Blood Magic (Dragon Born Alexandria Book 2) (5 page)

She sat down at the desk with her computer and messaged her sister. A few moments later, the computer rang like an old-fashioned telephone.

“Alex,” Sera said as she appeared on the screen. She was sitting on the sofa in their San Francisco house, dressed in a tank top and running tights. “How are you?” A smirk curled up Sera’s lips. “Still hanging out with that assassin?”

“Well, he does keep following me around.”

Logan glowered at her from the sofa. Alex grinned right back at him.

“Ok, now I’m intrigued,” said Sera. “Anyone who can make you smile like that must be interesting. Give me a peek?”

Alex lifted up the computer, turning it until Logan was in view. He made a solid effort to look menacing.

“He’s cute,” Sera said as Alex returned the screen to herself.

“He has heightened senses. He can hear you,” Alex told her as Logan smirked.

“I know,” Sera said, smiling. “Kai told me all about his special abilities.”

“Oh? They know each other?”

“I’m not sure how well they know each other. I only gathered that whatever their dealings were, they didn’t go well.”

Logan made a low, grunting sound. Alex could have been mistaken—because, you know, assassins—but it sounded like his amused grunt.

“Then we’ll have to put them at different ends of the table when we all have dinner together,” Alex told her sister.

“Yeah, dinner together. That would be nice.” Sera sighed. “After all this madness is over.”

“You have some problems of your own there, I hear.”

“Just a group of mad supernaturals trying to kill humans.”

“And we have an organization of madmen trying to rid the world of supernaturals.”

“About that,” Sera said. “We ran into one of your madmen in New York. A mage.”

A mage working for the Convictionites? Awesome. That was even better than the Convictionites using magic artifacts and weapons against supernaturals.

“The mage was using the Blood Orb to control vampires, forcing them to attack members of the Magic Council,” Sera continued.

“So that’s how the Convictionites are wielding the Blood Orb,” Alex said. “They have more supernaturals working for them?”

“It sounded like it, yes.”

“What kind of self-hater would help an organization who plans to wipe their kind out of existence?”

“The Convictionites get these mages early, when they’re very young,” Sera said. “They’re raised to hate what they are.”

“Things are bad here, Sera. The Convictionites have been using the Blood Orb more and more, testing its power in different cities, moving it around so that we can’t find it. At first, they were only using it on the common vampires, then they moved on to the demon-powered vampires. And now the shapeshifting vampires. They have mages on their side and can control all vampires. This won’t end in anything but a bloodbath, even if the Magic Council gets involved. Hell, especially if the Magic Council gets involved.”

“That’s what the Convictionites want.”

“Yes,” Alex agreed. “That’s exactly what they want. We’ve tracked the Blood Orb back to London. Again. We have to stop this now, before things get any worse. I wish you were here, Sera. You’ve faced this magic before in New York. You know how to fight it.”

“I wish I could come. You know I do. But I have a magical crisis of my own to fight. Bad things are going down here too.”

“Yeah.” Alex sighed.

“I might not be able to be there to help you in person, but I’ve sent you help.” The doorbell rang, and Sera smiled. “Right on schedule.”

“Alex, why is there a fairy standing outside my house?” Marek asked from the sofa.

She leaned sideways to look at Marek’s computer screen. It showed the view from the camera over the front door. A woman with long pink hair stood there, suitcases and other bags piled around her. When she glanced up and winked her glittery eyelashes at the camera, Alex caught a glimpse of her face. It was Naomi.

“That’s my friend,” Alex told Marek. “Sera sent her. Let her in.” As the heels of his boots tapped up the stairs, she turned back to her computer screen. “Great move asking Naomi to come.”

“I thought you’d like that,” Sera said, grinning. “But try not to get into too much trouble with her. We wouldn’t want a repeat of the Santa Cruz incident.”

“Party pooper.”

“Queen of chaos.”

“Goody two shoes.”

Sera snorted. “Love you too. Ok, I have to go now.”

“Monsters to kill?”

“If only.” She looked wistfully to the side, perhaps at a sword offscreen. “I’m meeting with Simmons today. We’re negotiating my new work contract.”

“Good luck with that. I’d rather face the Convictionites than that cheapskate.”

A delighted spark flashed in Sera’s brown eyes. “He wants to see you too.”

“I’m sure he does.”

Probably so he could start charging Gaelyn more. The old immortal was getting her—a supposed non-magical mercenary—for a relative bargain price. Simmons didn’t care how much she got paid; this was all about his ability to charge clients more for mercenaries with magical abilities.

“Regrettably, I’m out of the country at the moment,” Alex finished.

“You sound really torn up about it.”

“I can hardly sleep.”

“I’ll make sure to tell Simmons that,” Sera said. “Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

“What happened in Santa Cruz?” Logan asked as Alex shut her computer. He was standing right behind her, his breath kissing her neck.

She spun around, trying to meet his eyes with nonchalance. The thump of her heart—which she knew he’d heard—betrayed her. “Just a minor misunderstanding involving a bunch of gigantic banana slugs and some uptight magical researchers. They let the banana slugs out of their laboratory. Some cows got eaten. After Naomi and I took care of the problem, we chewed out the researchers. I might have accused them of possessing only one brain cell between the six of them. Suffice it to say, they took issue with my assessment. Which was totally accurate, by the way.”

He chuckled. “You sure have a way with people.”

“I kill monsters, not sweet-talk diplomats. The job requires a certain directness. And a hard shell.”

“So does mine.” He looked down at his arm, the one Marek had drawn blood from just a few minutes ago. Of course it was healed. “She’s cracked my shell. Or maybe I never really had one. It was all a big lie.”

Alex didn’t have to ask who ‘she’ was. Logan’s mother, the one who should have protected her children, had exploited them, warping them into supernatural weapons. Logan was the only one who’d survived the process.

“They haven’t been able to control you since we destroyed the device she was using.”

“
You
destroyed it,” he said. “You broke her control over me. For now. I suspect they are just biding their time. They will find another way to control me. Another device. Another breed of magic. I am a living weapon, a trained assassin enhanced with magic to be strong and fast and magic-resistant. I was built for one thing: to kill supernaturals.” His deep voice vibrated with icy fury.

“And I was built to break magic. I am every bit as much of a weapon as you are,” she said. “Whatever they try against you, I will break it.”

He set his hand on her shoulder, his smile more painful than happy. “I know you will. I’m worried about the damage I’ll do before you can stop me. Damage to you,” he said, brushing his hand down her face. “I’m a danger to you. You would be safer without me.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. “But I can’t stay away.”

“I’m tough,” she told him.

“I hurt you.”

“And I hit you with my magic so hard that you snapped out of it. She was controlling you, Logan. It wasn’t your fault. You need to start feeling less guilty about that and more guilty about all those stunts you played on me.” She smirked at him. “Those you actually have control over.”

His arm curled around her back, pulling her closer. “Who says I have control over how I act around you?” His words buzzed against her lips.

“Good.” She kissed him. “It’s more fun that way.”

As she pulled back, he tugged her in closer, his impatient kiss nipping the emerging sarcastic remark from her tongue. Almost as soon as it started, the kiss was over. He pulled away, leaving her breathless for not the first time tonight.

“Tease,” she muttered.

“Marek and your friend are coming inside. If you’d like to continue this discussion, I’d be happy to oblige.”

Discussion, right. Alex snorted. She had no doubt that he’d continue making out with her right there, even with Naomi and Marek in front of them. Not that she minded. She had many flaws, but a sense of propriety was not one of them.

“Later,” she told him with a wink. “Right now, duty calls.”

Their hands still linked, they turned and faced the staircase.

“Blast it, woman!” Marek’s voice echoed down the stairs, followed by him, loaded down with enough suitcases and bags to overwhelm an elephant. “Whatever did you put in all these? And I thought I liked to shop.”

Naomi trailed him, carrying a single chic leather bag, brown to match her knee-high boots. “You like to shop? Fantastic! You can show me all the best shopping spots later. I couldn’t fit everything I needed on the plane. I have to pick up a few things.”

“Forgot your knickers, did you?” He laughed and dropped her bags into the corner.

“You’re cute.” Her laugh was melodic, woven together with fairy magic that rang like tiny silver bells and tasted like cotton candy. “No, I’ve got plenty of clothes. And underclothes.” She looked at Alex. “But did you know they won’t let you bring a flamethrower on an airplane?”

“Yeah, I always take a private jet when I need to bring a flamethrower along,” Alex joked.

“Indeed,” Naomi replied cheerfully. The hot pink color drained from her hair, and it returned to its usual pale blonde. “Later, I need to go out to resupply. Weapons, potions, and some other things.” She plopped down on the sofa and grabbed a chocolate cookie from the plate on the tea table. “Mmm. This is good.”

“Marek made them,” Alex told her.

“Oh?” She looked up at Marek. “Nice use of Fairy Lily. Just subtle enough to make you happy without giving you a full-out buzz.”

He gaped at her in surprise.

“Naomi’s family grows Fairy Lily,” Alex told him, sitting down beside her friend. “She can pick out that taste in anything. And I told you it was noticeable.”

“Did you notice it?” he asked Logan, who’d eaten at least a dozen of them this morning.

Logan shrugged. “Not really, but my body eats magic for breakfast.”

Naomi took another cookie. “Do they ever sit down?” she asked cheerfully, looking up at the guys.

“No, they think standing makes them look tough.”

“Oh, it does. Definitely.” Naomi’s magic was popping with mischief as her eyes focused on Logan. “So that’s the infamous Slayer.” She licked her lips. “He’s yummy. Though all those knives must be uncomfortable to cuddle up to.”

Logan’s face had taken on its neutral shade. Marek, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to retch.

“Is it too late for us to send back your sister’s gift?” he asked Alex.

Naomi’s gaze flickered to him. She looked him up and down and said, “He’s a tough one to crack, isn’t he? But I’ll figure him out eventually and win him over.”

“You always do,” Alex agreed.

Tiny golden sparkles glistened in Naomi’s cerulean eyes. “Of course.”

“Fairies,” Marek grumbled under his breath.

She smiled back at him. “Half fairy actually.”

“And the other half?”

“Mage.”

Marek grew oddly quiet, but his eyes didn’t leave Naomi. He was watching her with an intensity that bordered on obsession. His magic pulsed out in rapid, uneven beats.

Whatever.
Alex shook off the eerie vibes Marek was putting off. So what if he got excited about fairy-mage hybrids? His preferences were none of her business. It was time to get this conversation back on track.

“Sera said you know something about the mages working for the Convictionites?” Alex asked Naomi. “And the Blood Orb?”

“Yes, Riley and I were with Sera in New York. She told us everything.” A wicked smirk slid across her mouth. “Even a few things Riley didn’t like so much.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, like how Sera and his friend Kai Drachenburg really hit it off.” Her eyebrows wiggled. “Like really.”

Good for Sera.

“Ok, so maybe Riley figured that one out for himself. It was kind of hard to miss.” Naomi snickered. “The two of them were all over each other.”

Alex resisted the urge to look at Logan.

“Riley got over it, though. He knows his sisters are drawn to dangerous men.” Naomi had no qualms about smirking up at Logan.

“Did Sera tell you how she broke the Blood Orb’s control over the vampires?” Alex asked her. Sometimes, a conversation with Naomi was a detour of a thousand tangents. Usually tangents into everyone’s love life.

“Right, the vampires.” Naomi’s smile wasn’t the least bit apologetic. The girl couldn’t help it. She loved to gossip. “Sera told me the key is to break the magic bonding the vampires to the Blood Orb. She says it’s like a web, connecting them all. If you smash your magic hard enough into one of the vampires, the whole web will break.”

Smash hard. That shouldn’t be too difficult. In fact, smashing things hard was her specialty.

“Anything else?” Alex asked.

“Yes, the mage controlling the vampires might protect them from spells,” said Naomi. “One group Sera fought was fireproof. The same technique applies for breaking that spell.”

“Smash them hard with magic?”

“Yep, that’s the one.”

Alex grinned. Maybe fighting the Convictionite army would be more fun than she’d thought.

“I thought you’d like that,” Naomi said.

“Well, you know me.” Alex grabbed a cookie. All teasing aside, Marek really could bake. “Naomi, it’s not that I’m not excited to see you, but why couldn’t Sera just tell me all this over the phone?”

“She could have. But I didn’t just come here to tell you how to take down the vampires. I came to help you do it. You see, it’s bigger than any of us know. Somehow it is.” She chewed on her lip. “Did Sera tell you what happened on Angel Island?”