Walk Like a Magician by J.S. Morin

Author:J.S. Morin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781643550275
Publisher: Magical Scrivener Press

Esper blinked. Her eyes were gummy. Reaching up, she rubbed them clear. Her hands were covered in gloves that felt like cotton. Where was she?

The ceiling above her was the bottom of another bunk. Oh. She was back on the Empty Nest. This was the cabin she’d been sharing with Tiffany except she was on the bottom instead of up top.

Memories came crashing in as the languor of post-waking faded.

Factory.

Cult of Ra wizard.

Trapped.

Cornered.

Cutting off her own arms. She shuddered.

Wesley and Kubu must have found them and gotten a doctor to reattach them in time. After passing out from blood loss, there had been nothing. She hadn’t retreated to Esperville. Probably too out of practice.

Just to check, she asked the universe to dull the pain in her forearms. Instantly, she felt the soothing, icy coolness of relief. The lights in the cabin flickered.

Esper was out of practice. Her subtlety was lacking. No matter. Freed from the Shackles of Nethanti, she’d round back into form with a little practice.

Freed.

A little chuckle came to her lips.

She’d beaten them. The Convocation was not only off her trail, they weren’t even after her anymore. She’d taken their punishment—their needless, paranoid precaution—and cast it aside.

She’d won.

The door slid open. Tiffany rushed in and crushed Esper in a hug. “You’re awake!”

Esper hugged back. “Wizards don’t need to state the obvious,” she scolded mildly. “How long was I out?”

“Three days.”

Esper sucked in a breath. “That long?”

Before Tiffany could answer, Wesley poked his head in. “Hey, looks like Sleeping Beauty didn’t need that kiss after all.”

Esper flushed. “He didn’t try to…”

“Look up your exes on the omni and get them to come kiss you awake? No. I stopped that shit pronto. I do think Kubu might have tried, but we opted to let you rest as long as you needed. You must be hungry.”

Esper nodded. Now that Tiffany mentioned it, she was famished. “My stomach’s a little queasy. Maybe just a—”

“ESPER!” Kubu shouted as he bounded in. “You’re OK! How are your new make-believe arms working?”

A winter wind blew through Esper’s veins. “My what?” She reached for the gloves they’d put on her, discovering they were the long formal sort that went with evening gowns.

Tiffany grabbed her by the wrist before she could tug the fabric down. “Don’t!”

Yanking free with a hint of annoyance, Esper proceeded to pull off the glove.

Beneath was a rudimentary contraption of bars and hinges like a fully articulated marionette. It was just buckled onto the stump of her arm by a simple strap.

Instantly, both false arms went limp.

“What did you people DO?” Esper demanded.

Hanzo and Aliyah hovered outside the doorway. “We rustled up some goldarned arms. Kid seemed pretty sure you could just believe them into working without cybernetics.”

Esper’s breath quickened. This was a bad dream. She’d hopped from one nightmare scenario to another.

“Easy, sidekick,” Wesley said reassuringly. “One problem at a time. We got you out of that den of electro-compu-mechanical plasma-peddling. Now we just—”

“How DID we get out?” Esper asked. Anything to divert her thoughts.

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