Sin & Salvation (Demigod of San Francisco #3)(2)

“Bria, I need your Necromancer tools, I think,” I said, opening my eyes again. “I need to see what I’m doing.”

While Bria couldn’t rip souls from living bodies or pull power from the Line, she could work with parts of the spirit world (and stuff those parts into dead bodies). Her various tools allowed her (and me) to see the magic inherent in our shared trade.

She jogged forward immediately and snatched her camo backpack from the ground near my back door. Moments later, I was surrounded by scented candles and triangles of incense.

“We’re rollin’.” She hopped up and dusted off her ripped jeans before falling back in line.

Squinting through the scented smoke from the various candles and incense, I pulled power from the Line into the yellow haze around me. Tendrils of green and blue magic curled upward, and then I saw it—a throbbing cord of orange amidst the other colors.

“Huh,” I murmured. “There are, like, different strands of my magic.”

It was one of life’s little jokes that I was a visual learner with a nuanced magic better suited for feeling, but here we were. I catalogued the different feelings associated with each of the strands, then pulled at the orange cord specifically, pushing the others aside. The wind died down before cutting out, but the power of the Line still pumped through my blood, ready for use.

Donovan let out a noisy exhale. “I know she’ll be a game changer, but man, I’m not loving this part of the job.”

“Same,” Thane said. “Being the guinea pig for this shit is rough.”

Without warning them, I slapped my magic against their souls’ steel cages. All four of them gasped and their power surged, something I could now sense because of my connection to Kieran. It was their primal reaction to my attack.

The guys grunted and wobbled where they stood, visibly struggling not to take a knee.

Bria bent at the waist. “Ouch,” she said. “It’s hard to get used to that.”

“No shit,” Thane murmured.

More power and they would’ve dropped like rocks. It was hard to focus on normal things, like standing, when someone was attacking your very soul. This offensive move I had down.

In discovery mode now, I bumped up against Thane’s steel cage, guarding his most precious commodity. I stroked the hard surface before giving a firm poke, looking for cracks or weaknesses. I didn’t feel any. How the hell was I supposed to get in there?

“Nope.” He jumped up and down, shaking out his hands. “Nope. I do not like that, Sam I am.”

“Hold steady,” Bria said.

“She’s tap-dancing on my threshold,” Thane replied through gritted teeth.

“Hold,” Bria commanded.

“Why doesn’t Zorn do this?” Donovan asked with tight eyes. “He has the best constitution for fucked up shit.”

“He doesn’t trust himself not to react,” Thane grunted out. “Ain’t that a bitch? Here I am, with a magic known for reacting, and he doesn’t trust himself.”

“What magic is that?” I asked, giving that steel cage an exploratory jab. The guys had always been strangely tightlipped about their magic, and I’d never been overly curious. It now occurred to me that that might’ve been a mistake.

“Bullshit,” Bria said, ignoring me. She straightened up painfully and put her hand to the middle of her chest. “Zorn just doesn’t want everyone to know he isn’t made of metal. He doesn’t want to admit that Alexis could reduce him to his knees and make him say uncle.”

She’d know. I’d say they were the unlikeliest couple imaginable, but Kieran and I probably held that dubious honor.

Tuning them out, I thought back to those different threads of power. I wrapped the blue—spirit—around Thane’s hard casing, before giving the orange cord a yank. A thick wave of the Line’s power screamed through me.

Before I could back off, Thane jumped and made a sound like “heh.” A blur of movement preceded him surging toward me.

My heart pushed up into my throat and I staggered backward, caught off guard.

“Hold, dammit!” Bria lunged forward at an angle to intercept. “Get a hold of yourself, Thane.”

I blinked rapidly, not sure if this was a drill, or if he was really losing it. The other two guys hadn’t reacted, though, which meant it couldn’t be that bad.

I batted down the fear and surprise and focused. Going off gut instinct, I wrapped the orange power around the blue, covering the hard box containing Thane’s soul. I squeezed, feeling for any give. There wasn’t any. I squeezed harder. Still nothing. Like an egg in the palm of a hand, the vessel’s design withstood the pressure. This wasn’t the way to his soul.

Thane pushed Bria to the side, closing the distance between him and me at extreme speed. He swung an arm, fist closed, aiming for my face.

“Holy shit birds.” I flung myself backward, lashing out with my magic.

Bria pivoted and kicked, clipping Thane’s moving ankles. His feet swept out from under him. He fell, eyes widening. He had barely hit the ground before Bria was on top of him, her knife poised to strike.

“Jesus, she’s vicious,” Donovan said with a gleeful smile.

“Uncle,” Jack said, clutching his chest. “To all of this. Uncle! I want to go home.”