Arcane Entanglement (The Mage and His Brute #1)

Chapter 9

The mage smashed into the trunk with a harsh grunt. Leaves rained down on him as he slid to the ground, his head lolling forward, chin on chest.

Evander started across the street, the power humming in his blood making the hairs on his skin stand on end.

“Take Samuel and go find help.”

He removed his Arcane Division issued enchanted whistle from a pocket in his waistcoat and lobed it at Graham.

The coachman caught it.

Evander kept his eyes on the Brute as he sent ice racing along the harness shackling the horses to the carriage. The straps snapped at a flick of his fingers, freeing the nervous beasts.

The giant stared at them but did not move. Evander frowned heavily.

Why is he working for mages? And dark mages at that?!

Graham’s anxious gaze shifted from Evander and Ginny, to their attackers.

“We will be alright,” Evander reassured the nervous coachman. “You know as well as I do that Lady Hartley and I are more than capable of looking after ourselves.”

“We’ll catch up in no time, Graham,” Ginny added briskly. She ripped the side of her skirt open from the mid-thigh down and removed the knife strapped to her stockinged leg before flashing an encouraging look at Samuel. “Take care of the old man, will you?”

Samuel jumped down from the box seat and bobbed his head jerkily.

“Alright, my Lady,” Graham said reluctantly. He cast a final, regretful look at Evander. “Stay safe, your Grace.”

The coachman climbed on one of the horses and pulled Samuel up behind him. The clatter of hooves faded in the direction of Piccadilly as they set off at a gallop.

The shrill blast of the whistle came a moment later, a signal to nearby Met officers to offer assistance.

“Kill…them…”

Evander’s head whipped around. The third mage had roused at the base of the tree. He extended a hand towards the Brute, an ugly expression twisting his features. Crimson light flared inside the dark stone crowning the ring on his middle finger.

The same light flashed in the Brute’s pupils, bringing him to life. The giant turned towards his closest target.

Evander’s gut twisted. “ Ginny! ”

Ginny backed away from the figure closing on her, her face tight. She dodged the Brute’s fist by mere inches and sliced his underarm as she dove to the side.

The giant did not even flinch at the cut.

He turned and lumbered towards Ginny.

A warm weight settled in Evander’s legs, rooting him to the third element he could wield. Magic grounded his body as he called upon the power of the rich loam beneath the cobbles.

The ground trembled, startling the Brute.

A wall of dirt rose between him and Ginny.

The mage’s eyes rounded behind his mask. He climbed unsteadily to his feet and glared at Evander.

“You’re a tri-elemental mage?!”

Evander ignored him and finished surrounding Ginny with a protective barricade of earth. The Brute had stopped moving, confused by the apparition of a wall that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

“Let me out of here!” Ginny’s angry voice was muffled by the thick layer of dirt and rock. “Goddammit, Evander! You can’t take them on your own!” She started pounding on the wall.

The third mage approached Evander just as his two companions stirred.

Evander narrowed his eyes.

“What do you want? And don’t pretend this is a robbery. Dark mages don’t make a habit of looting nobles’ carriages.”

The mage stopped a short distance away. He glanced at his associates where they were rising from the ground before observing Evander shrewdly. “You seem to know a lot about our kind, Ice Mage.” He jerked his chin, signalling to his men to surround Evander. “Now, where is the vial you stole from the alley? We know you have it on you.”

Evander blinked as he met the mage’s piercing stare.

Wait. They’re after the vial? His scalp prickled as understanding dawned. They must be working for the mage who attacked us in the alley!

A chilling cold seeped into his bones. His shoulders knotted.

A sinister energy was pooling around the three men. Their dark magic turned the shadows to a thick, oily fog that made it hard to breathe and sent an unpleasant buzzing through his ears.

Evander braced his legs and drew on his elemental powers. They pulsed through and out of him, clearing the air on a violent, sparkling haze that shook the leaves in the nearby trees and made the ground quake.

The mages hesitated on the verge of launching their next attack, their nerves showing at this absolute show of force.

It was all the time Evander needed to act.

A dozen icicles bloomed around him, the weapons moving even as they formed. The first and second mages tried to jump out of the way, only to find their feet yanked out from under them by shackles of dirt. Gargled cries left them as Evander’s ice attack pierced their clothes and pinned them to the street.

Evander deflected the dark magic wreathed blade the third mage threw at him with the folding cane that sprung out from inside his sleeve. He sidestepped the man as he charged at him and whacked him in a flurry of lightning-fast strikes.

The mage shook his head dazedly. He tottered about and fell clumsily onto a knee, as if intoxicated.

“What the hell did you do to me, you bastard?!” he snarled. He tried to get up, to no avail.

Evander straightened and propped the cane on his shoulder. “I hit your pressure points.” He cocked his head. “Learned it from the same man who taught Lady Hartley how to fight like a street thug.”

“I heard that!” Ginny snapped from behind the dirt wall.

Evander smiled coldly at the mage. “You won’t be able to get up for a while, so I suggest you and your associates sit tight and wait for the police to?—”

An evil smirk twisted the mage’s mouth.

Air shifted behind Evander. Pain exploded inside his skull before he could react. His breath locked in his throat, the agony of the attack dulling his senses and sending his ears ringing. It took him a moment to figure out what had happened.

The Brute had slammed his giant hands on either side of his head. He squeezed.

Black spots blossomed in front of Evander’s eyes.

Ginny screamed his name.

Something jolted the Brute as he began crushing Evander’s skull. The motion loosened his hold for a fraction of a second.

Evander grabbed the back of the giant’s hands and let loose his ice magic, his head throbbing and his stomach roiling.

The Brute released him.

Evander whirled around.

Ginny had climbed over the wall of her barricade and jumped onto the giant’s shoulders. She wrapped her legs around his throat in a choke hold and pressed her gun to the base of his skull, a scowl darkening her face.

“Wait!” Evander warned. “Magic doesn’t work against them!”

“We’ll see about that,” Ginny said grimly. She squeezed the trigger.

The pistol cracked. Once. Twice.

The Brute remained unfazed by the projectiles that fastened on his flesh and tried to stun him. He looked at the ice fading fast on his fingers and reached up to grab Ginny.

Evander ripped his cufflinks off his sleeves, engaged the explosive magic they contained, and lobed them at the Brute’s face.

“ Jump! ” he yelled at Ginny.

She pushed off the giant and somersaulted into the air.

The Brute brought his arms up as the enchanted devices detonated in front of him. He grunted at the blast, staggered back half a dozen steps, and shook his head. His expression cleared for a moment.

Confusion clouded his face.

The Brute’s pupils flashed red. He pinned Evander with a blank gaze once more.

Evander’s throat tightened.

Those explosions would have incapacitated a small mob!

There was only one thing left for him to do. Though it was magic, its effect would be more physically devastating than anything else he’d tried so far.

Heat burst to life inside Evander’s chest. It filled his body and warmed his blood, bringing with it the fourth element he could wield. The air around him shimmered on a warm haze.

The Brute blinked when Evander walked up to him and pressed a hand to his chest. Flames burst into life around his fingers.

Ginny’s eyes rounded where she’d landed a short distance away.

She had only seen him use this power once before.

The fire magic Evander manifested knocked the Brute off his feet and carried him clear across the street. He slammed into a brick wall, the impact leaving a ten foot crater that sent fracture lines racing across the surface.

Thick droplets of water coalesced from thin air at Evander’s command. They doused the flames engulfing the Brute’s clothes. The giant moved sluggishly amidst the rising steam and pushed himself off the wall, only to stop dead when ice encased his feet.

He stared at the glittering prison racing up his body. The Brute looked up and met Evander’s eyes seconds before his expression froze behind a thick, pale wall that chilled the air with a faint, white, swirling mist.

Evander’s heart thumped painfully as he stared at the icebound Brute.

He flinched when Ginny fired her pistol.

The dark mages were disappearing in the direction of Hyde Park.

“Shit.” She lowered the gun, her jaw clenched tight.

Footsteps pounded the street behind them as constables from the Met arrived.