Fractured Souls by Ava Marie Salinger

28

Morgan fisted his hands.He’d hoped they would have at least the rest of the night to themselves before the directors demanded to talk to them.

“Leave us,” Strickland ordered Lucy and her mages.

Lucy frowned, her irate gaze sweeping over the trio behind Strickland.

“Go,” she told her staff.

The mages glanced worriedly at the four directors as they hurried out of the bay.

“You too, cupcake,” Jasper sneered.

Lucy straightened to her full five foot three inches. “These agents are my patients. I will leave when I damn well please, demon!”

Reuben sighed. “We don’t have time for this.”

Lucy gasped as wind wrapped around her, clamping her arms to her sides and lifting her off the ground. Morgan jumped to his feet.

Zach got to Lucy before him.

The windows vibrated as the demon unleashed his Aqueous powers, forming a lasso of writhing water that stripped the bands holding Lucy captive. Morgan caught Lucy as she landed unsteadily on the floor.

Adrianne and Bailey were on their feet, magic flaring at their fingertips and scowls darkening their faces. Julia rose, her skin brightening with a pulse of seraphic power. Charlie sat up weakly, a frown on his feverish face.

“Don’t,” Brianna told them coldly.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Strickland barked at the Rosen director.

“Disciplining your unruly subordinates,” Reuben replied irritably. “No one in my agency would dare demonstrate that kind of lip in front of me.”

“You and your agency can go fuck yourselves, asshole!” Zach hissed.

Morgan blinked, surprised by the animosity in the Aqueous demon’s voice.

Strickland frowned at Zach. “There is no need to be rude, Mr. Mooney.”

The demon dampened his powers. “I’m sorry, sir. I meant Mr. Fletcher and his agency can go indulge in sexual intercourse with themselves, sir.”

Suzie bit her lip, shoulders shaking slightly as she muffled a snort.

Julia smiled at Zach. “You tell him.”

Strickland’s frown deepened.

“It would be better if you left, Lucy,” Morgan told the medical mage. “If only to protect yourself.” He looked over at Suzie. “Thanks for everything you did tonight.”

A grateful expression flashed in Suzie’s eyes. Morgan had created an opening for her to leave quietly. She took Lucy’s arm.

“Come on, let’s go.”

A muscle twitched in Lucy’s cheek as the witch dragged her away. She hesitated before dipping her chin curtly at Strickland and taking her leave, her cold stare lingering on Reuben. The doors hissed closed behind them.

A hush fell inside the bay.

“Should we really have allowed that witch to leave?” Brianna said. “Not only is she an important witness, we need to decide what to do about her.”

“My agents will take her statement in the morning,” Strickland said dismissively. “As for Suzie being a Level One witch, I’ve known about it for some time. She is Stephanie Keller’s daughter and under the protection of my agency.”

Morgan exchanged a surprised glance with Cassius and the others. Strickland knew about Suzie?!

Brianna stared. “She’s Stephanie’s daughter?”

“Yes.”

The witch’s expression turned thoughtful. “Hmm. I understand why you decided to take her under your wing, Francis. Still, as the director of Hexa, I would have expected the courtesy of a phone call to put me in the loop.”

“The witch can wait.” Jasper indicated Cassius with a jerk of his head. “We should start by interrogating that mongrel. After all, he’s the reason we’re in this mess in the first—”

The rest of the demon’s words ended on a choked gasp. Everyone froze.

Morgan glared at Jasper where he held him up by the throat against the far wall, black wind swirling around his fingers. He’d moved before the demon had completed his sentence, the power within him rising at his furious command. It was becoming easier for him to control it. And it seemed it wasn’t just strength it had gifted him with.

He’d never moved as fast as he had just done.

“I dare you to say that again!” Morgan growled at Jasper.

“Morgan,” Strickland warned.

“Get a hold of yourself, Aerial!” Reuben snapped.

Morgan ignored them, his gaze locked on the demon writhing in his grip, crimson eyes filled with loathing. The wall trembled as Jasper started to unleash his Terrene powers.

“Get your hands off him.” This time, Reuben’s voice was ice.

The air trembled with a burst of the Rosen director’s Aerial powers.

“It’s okay, Morgan,” Cassius said quietly. “Let him go.”

Morgan clenched his teeth and slowly lowered the demon to the ground before releasing him.

Jasper coughed and wheezed, hand rising to his bruised throat. “You bastard!” He glared at Morgan. “You’ll pay for that!”

“No, he won’t,” Strickland said in a steely voice. “I thought we’d all agreed to be civil when we decided to come here after our meeting. Antagonizing Cassius, Morgan, and everyone else in this room is not going to get you anywhere.”

“Hey, why don’t you turn into your Empyreal form and sock him one?” Adrianne hissed sideways at Cassius.

Julia cracked her knuckles. “We’ll even pin him down for you.”

“Cassius doesn’t need to be in his Empyreal form to beat up that asshole,” Zach scoffed.

“Yeah, he can do it with a hand tied behind his back,” Bailey said.

Cassius made a face at their show of confidence.

Jasper glowered at them. “I find it hard to believe Black is as powerful as you people are portraying him to be.” He looked over at Strickland. “Isn’t it possible he employed an enchanter to cast some kind of twisted memory spell on you and the group who fought Tania Lancaster?”

Brianna frowned. “Victor Sloan is immune to enchantment spells. If he said that’s what happened in London thirty years ago, then it happened, Jasper.”

“Brianna is right,” Reuben told Jasper tersely. “There’s no point going over this again.”

Jasper’s expression grew ugly. “Sloan was Black’s lover.” He sneered at Morgan. “And it seems everyone’s favorite dark-winged angel has tricked someone else into taking his side since coming to San Francisco.”

Morgan took a step toward the demon, fury making his blood boil. “Why you—!”

Light flared across the medical bay. The air trembled with subdued seraphic power.

Cassius sighed where he stood by his bed in his Empyreal form, his white wings grazing the ceiling.

“We have more important things to discuss right now than who I’m sleeping with,” the angel said, ignoring the stunned stares of the three bureau directors. “This should be enough to convince you, Jasper,” he told the pale-faced demon, his tone hardening and a pulse of energy making the windows vibrate. “Now, why don’t we all sit down and have that civil conversation? We need to get to the bottom of who’s killing non-magic-users in the city and stealing their souls, before they achieve their goal.” Cassius frowned. “If the warlock we encountered tonight is anything to judge by, we have a formidable battle on our hands.”