Ancient Magic: a New Adult Urban Fantasy (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress Book 1) (25 page)

It was dark when I got outside, probably the wee hours after midnight, but that was just a guess. My muscles ached as I took the stairs two at a time up to my apartment and let myself in. The small space looked so familiar, but I felt so different. I could still feel the electricity crackling within me.
 

Aaron had possessed other gifts—fire and telepathy that he’d used against Del in the fight at Ancient Magic—but it didn’t feel like I’d inherited those. I wasn’t entirely sure how it worked, but maybe I’d only taken his root gift. The one he’d been born with. The fire and telepathy had been stolen.

I shook the thought away. I didn’t want to think about Aaron or my new powers. It’d take me time to parse through what had happened and how I was going to deal with it and I didn’t have the energy. My adrenaline was fading now that I was in the safety of my home.

Quickly, I crossed to the secret door in my bedroom and let myself into my trove. I flicked on the lights and the soothing golden glow reflected off my treasures. Comfort washed over me, followed by bone-aching exhaustion. The only thing that had kept me going had been the adrenaline.

I walked past aisles of my beloved trove. In the back, I dropped to my knees in the corner. With a trembling hand, I pushed aside a pair of boots and pressed my hand to the wall.

My touch ignited the spell that hid the small door. The lock clicked and it swung open. Within, the tiny golden locket glinted from the back corner. It was my only clue about my past.

Or maybe not.

I unzipped the gym bag and pulled out the scroll. It was heavy in my hands. I realized why when I began to unroll it. There had to be twenty feet of rolled vellum here. Quickly, I skimmed it, grateful it was alphabetical and that the monks who had written it had been Irish.

I found FireSouls, and skimmed for our names. When I came upon Cassiopeia Cleraux, Pheonix Knight, and Delphine Hally, my shoulders slumped.
 

I’d hoped our original names would be written. I didn’t know if I’d recognize them, but process of elimination would help. They could have led us to our parents or information about our past.

I ignored the names of the other FireSouls and skimmed the information below our names. Physical descriptions and a list of our powers. I was described as a Mirror Mage, Nix as a Conjurer, and Del as a Transporter and Phantom half-blood.

Whoa. I rocked back on my heels. That was news. I packed the info away for later examination.
 

I looked for Aaron’s name and found it. Lightning Mage. No mention of fire or telepathy abilities. As I’d thought. Stolen powers didn’t transfer.

My hands trembled with exhaustion as I rolled up the scroll and put it back in the gym bag. I pushed the bag into the small space and shut the door, then replaced the boots.

By the time I staggered back down to Ancient Magic, Aidan was being loaded into an ambulance. The flashing red and blue lights lit up the night. I ran the last few steps toward the stretcher.

“Ma’am, ma’am! You need to move,” a paramedic said.

“I just need to see him,” I said, fear tightening my throat. He’d been alive when we’d brought him back to Ancient Magic. He still was, right?

“It’s fine,” a gravelly voice said from the stretcher.

I nearly collapsed in relief. I’d been operating on instinct to protect my
deirfiúr
and myself when I’d left him at the shop, but now I wanted to see him.

I leaned over the stretcher. His face was wan and his hair singed, but the corner of his mouth kicked up in a smile.

“You don’t look so bad, considering you got hit with about a million volts.”

“I feel great,” he said wryly. “I recommend it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Did you get the scroll?” he asked.

My brain blanked. I didn’t want to lie to him. I spent my life lying to everyone around me except my
deirfiúr
. For once, I wanted to be honest.

But I couldn’t be.
 

I shook my head and pushed the lie past my tight throat. “No. It was destroyed by the lightning the thief was throwing.”

His brow lowered and skepticism flashed on his face.
 

He didn’t believe me.
 

A paramedic hustled up to the other side of the stretcher. “Time to get you to the hospital, Mr. Merrick.”
 

He pushed the stretcher toward the ambulance. I stepped back, grateful for the reprieve.

“You don’t need to pay me,” I called after Aidan. “I failed, so we’re square.”

I couldn’t hear if he responded. It might not be the last time I saw him, but that was my last word on the matter. As the ambulance pulled away from the curb, I turned toward Ancient Magic.

The lights were on when I entered, casting a harsh glow on the damage that Aaron and his master’s demons had caused. Nix and Del sat on the floor, leaning against the counter.

“You look better,” I said to Nix.
 

“I’m conscious and upright, so yeah, I feel better,” Nix said.

“They didn’t want to take you with Aidan?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t let them. He was zapped by a full bolt and was too weak to stop them. I just got knocked out when I touched the side of the cage.”

“I told her not to,” Del said.
 

“I never listen,” Nix said.

“Aidan will be okay, though, right?”

“Yeah,” Nix said. “The paramedics just said they were taking him in for monitoring and rehydrating. They said all his limbs worked and stuff, and he was talking.”

“Good.” I sank down next to my
deirfiúr
and stared at the wreckage of our shop. “Man, it’s been a shitty week.”

Del laughed. “Understatement.”

“I could eat a horse and sleep for two days.” My head dropped back onto the counter behind me.

“Connor and Claire came by when they heard the ambulance. They’re coming back with pasties.”

“Awesome.” I hoped they’d bring a lot.

“Del said you found the scroll. What’d you do with it?” Nix asked.

“Stashed it in my trove, but we need to put it somewhere no one will find it. And that can’t be traced back to us.”

Nix blew out a breath. “That’ll be tough. Can’t exactly take out a safety deposit box.”

It’d work, if only we could trust the bank not to look in our box. It wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.
 

“So, Del,” I said. “That scroll said that you are part Phantom.”

“Whoa.” Her forehead creased. “I have no idea what that means. Or what to do with that info.”

“We’ll figure it out,” I said.

She sighed. “Yeah.”

“Anything about me?” Nix asked.

“Nothing we don’t know.”

“I guess I’m kinda relieved,” she said. “So what happened back there—while I was passed out?” Nix asked.

I heaved out a sigh. Where to start?
 

Aaron. “The thief who destroyed this place wasn’t actually a bad guy.”

Nix’s head whipped toward me. “What?”
 

I told them about Aaron and his collar. About how his master was hunting us as well. About how I felt like shit for killing him.

“Man, that sucks,” Del said. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Cass. It was just a shitty situation. It sounds like he was happy in the end.”

“He felt happy. At peace,” I said.

“He’d have to be, after what he lived through,” Nix said. “How awful, being enslaved by a guy who puts a collar on you that will kill you if removed.”

“I think it was worse than that,” I said. “Aaron had powers that weren’t his own. He was born a Lightning Mage, but he wasn’t born with power over fire or telepathy. He’d killed for those. But his soul was so pure once I’d taken the collar off him, I don’t think he would have done it willingly.”

“So his master is making super FireSouls? To like, fight or something?” Del shuddered. “Monster.”

“I don’t know what his goal is. But he’s hunting us.”

“But he doesn’t know where we are, right?” Nix asked.

“I don’t think so. There was no one left alive to tell him where we are. I killed every demon who saw us. And Aaron.” I rubbed my upper arms, suddenly chilled. “I feel like a monster.”

“You did what he wanted,” Nix said. “He gave you his power. Willingly. He taught you how to take it. Don’t dwell on the bad. Use it to get even. Because the monster is coming for us.”

She was right. Logically, I knew it. But I’d killed a man tonight and taken his power. I just didn’t know how to process what I’d done. I’d spent my whole life resisting this.
 

Now my options were to keep ignoring my gifts and disrespect Aaron’s last wish—that I use his power to defeat the monster who hunted us—or to embrace them and eventually be discovered and thrown in the Prison for Magical Miscreants.

They were bad options.
 

But at least they were options.

And like Nix had said—the monster was coming for us.

I had to decide, I just didn’t know how.

The door to Ancient Magic opened. I tensed, still on edge, but it was just Claire and Connor.

Connor held up a brown paper sack. “Brought the promised pasties!”

Claire raised a tray of paper coffee cups. “And lattes!”

At the sight of my friends, warmth and gratitude filled me. It’d been a bad night and bad shit was on the horizon. But today was good. My friends and
deirfiúr
were here.
 

Aidan would live. I wouldn’t see him again—at least not past assuring him that the scroll really was destroyed—but at least he was safe.
 

At least we all were safe.

For now.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Two nights later, I sat in the corner at P & P with Nix and Del after another long day cleaning up Ancient Magic. We’d lost about half our stock—months of hunting work for me—but I couldn’t be mad at Aaron over the damage. That was all on his master, the man we now called The Monster.

But I was trying not to think of that tonight. We’d swept up the last broken replica and shard of glass, and new windows had been installed that morning. So tomorrow we’d be back to normal. That was worth celebrating. In the morning, I’d set out in search of another youth charm for Mr. S. Del had found reference to an amulet hidden in a temple in Prague.

Connor and Claire had joined us once their only staff member had shown up. Bridget manned the counter some evenings when Connor wanted a break.

“All right,” Connor said as he held up his glass of whiskey. “To Ancient Magic. Back on its feet!”

I touched my glass to his, then clinked my way around the circle, careful not to miss anyone. I was so damned glad to be back with my friends, the threat temporarily averted.

“One more,” I said after a sip. I raised my glass. “Health and happiness. Because we have them, and we want to keep them.”

“Cheers to that,” a deep voice said as we clinked our glasses.

I turned. Aidan stood in the doorway, his hands tucked into his pockets. It was suddenly a bit harder to breathe. His dark hair was shiny instead of singed, and his skin was no longer deathly pale. In his t-shirt and jeans, he looked back to normal. Which was to say, damned good.

And also a pain in my ass.

“Hey, Aidan!” Connor said. “Good to see you, man!”

“You’re looking better,” Nix said. Though she and Del liked Aidan, after the events at the cathedral, we were all on our guard. Because of my memory, someone hunting us had always been at the periphery of our thoughts. But after what had just happened, the threat had become more real. We were all wary.

They still thought he might be able to help us, but he made me nervous. I’d experienced how powerful he was. Aidan was the freaking Origin, not to mention a full Elemental Mage and a healer. He was too powerful. Eventually he was going to sense what I was, especially now that I had Aaron’s lightning gift.

“You look like you’re feeling better,” Nix said. “Not nearly as crispy.”

Aidan grinned. He looked so damned handsome that I wanted to curse him. I settled for cursing myself.

“Come, join us,” Claire said. “Want a beer or a whiskey?”

Aidan glanced at me. Clearly he was here to talk about the scroll, but I wasn’t ready to lie again. So I said nothing. We’d talk, but it’d be better if it were after a drink and some chatting with my friends. If we were all normal and charming, then he’d be more likely to trust me when I lied, right?

Even the thought turned my stomach.

“Whiskey, thanks,” Aidan said. He took the seat next to me.

“You all right?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I glanced at him quickly, then away.

“So, they sprung you from the hospital, eh?”
 
Connor asked.

“Clean bill of health,” Aidan said.
 

Claire brought him the whiskey and he thanked her. We chatted about the shop being up and running again.
 

At first, I was uncomfortable. But Aidan fit right in with my friends. I was genuinely wishing I didn’t have to blow him off later tonight.
 

But I had to. Severing contact with him was safest for us all.