Hack Imperfect Read online

  The smoke cleared and the blackened, cooked skin of the Scion was clear to see. It lay there unmoving, and Amanda could no longer make out a heartbeat with her enhanced senses or Magical sight.

  She turned to see Brandon standing behind his desk, holding the gun in both hands. He was trying to keep the weapon steady, but his body was shaking uncontrollably. She took a step forward, and he started to madly pull the trigger, but it was empty.

  Click, click, click.

  Amanda smiled. ‘Ready to talk?’

  ‘What, what do you want to talk about’ Brandon asked, his voice shaking with terror.

  Amanda walked the rest of the distance to the desk that Brandon was standing behind. ‘You had someone killed today.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Carson Rye, the hacker. You had him killed today,’ she said.

  She’d been watching Jimi with her second set of senses that she had not yet cancelled, and knew he was up and circling around behind her as she spoke, his knife in his hand.

  ‘What of it?’ Brandon asked, clearly trying to stall for time.

  ‘I’m not very happy about it, and as a friend of Vanessa, the girl you’re also after for the same reason, I’ve come here today to make sure you drop this vendetta against her.’

  Jimi lunged at her. She turned, grabbed the hand that was holding the blade and pulled him forward, smashing his face into the front of the desk.

  Jimi groaned in pain.

  Amanda lifted him up and smashed him back down onto the top of the table before twisting his wrist with her other hand. A bone cracked, and he dropped the blade with a whimper.

  ‘Do I need to kill you, too, you ejit?’ she asked the mobster.

  Jimi shook his head wildly.

  ‘And are you going to do as I ask and leave Vanessa alone from now on?’

  Jimi nodded. Amanda looked up at Brandon.

  ‘And what about you? Or do I have to come over there and convince you, too?’

  Brandon dropped the gun and raised his hands. ‘No, no you don’t. I’ll call off the hunt for her.’

  ‘Grand. Because if you don’t, I’ll be back, and I’ll not just hurt you, I’ll ruin you as well. Your life won’t be worth living if I see even a hint of you anywhere near her. Understand?’

  Brandon nodded vigorously.

  ‘Excellent, I’m glad we could come to an understanding about this,’ she said with a smile as she let go of Jimi’s broken wrist.

  They were clearly aware of the supernatural, at least to some extent, so Amanda decided to leave with some flare, and worked her Magic once more, Porting herself back to her house.

  ***

  It had been a few weeks since the confrontation at Willis Financial, and Amanda had checked up on Brandon a couple of times since, even showing her face to him once or twice, just to let him know she was watching him.

  She felt entirely confident he’d called off the hunt for Vanessa now, though, and had confirmed it in as many ways as she was able.

  Vanessa and Shaun had moved into her house, and Amanda had just finished creating their new workspace for them with the aid of the Legacy Magi.

  She led Shaun and Vanessa down into the bright, clean basement and over to the frosted glass doors in one wall. She opened one of them and urged the pair to follow her in.

  They found themselves in a good sized room. To her left were some Magically enhanced computers, running at speeds well in excess of what mundane computers could do. To her right, the wall was covered in monitors, and there were several workstations set up, while at the back of the room was a desk with three more screens on top of it.

  ‘Wow, this is incredible,’ Vanessa said.

  ‘This will do nicely,’ Shaun said, standing there with his hands on his hips.

  ‘And as promised,’ Amanda said, turning to him. She handed him an amulet that was glowing brightly in Amanda’s Magical Sight. ‘Wear it, and by thinking about what you want to look like, the item will hide your appearance with an illusion. You need to actively think about it to enact it and cancel it when you’re wearing it, okay?’

  ‘Thank you, this is great,’ Shaun said, smiling. She would never get used to that fang-filled grin of his.

  ‘Yeah, seriously, this is amazing,’ Vanessa said. ‘I can’t ever thank you enough.’

  Amanda merely smiled, feeling a touch uncomfortable with their admiration. She only hoped that they both settled into life here okay, because she was sure they would be valuable members of her Coven.

  Author Note

  Ever since plotting book 3 of the Magi Saga, this short story has been on my mind to write. The events depicted in this short were hinted at within book 3, so it feels good to finally go back and get this short down on digital paper.

  I hope you enjoy this little side story about how Shaun and Vanessa end up living with Amanda in her brownstone house in Manhattan.

  By Andrew Dobell

  Booklist

  The Magi Saga – Urban Fantasy

  When Amanda discovers she’s a Magi after being attacked by a werewolf on the streets of NYC, she’s introduced to a magical society and drawn into a hidden war for the fate of mankind.

  Magi Dawn: The Magi Saga Book 1

  Magi Rising: The Magi Saga Book 2

  Magi Omen: The Magi Saga Book 3

  Magi Edge: The Magi Saga Book 4

  Magi Odyssey: The Magi Saga Book 5

  Magi Descent: The Magi Saga Book 6

  Wasteland Road Knights

  Liberation

  Exploration

  Tales of the Magi Saga

  The Angel of Tarut

  His Love

  Hack Imperfect

  Casino Red

  Uprising

  Pilgrimage

  A Thoroughly Modern Witch

  The New Prometheus - Cyberpunk

  When Frankie’s brain is transplanted into a Cybernetic body after being shot, she must go on the run from the mega-corporations who want her and her cyber-body’s designer dead.

  The New Prometheus

  The Prometheus Gambit

  The Prometheus Trap

  Prometheus Vengeance

  The Magi Saga Short Stories

  Only available through my mailing list;

  www.andrewdobellauthor.co.uk

  The Angel of Tarut: The Magi Saga Prologue

  His Love: A Magi Saga Short Story

  Anthologies I am part of:

  The Expanding Universe – Sci-Fi

  The Expanding Universe 3 – Sci-Fi

  For more of Andrew’s work, including Free Short Stories and Artwork visit my Website and Sign up to my Mailing List.

  www.andrewdobellauthor.co.uk

 

 

  Andrew Dobell, Hack Imperfect

 

 

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