Chapter Four
Before I made the choiceto go back inside or not, I rushed up on Hawk and dragged him off to speak privately. The second we stepped into the building again, not even a whisper would keep things from the others.
“Did you see what just happened in there, or hear it? Because if we return, they are going to revolt. I don’t know if it’s because of our magic, or because they feel like I betrayed them or...”
Hawk scowled down at me. “Of course, I heard it. Your mate wasn’t exactly quiet with his admonitions. The Chief heard it too so I’m sure your boy just earned himself some brownie points on that front.”
“Then why do you want to drag us into a training session. No one is going to want to fight with us.”
His frown deepened, and he shook his head. It made me feel like a teenager all over again. “And that’s exactly why they need to. This opportunity, to train non-magical people against the magical might ensure some of them stay alive in the future. They should be ecstatic at the chance to learn from you guys.”
His praise sent a wash of heat along my neck and into my ears. Hawk didn’t offer compliments much.
“Don’t get too excited. I just mean the magic. They should be glad to get training against magic in a safe and cozy home environment instead of out there facing it head on.”
And back to zero. I shook my head. “You want to use us as a sort of magical test dummies.”
“The Black Mage isn’t going to hold back because these people are your friends. In fact, it makes things even more dangerous for them so I think, you owe it to them to help get them as ready as possible.”
My chest tightened at the thought of losing any of them. Even if they were being complete and utter dicks right now. “And if they don’t want to train with us?”
His gaze hardened, as did the set of his jaw. “Then they can leave.”
“You can’t just do that. What if they all go?”
He gave me a little shrug. “Then I guess once we deal with The Black Mage, I’ll have to do some hiring. But if it comes to that, you’re helping. You know resumes make me itchy.”
A laugh shot out of me involuntarily, and I shook my head. “This doesn’t make us friends.”
His big hand landed hard on my shoulder. “Of course not, I’m still your boss, obviously.”
Fin spoke up from where he’d been leaning on the brick building quietly. “You two done, or you need to hug it out before we can start training?”
Hawk left us to head in and round up whomever wanted to stay while I turned to Fin and wrapped my arms around his torso. “You sure you want to do this?”
He tipped my chin and brushed his lips across mine. “It wasn’t my original plan, but it has merit. If they are going to help, then they need to learn what we know. And from what you knew when we met about the magical world it’s going to be an interesting awakening.”
“It’s not that they don’t know it exists,” I said, wondering why it sounded almost defensive of the assholes. “It’s just that they haven’t had to interact with it much. The few magical cases that come in are usually divvied out to those The Chief already knows can handle it, or to those who prefer that kind of work.”
“Did you prefer it?”
I shrugged and rested my cheek against the hard plains of his chest. His t-shirt smelled of fabric softener and I breathed him in. “I didn’t prefer it exactly. I’d dragged myself into them because I wanted answers about my life, about my parent’s deaths, so I assumed surrounding myself with it might jump start those answers.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and rested his face on top of my head. It felt good to be held, to let myself lean into someone. I was low-key angry at myself for resisting things like this for so long. But at the same time, in the back of my mind, I reminded my hormone-addled brain that I’d resisted because people can be taken away just as quickly as they come into your life.”
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop,” Fin said from above me. I lifted away from him so I can meet his eyes. The crystal blue shine instantly calmed and captivated me. Another heartbeat, and his hands slid down to my hips to tug me flush against his body again.
I didn’t do anything but wait as he leaned in to kiss me again. Until someone cleared their throat loudly from the doorway. Hawk stood there, his face staying as he didn’t appreciate us holding up his training session.
“Let’s just get this over with,” I said.
He nodded and let me precede him into the training building. It was little more than a massive open space with practice mats, like the one in Fin’s home. Being reminded of it made me wonder what he was going to do with it once this all ended. Would he be able to go back there after everything that happened, after The Captain died there?
Did I want to live in that huge house with him, and his security? It was an easy answer. Hell no, I did not. It felt too formal there, too stuffy. Maybe we could move to a city house and bring Holly with us. She was the only person I needed in my life from all that opulence.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, smiling. “I can’t tell.”
“I was thinking whenever we figure out where we are going to life that we are bringing Holly with us because...necessity.”
Now I’d have to come to terms with the fact that we were together. Together together. Which meant cohabitation, all that sort of domestic shit I’d kept out of my life for so long. What bad habits could an old fairy have picked up in his life?
I didn’t have time to wonder about it further as we approached Hawk and a small cluster of my colleagues. All of whom gave us both one look and wandered across the room to huddle together and whisper.
I stripped my sweatshirt off my shoulders. “Getting all kinds of cozy vibes here.”
Fin didn’t say anything, but he met my eyes acknowledging the unease we both felt.
“Is this a good idea, Hawk?”
He rounded on me. “You just agreed. Like I said,” he raised his voice. “Those who don’t want to join can get the hell out. I know for a fact The Chief will back me up on my decision too, so don’t bother running off to whine to him.”
“What about Helix and Melinda? Are they coming?” Fin asked. I glanced between the two men, both of them towering over me. “Do you think it’s a good idea to put them in the ring together right now? They haven’t really been on the same page since the attack.”
Hawk shook his head. I’m going to meet them later and see about some training, or at the very least, evaluation of where they are. They held their own alongside you guys, so I assumed it’s all good.”
“Helix wouldn’t appreciate you using the word evaluate about his skills but couldn’t hurt. At the very least it might give us an idea of weaknesses, or strengths, we might be able to use later.”
I waved at the mat. “Then let’s get this over with. Some of us have sex to attend to today.”
Fin chuckled from behind me, and Hawk shot me a disgusted look. Good, now he knew how it felt to wake up with him in the same house as me. Not fucking right.
“Let’s go,” Hawk shouted across the mats.
One of the guys peeled off and headed out. Two women and one man were left to approach us in the center of the room. I quickly tossed my shoes to the edge of the mats and Fin did the same.
I glared at them. Fin looked like he didn’t care one way or the other. There had been so many times I’d adopted that same look. A nonchalance that belied the turmoil strung tight through my body. It disconcerted me to see Fin’s mask and yet feel the discontent underneath. So I didn’t bother hiding the fact that I wanted to punch all of them for how they acted right now. It wasn’t as if having magic made me a totally different person. As much as so many would prefer it that way.
Hawk led us through some stretches. All of which, we had learned not to argue about years ago. Standing here, made me think of the captain. A pang hit me sharp in the chest, and I considered the captain hawk would have gotten along well or murdered each other.
I didn’t need to say anything, Fin’s eyes told me exactly who I thought about. Once we finished, fin and I stood one side of the mats, while the others faced us on the opposite side.
Talk raised his arm, and just write me to step forward. When I did, he met me in the center of the mats. “It’s important that everyone knows the capabilities they face. Because if there are no surprises, you can protect yourself.”
“I don’t know if I agree with that. I've been overly prepared on many occasions, and yet, I still get surprised. Mostly bye people’s stupidity.” I gave the others a glare for good measure.
Hawk rolled his eyes and gave me a little wave. “Let’s see what you got.”
Studying him, I couldn’t remember if he’d seen a demonstration of my new abilities. I rubbed my hands together and rolled my shoulders. Then we stood there, staring at each other.
“Are you going to attack me?”
Hawk dropped his shoulders in defeat. “I thought you were attacking me.”
Fin spoke up from a few feet behind me.” I'll show you what I've got if you trust me.” I glanced between them, wondering what hawk would say.
Hawk simply shrugged and waved Fin to stand beside me. “Just so we're clear you’re attacking me.” He said it dead pan with a pointed look my way.
The brush of Fin’s magic hit me both inside and out. It didn’t feel bad, simply different on this side of things. I hadn’t gotten a chance to rectify it all.
Then Hawk held out one of his arms, palm up, and began to do the Hokie Pokie while we all looked on.
“What. The. Fuck.” He said, obviously trying to fight the mind control even while he pretty expertly danced in front of us.
Another second and the magic fell away. He stopped moving.
“Fin can control minds. I thought you knew that.”
“Maybe I did, but it’s definitely different being on the receiving end of it. How the hell do we combat something like that in a fight?”
I shrugged. “Bring more magic? Bigger magic? Magic to distract the other person enough that they won’t waste their power on petty tricks.”
“See,” someone said from behind Hawk. “What’s the point if we can’t fight against it? He just controlled you as easily as Barbie doll in the hands of a five-year-old.”
Then she walked out, along with the other two, leaving Hawk, myself, and Fin alone.
“You can be faster than your opponent,” Fin offered. If you injure them, it might affect their abilities to use their magic. It can also have the opposite affect too though. You’d have to gauge the situation like you would any other.”
Hawk considered this, his mind obviously whirling. “If I cut a man’s throat before he can hit me with the magic then I suppose that would give me the upper hand.”
Some of his enthusiasm seemed to have waned. “I need to think about this,” he said. “Have you faced the Black Mages’s magic first hand? Do you know what little tricks he has up his sleeve?”
I shook my head, fielding this one. “No, because he’s been stealing the magic of others for years. He can do numerous things. But, so far his magic has extended to ordering his men to try and kill us, and wielding enchanted artifacts expertly.”
It might be time to review the clashes we’d faced with him recently to ensure we didn’t miss any more surprises.
“Just don’t underestimate him, okay. The last time we saw him, he seemed pretty damn unstable. Something has happened to him. Maybe he doesn’t take losing well.” Although, without The Captain, it felt more like we were the ones losing. He didn’t have anyone he cared about enough to have lost.
A tingle swept down my spine and for some reason I got a flash of lace in my mind. White frilly girl lace like you might find on the edge of a bed skirt. Weird. Weirder still, I could almost feel the scratchy material under my hands when I definitely didn’t own anything even remotely resembling a bed skirt. Because, why?
Fin and Hawk discussed ways to bring down a magic wielder easily, but he didn’t actually need training in dropping a target, so we wrapped things up quickly. After I slid my feet back in my shoes, I headed toward the door behind them.
“Are you really going to fire everyone?”
Hawk stopped and turned toward me. “I gave them an order, and they chose not to follow it. It’s unacceptable. I no longer trust them to do what’s in the best interest, and since I can’t then I won’t.”
“But what does that mean for The Office?”
Hawk held the door open for us to walk out. “That’s up to The Chief, isn’t it?”
It hurt something in my chest to think of it as being gone. I’d grown up training here. I’d fallen asleep in The Chief’s ridiculous chair so many times I couldn’t even remember how many. Even now, I could curl my small frame into it and take a nap.
I sighed. “I guess you’re right. I’m sorry it came down to this though.”
“I’m not,” Hawk snapped. “If I can’t trust them when it comes to training them, I sure as shit wouldn’t have been able to trust them in the field. I’d rather learn that where it’s safe, wouldn’t you?”
He had a point. It didn’t mean that guilt wasn’t trailing claw marks down my rib cage.
Fin and I didn’t bother to say anything to anyone. We just started the walk back to the safe house. It wasn’t ideal, but at the very least, with Hawk and The Chief, we had the support of whatever The Office could add to our fight. I’d take it for now.
We made it back to the safe house quickly. I opted for a direct route.
Fin gave me a sexy grin while I unlocked the door. I’d been so distracted I walked into the house and promptly tripped. And landed right on top of an unconscious Helix and Melinda.