the huntress 04 - eternal magic Read Free

ever be.”
    Del turned to start down the corridor as my light glinted off a razor wire stretched at neck level right ahead of her.
    “Stop!” I lunged for her and grabbed the bag strapped to her back, dragging her to a halt. She stopped abruptly.
    “Razor wire.” I raised my light to shine on it, but the wire was imperceptible again. It was only visible in the perfect light from the perfect angle. I pulled Righty, one of my trusty daggers, from my thigh sheath and held it out, waving it slowly till it tapped against the wire. “Thin enough you can’t see it most times. I got lucky with the lightstone.”
    “Yeah.” A shuddery breath escaped Del. “I forgot about those. I’ve read how the Egyptians liked them for booby-traps, but completely forgot.”
    “It’s cool. You don’t do this as much as me. Too busy killing demons.” 
    “True. But I’m glad you’ve got my back,” Del said.
    Most of the time, Del was a bounty hunter who worked on commission for the Order of the Magica, the government body overseeing all magic users. They’d toss her in jail if they knew she was a FireSoul, totally uncaring that she’d never use her abilities to kill and steal another Magica’s powers. Getting tossed in the Prison for Magical Miscreants was pretty much all our worst nightmares.
    Fortunately, the Order didn’t bother communicating directly with lowly bounty hunters. She never had to come into direct contact with them.
     “I’ll lead.” I shined my light ahead and held Righty out at neck level, hoping it would catch on a wire before it could slit my throat.
    It caught on three, and I was grateful as hell each time. As we walked, we passed by walls painted with tall, elegant figures. This would have been a burial place for a king or queen, the paintings telling the story of their life. Every now and then, statues stood lined up along the wall, ancient figures who’d been guarding this passage for millennia.
    I’d have liked to have spent more time looking, but I wanted to get my hands on the dampener charm and see if it worked to suppress my nullifying powers enough that my normal gifts could be used.
    We came to a split in the path, one leading down and the other continuing up.
    “What do you think?” I asked Del. I wished I could use my own dragon sense to determine the way, but that wasn’t an option until I got the charm.
    She closed her eyes, and her magic swelled on the air, the scent of clean cotton driving away the dusty aroma.
    “Both could possibly work, but I think up,” she said.
    “Up,” I said. “More important royalty were buried higher in the pyramid, so I bet it’s the shorter route.”
    “Agreed.”
    We veered right and started up the sloped path. After a few yards, the ground ahead turned white.
    “Weird,” I said. A thick powder coated the entire path for the next several yards.
    Del grabbed my shoulder, and I jerked to a halt.
    “Retreat,” she whispered. “Don’t breathe.”
    The seriousness in her voice froze my muscles. I stopped breathing and stepped back. We turned and hurried away. 
    When we reached the crossroads where we’d split off, I gasped in a breath and asked, “What was that?”
    “Hematite powder. It’s super tiny granules but super sharp. If it gets into our lungs, it’ll kill us slowly.”
    “Ouch.” Slow death was a big no-go area in my life plan. “Okay. Let’s go down and see if we can get around.”
    We followed the sloped path down, checking out two false chambers on the way. Both had contained boxes full of treasure, but not the dampener charm. I’d seen diagrams of pyramids in which there were chambers deep under the desert. I was starting to lose track of how deep we’d gotten, but it felt like we’d left reality behind. It was deadly silent, dark, and the place shimmered with all kinds of threatening magic. 
    The air became more stale and the feel of the magic stronger as we descended. Supernaturals could usually only feel other