Minimum Wage Magic (DFZ Book 1) by Rachel Aaron

Author:Rachel Aaron [Aaron, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aaron/Bach
Published: 2018-11-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

I woke to the sound of someone knocking.

I sat bolt upright, cursing under my breath as my back twinged painfully, reminding me that cots, though better than cement floors, were still not beds. I was trying to get my spine working again when Nik burst out of his bedroom with his gun.

He must have been in the middle of a shower, because his dark hair was dripping wet. He’d managed to throw some jeans on, but his feet were bare. He also wasn’t wearing a shirt.

That made me gasp, but not for salacious reasons. I was staring because, now that his shirt wasn’t in the way, I was finally able to see just how much cyberwear Nik was packing. He’d shown me his metal shoulders on the walkway, but I saw now that his entire right arm was fake as well. It was covered in synthetic skin, so it wasn’t obvious like his metal chest, but there was no hiding the articulated joints on his right hand, which explained why he always wore gloves.

His left arm looked real, at least below the shoulder, but he had flesh-colored metal plates protecting his ribs on both sides that went all the way down into his jeans, making me wonder just how much of himself he’d replaced. His bare feet were legit, though, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the floor as he ran silently to press his back against the wall beside the front door—the source of the knocking.

It sounded again as he got into position, snapping me out of my gawking. Heart pounding, I grabbed Nik’s armored jacket off the back of the chair where he’d left it last night and tossed it at him. He caught it with his left hand, eyes flicking pointedly to my poncho, which was still on the floor where I’d dropped it.

I shook my head. Idiot that I was, I hadn’t recharged my wards last night. I’d been too focused on food and sleep and showers and other things that felt petty and frivolous right now. As a result, what should have been my most expensive and reliable magical safety device was just a giant tarp, so I left it lying on the floor and pulled magic into my hands instead.

The first flux didn’t hurt too bad, but the flow started to burn like hell once I reached serious levels. Clearly, whatever I’d done to myself yesterday was still hanging around. I could still move the magic, but it felt like trying to run on a pulled knee. It was all I had, though, so I gritted my teeth and pushed through. It might have been nothing—a door-to-door salesman, a Jehovah’s Witness, a lost delivery person—but given that one knock had been enough to bring Nik running out of the shower with gun in hand, I didn’t think he got many idle visitors down here. With my luck it was probably a mercenary team come to drag us back to Kauffman, so I

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