The Hidden Mage of New York

Chapter 5

The ruby eyes of the brass bird went dark, and the holographic projection dissolved into a shower of dead red sparks that singed the polished wood of Ryan’s desk.

"The Vanguard," Evelyn whispered. The color had completely drained from her face. She looked down at herself, swimming in Ryan’s oversized grey hoodie, and then scrambled frantically to grab her damp combat boots. "We have to go. Right now. If the Vanguard is here, they’ve already locked down the block. They don't capture, Ryan. They sanitize."

"Sanitize?" Ryan’s heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. He yanked on his sneakers, his hands shaking so violently he could barely tie the laces. "As in, kill everything?"

"As in, they will turn this entire building into a localized gas leak accident," Evelyn said, shoving her feet into her boots without even tying the laces. She grabbed her chipped, glittery wand from the desk, her knuckles white.

Before she could step toward the door, Ryan caught her arm. The physical contact was immediate, electric, and desperate. He pulled her flush against his chest, his hands gripping her waist through the thick fabric of his hoodie. The sheer terror of the moment seemed to amplify the raw, heavy magnetism between them, turning their panic into a volatile, suffocating heat. Evelyn gasped, her head tilting back as she looked up at him, her dark eyes wide and filled with a raw, intense vulnerability. He could feel the rapid, frantic beat of her heart vibrating straight through his chest, her soft thighs pressing firmly against his. For a split second, the danger outside faded beneath the heavy, consuming urge to crush his mouth against hers, to feel the burning, wet slide of her tongue and lose himself in her heat.

"We're getting out of here," Ryan muttered, his voice deep, raspy, and thick with adrenaline. "Together."

She nodded breathlessly, her fingers digging hard into his forearms. "Together. Now move!"

They didn't risk the elevator. They flew down the concrete fire stairs, the sound of their heavy breathing and scrambling footsteps echoing loudly in the sterile shaft. When they burst through the heavy metal exit door into the alley, the cold rain hit them in a driving, merciless sheet. The street was largely empty, save for the occasional yellow cab splashing through the deep puddles surrounding Washington Square Park.

"Where’s your car?" Ryan yelled over the roar of the downpour.

"I don't have a car! I took the subway!" Evelyn shrieked, her dark hair instantly plastering to her wet cheeks.

Ryan looked around wildly. No cabs were stopping, and there was no time to wait for an Uber. Then, his eyes locked onto a bright pink Lime electric scooter resting solitary against a bike rack.

"Are you kidding me?" Ryan muttered, his left eye twitching. "A scooter?"

"It's either that or we run, and we cannot outrun what's coming!" Evelyn screamed, glancing back at the fire exit.

Ryan lunged for the scooter. He whipped out his phone, his wet thumb frantically tapping the screen. With a pitiful, electronic beep, the console illuminated, unlocking the tiny vehicle. "Get on! Behind me!"

Ryan stepped onto the narrow deck, gripping the rubber handlebars. Evelyn scrambled onto the back. The deck was laughably small, forcing her to press her body entirely and shamelessly against his. The contact was staggeringly intimate, sending a violent jolt of heat straight down Ryan's spine despite the freezing rain. Her chest pressed hard against his shoulder blades, the soft curves of her breasts flattening against him with every movement. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, her fingers clawing into his shirt, while her hips and thighs locked firmly against his glutes, molding her lower body perfectly to his rigid frame. Every vibration of the small electric motor hummed straight through their joined bodies, a direct, pulsing current of friction that made Ryan's blood run hot.

"Hold on tight!" Ryan yelled, twisting the throttle.

The scooter surged forward with a high-pitched, pathetic whine, splashing through a massive puddle and tearing down the slick asphalt of the street.

"They’re behind us!" Evelyn shouted, turning her head back.

Ryan glanced in his side mirror, but he didn't need it. His weird, unfiltered vision suddenly flared to life, stripping away the mundane facade of the city. The ordinary, rain-swept street vanished, replaced by a chaotic landscape of raw, pulsing energy.

And running through that energy, tearing up the asphalt with invisible, glowing claws, were three massive, spectral hounds. To any normal pedestrian on the sidewalk, the street was quiet, but to Ryan, these beasts were terrifyingly real. They were composed of writhing, liquid darkness, their ribs glowing with a hollow, violet fire. They leaped over parked cars with supernatural agility, their silent roars vibrating in Ryan's teeth.

"Shoot them!" Ryan yelled, leaning hard into a sharp turn that nearly sent the scooter sliding out from under them.

"I'm trying!" Evelyn cried. She brandished her star-topped wand, aiming it backward over his shoulder. "Ignis Roseus!"

A bright bolt of pink light shot from the wand. It missed the leading hound completely, striking a metal trash can on the corner. Instantly, the trash can exploded into a towering fountain of hot, neon-pink glitter and synthetic strawberry-scented smoke.

"The targeting is still totally busted!" Evelyn wailed, the wind whipping her hair into a frenzy.

"Aim lower! Use the splash damage!" Ryan yelled. He steered the scooter onto the sidewalk to avoid an oncoming delivery truck, the physical pressure of Evelyn’s body clinging to him intensifying. She squeezed her thighs tighter around him, her hot, rapid breath brushing against his neck as the scooter bounced violently off the concrete curb.

"They’re setting a trap!" Ryan warned, his eyes widening.

In his vision, the lead hound slammed its spectral paws into the ground. A web of dark purple, static-laced magical lines instantly spread across the road ahead like a glowing spiderweb. Ryan could see the raw structure of the spell—it was a kinetic tripwire designed to vaporize their tires the moment they touched it.

But he also saw something else. Intersecting the street were faint, flowing currents of natural ambient magic, glowing a soft, vibrant blue.

"Evelyn, hold on!"

Ryan veered the scooter directly into the blue current. The moment the rubber tires touched the ambient line, the little electric motor squealed. The magical flow caught them like a slipstream, and the scooter suddenly accelerated, rocketing forward at double its maximum speed. They floated directly over the dark purple tripwire, missing the trap by mere inches.

The spectral hounds let out a chorus of silent, frustrated screeches, their violet eyes flaring as they pushed their supernatural bodies to catch up. They were closing fast, the freezing aura of their presence turning the falling rain into tiny, stinging ice pellets that whipped against Ryan's face.

The scooter flew down a steep incline toward a major intersection. Ahead, the street was wide, but Ryan’s heart froze in his chest.

The leading hound leaped ahead of them, sacrificing its own shadowy form to construct a massive, shimmering wall of solid, dark-purple magical force. The barrier erupted across the entire width of the street, completely sealing it off.

"Ryan! Brake! Brake!" Evelyn shrieked, her grip on his waist tightening so hard he could barely draw breath.

But they were moving too fast. The slipstream of the ambient blue current had them locked in, hurling them down the hill at a breakneck, unstoppable speed. The cheap handbrakes of the Lime scooter would do nothing but send them sliding sideways into a fatal, crushing impact. The solid, humming wall of purple energy loomed closer, crackling with pure, destructive power.

"I can't!" Ryan yelled, his knuckles turning white on the handlebars. "We’re going through!"