Hi! This is my second Malec story and I'm bouncing with excitement to begin sharing it with you. I'm posting Chapter 1 & 2 tonight and then expect an update weekly from there. Now forward onto true love!
*****Shadowhunter - A supposedly abandoned warehouse*****
He heard muffled voices approaching on the level below him. From where he crouched he couldn't see people yet which gave him time to slowly stand and draw the string of his bow back, aiming it at the opening into the dimly lit room he was waiting in. He had chosen his position well in advance knowing that he could reach his perch without tripping sensors or being caught on any security feed and that there were plenty of areas that the weak light didn't touch that he could hide in.
He wasn't sure if the people running their operation out of this warehouse were tied to The Circle but hopefully by the end of the night he'd have that answer along with some actionable information. If anyone from that organization was linked to this he'd be able to find some trail and then he'd have them. They couldn't always be spotless in covering their actions. If they had gotten involved with this group that would finally be a usable mistake.
This small den of criminals had been sloppy in their most recent activities, activities that spanned from drugs to guns and that was just what he was aware of. Once he had tracked them down to this location he, with some help, had been able to get ample surveillance and communication data to prep for tonight's mission.
He heard at least three people approaching but it would only take one to give him what he needed. If his intel was accurate he was looking for a pudgy man as the likely highest ranking member to be around and best source of information. He had to move quickly, grab whoever he could in the short window he knew he had before the other party scheduled to show up for the trade arrived and made things more difficult.
The pudgy man flanked by two bruisers, likely his protection as the man didn't look like fighting would be in his wheelhouse, entered through the door and he let the first arrow fly. It landed behind the three of them as the door to the main room of the warehouse closed, setting off first a loud flashbang that he was prepared for, wearing earpieces that allowed him to communicate and protect his ears from percussive forces and goggles that filtered the flash among doing other things. His prey weren't as prepared. A second arrow followed quickly filling up the area with dark gray smoke which he was also prepared for, easily breathing through the black mask that completed his facial disguise.
He jumped down into the obscured area, feeling a few different symbols across his limbs and torso warm as they made the movement effortless. He came across one thug and quickly dispatched him with multiple nonlethal stabs with an arrow. The second thug almost got a blow in but he countered and depressed a point in his neck just long enough for the man to collapse to the ground unconscious.
His target was rubbing at his eyes desperately trying to clear them while flailing around in an attempt to find the door or any route to escape. A quick boot to the back sent the man sprawling on his face with a squeal. It was easy enough to cuff and gag him.
"If you want to survive the night I suggest you make this easy for me."
"Who are you?" the man asked through the gag. At least that's what he assumed was said as it was muffled and the man was almost crying at this point.
"That's not important. What's important is that I'm going to take you out this side door," he instructed as he pulled the man up and started to march him to the exit. He could hear noises approaching, likely people who had noticed the smoke and were now alerted that something wasn't right. "Then I'm going to take you someplace safe and ask you a few questions. And if you're my friend you'll help me out and then I'll let you go."
"Friend?" the man probably replied with justified skepticism. Luckily, he had practice understanding people through gags by now.
"Yes, friend. Because if you aren't my friend then I still will get my information but you won't like my methods anywhere near as much."
The man's eyes bugged out even more and his body started to slump but he didn't stop moving, luckily for the man. He didn't make a habit of doing permanent damage to people in pursuit of his quest but he would if he had to. Not that he'd indiscriminately kill or even kill if there was another option but the man didn't have to know that. Half of his efficiency came from the sheer fear he was able to instill in others with his intimidating presence, honed skills, other abilities, and the persona he cultivated through his outfit and well placed rumors.
They had almost made it to the door when a large explosion blasted into the room throwing them both off balance and clearing the remaining smoke. Even with the help of his marks he lost hold of his target and his bow and slammed up against a stack of crates. His target took that opportunity to run back to the middle of the building where the blast came from. It would have been funny to know he was scarier than whatever had happened inside if it didn't mean he now had to choose to pursue or pull back, regroup, and risk this lead disappearing.
"What was that?" a female voice asked urgently through his earpieces.
"Not now," he growled back, trying to get his irritation under control so he could make a choice.
"I don't like this. The buyers haven't arrived yet based on the cameras I'm seeing. Something we didn't plan for is happening in there. Whatever it was took out any eye I had inside. Get out of there."
"If we don't complete this now then they will make sure this lead is dead by morning, literally. I can't afford to let this go."
"Fine," the voice sighed. "But I'm notifying Jace so get out of there asap."
"Fine," he echoed back. "Now be quiet so I can focus."
"Good luck, big bro." He heard the line quiet even if she was still listening in passively. He made his way through the door to follow his target further inside the warehouse.
*****Warlock - Suddenly in a warehouse*****
"Shit," he hissed as he confidently stepped out as the glowing gold portal closed behind him. Why did this always happen to him? He had been trying to discreetly track down some low level drug dealer who had been causing issues around his neighborhood. The plan was simple. Take the baseball cap the dude had dropped when he had run away scared off by some cop, use it to track his current location, portal to that location, figure out who the guy worked for, and turn him in with whatever he had on him. Then he would regroup with his friends and figure out the next step.
So, of course the street grunt would be in some rundown warehouse with a group of heavily armed guys. All those guns, previously moving towards some door with smoke coming out of it, trained on him and fired.
He just managed to open a short range portal under himself dropping him behind the bulk of the group. He then gathered energy in his hands and launched it in their general direction. He thought he had scaled it appropriately but he was a bit off his game with the whole 'surprise, your target is part of an arms cartel' bit. And the shooting. The orb exploded with such force even he staggered back as doors and windows blew out and everyone lost their footing, slamming into the ground or anything around them.
Luckily, he stayed up and prepped another orb, blue flame curling around in a vortex and aimed it at the first person with a gun who managed to stagger to their feet. A pudgy man bustled into the room through one of the doors, hands behind his back, looking terrified. He gathered a silver disc of wind and knocked the man off his feet.
He had to think quickly. Okay, so on the one hand, he had found what was probably the source of the drugs. On the other, they had a lot of guns and he wasn't great at fighting large groups. He could manage the attacking part just fine but all it took was one bullet he didn't notice. He had some mad skills but super healing was not one of them. He backed against a wall hoping it would cover his back while he made a decision. He could portal out of here but then he'd probably lose all the progress he had made. It would be so much easier to think if he wasn't simultaneously playing whack a mole with a gang of ruffians.
Another man followed the pudgy man out of the other room after a few moments and he aimed another wind disc at the new man's feet but the man stayed up, somehow dodging the main effect and regaining his balance with the elegance of a dancer. The other man, without missing a beat, launched an arrow in his direction which his just barely managed to portal behind the man. The man snapped his hand out behind his neck while tilting his head just enough, catching the shaft and re-notched the arrow, training it on him.
"Who the hell are you?"
Well, that's interesting. The archer was tall, probably taller than he was and dressed fully in black. Black pants with something strapped to his leg. A black shirt under a structured black jacket that showed off nice, broad shoulders. Black gloves gripped a black bow and a black quiver with black arrows was strapped to his back. His face was covered with black goggles that reminded him of a swimmer and a black cloth mask over his mouth that hooked behind his ears. The only thing he could see was the man's black hair that was slicked back away from his face and held back with some sort of elastic headband. Well, that and a black tattoo slashing under his chin and down his neck on one side.
He had been so distracted by actually looking at the newcomer that he had neglected the disoriented and somewhat battered armed thugs on the ground. An unfortunate oversight because one of them had regained their senses enough to get back up and aim at him. He noticed a moment too late to summon any power to preempt the shot but it didn't matter because the gunman's movements were halted by an arrow through the stomach making the thug double over back on the ground.
"I said, who are you," the archer growled at him, eyes never leaving him even when he had turned his torso to aim at the thug. A new arrow was notched in his bow and he started walking over.
"Woah now, no need for all that. You're very scary, yes. Brooding and dark, A+ aesthetic. I'm new in town. You can call me Warlock."
"Fantastic," the archer said, dripping sarcasm. "What are you doing here, 'Warlock'?"
"Well," he gestured to the gang splayed in varying states of injury, "I just moved here and I wanted to be a good neighbor, get involved in my community, volunteer and all that jazz. You know, the usual."
The archer closed the distance between them dropping his bow arm and using the tip of the arrow to poke him in the chest threateningly. He was about to say something, probably something intimidating and sexy with that deep voice and strong energy but then another group of armed men stormed in, assessed the situation, and opened fire on the only two people standing in the whole building. He could hear sirens in the distance, this was about to get really messy.
"Shit," he said for the second time in almost as many minutes and took the archer by surprise as he pushed him backwards through a portal and followed him through.
*****Shadowhunter - No longer in the warehouse anymore but instead some dark alley somehow*****
He was pretty proud of himself because he recovered really quickly all things considered. The strange man had done something and now they were in some cliche alley with fire escapes and a puddle reflecting the light from the street and a dumpster that people seemed to consider a suggestion at best.
"Explain. Now," he commanded using his best authoritative voice, stashing his bow on his back and releasing one of his knives in order to better threaten the man in such close quarters. It lit up with a dull gleam as the symbols recognized him which he knew added to his whole aesthetic as the man called it.
"As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted which we really should have expected given the circumstances and the company if we're being honest," the man said, pushing the knife away with one gold gloved hand as he leaned against the wall of the alley, relaxing as if ready to chat with a friend. "I'm Warlock. I'm new in town. And I was trying to do a good deed but vastly underestimated how connected my little drug dealer was. Your turn."
He was struggling to keep up his posturing. Now that they were out of danger the man didn't seem worried one bit. Which made sense if he was some cocky vigilante wannabe who hadn't been around long enough to hear the stories but really, the nonchalance with which he met being threatened at knife point was impressive.
The man wore bright blue pants, a white frilly shirt, and a tailored black jacket with a gold phoenix pattern. His entire face was uncovered but his eyes were yellow and resembled cat eyes so if those were his normal eyes no wonder he found it pointless to hide his identity. His hair was gelled in a perfect swoop with gold streaks prominent. Either an idiot or a fool to stand out so much.
"That's none of your business," he said moving away. This wasn't worth his time. He needed to get back so they could find out who this inconvenience was and figure out next steps since obviously they had lost their window with this chance.
"Hm, wait," the man called out to him. "All black, archer, you're that shadow stalker guy I've heard about, aren't you."
"Shadowhunter," he mumbled before he could stop himself, half embarrassed and half annoyed. The name wasn't that hard. Not that he wanted to be well known but seriously. Stalker?
"Yeah, right, that. What were you doing there tonight, Shadowhunter?"
"Again, none of your business." And this time he did leave, grabbing a fire escape and pulling himself up to the roof so he could climb a bit to get his bearings on where in the city he was before he made his way back home.
"Nice to meet you too," he heard the man call after him. Fantastic.