Read Magic Without Mercy for Free Online

two of them from daring each other into ever-increasingly stupid contests.
    I walked past Zay and handed Roman the box.
    “This contains a dozen disks of glass and silver. On them is all the proof the Overseer will need to know that there is a magical plague spreading in the city. It contains our statements about the fight with Isabelle and Leander out at the Life well, and it probably has a lot of otherinformation. It’s been in Bartholomew’s office, recording conversations since Bartholomew came back to town.”
    Before then,
Dad said.
    “And before then,” I added. “The Overseer should have the equipment needed to access the information.”
    Roman stashed the box in the innermost pocket of his long coat. “I’ll put it in her hands myself.”
    “Thank you,” I said. “Safe journey.”
    “Keep tight hold on him, girl,” he said, quietly. “We’re all counting on the two of you in this. Have been for some time now.”
    I nodded, not having the faintest clue what he was talking about. Keep tight hold on whom? Zayvion? My dad? And who was this “we” he was talking about?
    But he had already walked off to the center of the room. “When I open the Gate, they’ll see the spike in magic for miles around,” he said. “You’ll want to be on your way shortly after.”
    “Here, Allie.” Shame straightened from where he’d been kneeling by a shelf and pressed a holster into my hand. “This is a gun. Not the one Collins made, since you’re all cootified about that one. This is metal, and the clip?” He pulled the gun out of the holster and slapped the clip free. “Bullets worked with magic.”
    “I don’t—”
    “You damn well do.” He shoved the clip back in the gun, the gun in the holster, and put it all in my hand, holding his hand over it so I couldn’t let it go. “I want you to get out of this alive. That means you will use any weapon necessary to see that you survive. Zay won’t force you to do it, but I will. You’ll carry a gun, and you’ll use it to keep yourself and us alive. Got that?”
    No joking, no bullshit. This was Shame stripped down to the stark darkness that curled like death and violence in his soul. He knew as soon as we stepped out on thosestreets, we were walking blind into a war. All of us were going to have to bear the pain for the magic we called upon. And I was going to have to bear the pain for carrying a weapon that made me face what I had become. A killer.
    “I hate you,” I said quietly.
    “Better to hate than to be dead, love.” He let go of the gun and turned his back on me. “Plenty of blades, bombs, and bludgeons to go around, people,” he said. “Let’s get on with it, shall we?”
    I hesitated a moment. Didn’t matter what Shame said. This was my life, my choice. I didn’t have to carry a gun just because he told me to.
    But he was right. And I’d known it all along. I needed to use any weapon I had at my disposal to get through this. I slipped the holster over my shoulders, my hands steady and sure.
    “Roman’s taking the evidence to the Overseer,” I said to keep my mouth busy doing something while Zayvion handed me spare clips that I slid into my pockets.
    “Terric, I want you to find out if the Authority and Bartholomew’s men have discovered you’re with us. If they haven’t, I need you to gather information on who’s running the Authority now. If you can find out what resources they’re using to find us, to stop us, and whether they’re guarding the wells, that would be more than useful.
    “Also see if they’ve changed their stance on the technology-is-poisoning-magic theory by some damn miracle. If someone running the Authority is suddenly working on a cure for this magical infection, that would be good news.”
    “How do you want me to contact you?” he asked. Terric was going with more subtle weaponry. And by subtle I meant two axes he tucked in the belt at his hips, andseveral throwing knives he was snicking into place on