Six (2/3)
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"Oh, damn," Flynn said, sending a ripple through the intense concentration on willing fortune to work in Jesse's favour. "That's one of the higher ones. It's playing mind-games with him right now."

Bane growled softly, and Bryan tensed visibly. Kevin and Lori, who had too much experience with occasional predators deciding that a very powerful elvenmage's magical gifts were tempting enough to be worth the risks, winced in unison.

"Try to lure it away from him and to here?" Naomi suggested. "That would be simpler than a gate there, and would need less of a focus and less power. Could Jesse's nerves take that, do you think?"

"I doubt Jess could survive that, let alone avoid further nerve damage," Cynthia said with a sigh. "Otherwise, that would be worth a try."

"If Jess could handle that, he probably wouldn't need help with a predator," Deanna agreed ruefully.

"Can you get me a clear fix?" Kevin asked.

"I'm trying," Flynn said. "There's a lot of loss over this distance."

Naomi nodded. "All right. Then let's see how much power we can gather up for you to use, hm?" Kevin felt her dig deeper, felt a surge in the flow coming directly from the earth below them; Lori, more used to her coven-mate, caught and channelled it neatly into the shared currents with scarcely a perceptible wave. Kevin gathered together as much as he could from the collected pool, grateful that he wasn't going to have to build a gate simply from his own reserves.

Silence, while seconds ticked into minutes, and the connection between Flynn and Jesse grew narrower and more dense.

* * *

Jesse zigzagged along the busiest routes available, figuring it would be harder for anyone to force anything with enough other people around. He needed to loop back around to where this started, and see if Shaine were there yet; with any luck, he not only would have arrived by now, but wouldn't assume Jesse wasn't coming and leave. While people tended not to find Jesse at all intimidating, the same couldn't be said about Shaine, and Jesse knew of nothing that had ever thrown him off-stride.

If he could just get there. He saw that same woman again, in front of him, this time leaning against a parking meter, watching him with that smile, and detoured without slowing to cut through an unfortunately quiet walkway between two old buildings. His pursuer was somehow, impossibly, on the other side as well, blocking his exit. Jesse doubled back, hit the main street, and made it nearly back to where this had started before seeing her again—this time, stepping apparently out of thin air directly in front of Jesse, so close that Jesse stumbled to avoid running into her. He darted across the street, ignoring the honking horns, but kept going the same direction.

How the fuck did she do that?

How the fuck do I get away from someone who can do that?

Adrenaline was only going to go so far; he was already out of breath, heart thumping painfully hard. This enemy was simply going to wear him down and pick him off at will when he could no longer run.

But how could he fight back? Could Shaine help against this threat, anyway?

That annoying little voice inside told him that no, Shaine was no better able to fight this battle than anyone else in the city was. Except Jesse himself.

Which should he do? Get into the middle of a crowd and hope that would protect him long enough to catch his breath and think of something? But if his enemy could get close to him, extra bodies around him would be no safety, and that annoying voice yammered that it would put more people at risk.

An ambush, then? Get behind the businesses into the shadows, find anything he could use as a weapon, even if it was just a glass bottle?

It was worth a try. Continuing to run wasn't an option.

He spotted a driveway that he knew linked to the space behind a shoe store and a clothing store and a small drug store, and veered down it. Sawdust-scent, chemical-scent, metal-tang, someone had been doing work, maybe on one of the apartments above the businesses. That might be promising for finding something he could use. He slowed to a stumbling walk, headed for a more-or-less neat stack of what might be lumber or plumbing or both against one wall, near a back door.

This time, the hand groped his ass, and he had the eerie sense that he was feeling skin-on-skin with no insulation by the denim that should be between.

He spun around with his full weight behind his right fist, a response too instinctive even to allow time to grab his keys to add to the impact.

His tormentor, with no apparent effort, no reaction at all to the force behind it, seized hold of Jesse's right hand in her own and squeezed. Jesse was sure he felt a joint pop, thought he cried out, but the pain was so bad it all blurred together. He felt pressure, the pain increasing as the other twisted his hand backwards, and his legs buckled without conscious thought; he barely registered the sensation of his knees striking the pavement, with the whole world a white haze centred on his trapped hand.

* * *

"C'mon, c'mon," Flynn muttered. "We're running out of time, here... I'm so close but so's the predator."

"Anchor?" Kevin prompted, knowing very well that it was useless to ask and Flynn was already doing his best. "I'll drag him back here through it if I have to."

"Not necessary," Bane said, standing up and stretching. As often as they could get away with it, wolves wore magesilks, which meant he didn't even need to waste time taking off clothes. Bryan followed suit only a heartbeat later, always right behind his brother and pack leader.

Kevin stood up, too, and felt Lori reach out to re-balance the power currents to accommodate motion. Whether the circle would hold across long distance was distinctly uncertain; he took what he could, while he could, just in case he lost connection. At least the combination of coven-bonds and Lori's presence provided a sort of insurance: she could create a gate to get him and the wolves back here if necessary, though using another mage's gate always felt a bit uncomfortable.

"You're safer here," Bane objected. "We'll have to protect you, too."

"I'm coming," Kevin said flatly.

"I think Kev needs to be there," Flynn said. "He didn't pull the mage card just to gate you two there and back."

Bane sighed, shrugged, and his body began to blur around the edges, turning all over the dark brown of semi-sweet chocolate. In seconds, a huge shaggy wolf shook himself, and looked expectantly at Flynn and Kevin.

Bryan, in wolf-form, was a little smaller, more the colour of milk chocolate than Bane's darker fur. Together, they were an intimidating sight.

"Hold on," Flynn said distantly. "Almost got it... there! Here, take it." Kevin knew without being told, as the sparkling stream snapped itself tightly together into a cord that stretched off towards the south. Kevin reached along it, and found the other end. Clear and precise, more than enough so for him to build a gate safely and with minimal effort. Well, as minimal as effort could be across that much distance.

"Be careful," Naomi said softly.

"Always." Kevin gestured with both hands; a bright gate swirled into being, woven of moonlight and will. The interior cleared, leaving only the frame and a flimsy curtain of coloured light.

"You've got it," Flynn said.

Bane darted through, Bryan on his heels; Kevin was right behind both, and as he stepped through, the gate vanished.

* * *

Patrick Lucian raised his head, all senses alert, straining to discover what it was that had just distracted him from the unhurried enjoyment of his luxurious supper. He spotted the brilliant glow of an elvenmage's power, and a strong one at that, fading in bright ripples. And now he could sense, faintly, the presence of another mage where a moment before there had been none.

Now that's interesting.

He abandoned the remains of his beef panang curry, cloaked himself in illusion that changed his sun-tawny hair dark and his fair skin to a deep brown, and simply walked out of the restaurant without stopping to pay. Outside, he released the illusion, paused briefly to orient himself, and started to walk in the direction of the shimmer of fire magic, toying with speculations.

* * *

Oh my god, I'm going to pass out, don't do that, DON'T!

As though that would make Jesse significantly more helpless than he was right now, with the pressure on his hand making his back arch as his body struggled to find some kind of relief.

His tormentor spat something that sounded like a curse, though it was unfamiliar, and suddenly Jesse's trapped hand was free. He scrambled backwards fast, not caring what he hit, his vision still full of red and black starbursts.

"Damn those wolves," the stranger snarled. She brushed past Jesse as though he were of no further importance at all. Not in the direction of the street, but deeper into the back spaces, where there was another small access area and a driveway out the other side.

Sobbing for breath, his damaged hand cradled close to his body, Jesse staggered to his feet.

A cool arm slid around him, made him jerk away briefly until the scent reached him. Familiar, safety. Shaine. He looked up, blinking tears out of his eyes. Shaine was at least as tall as Kevin, and Jesse was quite sure Shaine was a few years older than him, although he wouldn't have ventured even a wild guess as to how much. His grey tank-top and blue denim vest with the sleeves ripped off and artfully-torn jeans showed quite a lot of fair skin and lean wiry muscle; the pale blonde hair he rarely bothered to get cut was held out of blue eyes by a blue bandana. As usual, he seemed oblivious to the chill creeping into the night-time air this late in the year. 

"What the hell...? No, never mind, tell me later. I'll look at your hand at home." He glanced past Jesse, then shook his head. "I don't even want to know. Come on."

"How'd you find me?"

"Walk." Shaine's arm around him urged him into motion. "At least half a dozen people told me they saw you running from something they couldn't see and you looked freaked. Obviously not a bad trip. Move. Home. Now."

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