Magic Resistant Read online

  Magic Resistance

  An Enforcers and Coterie Novel

  Veronica Del Rosa

  Magic Resistance Copyright 2014 Veronica Del Rosa

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only then please return to your favorite e-book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Cover Art: Angeline Janeiro [email protected]

  Texture: Mayra Hernandez [email protected]

  Acknowledgements

  To my amazing husband, as always, thank you for your understanding and patience. When my head is stuck in the clouds, dreaming up something new, you pick up the slack without complaint. A better husband I couldn't ask for. Love you darling!

  Thanks to Jessica and Michelle for all your help. I couldn't have written this without you. You both held my hand, listened to my crazy thoughts and encouraged me to continue.

  The amazing cover art was done by Angeline Janeiro. I'm in awe of her skills.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Epilogue

  Connect with Veronica Del Rosa

  List of Books

  Chapter One for Sylvia’s Torment

  Chapter One

  JULIA’S EYES SNAPPED open. Groaning, she rolled over and thumped the pillow, wishing instead it was the heartless bastard pounding at her front door. Bleary eyed, she glared at the alarm clock and groaned again as her mind comprehended the time - 3:12 A. M. What kind of cruel person banged on the door at this hour?

  The heavy knocking continued, forcing her to leave the comfort of her warm bed. She grabbed her thick red robe as she muttered unflattering parental references to the person sadistic enough to disturb her sleep.

  “Who is it?” She snapped, hoping it was just a drunk at the wrong house. Standing off to the side, she waited for a response. Tired as she was, she still had the presence of mind to stay out of the line of fire.

  A shotgun blast or a high-powered gun would make short work of her and her wooden door. The outer walls, at least, were concrete and harder to shoot through. She’d learned early on her line of work required paranoia. The naïve and trusting ones either found themselves with a new job or resting in a coffin.

  “Markus. Let me in.” Julia’s mentor growled through the heavy wood. “I have a lead on Jackson. Hurry up.”

  Julia rolled her eyes. Markus’ sources while correct with their information had horrible timing. Why couldn’t it be at a more humane hour, say 10 A.M. or later?

  She glanced through the peephole and verified he was alone. As usual, his ink black hair brushed his shoulders. On another man, it would’ve look effeminate, but coupled with his striking black eyes, square jaw dusted with stubble and slightly crooked, once broken nose, he was every inch a virile man. He knew the drill and had his hands in the air to show his unarmed status. Or, at least, he held no weapons, neither one of them ever truly defenseless.

  He wore his work uniform, black shirt and black cargo pants coupled with his usual black overcoat. Most mages wore them, specially designed with hidden pockets.

  Julia and Markus were both Enforcers for the magical government, the Coterie. They policed the magical community making sure civilians followed the laws. Mages who broke the law found themselves hunted by the Mage Enforcers and arrested. However, with black magic users, they never made it to trial. Deemed too dangerous to live, execution by mage occurred in the field.

  She’d recently graduated to full status into the elite group. The last few decades she paid her dues as a junior. To properly mold her and the next generation of Mage Enforcers, their training began at the young age of six, away from their parents. Her schooling consisted of the same topics as the humans, along with the different studies of magic until her eighteenth birthday. At that time, she'd paired with her mentor, Markus, to advance her education until she took her final exam.

  Each mage matured differently when it came to accessing their magic. Some would find that internal switch at a young age while others waited decades before they could truly cast magic. During that time, they studied and learned from their mentor. Julia lucked out. Her switch flipped before her teenage years.

  Too bad her luck didn’t hold out in other areas.

  Many decided to stay with their partner even after full status as, by that time, they’d developed into a fully functioning and cohesive team. Julia liked working with Markus, understood him and came to rely on his expertise and knowledge. Their bosses, Mara and Roan, kept them together since they had a high capture rate. Of course, most of it due to Markus himself. Julia was still trying to prove she was just as competent.

  Flipping the locks, she opened the door to let in Markus and gave him her best unimpressed scowl. Sadly, it didn’t even give him a second’s pause. She sighed in disappointment. One of these days, in a century or two, he might actually think she was a force to reckon with.

  Today, however, was not that day.

  “Give me a sec. I need to get dressed... some of us sleep at this hour.” Julia groused as she strode back to her room.

  "Civilian clothes. No Enforcer uniform." He barked at her, expecting obedience.

  She hastily tossed on clothes; loose-fitting jeans and a pale purple tee-shirt. Her belt had several pouches to hold various spell components, a loop for her blasting rod and two more loops for her knife sheaths - one on the left for a dagger and the other on the right for a hunting knife. She liked having the option of either slicing or stabbing, depending on her mood. Added to the arsenal, a shoulder holster with her Beretta 9mm. A lightweight black jacket completed the ensemble.

  MARKUS DROVE THROUGH the nearly deserted streets of downtown Toronto. He was too much of a control freak to allow Julia to drive his precious Bentley. Once, only once, when learning to drive, she scratched his 1988 Corvette. Honestly, who allowed a sixteen-year-old to drive a brand new car off the lot? Obviously his own fault but he had yet to trust her with another one of his cars.

  At close
to 4:30 A.M., the city was starting to wake up, many of them trying to make it to work before rush hour clogged the streets. Most days, she avoided the downtown area with a car, preferring instead to use transit. If she wasn’t in a hurry, she loved taking the street car. Unlike other mages, she didn’t rely on teleportation to get her around. The likelihood of getting stuck in a wall was too high for her to chance.

  Julia patted her chestnut-brown hair, tucking away any flyaway strands into the high ponytail. While her brown eyes moved constantly, taking in their surroundings, she took care not to catch her own gaze in the mirror. She had her moments of vanity, liking the way the darker shadows highlighted her cheekbones and gave her eyes a smoky mysteriousness. However, she didn’t need to see her tired eyes staring back at her from a face free of makeup. She’d been lucky enough to drag a toothbrush over her teeth while Markus yelled at her to hurry up.

  Toying with one of her earrings, she counted them off, verifying she had each one. Six in her left and six in her right; five through the lobes and one in each tragus. It was one of the few things that had people glancing twice at her as she didn’t do much else to play up her looks. Maybe one day she’d dye her hair bright blue.

  Slowing the car down, Markus pulled into an empty spot near the forty story office building. Most of the spots were clear, the early morning hours working in their favour. In less than three hours, parking would be all but impossible. Julia took her jacket off and tossed it into the back seat. She preferred to keep her weapons under wrap near home.

  Here, however, she wanted the hardware showing. Intimidation wasn't her strong suit. Slender and barely topping five feet didn't lend a lot of credence to her authority.

  Her neck craned upwards as she took in the massive office building. Many of the windows glowed yellow in the retreating darkness, their lights left on during the night. Julia tisked at the waste of electricity. Surely there weren't entire floors being occupied overnight.

  The building itself was mainly glass, polished squares lined with metal. A handful of dark windows reflected the pale rosy glow of the slowly rising sun. While it towered over several of the skyscrapers in the area, it was by no means the tallest in Toronto. A paltry forty stories didn't even put in it in the big league.

  In the financial district, a few blocks away, was the Trump Tower with sixty-three floors and The First Canadian Place with seventy-two floors. And then there was the Coterie Headquarters. Also in the financial district, it housed all the unmated Enforcers, their training facilities and the Coterie themselves when in Toronto. It had a whopping seventy-five floors.

  “This is the place.” Markus said as he led the way to the front entrance of the building. “Source told me he’s on the 15th floor. It’s empty due to construction and renovations. Better take the stairs. Don’t want to alert him.”

  Security posed no issue as he clouded the minds of the guards and caused the cameras to glitch. A little extra energy pushed through the circuits created an overload and shut down the recording devices without causing any lasting damage. The spell was a specialty of Markus’. Part of his infamous status came from his illusions and abilities with technology. The other part, well, Julia had never seen it directed towards her and never wanted to.

  Humans knew about the supernatural community having lived side by side in a relatively peaceful co-existence for the past two hundred years. Before that, it’d been bloodshed. Wars erupted almost constantly between the races as they tried to annihilate each other. Treaties written centuries ago forced a ceasefire.

  The younger generations no longer remembered the horrors of those times. The brutality a distant dream, half-remembered and indistinct. Many of the older ones held grudges, nurturing them like hot house orchids. They displayed their hatred and intolerance with glee.

  The Coterie deemed it best to keep the general public unaware of the harsher, seamier underside. Enforcer training included keeping quiet about their jobs and shielding the community at large. Knowledge was, they said, an insidious thing, creeping into the minds of the unsuspecting, blurring the boundaries between right and wrong. Especially with the involvement of black magic and demon summonings.

  That and no one wanted to become the subject of the next possible reality TV show. Julia could just imagine the horrible offerings. For a fetish sex show - Enforcers, Whips and Magic. Maybe a police procedural – CSI: Enforcers. Or a dating show – Werewolf Meets Mage or Vampire Wants a Millionaire.

  Mentally chuckling at her own silliness, she then chided herself for not paying attention. She wanted the respect of her peers. Woolgathering wouldn’t help. Capturing Jackson would.

  “Tracer spell active?” Markus asked Julia. “Don’t want to waste my time if he’s not here anymore.”

  “Yeah, I have it going. I feel him. I’m surprised he hasn’t managed to shield himself. You know, it might be a trap.” Worried at how effortless it’d been to pinpoint him once in the building, she double checked the thread of magic linking her and Jackson. No hint of redirection or weakness. It’d found him with ease.

  Drilled constantly, Enforcers knew how to throw off a location spell and how to shield against them. Only a newbie would make such a mistake which Jackson certainly wasn’t. Being tracked meant capture or death.

  “You told me you modified the tracer spell. Can’t unravel what he doesn’t know. Come on. Let’s go before humans start filling up this place.” Without waiting for a response, Markus strode towards the stairs and pushed open the door.

  Julia stifled any complaints, refusing to embarrass herself by whining, and started up the stairs. Easier cardio exercise than usual, fifteen flights would still burn on the way up. Thankfully, the Enforcers had a strict policy on daily workouts both for physical stamina and for weapons training.

  She was going to need it today.

  This was the first mission Markus allowed Julia to join that wasn’t swarming with backup. Before, she was just one extra person, lost in the sea of mature, seasoned Enforcers. Here, she was the backup. It was time to show her superiors she could handle tough situations, that she wasn’t an immature child so many thought she was. Many felt her talents were lacking, that she was average in so many ways. Markus was taking a great chance bringing her along even if they didn’t capture Jackson.

  Ah, Jackson, the one person who managed to elude the Enforcers the longest. A fugitive for the past year for crimes of conspiracy and trafficking dangerous demonkin, not a single Enforcer had come close to capturing him, not even the infamous Markus. Julia had read the brief file on Jackson, citing his unknown birth parents, his talents in summoning and the accolades from his professors at the Mage Enforcer academy. He had spent the past five years as a Mage Enforcer, since his graduation out of the junior ranks, making a name for himself in capturing rogue demons.

  Stairs became a blur as they swiftly jogged upwards. Within minutes they reached their destination, 15 written in bold numbers on the drab grey door. Julia took a deep breath to help steady the adrenaline rushing through her body. She hugged the wall on the left side of the door, waiting for Markus to give the all-clear. She used hand signals, telling him of Jackson’s location to the right.

  Giving the all-clear, Markus signaled for Julia to enter. Brown doors lined either side of the hallway in neat rows, plain beige carpet on the floor and a light cream colour on the walls. Shoulder pressed tight against the left wall, she closed her eyes for a moment to get a better fix on his location. Bringing up four fingers, she motioned to the right. Markus nodded and whispered words too low for her to understand.

  Whipping her head around, she stared at Markus, wondering what he was casting. His black eyes took on an eerie glow as he pulled energy into himself, readying a spell. He released it with a quick finger flick and pointed at Julia.

  What an odd time for defensive spells, she thought, blinking in surprise. They’d casted all the required ones while outside the building.

  Her mind went blank as darkness reached up to
engulf her, yanking her into sleep.

  YELLING AND SWIRLING smoke greeted Julia when she forced her eyes open. The acidic smell tickled her nose and she fought off the urge to sneeze. Taking inventory of the aftereffects from the sleep spell, she cursed Markus. What in the nine hells was he thinking? Was he afraid she’d be a liability? Why bring her along at all if that’s what he thought?

  She lightly smacked her head (and whimpered when it triggered a starburst of pain) as she realize her modified tracer spell was the only one correct in tracking Jackson. They’d been close to him once before thanks to it and no one except Markus knew about it. He must have wanted to use the spell, but still keep her safe from Jackson.

  Damn his overprotective hide.

  He, however, wasn’t aware she had a resistance to all magic cast upon her. One other person knew this tidbit and he was excellent at keeping things hidden. Defensive spells had a shortened life span. Offensive spells hurt a lot less. And, even better, it was harder to trap her using magic. All of which meant the magic-induced sleep appeared to have lasted for 30 minutes or so instead of the normal hour.

  Her head fuzzy, she tried to stand but promptly fell back down. She cursed the pounding in her skull and squeezed her eyes shut. When she peeled her lids apart again, she saw a figure rushing toward her. She couldn’t make out who it was. Smoke continued to pour out of an open door, fourth one on the right, and all the lights were off in the hallway. Glass from the blown fluoresce bulbs crunched underfoot as he rushed pass.

  “Markus? What’s going on? Is the building on fire?” Her brain kept misfiring and her legs wouldn’t obey. She felt mired in mud, sludge coating her thoughts and movements.

  A startled curse muffled by the fire alarm and the figure whirled around. He'd almost made it to the stairwell exit, but quickly backtracked to her. Grabbing hold of her arm, he helped her up and practically dragged her to the stairwell.