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  Blood Magic

  Dangerous Magic: Book 1

  Melody Raven

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Also by Melody Raven

  1

  “I’d like to lodge a formal complaint. Who can I go to?”

  I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to draw blood as I stared daggers into the back of Carter Blackburn’s head. I knew exactly what he wanted to file a complaint about, and it took everything inside me to keep from telling him exactly where he could file that complaint.

  “Welcome to the first day of operations at the Dangerous Magic Division.” Melanie Laurens paced in front of the conference room, noticeably ignoring Carter’s question. “As you know, things have taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Because of that, the previously recognized Special Unit 4 has been reorganized. We now answer directly to Homeland Security and will have unparalleled access to any resources you might need.”

  “So I go straight to Homeland Security with my complaints?” asked Carter once again.

  Melanie tightened her lips and finally turned her attention to Carter. “I thought we were going to save our questions for later,” she said.

  I could tell her pleasant side was holding on by a thread, but Carter—bullheaded, stubborn agent he was—didn’t seem to notice or care.

  “I’m not working with the witch. No way. No how. Over my dead, pissed-off body.”

  Ah shit. He’d gone and done it. It was subtle, but Melanie narrowed her eyes just the slightest bit and I knew. She wasn’t going to take Carter’s attitude for one more second.

  “Mr. Blackburn,” she said carefully as she approached where he was seated at the front of the large conference table. Even though I pegged Melanie as well into her fifties, she still kept very much in shape. Her well-tailored suit, although professional, also showed off all her curves with the confidence of a woman who had no problem working in a male-dominated field while still owning her body.

  So, yeah. I liked Melanie. Also, she didn’t take my shit and told me like it was, which was a quality that was all too rare. I’d pay money to see her take down Carter Blackburn. If only I had a big ol’ bucket of popcorn.

  “Do you care to share with the class why you decided to become an agent to begin with?”

  He straightened in his seat, finally aware he was under attack. “I’m here to help people. Innocent people.”

  He said “innocent” with particular vitriol. The obvious implication being that I wasn’t innocent by any stretch of the imagination. And he was right, of course. But there was no use crying over spilled milk. I owned my past. If he thought making me ashamed of what I’d done was going to send me running, he was mistaken.

  “You’re here to protect the innocent people from what exactly?” continued Melanie.

  “From the supernatural.”

  “From magic,” corrected Melanie. “The difference between us and the Department of Natural Resources is that we handle creatures that could only be the result of magic. And maybe if Special Unit 4 had been doing a good enough job, the Dangerous Magic Division wouldn’t have to be created. So instead of complaining, I suggest you get on board. If you want to leave, I can draw up your exit paperwork any day.”

  Ohhh…. If only I could see Carter’s face right now. He was probably beet red…

  “You’d choose her over me?” The words were muted, as though through clenched teeth.

  “No, I chose both of you. From here on out, you can choose to stay or go. But if you’re going to stay, I have to warn you, my tolerance is limited. After what happened to SU4, do you know how many asses I had to kiss to keep our little group together in any way? I’m trying to save the goddamn world here, and I have to spend time justifying my efforts not only to the government but now to my own team? We have the forces of hell and God knows where else converging on our world, and you want to jeopardize that because you’re too good to work with a witch?” She pointed right at me, and everyone in the room turned their focus to me. I did my best not to slouch back so far I disappeared into the chair. “Sonia knows more about the magical underworld than everyone in the government combined. She’s worked with the worst of the worst, and she’s navigated through the most treacherous of streets. The fact that she even considered switching to our side is a blessing and we should be thanking her, not casting shade every spare chance you get. Now, if you have any more complaints, please give them to me now. Because my tolerance for your bullshit is rapidly disappearing.”

  Carter fell back into his seat, defeat weighing on his shoulders. But he was thankfully silent.

  Thank God. It was hard enough for me to convince myself that I should be here. I didn’t know how I was supposed to convince him.

  “I’ve handpicked each one of you for this team. Carter Blackburn, special agent with over twenty years of field experience, is going to take the lead. He’s got muscles, brains, and instincts. I expect you all to defer to his judgment if you’re unsure. He might be a whiny bitch, but he knows what he’s talking about.”

  I could actually hear Carter let out a little grumble.

  “Next, we have Nico Vegas. Nico is an ace when it comes to the internet, firewalls, and all the hacking stories that keep you up at night. He’s going to be invaluable since the Vopura are getting a better hold of our world these days.”

  “Does that mean he can get my credit score fixed on the down low?” I asked.

  Nico turned in his chair to look at me. “You check with me after class.” He winked.

  “Could you at least pretend to have some sort of respect for the law while we’re at work?” Carter turned around to glare at me.

  “I said I’d help you people out. I never said I was becoming a nun.”

  “Nuns aren’t ever any fun,” said Nico with a crooked grin.

  At least there was someone here I’d get along with. Nico didn’t look like a computer guy, but I supposed in this day and age almost everyone was gifted with computers in some way. Nico looked as if he spent more time in the gym than behind a keyboard. He had a closely shaved head, and his skin was so dark that it practically blended in with his black T-shirt. But when he smiled, his bright-white teeth were practically blinding, and that kind of joy was basically contagious.

  And I’d need all the joy I could get if I was supposed to work closely with Carter for who knew how long.

  “Next up is Flora Cox. Flora is a forensic accountant. She follows the money, wherever it might lead. She worked with one of the big four accounting firms right out of college, but after blowing the whistle on one of the biggest financial scandals of your lifetime, which none of you have heard of thanks to Big Brother, she was recruited to our ranks.”

  Flora smiled but stayed silent. She didn’t seem like the type to run and tattle on some large, powerful corporation, but sometimes the silent ones were the ones you needed to watch out for. Her light-blonde hair was pulled back in a very strict bun, and she gave a tight smile. Obviously, she wasn’t someone who thrived on being the center of attention. But she did enjoy the finer things in life. I recognized the pantsuit she wore as being a
designer label. And as natural as that ethereal blonde looked, I still knew it came out of a bottle. An expensive bottle at a salon, but a bottle, nonetheless.

  Not that I was judging. I’d always had some weird and unnatural color in my hair, from blues to pinks to greens. Right now, it was a more boring black. I might as well try to put my best foot forward for my first day at an actual job.

  “Last but not least, we have Sonia Shaw. Obviously some of you are already familiar, but for those of you who aren’t, Sonia is very experienced in the world of magic. Yes, she has a history of working against us, but due to recent events, she’s decided she wants to spend her time helping us instead, which we’re all extremely grateful for. While we are deferring to Carter’s leadership, we’re all going to remember that Sonia is the most experienced when it comes to the people who we’ll need to work with us.”

  And that was everyone in the room. So I took a look at the people I was going to have to be working with for the foreseeable future: Douchebag GI Joe, Sexy Keyboard Fingers, and Florence Henderson. I let out a deep sigh. I knew why I’d agreed to do this, but I couldn’t help but think how much easier everything had been during my thieving days. See what I want? Take it. Don’t like someone’s face? Punch it. Easy.

  Civilized existence was just so much work.

  “There’s one more member of the team we haven’t met yet.”

  Funny, considering no one else was in the room.

  “Your first mission is to recruit Gabriella Hanson to the team.” Melanie leaned forward and turned on the projector, flashing a picture of a young girl.

  Considering I was probably only a few years older, that was rich, but what could I say? I’d fit a lot of living in my twenty-nine years. For better or worse.

  “Gabriella works as a bank teller for Capital Ten Bank. Her mother was a Polynesian dancer and her father was a truck driver. Not exactly a match made in heaven. A few days ago, she called into an anonymous tip line claiming there was going to be a bank robbery at her branch.”

  “Does she know the perps?” asked Carter.

  “She said she saw them in a vision. And they got into the vault by holding a hand to the door and it just swung open.”

  Carter wasn’t convinced yet. “What makes you think this is legit?”

  “We don’t know. That’s why we’re sending you to check it out. If this girl did really have a vision, we want her on the team. If we can have someone with precognition on our side, that could be a game changer. We can be ahead of the threats for once instead of always running on clean-up duty.”

  Well hell, this seemed like the definition of long shot. “Even if this girl does have the ability to see the future, there’s no way to know if we could control it. Visions like that are notoriously subjective. And just because she said these guys hold a hand up to open the vault doesn’t mean they’re using magic. That could be symbolic for having a key or combination.”

  Melanie smiled at me and immediately I knew I’d said the wrong thing. “I appreciate that insight, Sonia. After all, the reason I brought you on board was for your insight. But I think I know enough about how precognition works. Your mission is to intercept the robbery, if there is one, and recruit Gabriella. I don’t think that should be impossible for a team of this caliber, now should it?”

  I bit my cheek once more, which was now sore from my previous attentions. “Very possible.”

  “Great. Now for some extra credit,” said Melanie, more than happy to carry on with the classroom analogy. “Everyone in this room, myself excluded, has some sort of supernatural connection. As a bit of team building, actually talk to one another and find out what those are. If you look in the folders in front of you, there will be a USB drive with all the details we have on Gabriella, the bank, and the information she gave us. If you have any more questions, find the answers yourselves. That’s what we’re paying you for. And that’s it for orientation. Welcome to the Dangerous Magic Division. I think we’re going to do great work together.”

  2

  I did another circle around the block to see whether anything looked out of sorts. That was a lie. I did another walk around the block to get some distance from Carter’s straight-up stank attitude. He was going to get used to me eventually. He’d have to. But that wasn’t going to happen any time soon, and I didn’t see any reason to be stuck in a surveillance van with him while I waited for him to determine that I wasn’t a monster.

  It wasn’t as if I were a killer. I didn’t go around making people bleed for fun. I was simply an opportunist. Did I maybe look the other way when I shouldn’t have? Sure. But I grew up with nothing. I was a mediocre witch with a mediocre warlock of a father raising me the best he could, which was terribly.

  I looked down at my hands. Not that I could do any magic right now, anyway. What would Carter say if he knew I was benched from performing the one thing I could do?

  Maybe instead of fighting me at every opportunity, he should be thanking me. Here I was stepping out of my comfort zone and putting myself in a situation so wholly different from anything I’ve ever done before.

  I told the team that I was doing a search for the suspected robbers. Which wasn’t a lie. Did I think I was going to recognize anyone by the lackluster description that had been included in our info packets? Not really.

  But it wasn’t Gabriella’s fault. Whoever had taken her anonymous tip had obviously written her off as crazy and had barely asked more than the basics. It sounded as though she’d had a very clear vision of who and what was going down. But all I had to go on was “short blond man and tall bald man.” Not exactly enough to make an arrest on.

  Arrest. I snorted at the thought. Who in their right mind would give me the power to arrest anyone? How had everything changed so fast?

  And now I had to work with these virtual strangers. I thought back to the storage container that was full of my previous ill-gotten gains. Probably enough for me to sell off and live comfortably the rest of my life. Maybe not the life to which I was accustomed, but a comfortable enough life. But that was the old, selfish me talking.

  This was the new, nice Sonia. The better version of myself.

  Still, I knew it would only take one call to get the old crew back together, but that wouldn’t last long. The second any of the regular players knew I was working with the enemy now, the jig would be up. There would be no turning back. I was going to lose all my friends and all my past to help a group of people who, for the most part, didn’t even want me here. What was I thinking?

  The bank we were supposed to be casing—to prevent a robbery, for goodness’ sake—was in downtown LA. And not the glitzy, glamourous Hollywood side. The part with the homeless on every corner and bars on the windows. Considering I wasn’t supposed to be using magic at the moment and I was totally unarmed, maybe I shouldn’t feel so comfortable walking here alone. But I was never the type to have even a healthy amount of fear.

  It was probably more a curse than a gift, but it did come in handy. I turned the corner, giving a sympathetic smile to someone particularly down on their luck. Ugh. I hated just walking by.

  Being a good person was the worst. Not caring was just easier on every level. But before I could regret my recent life choices too much, I saw my mark. Not the bald or blond man. Gabriella was walking right toward me. If I didn’t recognize her face, it was easy enough to see the bank uniform.

  As she approached, her eyes scanned the street in a particularly distracted manner. It was easy enough to position myself in her way so we slammed right into each other.

  “Oh my God.” Gabriella took a few quick steps back, her face going red with embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. Are you okay?”

  Oh! I could lie and still be a good person! My favorite! “Geesh.” I held a hand to my heart. “You scared the heck out of me. I’m fine. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine. I’m so sorry,” she said, repeating the apology. She started to pass me, but if she though
t she was getting away that easily, she had something else coming.

  “Hey.” I quickened my steps to keep up with her. “Are you okay?”

  She blinked rapidly, and I could tell I’d thrown her off-balance. “I’m fine. What are you talking about?”

  Oh, more lies! “I mean, I know we just ran into each other, literally, but I’m kind of… I don’t know the right word. Intuitive, I guess. And I’m picking up that something is going on with you. Are you sure everything’s okay? Because I hate ignoring these kinds of feelings.”

  Gabriella’s dark eyes lit up. “Intuitive. Like… psychic?”

  “Oh, I think words like that are silly. But tell me if I’m wrong. Is there something bothering you?”

  “I….” She clenched her jaw and glanced around.

  Come on…. Come to me and tell me all your worries….

  “I’m looking for two guys.”

  Jackpot. “Two guys? Are you in danger?”

  “No. Not yet. I mean, not at all. I’m really not sure. Thanks for the offer, but I’m okay. Really.”

  Oh, normals. They’re always so scared of higher powers. If only she knew just how ordinary all this was.

  “I’m not going to just let you go off if you’re afraid of two strange guys attacking you,” I said as I fell in step with her.

  “I’m fine, really. I’m just on a quick break from work. And I don’t actually think two guys are going to attack me. Trust me, everything is fine.”

  “And trust me, I want to help you.” There. I’d said at least something that was the truth. “Tell me what I can do.”