Decimation, p.12
Decimation, page 12
Lines creased Dahlia’s forehead.
This conversation was declining rapidly.
“Never believe that’s a bad thing. My sister made terrible decisions based on our visions.” Artura handed Dahlia the necklace.
Dahlia didn’t reach for the gift.
“I think we may all have done so,” Artura said softly. She slipped the necklace over Dahlia’s head, and let it hang around her neck. “If you don’t mind, I’m closing up early this evening. You’ll need to see yourselves out.”
That was too easy, but arguing felt like the best way to jinx us.
Dahlia and Fen were as quiet as me, as we wandered onto the street. The door locked behind us, and the store went dark.
A chill raced over me, clashing with my fire.
Dahlia pressed her palm to the amulet. “That was weir—” A gurgle spluttered from her throat as a spear if ice pierced it.
The necklace clattered to the ground, and she dropped to one knee with a gasp, the wound already closing.
Fen was already a wolf, lunging at our attacker.
Screams filled the air, and the people around us backed away, as chaos erupted on the street.
“What the fuck, Johnny?” Dahlia was on her feet again, and seemed to recognize our attacker.
Johnny summoned a wall of ice, like a large shield, and used it to stop Fen’s lunge, throwing him into a nearby wall.
Fen rebounded without pause and charged again.
“Get us out of here,” I barked at Dahlia.
A magical wall went up around us. “I can’t leave him here, and I don’t know what taking him with us will do.” She grabbed the amulet from the ground and pocketed it.
Then we would fight here. I flung a wall of flame into Johnny’s ice, and his defensive weapon evaporated before Fen reached him.
Johnny speared Fen through the shoulder, which pierced the wolf but didn’t slow him down.
“I’m a god, baby jotunn.” Fen’s voice was in our heads, as he communicated in wolf form. “Do you think I haven’t faced thousands stronger than you?”
Johnny was cautious to keep his throat protected, and he rolled aside, throwing Fen off.
“Jotunn. No shit.” Dahlia didn’t sound impressed. “What do you want, dickhead?”
I wrapped him in a ball of flame, restricting his movement, but leaving enough of him exposed to give Fen access to attack him.
“I need the amulet,” Johnny said.
I knew what happened inside was too easy. “Why?”
“To win back…” He stopped. Stopped fighting. Stopped everything. “Give it to me, or I’ll take it.”
“You know this man, Dahlia?” Fen asked.
She rolled her eyes. She was still in human form, and looked unconcerned about the threat. “We went to school with him. He was obsessed with Magnus.”
“Who? Yes. Her. Wait. Who? I need to get her back.” Johnny lunged for Dahlia, and Fen knocked him on his ass.
“My hero.” Dahlia swooned.
I circled Johnny in flames, where he had landed.
He tried to extinguish the flame with ice, but his youth and human half meant that he wasn’t powerful enough.
I had no sympathy for him. “Obsessed with Magnus,” I repeated.
“Who?” Johnny asked.
Dahlia looked disgusted. “Yes. With her and a few other girls. He was an ass about it, too. I got hurt on a mission and was in the infirmary. His solution to Magnus was that if she sucked him off, she’d feel better.”
Fen’s growl was deep and threatening, like death lurking around the corner.
“Is her story accurate?” I asked Johnny.
“Yes. No. Who? I need to find her. She’s mine.”
I didn’t understand his confusion, but my fury surged that he would try to claim Magnus. “She’s not.”
“Even after she told him a billion times to leave her alone, well, obviously he’s here now.”
I wanted to crush him. Wrap him in a ball of flame, and squeeze it until he was snuffed out. As the thought filtered through my mind, I squeezed my hand into a fist, and my circle of fire tightened as well.
“Dinner?” Fen asked.
Dahlia twisted her mouth. “Gross. Not if you plan on kissing me after.”
I had a better idea for his fate. “There’s a portion of the fae realm where some jotunn live.” How did I know that? I shouldn’t remember, but I did. “If you reach out, can you feel it?” I asked Dahlia.
She closed her eyes, and after a moment said, “yes.”
“Send him there. He can meet the other half of his family.”
The entire fight only took a few minutes, and when Johnny was gone, we were surrounded by a shield blocking the world out.
So much for this being easy.
“We should make sure no one is hurt, and then go.” It would be great if one of us had the power to fuzz the memories of the crowd, and make them question what they’d seen.
Fen was human again. “Agreed.”
Dahlia dropped her shields. The street was still engulfed in chaos, people were asking what had happened, and others had their phones out.
Emergency vehicles were arriving on the scene. We didn’t see any real injuries, and our being here would only add to the bedlam. We headed home.
We studied the amulet from Artura for a bit, comparing it to the comic. The longer I looked, the more it tied to memories, but they were ones that were still out of order. I couldn’t piece it all together.
Eventually, I left Fen and Dahlia, and returned to Magnus’s apartment, to stare some more at the art book.
I was engrossed to the point where I didn’t hear Magnus when she returned. At the sound of the door shutting, I looked up to see that her face was drawn and her posture could best be described as limp.
Without hesitation, I set the journal aside and met her halfway across the living room. She leaned some of her weight into me as we walked back to the couch.
“How did things go?” I didn’t want to assume, but her demeanor didn’t look promising.
She let out a tired laugh. “I got both far less and much more than I expected from Maeve.” She nodded at the book on the coffee table. “I see you found one of my prizes.”
“I did. And Dahlia explained it to me.”
“Why are you looking at the past?”
“Because I don’t think it ever happened.” It felt natural to pull Magnus into my lap.
She fell into me easily, with a soft, “huh.”
I shared with her the brief story of visiting Artura. How simple and straightforward the conversation was.
“Huh.” Magnus managed to make the second grunt sound more surprised. “So something bad happened after.”
I was amused that she would assume as much. “We ran into a man Dahlia called Johnny.”
“Ugh. Seriously? What did he want?”
“As far as I can tell, he thought the amulet would help him find you. He seemed to have a hard time remembering you though.”
With a soft huff, Magnus shook her head. “He was the reason Bragi called. The night we saw Maeve. She sent Johnny away and told him he’d never find me again.”
Fae magic was potent and with varied consequences. “I don’t know why he thought the amulet would help. We’re trying to figure out what it does, besides go in this machine. I don’t suspect Johnny’s answer is the right one.”
“No.” Magnus shook her head. “Or if it is, the three of you picked up the most useless piece ever, because you all already have me.”
Though it wasn’t an answer to the relic question, I did like the sound of it. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close, enjoying the comfortable silence.
“Is it true that you have a picture of me that Bragi painted ages ago?” she asked.
The one I’d found when I didn’t remember who I was. “No.”
“You asked him about it before you got your memories back,” she said.
“I do have a picture, and it’s of a woman who looks like you. She was a vision and a two-dimensional fantasy from a long time ago who only existed in our heads.”
“But how do you know she’s not me?”
There must be more to these questions, but I would answer before I prodded for details. “Because when that vision was in my mind, if you had asked me back then to describe that woman, I would’ve said she was pretty. She must be strong because she was a Valkyrie. I assumed she would make me happy. Someone with a smile like that…”
“If someone were to ask me to describe you, that’s not what I would tell them,” I said. “I would say that Magnus is fiercely loyal. Smart. Funny. She knows a lot about sand orphans.”
Magnus made a sound that was almost a laugh.
“I’d say that nothing stands in your way. That you’re brilliant and driven and that when you walk into a room, you’re the only person I want to look at. That I’m so happy I know you, and that I want to learn everything I can about you. And that’s how I know you’re real, and the woman in the painting never was.”
“I’m glad I know you, too.” Magnus rested her weight against me, and a warmth spread through me that chased any shadows away. She let out a long sigh. “And to spoil the mood… I left a message with Bragi. I’m going back to him for more help, and I’m going to ask him to introduce me to Vindres.”
I didn’t like that for so many reasons.
Magnus stiffened in my arms. “I’m not asking your permission. I’m letting you know rather than hiding it.”
“I understand.” Was I that concerned about her seeing Bragi again?
Not as much as I wanted to be. I’d like to go with you flitted to the tip of my tongue, but I wasn’t ready for that. Additionally, this next step was hers. “I’ll be here when you come back.” I pressed my lips to the top of her head. “You had better come back.”
FOURTEEN
MAGNUS
I wasn’t keeping the information that Maeve gave me, about Bragi’s experience with the magical spring, a secret from Nico. But after what Dahlia had to say, and what Nico said about the woman in the picture, it didn’t matter if Maeve believed I was the result of a wish made in a magical spring.
I didn’t believe I only existed because some god wanted to be better.
What I did think mattered was that Bragi knew. He saw he wasn’t himself.
He also wasn’t here right now, and I wanted to focus on the man holding me. It felt incredible to be wrapped in Nico’s arms. Pressed close. With him wanting nothing more at this moment than to reassure me and keep me safe.
If I couldn’t feel his emotions, this would go differently. Maybe the sex could go back to being because I liked him and wanted to be with him, rather than because I was desperate to escape my world.
The way my brain was right now, the lack of control I had, that much connection would short-circuit me. My feeling so much of him would hurt both of us.
For tonight, I’d enjoy that he was here and didn’t want to leave.
In the morning, Dahlia brought the coffee with her when she came to see if we wanted to spar, as well as more appropriate clothing for Nico to work out in. She warned us Fen would be joining us too.
We opted for an outdoor arena, to accommodate anyone wanting to shift or fly. This was much better than me trying to channel energy from Dahlia and Nico and toss it at dummies. She and I knew each other’s rhythms, and she was familiar with Fen’s.
Adding Nico to the mix should make things that much more interesting.
“We need to agree right now to no use of what would be considered deadly force, or attacks meant to cause injury,” Nico said.
Fen’s growl was one of dissent. “We’ll all heal.”
“Injuries cause resentment.” I was with Nico on this. I also wasn’t in the mood for that level of pain, regardless of how quickly it would vanish.
“Besides, the point is to fight better together. We already know what happens when we fight each other.” Dahlia was trying to keep her tone light, but a lingering guilt lay underneath.
When she was learning to control her dragon, she’d been trapped in a dream and the result was her fighting against us. The memory was frightening, and I was grateful we didn’t have to do that again.
“We’ll play tag-slash-flag-football.” The idea came to me suddenly. “Someone has a flag and the rest of us try to claim it. When we succeed, the next person gets the flag.”
Fen sighed, but his disappointment was teasing. Our play was likely to get rough regardless of the rules, because of who we were and how we fought, and he’d enjoy it.
“Smart,” Nico said. “Give us all a chance to see what we can do together and how we react when we’re on the defensive.”
I knew it was a good idea, but I liked his praise.
“Who’s first?” Dahlia asked.
“You.” Fen ripped a sleeve from Nico’s shirt and shoved it in her back pocket.
Dahlia glanced behind her. “Are you burying treasure?”
Fen smacked her ass lightly. “If it’s sticking out, there’s no challenge.”
“One other rule.” As soon as I said it, Fen scowled. “No changing forms to hide the flag. Half forms are fine, as long as you’re still clothed.”
Dahlia grew wings and floated up to hover a few meters above the ground. “You three better plan quick.”
“I can teleport.” I ran through the options in my head as I took all of our skills into account. “Can you fly if you’re not a full bird, Nico?”
He shrugged. “We’ll find out. I can summon flames though.”
“No attacks that cause serious injury.” Despite Fen’s previous grumbles, and our target, he was instantly protective of Dahlia.
It was sweet, and unnecessary for multiple reasons, and his assumption was a good reminder he didn’t fly. “The flame isn’t to strike her, it’s to fuck with the air currents around her.”
“I can hear you,” Dahlia called.
Fen glanced at her. “It doesn’t mean you can avoid us.”
“I bet I can.”
I bet she couldn’t. I blinked out of sight, appeared behind Dahlia, and grabbed the sleeve from her back pocket, then returned to the guys before she could react.
“That’s not teamwork.” Dahlia settled to the ground with a pout.
“It’s the kind of teamwork we used against Johnny,” Nico said. “Fen and I fought him, and you distracted him.” He meant it in a playful way, rather than an accusing one.
I liked seeing him slide into our dynamic so easily, similar to when he’d gone to breakfast with Dahlia and me in Seattle.
“We did make a good team.” Dahlia joined us.
I wished I’d been there, so I could’ve kicked his ass.
The current situation deserved my attention, though. The other three had a plan, even without speaking. Fen and Dahlia knew how to move together, but Nico seemed to have an instinct for what he needed to do as well.
They thought they were all being clever and hiding it.
“We haven’t started the next round,” I warned.
Fen bared his teeth. “There are no timeouts in war.”
“This isn’t war,” I said.
Nico slipped an arm around my waist. It was sweet and so very deceptive.
I stepped out of his grasp before he could snatch the flag. Dahlia vanished from her spot, and I blinked out of sight before she could appear behind me. I landed where she had been.
The instant I appeared, Fen swept my legs from under me, knocking me on my ass, and Dahlia was back, stealing the flag from me.
She tossed it to Nico.
I could be pissed, but I was too busy picking myself up and laughing. “I knew you were going to do that. I let you win.”
“Liar, liar pants on fire.” Dahlia sang the words.
In a flash, Nico was engulfed in flame, ala Johnny Storm. “Like this?” he asked.
“No taking a shape—”
“That hides the flag,” Nico finished for her. “I understand.” His pants were still visible, with the shirt sleeve tucked into the front pocket. There was simply a layer of flame between us and it.
It also technically wasn’t an attack.
“I say it’s legal,” I voted. If the stakes were higher, I wouldn’t. This was silly though. No pressure to come out on top. At TOM, there always had to be a winner, and I hated it. I was more of a teamwork person.
Was it possible to get past what Nico was doing without getting burned though? I had to know, and the question sparked my instinct. “Summon a flame,” I said to Dahlia.
She held out her palm, and a ball of violet fire appeared.
I swiped my hand through it, and it wrapped around me like a glove. I blinked closer to Nico, grabbed the flag from his front pocket, and hopped back to Dahlia as the flame-glove evaporated.
“How…?” Nico studied me, awe and adoration radiating from him.
“I don’t know. I just did it.” How exciting.
Dahlia produced another ball of flame. “Do it again.”
But I couldn’t. I tried over and over, but now that I was thinking about it, I couldn’t make it work. Either her flame burned me, or it swelled inside me until I had to release it into the sky to keep from hurting anyone.
“This is going to end like it did the other day,” Fen warned. “We should get back to playing.”
I wanted to keep trying. To figure out what I was doing, but he was right.
Mostly. I couldn’t help but try similar things a few more times as the game went on. I couldn’t reproduce the original result, though.
The longer we played, the easier it was to fall into reading each other’s intentions. Fen would leap into the air, as Nico sprung off his back, to distract either Dahlia or me, and push us into each other, mid-teleport.
Once we caught on, their tactics had to change. All of our techniques shifted and adjusted to the combination of combatants we faced and the skills they used.
And most of it happened without words. This was what I remembered about working with Dahlia. About fighting side-by-side with her, whether that fight was physical, or recon. Even without the ability to sense her feelings, we’d always been able to read each other.
