Magic Resistant (17 page)

Jackson nodded and dismissed his concerns
with a wave. “No worries. I understand.”

He should’ve known Victor would bring up the
subject before he had a chance too. And now, his partner would make
sure to avoid a repeat.

Victor paused and Jackson had a feeling the
conversation drifted into I-don’t-want-to-hear-it territory.
“Markus thinks highly of her. He’s gonna kick your ass when he gets
his hands on you. Pissed off doesn’t begin to describe it when he
came back to Headquarters after she disappeared. Even the Coterie
is staying away from him. No one says boo to him except
Keeper.”

“Keeper fears no one. I’m not surprised he’s
willing to speak to an angry Markus.” Keeper, aka Keeper of All
Knowledge, was the one person who controlled the vast library of
the Mages. Feared, respected and revered within the mage society.
Any question about magic, its lore or its complicated history,
Keeper had the answer. Jackson never heard of a time where someone
stumped Keeper.

He
always
had the answer.

Jackson had no clue whether it was due to a
spell or if his brain was that good at retaining information.

Dragging his mind away from Keeper, and
another enemy he didn’t want to have, he continued. “And if Markus
is that angry, make sure you stay the hell away from him. We both
know he’d destroy you without breaking a sweat. Hell, he could
easily do the same to me if he ever got his hands on me. There’s a
reason why he’s our top interrogator.”

Markus refused to allow anyone else to
interact with his prisoners. Many wanted to know his secret, how he
broke them so effectively, but he wouldn’t breathe a word of his
technique. Whatever information he wanted, Markus got, no matter
how tough the subject. Jackson shuddered at the thought of Markus
having full access to him. Oddly enough, the senior Enforcer never
bragged about his successes.

Jackson stared out the window, watching the
skyscrapers, condos and office buildings crawl past. They’d been in
the PATH for over an hour. Rush hour was winding down and traffic
snarled the streets. Pedestrians rushed along the sidewalks, darted
in front of cars and impatiently waited for the lights to change.
Their entire being focused on arriving at work, worried about being
late and possibly getting a black mark in their files.

Thoughts of jobs and careers brought his mind
to Julia’s. He turned to Victor.

“I completely forgot how this situation would
appear to the Coterie. If they believe she’s in league with me,
this would ruin her career. She’s still considered kidnapped,
right?”

Victor nodded. “Yep. No one knows
differently.
I
didn’t even know she was willingly with you!
I couldn’t imagine why you’d kidnap someone, but figured you
must’ve had a good reason. Assuming, of course, the rumours were
true. The Enforcers are still looking for her. Markus has turned
the city upside down. Shit, man, I can’t believe she’s been with
you all this time. Why in the nine hells didn’t you tell me?”

His friend sounded pissed about being left
out of the loop. Jackson should’ve told his partner. He wasn’t sure
why he didn’t. No, scratch that, he did - Victor’s renowned
seduction of women. Julia would’ve fallen prey to it and then his
chance with her gone. Women didn't glanced his way again once
Victor appeared on the scene. He didn’t begrudge him it since in
most cases, Victor honestly couldn’t help it.

“Sorry. I should have told you. I didn’t want
to drag you deeper. Bad enough you’re up to your neck in this mess,
but helping with a ‘kidnapping’ was too much.” He skirted around
the truth; Victor would ferret out the lie if he uttered it. And
what he said was true for the most part. If the Coterie ever found
out Victor helped him hide, gave him sensitive information, he’d
lose his job and possibly his life. He took a huge risk helping
him.

“Hey man, I know you’re innocent. I couldn’t
desert you. Me, that would be debatable, but you, hell no. Too damn
straight-laced to even think about summoning a demon and setting it
loose. You’re like my brother, the one I never wanted, but got
stuck with anyway. Ouch.”

Victor rubbed his shoulder where Jackson hit
him and laughed. “Trying to drive here. Want me to crash?”

He then muttered. “And that was such a pansy
punch, felt like a girl hitting me.”

Jackson snorted, “Whatever. I should tell
Julia you said girls hit like a pansy. And I’ll laugh my ass off
when she slugs you flat.”

Victor gave a mock shudder. “How about we
leave this between us? I don’t need her kicking my ass. You’d never
let me live it down. And honestly she keeps a knife under her
pillow? That’s a bit hardcore. Don’t piss her off before going to
sleep.”

Victor pulled into a non-existent parking
spot in front of the hostel to drop Jackson off.

“I’m getting the Enforcers involved in this
nasty business with the werewolves. Won’t tell them about Gavin
though, play it off as an anonymous tip. I hope they didn’t kill
everyone after he escaped. If they did, though, we might still find
some evidence against them.”

He slammed his fist against the steering
wheel, his deep anger at the situation finally showing through.
“Damn it, we can’t have werewolves pulling this kind of shit. The
only reason humans aren’t hunting them into extinction is due to
the treaty. If it gets out werewolves are making prey out of humans
then that treaty is null and void.” He shook his head in annoyance.
“Look, you keep in touch, okay? I’ll tell you how things go on my
end.”

Jackson nodded, not trusting himself to
speak. The unwavering support and faith Victor gave him was
staggering. Not once had Victor given any indication he thought
Jackson was guilty.

Sylvia had been Jackson’s first stop that
night, unable to find Victor. However, within hours, he’d shown up,
helping them hide Jackson.

No questions, no pleas to turn himself in,
Victor merely said, “This is utter bullshit. Let’s make you
disappear.”

Chapter
Fourteen

JULIA HAD NO clue
what to wear for tonight. The only clothes she had she’d purchased
online and had them delivered here. All her fancy dresses were at
home, a home the werewolves had broken into and violated. Had they
found her workshop? Tucked away in the basement, the small room
well hidden from normal intruders.

Would they have sniffed it out? Did they even
bother to check the basement when they rifled through her personal
items? Thoughts of unknown persons nosing in her home and pawing at
her clothes almost had her screaming. How dare they? She was a
victim in all this. She didn’t ask for the kidnapping. They should
respect her privacy, especially the sanctity of her home.

Pain stung her palms. Her nails had dug into
her skin, almost drawing blood. She pushed the anger aside. It
clouded her thoughts. She knew better. Don’t let emotions rule.
They had no place in a rational, logical Enforcer.

Emotions also gave an edge to the other
races. It was easy to smell fear, anger, hatred and a whole host of
other moods. To combat this, they rigorously trained Mage Enforcers
to suppress their natural reactions.

Wait, how did she get so far off topic?
Clothes and makeup. That was her main concern, not some jacksasses
who broke into her home. Clothes and makeup. She directed her
thoughts to the important issues.

Sadly, she was lacking in the makeup
department because honestly, who brought eye shadow when capturing
a fugitive. Then again, she didn’t wear it on a regular basis
anyway. Maybe next time, she ruefully thought, she’d remember to
slip some into her pocket. Perhaps some lipstick too.

She spent much of her time online, searching
the local stores for a dress on such short notice. Dawn wouldn’t
mind accepting a package or two for her, as long as Julia warned
her ahead of time. Her vampire friend didn’t like unexpected
visitors. Julia couldn’t blame her. She’d lived through the crazy
times when villagers would stake, behead and burn vampires or
suspected vampires.

Keys jingled outside the room. She froze,
ears straining. Caution ruling her actions, she placed the laptop
on the couch. Silent, nary a rustle to betray her moves, she
untangled from the blankets and disappeared into the bathroom. One
finger caressed her amethyst earring, fully charged with magic
arrows. If anyone other than Jackson walked through that door,
they’d feel the bite of them.

The main door opened and then closed with a
faint
snick
. Jackson’s voice drifted through the room.
“Don’t shoot. I’m unarmed.”

“As if!” She retorted. Knowing someone
could’ve tracked him and used an illusion, she peeked out of the
bathroom. No ghosting appeared around him. Good. It was
Jackson.

Opening the door wide, Julia flung herself
into his arms.

“Thank goodness you’re back! I’ve had the
worst time ever!” He grinned at her until she continued, “Do you
know how hard it is to shop online for dresses without a second
opinion? I need your help to decide between three of them.”

“Wait. This homecoming welcome isn’t because
you worried about me or missed me?” She giggled as his face fell
with disappointment.

“Of course I missed you. And I was
horribly
worried. Why, you could’ve found a cute pixie to
run away with.” She teased him, enjoying the way his face lit up
with humour.

“A pixie? Na, they’re too tiny. Heck, you’re
a little on the short side too, but I’ll overlook your flaws.”

She raised an eyebrow, unable to stop her
lips from twitching. “Jerk. I’ll cast a shrink spell on you, see
how you like being short.”

“Darling, doesn’t matter how short you make
me, I’m a
huge
package of satisfaction.” His seriousness and
sly smirk pushed her over the edge.

Laughing, she said, “Not much of an ego on
you, huh?”

“You know it, darling.” His mouth covered
hers, a proper greeting she thoroughly enjoyed.

Her fingers danced over his upper body, a
stealthy way to check him for any damage. If he had so much as a
scratch, she would kick his ass. Sure, she could handle him in a
dangerous job, but it didn’t mean her concerns magically
disappeared. Letting it rule their relationship, though, was a
different matter, one she refused to do. Stress and worry came with
the territory, however she also needed to trust him. Too many
co-workers and friends relationships failed due to one or both
obsessing over the “what ifs”.

Lightly swatting him on the arm, she said.
“Now, stop distracting me and help me decide. It’s only a few hours
‘til I leave for Dawn’s.”

She dragged him over to the computer to show
him the final choices. The first one was a striking red strapless
dress. Form-fitted at the top and a sexy flare for the skirt. It
was mid-thigh with fringes that flirtatiously peeked out from the
bottom. A sparkling belt just under the breasts gave it the right
amount of glamour.

The second dress was again strapless, but
that’s where the similarities ended. It had a plunging V-neck with
white embroidery to draw the eye. Black, gauzy material made up the
skirt with the front starting short and tapering long in the
back.

The third and last dress was a deep blue.
This one had one strap over the left shoulder made out of large
silky-looking white flowers. It was longer than the other two,
ending less than inch above the knee, and showed off an impressive
amount of cleavage.

After looking over the three dresses, Jackson
turned to Julia. His mulish expression and crossed arms didn’t bode
well.

“Why so much cleavage? Thought you were going
as a bodyguard mage? And this one,” he pointed to the black dress,
“is too damn sexy for a bodyguard. The men would trip over
themselves trying to get to you. No way, not the black one.”

“You’re right. The black one is perfect!” She
gave him a quick kiss, leaned over and clicked the buy option.
She’d already entered Dawn’s address along with the prepaid credit
card information for all three dresses, same day delivery also
checked off. Located downtown Toronto, the boutique for the dresses
would live up to its promise of immediate delivery.

The toughest decision was choosing the right
one. She glanced at Jackson and grinned at his stunned
expression.

“See, it’s like this, sweetie. You think I’d
look way too hot in this dress and that’s exactly what I need. I’m
kinda cute. No, no arguments.” She stopped him when he would have
protested. “You’re biased. You perceive me differently. I’ve always
been the cute one. Not stunning, not gorgeous and certainly not
sexy. When I’m described, that’s what they say. Cute. So, what
better way to hide than to look smoking hot? Dawn can do my hair
and makeup.”

She stopped talking, her mind going over all
the items she’d need to take with her. Her earrings would pass
inspection by security. No one would think to check them for
spells. It was a shame her belt with her spell components clashed
with the dress, which meant nowhere to carry her knife or blasting
rod.

“Damn. I need to figure out which spell
components to bring. I can’t take them all.” A clutch solved the
issue of where to store her components with each one in a separate
plastic bag. No muss, no fuss.

“Well, it shouldn’t be that hard, just bring
the ones you commonly use. I carry a handful items around for my
spells. You can’t have that much, can you?” Jackson responded, a
teasing glint in his eye, his displeasure over the dress
forgotten.

Trying to find a spell component she didn't
have had become a challenge to Jackson. He simply didn't understand
how deeply ingrained her obsession was.

To his amazement, she did indeed carry garlic
powder, thyme, bat hair, diamond dust (which was difficult and
expensive to acquire!), phial of holy water, eagle feather and many
other rare items. Her hindrance in casting magic meant learning new
ways to succeed. She’d found components helped to focus her energy.
End result, she never left home without them.