Page 38 of Darkness

“This body is dying beyond my skill to repair. I saw how women lusted for the human, men too. He also had money. I’ve never found a more perfect host. You let him get away!”

The nerve of the traveler, blaming Farren for doing his job. He extended his senses. A Princeps. Really? No wonder the man exuded an inflated ego, having come from Domus’s ruling class. Many Princeps had disappeared from Domus, but Farren had found few here. Either they didn’t complete the trip successfully, or they’d found themselves elsewhere. “I cannot let you take him. I swore to uphold the peace in our realm and this one. You attempted murder.”

The man gasped. “You’re Magestra.”

Farren nodded automatically, though his quarry couldn’t see the gesture. “Yes. In both realms.”

“I didn’t sense you! You look like a human.”

"What type of peacekeeper would I be if you could?" Farren might need to discuss that with Morrisey one day.

The man whimpered, dropping all pretense of arrogance. Even the Princeps weren’t above the Magestra’s jurisdiction. “I needed a new body! He’s only a human.”

“And killing someone, even though their body survives, is murder.”

The man repeated, tone imploring, “He’s just a human. No one important.”

“You live in a human world. You’re old. How many lives have you taken? Too many to count?” Travelers like this one would be the reason the humans finally turned on them. Right now, diplomats negotiated with the government to allow those from the dying realm to stay. Even with help, few would survive. Fewer still if humans believed this man’s mindset represented all of Farren’s kind.

No wonder humans called them demons.

Farren climbed the stairs, no longer trying to hide his footfalls. A change in the atmosphere made him swerve, barely avoiding the pipe swung at his middle. He grabbed the railing to avoid toppling over.

Footfalls pounded away.

Shit.

Farren’s overbalancing bought the attacker a head start, but the older traveler had a weakness. They tended to get lost in the passage of years, forgetting that current times were nothing like a few decades ago.

Like cell phone flashlights. Farren’s eyesight might be keener than a human’s, but flashing the light in the attacker’s face won back lost time. One second. Just one measly second…

The man recovered, sprinting up three more floors, six sets of stairs, and three landings. Farren leaped at a wall ladder, then scrambled straight up.

The man rounded the last landing and charged up the final stairs to the roof.

Farren stepped ahead of him, Glock in hand. “You are under arrest for attempted murder.” Standing this close revealed the truth of the matter in the man’s faded aura, tinged with black. He’d killed and killed again for personal gain. His target in the bar would be his third attempt this week alone. The other two bodies had gone into shock and died from clumsy handling. “Correction. The charge is murder,” he amended. Murder meant no pleas, no negotiations. Just banishment.

The man wheezed, his body’s age showing. He swiveled his head one way, then another. No other escape but back down the stairs.

Which would give Farren a clean shot.

Farren spoke slowly, keeping his voice calm. “If you refuse to come peacefully, I’m authorized to banish you on the spot. One rogue traveler can break the treaty we have with the humans. Too many lives depend on the treaty. Make your choice.”

The man came straight for Farren. Farren fired. And fired again.

The man slammed into him, propelling them both to the floor. Hot blood flowed over Farren’s cheek. The man pressed both hands to Farren’s temples.

Agony shot through Farren’s brain, hot, bright…

Short-lived.

“Possession doesn’t work on the Magestra,” Farren growled. It just gave the mother of all headaches.

No amount of practice made the ordeal easier. Gun pressed between their bodies, Farren pulled the trigger.

The man gasped, then rolled off.

This time, Farren returned the head clasp, focusing on the void. A portal opened within his consciousness. Beneath him, the traveler choked out a final breath, entering the portal and leaving behind a body.

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