Darkness Ascends in Magic City Read online

  Morrigan replied, “So, is this a successful endeavor, Demetrius?” An arrow zipped from her bow to slam into another of the drones. It exploded on impact, sending the craft spiraling down to the street in pieces.

  Ruby winced. Hope there’s no one down there. Of course, if anyone is stupid enough to stand nearby when they see this sort of thing going on, they kind of deserve what they get.

  Demetrius replied, “I have all the information I need. More won’t help. Get yourselves out of there.”

  Ruby shook her head. “Not until we take these things out. Every one we destroy is one less they have to use. And most of these are the heavy-duty ones.”

  The infomancer had been monitoring aerial traffic throughout the city and had noticed smaller drones flying the same routes as those loaded down with weapons. He’d concluded that the PDA had chosen to supplement their information gathering with consumer models, which had drawn a curse from her at the time. One would wish for less competent enemies.

  Idryll tackled her as a drone flew at her back, passing right through the space she’d occupied. The shapeshifter protected her from the fall with her body, which felt harder and stronger than normal, suggesting she’d done her partial shapeshift thing. Ruby said, “I doubt they’re using anti-magic bullets.”

  Her companion released her and rose to her feet. “Finding out by getting shot would be pretty stupid, though, don’t you think? Even for you.”

  Another drone went down, this one the victim of Morrigan's razor arrow, to judge by the fact that only the feathered end showed as the vehicle spiraled down. Her partners must have eliminated the rest because the one remaining visible drone suddenly flew up high, apparently happy to watch them instead of continuing the battle. Ruby said, “Okay, let’s blow this popsicle stand.” She reached inward for her magic and summoned a portal at the side of the roof to take them back to the bunker that was their secret base.

  At least, that’s what she tried to do. However, the rift failed to appear, and her access to her power suddenly fell away. She growled, “Anti-magic emitters,” at the same moment Demetrius reported, “Enemies inbound.” Ruby turned to see PDA agents in battle gear climb over the edges of the roof, wearing the anti-magic emitter backpacks that had become a normal part of their loadout in Magic City. “Dammit. Okay, remember, no killing. That includes accidentally knocking them off the roof, Idryll.”

  The tiger-woman replied, “It hurts that you would think such things of me. Also, that’s a stupid rule. They chose to come up here. They deserve whatever comes to them.”

  “I don’t think Alejo will see it that way.”

  Morrigan stepped up beside them. “Less talking, more fighting.” She fired her grapnel and snagged one of the agents that had gained the roof, yanking forward so they stumbled and fell. Then she retracted the line.

  Ruby said, “I’m serious, no killing. Once we get an opening to escape, we go.”

  Demetrius replied, “You’d better get a move on, then. There’s a chopper inbound.”

  Chapter Three

  Ruby said, “What the hell do you mean, a chopper?”

  Idryll ignored the conversation as she ran toward the edge of the roof, heading directly for the nearest enemy bringing their rifle into play. It was a bad situation, given that the building wasn’t that big in the first place, and there seemed to be a lot of the enemy around. Fortunately, she didn’t need additional magic beyond what nature had already provided, so their backpacks were irrelevant to her.

  She reached the agent as the barrel came up, whipped out one clawed hand to slice through the strap holding the weapon, and yanked the gun away with the other, throwing it off the roof. The look of shock visible through the transparent faceplate was rewarding, and she resisted the urge to send him over the edge after it.

  Instead, she kicked the man’s legs out from underneath him and pushed into his fall, slamming him onto his back. She grabbed the helmet and wrenched it off, then dove aside as bullets thwacked into the surface near her. Friendly fire is not my fault. She ran in a serpentine for the cover of some nearby equipment, sliding around the corner to safety as rounds smacked into the object’s metal skin. She said, “I’m not so great against bullets.”

  Ruby replied, “Yeah, this kind of sucks, no doubt about it. Demetrius, add a drone loaded with knockout gas to our to-do list.”

  He confirmed, “Got it. Of course, their helmets would stop that.”

  “Always with the negativity. Idryll, stay safe, look for targets of opportunity.”

  Morrigan offered, “Here, let me give you some.”

  Idryll stuck her head up over the lip of her cover and saw an arrow stab into the roof in the center of a cluster of agents who had moved a few feet away from the edge. They staggered and fell as if their bodies had forgotten how to stay balanced.

  Ruby distracted the others on the roof, shooting at them from behind a piece of equipment, which allowed Idryll to sneak out and strip the fallen of their rifles. For good measure, she cut their backpacks from them and threw them off the side as well. She managed to take care of three of the five before someone noticed her and forced her to dive and roll back into cover to avoid the bullets. “That was fun. Let’s do it again.”

  Morrigan replied, “That was my only sonic arrow. Now that you’ve got their helmets off, I can gas them, so at least those will be out of the fight.”

  Ruby said, “Okay, I’m going to do something stupid. Keep your eyes open, Idryll. You may get an opportunity.”

  She snorted. “You say that like it’s different from what you usually do.” Nonetheless, she peered over the edge of her cover and readied herself to move.

  Ruby sighed. “Not the time for insults, you know?” She glanced down at the dart gun encircling her right arm. Five rounds. Gotta make them count. They’re wearing vests, so the torso is a no-go. Plus, can’t hit anyone who’s too close to the sides. Gee, this is fun.

  She burst from hiding, firing her pistol into the air with her left hand as a distraction. She lined up the first enemy on the move and pressed the stud to fire the dart. It flew out and punched into the agent’s arm. Her target wobbled, then fell, as the fast-acting drug rendered them unconscious.

  She slid to avoid gunfire from the next, firing as quickly as she could bring her arm in line. That one went down with a dart to the leg. Her torso shouted in pain as bullets thudded into her vest from her left. She twisted and snapped out another dart, which lodged itself in her opponent’s vest. Damn it. She fired the next, scoring the arm, and took a bullet in her arm before the agent fell.

  Gritting her teeth, Ruby forced herself to stand and run for the nearest cover as quickly as she could. She launched her last dart on the way, not waiting to see if it scored before diving behind the small housing that protected the door leading down into the structure.

  Morrigan asked, “Are you okay?”

  Ruby replied, “Perforated, but still going. What’s the situation?” The arrival of a helicopter overhead and six agents sliding down on lines answered the question effectively. She shouted, “Go,” and ran toward the newcomers. Their only chance was to take them out while they were focused on the descent because six more rifles could easily turn the tide against them.

  Morrigan said, “I’ll knock out the chopper.”

  Ruby snarled, “No, it might crash. Alejo, remember?”

  Her sister sighed. “Rules. I hate rules. Let’s mix it up, then.”

  Morrigan hit the button to collapse her bow into its baton form and shoved it into the holster on her left leg at a run. She didn’t draw her knives since her reflexes might cause her to launch a fatal strike rather than one that her opponent would survive. She counted seven more of the infernal emitters blocking them from their magic, the newcomers plus one other. “Idryll, see if you can get the backpack off that last one.”

  The shapeshifter replied, “On it.”

  Morrigan swept the feet out from under the nearest agent as they released the l
ine, sending them crashing to the roof. She spun around the second, making sure the first couldn’t shoot her from his prone position without hitting his companion and kicked that one in the back of the knee.

  He went down to his knees, and she wrenched his helmet off and tapped him on the temple with her stun knuckles. They discharged with a loud snap, and the man crumpled. She abandoned him and moved for a third. He brought his rifle into line, but she slapped it down as he pulled the trigger.

  His bulletproof vest thwarted an elbow smash into his solar plexus, but a follow-up hammer fist to the nerve junction in his leg caused him to go down on one knee. Again, Morrigan wrenched off his helmet and tapped his temple. Two down. Then bullets slammed into her back, and she pitched forward over the edge of the roof.

  She couldn’t catch her breath, but she managed to retain enough presence of mind to launch the grapnel attached to her right arm. The magnetic harpoon snagged the fire escape and snapped taut, swinging her to slam against the rusted metal a story down with a loud clang. She grabbed the railing, pulled herself over, and threw herself against the building’s wall so that anyone peering over the edge from the top would have a difficult time spotting her.

  Ruby shouted, “Morrigan, are you okay?”

  When her lungs finally gathered enough breath to answer, she replied, “Yeah, I’ll be back in a minute.” She grabbed a healing potion, downed it, and gritted her teeth against the pain as broken ribs knitted themselves back together. Just a couple of seconds, then I’ll get moving. Promise.

  Idryll dashed out and caught the last remaining member of the original group looking the other way. She punched the agent in the left kidney, then in the other one. To their credit, they didn’t crumple but instead whipped the rifle around in a clumsy strike at head-level. Idryll ducked under it and came up slashing, cutting the strap that secured the weapon.

  She lashed out a hand and knocked the gun away, then deflected a flurry of punches and a kick from the agent. She threw a punch at his temple. He blocked, stepped in, and locked out her arm to throw her.

  She performed a flip to reposition and negate his leverage, then seized his arm and used it to swing herself down at his legs. She pulled him down on top of her, grabbed his helmet, and ripped it off. He immediately slammed his forehead down at her face.

  Idryll twisted away and took the blow on her ear, starting a ringing throughout her skull. I’ve had about enough of this adventure. She wrenched herself to the side, throwing him off her, and was on her feet by the time he regained his. He stepped back into a fighting stance and yanked a baton from his belt, snapping it out to full length.

  Idryll shook her head and displayed her claws. “Really? You think that toy is going to help you?”

  He didn’t reply, just attacked with a rush and a downward angled strike at her neck. She flowed away to her right and slammed a knee into his stomach, but his body armor absorbed the impact. He snapped an elbow at the back of her head, and she dove forward into a somersault to avoid it, coming quickly to her feet.

  Idryll waited until he committed to motion, then rushed forward, counting on her unexpected mass and strength to carry the exchange. She took a blow from the baton on her left arm, numbing it from the shoulder down, but rammed her body into her opponent hard enough to send him and his baton flying in different directions. He was on his hands and knees, shaking his head when she reached him.

  She sliced the straps of his backpack with her claws, threw it over the side, and stomped down on his ankle to break it. He howled in pain. “Sorry, bud, but it’s better than getting thrown off the roof or dying from brain damage if a punch hits a little too hard.”

  She headed for her partners at a run.

  Ruby took out her first foe before he landed by grabbing him and yanking him off the rope, then ripping off his helmet and knocking him unconscious with the stun knuckles on her right hand. She delivered a sidekick to the next that thrust him into a third, then pursued both of them as they stumbled back.

  One of them veered toward the edge, and she adjusted her path to snag him before he toppled over, pulling him onto her and throwing him over her head as she fell on her back. Captain Kirk has nothing on me. She rolled to the side as bullets struck the surface beside her and kept going right off the side of the building since it was either that or accept increased perforation.

  She grabbed the edge as she rolled over and found her footing well enough to jump to the nearby fire escape. Morrigan grinned as she landed. “So, you fell off the roof, too?”

  Ruby shook her head. “I heard you slam against this thing, so I knew it was here. I simply executed a timely strategic retreat.”

  Her sister replied with doubt in her tone, “Seemed a little less strategic and a little more frantic, from my perspective.”

  Ruby pounded up the stairs with Morrigan a couple of steps behind. When they reached the roof, they found Idryll finishing the last one by snapping his forearms so he couldn’t hold a weapon. Harsh, but undeniably effective. Need to add some zip ties to her equipment belt.

  Together, they removed the remaining backpacks and headed toward the building’s edge to portal away out of view of the fallen. Ruby’s paranoia over people looking through her portals and finding out her secrets had only increased over time.

  As her sister created the portal, Ruby happened to look down and spot a figure in the alley below. He was looking up, watching her. She immediately recognized the Drow she’d met in the warehouse, the one who was behind the anti-human sentiments spreading through the city.

  He tipped the wide-brimmed hat that hid his white hair to her and sauntered away. She considered going after him, but her appetite for adventure had been completely satisfied for the evening, especially since she hadn’t found time to take a healing potion yet. I really need to get some of Daphne’s capsules made.

  She shook her head and followed her companions through the portal with a scowl. PDA jerks. You’re lucky we promised Alejo we wouldn’t leave any bodies behind, or you’d find messing with us far more costly. She considered the number of drones they’d destroyed and brightened. Well, at least we hit you pretty hard in the pocketbook tonight. That’s something.

  Chapter Four

  Paul Andrews paced at the head of the conference table in the PDA’s rented Ely bureau, expending effort to appear calm and measured as he took precisely calculated steps. Three in one direction, turn, three in the other. Or at least he hoped he looked calm. Anyone in his office who remained unruffled despite their recurring failures to take down the masked vigilantes haunting the city should probably be fired.

  Charlotte Krenn continued speaking, bringing his attention back to the moment. “So, as you all know, one of our primary targets provided us the opportunity to test out new strategies yesterday. The good news is that the drones operated in every area exactly as we had hoped. The autonomous functionality got them there quickly, and our operators were able to seamlessly take control of two and employ them effectively in battle.”

  Andrews interrupted, “We need to increase that capability. Arrange for a couple more piloting stations to be installed. While using one station to pilot multiple drones is fine for simple surveillance, it’s obviously not adequate for combat situations.”

  She nodded. “Will do, boss.” After a pause, probably to see if he was going to say anything else, she continued, “They were aware that anti-magic bullets might be part of the crafts’ armament, as they used magic to interpose physical barriers. Still, we should load them up with anti-magic rounds, anyway. All we need is one second of surprise to take one of them out. And, with additional piloted vehicles, we can bring them in from different directions simultaneously.”

  “How many did we lose?”

  She grimaced. “Six heavy drones, and two of the consumer surveillance models.”

  He grunted. “Expensive research. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, right?”

  Murmurs of assent came from around the table,
where everyone who worked in the office had assembled. It would be a long day for those on the second shift, but communication was vital, and in-person was always best. Prevents them from misunderstanding exactly how serious this is. “What about the troops we deployed?”

  She shook her head. “That part was less successful, although the targets didn’t kill any, and only three injured enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. Broken bones.”

  He scowled. “Well, I’ll say this for the costumed freaks. They’re careful not to get on the wrong side of a murder rap. Probably a smart choice. Why didn’t we do better?”

  Video of the entire operation was available from a drone that had stayed high to capture it. Andrews preferred to let his subordinates share their analysis before he watched the recording. He thought they saw it as a mark of trust that he wouldn’t insist on seeing the video firsthand. While that was true, and he did trust them, he would eventually watch it anyway to ensure nothing slipped through. Trust, but confirm.

  Charlotte replied, “Fighting on the roof was a serious limitation from the outset. It was a challenging deployment, especially given that they probably could’ve magicked the helicopter right out of the sky if they’d wanted to.”

  “It was a good choice on their part. Shows us we don’t want to allow them to choose the battleground again, that’s for sure.”

  His subordinate sipped from her water bottle before continuing. “I think the most important lesson learned on this one is that our people shouldn’t engage at close range if we can help it.”