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THE CROWD WAS SO THICK I had to shoulder my way through the mass of people. My target was still about fifty yards ahead, moving quickly. I wasn’t worried about that, though. Now that I had a make on him, I wasn’t likely to lose him.
What did worry me was the crowd itself. Yes, I’d done my job this way before, but it was messy and dangerous, and I didn’t like taking risks unnecessarily. Of course, a risk for someone with an almost-unlimited number of lives was a subjective term. But even though I held the power of life and death at my fingertips, I was still short on time.
“Well, hello there.” A voice spoke from my left. I tried to ignore him and move on, but he got grabby before I could make my escape. The swarm of people pushing in around me didn’t help. “Crazy, huh? I had no idea there would be this many people here for this.”
I nodded, flashing a plastic smile. “Yeah, crazy.” I focused the magic in my veins to the point where his hand touched me. Within just a few seconds, he drew back, shaking his hand out in front of him. My fake smile turned to a sly grin as I took just a moment to watch him blow air on his burning palm, then I wormed my way between a couple of scantily-clad ladies to get away from him.
Narrowing my eyes, I scanned the crowd, searching for my mark. He’d stopped moving and was standing just outside a bar. I hurried in that direction, pushing and shoving to get through. Too bad the local team had pulled off a last-second basketball championship, or I might not have had this crush to deal with.
But now that I had Tabari within reach, I couldn’t let him go. If I didn’t take care of this now, I would lose his trail and then I would basically have to start over. I couldn’t take that chance. Time was working against me. Always.
Tabari’s head inclined, and I realized he was nodding to someone inside the bar. He rushed forward, and I followed, now just a few paces behind him. My mouth tasted like it was filled with sand, and I swallowed a few times to relieve the discomfort.
Focus.
My mark seated himself at a table with a slender, dark-haired woman. She had an all-business sharpness in her expression, and the streak of white hair cutting through her black waves from the temple only added severity to her features. A waitress moved in with a dark ale beer, handing it immediately to Tabari. She hadn’t first taken his order, just delivered his desired drink to him like an automaton. Without even asking the woman with him if she wanted anything, the waitress moved away.
I managed to find an empty place against the wall behind him where I leaned back to wait. No reason to make things worse than necessary. I wasn’t close enough to hear their words, but it was clear the conversation between Tabari and the woman was tense. After just a few moments, she slammed her hand on the table.
Beads of sweat were starting to pop up on my brow, and I frowned, wiping them away. Nausea rose up from the pit of my belly, bile burning its way partly up my throat. I caught a waitress, handing her a few bills. “Ginger ale.”
“Just ginger ale?”
I nodded, gritting my teeth. After a few minutes, the girl brought me a glass, and I quickly downed most of it, gasping breaths in between chugs. When I looked back at Tabari’s table, I saw that the woman was gone. He had one hand on the table, tapping his thumb in rapid cadence.
Swooping in quickly, I slid into the seat beside him and blocked his exit. “Hello, Tabari.”
“Bennu.” He said my name with resignation, dropping his head. “I suppose it was only a matter of time.”
“And your time is up,” I told him, one side of my lip ticking up without humor.
He didn’t look at me, just stared straight ahead. His eye twitched, and I knew he was calculating the ways he might be able to escape. Finally, he sighed.
“Am I the last?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does to me. My brother ...”
I dropped my chin, twisting at the waist to face him. I placed one arm behind him on the booth and let my hand slide down to take hold of the back of his neck. I didn’t use pressure, just a feather’s touch. “Nassor lives still.”
His shoulders slouched, and his head plopped forward. I thought perhaps he had given up, and for that reason I dropped my own guard just long enough for him to shove me out of the booth. I fell onto my ass, and another wave of nausea overtook me. Focus.
I shifted my weight back and propelled myself to my feet, chasing him towards the bathrooms at the back of the bar. Just before he could turn into the hallway, I reached him, grabbing him at his neck again and pinching the tendons in an attempt to disable him. He stopped and crouched low, jabbing his elbow into my side. A burst of air vacated my lungs, but I didn’t release him. Instead I shoved him against the wall and put my other hand against his breast.
“Goodbye, Tabari.” I sent my magic instantly to my fingertips. They glowed red and slowly sank into his chest until I could feel the rapid pounding of his heart in my palm.
“No, please, Ben ...”
But before he could finish the words, I grabbed the beating organ, squeezing hard and then snatching it from his body. He collapsed to the floor in a heap.
I peered at the relic in my hand and grinned. There was no blood, no gaping wound in his chest. My powers left no evidence to the naked eye.
“What the hell did you do?”
The woman. I turned to face her, fingers gripping my prize. Her blue eyes darted to my clenched hand, then she took a step forward.
“Don’t,” I warned her, putting a hand up. “You don’t want to mess with me, witch. Just walk away.”
“Did you kill him?” Her gaze swung left and right, eyes wide in alarm. “Damn it. In front of all of these people.”
The crowd was beginning to detect something had happened, a few women coming out of the bathroom and gasping when they saw the prostrate man on the dirty floor.
“You did kill him.” The woman lunged forward, reaching for my hand.
I grabbed her at the neck, shoving her away from me. I had no desire to harm her, but my choices were limited. I had to get out of here while I still had time.
But the witch was having none of that. She blasted me with a ball of energy, knocking me off balance. I released her, and she immediately went for the relic again. I yanked my arm back, keeping it out of her reach.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
I was on adrenaline, and all I knew was that she was trying to take the relic from me. There was no way in Hell I was going to let that happen. I grabbed her arm to twist her wrist behind her back, using the fire of my magic to subdue her. When she cried out and pulled away from me, I fisted a handful of her shirt, and tossed her backwards against the wall.
I didn’t have time to see if she would follow me. I shoved my way through the crowd and out into the night. When I was far enough from prying eyes, I hunched over and allowed my wings to emerge from under my skin. With a shrieking wail into the cold night, I unfurled them and let them to lift me up into the darkness.
I reached the Elba Mountain within just a few hours, gliding into my cave and settling easily onto my feet before tucking my wings away as I walked deep into the hollow.
The relic in my palm vibrated, sensing how close it was to its rightful home. I hadn’t noticed until my feet were on solid ground, but my head was pounding like an army was marching back and forth between my temples. I flinched and rubbed just between my eyes but continued making my way through the tunnel.
“Soon,” I murmured, the article in my palm shaking so hard that it nearly jumped out of my hand.