Bitter Fruit by Z.J. Cannon

Author:Z.J. Cannon [Cannon, Z.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Z.J. Cannon
Published: 2020-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Bastian had done a lot of experiments he never told me about. I knew that. We’d had an agreement not to ask too many questions about each other’s work. It had been only fair, considering how easy it would have been for us to use any information to strengthen our own side’s advantage.

Still, I wished he had at least told me about this one.

“Seriously,” I griped for at least the third time, hefting the weight of the gun in my hands to make sure no pieces had gotten left behind. “He could have gone into business and made a fortune off people who are always having to go back home for their keys. He could have moved out of that cramped apartment and into a penthouse somewhere.”

“I told you,” Imogen said, taking Ginevra’s hands in hers, “he hadn’t figured out how to do it yet. It was only a vague idea, a couple of lines in the margins of one of the notebooks. He wasn’t even sure it was possible.”

“And you figured it out approximately five minutes after learning magic existed? Must be nice.”

“Get used to it,” Kimmy groused, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

“This one took me at least two days,” Imogen corrected. Then, to Ginevra, “Now focus.” She released Ginevra’s hands, but kept her palms hovering over Ginevra’s, until there was a two-inch space between them.

“And brace yourself,” I advised, a second before the space between their hands lit up with dancing red sparks. Ginevra drew in a breath sharply, then hissed it out between her teeth.

I watched Imogen’s face as the sparks grew brighter. She had already expended a lot of energy on getting my weapon back. Guardian magic came from the gods, but for someone using Humanity Ascendant magic, that energy could only come from one place—their own blood and soul. And Imogen didn’t have one of the amplifiers Humanity Ascendant used to make their life force stretch further. The main flaw of Humanity Ascendant magic was its inefficiency, and unlike the rest of us, Imogen had never seen someone wither away to a lifeless husk after expending too much life force at once. Yes, we needed our weapons back, but I wasn’t about to let Kimmy’s sister kill herself by accident over a couple of knives.

But after only a few seconds, the sparks died, and Ginevra’s fingers closed around the hilts of her blades. As Imogen stumbled backward to lean against the wall, panting, Ginevra stared down at the weapons in fascination. “How did you do that?”

“There was remaining molecular residue on your hands from when you touch them last,” said Imogen in a wan voice, “and I combined it with a small amount of energy from my soul, which isn’t bound by physical barriers, to access the location—”

“Not again,” Kimmy groaned. “We’ve heard it before, and we still don’t understand it.”

Imogen frowned at her. “I thought you wanted to learn this.”

“Learning is one thing. Listening to you brag is another. I don’t know how you’re teleporting weapons when I can’t even get a single spark.

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