Darkly - Episode #11

The FBI collides with Dark Magic

Want to start at the beginning? You can find the 1st Episode HERE.

Recap: Kinley is no closer to getting back on the Omega Task Force, and things took a turn at Ward Six when her ex showed up as a notorious bombing suspect wanted for several corporate attacks. His arrival threatens to expose all her carefully hidden secrets.

Now… onto Darkly Episode #11.

“He’s not as cool as he thinks.”

Alec studied Dante Hicks through the two-way mirror.

Feet trapped in the wheelchair cuff and hands secured to part of the interrogation table, the Fireball couldn’t even move enough to scratch his nose, but he didn’t appear concerned. He yawned.

“I think it’s all an act,” Alec said. “Don’t you think it’s an act? A pretty good one, but still an act.”

“Hmm?” I mumbled, catching every third word.

Old memories plagued me. Memories I hadn’t fully unpacked, like the last time I’d seen Dante. He’d been devastated, crushed because I’d discovered the big lie—that magic existed—and took it badly. It twisted something inside me so hard it broke.

We’d both said things. Mine leaned to self-righteous blubbering and how I was done with liars. His: pure disappointment. I’d never be able to forget his expression. And those parting words…

Dante’s tone haunted me. “When you turn on your family, what do you have left?” A bitterness overwhelmed the question. He’d meant my parents, but he’d also meant us. We were young, but he’d seen a future. “Think about never being able to come home again, Kinley.”

…Kinley…

“Kinley?” Alec’s voice blended with the memory.

I lurched forward and waved a hand in front of my computer. “I found something. Maybe. Sorry.”

Alec frowned. “That’s some concentration. What did you find?”

What did I find? Nothing. I’d found nothing but a bunch of old, useless memories that I didn’t want to revisit. Of course, I was supposed to uncover every fact about Dante Hicks for the interrogation, and Alec was waiting for an answer.

The computer came to my rescue.

Without even asking, a news article appeared on the display. I silently thanked the computer in that unspoken way and blinked at the report. It was about Dante. I quickly scanned it, barely giving the information time to register.

“Dante Hicks had a sister, and she was murdered.” My voice broke. Tia was dead?

The image of a girl laughing and twirling on a grassy slope, full of life, filled my mind. Her hair was so black that it looked purple in the sunlight. How could she be gone?

I cleared my throat. “She was twelve.”

“Tragic, but I don’t see Gil using that for leverage,” Alec said, unable to see where I was going with the intel.

“Maybe something to have in our back pocket?” My voice trailed off, thoughts on that sweet child. I’d known Tia her whole life.

Focusing on Dante’s sister would take me down a dark path. If I started crying, I wouldn’t be able to explain it, so I stared at the computer, silently screaming for control. A wave of anger surged in my chest. Tia is gone. The thought stretched into thin fibers that fractured and pierced my body with sorrow.

The computer screen vibrated.

I sat back, afraid that my emotions had damaged the core. Lines appeared as if something interfered with the feed, and then several images opened in quick succession—a whole collection of Fireball’s attacks. One thing connected them, at least, that was what the computer told me. I had no reason to doubt it, so I licked my lips and prepared to share the information—not that I could back it up with real facts or even analyst jargon.

“Hicks wants to find his stepmother,” I blurted out.

The air around me felt heavy. It clung, tactile, as if I could grab a handful and wring it out like a sponge. The air quivered with one word: revenge.

The computer didn’t do human emotion, so was this Dante? I glanced at the two-way mirror. His head was on the table as if napping. Zero emotion. Whether it came from the computer or Dante, I was sure that the stepmother was the key.

Not really good news because Yvonne Hicks was a piece of work.

Of course, the Hicks family was a blended jumble. Big egos and too many opinions. I’d skipped as many of their gatherings as possible. Still, I’d attended the wedding—one of my last duties, before our relationship blew up. Outside of a withering beauty, I had no idea what Dante’s father saw in Yvonne, especially since I’d known the wife he’d lost. Dante’s mother was an angel. Stepping into her shoes would have been daunting, but Yvonne threw those shoes out.

“Here they come,” Alec warned. “Say as little as possible.”

Before I could ask why, Gil entered with Special Agent Carter. His partner, Special Agent Lopez, waited in the interrogation room with Dante. Unless suspects were in a holding cell, they were not to be left unattended.

“What have we got?” Carter asked, more to Alec than me.

“Not much,” but Alec glanced my way. “But something.”

“We need more than something with this S.O.B.,” Carter said.

While I didn’t mind voicing my theory to Gil and Alec, the other agents could be a problem. I was stretching the truth, basing my assumption on one report and a history with Dante. No FBI analyst would make the same leap, not under normal conditions.

Not that I was at a typical FBI station, so I leaned into the Gray. Gil and Alec expected me to perform outside the norm. But how far? I decided to aim low as if magic only simmered in my veins.

“It won’t hold up if you question it, but you need to believe me about this intel,” I began, watching the calculations play across their faces. They ranged from concern to awe.

“Just tell us what you know,” Gil prompted, encouraging me to continue.

“The computer pointed me in one direction,” I began. “It’s like there’s something beyond.”

“Beyond what?” Carter asked, curious.

“The data,” I blinked, shaking my head like I didn’t understand it myself, seriously worried I was only reaching high school drama club acting when I needed professional chops. I knew my performance had to come from the heart, or they’d never believe it.

I recalled that first time. When I learned magic existed. I had to temper that memory, though, because I’d been pissed to find out everyone had lied to me. I couldn’t be mad in this situation, but I still dug into that old hurt and let it seep out of my pores.

Dante had been there when I’d learned the truth. And he’d known. He grew up with magic, but he’d never dropped any hints. He’d played along with my family’s wishes. That raw sensation rumbled in my stomach. I tapped into the gut punch of his betrayal. Being the last to know hurt. Part shame for being so clueless, but also unable to understand how all the people I loved hadn’t trusted me with the information.

“It’s not like I wouldn’t have believed this was possible, you know,” I told the agents. “I don’t understand why it has to be hidden.”

“How long has she been at Ward Six?” Carter asked Gil.

“Just over two weeks.”

They shared knowing nods.

“There’s never an easy way to share the knowledge,” Gil said.

“Your team will help you,” Carter added, clearly bored. “Tell us what you know. We understand that you know things you shouldn’t, beyond the norm.”

I shrugged, giving it a little attitude. “I think he allowed himself to be caught because he wants to find his stepmother,” I said, “and he thinks we can help.”

“His stepmother?” Carter didn’t get it.

“She likely killed his sister,” Alec filled in the blank.

Gil didn’t care for the twist. “Lot of good the information will do him in FBI custody.”

I pulled up the surveillance footage from when they offloaded Dante. The clip was part of the files that the computer supplied. I hit play, then paused it at the point where the hood came off, and Dante looked up.

“I’m not sure what he’s seeing in our rafters,” I pointed at the image, “but if he gets that information about where to find his stepmom, I think he’ll break out.”

The men laughed.

“No one breaks out of Ward Six,” Gil assured us.

Maybe no one had broken out of Ward Six, but it didn’t mean they couldn’t. Wisely, I kept that fact to myself. “He thinks he can.”

“He’s an idiot,” Carter insisted.

With a shrug, I pressed the point. “What is Hicks looking at in the ground floor ceiling?”

Alec stared at Gil, getting the go-ahead to tell me. “We have a fail-safe. Kind of a last resort. We can demolish the building to contain a suspect. Bring it down on their head.”

Ward Six had some weird measures. I blamed the need to counter magic with a physical response. Still, I didn’t understand the logic behind bringing a bomber to a facility rigged with a fail-safe bomb.

“Are you saying Hicks purposely got caught?” Gil mulled over that fact.

I opened my mouth, then closed it without defending myself. I’d probably already said enough.

Alec shook his head. “That would be a first.”

Gil turned to Carter. “We can’t interrogate him yet.”

“Agreed.” Carter groaned. “I’ll kick this upstairs, and we’ll see what they wanna do.”

Gil wasn’t about to lose control of the interrogation, so he waved at Alec to join them in his office. Power in numbers, I guessed. “Kinley, show Agent Lopez to the holding cells.”

“Me?”

“Don’t be afraid,” Carter teased.” Fireball’s a killer, but only if he can blow you up.”

“Can’t he?” I asked, thinking of what must be rigged in the ground floor rafters.

Carter chuckled, taking it as a joke.

“You got this,” Alec gave me a thumbs up, following Gil and Carter as they headed toward the top floor.

Before I could brace myself for the encounter, I was waiting in the hallway for Agent Lopez. He wheeled Dante out of the interrogation room. It was a short distance to the elevator, then down one floor to the holding cell. The same cell where I’d been strangled. Fun.

I hung back, staying out of Dante’s line of sight, letting Agent Lopez go ahead. He pushed Dante’s wheelchair, feet still trapped in the metal cuff and wrists secured in front of him.

How strange to be close to Dante without him knowing.

Lopez turned the wheelchair to the side, pointing Dante away from me so I could get to the elevator controls. For once, an agent coveting his suspect worked in my favor. The maneuvering made it impossible for Dante to see me. I might be able to remain hidden, especially since Lopez hadn’t said two words to the lowly analyst.

Worked for me.

We got to the second floor, and I remained in Dante’s blindspot until… the elevator door opened, and Lopez swung Dante around and pulled him out backward without waiting.

Suddenly, Lopez is in a hurry?

I stood there at the back of the elevator like I’d been caught in a spotlight. My eyes locked on Dante’s face.

Damn. He still had that intense, intangible charm. All the reasons why I’d been attracted to him flooded back. He was a good guy… until he wasn’t.

I blinked, instantly flooded with all the emotions. Seeing him again, less than a foot away, squeezed something in my chest. Not my heart. I’d never admit to being sentimental.

Damn. Just damn.

The pang came from an empty spot. A once cherished space that Dante occupied. It was still there but hollow. And that hole threatened to pull me into an abyss—not for what I’d lost—but because his expression had not changed.

Dante looked right through me.

Those gorgeous, turquoise eyes pierced my soul with no recognition. Nothing. Nada. Had I changed that much? Had it been that long? Did I mean nothing to him?

I’d know Dante anywhere.

Lopez’s cell phone rang. “Gotta take this.”

“Now?”

“Can I get in there?” Lopez pointed at the stairwell.

I went to the door and used my badge and code to open it. “The doors open from the inside. Just push to get out.”

He gave me a thumbs up, already talking on the phone.

“Later,” Dante called.

Lopez flipped him off just before entering the stairwell.

I went back to Dante and faced him.

“Manners,” Dante said, making fun of Lopez. “That’s what I like about the FBI, stellar manners.” He smiled at me. Disarming, but a smile for a stranger.

That empty space in my heart throbbed.

“If you think our manners are bad,” I said, “wait until you experience the accommodations.”

He laughed, amiable.

I wheeled him toward the holding cell, using my badge to open the door. A dark aura swept out from the closed space. The chilling greeting made me retreat behind the wheelchair. “You get to go in under your own power,” I told Dante. “I’ll release the cuff; you stand up and walk in. There’s a thing that will detach your wrists, you know, once inside.”

Dante cocked his head to the side. “Joined.”

“What?” I triggered a button on the wheelchair handle, and the metal cuff opened, freeing his feet, but Dante didn’t stand up.

“Together. Bonded.” His voice growled low, monotone. He remained in the wheelchair, staring into the cell. I stood behind him, transfixed. He repeated the words: Joined. Together bonded, adding, “I pledge my heart to thee.”

An itch tickled along my skin.

A memory chased after the sensation. I closed my eyes. Dread filled every inch of me because the words were old magic. Spell magic, to be exact, which was a dead art. The Gray Scale was about magical abilities, randomly bestowed like an infliction at birth. When it came to the arcane, skills were common, but conjuring? The art of creating magic was long gone. Or so many believed. In the two years after I’d been read-in to my family’s secret—before I’d left them—my training had been intense. I learned a small cell of magic still existed. It was highly protected, and my family was one of a few that guarded the knowledge—as did the Hicks family.

Joined. Together bonded. I pledge. The length of my arm itched. A tingling sensation scratched that itch, carrying a need that tried to burrow under my skin.

“Cemented for life.” Dante finished the spell.

The itching crept up my neck into my hairline. I closed my eyes and silently cursed. I knew those words. I’d said them once—to him!

The little shit.

Tricked then, and tricked now. Dante told me the words were just a poem that he’d written for us. If we said them together, we’d be expressing our love. Yup, I was that young and that stupid. When we recited the words, the oddest sensation caressed my mind and bound my thoughts to Dante’s.

The spell allowed us to hear each other’s thoughts and speak secretly. I had no idea what was happening at the time, but it shocked me. It opened the door to magic.

And I spiraled out of control.

Still bitter? Hell yes! I’d never forgive any of them.

And here was Dante weaving that old magic. Dead magic. It itched at my skin like a knock at a door that he wanted me to answer.

With a sinking feeling, I realized he’d recognized me after all.

Hello, sweetheart.

The magic spoke Dante’s words in my mind. He’d tapped into our broken connection, overriding everything I’d done to kick him out of my head.

I shoved the wheelchair into the cell and triggered the door shut. Dante stood, spun around, and crumpled to his knees. The dark entity hissed around him. It twirled, and I wondered if I was the only one who could see it choking him to death.

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