The public release date of Mercenary Mage draws nearer! Carina Lin is continuing on her quest to find the true home of mages, but she must also protect her family from those who wish to enslave them, and – most especially – she must save them from their Dark Mage brother.

Chapter Two

Pitch darkness surrounded Carina and the air was cold and damp.

Darius had done it. They were inside the Zenobia, hopefully in her hold.

“Oh good,” said Oriana. “Now we’re safe.” Her voice echoed from the surrounding walls.

“No, we aren’t,” said Carina. “Not yet. We don’t know if anyone else is aboard, so keep your voice down. And those Dirksen guards knew something was up. Their CO will probably order the ship to be searched. They might even disable its engines. We need to get to the bridge and—”

“We need to find our way out of here first,” said Bryce. “Can one of you Cast Light or something?”

“No,” Carina replied. “There’s no such Cast.”

“I could try and make one,” said Darius.

“Not now, sweetheart,” Carina said. “And I don’t want anyone to even think of Casting Fire. We’ll set off the alarms and the entire spaceport will be all over the ship. Come on, let’s look for a door.”

She set off blindly into the dark. Before she’d taken more than a few steps the hold’s lights blinked on, activated by her movement. They were inside a space about twenty meters square surrounded by plain unadorned metal, and the ship’s cargo.

“Whoa,” Ferne said. “Look at all this stuff. I wonder what it is?”

Boxes and packets of all shapes and sizes formed tall stacks, secured to the floor and walls by netting.

“I don’t know,” said Carina. She was puzzled by the odd cargo too. She’d taken the starship to be a means of transportation for a rich owner, not a merchant vessel. And if it were a merchant vessel she would have expected more uniformity in the freight, perhaps only three or four types of cargo. This was more like… She had no idea. “We don’t have time to find out. Come on. This way.”

Carina had spied the smaller, internal door that would lead to the main body of the ship. She raced over to it and tried the handle. It was unlocked.

After waiting a moment for the others to catch up, she set off down the passage that led from the hold.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Bryce asked as he caught up to her.

“Not at all,” replied Carina. “You?”

“Nope, but upward and forward is my best bet.”

“Mine too.” A sign caught Carina’s eye as she passed it. “Wait. What was that?” She turned and ran back a few paces.

The sign said Service Access. She pushed on the adjacent panel and it popped open, revealing a ladder. “We’ll go this way,” she said to the others, who had stopped to see what she was doing.

“Elevator too fancy for you?” Bryce asked.

“A ladder is less trappy,” replied Carina, grabbing the rungs.

She ran up the ladder, then thought twice about it and slowed her pace. Darius and Nahla wouldn’t be able to go so fast. She paused and looked down the narrow tunnel. Some way below, Nahla clung to Bryce’s back as he climbed, and Carina thought she could see Parthenia carrying Darius. She continued to ascend, though at a slower rate.

Had they already triggered the ship’s security system? Were the spaceport authorities already on their way, about to team up with the Dirksen guards to gain entry to the ship? From what Carina had seen in the cargo bay the Zenobiawas not what she seemed, but neither was she a military vessel. It was entirely possible that only forced entry would trigger an alarm. The security measures might not extend to the ship’s interior.

Whatever the truth was didn’t really matter. If they were to stand a chance of getting off Pirine, they had to find the bridge fast.

The signs next to the tunnel exits were no help. They only stated the levels. Carina passed level two and level three. When she reached the exit to level four, she pressed the release. The door clicked and opened a fraction. She waited for Bryce and the others to catch up and then motioned them to be quiet.

She listened. All she could hear was the silence of an empty starship at rest. Pushing open the door, she peered out. Dim standby lighting illuminated a plush corridor. This was more like what she’d been expecting to see: a carpeted floor, somewhat worn, and walls painted green and gold.

They had clearly arrived at the passenger section. It was here the owner and his family, friends, and business associates would reside while the Zenobia was in flight. But this section wasn’t for the crew. It was too nicely decorated.

Carina looked up. The service ladder continued to another level. She pulled the door closed and continued her climb. Level five soon appeared. Carina opened the door and saw scuffed floor tiles and white, grubby walls. This was a crew area. After checking for signs of occupation again and hearing and seeing nothing, she climbed out into the corridor and set off at a run.

Doors flashed past. Carina didn’t worry about leaving the others behind now. She needed to get to the bridge and start the ship’s engines. Too much time had passed since Darius had Transported them onto the ship. The Dirksen guards could be aboard and searching it already. And the ship had just been refueled, which meant passengers would be arriving any minute.

Carina slid to a halt, realizing she’d run right past reached the bridge. She doubled back.

The bridge doors didn’t automatically open as she approached. It made sense. Here, if anywhere, on board security would be vital. But a locked door posed no problem to a mage. She pulled her elixir bottle from the pouch that hung at her side and unscrewed the lid. Between pants to catch her breath, Carina took a swig and closed her eyes. She swiftly wrote the Unlock character in her mind and sent it out. As she opened her eyes again she heard the soft scrape of the door opening.

“There she is!” someone shouted. “Shoot!”

Carina jumped to the side, but not fast enough. A pulse round caught her shoulder. She fired back randomly as she reached the cover of the wall, barely registering the scene on the bridge. Soldiers in Dirksen uniforms had formed a semi-circle around the door. She also caught a glimpse of her eldest brother, Castiel.

“Carina!” Darius yelled as she fell.

Her shoulder felt like it had been punched by a giant, which was a good sign. The soldiers’ weapons were set to stun, not kill. Of course, the Dirksen clan wanted to keep her alive and enslave her for her abilities, like they had enslaved Castiel. Luckily, her dominant arm hadn’t been hit.

Carina dragged herself away from the open doorway. A second stunning round impacted her ankle and sent spirals of numbing shocks up her leg. She wouldn’t be able to stand until the effects wore off in ten or fifteen minutes. She rested the butt of her weapon against her hip and cradled the rest of it in her remaining working arm.

She heard Bryce urge, “Transport the soldiers away, Darius.” He was running up the corridor with the others.

“I can’t,” Darius replied. “I have to see them.”

That was Carina’s problem too, or she would have performed the Cast herself. But if she looked into the bridge again she would be stunned in a heartbeat.

Carina continued to scoot backward, hauling her dead leg as she went, maintaining her aim on the entrance to the bridge. As if on cue, a muzzle appeared through the door, but all she could see of the person holding it was a gloved hand. Carina shot and missed. A second shot came from along the corridor. Bryce was covering her. The pulse hit its mark. With a muffled yelp, the owner of the hand dropped the weapon.

“Darius,” Carina shouted, “Cloak the ship!” Now the Dirksens knew she and her siblings were aboard there was no point in any further subterfuge. But Cloaking the ship would make it hard for more soldiers to board. And until Castiel could see his brother he wouldn’t be able to use Repulse to cancel Darius’s Casts.

A helmeted head appeared in the doorway. Carina shot at it but it was gone as soon as she pressed the trigger. Someone had been assessing the situation. Bryce had also fired. He and her siblings had reached the other side of door and he was holding out an arm, gesturing them to move to the wall.

With surprise, Carina registered that not all of them were there. What had happened to Darius and Nahla? Then she realized what she was seeing: Darius’s earlier Cloak Cast was still working, and Nahla had to be standing close enough to him to be covered by it. Carina had only been visible to the soldiers because she’d run ahead, out of the Cast’s influence.

Elation surged within her. If she couldn’t see Darius, neither could anyone else. Carina had to let go of her weapon to gesture to Bryce, trying to convey her message through hand signals. She couldn’t speak to Darius out loud and tell him to stand in the doorway to see the soldiers and Transport them away. If they knew what he was doing they would simply blanket the space with fire.

A muzzle flashed out. Carina snatched up her weapon. Too late. Parthenia took a hit to her stomach and dropped like a stone. The shot had been aimed at where Bryce had been standing, but he’d moved.

That was dumb. All the mages were far more dangerous than Bryce, even though he was armed.

He was feeling along the wall, trying to find Darius by touch. He’d guessed what she’d been trying to convey with hand signals! Bryce disappeared. He’d found the little boy and come within the influence of the Cloak.

When another soldier darted out to fire, Carina’s finger closed reflexively on her weapon’s trigger. Her round hit the man square in the back. Her gun was not set to stun, and at the short range if he hadn’t been wearing armor he’d be dead. As it was, he only fell and was quickly dragged away by his fellow troops.

Bryce reappeared. Where was Darius? Bryce’s eyes told Carina he’d understood and done what she’d asked. Now they only had to wait and hope the little boy didn’t get hit by random fire.

Painful tingles emanated from Carina’s shoulder and arm. The stun was beginning to wear off.

All of a sudden, soldiers burst from the doorway, spraying fire. Carina rolled but a round hit her unstunned leg, rendering her completely helpless. Her weapon was caught underneath her. Desperately, she willed her unresponsive legs to move.

Lying on her front, she waited for the coup de grâce.

It didn’t come.

Silence fell.

Carina lifted her head and looked over her shoulder. The soldiers had gone. Darius had Transported them. Bryce lay on his back, motionless. Carina also saw the upturned soles of Oriana and Ferne’s boots. The soldiers had stunned everyone.

“Where are you?” said a voice. “Where are you, you little shit?”

Castiel stomped out from the bridge, his head turning from side to side as his gaze swept the corridor. “Come out and face me! We’ll fight it out and I’ll beat you. I’m a much better mage than you!”

His glare alighted on Carina. His angry expression switched to a smirk. “Not so high and mighty now, are you, sis? I ought to Split you all and have done with it. Except you and that little asshole could be useful to me yet. Never mind. He’s given me my freedom at least.” He swigged from an ornate metal flask and closed his eyes. “See you around.”

In another second, Castiel was gone.

Missed Chapter One? Read it here.