Page 20 of Monster Girl Awakened

Chapter Eight

Nessa

Mylegsswingbackand forth leisurely as I watch the scene unfolding below me with growing amusement. The fighting rings are an excellent place to get information and before I started attending the Academy, a common hunting ground of mine, be it digitally or occasionally in person. I have a ton of contacts that frequent this place. None of them know me by my real name, I have a number of digital aliases that I use and am known by. I also have the owner of this establishment on my radar and enough dirt on him to easily have him under my thumb if I want, though I haven’t found a need to use it though.

I discovered this place in my early days when one of my more frequently used contacts mentioned it. It wasn’t safe without magic to actually go out and scope out places like this in person so I set up a network of contacts on the dark web, offering jobs that I could do from a safe distance—AKA behind a computer screen—to earn their trust and favours from them.

On this particular occasion, I’d had my contact following a supe I had suspected was a Drákon member, and my contact had revealed to me just how useful the place is. The worst of the worst practically live in places like this, including Drákon members. This one in particular is set up in a large six bay warehouse. It’s divided into two main sections, while half is split into two cage-covered fight circles with a small raised platform for an announcer in between them. The fight circles are surrounded by a few levels of raised seating like those in a stadium. The other side is full of tables and booths with a rowdy bar off to the side that serves shitty drinks and cheap food. The place is always packed with people, though personally I don’t get the appeal of coming here for pleasure, or a night out. If I’m not here for myhobby, to get information or watch someone of interest, then it’s to challenge someone to my own cage fight so I can blow off some steam. It was something I was able to do without needing magic. I utilised the extensive fighting skills that my fathers taught me. It always gave me the best rush. I’m still not sure if that makes me a bad person or not. I squint, tilting my head to the side for a moment before I shrug and refocus on the club.

I allow my eyes to scan the space, my mind thankfully quiet for the moment. The floor is a mixture of clay and compacted sand, and floating fae lights glow red above everyone's heads, bathing the room in a unique ambiance. It’s giving me major wrath and murder vibes.

The warehouse is full of supernaturals of all genders, classes, and species, and noisy as hell. There aren’t many security measures, only a few bouncers placed on the doors, but that’s so they can stop any bar brawls that break out, so nothing gets damaged—not to help people stay safe.

I’m perched high above the crowd on one of several metal beams crisscrossing eight or so feet below the ceiling. It’s an excellent vantage point and I can also see anyone coming for me a mile away, which is handy.

I’m sticking true to my mental agreement and launching back into my research and my murder board. One of those things I’m following up tonight. I’ve definitely slacked off when it comes to keeping track of the local Drákon groups movements, but that’s about to change. A girl’s body turned up in a back alley last night in the town and two guys are missing. Twin brothers, both strong for their age magic wise, and only twenty. After doing some digging and using one of Lexi’s amazing programs to hack into the polices’ files, I found several factors that lead me to believe that the Drákon group is responsible for both incidents. Or I suppose that there is a chance that Ethan was behind the girl's death. Along with those files, I also uncovered several other missing persons reports for the last few weeks, though those were kept out of the media along with two other murders, both women.

If they’ve been this rampant in the area and the police haven’t been able to do anything, then it seems like I need to get back to some of my old vigilante ways. Plus, if there is a chance that Ethan could be involved than I need to figure out what the connection is—if there is one—between him and the Drákon group and the murders of course. The town is the closest to the Academy so if he is responsible then it would make sense that he’s still using the school as a base.

Refocusing on the task at hand, I narrow my eyes, trying to tap into my magic so I can enhance my sight and let out a pleased hum when it works. My vision sharpens so I can distinguish people’s facial features and as a bonus my hearing gets a power boost too. I give myself a moment to adjust to the cacophony of sounds assaulting me, then search the crowd for the faces I’m looking for. It takes me a few minutes, but then my gaze snags on one. A tall, broad shouldered man with deep blue skin. That’s not what catches my eye though—it’s the set of four curled horns protruding from his head and the tusks peeking from his mouth.Bingo.

I stand in a fluid motion, feet silent as I jump between the beams to keep eyes on the man. His friends shouldn’t be too far away. He walks through the crowd at an unhurried pace, but sweat dots his brow and the way he keeps fidgeting with his clothing belies his nerves. He proves me right when he ducks into a large booth at the back of the club in the bar section.

He’s an informant for a group of Drákon members that I’ve seen quite a few times in pictures my contacts have sent me. Before attending the school I mostly stuck to researching behind my computer rather than actually going out to do my own reconnaissance. Not that I don’t have the stealth training—I do, thanks to my fathers. I just didn’t have the experience in the field to go out and do it, plus I have lots of great contacts.

Over recent years I used my portal amulet to get to and from the main club I use to gain information—thanks to one of my informants directing me there. I have been gathering information on the local group of Drákon members for a few years now via my computer, informants, and the dark web—leaving out that I took the last term off to focus primarily on my magic—so his features are quite recognisable to me. At least not much seems to have changed while I took a break. They seem to be middle to upper level lackeys for the organisation and have inadvertently given me quite a bit of information. My goal is to get close enough to plant a bug on the female Drákon member tonight. She may look like a normal mid-level member, but she’s actually the local Drákon group leader.

The bug I’m going to plant doubles as a tracker so I can trace her movements and hopefully she’ll lead me to their stronghold. The cacophony of the supes below me grows louder, and I peer down at them where some dance sensually on a makeshift dance floor, while others are chatting and laughing with each other.Goddess, I can’t wait to get out of here.

Refocusing on my task, I continue along the beams until I’m almost directly above their booth and squat down. The booth is on the larger side and the two members of the Drákon group I’m interested in—a female and a male—that I recognise from the group I’ve been following, are seated there. Four guards, judging by the sheer muscle they’re displaying, surround the booth in normal clubbing clothes to blend in. I settle in to observe them, needing to wait for the perfect time to enact my plan.

Before leaving my dorm I had the forethought to use a rune to mask my scent, which means I don’t flinch when one of the lackeys lingering by the booth begins to sniff the air. The movement does cause the tusked informant to shift nervously though.Weasel.Rolling my eyes, I strain my ears trying to catch what they’re saying, but give up when I sense the barrier surrounding them.

In the past they haven’t been so careful, but then again they don’t usually do meets like this in such a public place. Either that or something happened over the term I was at the Academy and on sabbatical from this side of my life, to make them more leery of people listening in.

After roughly fifteen minutes the male from the group and the tusked informant shake hands and I take that as my cue. Running along the beam, I reach the wall in seconds and slide into the hidden nook there. It’s heavily shadowed, pressed between two circular concrete poles that run from floor to ceiling. Rubbing my hands together, I dive into my mind to access my magic. “Time to see if I can pull this off in a high-pressure situation,” I mutter to myself.

My magic responds eagerly, rushing to my fingertips to answer my call.Portal magic. I’ve been working tirelessly since the idea occurred to me while I was at the marketplace with the guys and I’vemostlygot it down to a fine art.

I fling the circle of runes I have stored in my mind onto the wall, then flood them with my magic. The portal snaps into place in less than a second, purple magic now swirling in the centre of the human sized rune circle. Imagining the spot I want the portal to lead to, I step through it, shoulders tense. The world becomes distorted, and the air heavy like sludge as I continue through it. When I come out the other end, it’s on a gasp that I quickly smother. Damn, I’m never going to get used to that whole under-wet-cement feeling. It sucks to high heavens.

Shaking it off, I blow out a breath when I realise that it spit me out at the right spot. Without a single thought I tug my magic back into me and those runes snap right back into my mind. It took me hours to craft them perfectly so they’d mask any magical signature my magic could leave behind. It’s ingenious really, the way you can manipulate a portal like that.

Focus Nessa. Huffing, I rush through the crowd with a happy grin pasted on my face.Blend in. Move fast but don’t run. Going onto my tiptoes I spot the booth and my grin widens as I watch them get to their feet.Action time. I fluff my hair until it’s a dishevelled mess, then undo the top three buttons of my black dress shirt, baring the tops of my girls to the world—well anyone in the club who deigns to look—and careen into the person next to me. She lets out a yelp and the fruity, but alcohol heavy fae drink spills down my top, coating me in the tangy scent. Before she can get upset, I raise my hands, arranging my face in an apologetic expression. “I’m so sorry. Here.” I shove a shiny twenty-dollar fae coin at her to cover her drink, and she instantly relaxes, shrugging me off with a smile.

That’s parts two and three done. Now to test out my acting skills. Keeping my eye on the two Drákon members, I let my limbs become loose and clumsy, body swaying as I move through the crowd. Giggles fall from my lips unchecked as I almost tip over. Licking my lips, I palm the small tracking tag and intentionally pretend I’m looking at something interesting to my left as I careen into the Drákon female standing to my right. She lets out an almighty oof and snarls as my arms come around her, using her to catch my fall. I hiccup, acting dazed as I tip my head back to look at her, lips parted in an O. “I’m sooo sssorry.” I slur my words and add a hiccup, laying it on thick. While she’s preoccupied with that I press the applicator to the bare skin of her lower back, digging my nails in ever so slightly to distract her from the sting of it as I activate it and the needle pierces her skin, inserting the tracker. The tracker itself is tiny, thin and shaped much like a grain of rice. The applicator is small too, no bigger than a thin eraser, and the needle used in the applicator to insert the tracker is coated with a magical numbing spell that makes it virtually painless. Once it’s inserted it’s almost impossible to detect with the naked eye and she won’t feel it once the miniscule puncture mark from the needle has healed.

I pull back a little, stumbling as I hold onto her and just like I was hoping it would, her posture relaxes. She grabs my shoulders, helping to right me, barely bothering to look at my face, too busy scanning the area around us. “It’s no problem.” Dipping my chin I cast my eyes demurely to the floor and nod.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

She pats my shoulder once before moving on and I keep up the innocent-drunk act until I’m safely out a side door and portalling back to the Academy.

“Well I’d call that a success,” I say as I watch the little red blip moving along the map on my computer screen. The tracker took and I’m now safe in my dorm, showered and relaxing on the couch with Unicorn in my lap. Yep, best night since being back at the Academy, for sure.

Unicorn lets out a little growly sound in response to my words and I stop scratching her head for a moment to lightly flick her nose. “I know, I know. I should have brought you with me, but I didn’t want to risk the barrier around the Academy frying you. It should have fried me.” My brows draw down as I try to puzzle it out, but fail to come up with a reason to explain it. The Dome of Academy warding that covers the entirety of the grounds, and a fair portion of the sky above it, is imbued with dozens of protection and defensive spells to both keep us in and protect the Academy and all of the people on the grounds from outside threats. It’s supposed to either severely injure or kill anyone who touches it, and give anyone who attempts to portal through it with their own magic a hefty zap. For some unknown reason though, it doesn’t appear to be working properly, but I’m not risking Unicorn if it decides to snap back online again. Unicorn nudges my hand, drawing me out of my thoughts for a moment and I return to petting her with a laugh.

I actually discovered I could get through the barrier by accident. I was practising my portal magic in the forest surrounding the Academy and my mind drifted to the sky right as I went through the portal, so naturally it spat me out a few thousand feet above the Academy, falling to my death. Unable to portal out of there, I was stuck helpless, falling until I came back through the barrier and Unicorn caught me. Without my familiar I’d be a very dead monster right now.

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