Chapter 11: Mind Magi Police

The man with the knives wasn't just fast, he was agile too. He moved with a grace that surpassed anything I had ever seen.

I was hard pressed to duck and dodge, but I knew he would eventually get me. I had to choose when he would. I had to make sure it was to my advantage.

I used the martial arts training I had gleaned from Mike, Erin's ex-boyfriend, so many months prior, the training from Agents Davis and Marks not many days after that, and anything I had seen in a movie that looked like it could really work. Still I didn't land a finger on the guy.

He kept his cool the entire time, looking for the perfect moment to strike. Taking swipes, thrusting his knives at me, and generally being in my face. I can honestly say that of all the people I had fought, this one scared me more than any of the others. Even his big friend on the floor wasn't as much of a threat. My normal tactic of being faster than my foe wasn't useful any more. I needed to strike with my other abilities. I needed to get those knives out of his hands.

What could I do though? Most of my abilities required touch. My Strength was useless unless I had like a bat or something. Even then, going for a weapon at this point would open me up for him to strike. I had limited telepathy, but that wouldn't disarm him. So many talents, so few truly useful ones.

There was one that I had that didn't require touch, my Charm, but I didn't want this guy getting sexy for me. I wanted him nice and unconscious. If he would be so kind as to just fall asleep, I would be happy. Oddly, I actually felt my Charm reach out to him.

My hesitation was enough that he slashed my left arm. That brought me back to reality and I let my Charm go. Almost instantly the guy slowed down and finally went over and lay down on the couch. He was asleep in seconds.

I stood there, staring at him in confusion while clutching my bleeding arm.

The big guy started to stir. I went over to him, pressed my hand to his forehead and almost screamed, "SLEEP!"

One thing was certain: Whisper had been right about more people coming.

I went to the bedroom door and knocked on it. "Renée, Erin, Chloe. It's Ral. Everything is okay."

"Is it really okay, or are they forcing you to say that?" I heard Renée ask.

"Brilliant. And yes, it's really clear, both of them are asleep."

The door opened and I went to the bathroom. The girls followed me. "What happened?" asked Erin.

"I got cut," I answered. I rolled up my shirt sleeve and started washing away the blood.

Erin got closer and looked. We both watched as the cut began healing, knitting its self shut before our eyes. When it was closed there wasn't even a scar left.

"Well, I'm not as worried as I was before," Erin said.

I nodded. I couldn't agree more that it was good to know I didn't need sex to heal.

"What are we going to do? The hotel will certainly take note of a broken door, two sleeping guys and a dead girl."

An idea struck me. It was perfect but oh so wrong. "We'll check out and leave. Then we'll call the hotel and report a fight in this suite. When they call the police, they will take the men into custody and cart away the woman. It even looks like they may have killed her except for her lacking a single mark."

Erin looked at me shocked. Chloe seemed to roll the idea around in her head as if weighing the consequences and Renée said, "No. Ral, whatever we do, we can't just leave like this."

"Fine, but I still want you three in a cab on the way to the airport. I'll talk to the police."

Erin calmed down and Chloe just shrugged. Renée was still on top of things. "Before you call them, you need to find out who they are and who sent them."

I nodded and walked past the girls. I went to the brute on the floor first. The other guy had really spooked me. I knelt down next to the big guy. He still had a pulse, which was good, and he seemed to be breathing nice and evenly. Whatever had befallen the woman wasn't happening to these two. I wondered about that difference.

I pressed my hand to the big guy's temple. Immediately I ran into a wall. Even asleep this guy had mental defenses. I sought an entrance. He had to have a door or window or something. "Show me..." I mumbled under my breath.

Somehow the wall disappeared. It was like my request was accepted. I didn't wait to find out how or why, I just looked for what I needed.

Roy Jordan had always been big and in high school, the star of the football team. Colleges fought over him and he attended Georgia Tech. Then a man approached him and informed him that he was a Mind Magi. The man's name was John Ramos, a recruiter for House Vaughan. Roy turned them down and continued with his education.

During one of the playoff games, Roy suffered a knee injury. It took three surgeries and two years of therapy to get it back to ninety percent functionality. Unfortunately that meant his football career was over.

During that two year period, Roy found out that his body was trying to compensate for the injury and he put on muscle mass. He realized that the Mind Magi recruiter had been after him because of that special gift. Roy called him up and decided to find out more.

That had been ten years prior. Now Roy was one of the Dragons of the Mind Magi. He was the heavy backup to whoever they sent into the field. He didn't know why, but he was instructed to bring me in. He had never failed to do anything the council had asked of him before. I wondered what would happen now that he had.

I looked for who gave him the order. It should have been simple, but it wasn't. Whoever gave the Dragons their assignments was smart. They were always contacted indirectly, usually by their cell phones.

I pulled back and picked Roy's pockets. I found his phone. I opened it and pulled up the recently called list but it was empty. They had probably been trained to erase all lists after receiving such calls. I closed the phone and put it in my pocket.

"Did you find anything?" Renée asked.

I shook my head. "They're contacted by cell phone. Their orders come from the Council. It could be any of them or all of them. You saw how Flemming took the news of me being made a House Lord. I'm sure he would have seen this as really funny."

"Why were they sent?" Erin asked.

"They don't even know that. Roy here was told to help him," I pointed to speedy, "bring me in."

"Bring you in?" Chloe asked.

I shrugged. "They're like the police of the Mind Magi."

"Check him anyway, Ral. He might have received different information. I mean, he came at you with a pair of knives!" Renée noticed the handles were they stuck out from under the man's jacket.

I nodded and approached him. He slept peacefully, just like Roy did. I wasn't sure how strong my command had been since it passed through my "charm blanket" but I made sure he continued to sleep as soon as I touched him.