Mob Sorcery 2 - Ch13

Chapter 13

A mirror spell, Vince faintly recalled. Salome knew little about it, but Juliet’s repertoire had another meister-tier spell.

Had this been what the vampire had been preparing all along while covering her half of the room in shadow?

“Vince!” Fia screamed, falling to his side.

Juliet cackled as his hearing returned to him. “Every time. You mortals get so cocky when you see me in pain. Oh, I’m taking some damage from your pathetic spells. My skin is bubbling, or my limbs breaking off from your ice spells. Clearly, I’m such a weak vampire, and the reason you can’t find out anything about me is that I’m too young, right?”

He knew she’d be sneering if he could see her. Or see anything at all through his blurring vision.

“Infusion,” he breathed out.

Fia’s hands patted her own jacket but she gasped.

“Mine,” he said, trying and failing to reach for one.

Hard to move with so much of his torso missing, he realized. The fact he could speak at all was a miracle.

He barely felt Fia’s hands rummaging through his jacket.

“Oh, do try to heal yourself. It’s always fun to see my targets squirm and fight for life, only for me to squash them before they get a chance to flee or truly fend me off,” Juliet said. Her voice came from the room’s entrance now. “It’ll be hours even for a top-quality infusion to heal an injury like that. Trust me. I’ve done this many times. Bruisers like you are the easiest to defeat.”

A vial pressed against his mouth.

“Drink,” Fia said.

He managed to gulp it down, with Fia’s fingers running against his throat in some attempt to force it down.

“Ah, the best part. The false light. Trust me, the only light you’ll be seeing is the… light… at the end…” Juliet trailed off. “I’m sorry, what?”

Over the coming seconds, Vince’s breathing returned to normal as he found his lungs no longer full of blood. His hands clasped at flesh where there had only recently been a hole. Fia pulled them away, presumably so the infusion didn’t try to regenerate his torso over his hands.

Seconds. It took mere seconds for Ally’s thousand-dollar infusion to regenerate a gaping hole in his body. The pain took longer to pass, as his body struggled with phantom signals that told it he was dying.

He knew his dragon was long gone, though. No glow lingered in the corner of the room and he couldn’t sense the magic of the room as well through it.

Well, not dying sufficed.

“What trickery is this?” Juliet snarled. “Are you using an illusion, human?”

Shadows appeared around his body.

“Excandesco,” Fia cried, and an explosion vaporized Juliet’s attempt to slay them.

Vince rose to his feet in the aftermath. He gripped his cane tightly as he summoned his barrier with a muttered, “Protectare.”

The thirst for magic struck at him. He figured he could hold off on the infusion for a touch longer. The moment he took it, he’d be on the clock.

Juliet shook from the entrance. “No. I won’t stand for this. I’ve never failed to slay some pathetic human or demihuman after using both of my meister-tier spells. This is… this is an illusion. You’ve died and some hidden wolfgirl is puppeteering you, right?”

“Stand still and tell me if this feels like an illusion,” Vince drawled.

He blew her head apart with a laser. Unfortunately, it regrew instantly from the inky blackness that composed her body. Yet she appeared shaken.

“No,” she gasped out. “I’ll do it again. You can’t—”

“I have like three more of them,” he said. “Go on. Do your worst.”

Fia stared at him.

Then a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the air. A bright green light shot through Juliet. Her expression wavered, right before her entire body burst into a mess of shadows and inky darkness.

Pola crashed through the remains of the vampire, her claw burning an incandescent green. Splotches of Juliet’s body splattered over her face and the remains of her clothes.

Remains being the key word. Pola’s jacket had vanished somewhere and tears ran through her dress. Blood ran from countless wounds and scratches on her body, including a nasty cut through one eye that had been hastily bandaged, limiting her vision. Her tail looked more ragged than ever.

She screamed in rage upon seeing the state of the office.

“Sis! Sis, where are you?” Pola shouted, her voice breaking.

A mixture of terror, fury, and despair fought in her eyes, before the fury won and Pola spun.

Juliet reformed, only to be blown apart by a wind claw spell. Again and again, Pola churned the vampire and her shadows apart. The walls, floor, and remains of the furnishings exploded into shards around her as she flew into a rage. Her cries for Alessia never ceased.

“Fia, go,” Vince said, taking a step forward.

“With Pola like this?” Fia asked.

“This is exactly why you need to go. Juliet’s held down, but finishing her won’t be easy. Who else can get Alessia out?” He looked at her.

“I’m not leaving without…” Fia swallowed her words, but she stared at him. “You’re not doing something dumb, right?”

“I brought a bunch of infusions for a reason.”

She nodded, then blurred out of the room with the help of her stopwatch tool. Pola paused and looked around in confusion. Tears poured from her face.

“Fia?” she cried out.

“She’s fine,” Vince snapped. “Alessia’s fine, too.” Not that he knew that for sure. “Pola get over here. I need you to—”

“You need her to watch as I finally kill you,” Juliet wailed. “I’m so sick of this fucking contract. Some stupid mafia boss holed up in a fucking fortress, a crazy wolfgirl that I can’t even get a moment to cast a spell at, and an immortal mortal. I’m done. You’re fucking dead and I’m taking my money by eating the soul of that stupid lion who started this entire mess.”

She reformed behind Vince, shadows forming around her.

“Vince!” Pola screamed, her claw reaching for him.

While what remaining magic tools on her body glowed, nothing happened. She couldn’t cast a spell without harming him.

Then he lost sight of her as Juliet swallowed him in a world of shadow.

His barrier crackled against her magic as she tried to consume him. Yet with his magic running dangerously low, he knew this might be it.

What a fucking mess.

“Vince!” Pola called from outside the shell of darkness.

He couldn’t respond to her, as he knew she couldn’t hear him.

“This again,” he said, feigning confidence.

“You have a good poker face, human. Surviving so far is impressive, but nobody is coming to save you,” Juliet whispered around him from the darkness. “The wolves cannot harm me, despite all their wealth and magical implements. The police will not test me. This is the end.”

Maybe it would be.

Even so, he pulled out another magic-restoring infusion and downed it. This time, he did feel something. The thirst vanished yet a horrendous stabbing migraine replaced it.

“Oh, don’t think I didn’t see that,” Juliet purred. “See, all mortals end this way. No matter the depths of their power, they have limits. Their minds or bodies break. They collapse, and their spells fail. Then they become my food. I am the apex predator, and you are my prey. This is the circle of life. The food chain.”

“You’re full of so much shit,” Vince said.

Yet he struggled to imagine a way out of this. His barrier remained strong, but for how long. If he summoned his dragon, would it accomplish much? Juliet had already proved that brute force wasn’t enough earlier.

He pocketed the empty vial, as useless as it was. It felt petty, but he wanted to deny Juliet even an infinitesimal drop of Ally’s infusions.

His hand struck a small, solid object in his jacket. Something he’d taken earlier in the night.

Unbidden, a smirk rose to his face. Vince felt the migraine fade away as his hand closed over the metal thing in his pocket.

Sure, he hadn’t used it before, but any idiot could use a magic tool. That was the point of them. Idiotproof tools to let people use magic they didn’t know.

He stopped feeding his barrier with his own magic, yet it remained a resolute wall of red light around his body. Relief filled him and he rolled his shoulders.

“Given in already? You can drop the barrier and let me in. I promise to make it quick,” Juliet said.

“Oh no. I’m just settling in. Trying to imagine how I’ll celebrate with my earnings from tonight,” Vince said. “The wolves pay well. I figure I’ll go to one of those really fancy restaurants in the Tri Sommet and have a degustation. I bet you’ve had those before. They sound real highbrow. Can you recommend any?”

Juliet remained silent for several long seconds.

Pola’s wailing filled the void. “Vince! Say something. I know you’re still there, fighting her.”

“Your arrogance means nothing in the face of my power,” Juliet said.

“Uh huh. I can do this literally all night. You say that nobody is coming to stop you, but that’s wrong. At some point, the police will intervene. An elemental will step in. Or Alessia stumps up the cash for some sorcerous vampire hunters who know your secrets. Maybe even my buddies at Immanuel think they can use you as a resource.”

A hiss escaped Juliet when he brought up Immanuel. “Bluffing does you—”

“Enough with the nonsense. Is it really so surprising that I’ve prepared for you? This isn’t a new trick. I know how to defeat this spell. Hell, I know about your third meister-tier spell. The one you use against immortals. Everything you can pull off, I have a counter for.” Vincent laughed. “You’re beaten. Sure, maybe I can’t kill you, but you can’t kill me.”

Noises like the gnashing of teeth met his words.

Close to five minutes passed, accompanied only by Pola’s sobbing.

“You truly are more than mortal, aren’t you,” Juliet muttered. “My employer’s information was wrong. If you’re with those demons, though…”

The darkness vanished. Vince took a deep breath and looked around.

“Vince!” Pola cried out, but was held back by Fia, who stood behind her with a grim face. Her eyes lit up just as much as Pola’s.

No sign of Alessia or the other enforcers, though. He took that as a good sign.

“Just going to stand there as I prepare your doom?” Juliet asked.

She stood atop the ruins of Alessia’s desk, one arm in the air. A shimmering prismatic light surrounded her.

Vince instantly knew her third meister-tier spell wasn’t from her usual school of magic. Then she lowered her arm and an invisible blast of wind blew through him.

Salome described an attack on a human’s magical essence as like a particularly stiff breeze. To Vince, he wondered if Juliet had used magic to directly blow very cold air beneath his skin. Goosebumps popped along the length of his body, and he shuddered.

That was the worst of it. The sensation passed momentarily.

Juliet stood dead still, as if waiting for him to keel over.

He raised an eyebrow at her and crossed his arms. “You done?”

“Absurd,” she growled.

“I told you, I prepared for everything you have.” He narrowed his eyes. “And I’m not so convinced you’re as immune to my dragon as you claimed, now. You’re not as good an actor as you pretend to be. Shall I test my theory.”

Juliet bared her teeth, then flicked her hair behind one shoulder. “Don’t waste your magic… whatever you are. My contract will be fulfilled. I shall consume you, and once I do, my power will be unmatched among my kind. Just you wait.”

A burst of darkness announced her departure.

Vince remained still for seconds, as if expecting her to reappear and try to kill him again. Yet, she appeared to be gone.

“It’s over?” Fia asked.

Pola broke free of her friend and crashed into him, bowling him over. Her hair and single ear rubbed against him as she pressed herself into him.

“I assume so,” Vince said. “Where’s Alessia?”

Fia looked around and waved her hand in front of her throat. Not as a signal for death, but to indicate she didn’t want to talk here.

“Why’d the vampire bail? Hell, how’d you defeat her?” Fia asked while pulling Pola away.

Pulling out the tiny iridescent egg he’d stolen from Luscarne, he grinned. “A tool I borrowed from a ‘friend.’ It worked against me. Might as well extend the favor.”

And, somehow, he’d tricked Juliet into thinking he was some sort of immortal. Not the worst day on the job. So long as he left out the “nearly died” part.

“Let’s go find Alessia,” he said. “The night isn’t over.”

- - - - -

Commentary: Yes, I used an awful cliffhanger, but I hoped you enjoyed the start of the chapter nonetheless.

I'm curious whether anybody saw the egg magic tool coming in useful like this.

Otherwise, the main thing to talk about is Pola. Originally, the plan was for her to not arrive, as she was dealing with her own assassination attempt that Vince needed to save her from. The two big problems were time, as this sequence is already really long, and taking away Pola's first chance to do something. Sure, she flies into a rage and panics over Vince and Alessia, but that helps to characterize her. I disliked the idea of turning her into a damsel after she showed up looking badass, and it would have gone too strongly against where I want her to be.