Hard Magic: Book I of the Grimnoir Chronicles Read online

  She wiped her eyes. “Sorry.”

  “If we had to apologize to everybody every time we screwed up around here, we sure wouldn’t get much done . . . How old are you anyway?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. “My first family said I didn’t deserve no birthdays, because I was the devil’s child.”

  Squawk! “What? That’s a bunch of bunk!”

  “I figure I’m maybe sixteen or seventeen, give or take.”

  The gull clucked. “Damn, that makes me feel old . . . Well, for what you’ve been through, you’re doing just fine for your age. You ain’t the first person ’round this place that’s got a need for revenge.”

  “Do you need any revenge?”

  “Well . . .” he seemed hesitant. “The Chairman destroyed everyone I loved and took my whole life away and part of my leg. What do you think?”

  “I think I liked you better as a squirrel.”

  Lance flapped his wings indignantly. “That’s not what I meant. You’re a strange kid, but I do agree. I’ve got a belly full of garbage and I smell like shit. You want to come back to the house? Francis is running around like a chicken with his head cut off looking for you. I think he’s worried.”

  “Oh . . . he seems really nice.”

  “He’s a good enough kid, but he’s had a sheltered life compared to people like us, so don’t hold that against him . . . He means well.”

  “He’s nice looking.”

  “Oh my hell.” Lance shook his narrow beak back and forth. “That boy’s been around the block . . . more than a few blocks I might add, and he’s at least four years older than you. Plus, I don’t want to have to snap his little twig neck for dishonoring you, okay? Let’s keep our minds on business for right now. Remember, evil empire trying to get a superweapon?”

  “I want to help stop them, and I’m gonna kill the one-eyed man myself. I swear it.”

  Lance was quiet for a long time, his head automatically cocking from side to side as he stared out to sea. “He’s in the big leagues, kid. You might as well say you’re gonna kill the Chairman while you’re at it.”

  “He’s the one-eyed man’s boss? Fine. I swear I’ll kill him too then.”

  Lance sighed.

  “You’re really good at the other magic, aren’t you?” Faye asked. “You’ve got your animal Power, but you can write spells too. If you taught me what you know, then I could be more help.”

  “It ain’t easy,” he said. “And it’s more than spells. Being Grimnoir means that you hold the line. It’s learning how to fight, how to tail somebody and be a good spy, how to shoot, all the tricks of the trade. It takes a lot of practice and hard work.”

  “Well, if this Chairman is as tough as everybody says he is, we better get started if I’m gonna kill him anytime soon.”

  The seagull laughed. “Delilah’s right. You are a firecracker. All right, I’ll teach you how to be a Grimnoir knight, but on one condition: no more murdering unless I say so, or you got a real good reason!”

  Chapter 11

  People ask me how I do it. It is hard to explain. There is just this thing inside, like a battery. It charges up on its own, and I can turn it on when I really need it. The battery runs down fast, too fast, and it takes time to charge back up, but when it is on . . . I can feel the individual pistons thumping, the air over the wings, I can see the propeller turning . . . everything. It is like time slows down. Well, mister, let’s just say that when I’m on, I own that sky.

  —Lieutenant James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle,

  Interview after breaking the world airspeed record

  in a Curtiss R4C Parasite, 1927

  Mar Pacifica, California

  “You’ve only got a finite amount of Power available at any one time.” Lance was limping back and forth on the estate’s back yard near the swimming pool. The sound of crashing waves could be heard in the distance. “If you get stupid and burn it when you don’t need to, then you’ll be weak when you really need it . . . Right, Francis? How’s the knee feeling?”

  Francis’s head snapped up from where he was loafing on a nearby bench. He’d obviously not been paying attention. “Uhm . . . better?”

  “Wake up, Francis. I need your help. Yeah, like I was saying. Don’t waste Power on flash. Flash is for chumps. Get in, kick their ass, and get out. If you run through too much Power, too fast, you’re on your own until it replenishes itself. Got it?”

  “Sure,” Faye said happily. The last two days had been rather exciting for her. She’d already mastered a couple of the simplest spells, which had impressed everyone. She was playing with magic in ways that Grandpa never would have allowed. It was even more challenging than attempting to ride a cow. “Don’t mess around. Go fast. Get out.”

  He grabbed the rope that was tied to the cloth dummy that was hanging from a big wooden frame. A pair of boards supposedly representing swords hung from it. A red rising sun had been painted on its chest. “Show me!”

  She Traveled directly behind the dummy and stabbed the wooden practice knife Lance had given her into its back. By the time Lance had jerked the rope to spin it, she was already gone, standing in front of it, and jabbed it again. Lance pulled it straight up so a board would hit her, but she was too quick and leapt back, disappearing and reappearing on the other side, still in motion. She planted the knife square into the rising sun.

  “Now, Francis,” Lance ordered as he let go of the rope.

  This time the board moved way too fast, and a different angle, and it clipped her right in the shin. Faye screamed as she Traveled, coming at it from another angle, only to catch another board in the arm. The knife fell from limp fingers. She Traveled back, just as she hit the ground at Lance’s feet.

  “Ow ow ow!” Faye’s fingers weren’t responding and a big purple bruise was spreading on her leg. “Thanks a lot, Francis.”

  “Hey, you said you wanted to go faster,” he said, as he released his Power and the dummy collapsed in a pile of fabric and wood. “Sorry.”

  “Just imagine if that was an Iron Guard’s katana instead of a chunk of hickory.” Lance sighed. He did that a lot when teaching her. “Jane, would you kindly put our young Traveler back together, please?”

  The Healer frowned as she looked up from her book. She was wearing a white bathing suit, enormous black sunglasses, and reclining on a pool chair, enjoying the sun. Healers had the advantage of sunbathing without worrying about getting burned. “This is the last one for today, Lance. I used up most of my Power fixing up the General this morning.”

  “Fine, fine, we’ll do something a little less physical next.”

  Water was rolling involuntarily from Faye’s eyes but she didn’t think that fell under her self-prohibition on crying when she’d just got her arm broken. “Less physical? Can I drive the car again? Can we go fast?”

  “It ain’t a tractor. Of course we’ll go fast.”

  “I’d be happy to shoot more of Mr. Browning’s machineguns too!” Shooting those off the cliffs had certainly made the little .32 Iver Johnson she’d bought seem inadequate.

  Jane padded over daintily. The soles of her feet were soft and there were plenty of hard spots in the ground. It made Faye want to laugh. She hadn’t owned her own pair of shoes until she’d arrived in El Nido. Jane’s gentle hands rested on her arm, and a moment later, the now familiar hot feeling moved through her body. The swelling began to go down immediately. “Be more careful next time, hon. I won’t always be around to fix you up,” Jane admonished her.

  Delilah had wandered up to see what was going on. She was the most standoffish of everyone at the estate, and Faye still hadn’t really had a conversation with her. She didn’t think that Delilah was a snob at all, just that she had a hard time talking to people. She seemed like she was kind of broken inside. Faye could understand. She’d probably be bitter herself if she hadn’t been able to explore the world inside her own head.

  “What’re you doing?” Delilah asked.
r />   “We’re teaching Faye how to use her Power to fight,” Francis said proudly. “She’s improved immensely.”

  “That’s what you call it . . .” Delilah scowled at the dummy. “Can I try?”

  “I suppose,” Lance said, taking the slack out of the rope. “Get ready, Francis.”

  She cracked her knuckles and walked over to the dummy, pausing to look at Faye still sitting on the ground. “Let me show you how it’s done, little girl.”

  The dummy started to spin. Delilah closed her eyes for just a moment. There was no physical change, but suddenly she just seemed different, her posture shifted, and she hunched low, the visible muscles in her forearms, neck, and ankles seeming to harden. She covered the remaining distance faster than Faye could comprehend. She put her fist right through the rising sun.

  Francis’s brow furrowed in concentration as he swung the boards at her. Delilah blocked one with her forearm. She caught the other one in her bare hand, wrenched it free, and used it to cleave both the dummy’s legs off in one swipe. Next she grabbed it by the face, tore it clean off, snapping the rope in two, spun once and pitched the head clear into the ocean before the body had even hit the ground.

  It had taken about two seconds. She stepped back and straightened her dress. Her body seemed to soften and her posture returned to normal. “There you go.”

  Francis and Jane stood there with their mouths agape. Lance just grunted. “Great. Now we need a new dummy.”

  Delilah came over and sat on the grass next to Faye. “Listen, you’re not gonna learn to fight by hitting a canvas sack. How about you work with me? I don’t think you could hurt me if you tried, anyway, and it would be a lot more realistic.”

  Jane spoke up. “I can’t Mend her if you rip her head off.”

  “Shove it, sister,” Delilah called back. “What do you say?”

  It couldn’t hurt. Well, actually, it could hurt a whole lot. But this was probably Delilah’s idea of being nice. “Sure. Tearing someone’s legs off with their arm could be useful.”

  “You’ll probably have to work up to that. Come on, stand up.” Delilah arched her back, kicked her legs, and was instantly on her feet. “Hit me as hard as you can. I’ll just give you a little love tap when you screw up.”

  “Delilah . . .” Lance muttered.

  “Relax, squirrel boy. I won’t hurt her . . . much.” Her smile was kind of scary.

  “You don’t have to do this, Faye,” Lance suggested. “Brutes are the reason I carry a .44 Special stoked with hot wadcutters.” Delilah growled at him. “I’m just sayin’ is all.”

  Faye stood up. Her arm and leg were feeling much better already. Delilah was waiting for her in the center of the lawn. Francis and Lance stepped back. Jane picked up her book, but apparently she’d found something more interesting for once, and didn’t open it. Lance had shown her how to hit something without breaking her hand, explaining that you always used your hard bits to hit their soft bits, but she wasn’t good at it. Surely Delilah would help her get better.

  “Okay, what do I do?”

  “Hit me, stupid,” Delilah said.

  Faye didn’t like being called names. She Traveled, landing right behind Delilah, and punched her hard in the back. Faye screamed on impact as the bones in her fist crashed into something that felt like a concrete slab. Momentarily distracted, she didn’t see the backhand that rattled her brain and sent her rolling across the lawn.

  “See, just a little tap for when you screw up. That’s how you learn.”

  It was like being run over by a mad cow. Jane started forward, but Faye managed to spit out something that sounded like “I’ve got it.” She struggled to her feet.

  Delilah seemed impressed that Faye had gotten back up. “Lesson one. Never hit a Brute with your bare hands. Our Power makes our tissues tougher than normal. When I’m burning full Power, pistol bullets bounce off.”

  “You’ve got skin like a rhinoceros,” Jane suggested. “I can see that from here.”

  “Don’t go there, porcelain doll, or I’ll show you a rhino.” Delilah snapped. “Lesson two, only suckers fight fair. Come on, Faye. I heard how you swore you’d kill Madi. That goomba could snap me in half. If you can’t hurt me, how do you expect to put a dent in the big man? Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  Faye Traveled, appearing just off to Delilah’s left side, and this time she used her heavy boot to kick her in the leg. By the time the arm came flying around, she was gone, back on the other side, and kicked her in the back of the other leg. She Traveled back to where she’d started, smiling, proud that she’d tagged the Brute twice and gotten away.

  Delilah was wearing a sort of work dress. It actually cut off above the knees, which Mr. Browning surely found scandalous, but it made more sense when she covered half the yard in two steps and kicked Faye in the teeth.

  When the fuzzy lights quit spinning around her head, Faye realized that she wasn’t dead, this wasn’t heaven, and that the white angel looking down at her was Jane. “—way to go, you big bully.” The heat of Jane’s Power radiated through her face, but her skull still felt like it had been broken in half.

  “She said she wanted to learn. Poor little white-trash Okie wants to run with the big dogs, life is hard. She better get used to it. I even turned my Power off before I hit her that time,” Delilah said. “My dad was one of the toughest Brutes the Grimnoir had ever seen, and Madi beat him like a rented mule. He’ll eat her.”

  “Your father was probably drunk at the time too,” Lance spat. “Back off, Delilah.”

  “Look who’s talking.”

  The Healing was done. The heat died down, and Faye used Jane’s shoulder to pull herself up. “I’m ready.”

  Delilah was stunned. “You don’t give up, do you?”

  “Nope. What was the lesson that time?”

  Delilah shrugged. “Don’t mess with a Brute.”

  “Okay,” Faye answered as she Traveled. Delilah tensed but Faye didn’t land anywhere near her. Instead she landed next to the practice dummy and grabbed one of the heavy hickory boards. She reappeared directly in Delilah’s face and clubbed her like she was swinging at a baseball. Delilah rocked back, and Faye appeared behind her, and hit her in the back of the head so hard that the wood stung her palms.

  Faye reappeared twenty feet away, still holding the board and panting. “Grandpa liked baseball. Said it was the best American sport. He taught me how to bat,” she shouted.

  “You little snot!” Delilah said, striding forward, rubbing the back of her head. She charged, leaping across the space, and landed in the empty spot Faye had just left. “Where—”

  Faye clocked her with the club again, this time in the back of the leg. She was gone by the time Delilah kicked through the air. She spun, searching, and didn’t see the fist-size rock launched from the other end of the pool. Faye shouted with glee as the rock hit her straight in the nose. “He taught me to pitch overhand too!”

  Delilah cursed and raised her hands, serious now. Faye ran up onto the diving board, screaming, as she leapt into the pool, except there was no splash. Delilah spun expecting her to appear from behind, but instead Faye came out of the air over her head. The impact was so loud that everyone in the yard cringed. Faye Traveled before she hit the ground and was gone.

  Delilah went to her knees, cringing at the indentation in her shoulder. “Oh, I’m turning it up now.”

  Faye came around from behind Francis. He jumped in surprise. “Remember, don’t tear my head off, ’cause that would be cheating,” Faye taunted. She could tell that Delilah was angry and burning her Power hard now. Her body seemed different, hard and dangerous. Just like Lance had said, she was using it up too fast. Faye was only using hers in tiny pops, and she’d never actually run out of Power before in her life, but she figured she would know when she got close. She just had to outlast her opponent. “You’re right, Delilah, this is fun!” Then she Traveled.

  Delilah spun, lashing out randomly as Faye disap
peared. She hesitated, but the Traveler didn’t arrive anywhere near her. “Where are you?”

  “Up here!” Faye waved from the roof of the estate. “Come and get me!”

  Delilah was mad. She ran across the yard, took two big strides, and landed in a crouch on the roof of the porch, two more bounds and she was on top of the shingles with Faye. Brutes could climb fast. “Oh, you’re dead meat, you hick.”

  Faye waited until Delilah was almost on top of her before Traveling. She landed in the yard back where it all started. “What’re you doing up there, silly?” she called, waited for Delilah’s frustrated scream, then focused hard, appeared in the air directly behind the Brute, and swung the hickory stick with all of her strength. Faye was a skinny girl, but she’d been doing manual labor and bucking hay for three years, and had busted more than a few bulls in the snout with a shovel handle, and she laid into Delilah like she was a particularly nasty Holstein. The stick broke in half, but Delilah rocked forward, off balance, and tumbled from the tall roof.

  She landed flat on her back on the tiles next to the pool with a terrible thump.

  Faye appeared next to her a second later and squatted down. Delilah grunted as she tried to sit up, her Power momentarily exhausted from hardening her body for the impact. “What was the lesson that time?” Faye asked innocently.

  Delilah closed her eyes and sank back to the tiles. She held out her hand in truce, and Faye slowly took it. “The lesson that time is that you aren’t as stupid a hick as you pretend to be.” She actually smiled. Faye could tell that it was a real one this time. She’d made a new friend.

  ***

  Sullivan was impressed, and he didn’t impress easily. The mansion was epic, probably the single biggest house he’d ever seen excluding pictures of palaces and castles from books. He actually recognized the European architectural styles, but since he’d only read the words and had never heard them pronounced, he didn’t even bother trying to say them out loud. He whistled. “Nice digs you boys got here.”