Mob Sorcery 2 - Ch12

Note: During final editing of Book 1, I named Alessia's main bodyguard (the one that hits on Vince and shows up in a bunch of scenes) Lucia. She'll be mentioned by name from now on.

Chapter 12

Vince burst through the opening into Alessia’s office and found the raging battle he’d overheard since entering the floor.

The length of the gargantuan room had been torn to shreds, with the furnishings blown apart or turned to cinders. Steel shutters closed off the floor-to-ceiling windows at the far end and a solid purple barrier glowed atop them. Little else protected the interior. He suspected the room’s protective wards had long since been breached.

Fia and two other wolfgirl enforcers fought desperately against a familiar if shadowy foe. While Fia danced directly with the intruder, the others hung back, launching practiced wizard-tier wind spells such as tornadoes and wind scythes across the room. The three wolves acted as a team.

Which Vince found impressive given the injuries all bore. The pair hanging back included Lucia and another of Alessia’s bodyguards, and blood poured from gouges in their torso and arms. Empty vials from infusions littered the floor. Crushed glass elsewhere suggested many more had been used.

The reason being their target couldn’t die. Juliet teleported as Fia exploded into a fiery blaze with a shout of, “Excandesco!”

Grinning, the vampire appeared next to the other two wolfgirl enforcers. A wall of wind appeared in front of them and tore apart the snarling wolf heads formed from shadow that tried to crush them.

“You’re testing my patience. I refuse to waste my true power on mutts like you,” Juliet snapped. “Why don’t you make this easy and tell me how to disable the security.”

Fia answered with a flame laser, and Juliet teleported again. Then the wolf spotted Vince standing in the entrance and her tail and ears shot up.

Only for Juliet to appear next to her, shrouded in shadow.

“Fine. I’ll take it from your very body the hard way.” Juliet sneered as wings of shadow appeared around her.

Only for her entire upper half to vanish in a puff of shadow as Vince’s dragon vaporized her with a flame laser.

Fia dashed away, moving so fast Vince wondered if he’d already overdosed on magic and was unable to follow movement properly. After a moment, he realized this was how fast Fia could move with the right equipment. An old-fashioned pocket watch sparkled with white light from a chain around her neck as she ran.

“What the hell are you doing here, Vince?” she snapped at him, backing up while coating her arms in her flame blades. Or tonfas, as she had called them the other day.

“My job. Alessia is paying me to protect her,” he said, coiling his dragon around both of them. “Get rid of the stupid arm blades. Getting close to Juliet is suicide.”

“It’s worked so far. I’m faster than her.”

“Until that tool runs dry.” He grimaced and watched as Juliet’s body reformed, her expression fixed in rage as she flicked her rainbow hair with one hand. “I knew the Lionettis were loaded, but if you have all these magic tools, why the hell haven’t you used them?”

“Because they run dry and many of the people capable of recharging them are dead.” Fia gripped the watch. “I’ve still got plenty of time on this one.”

Vince wasn’t sure if that pun was intentional. He presumed not, given how serious the situation appeared to be.

“Oh, boy. Here I am, doing a new contract and an existing one falls in my lap,” Juliet sung out, holding her hands in front of her body and swaying back and forth. “I’ll be eating caviar and filet mignon for years after this, while tucking into wannabe billionaires too stupid to see past my boobs and the guaranteed 1000% returns.”

“Your taste in men is terrible,” Fia drawled.

“I’m more amazed that anyone can’t see past your non-existent tits,” Vince said.

Juliet bared her teeth at him, before regaining her haughty expression. “Oh, don’t misunderstand. I’m not interested in them as men. They’re garbage. But those types waste so much time on their bodies that they make great meals. Girl’s gotta eat, and why not enjoy some fatty blood cells from the wagyu of humanity?” The vampire laughed.

Realizing he had nowhere near enough prep to deal with this immortal, Vince focused on what he could deal with. He turned to face Lucia and the other enforcer.

“Head out to the lobby and summon exactly two lifts,” he told them. “Clear the floor. Leave this to me—”

“Us,” Fia snapped.

“Us,” he corrected.

Both bodyguards nodded, oddly agreeable to his orders. They dashed away despite their injuries.

A cackle escaped Juliet and shadows gathered around her. “Oh, do you think I’ll let my prey escape? Oh, no. They’re going—”

Flame lasers forced her to teleport, but pillars of flame followed her. Her skin bubbled with a strange black, gooey substance and a shriek escaped the vampire the instant before her form vanished in a puff of darkness once more.

“How dare—” she thundered, only to correct herself.

The bubbles receded into her body, restoring her ethereal beauty and pale skin. Even her skimpy black skirt and shirt returned to normal. Her hands brushed off invisible dust, or perhaps ash only she could see.

“I don’t think she appreciates your dragon,” Fia said, but her eyes glittered with excitement.

His suspicion that brute force might work against Juliet proved true. Nina doubted him, but it seemed Juliet felt pain.

Whether it would be enough was another matter. If both Nina and Salome fell short while fighting this annoying vampire, Vince had to admit he struggled to believe he could win just by throwing around a lot of fire. Something felt off.

He pushed down his doubts. Juliet’s body reformed and she once more summoned a mass of shadow behind her.

“I shall demonstrate to you the true power of the Retributive Night, pathetic mortals,” she said, voice echoing off the walls. “You shall be doomed forever more.”

“Trave,” Fia snapped, firing off a flame laser at the vampire.

Vince joined in with his own from the dragon.

An inky shroud covered Juliet’s body before the attacks struck. Both lasers boiled away at the barrier and it shattered, but the vampire merely grimaced and continued to summon her power.

The far half of the room descended into an impermeable darkness. Fireballs launched into it vanished instantly.

“Truly, why did you think falling into my lap was a good idea? Do these wolves have you on such a tight leash?” Juliet asked, shrugging off further fire spells. Her power seemed to only increase, in contrast to her earlier display, but she launched no offensive spells of her own. “I am an immortal. An ancient being who has seen empires fall, monarchs beheaded, wars come and go. Your lives are but embers in the wind before me.”

“You think I came unprepared?” Vince said. He tried to recall some information from Salome’s dossier.

Only one piece of data came to mind.

“Oh, is this where you tell me my nationality? My age? Go ahead.” Juliet laughed and said something in what appeared to be German, then French.

Vince had no clue what she’d said.

“I can try Swedish next if you like? My Chinese is a bit spotty, but nobody ever believes me when I say I’m from Asia.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Fia muttered, resummoning her arm blades after her latest spell failed to accomplish anything. “Vince?”

He nodded, then pointed a finger at Juliet. “Like I said, I came prepared. You’re a 32B, with a 34 inch bust size.”

The room fell dead silent. Vince swore even his dragon stared at him in shock. Juliet’s pale face turned bright red as her fists shook with fury.

“Vince, why do you know how big her tits are?” Fia said flatly.

“My contact tends to be thorough,” he half-lied.

“You… you… pig!” Juliet screeched, the shadows in her half of the room quivering.

“Oh, fuck off,” he said. “You just talked about literally eating people.”

“Not literally! I suck out their soul essence with magic. Sometimes their blood if I’m feeling that way. You’re sizing me up like a piece of meat. This is a duel of warriors, and shouldn’t be demeaned by—”

“No, I’m pretty sure this is an assassination attempt,” Fia said. “I don’t give a shit about your tits, but the fact you’re so rattled that Vince knows this much about you makes me think it’s important. Worried he’s sizing up your coffin?”

Juliet froze, then sneered. Her shadows seemed to double in volume, growing around her. “The only ones who need coffins are you.”

Magic pumped through Vince’s body as he focused spells through his dragon. “Nice words. You haven’t done anything for a while, though. I guess we’ll see who isn’t full of shit.”

Five pillars of flame burst from the ground around Juliet, fierce enough to penetrate her wall of shadow. She looked around in shock, and her inky barrier seemed to grow in size, becoming almost like solid black ink over her skin. Vince focused and the flames began to encroach on her.

In response, Juliet pulled her shadows around the fire. They lost sight of the conflict, as the darkness cut off the fire and the vampire at once.

Fia bit her lip, but remained stationary. This fight remained beyond her for now.

Vince continued to focus his magic. He still felt the flames and pulled them toward Juliet’s former location. Her attempt to suppress his magic failed.

Eventually, they closed on her and a bloodcurdling shriek split the air. The darkness burst across the room, overwhelming his senses with magic. It felt like static had overrun his reception and he shook his head. His dragon coiled around him and Fia.

“I will not be defeated by the likes of you,” Juliet thundered, body unseen, but a tremor of fear split her voice.

Vince instinctively fired a flame laser at her. Nothing happened.

“A vampire like me does not know defeat,” she said.

“You failed to kill me last time. Or does that not count?” he asked, looking around and failing to see through the darkness.

Fia hurled fireballs futilely, trying to spot or chase the vampire out from hiding.

“For an immortal, patience means everything. I win by outliving you. And I always outlive you mortals. It just so happens that your lifespan ends tonight.” Juliet’s voice sounded close and he swore he sensed her presence.

He spun and his dragon uncoiled, focusing its maw where he sensed her. A roar split the air and a glowing laser burst from the dragon. Juliet raised her hands, conjuring her shadowy wolf heads behind her while her body remained covered by her inky barrier.

His laser struck first, blowing a hole clean through her stomach and lower chest. Juliet’s spells vanished and her barrier shattered. The darkness shrouding the room vanished.

But she grinned.

Vince felt a sharp, horrendous pain assault his lower body. A distant scream reached his ears. Muffled, almost.

He saw the room waver as he hit the ground and his hands instinctively tried to clasp over the source of the pain. They grasped nothing.

Vince realized there was a hole in his lower body.

- - - - -

Commentary: This was originally one big battle chapter, but I couldn't miss that cliffhanger, could I?

Anyway, Juliet throws down seriously this time. Although she's still a goof.