented, goading Amanda.

‘You little gobshite. What’s got into you today little miss feisty.’ Amanda teased.

Liz laughed. ‘Come on, how did you end up in Yoh’s bed?’

‘I went into town, visited an old haunt of mine. But there wasn’t much there for me, so I stopped in at the Jade Palace on the way back and the rest is fairly obvious.’

‘The broad strokes yes, but I want details. So, come on. How was it? Was he any good?’

Amanda looked up, smiled and gave a mock sigh.

‘Actually,’ she said, ‘it was awesome, just what I needed. He wasn’t half bad either, there’s a tiger in there for sure.’

The pair laughed and giggled as they chatted some more. Amanda enjoying this moment of just being normal girls chatting about their lives. She seemed to do this so rarely now, there always seemed to be some crisis or other that needed their attention. But just for a short time, away from the house and the boys, Amanda loved this moment of just being girls talking about boys.

A short time later the pair of them dropped their empty take away cups into the bin before they walked slowly back to Amanda’s Bike.

She’d parked it nearby, and with a small casting over it, no one noticed it. She’d brought the bike over from Paris where she had customised it after buying it last year. She’d never thought that she’d be able to afford one of these, but the ability to just conjure money from thin air whenever they needed it, made life a hell of a lot easier.

She loved her bike. It was a corny thing to say, but it really was her pride and joy. The bike looked like a Honda Fireblade, for the most part, but she’d made a few Magical adjustments and given it a custom paint job of white with colourful Red and Purple flames.

She straddled the bike and let Liz climb on behind her before she fired up the engine. The bike roared between her legs as she revved the engine a couple of times checking that her route looked clear. A moment later, she gunned the engine and the bike wheel span away and shot towards the nearby road where she joined traffic.

She guided the bike around Battery Park, before joining West Street and heading north along the west side of Manhattan Island.

The first part of this highway up through the city had buildings along both sides of the road, and they were soon approaching the World Trade Center and the 9/11 memorial.

The Huge building of One World Trade Center towered above them, along with the rest of the monoliths on the southern tip of the Island, with the highway creating a valley, a fissure between them with a river of cars running along it.

Amanda stayed with the flow of traffic, not speeding or dodging through the lanes. Sure, it could be fun to do that, and with her Magic it also meant it could be done safely and without anyone even noticing, but she didn’t want to do that today.

This morning had been an enjoyable departure from the pressures of a life as an Arcadian Magi in a Nomad city, and a leisurely drive through the glass and chrome of the city she loved felt great.

They soon passed the World Trade Center and a short time later rode beneath a foot bridge, after which the buildings on their left came to an end and the view opened up looking across the Hudson to New Jersey.

The trees on the central reservation were a bright green where the sun caught their leaves, while the light waves in the river glistened in the sunshine.

An engine rev to her right caught her attention, so she looked inland straight into the eyes of two other bikers on Harley’s, who were staring right back at them.

Movement behind her that she saw in the corner of her eye made her twist slightly more for a better view. More bikes, making a group of seven in total all with one or two people on them, and they all seemed to be focused on her. It took a second, but then she realised that she recognised a couple of them.

Lucian sat on a huge Harley directly behind her, his attention focused intently on her. She also saw the tattooed guy who had been with Lucian on her doorstep that morning, riding alongside him. For a moment, all she could do was to stare at them. The sight of Lucian and his gang scared her and all of her confidence in herself and her abilities seemed to hang in the balance. When she’d seen him the day before, even though he could have broken down the Shield around her house, there had been a barrier there, something between them, keeping him out, now though, there was no such barrier.

Would she be able to stand against him? Would her Magic be enough to fight him off and protect her friends? She had no idea. She needed distance, she needed to try and get away.

Suddenly she realised Liz had also seen them now as she gripped Amanda tighter around the waist.

‘Don’t worry Liz, we’ll be fine, let’s get out of here.’ She said, while she funnelled power to her Aegis, strengthening it and also pushing it out to extend over Liz as well. She could feel Liz strengthening her own Aegis as well, but to a much less powerful level.

With that, she twisted the handle and accelerated away quickly, the magical enhancements on the bike starting to come into play.

The Bike went off like a rocket, dodging between cars as it quickly picked up speed. Amanda concentrated on the road ahead, not wanting to crash her bike so early on after moving it to her new home. Amanda could Port out of there quickly, but she would be leaving Liz and the Bike behind. Not something she wanted to do, which ruled that out.

She thought about contacting someone, wondering who might be able to help them. She realised that none of them had a bike, which meant she would need to stop in order for them to be of use.

She hesitated for a moment then, thinking about it as she sped on through the traffic. Did she need help really? She felt she like a competent Magi, and she’d been in a few fights now while on missions with Orion and Xain in Paris. Maybe she could stand against a Nomad like Lucian.

Maybe she could handle this.

She concentrated hard and used a bit of Magic, creating a common effect called Multi-tasking, which split her mind into two separate, but linked parts that could work independently and also cooperatively.

Then she placed her second set of senses behind her, allowing her to look both forwards and backwards. The two minds keeping the two viewpoints separate meant she didn’t get confused as she dodged between cars.

Shifting all of her senses into the Magical spectrum, she could see the gang of bikers, who had also sped up, had some magical signatures either on themselves, their bikes or both.

She quickly realised that their bikes were faster than she had hoped they would be, meaning she would not be able to simply outrun them.