Tom led me away from the front of the build with a, “don’t be an idiot, they expect us to come in that way.” In the alley he tried a locked door, shook his head at the old mechanical lock on it and kicked the door in. “I thought guys like you always carried a lock-gun, or at least lock picks.” I followed him inside the dingy, smelly room. “Guys like me haven’t encountered mechanical locks in over fifteen years. At some point some tools just waste space.” He walked slowly, leading with his gun. “And then you need it.” The lockers explained the smell, a hamper with used towels hanging off the side. My first thought was an athletic club, then we rounded the locker and saw the door, with the rows of posters on each side, all announcing a boxing match. “Fuck.” “What?” Tom looked around, searching for a threat. “This is where Alice boxes.” “Meaning?” I thought about it, what advantage did being here give her? “She knows this place better than I do.” “And?” I shook my head. It wasn’t like this was a holy place she drew power from. “Sorry, I was just surprised, even after these years I should have recognized the facade.” Tom tried the doorknob; it turned. He motioned me against the wall, before cracking it open. Light poured in. He looked through the crack and sighed. “Just the two of them in here, right?” he whispered. “I didn’t see anyone, they’re the only ones shielded, so yeah.” Tom let out another sigh. “You’re such an idiot.” Before I could ask, he pushed the door opened and stepped out. I followed him and stopped as I saw the group who was turning their attention from the front door to us. How had I not seen them when I walked through the building? I saw the blood on the floor, the designs I could almost make out. “Fuck.” “Yeah,” Tom said. “You need to stop thinking magic is the answer to everything. The Brislow I reconnected with two years ago would never have fallen for this.” “I’d have fallen for something else. Let’s admit it, I was always an idiot.” I looked at the group, mildly surprised they hadn’t shot at us yet. Only Alice had a gun. The others only had knives and fists, but looked eager to use them. Eleven of them, plus Alice and Tillsley. Tom’s admonition made me reevaluate our ability to take them on. My confidence was shaken, but still there. “Mister Brislow,” the priest said. “It’s Rasia,” Alice spat. “Don’t let him trick you.” The groundhog gave Alice a disdainful glare and focused on me again. “Mister Brislow, I admire your perseverance. I was warned not to underestimate you, and still you found a way into my home. In the end it is futile, but he’s going to be pleased.” “I’m guessing you mean Damian. I’d have thought he’d want me dead.” “Oh no. Our Lord still has plans for you.” “Really? Your lord? I knew Damian had an ego, but come on; he’s just some power-hungry tiger who doesn’t have the greatest track record. Taking over the Gray Church is his first win, if it can even be called that.” “Our Lord didn’t—” Alice fired five shots at me, and the reflexive telekinetic field stopped them. Okay, so nothing disrupted magic in here. “Officer Cooper, lower your gun, now!” the priest ordered. “I didn’t get Rasia here just to listen to the two of you talk!” she yelled back, changing the magazine. “You have your orders, as do we.” “Fuck that.” She holstered her gun and stepped forward, out of the ward. I took a quick peek and finally confirmed she was marked. A weight I hadn’t realized was there lifted. There was a chance these last years weren’t her fault. That her obsession had been forced on him. She nodded to the ring. “How about it, Denton? Want to resolve this our fists?” “Are you fucking insane Alice?” “Scared?” she grinned. “Of the city’s boxing champion? What do you think?” I smiled back. “Except you’re forgetting a detail.” “What?” I swept my hand in her direction so she’d know it was me doing it and telekinetically swept her legs out from under her. She didn’t hit hard, I saw to it, but she cursed like I’d used a bazooka on her. Tillsley was frowning at Tom. “That’s cheating!” She yelled. “Yeah, like I’m going to fight fair.” I fixed my gaze on her and took a chance. “Alice, this isn’t you and you know it. Yes, you’re pissed at me, but if these people hadn’t marked you, we’d have talked, resolve this without all this. Do you ever realized they marked Bret? They turned your husband into their puppets.” “Don’t you fucking dare bring him into this. Bret has nothing to do with this. We protected him from you and your magic.” I sighed. “Did you get it all out of your system?” Tom asked. “What?” “Brislow, did you think she’d listen?” “She’s still—” “She is being controlled,” Tom said in exasperation. “There’s only one thing to do to save her so about we get to it, instead of talking?” I sighed. “Alice, last—” Tom emptied his magazine in the priest who staggered under the shots. “Marrows!” I yelled as the others rushed around Alice. The rest was cut off by the four who rushed me. I blocked and parried as I tried to figure out how to handle them. I didn’t have the years of experience with Colby strength the Armadillo had, I could kill one of them with a punch. The version of telekinesis was strong, but had little fineness. I went for a burst of speed and shouldered one. He flew across the room. I stopped and got two slashes in the back. One had kept up with the speed. I accessed Frank’s healing and stuck with that as I punched him. He dodged and cut me again. I healed as quickly as he cut me. I had plenty of energy, but which one of us had more? Something clattered close. Tom’s gun. I glanced up as the badger screamed and attack the six men. He fought move viciously than I’d ever seen him do. The distraction earned me a sliced up eye and I backed up wildly. The woman came at me grinning in satisfaction, then annoyance. I wondered why, fighting to think through the terror, then my sight returned, blurry at first, then cleared. My breathing calmed. Thank you, Frank. “Fucking stopped playing with them!” Tom yelled. “I’m not playing!” “They’re a distraction! Get to the fucking target and do your thing!” He had three of them on the floor, unmoving, maybe dead. War, this was war. I put as little energy in the shove as I could and sent them away from me. One hit the wall with a sicking crack and crumpled. I hoped I hadn’t killed her. I found Tillsley and headed for him. Alice stepped in front of me and punched me in the face before I could react. “I guess I get my match after all,” She grinned. I waited until my jaw healed before standing. “Alice, I’m really sorry about this.” “You think I’m going to fall for—” I shoved her against the punching bag. The impact took her breath away, but she could still glare at me. I headed for Tillsley, break his magic and I was going to be able to talk with Alice finally. I noted he was out of the ward, then the two body at his feet. He smiled at me. “I may not be allowed to kill you, Mister Brislow, but no restrictions have been put on how much I can hurt you. Knowing you have access to healing makes this so much easier.” He ran at me, his left arm thickening until the cloth ripped and I saw the glowing marks. I put up a telekinetic field to stop him, but all it did was slow him as it rippled over him. His fist connected with my chest and I lifted off the floor. I fell on my back, trying to breathe. The pain was too much. Had he punctured a lung? Was my sternum broken? He looked at me, perplexed. “Aren’t you healing? Your eye grew back in seconds, why aren’t you healing? Are you out of energy?” Right, healing. I had to made that one as reflexive as telekinesis. Why couldn’t I access more than one ability? It would make this so much easier. I laughed, spitting blood. When had any of this been easy? God or no god, life was hard. I’d forgotten that somewhere. Tillsley smiled as I got to my feet. “Much better. I wish I knew where all these abilities came from. The information I was given says you need to have people around your so you can copy their powers, but it’s only the two of you, and the badger is supposed to be normal.” “Anyone ever tell you, you talk a lot?” Alice was thirty feet away, the rest who were conscious were busy with Tom. The groundhog smiled. “I give sermons. That would be tough to do if I didn’t enjoy talking. My lord is going to be pleased when I inform him you are more powerful than he thought.” “Why’s that?” Damming was targeted, but breaking magic was either touch or area. “He never stated it, but I got the sense, when he gave me my instructions for you, that you wouldn’t be strong enough to do what he needs you to do.” “And what’s that?” I dammed his power and immediately broke the magic around us. “Don’t you know?” the surprise was clear, but that was all, not staggering, no falling unconscious. Come on, I broke magic, it should have destroyed his ward too. He studied me. “You just tried something, didn’t you? I can see the disappointment on your face. My faith protects me from your perverse magic.” “Don’t you mean the two of them you sacrificed to power your marks?” “It is the role of the faithful to give their lives for the cause.” “Did you give them a choice?” “There was no need.” I threw myself at him, wrapping my hand around his throat. Before I could focus, he punched me in the stomach and I almost let go. I accessed the healing, but he punched me again, smiling. “How long until you are no longer able to heal yourself?” His punched came one after the other, I barely had time to heal between them. I only got one shot at this. I took the next punch and tried to break his magic, but I couldn’t switch power. The damage he caused me was too much. I was afraid. He punched me again, his smile turning nasty. “I can do this all day. I am blessed. His holy warrior. Unlike you, I don’t have to resort to perverted acts for my power.” “No,” I said through gritted teeth as he swung back for another punch. “Just murder.” I broke his magic hard just before the fist connected. He staggered back. I fell on my back. “What?” he got out before his eyes rolled back and he crumbled. As I healed, his shirt became wet with blood, and a trickle of blood fell between his lips. He was a murderer, I told myself. His death saved hundreds, if not thousands. I wish I could have done it differently, but this was war. Tom was right; I had to pull my head out of my ass and do what had to be done. This had to be done. I got to my feet and looked around. Tom was hand on knees, breathing hard. Everyone else was unconscious, bleeding from their marks, except for— “Murderer!” Alice rushed me, enraged. How was she still conscious? I opened my mouth, for her fist to close it. “I knew you were a monster,” she snarled between hits. I healed, but I could engage anything past that question. I’d broken Tillsley’s hold on everyone in the city, but she kept punching. Screaming at me, until she stopped and crumbled to the floor. Tom stood behind where she’d been, holding his gun by the muzzle. There was blood on the end of the grip, where it had connected with the back of Alice’s head. “Were you really going to let her punch you to death?” He asked. “She should have fallen unconscious! Like the rest!” fuck, I was near hysteria. “Why?” Tom asked flatly. “I broke Tillsley’s hold on all of them.” “And?” I looked at Alice’s crumpled form. “I assumed he held her leash too.” “I’m not going to bother pointing out what assuming gets you. Did you even think to check?” “I was busy getting pummeled.” “How about before that? You can see those magic lines, right? That’s how you found where he was hiding.” I shook my head. “I confirmed she was marked, but I just—” “Assumed. Don’t they cover never assuming anything in cop school? How about you check now?” I stepped out of my body and the sound of a door being smashed open faded into the distance. Alice’s marks were faded. She didn’t have many. Maybe just enough to control her. And there was the thread, vanishing into the distance. I placed a glowing hand on her chest and dammed her energy inside her before breaking the thread. The glow of her marks faded to nothingness. I stepped back into my body to the noise of people and orders being given. I focussed on a rat standing before me. “You okay, Denton?” I nodded and tried to engage my brain again. “What are you doing here, Jeroen?” “Tom messaged me to track his phone and send backup. Not that you needed it from what I see.” “We—” I staggered and Jeroen caught me. “You look like you need sex.” “Not here. This is Alice’s gym. This whole mess has already screwed too much stuff for her. I’m not adding that to it.” “Okay, there’s a car outside, we’ll get you back to the office. Someone can fuck you on the way.” He motioned for someone, but I caught his arm. “How are they?” “Alive, except for the priest. Fred was right, disconnecting the node acts like a purposeful withdrawal of the control. It makes sense. How many of them died over the centuries? If they were followed by a rash of unexplained death, it would have been noticed. We have paramedics on the way.” “Alice goes to Steel Link. Doc Merlin can look after her there. Have someone find her husband. If he’s conscious, track him, once I’m better I’ll free him. If he isn’t make sure he’s treated ASAP. I can’t have freed her only for Bret to die as a result of bleeding out.” “I’ll see to it. You need—” “Get the blood out of this place. I don’t want here to see what they did to her gym.” “Okay, I’ll do that. Now you need to go.” Someone took my arm and led me out of the gym.