he reached it, he pressed a button on it, and it began to flatten out, forcing Jin into a prone position. It also lowered, dropping closer to the ground so that it would slide neatly beneath the artifact.
I had seen something similar before, in a gymnasium in an abandoned prison.
Matwau had been seeking to transfer the bonding to himself.
Now the bonding would be completed.
Whatever that meant.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Hail mary.
Jin lay beneath the Hua, the red glow surrounding it shifting at her presence, intensifying beneath it, drawn to her like a magnet. The dragon tattoo was burning more brightly now, extending its magic and reaching for the magic of the artifact. The two streams of red light seemed to twirl around one another, coalescing together before sinking back towards her bare chest.
I was fascinated with it, and I could tell by the faces of the gathered scientists that they were as well. Everyone was watching, even the ones that probably should have been monitoring the machines.
I closed my eyes briefly and cleared my head.
I had a job to do.
I started inching my way through the room, circling around the computers and scanners and sensors to get myself closer to Jin, and to Tobias. The wizard was standing right behind the chair, looking down on Jin with a mixture of intrigue and... lust? There was no argument that Jin's breasts were beautiful. The glint in his eye went beyond that.
It was the power he lusted after, I realized. Jin had said that anyone who knew what the Hua was, the power it held, would desire it. Tobias clearly knew.
Jin's head shifted, and she moaned softly, reaching up towards the Hua. Her eyes were open, but they were lost in the moment, in the bonding, fixed and unblinking at the artifact suspended above her.
Tobias was reaching out, also. His hand spread slowly towards Jin's. His face was wrinkled, conflicted, as though he were fighting an internal battle with himself over the magic that was passing across the short distance.
I increased my pace, moving in closer, getting myself within range to make a quick grab at both Jin and the Hua. I wasn't going to unless I had to. It would be better to let the process complete, to let Jin get to her feet and help me escape with the thing. All I needed was for the power of the mask to hold out.
Except, Tobias was still reaching out. Jin didn't seem to notice. The mousey tech did, and I could tell by her face she was worried as hell about it because he wasn't supposed to do it.
"Son of a bitch," I whispered under my breath, moving even closer to him. His lips moved, and a blue light was beginning to form on his hand, cold and bright and tentatively working to mix with the power in the void. I wasn't sure what his goal was, or what would happen.
I didn't think it would be good.
Two quick steps brought me to the wizard's side. He noticed me coming, saw that I was aiming to stop him. His other hand shifted towards me, to hit me with some kind of magic. I gathered my own, so easy where the fields were strong, and clamped my hand down on his. I pushed into him, hard, sending the death magic through me.
He lost his magic in an instant, crying out in pain as the hand I had grabbed shriveled and died in the space of a blink. It didn't bleed, it didn't rot. The skin flaked away, the muscles dissolved as though they were a thousand years old. The bones remained, turning a sick black and brittle.
He wrenched himself from my grip before the magic could spread past his forearm, leaving him in horrible agony, the skin on his wrist half dust, half sagging away.
I had used my magic. Death magic.
The power of the mask flowed away with it.
I was exposed, Stargazer's young, healthy visage melting away, leaving the scientists and the wizard staring at my narrow, gray frame. Not that Tobias didn't already know, after what I had just done to him.
"Surprise," I said, taking another quick step forward and hitting him in the temple as hard as I could.
He dropped like a sack of crap.
"Jin," I said, turning and leaning over her. "We need to get the fuck out of here."
The scientists were starting to chatter. Someone turned and made a break for the door, and the guards that were standing outside.
"Now!" I screamed, loud