Mob Sorcery 2 - Ch9

Chapter 9

The teleport beacon turned out to be a solid silver pyramid, half the width of Vince’s thumb and completely lacking in any details or inscriptions. Almost like a paperweight. He suspected the mundanity of its appearance was intentional. Although it might be easily lost, an enforcer could drop it somewhere and ordinary people wouldn’t think much of it unless they had keen magical senses.

Once removed from his jacket and away from his person, the pyramid emitted fine magical pulses that he barely sensed. Vince knew that immortals such as demons possessed senses tuned to frequencies such as this and wouldn’t be so easily fooled.

He reached the primary warehouse, which remained empty. The chaos from his earlier battle met his eye and he winced.

“No hiding this,” he muttered.

“What do you want to hide from me?” Fia asked.

“I burned down the transport depot and all the product.”

“That would be on the news and police scanners.”

“You have police scanners? I thought their encryption hadn’t been cracked yet.”

Fia snorted. “Remember how many police enforcers and ordinary patrol officers there are in the city, V. Do you think we need to crack their fancy encryption to listen in? Although the elites don’t use the same bands as the ordinary blackshirts. Either way, I’m quite confident there’s no great conflagration consuming north-western Albion.”

“Big words. Conflagration.”

“Unlike you, I went to a fancy school.”

“That just meant you drank and gambled with fancy girls, instead of lowlifes,” he countered. “Was it some cute all-girls school?”

While bantering, Vince found an open area to drop the beacon. Fia hadn’t told him how many wolves would teleport in, but he’d seen a few rooms in the tower. Given the wide-open spaces in the warehouse, he doubted any of the wolves would appear inside metal shelving.

Fia gagged over his earpiece. “Hell no. It was demihuman only, though. I can’t imagine how much worse Pola would be if it had been an all-girls school.”

Once again, her voice became muffled as she argued with the nearby sottocapo of the Lionettis. Vince rubbed the bridge of his nose.

So much for moving quickly. Pola wasn’t in position.

“Fuck’s sake, Pola, get in the fucking room. You’ll see him in a minute,” Fia barked, loud enough that Vince heard her. Then she spoke properly over the line. “Are you set up?”

“Yes. Once Pola’s here I’ll organize transport to the next target.” He paused. “You haven’t heard anything from Nicki?”

“Nah. I messaged her and she sent me a thumbs up, too. So I’d assume all’s good.”

Vince felt himself relax. The hardest part of the night—or what he thought to be the hard part—had gone off without a hitch. Despite Kaziern’s response, he doubted they had anything to counter his dragon.

Save Juliet, he thought darkly.

“Any sign of the vampire?” he asked.

“Nope. But if the lions are sending her to stop you, she could teleport into position without us spotting her,” Fia said. “Be careful.”

The little silver pyramid began to glow, indicating the end of his conversation. Vince moved further backward, giving the incoming wolves plenty of clearance. His barrier remained active as well.

Just in case.

He doubted a double-cross, especially with the job half-done, but beacon hijacking was a common plot in movies. Whether it was even possible remained unclear to him.

Over a dozen wolfgirls blinked into appearance around the pyramid in a fifteen-foot diameter circle. A prismatic aura surrounded each woman and motes of twinkling light ascended from their bodies. Red and blue light shifted in Vince’s vision. He swore he saw double for a moment.

Then all he saw were the wolves, decked out more heavily than he’d ever seen them.

Vince counted three capos alongside Pola. The rest appeared to be ordinary enforcers. Everyone but Pola wore the usual casual clothing of the Lionetti wolf pack, yet some of their jackets and pants shimmered with the telltale signs of enchantments. The capos sported a variety of tacky rings and jewelry—magical tools to supplement their natural abilities with embedded spells they could cast on demand. One even wore a mask tied to the side of her head. All of them carried magical foci.

Yet he found Pola to be the center of attention. A clawed steel gauntlet covered her right hand and it glowed with the green light of her sorcery. A skintight designer one-piece dress hugged her figure, but it lacked any frills or adornments and barely reached her thighs, giving her full range of motion. A green fabric jacket lined with fur hung from her shoulders.

Her clothes shimmered as heavily as Nina’s enforcer outfit. Vince saw the barrier built into them, even.

Beyond her clothing, he saw at least a dozen magical tools. Necklaces, rings, wands, a tiny gun barely the size of her finger—Pola’s arsenal probably netted more than Vince’s apartment.

“Are we clear?” Pola asked, her single ear twitching as she looked around.

“Right now? Yes. I don’t know if there are enforcers left in the building,” Vince said. “The defensive wards are down. They’re that way if you need them.” He pointed in the direction of the utility room.

“We won’t,” Pola said. “Let’s go with the plan.”

The capos nodded. One peeled away with a pair of enforcers, and they sprinted down a hallway.

“Do you even know the layout?” Vince asked.

“We do now,” Pola said as she strode toward him. “Our senses are keener than yours. The moment we get inside a building, we know everything we need to.”

“Like who’s still here?” he asked drily.

She scowled. “Not that much. But we have sensory magic, and that lets us navigate better than you can. We’ll clear the building and chase away everyone outside.”

Outside…

“Shit. There are still some fancy drones outside. I didn’t see controls for them in the utility room, or a control room elsewhere. I’ll need to take them out before Nicki can get me out,” he said.

What a fuck up. He should have been looking for a control room or something to disable those Lockheed Wagner death machines. They’d ignored him on the ground, but he wanted to avoid running two or three blocks away to make a getaway.

Juliet might ice him if he did something so foolish.

Pola’s brow creased. “The Wagner drones, right?” She grinned toothily and caressed his chest with the tips of her claw. “Don’t worry. I’ll happily turn them into spare parts for you, Vincent.”

“Call me Vince,” he said gruffly.

She blinked and pouted. “Vinny?”

“Vince.”

“Vin?”

“Vince.”

“I wanted a name for you that the others don’t call you.” Her voice sounded smaller than usual.

The enforcers stared at their boss as if she’d grown a second head, while the capos grinned and giggled behind cupped hands.

“I’ll think of one,” Vince said, trying not to look at the puppy dog eyes Pola made at him.

She looked hot as hell in her outfit. Sure, he’d promised Nina no orgies, but if Pola kissed him again…

Well, hadn’t Nina been the one talking about expanding the pride? He felt his thoughts wander at what that meant.

“How about Vindick?” Fia growled over his earpiece. “Because you’re thinking with it right now.”

He blinked and realized Pola had practically pressed herself against him. The warmth of her impressive bust bled through his shirt and jacket.

So he took a step back. She scowled at him.

“We’re on the clock,” he said, willing the blood out of his crotch and focusing on the mission. “We’ll talk about this once we’re back in Lionetti Tower and celebrating over the Dom Perignon.”

Pola perked up, then scowled. “I hate champagne.”

“You said that you always celebrate with it.”

“Maybe I want to celebrate with some good whiskey.”

“Sure. But let’s finish the mission first. Help me take out the drones so I can go melt Luscarne’s face.”

She grinned at him. “I can do that.”

Outside, they found little resistance. Kaziern’s enforcers had long since fled and no new ones had turned up yet. A siren in the distance caused Vince to tense, but it wailed off into the background. A false alarm.

“Wow. After the mess you made of the warehouse, I expected to see the yard in fucking rubble,” one of the capos said. “This is pristine.”

She poked her head in one of the prefab half-cylinders as they checked for any traps or hidden enforcers. “Full of shit, too. If Kaziern expected us, they didn’t think much of us. We just looted a gold mine.”

“We’ll need to keep them from blowing that gold up when they hit back,” Fia said. “You already have inbound. One of the girls spotted a half-dozen of their trucks coming from their HQ.”

The enforcers nodded as one. Evidently, she played handler to everyone for this mission, not just Vince.

High above them, the drones continued to circle. Their programming seemed intent on enforcing the no-fly zone, but ignored ground intruders.

As nasty as they had sounded when Fia read them out, they proved to be target practice for Pola.

But she didn’t use her claws. Rather, she pointed her clawed hand at each drone. Seconds passed as she focused her magic and the glow around the gauntlet increased.

Then a maelstrom of wind burst into existence around the drone, blasting it apart. Screws, metal scraps, and plastic rained down from above each time she cast her spell. She finished the job after only a couple of minutes.

Vince frowned at Pola’s magical focus, even as she beamed at him, her tail wagging. She expected praise, and her ear twitched in anticipation.

“I appreciate the help,” he said slowly. “But you’re entirely reliant on your focus to cast spells, aren’t you?”

She froze.

Fia cackled in his ear, causing Pola to growl.

“It’s a common problem,” Vince continued. “I avoid practicing spells with a focus for that reason. If you become used to the boost provided by a focus, channeling magic or focusing on the incantation can become impossible. It’s like a crutch. You need to walk without one if you want to walk properly.”

Pola bit her lip and looked at the ground. Her tail stopped wagging.

“But thanks,” he said. “I’m not exceptional at long distance stuff.”

Although his flame lasers might have been able to snipe them anyway. His spells lost some level of oomph, but the drones appeared to be softer targets than he’d expected.

His words cheered Pola up, and she nodded as she handed him the teleport beacon again. “This turf is ours now,” she said. “Take their drug lab and the lions will be done. The Lionettis will be on top once again.”

He half-expected some cutting remark from Fia, but supposed she agreed with Pola’s fervor on this. So he nodded, pocketed the beacon, and called Nicki.

While he waited for her to answer, Pola and the enforcers continued to investigate the otherwise empty yard.

“Ready?” Nicki answered the moment she picked up.

“Yes. The no-fly zone is clear and there are no enemies here. Fly in, pick me up, and head to the next site,” he said.

“No break?”

“Not yet.”

“Got it. See ya soon.”

She hung up. Only a few minutes passed before he saw her dark figure illuminated against the glow of a nearby apartment complex. She soared directly toward him, then circled and snatched him up from behind.

Pola squawked as he vanished. He looked back to see her preparing to blow Nicki away, before she realized what was happening. As he waved back to the wolf, she cautiously returned the gesture.

“Um, was that a mistake?” Nicki asked as she rocketed away from the transport depot.

“No. Pola’s just being Pola. Focused on her own world and forgetful of others,” he said.

Fia laughed. “You understand her already. Yet you seem to be interested in fucking her.”

“I’m not…” Vince sighed.

“You can’t deny it. I can’t see what’s going on, but I heard it, and I’m not stupid. If my lovely sottocapo had asked to breed, I wonder if we’d be calling off the mission.” Fia paused. “Alessia might not mind that, to be honest. She’d take that as a nice runner’s up prize.”

“I know what my job is, and I’m not ditching the mission.”

“Who’s ditching?” Nicki asked.

“Nobody,” he insisted.

“Oh.” Her wings flapped once as she maintained her rapid speed, although it remained slower than her getaway speed from the night the police had chased them. “This office or drug lab or whatever isn’t a no-fly zone. How close should I get? Fia seemed concerned that your enemies might be expecting us.”

“They are. All the more reason to drop in close,” he said. “Put me down on a rooftop nearby. I’ll need some time to prepare. Then you can drop me on the street and fly off. I won’t need a rapid getaway this time.”

“Got it.”

“I had one of the girls arrange a safehouse nearby,” Fia said. “She’ll be fine there.”

After a few minutes, Nicki brought him down a couple blocks away from the old offices. They looked vastly different at night than day. Several remained lit up despite the late hour, including the Kaziern one used to cut their illegal supplements with magical catalysts.

Nicki flew well clear of the building and brought him down on top of a different office building rooftop. They lacked any overlook of the offices, but Vince recalled the large roller doors that should lead into a rear loading bay.

“I spotted a ton of enforcers milling about the perimeter as I came in,” she said as they rested against the rooftop entrance of the building they’d landed on. “Big trucks and cars everywhere. No barrier on the building, though.”

“I saw that,” Vince said. “I’m not worried about the numbers, though.”

She unslung a tiny backpack from her back. It looked to be one of those nylon ones that wrapped up tight when not in use, so she’d probably held it in a pocket earlier. She retrieved an energy drink from inside and tossed it to him.

“I’m guessing you don’t need an infusion yet,” she said.

“Nah.” He snapped open the can with a hiss. “Although I probably would have taken one after I cast my dragon just in case. Might not have had the chance once I got down there. So, thanks.”

“No problem. It’s nice to help.” Her eyes scanned the sky. “I expected the police to have responded by now.”

“I’m guessing any cops are busy with the turf war that has been abandoned by now,” he said.

“Got that right,” Fia said. “But only a few turned up to hassle us. Vanna nearly got arrested as they chased her down pretty hard. Another brick in the wall for the mole theory.”

“Is it a theory at this point?” he asked rhetorically.

No answer, as he’d expected.

He drank his energy drink in silence. No signs of any magic thirst, so he assumed he remained fine despite the extent of his magic usage. Despite what he’d told Nicki, the amount of magic he’d used was extensive. Powering his barrier for that long, plus using that many flame lasers of such intensity, and so many spells in fights…

Casting his dragon might not exhaust him instantly, but he carried a handful of magic-restoring infusions for good reason. What he worried about was his body giving out before his supply of infusions did. He remained human, and pushing himself to the point he began to vomit would kill him if it happened in a fight, dragon or no dragon.

“You should stand back,” he told Nicki as he tossed her the empty can.

She nodded while doing so and shoving the can into her bag.

Ordinarily, casting his dragon created enormous openings. It also attracted attention.

But with no cops around and his target right in front of him, Vince saw no reason not to cast his best spell in advance.

Why give his enemies a chance to sucker punch him when he didn’t need to? That thirty seconds he needed to prepare could be done in relative safety. Kaziern didn’t even know he was here.

His thirty-foot-long dragon burst into flaming existence on the rooftop, dripping lava from its mouth and spouting flares of fire into the air.

Nicki reached out as if to stroke it, but stopped a good foot short. “I shouldn’t do that, should I?”

“I mean, it won’t hurt you. I control what it burns,” he said. “But you won’t feel anything. It’s fire.”

Naturally, she touched it. Then scowled.

“How boring,” she said.

“Such is reality.”

“Why a Chinese dragon? I figured you’d go with something from the movies that could stomp on buildings.”

Shouts erupted from below, as Kaziern’s enforcers likely felt or spotted his spell. He gestured for Nicki to get into the air. Her eyes widened and she shot upward.

After she picked him up and began lowering him to the ground, he took the time to answer her question, “Flexibility. The point is to extend my spellcasting radius, not to have a gigantic monster. Anyway, drop me off and leave. I’ll take over here.”

“Good luck,” she called out as she soared away.

The moment Nicki vanished, he grabbed one of the small pink vials in his jacket and downed it. The energy drink might have helped a little, but he wouldn’t chance it.

Blood pumped through his body in response to the little dose of magic that had slipped down his throat. He saw stars. Flames roared from his dragon, causing spot fires and searing the brickwork of a nearby building before he got them under control.

“Ally delivers,” he gasped out.

The shouts of Kaziern’s enforcers rose in intensity. Seemed they were coming to him, despite what they knew of him.

That suited him just fine.

- - - - -

Commentary: A little bit of quiet time between the action. I might tweak the scene with Pola's focus for a future plot point (which finally shows up on Patreon, although I'm still considering adding it into Book 1 somewhere).

And, yes, Pola is wearing her Book 1 cover outfit.