ONE
Mel crushed the steering wheel and headed downtown, away from the Tombs.
We had barely escaped the underground facility housing the largest group of darkmages in the city. I knew Mel was stressed from what we had just gone through, but I needed him to dial it back a few notches, or Kitsune was going to end up with a mangled steering wheel.
“Ease up, there,” I said, pointing to the wheel, before looking behind us. “No one is chasing us. Drive calmly and we won’t attract undue attention. Wheels knows what he’s doing—Kitsune is practically invisible.”
Mel let out a long breath and eased his grip somewhat.
“Sorry, things started moving a little fast down there,” he said. “I didn’t expect that kind of response from the Directorate.”
“What kind of response did you expect?” I asked, still keeping tabs on the traffic behind us. “Directorate mages don’t negotiate—ever.”
“I know,” he said and kept his gaze focused forward. “I just didn’t...”
“I know,” I said. “We’re good for now.”
Kitsune managed to keep us hidden as we weaved through the night traffic. Mel glanced at me a few times, remaining silent as we headed home.
The thoughts raced through my mind as he drove.
How was I going to find Alala the Piercing? Would my plan to infiltrate the Directorate have to be scrapped, now that I had encountered Michael and Xander, or could it be salvaged?
Would Wheels still create a plan for my infiltration after tonight? Or would he consider it too dangerous now?
Was I going to be able to effectively mask my signature after what happened? I reflexively ran my finger along the side of the ring I now wore on my hand. Have I doomed the darkmages? And did Xander recognize me?
I noticed Mel slowing down and realized we had arrived a few blocks from my home. Mel parked Kitsune and let the engine idle as we looked down the several blocks to what used to be my home.
It was a burnt-out husk now.
Smoke slowly wafted up from the property. The smell of fire and destruction filled my lungs as I clamped down on the rage rising in my chest, trying to take control.
I rubbed the ring.
It was a tight fit now, secure on my finger and throbbing with latent power. Power that wanted to break free and tear everything apart.
Darkmage power.
I took a few deep breaths and calmed down as Mel stared at me.
“What?” I asked as he looked at me. “What is it?”
“Your hair,” he said, motioning to my head. “Can you fix it?”
For a moment I was at a loss, then I remembered.
“Damn it,” I muttered under my breath, as I released power, returning my hair to its usual jet black color. “I’m fine, now.”
“You don’t feel fine,” he said, shaking his head. “You feel homicidal. Can you get that under control?”
I nodded and focused harder until a deeper calm returned.
“Better?”
“Marginally,” he said, looking around us. “You cannot let your feelings be that apparent. Directorate mages will pick up on it.”
“Tell you what,” I said as some of the anger returned, “I’ll burn down your house, kill the only family you’ve known, and unleash a group of brainwashed, psycho mages after you to wipe you from existence. Then we can discuss making my feelings apparent.”
He raised an eyebrow at me and stared—hard.
“First, you don’t know with certainty if Fen is deceased, and second, what makes you think that same group of psychotic mages hasn’t tried to exterminate me?” he asked. “You think changelings are popular with the Directorate? I can assure you we are not.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Changelings are rarer than darkmages,” he continued with an edge to his voice. “Do you know why?”
I remained silent.
“Because changelings have been deemed a threat to the Directorate, more so than darkmages,” he continued. “And what does the Directorate do with threats? It eliminates them. Mercilessly.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s been a rough night.”
“I know,” he said, his voice softening somewhat. “You do not have the luxury of feeling sorry for yourself. No one will extend you that courtesy. Not even me—especially not me.”
“That’s harsh.”
“The sooner you get used to it, the stronger you will become,” he said. “Remember no one owes you anything. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you will accept your purpose.”
I nodded.
I turned and looked into the distance from the safety of Kitsune and saw the two Directorate vehicles staking out my home, but no Tormentors were near the property.
They must have lowered the threat level if the Tormentors were gone. I didn’t dare get closer than we currently were. There was no point in attracting unwanted attention.
Mel stepped out of the vehicle, I slid over and sat behind the wheel as he took a few steps to the other side of Kitsune.
“We won’t be able to communicate efficiently in my other form, at least not yet,” he said as he ducked down. “Just wait here for me, I’ll be right back. I’ll scout how many are on the property.”
“Other form?” I said mostly to myself since he had disappeared from sight. “What other form?”
A black shape shot out from the side of Kitsune and darted across the street, keeping to the shadows.
<Stay here.>
It was Mel’s voice, but in my head.
“What the—?” I said surprised, looking around. “Where are you?”
<Close. Stay in car.>
The shape made it across the street and raced down the sidewalks until it reached my home, where it vanished from sight.
I was either losing my mind, or Mel was talking directly to me in my mind. I knew I had heard his voice. There was no way I imagined it, the voice was so clear and close, it startled me.
<How can I hear you?>
<Our bond. Talk later.>
This was going to take some getting used to.
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