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  Maria wore a fitted skirt with a slit up the side which showed off her legs quite nicely, which Amanda had caught herself admiring a few times this dinner and from Maria’s sitting position, twisted towards Amanda now they had finished eating, Amanda could see her shape even better. Those legs, clad in thin hosiery, looked particularly inviting today and she caught herself wondering what it might be like to run her hand up the inside of Maria’s thigh, feeling her warmth, her heat.

  She felt flushed and kind of weightless thinking about touching Maria and couldn’t help but admire her and let her gaze lock with hers over her wine glass. She found herself enjoying looking into those deep blue eyes and feeling like she might drown in them.

  Maria’s hand on top of Amanda’s moved, her fingers caressed the back of her hand, gently tracing patterns on her skin. The softness of her touch, her gentle manner caused Amanda to feel very relaxed and to get a pleasant tingly sensation in her head and neck.

  Amanda couldn’t help but caress her hand back before interlocking their fingers, the touching acting as a kind of foreplay maybe?

  Had Maria caught her looking at her? Maybe. But she found she didn’t really care that much if Maria had noticed her. Amanda went back to her drink, feeling a little more at ease with things as the waiter approached asking if they would like anything else. Their hands separated and they finished up their stay in the restaurant.

  Had their relationship just changed?

  To my Grace, Mary Damask.

  God has blessed us once more and seen fit to gift us with precious knowledge. It seems that the Witches in New York use a meeting place called The Jade Palace. Amanda-Jane Page greets new arrivals there upon entry into New York. We seek to know your orders regarding this nest of Satan worshipers.

  God bless you.

  Marco Di Antonio, Knight Inquisitor.

  Jade Crusade

  Jade Palace, Manhattan, New York

  Nov 14th

  ‘So they’ve moved out?’ Liz asked.

  Liz eyed Amanda who sat opposite her on an identical bar stool to the one she sat on, looking as scruffy as ever, thought Liz. And yet, she made it look good. Ripped Jeans, sneakers with laces undone, and a fitted top that looked like it might be a size too small stretched over her bosom, all fairly typical for Mandy, and no matter what Liz suggested as a good wardrobe choice, she always went back to these clothes.

  Over the past couple of years Liz had worked it out but wondered if Amanda had ever realised it herself. Amanda had told her a few times of the shapeless frumpy clothes she had been forced to wear in the orphanage, the starched shirts, the drab sweaters and the hideous ankle length skirts that barely revealed the shoes that looked like they might have been from the 1940’s.

  Liz knew that as soon as Amanda had been able, she had rebelled against the Sisters at the Catholic Orphanage and worn basically the opposite of the clothes they had forced on her.

  Where the Nuns had forced her to wear shapeless things, now everything was fitted, showing off her shape. The nuns liked skirts, so Amanda wore jeans, and as an extra “feck you” she usually liked them to be ripped or distressed ones. Where the Nuns made her wear what she called “orthopaedic shoes” with neatly tied laces, she preferred trainers and didn’t worry about the laces. Later on, Liz knew that Georgina had introduced her to high heels and skirts, but again Amanda distanced this new look from her memories of the clothes of her childhood, keeping the skirts fitted or floaty, and usually above the knee, and the heels were always high when she wore them.

  To some extent Liz envied Amanda’s carefree attitude, the way she seemed to breeze through life and never let things get to her. She’d been something of an inspiration to her after she had lost her family and friends, and then when Lucian’s men had come calling and taken her to Columbia earlier this year, Liz had been determined to be strong. She would not let them get to her the way the Nomads had done in London and on that train two years ago. She would not let them win.

  She’d been scared, terrified even, but she knew that Amanda would come. Liz felt that she’d come out of that ordeal a good deal stronger, and from that point knuckled down with her Magical and Martial studies. She wanted to be strong, she wanted to be able to defend herself and not to have to rely on the strength of others. She hated being the damsel in distress in Columbia, not being able to really defend herself, despite her training with Amanda. Even in the fight in the Pit Club with Lucian’s gang, she had barely escaped with her life.

  She’d worked hard these past six months, trained with both Amanda and the boys, Xain, and Orion. She’d even progressed enough in her Magic to be officially classed as an Adept. Amanda seemed impressed with her progress, and she agreed with Amanda that her experiments with Magic with her sister had probably helped her and maybe kick-started her learning the Magical arts.

  ‘They have so. The other day in fact,’ Amanda answered.

  ‘Jesus, I’ve been so busy that I didn’t even notice they’d gone. Do you know where?’

  ‘I do. They picked out an apartment close to the Dark Side Night Club. A nice place from what I saw.’

  ‘You saw it?’ Liz asked.

  ‘I did, I helped them and wanted to be sure they were OK.’

  ‘So they’re not heading back to Los Angeles?’

  ‘They’d rather not I think. They seem mighty spooked by that attack earlier this month. We talked about it again, they asked if I would go to L.A. and have a look into it for them.’

  ‘And will you?’ Liz asked.

  ‘I’m curious,’ Amanda mused.

  ‘And you know what that did to the cat.’

  Amanda smiled, ‘Hasn’t stopped me before.’

  Liz raised her eyebrows briefly, ‘So what are you waiting for?’

  ‘They contacted Victoria, on my suggestion, and they’re waiting to see if the Liberties Children will do anything.’

  ‘Well, I’m sure you’ll do a good job in L.A. for them.’ Liz answered.

  ‘Heh. Yeah, I doubt they’ll do anything either. You never know, though.’

  ‘Will Toni and Tabitha go with you to L.A.?’

  ‘I’d prefer it if they did. I have never been there and would have no idea where to start. I could use their guidance.’

  ‘Hmmm,’ Liz mused. Her mentor's good nature once again getting her into possible trouble. In Liz’s opinion, as much as she admired Amanda’s willingness to help others, sometimes she needed to learn to say no. Her escapade in Ireland six months ago meant that she’d been out the country when Liz had been kidnapped by Lucian’s men. She wondered sometimes if Amanda had been more local if things might have been at all different.

  Probably not. What difference do a few blocks as opposed to a few thousand miles make to a Magus?

  So it seemed that Toni, Tabitha and their celebrity friend Melissa had left them and headed out into the big wide world once more. She wished them well, they had been friendly and the perfect guests in the house while they’d been there.

  ‘What?’ Amanda asked, no doubt seeing the consternation on Liz’s face.

  ‘Oh nothing, it’s just, you’re too kind sometimes Mandy, you need to know when to say no.’

  Amanda sighed. ‘Maybe. But these girls have been let down by the system, and if Victoria is mired in politics once again and can’t do anything, then maybe it falls to us to see that justice is done.’

  ‘That’s admirable, but it sounds like a dangerous situation out there,’ Liz said.

  ‘What’s dangerous,’ said Yoh as he and Stella walked into the bar.

  ‘Amanda is thinking of heading to L.A. to look into the Nomads who attacked Toni and Tabitha’s Coven.’

  ‘Bold move Amanda-san. You want to kick the Hornets’ nest again?’

  ‘Look, I’ll just be having a look round, that’s all. I’m not heading over there looking for a fight. I want to help sure, but I’m not planning on hunting these Nomads down. At least, not right away.’

  ‘Your c
rusade is an honourable one Amanda-san.’

  ‘What do you think Stella?’ Liz asked.

  Stella looked up from tidying a few things behind the bar. Liz had taken a liking to Stella since working for her. She’d thought she might be a something of a jobsworth at first, but she’d mistook pride in her work for being a bitch, and felt bad that she’d misjudged her. She might be a Magi, but she seemed content to stay out of the politics and manoeuvring that had been going on in this city recently, preferring to stay focused on her job. Liz could sympathise. She could see Amanda getting drawn into it more and more each day, hob-knobbing with the Council and now potentially interfering with an issue that should really be handled by the American Arcadians.

  ‘I honestly couldn’t say. I don’t think I know enough of the situation really.’

  ‘Some Magi from L.A. want Amanda to head over there and look into some Nomads that attacked and killed their Coven mates.’

  ‘Well, I’m not sure I could do it, but sure if you can help?’

  ‘Looks like I’m outnumbered.’ Liz said.

  ‘Not at all, I value your opinion. I’ll bare it in mind.’

  Screeching tyres from several cars sounded outside in the darkened street as headlights from at least three black 4x4’s lit up the inside of the Jade Palace.

  Liz had barely registered the noise before Amanda shouted ‘Duck’ and body slammed Liz off the stool and onto the floor as high calibre Essentia charged bullets slammed into the building. Three huge machine guns, mounted inside the front passenger seat space in each car, fired with a deafening sound releasing a stream of metallic death into the restaurant.

  Liz landed on her back with Amanda on top of her, the wind knocked out of her body as furniture and fittings exploded around them.

  ‘Aaagh,’ Liz moaned in pain.

  ‘Feck me,’ Amanda said on top of her. ‘It’ll be grenades next, and then they’ll come in, get your shields up and get ready.’

  ‘Right,’ Liz said through gritted teeth as Amanda rolled off her. Liz could feel Amanda's Magic grow, the Local Essentia flooded into her Mentor as she fuelled her Aegis and Force Shields while also storing the energy within her for attacks.

  Liz called on the same energy, strengthened her Aegises as the machine guns emptied their magazines into the building. To her right, Amanda sat up in a crouch, the last few bullets ricocheting off her shields with a whine and slamming into the walls.

  Liz looked to her left, past the end of the Bar where she had been sat and saw Yoh and Stella also on the floor. Stella also had been powering up her Magic ready for the fight that was sure to come.

  Yoh looked furious but continued to hug the floor as he waited for the guns to stop.

  Just as it ended, several canisters and tennis ball sized objects sailed into the room through the smashed windows.

  ‘Cover your eyes,’ Amanda called to them and protected her own as the grenades exploded. Two or three burst open filling the room with thick choking smoke, another couple were flashbangs, exploding with a powerful blinding phosphorous flash meant to blind and disorientate the enemy, while the rest of the explosives were just that, and blew up sending deadly shrapnel through the room.

  Liz stayed down for these few seconds of chaos, her shields doing their job and protecting her from harm.

  ‘They’re coming,’ Amanda said, and moved forward into the hazy smoke. Liz caught some quick shadowy movement from Amanda as she took out the first enemy she happened across.

  Liz still didn’t know who had attacked them, not for sure anyway. She suspected it might be the Inquisition, and that maybe one of the Magi they had killed already had spilt the beans on the location of the Magi meeting place at the Jade Palace.

  Liz got up and backed away from the entrance through the thick smoke, still feeling shocked and more than a little disorientated by all this. She’d been on a couple of missions with Xain and Orion, but this was another level entirely.

  The smoke grenades had done their job well, and Liz couldn’t see more than a few feet in any direction, but she could quite clearly hear the sounds of fighting and the occasional burst of gunfire from within the mist.

  She flinched with each gunshot, afraid she would be hit by stray bullets at any time. She edged around the back of the room, not really sure where she might be going until she saw shadows in the haze of maybe two soldiers closing in on her. She turned to look the other way, the direction she came from, but her escape route had been blocked as another figure approached from that way too.

  She’d have to fight her way out of this one. She quickly pulled off her business jacket and reached down to the side of her pencil skirt, pulling on either side of the seam to rip it open, exposing her leg and giving her a better freedom of movement.

  She ran forward towards the two shadows in front of her and bounded onto a chair, then a table top before leaping at the two men. They were both dressed in black tactical gear with body armour, webbing and holsters holding weapons and other items while their heads were covered by a helmet and their faces by goggles and a breathing mask.

  Leaping into the area between them, she kicked out in mid jump, ripping her skirt further as she sent a foot each way, kicking their guns away and releasing Essentia into the attack to cause them to flinch, making sure they dropped their MP5 Silenced Assault Rifles.

  As she landed, both men recovered quickly and came back to a fighting stance. Liz could be just as quick, though, maybe quicker and delivered a spinning kick to the man on her left that connected well with his head. The man spun away and stumbled, allowing Liz to concentrate on the other one for a moment.

  Her movements fluid, she followed her momentum and delivered a punch with an Essentia strike to the second figure. It hurt him, but he continued on, and attacked her back, throwing punches of his own, a couple of them connected, but they didn’t register much through her Aegis, her force shield deflecting the power of the blow. She caught the next one and quickly twisted him forward and off balance. Bending the man forward presented the handle of the sword he wore strapped to his back to her, so she grabbed it with her right hand and drew it out of its scabbard.

  Feeling rather than knowing the second man was once again approaching her, she span as she drew the sword, swinging it in a wide arc where it clanged against the blade of the second man’s sword.

  He stepped back, so she twisted the weapon in her hand and brought it low, under and up into the first man’s belly as hard as she could. She continued to turn and span round, withdrawing the sword from his abdomen and forcing it up as she did so, hoping to cause some damage.

  As she turned to face the second man, she saw the blood smudged upon the blade and then caught sight of the one on the floor, clutching his gut while blood pooled on the floor beneath him.

  She didn’t have time to think about it as the other man charged in. They exchanged blows, their swords ringing out as they clashed.

  Seeing movement from the corner of her eye, she turned to move around her opponent and put him between her and this new threat. This third man raised his gun and fired.

  The silenced weapon spat bullets at them with just the sound of the guns mechanical actuation as it fired the bullet, kicking it out of the chamber and replacing it with a new one.

  Liz let her Magic dictate her actions, following the threads of fate and chance and moving her sword as they dictated. The bullets that would have hit her hit only the blade of her sword and were deflected harmlessly away. A handful also slammed into the back of the man she fought, into his Kevlar vest. As the force of the gunfire forced him forward with a shout of pain, Liz moved around him and launched herself at the third man and swung her sword to hit the man’s gun.

  It connected perfectly and sent his weapon tumbling from his grasp. Liz span and brought her sword around to slash at the third man, but he caught it in his gloved left hand and hit her hard across the face.

  Fuelled with Essentia, his gloves discharged it into her skull c
ausing Liz to stagger from the attack, dropping the sword.

  Liz spat blood on the floor as it filled her mouth. ‘Aaah Jesus Christ.’

  The man grabbed her by the throat with his left hand and slammed her head and body against the rear wall. Pain flooded her mind as her vision swam from the attack as she took hold of his wrist and hand that gripped her neck.

  ‘Blasphemy, you will die tonight witch,’ he said as she heard him draw his sidearm. A single gunshot rang out to Liz’s left which barrelled through her attackers head, covering Liz’s face in tiny droplets of blood.

  He went limp, letting go of Liz’s neck and dropping to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

  Liz looked to her left and saw Stella stood there with a gun pointed at where the man had been.

  ‘Why you…’ said the other Inquisitor upon seeing his friend drop to the floor. He still looked in pain from the shots he took to his back. He looked about to go for his gun but looked at Stella who pointed her gun at him.

  ‘Try it,’ she said.

  The man looked about him, the smoke had thinned somewhat and it became painfully clear that the Inquisitors had lost. Yoh stood in the middle of a pile of bodies, blood soaking the huge claws on his hands. Amanda stood towards the middle of the room, her Magic holding an Inquisitor up off the floor by the neck.

  The last of these three men to attack Liz backed off and along with a couple of other survivors, moved gingerly out of the building.

  Liz rubbed her neck and turned to Stella, ‘Thank you. You were just in time.’

  ‘Of course, no problem,’ she replied.

  ‘Who’s that? Liz asked, indicating the man Amanda held up with her Magic.

  ‘No idea,’ Stella answered.

  Liz moved forward through the debris and approached the confrontation in the middle of the room.