Hurried steps carried me to Alex the hacker's Brooklyn neighborhood, which had not been spared from the carnage. Cars were tipped over, police and EMTs worked frantically to rescue the injured and panicked, and Alex's home seemed fine, at least from a distance. A familiar Curse Energy signature quickly dispelled that idea.
It was compressed and barely more potent than the reserves of a Grade Three human, but I knew it was him: the first sorcerer I ever met. The man who tortured me for killing his friend. Shelim.
And now he was back for revenge, now that several Binding Vows had been severed.
If he thought I would let him hurt Alex or pump her for information, he had another thing coming.
I sped up as I reached her place, leaping through the second-floor window. A reinforced wall stood between them and me. Alex sat beside a massive rig while Shelim pumped his Curse Energy into it, digging for information.
I fired a Dismantle at his head.
It sheared through the steel-reinforced wall like paper, slicing through monitors and cables, but it barely clipped him.
In a heartbeat, Shelim was standing on the other side of the room with his hand wrapped around Alex's throat. A thin line of blood ran down his forehead. He wore a large jacket that resembled a trench coat, the inside lined with talismans designed to suppress Curse Energy.
If I did not know better, I would have said he was trying to avoid somebody.
"That's new," he said.
I kicked a hole through the wall large enough to step through and entered the room, my body still partially covered in bone armor.
Shelim whistled. "Damn. Gina was exaggerating when she said you were different."
"I already killed one pompous asshole tonight. I don't mind killing a second one."
I briefly made eye contact with Alex. The hope and desperation in her eyes were impossible to miss, but I refused to show any warmth. I knew better by now.
He blinked. "Don't tell me you actually got Ade."
"I pumped him with enough paralytics and poison to kill five elephants after dismantling his body thoroughly." It would take nothing short of a modern miracle to save him.
"Holy shit." Shelim deflated slightly. The reaction carried more sentimentality than I expected. "I've known Ade since I was a kid. He was a mountain in my mind. Thought the bastard would outlive us all. Guess the universe had other plans."
He stared at me from the corner of his eye.
"As far as I'm concerned, you're just as bad as he was."
He grinned. "No arguments there. And you're working your way up to our level mighty quickly, aren't you? You know, I warned them about you." He shook his head. "I'm so fucking glad they didn't listen."
He let go of Alex, which surprised her as much as me. She stumbled forward and scrambled behind me.
My eyes never left him.
His Curse Energy coiled around him like a snake poised to strike. From what I had seen earlier, he was a lot stronger than he was let on during our first fight. My Dismantle would've decapitated him otherwise.
Still, I should have known. Someone as self-interested as Shelim always kept a few cards close to his chest. I bet he was probably faster than Gina, probably not too far off from George. His technique was a dead giveaway.
"What's your game?" I demanded.
"Nothing," he said with a laugh, spreading his hands. "Don't you fucking get it? I'm free. That magician dude broke every binding vow near Alex's fancy apartment when he cast his spell."
"Do you mean, Zatara?"
I knew he was powerful, but what Shelim was describing was on another level.
Breaking Binding Vows?
I didn't even think it was possible. It certainly explained why some of my vows vanished while others remained.
I was happy that my agreement with the Justice League was void, and even happier that Artisan was getting screwed, but I found myself reassessing Zatara. If he could manage something like this, what else could he do? Could he break vows I made with myself to boost my power?
"You have no idea the kind of madness he's unleashed," Shelim cackled, rubbing his hands together like a cartoon villain. "More than half of Artisan's top brass was up there. Every mob boss, politician, musician, model, and business owner they've coerced or intimidated is going to want blood, and it won't stop with New York."
He was right. The events of today would ripple across the globe. It might be the beginning of the end for Artisan's Shadow Empire.
"By your logic, you aren't safe either?" Alex asked.
"Oh, definitely," Shelim shrugged, "but it's a small price to pay for Freedom. Besides, I wasn't as heavy-handed in my dealings. Money did most of the talking for me. The vows were usually just to make sure people didn't talk afterward."
"And I'm guessing you want us to help you," I said.
Shelim smiled.
"He destroyed every copy of the file I stole from him," Alex added, rubbing her throat and glaring at him. He looked entirely satisfied with himself.
"If you want intel about Artisan, you'll just have to ask me directly," he said.
"And what do you want in exchange?" I asked.
"For you to keep on keeping on," he said glibly.
I fixed him with a puzzled look.
"Look, it's no secret I'm not exactly a model cult member," he continued.
"Yeah," Alex snorted. "You like your independence and Russian hookers a little too much."
"And you wear too much makeup and have terrible taste in men," he shot back. "Nobody's perfect, but Artisan is especially imperfect. I want that psycho bitch six feet under just as bad as you do, and three heads are better than one."
"You're trying to recruit us," I said, some of my distaste slipping through my otherwise impassive mask. "You want help holding onto your crumbling empire and expanding it while we eliminate your competition."
"Sometimes you just have to go old school," he said smoothly, spreading his hands. "Look, and with your killer instinct, and her brains, it'll be a piece of cake. We could probably take over half of the East Coast in a week."
"And make myself an even bigger target for the league?" I asked.
"I'll obviously make it worth your while," he said. "It's all yours. Her calls, files, property records, taxes, hell, even her grocery list. You'll get everything you need to corner her and put her down."
It was more than I hoped to ever gain from Alex and Ade, but for what I'd be risking, it suddenly wasn't enough.
"I'll even tell you where she's planning on doing the ritual—"
That caught my attention, and he noticed.
Shelim's lips crept wider. "That's what has you desperate enough to partner with the League, isn't it?"
I gave him no answer.
He turned to Alex instead.
"How about it, A? Let's bury the hatchet once and for all. Use our mad skills for good?"
"Fuck you, Shelim," Alex spat.
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