…..CHAPTER 8…..
Isaac woke with a gasp.
Something was wrong. The magical atmosphere was disturbed, and he had no idea where or how.
Isaac jumped up and got dressed. Eleven o’clock. When the hell had he become a light-weight, to go to bed before midnight? What the fuck?
Without disturbing his roommate Wallace, Isaac raced from their apartment to find snow coming down hard. Rushing to Wallace’s car instead of his own scooter, he followed the sense of wrongness. Isaac had to make himself not speed. Last thing he needed was to be hauled in for racing and getting his buddy’s car towed.
The disturbance was coming from only a few miles away, and he was surprised to find it in a relatively prosperous, if slightly rundown, neighborhood. Lower middle-class, he’d say.
He saw the flash of lights a long way away. Ambulances, police cars, a fire engine…
Isaac turned onto a street before he got that far and pulled up in front of a dark house. He left the doors unlocked in case he had to leave in a hurry, then trotted back to the street, peered around the wooden privacy fence at the goings-on down the way. Isaac hesitated. He didn’t sense any witches.
Correction. He only sensed one witch, and not a government puppet. The magic coming from that house was wild, disjointed, fierce.
And then a car careened up to the scene from the other direction, an unmarked gray sedan. Another screeched up behind it.
“Shit,” he whispered, when that damn level ten-or-whatever Earth witch leaped out of the car, racing for the front door before his Handler could even put the car in park. The other car spewed another Tame with her Handler.
Isaac dropped behind a shrub, watching the whole scene, vibrating with anger. The witch was no doubt going to arrest whoever that was inside. Fucking Tame. It wouldn’t be the first time the FBW&R had put innocent children in handcuffs and carted them off to the state brainwashing plant.
He conveniently ignored the fact that the only way to really stop an untrained witch was to limit their hand motions.
But then he remembered that very Tame One and his actions on the Kipling grounds. Isaac gritted his teeth, memory of the witch’s tiny hand motion coming vividly to mind. Memory of his green eyes, warning and angry.
Niggling memory of a familiar face that he couldn’t place.
Now what? Isaac didn’t want to leave a new witch to the damn government.
He hesitated. It was already too late to save the new one. The government drones were here, hoovering up another magic-wielder, putting a leash on them, making the witch tame for their use.
Isaac waited. Why am I waiting? To get my scrawny ass caught?
Isaac shivered behind the shrub, wondering if he should leave them to it. Curiosity and opportunity held him.
From the house Isaac sensed wild magic, the shift and sharp slashing of spells. He felt the magic in the world all around him stirring with unease, just as he had at home. It was unsettled, wild. Isaac kept his own magic to himself, hiding behind the shrub. But he left his mind open to what was happening. Lots of magic coming from…
He felt the man’s smooth Earth magic. Isaac felt Air, too. Violent fits of it. Isaac frowned when he sensed a sharp jolt of Water magic, and sighed in frustration. Was the child Parallel, then? Fuck. Maybe he should attempt to rescue this kid from the government, because they could really use a Parallel in the Fray.
Isaac took a risk and approached the group of gawkers, and spoke briefly to the super cute little Water witch. She was clearly very young, very new to her job, and also very shy. When he had a chance, he slipped away again, settling behind the bush and waiting.
Now he had a name to go with the face of the witch that had let him and the others from the catchment go.
It took nearly an hour for the witch and his Handler to come back out.
When he did, Isaac’s jaw dropped.
He wasn’t escorting a child. The witch limped from the house, arm wrapped protectively around the shoulders of a woman.
Oliver’s head came up and he looked straight at Isaac.
Isaac started. No way could he sense…
Yes. Yes, he could. Like Isaac, that man was a powerful witch.
“What the fuck are you looking at?” Isaac whispered, incensed.
Those eyes went flat with anger. “I could say the same, asshole,” he muttered back.
Right in Isaac’s ear.
Isaac flinched so hard he fell from his crouch onto his ass, heart racing. No way he could’ve heard or seen, over such a distance, with so much noise around him!
Waves. Fire was was the element of energy, of light, of heat and waves. But that witch was an Earth witch…
Isaac went cold to his core.
Not just a level ten-or-whatever witch.
Isaac swallowed hard, remembering the violent power of the magic coming from the house only minutes ago. Because of his level of magic, Isaac could identify the kinds of magic, if he tried hard enough. And right then, his head whipped around and he snatched a look at the magic inside.
He sensed the fading remnants of each, felt the chaotic usage of Air. Were there hints of brutal magic of the other Elements? Isaac didn’t take the time to find out.
Mostly he sensed the delicate work. The intricate workings were hallmark of a powerful and well-trained witch.
Earth. Air. Water. And yes, Fire too.
With those fading hints, which only someone high level like Isaac—or Oliver—could sense, he just knew the Tame One was far, far more than a level ten-or-whatever.
Isaac never knew how he knew certain things, but he knew this was true.
“Oh fuck,” he breathed shakily, turning to watch the witch get into the back of a government car.
Fuck, fuck, fuck… I can’t believe this… Dillon’s gonna lose his shit…
Their bid for freedom from governmental control just took a nose-dive, with the knowledge that the government had in their pocket a Prime.