Kass watched Cat drop to the ground in front of her as Harry shimmered back into the visible spectrum holding a large log.

Kass thought about sending him flying and for a second it seemed like he was going to but then Kass felt as if something were pushing back against her. She looked over at Diego. He was focused on her, his forehead wrinkled in concentration. Little beads of sweat formed on his skin. He was countering her powers somehow. He’d done it earlier too when she’d first woken up. She hadn’t been able to push him, not when he was focused on her. She released her magic on Harry and he fell over the opposite why to what she’d been pushing. Diego relaxed and gave a smile.

“That won’t work again,” He told her.

He wasn’t telekinetic but he had countered her powers. He was what was known as a borrower. Someone who could use the powers of others nearby, very rarely any better than they could use their own ones though. And for Diego it obviously took a lot of effort and focus. He hadn’t been able to do it in the middle of a fight.

“It’s too bad you and the dreamwalker weren’t swapped. That’s a much more useful power in a surprise battle.” He walked towards her. “But then you don’t have a lot of control over it do you.”

‘Just like you don’t have a lot of efficiency.’ Kass thought but she didn’t say it, it would only encourage him to finish her off faster. Instead she just stared at him.

On the ground Cat stirred. Diego pointed at her. “Tie her up,” he commanded.

Harry scurried to do what he was told as Luey got begrudgingly to his feet.

“We should just put a bullet in their heads,” Luey argued. “They seen us out here. They seen what we did.”

Diego smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Now now Luey, we’re not heartless killers, there’s no need for that.”

“But the others…” Luey protested.

“The others wouldn’t keep their noses out of our business. We gave them a choice. It’s only fair.” He spoke to Luey but he looked at Kass the whole time. Kass wasn’t sure she believed him.

He could put a bullet in them both right now but that would almost certainly come down to a battle of whose magic was stronger, hers or Diego’s. Right now there was a good chance she might win but not a guarantee, plus there were still the other two men to contend with. Better to wait for when they weren’t expecting it.

“What’s the offer?” Kass asked.

Diego seemed to relax slightly. Perhaps he really was telling the truth and if they forgot what they’d seen then he’d leave them be. That or he was planning on shooting them the second they dropped their guard.

Harry had dragged Cat to a nearby tree and was reaching for some ropes to tie her up.

Diego half watched them. He never took his eyes completely off Kass however. As he approached her he leaned down and picked up the rifle. He turned it over in his hands studying it.

“Where’d you girls get a rifle this nice?” he asked.

“It’s mine,” Kass replied.

Diego studied her and then looked over at Cat, obviously comparing the two of them. Kass figured it probably didn’t matter whose he thought it was. She wondered if he could tell when she was using her magic. She hadn’t used her powers since Harry had knocked Cat out but back while Cat had been distracting them with questions she’d been working on trying to untie her binds. She hadn’t quite succeeded, but she’d managed to loosen them a little. Using telekinesis to untie knots was very precise magic and Diego was right, Kass had very little control over hers. Her magic was more like a bazooka than a sniper rifle. Tearing the rope in half might have been easier but when it was around her wrists even that was precise magic. Amanda could have burned through the strands without even making smoke. Amanda could have set these men on fire with her eyes closed. She wondered what Amanda would do if her and Cat didn’t turn up. How long would it take her to leave the cave and Indi and come looking for them?

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Diego frowned. “Are you hunters?”

Something clicked in Kass’s head. She forced herself to keep her eyes on Diego and not to take another look at the equipment they had lying around in the clearing. She remembered though, what they had. Before she had thought it was just regular hunting equipment but she hadn’t considered that what they might be hunting might not be so regular. There was something else she remembered from earlier too, back when they’d met the trampers, something that made her piece the whole thing together.

Kass forced herself to meet his eyes. Not something she liked doing often. “That’s our business isn’t it?”

Diego smiled.

Out of the corner of her eye Kass noticed movement.

Then there was a loud yell from Harry.

Diego and Kass both turned to see Cat, wide awake with a knife pressed against Harry’s throat.

Diego sighed as if he’d half expected it and wasn’t even surprised.

Kass took the opportunity to have a go at mentally untying her ropes again. If she only used a little magic maybe he wouldn’t notice anyway. Just a little more and she’d be free.

Diego backed up and fixed the rifle on Kass, but his eyes were on Cat and that was who he spoke to.

“You kill him I’ll just bring him back,” Diego threatened “I can’t say the same about her.” He gestured at Kass with the nozzle of the rifle.

Cat stayed where she was, obviously considering her options. She glanced at Kass for a second maybe analyzing whether or not Kass could help, obviously wondering why she hadn’t used her powers already. Cat knew it meant something, but she couldn’t know exactly what so Cat would play it cautiously. Still it would be better if she knew. Cat gave a slight incline of her head hoping Kass would understand.

Kass shook her head. “He’s a Borrower.”

Diego narrowed his eyes at Kass then turned back to Cat with an taunting sneer. “It’s too bad you can’t put people to sleep.”

They were in a stalemate. It was at that moment that Harry, who no one had really been watching too closely suddenly launched himself forwards. Cat pulled the knife back and to the side in a surprised reaction. It slit Harry’s throat, blood spurted out in an arc, but he didn’t seem to notice. Harry had changed and now he charged forward to attack. But not at Cat.

Without thought Harry raced forward towards the two people who he could see in front of him. The necromancy had worn off, Harry had gone full zombie. The body that had been brought back was not enough to contain him. His mind was fading and soon all that would remain was a fleshy beast that attacked anything nearby.

Diego leaped backwards and out of the way. Kass was closer so Harry rushed at her. She tried to throw him but she felt Diego’s magic countering hers. She fiddled faster with the ropes around her wrists. Just a little more. Harry was almost at her. She wasn’t going to make it. She yanked hard but the ropes stuck fast. She could see Harry’s wild eyes, the excessive dilation of his pupils.

He was almost at her when Cat tackled him from behind. They went down in mess of screams.

A few seconds on and what would have been too late without Cat’s tackle Kass finally managed to get her bonds undone. She leapt to her feet and ran at Diego. His eyes opened wide in surprise and she felt him trying to push her back with her own powers. She put everything she had into it and he went flying through the air and stopped only when he went crashing into a tree at the edge of the clearing.

Luey turned and tried to run but Kass yanked him back with her magic. He landed at her feet. Kass turned and mentally pulled her rifle to her hand. She pointed it down at Luey.

He opened his eyes wide. “Please, don’t…”

Kass fired, right between the eyes.

She turned to face Cat and Harry. They were still struggling but Cat seemed to be winning this time. It would be hard to line up a shot in that mess anyway. She turned back toward Diego.

He had gotten to his feet and was looking at her differently. She worked her gaze up to his eyes. His pupils were dilated. He grinned at her, growled, and rushed toward her. He didn’t try with magic this time. He was likely past thinking. Kass simply reloaded the rifle, calmly raised it, and fired. He kept running. Shit.