"Never been better."

  36

  The whispers about my being the ink magician that would save the city soon became excited conversation while Ronan rolled the orb between his hands and inspected it. I gratefully took a slice of pizza from Shadow; the ink network dragging me away like that had taken more energy than I expected.

  Luka squeezed my shoulder as he stood next to me at the end of the long table.

  "I believe in you, Dacian. You won't save the city single-handedly, but with our help, you can be a real hero," Luka said while he watched Ronan.

  I smiled. The cougar shifter hadn't exactly been my biggest fan; such words from him were quite something. The idea of being a hero still wasn't sitting quite right with me, but it was becoming less alien and more something I could really do. Like Luka had said, I wasn't going to do it alone. I smiled as I watched Rex talking to the slate-haired feral I'd spoken to earlier. The feral grinned up at him as Rex said something that must have been good news. They were right. It was time to stop hiding and time to start doing something worthwhile with the magic I'd been given.

  Fein gave a nod of approval to Ronan when he placed the orb in a plain black box. Another shadow walker took it away somewhere, and the room quietened as Fein took his seat at the head of the table.

  "The plan is simple, but the execution must be exact," Fein said, looking around at everyone present.

  There must have been thirty of us in total, a mix of ferals, shadow walkers, familiars, and Fein's people. We weren't the sort of group you'd expect to be working together, but dire situations called for interesting bonds.

  "The shadow orb is being transported in a black SUV. It is coming from Brno to Prague. It will drive through the outskirts, where you will attack it at ten pm. You will work in two groups. The first will keep the people within the SUV occupied through violence and whatever distractions are necessary; do not render the vehicle undriveable. The second group will steal the shadow orb and replace it with the fake. Once that has been done, you will loot every single thing of value from the people and the vehicle. This is to cover our tracks. They must think you're nothing more than highway robbers. Do you understand?"

  Everyone nodded. It didn't sound too difficult - perhaps a little bloody, but certainly doable. Fein smiled.

  "I will not be there to aid in this transaction. I must be present at a political situation this evening. Rex will be at my side, so you will listen to Ronan and Luka."

  Again, everyone nodded in understanding. It seemed that everyone knew the cougars, and they had a fierce reputation. No one dared to challenge or go against them. I wondered if, perhaps, one day I would have a similar reputation. Did I really want that?

  37

  I felt absurd wearing a black mask over my face. We all wore them, and I understood the reasoning, but it still felt ridiculous. Everyone was also wearing black pants, boots, and shirts. Anything that might identify who we were, or even our species, was hidden. Keirn's beautiful pale hair had been hidden under a hat and had a temporary dye placed on it to make it black. He and the ferals also wore contact lenses to make their eyes a bland mud brown, just in case.

  I fought to stay still as we rode in the back of the black car through the city to our destination. Waiting had never been my forte. Keirn played his fingers up and down mine, and I smiled. At least I had him back at my side. I pushed away the worries that the orb I'd put the ink magic into wasn't going to hold up to inspection. Ronan had been happy with it, and surely the shadow walker would know what he was looking at?

  The city passed us by in a long line of darkness with faint lines of orange and pale blue light cutting through. The orange orbs hung from the streetlamps, driving away the deepest of the shadows, not that they stopped crimes from being committed. We were in the less respectable part of the city where the buildings were beginning to crumble and graffiti stopped being works of art and turned into sigils and runes marking territory. People did deals right there on the streets as we passed. They knew the enforcers weren't going to stop them.

  I wondered how that fit into Fein's plans for the city. He worked with the god of balance, so he must have allowed for some darkness to remain. The idea of it all was still too new. I refocused back on the scenery and the plan for the night. The trees became sparser before they weren't there at all. Instead, the pavements were bare, warped and cracked from neglect. The buildings became squarer, with more distance between them, before even they vanished entirely, returning the view back to bleak leafless trees.

  Winter hadn't treated this part of the city well. It had left behind a mass of black trunks and twisted limbs against the soft orange light. It looked as though it was dying and ready to let go of whatever thread of life remained within it. Vyx would have had something to say about that, a comment on the artistry of it. I missed her, her attitude and smile. Keirn kissed behind my ear.

  "Perhaps I will capture this night on a canvas," he whispered.

  I turned to face him with a wide smile.

  "I've missed your art; would you tell me how it feels to you? When you paint?" I felt like a fool the moment I asked.

  Keirn grinned at me. "I would love to. It's a form of magic all its own. It's not so different from tattoo magic, only there are no threads of life to distract me from the vision in my mind. I'm not pulling from the ink network, I'm sharing something deep within me. I couldn't function without my art."

  It sounded so beautiful when he described it like that. I made a mental note to sit down and really look at his paintings, to see them for what they were.

  We had parked the cars on some small dirt road away from the main road that the SUV would be driving down. There were ten of us in total, the cougars and Ronan making sure that everyone was exactly where they needed to be. Keirn was with the first group, which was charged with distracting the drivers and such, while I was with Ronan. I had to slip in behind the distraction to switch out the orbs, and Ronan was going to loot everything of value. It sounded so easy when you put it like that.

  I was crouched down next to Ronan behind a tree, watching for the damn SUV. My legs were beginning to cramp when we saw another normal red car go by. Surely, it was ten pm, and they were due already. What if the information was wrong, and they were taking a different route? I took a calming breath and tried not to waste energy. Ronan smiled at me, a feral expression on his pretty face. He had an air about him that suggested he was a vicious fighter, the type to rip someone's throat out. That was just the type of company I was keeping these days.

  Something changed within the group. Everyone tensed and focused on the road. Word was passed down that the SUV had been spotted and it was one minute away; we were to prepare and be ready. Someone further up the line had a series of spikes they were going to burst one of the SUV's tyres with. We were assuming that the driver was capable of handling a tyre blowing at that speed; it could quickly become disastrous.

  The squeal of tyres and smell of burning rubber cut through the night and everyone edged forward as the SUV came into sight. It was a hulking vehicle that shimmered with weaver protections. Someone further up the road launched a pair of bright green vials at the slowing vehicle as it snaked across the road. The protections crackled and snapped before the SUV lurched to a stop. No one moved. We wanted at least one of them to get out of the vehicle before we made our move. It would make it easier to see how many people were in there.

  After an agonising wait, a large bear shifter stepped out of the driver’s side and an earth magician stepped out of the passenger side. Well, fuck, the earth magician could be a problem. If he was a tier two or higher, he could make life very difficult, as he'd be able to move large lumps of earth around. We'd assumed they'd be ferals, shifters, and other things we could take down relatively easily. The elementals didn't often work with the Ceremonials, at least not in a henchman capacity. I hoped that their role as drivers meant that they were low tier. It was too late to go back now.

  38

  The first group, including Keirn, moved as one unit towards the SUV. They surrounded it with remarkable speed, threw the remaining two doors open, and dragged out the person on the back seat. They outnumbered the shifters two to one, but that didn't mean that things were going smoothly. Ronan tapped my knee and nodded towards the SUV. The people were free and clear. We needed to get in and switch out the shadow orb. We'd assumed that it would be in the compartment in the back seat. That would allow the passenger to keep an eye on it without having to hold it in their lap.

  I followed Ronan across the scrubby grass out onto the edge of the road, where we slipped into the SUV and began looking for the cursed orb. Ronan had said he'd be able to feel it, as it was pure shadow magic. He took the back seat while I looked through the glove compartment and footwells in the front. The vehicle was incredibly plush. The seats were warm, with high-end fire elemental magic woven into the fabric, which was just a waste of money. The glove compartment was locked tight. I hit it with my fist, causing a dent, but that didn't open it. I looked around for something to force into the edge to get it open. This had to look like the real deal.

  A snarl of fury came from outside.

  "Hurry up!" Ronan whispered.

  "I'm trying!" I hissed back.

  I managed to find a broad blade tucked down the side of the passenger seat and dug that into the edge of the glove compartment. It was strong enough that it managed to lever the compartment open. Inside were two envelopes that I stashed inside my jacket, along with a lump of cash, some shiny stones, and a vial of something that looked like liquid silver. Everything would go to Fein.

  A sound of triumph came from the back seat. I squeezed between the front seats to find Ronan pulling a plain black box out from a gap between the back seats. He thrust the box at me and gestured for me to hand him the fake orb. I placed the real one down and lifted the lid to check that mine would pass. Fuck. The real one had hints of deep blue in it. Mine was pure black. One of the cougars shouted something that I hoped wasn't for us to get out of the vehicle.

  "Go watch," I told Ronan.

  He looked between me and the two orbs. Reluctantly, he slipped out of the vehicle and stood watch outside. The ground shook. The earth elemental must have been reasonably talented. Fuck, that meant time was running out. The ink network flooded my hands as I opened the lid of the fake orb and reached my magic out to the magic within the orb. The network obliged in adding soft threads of deep blue as I looked at the real orb. It really was a thing of beauty, the colours shifting and shimmering within the orb. I'd expected shadow to be pure, dense black, yet it was so much more than that. My focus slipped as I wondered what the ink orb looked like.

  "Finish. Now!" Ronan growled.

  The car shook violently as the ground shook and rolled beneath it. Fuck. I placed the fake orb into the real orb's box as delicately as I could and pushed the box down into its hiding spot. Ronan had been the one to take it out, so I had to hope that I'd returned everything as it needed to be. I shoved the real orb into my jacket and secured it with a strong tie that Shadow had given me.

  I scrambled out of the car just as the bear shifter came lumbering over. So much for the first group keeping them occupied.

  I ducked and rolled under the bear's great arm. Ronan attacked him from behind with a flurry of quick stabs with a small delicate knife. The bear barely acknowledged Ronan's existence. I walked back and gestured to Ronan. We didn't want to kill them. This was supposed to be a robbery, not an assassination. The ground rolled beneath my feet, almost causing me to lose my balance. I managed to catch Luka's eye as I side-stepped the bear's next swing. Luka held his hand up and gestured to the woods. We all made a run for it.

  Was it the most dignified escape we could have made? Absolutely not. Did it work? Beautifully. We ran into the wooded area and hid behind the trees, where we watched the three goons return to their vehicle and inspect it.

  "They fucking stole everything!" the bear shouted.

  "Not everything. Orb's good," the wolf shifter said.

  We watched and waited as they replaced their blown tyre and drove off. None of us dared move a muscle. They had made two phone calls while we waited, but that was to be expected. As long as they thought the orb was as it needed to be, we were in the clear. I held the real orb close to my chest as we headed back to the car. The ink network kept poking and prodding the shadow magic, causing it to flex and press back against me. The cool oil-slick sensation wasn't one I was familiar or comfortable with. Ronan had declined to hold it for fear of its consuming him.

  That left me with the damn thing as I tried to get the ink network to leave it alone. It was like a child sometimes. Once we were safely back in our own vehicle, Keirn checked me over for injuries and smiled when he found none.

  "I'm rather good at ducking," I told him with a smile.

  I caught Luka smirking at that. It had been him I'd learnt to duck and dodge from. Despite his protestations, I did listen when I sparred with them.

  "What did you steal from them?" Shadow asked.

  I pulled out the various envelopes and stones along with the vial and handed them all over to the cougars.

  "This is pure fortune," Luka said as he held the silver vial up to the light. It glittered in the soft orange light.

  "It must be worth a quarter of a million easy," Ronan said.

  "Fein will be happy to have this, pure fortune screws with the balance of things," Luka said.

  "So that's pure fortune, as in someone takes that, and everything goes their way?" I asked.

  "Exactly. A vial this size would mean they had everything run perfectly for a good year. It would fuck the city over, maybe worse," Luka said.

  He really was Fein's man at the heart of it. A small voice in the back of my head said I shouldn't have handed the vial over. Just think how much better my life would have been with fortune like that.

  39

  Fein strolled into the main living area half an hour after we'd returned, triumphant. The shadow orb sat in the middle of the long table, the focal point of the room. The rest of the things we'd stolen were placed next to it, and the cougars guarded it fiercely. A couple of the familiars tried to creep up to the orb, but the cougars bared their teeth and sent the familiars running. Everyone else was content to sprawl out on the sofas and enjoy pizza and beer. Keirn curled up in my arms and nuzzled against my neck. I finally relented and allowed Kyra out of her tattoo. She had proceeded to inspect the space before she claimed the back of the sofa as hers.

  Everyone was relaxed, and spirits were high. Fein was bringing a magic breaker to remove the seal that had been placed on the orb that stopped the shadow walkers from accessing their magic. Then we could move onto the important things, i.e., getting Vyx back.

  The magic breaker was a small blonde woman with chocolate-brown eyes and a pitch-black suit to match Fein's. She gave everyone a polite smile, but got straight down to business with the orb. The shadow walkers all sat up and watched her intently as she placed her hands on the orb and closed her eyes. After five minutes or so, the orb became a much deeper, richer black, and the shadow walkers all gave out a whoop of joy. The space filled with shadow creatures, and three of the walkers vanished.

  Kyra hissed at a shadow raven as it landed next to her. The raven tilted its head from one side to the next before it took a step towards Kyra. She hissed at it again but refused to give up her spot on the sofa. The raven was easily twice the size of her, and I'd bet on it in a fight. The raven took another step closer and leaned down to touch the top of Kyra's head with its beak. That was her limit. She shot up and tried to bite its throat, but it flew away laughing at her.

  Ronan grinned as he walked towards us with a pair of ravens, one on each shoulder. They shimmered too much to pass as real ravens, and their feathers were too pure black, but they remained beautiful specimens. A small murder of the birds had formed within the room. Much to Keirn's fox's dismay, a couple of shadow foxes had appeared, too.

  "Much as you have your fox and your tattoos, we have our ravens and foxes," Ronan explained as he stroked the chest of one of the ravens.

  "They are our companions and our eyes, when we need it. Thank you, for helping us. We will be proud to help you get Vyx back from the Ceremonials."

  "What does this mean for the underground? Now that you have the orb back?" I asked before I finished my bottle of beer.

  Ronan grinned. "It means that we can return to our rightful place within the hierarchy. It also means that I will be making a push to remove Anastacia from her little throne."

  "Is she a witch?" I asked.

  He shook his head and watched as a shadow fox tugged on Keirn's fox's tail. The snow fox flattened its ears to its head and hopped up into Keirn's lap, looking for sanctuary.

  "No, Anastacia is a rival shadow walker. She feels, much like the cult you helped destroy, that walkers should have more power on this plane. She has been looking to form connections with whoever will aid her so that she can steal power from the shadow plane. That would throw everything into disarray. Imagine if your ink magic suddenly flooded the world, the havoc that would wreak."

  The ink network flashed red in warning. It was not amused at the thought of entering the world like that.

  "So, you'll take her out?" I asked.

  Ronan smiled and stretched his legs out.

  "No, Fein and I will be removing her financial supports. If we kill her, then she will be seen as a martyr."

  I held back a sigh. The politics of the underground were complicated. If I was going to work closer with Fein, then I needed to learn all of the ins and outs. The quiet life was appealing again.

  "How does this orb work?" Keirn asked.

  Ronan frowned for a moment and stroked the raven that had hopped down into his lap.