Black Spark (Dark Magic Enforcer Book 1) Read Online Free Page B
Author: Al K. Line
bile rose, and my body screamed as I faded to nothingness. I stepped to the side and was about to leg it, when Bret, or Bart—I'm never sure which is which—grabbed me by the upper arm and said, "Don't think so, Faz. The boss wants a word. You've been a naughty boy, real bad. Come on."
See, that's the problem with your proper, world wise vampires—it's hard to fool them. They live their lives in the shadows, feed off the magic in everyone, even you, even your dog. Not that they do anything to dogs but keep them as pets mind you. Um, apart from the vampire guard dog ones. Anyway, my disappearing act was a waste of time with them, a waste of time full stop, but you can't blame a wizard for trying.
How was I to know that what I'd just done was my usual state of being when out in normal company? I was still confused and not really myself, and it wouldn't work on vampires anyway. And no, I wasn't about to get all Black Spark on them and shoot the bad stuff out my fingers or anything.
I was in enough trouble already, so killing, if I was lucky, two short Chinese vampires in the high street would get me into more trouble than I was prepared to deal with.
I snapped back to solidity and sighed. "Okay, let's go." I tried not to throw up and swallowed foul tasting liquid as Bret and Bart led the way. I walked in-between them; I wasn't going anywhere without them.
Hey, don't judge me, I'd had a bad day, and like I said, I'm not really a fighter, and certainly not a killer. Just because I do some work for the most powerful wizard in the country doesn't mean I'm invincible. Nobody is. Everyone has their weaknesses, and one of mine is two badass vampires carved from granite, even if they are called Bret and Bart. Yeah, I know, what is with that?
We walked through the city, down the high street, rounded the corner past a tiny church and cemetery right there in the center, went down the alley past Spillers Records, the oldest record store in the world—still there, still selling vinyl—and weaved our way out of the city center.
It's a small place, and soon enough we were getting into a car. Bret and Bart squeezed in either side of me in the back, their heavily muscled thighs making me have to close my legs like I didn't need to do the man thing and open them wide like all blokes do out of principle.
For the entire journey nobody said a word. To amuse ourselves we played the timeless game of who-can-open-their-legs-the-widest, and the driver, a new kid I'd never seen before, took us out of the congestion and up to Taavi's home.
It had been a bad morning, and it wasn't going to get any better. I hadn't even seen my boss yet, so I knew it would be a long day. I also had to figure out what the hell had made me act so out of character.
The one saving grace was that I was finally back to being me. Memories flooded in. I was thinking my usual deep and intellectual thoughts, and sure, there were pieces missing from the night before and the early morning, but I knew who I was, felt like I was whole again.
I was back!
I was also a disgrace to my kind. It kind of put a downer on the whole self-realization—it made it hit home all the harder just what it was I'd done.
I was an enforcer, supposedly one of the best, and it was my job to see to it, no matter what, that magic remained underground and nobody ever heard about it. Yet there I was, the one that had finally exposed it to the world—that's the problem with the modern age, everyone has a damn phone and bloody camera.
There's no privacy. It sucks.
An Admission
Why do we need enforcers? Because the Hidden are a rather impulsive and often dangerous lot, that's why. Magic does funny things to you, and as there is no end of magic, and ways it can be used, there is also no end of danger and trouble to clear up.
It's the usual thing really. Nobody "normal" is supposed to know about all this, because if they did all hell would break loose and the world would end up
See, that's the problem with your proper, world wise vampires—it's hard to fool them. They live their lives in the shadows, feed off the magic in everyone, even you, even your dog. Not that they do anything to dogs but keep them as pets mind you. Um, apart from the vampire guard dog ones. Anyway, my disappearing act was a waste of time with them, a waste of time full stop, but you can't blame a wizard for trying.
How was I to know that what I'd just done was my usual state of being when out in normal company? I was still confused and not really myself, and it wouldn't work on vampires anyway. And no, I wasn't about to get all Black Spark on them and shoot the bad stuff out my fingers or anything.
I was in enough trouble already, so killing, if I was lucky, two short Chinese vampires in the high street would get me into more trouble than I was prepared to deal with.
I snapped back to solidity and sighed. "Okay, let's go." I tried not to throw up and swallowed foul tasting liquid as Bret and Bart led the way. I walked in-between them; I wasn't going anywhere without them.
Hey, don't judge me, I'd had a bad day, and like I said, I'm not really a fighter, and certainly not a killer. Just because I do some work for the most powerful wizard in the country doesn't mean I'm invincible. Nobody is. Everyone has their weaknesses, and one of mine is two badass vampires carved from granite, even if they are called Bret and Bart. Yeah, I know, what is with that?
We walked through the city, down the high street, rounded the corner past a tiny church and cemetery right there in the center, went down the alley past Spillers Records, the oldest record store in the world—still there, still selling vinyl—and weaved our way out of the city center.
It's a small place, and soon enough we were getting into a car. Bret and Bart squeezed in either side of me in the back, their heavily muscled thighs making me have to close my legs like I didn't need to do the man thing and open them wide like all blokes do out of principle.
For the entire journey nobody said a word. To amuse ourselves we played the timeless game of who-can-open-their-legs-the-widest, and the driver, a new kid I'd never seen before, took us out of the congestion and up to Taavi's home.
It had been a bad morning, and it wasn't going to get any better. I hadn't even seen my boss yet, so I knew it would be a long day. I also had to figure out what the hell had made me act so out of character.
The one saving grace was that I was finally back to being me. Memories flooded in. I was thinking my usual deep and intellectual thoughts, and sure, there were pieces missing from the night before and the early morning, but I knew who I was, felt like I was whole again.
I was back!
I was also a disgrace to my kind. It kind of put a downer on the whole self-realization—it made it hit home all the harder just what it was I'd done.
I was an enforcer, supposedly one of the best, and it was my job to see to it, no matter what, that magic remained underground and nobody ever heard about it. Yet there I was, the one that had finally exposed it to the world—that's the problem with the modern age, everyone has a damn phone and bloody camera.
There's no privacy. It sucks.
An Admission
Why do we need enforcers? Because the Hidden are a rather impulsive and often dangerous lot, that's why. Magic does funny things to you, and as there is no end of magic, and ways it can be used, there is also no end of danger and trouble to clear up.
It's the usual thing really. Nobody "normal" is supposed to know about all this, because if they did all hell would break loose and the world would end up
Readers choose
Anya Nowlan
Michael Dibdin
Jill Campbell
Lorraine Nelson
Freda Vasilopoulos
Joyce Maynard
Charlie Higson
David Wells
Gary Paulsen
Anna Davies