Nemesis - Legacy Book 5 (Legacy Series) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

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  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Ready for more?

  Join the Legacy World

  Author's Note

  About the Author

  NEMESIS

  Book 5 of

  The Legacy Series

  RYAN ATTARD

  Nemesis

  Ryan Attard

  Copyright © 2017 by Ryan Attard. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

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  Ryanattard.com

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  Chapter 1

  There are worse things in this world than being on a date with a sexy, dangerous woman.

  Especially when said woman smiles excitingly upon your suggestion to hijack a truck full of god-knows-what meant for the company spearheaded by your nemesis.

  It was a nice summer breeze, perfect for a romantic evening. Akasha, the girl I’d been seeing for enough weeks to break any of my previous records, was present.

  Since nearly ordering my beheading — long story — she and I grew closer. The fact she was a high ranking member of the Grigori, a secret society in charge of regulating magic, and that dating her incurred the disapproval of both them and my tightly-wound twin sister, was just the cherry on top of a very delicious cake.

  The sex was out of this world.

  In my line of work, you don’t get much… well, you just don’t get much of anything, really. Still, I managed to hook up with a few amazing women from time to time, from a witch trapped in a pocket universe—even longer story—to getting to second base with one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

  (Yes, I’m counting that — I need to pad my numbers here!)

  My point is, this sexy beautiful Haitian woman and I were doing things that could set a room on fire. Literally, in one instance. That’s how we got banned from a certain hotel in Cabo.

  But being involved with someone like Akasha also meant I did not have to hide the ugly side of my job.

  Hence our current act of criminality.

  Alan Greede had crossed a line. Bad enough he stole the Necronomicon, one of the most powerful magical tools on the planet.

  But the asshole went after my sister. He threatened my family, both blood related and otherwise. Monsters like him had to go, permanently.

  The Ryleh Corp logo on the truck was emblazoned in yellow.

  It stopped at a red light on a deserted street and I gave Akasha a nod. We were not going to get a better chance. Summer meant that the good people of Eureka, even in a shabby district like La Fortunata, would be inclined to get off their asses and enjoy the good weather. Which, in my line of work, meant collateral damage.

  I ran out, reached behind my coat, and grabbed Djinn. Whipping out the magical short sword, a blaze of azure magic exploded outwards, catching the truck from its under carriage. The entire vehicle rose from the rear and shot forwards in a bizarre front wheelie. Metal screamed and sparks flew from the front. The truck crashed down and its doors flung open. Armed soldiers streamed from it. I recognized their weapons and equipment. These were troops designed to take down magic users, people like myself.

  Well, no, not like myself.

  I’m not like anyone else.

  As these ninja pricks were about to find out.

  “Flank him!”

  “Flank this,” I cried back. A second streak of blue energy crashed into them, muffling their screams of surprise.

  Two SUVs running ahead of the truck screeched into a halt. More soldiers leapt from inside. And unlike the others, these guys held up HK sub-machine guns and began firing as if they were cast by Michael Bay himself.

  One of them suddenly shuddered and jerked towards his friends, finger still on the trigger. Bullets cut through his companions.

  “What the fuck?” cried one of them they mowed down their possessed friend.

  “Now, now,” Akasha said, walking in plain view. “Mind your language, young boy.”

  Did I mention Akasha was older than I was? She wouldn’t tell me by how much but I was guessing it had to be in the range of fifty years — give or take a couple decades. Wizards age weird, and to be honest, I really couldn’t care less about that.

  And besides, she looked like a thirty-year-old athlete, so what the heck did I have to complain about?

  Akasha channeled her magic through splayed fingers. I could feel the air shifting as she directed pure Entropy — chaos magic — with a series of finger gestures until the energy penetrated their heads and consumed their bodies.

  She then plucked a small, worn out, plushie doll from her belt. “Now then,” she said. “All of you, go to sleep.”

  She flicked the doll’s head, hard, and every single soldier fell unconscious.

  “That was both impressive and terrifying,” I murmured.

  Akasha gave me a look. “Voodoo was never meant to be pretty, my darling. But as you well know, the darker the magic, the more effective it is.”

  I nodded. Hell yeah, I knew what she meant. Trust me, you do not want to go up against me covered in shadows.

  With all the soldiers dispatched, we made our way to the truck.

  “Time to see what’s behind Door Number One,” I said, swiping Djinn at the locking mechanism.

  The doors swung open with relative ease and the light from the street lamps illuminated the contents of the truck.

  There was at least a dozen of them, each strapped to the walls like mental patients confined in straight jackets. At first, I thought they were fully formed creatures, until the light from outside glinted off the obsidian material.

  Skeletons made out of jet black bone were kept together like something out of a Tim Burton movie, confined within a pod. Their skulls were somewhat humanoid, with fangs and ridges that spoke of hunting and preying.

  “What are those?” came Akasha’s voice from next to me.

  I couldn’t answer her. Instead, I stared at the black bones, my mind cast backwards. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I had seen this before. Not quite this horror show, but I had seen those bones, and the creatures they belonged to.

  Part of my Post Traumatic Stress therapy was to face my fears — and trust me, I hunt monsters for a living, which means I face fear on a daily-fucking-basis.

  But flashbacks don’t come on cue, and they sure as shit don’t have to make sense.

  I had no idea what I was looking at, other than the fact that I knew those creatures, just like I
knew to fear them.

  Fear what they represented.

  Fear the memories they were attached to.

  I felt Akasha’s hand on my shoulder, slowly bringing me back to the present, but it was the sudden burst of heat that did it.

  We both turned, just in time to see a man on fire zooming towards us. As he landed, the flames parted from his body, exposing blond hair, a square jaw, and a face that was asking to be punched.

  Luke the Pyromancer blinked twice in my direction. “Oh, fuck me!”

  I poured magic into Djinn and raised the glowing blade.

  “Okay,” I said. “Fuck you.”

  The blue blast caught him in the chest, sending him flying backwards.

  “Who is that?” Akasha asked.

  I leapt out of the van, ready to engage Luke. “A Pyromancer, an asshole, and a lieutenant for the Black Ring Society. And, yes, in that order.”

  Luke groaned as he got up. “Yeah, I missed you too.”

  I sent another blast from Djinn but this time he was expecting it. Luke dodged, feet on fire as he flew around. I fought him before: this guy was long range. Close the distance and he was out of cards to play.

  I blocked the attack, just as Akasha ran for him. “Wait!” I yelled after her.

  An Entropy wave left her hands, trying to establish a connection between Luke and the doll on her belt. Akasha’s magic distorted space as it roiled forwards, discoloring light and releasing a low whistling rumble.

  Luke raised his hands in defense and a wall of fire erupted. The two magics crashed into each other.

  Entropy was pure chaos magic, one of those fickle ancient magic types that modern magic users don’t mess around with anymore. And for good reason. While the goal of magic was to establish control over the elements, users of Entropy were forced to let go of that control. They had to work with the magic, rather than have the magic work for them.

  Luke’s fire turned icy blue and spiraled into itself. The air screamed, followed by a massive explosion as the imploded magic reversed on itself and blasted out. All three of us were sent flying. I windmilled in the air for a bit before smashing into a wall. Akasha followed me, slamming into a dumpster. Luke was thrown into the truck with enough force to leave a dent in the frame.

  I was the first one up. My healing magic made sure I remained conscious and any damage was automatically healed. Akasha wasn’t so lucky.

  “Lie down,” I said, cradling her head. Blood oozed out.

  “Bastard,” she mumbled. “He’s getting up.”

  I didn’t have to turn around — heat blazed from the Pyromancer’s position.

  Groggily, Akasha wrestled enough strength to get on her feet. I helped her up, no questions asked. Usually, I would tell her to stay out of a fight, but most of the women in my life — a lot of whom were kick-ass magic users themselves — pointed out that it was kind of misogynistic to assume women can’t defend themselves.

  Besides, this was the second most powerful magic-user on the planet.

  “Erik.” The walkie-talkie in my coat had somehow survived. I fished it out.

  “Yeah?” I said.

  “You got reinforcements coming your way,” Abi said from the other end. “At least five trucks.” A pause. “Amaymon says he can take ‘em out.”

  “Tell him to stand down,” I ordered. “No Earth magic. This was supposed to be a covert mission. We can’t have half the city caved in.” I gave Akasha a sideways glance. “My sister and the Grigori might have something to say about that.”

  Akasha raised her eyebrows. “Don’t use me as an excuse just because you’re afraid of being yelled at by your sister.”

  “Do you want the demon to cut loose?” I asked exasperatedly.

  “No,” she said. “Perhaps it is best I go deal with it. My magic is more suited to crowd work anyway.” She nodded at Luke, who was shaking his head and covering himself in flames. “Besides, it seems you two have a grudge to work out.”

  “You can say that again.”

  “Then its settled,” she said, taking the radio from my hands. “Abi, I’m coming your way. You may begin your counter attack.”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” the apprentice said enthusiastically.

  Abi, my student slash live-in secretary, was not the patient type. A witch-succubus hybrid, she’s grown to become one of those kick-ass women I mentioned earlier. Happy to no longer be on lookout, I saw her red-haired figure leap off a building, doing a cartwheel while welding her golden staff, a magical weapon called Sun Wokung.

  Yes, the Monkey God — it’s trapped inside the weapon, empowering it.

  Again, long story.

  She landed heavily on her weapon, blowing a crater in front of the SUVs. That brought them to a halt. Armed men streamed out like angry ants from a colony, bringing their weapons about. Abi channeled her magic and the air rippled.

  Being what she is, Abi has access to a particular type of magic that makes her one of the most dangerous beings around: mental magic. The brain is like a playground to her.

  One by one, illusions of her began appearing, until twenty or so armed redheads stood confronting the soldiers. The soldiers fired, each bullet ripping through the illusions. One by one, the fake Abis faded away, leaving only the real one.

  She twirled her staff, channelling her telekinetic powers long enough to deflect some bullets and run for cover.

  “You know,” she yelled. “Some help would be fucking nice, you lazy-ass cat!”

  Amaymon strutted out, a black cat with a red ruby pendant around his collar. One second, he cocked his head in that particular way felines do, as if judging our dumb human ways — the next, he was a stocky human wearing all-black, including a beanie, with his hands tucked inside his pockets.

  “Oh, now they want my help,” he said. “Now they want Amaymon to save them. When I offer to help out it’s ‘don’t you dare!’, but now that you’re in real shit you turn towards-”

  A bullet cut him off.

  Amaymon looked at the back of his shoulder, then at the soldier who fired.

  “Hey, asshole, that’s rude,” he yelled. “I was gonna not kick your ass. Now I have to.”

  “Fire!” yelled one of the soldiers.

  “Earth!” Amaymon yelled back. The ground rumbled and swallowed them whole, sucking them in until only their heads remained above ground.

  The demon smiled sadistically as he raised his foot over the nearest head. The soldier in particular watched in horror and began crying.

  “Demon!”

  Akasha’s voice rippled with command. Amaymon paused and sighed.

  “Party pooper,” he muttered, snapping his finger. All soldiers were shot out of the ground. Suddenly free, they started running.

  “They’re getting away now,” Amaymon pointed out.

  Akasha channeled her magic, enthralling all soldiers under her control.

  “Stop,” she commanded. The soldiers froze, unable to exert their own will.

  “Abi,” Akasha said, “please help me restrain them. Amaymon…”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know,” he said. “Stand down, Amaymon. Do nothing, Amaymon. Don’t kill anyone Amaymon.” He scowled. “I never get to play.” He looked at my direction. “Your girlfriend is a real pain in the ass. Oh, and he’s getting back up.”

  I focused my attention back on to Luke. The Pyromancer had fully recovered and was frowning at me.

  “I could tell you to surrender,” I began, “but we both know you’re gonna put up a fight.”

  Luke clasped both hands together. The black ring he had tattooed on his right forearm glowed a sickly dark purple. I could feel the foul magic amplifying his natural abilities.

  Flames erupted around him.

  “Right,” I said, raising Djinn in a fighting stance. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Chapter 2

  I’ve battled Luke before.

  Scratch that — I kicked his ass before.

  The guy was nothing if not predictab
le: light on fire, throw some fire, swear because the fire missed, defend with fire, and get beaten.

  “Fuck you!”

  We were currently working on step three.

  I dodged a jet of brilliant yellow flame, lunging and rolling to the side to avoid getting barbecued. I felt a burning sensation down my legs and yelled out. Healing factor or not, you’d scream too if your leg was on fire. I used my thankfully fireproof trench coat to choke the flames and retaliated with a swipe from Djinn.

  Luke leapt in the air, flames on his feet like rocket boosters, and prepared to shoot me again. Only I was quicker. I was better trained, and ever since coming back from that island, ever since finding out the Grigori were fucking with me, trying to test me — when they weren’t threatening to behead me — I took it upon myself to become the very best. No more compromises, no more half-measures.

  Lives depended on me going full-on Batman and this Pyro-asshole was about to get a taste of what Erik 2.0 could do.

  I whipped out my gun — an enchanted flintlock-esque-looking ugly piece of metal — and unleashed three shots. The gun roared and buckled, its massive calibre meant for the tough hides of proper monsters.

  Luke screamed as he unleashed his fire, putting enough juice in it to melt the lead. One of the bullets clipped him in the shoulder and he spun in mid-air.

  I channeled magic into Djinn and threw it like a javelin. A thread of pure magic, azure and brilliant, ran from the palm of my hand to the ring cross guard of the weapon. Djinn flew like an arrow and embedded itself in Luke’s shin. His scream could have woken up the dead. I yanked on the magical string and brought the Pyromancer crashing down on the ground, before giving a second tug that freed Djinn from his leg and brought it back to my awaiting hand.

  “Give it up, Luke,” I said.

  He clutched his shin in agony. Licks of flame escaped from his body. “You upped your game,” he said through clenched teeth. “What happened, Warlock? Got scared by the big bad wolf?”

  “I’m not a Warlock,” I said, automatically, before resuming my still-needs-work poker face. “And what the fuck are you talking about?”