Back Magic Hunter Save as PDF
Contents (41)
  1. Magic Hunter
  2. C.N. Crawford
  3. A companion short story
  4. Chapter 1
  5. Chapter 2
  6. Chapter 3
  7. Chapter 4
  8. Chapter 5
  9. Chapter 6
  10. Chapter 7
  11. Chapter 8
  12. Chapter 9
  13. Chapter 10
  14. Chapter 11
  15. Chapter 12
  16. Chapter 13
  17. Chapter 14
  18. Chapter 15
  19. Chapter 16
  20. Chapter 17
  21. Chapter 18
  22. Chapter 19
  23. Chapter 20
  24. Chapter 21
  25. Chapter 22
  26. Chapter 23
  27. Chapter 24
  28. Chapter 25
  29. Chapter 26
  30. Chapter 27
  31. Chapter 28
  32. Chapter 29
  33. Chapter 30
  34. Chapter 31
  35. Chapter 32
  36. Chapter 33
  37. Chapter 34
  38. Stay in Touch
  39. Also by C.N. Crawford
  40. Acknowledgments
  41. About

Her pulse raced. “So—that whole time I was being tortured, you could have stopped it?”

His eyes remained black as pitch, cold and bestial. “Yes, but it would have been a tactical error.”

Whatever he meant by that, one fact burned through her mind: Caine had sat there and watched Josiah beat the shit out of her. He’d let her think she was about to die. He could have stopped it, but he’d sat there impassively, watching it like a spectator. The betrayal burned. She rushed at Caine, shoving him hard in the chest.

“You watched me get tortured when you could have stopped it?” she shouted. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Did you not see him drowning me? I thought I was going to die.”

Caine’s voice was low and controlled, and he grabbed her wrists. “Stop shouting, if you want to get out of here alive. You’re supposed to be a soldier. That’s what you signed up for when you joined the Brotherhood, even if you joined the wrong side.”

Seething, she ripped her wrists from his grasp, just barely restraining herself from snatching another wooden fragment from the ground and ramming it into Caine’s neck. “Half my ribs are broken. Josiah ripped my shirt off like a sex offender. He punched me in the face, kicked me into a wall, prodded my bullet wound, and practically drowned me. You’re just lucky I didn’t give up any real information to him.”

“I was planning on killing him, so that wouldn’t have mattered.”

“I see. But apparently the state of my broken bones wasn’t enough to move you off your ass. How much would you have let me endure?”

“Did no one ever tell you that war could be a bit uncomfortable? General Loring seemed to think you were familiar with the interrogation room, so I can’t imagine that its unpleasantness is news to you.”

“Agent Endicott. I’m ordering you to report your status immediately. Your video monitor has been disabled.”

His words stung, and tears pricked her eyes. He’d wanted her to get hurt. “I get it. So that was revenge.”

The black in Caine’s eyes faded. “No, that’s not it at all. The point was—”

An alarm sounded, and Caine’s eyes flicked to the door. “We need to go.”

She pointed to the circular scanner. “We can’t get out without a retina scan.”

“What about Josiah’s eyes?” Caine asked. “I’d be perfectly happy to cut one out and aim it at the thing.”

She shook her head, grabbing two shards of wood from the ground. “The scanners sense small movements. They won’t work for an unconscious eye. We need to wait until the guards come in here. We’ll kick the shit out of them and steal their clothes.”

“Fine.” Caine walked over the spotlight hanging from the ceiling. He reached up, crushing the light with his hand, and darkness fell on the room. “They’re coming,” he whispered. “Stand against the wall.”

A buzzer sounded at the door, and a guard kicked it open. Four guards rushed in, guns ready. Rosalind threw one of the stakes for the door, jamming it open slightly. Pain screamed through her chest. She was in no condition to fight.