Fairy Magic (19 page)

“If Alex is going, so am I,” Logan said. “Someone has to protect her from her own recklessness.”

“The spirit realm is not safe for you. It drains magic from the people who go there,” Naomi warned them. “You’ll be weaker there.”

“I spent over twenty years fighting without magic,” Alex said. “I think I can handle a few hours, especially if it means saving one of my own kind.”

Naomi turned to Logan. “Your body was infused with magic. I don’t know what will happen to you there.”

“I am willing to risk—” His hands flashed forward, catching Alex as she stumbled to the side. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Sera,” Alex said. “She’s in trouble. I feel the dark hand of death closing in on her.”

“The Grim Reaper,” said Logan.

“Yes. We have to go to her.” She shot Naomi an apologetic look. “I’m sorry.”

Naomi waved her away. “Go. Save Sera. She needs you more than I do.”

Alex hugged her. “Be safe.”

“You too.”

As Alex and Logan ran for the exit, magic tugged at Naomi. She was being pulled into the spirit realm again. She decided to do the magic linking her to Makani a favor. Using the Midnight Cape to refocus her, she punched through to the first circle. The tugging sensation on her body settled down, but she could still feel it deep beneath the surface. The magic wanted her to go to Makani, and she intended to do just that.

She took a deep breath and pushed out with her magic, trying to punch through to the second circle. It didn’t work. Even with the Midnight Cape, she was still too weak to do it without the gateway. She ran for the arch. People and monsters stared out at her from the shadows, but they stayed hidden.

She felt like she was being followed, though. She spun around, pink flames of Fairy Dust flaring up from her hands. She looked past the warm glow of magic to stare into the face of her stalker. It was the vampire fairy Cyrus, dressed for battle in a Kevlar suit that looked entirely too hot for hell.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“I went back to Nymphenburg Palace.”

“You went through the tear in the veil.”

“Yes.”

“You returned to the place where you were tortured for days, knowing Darksire’s army is still camped out there.” She shook her head. “You’re insane.”

“Of course I’m crazy. I am a vampire fairy hybrid.”

She sighed.

“I knew you’d show up here eventually, and I want to help.”

“Go home, Cyrus. This place drains magic.” She started walking away.

Undeterred, he followed. “You’re here.”

“I’m special.”

“Yes, you are.”

He spoke the words with that same sappy, devoted look on his face. What was she going to do with him?

“It’s dangerous here,” he said. “You need someone to have your back.”

She thought about Makani—where he was, what he was doing. He could be surrounded by beast men or demon-sworn soldiers by now. He needed her. She needed him. She wanted him fighting at her side, not Cyrus.

“Please leave,” she said.

“I go where you go.”

She walked faster. The arch wasn’t far away now. Cyrus matched her pace, stride for stride. She couldn’t outrun him, and she didn’t want to fight him. There was no time for that anyway. She could knock him out. Her magic here was powerful enough to take down a half-fairy. But she couldn’t just leave him helpless in hell.

So she kept walking. With every step that she took, the visions bombarded her mind, a stream of disjointed flashes of Makani. She saw a forest growing amidst a crumbled field of former buildings. City ruins. A broken pink car. Box crates. A wall of rocks. He was in the city—or at least what was left of Munich in the second circle of hell.

The visions hit her faster, harder. It was like a timer counting down to detonation, and her time was nearly up. That Dragon Guard fairy was willing to do anything to make sure she saved the Dragon Born mage, even make her go mad. She had to get to the second circle to save Makani—and save her own mind while she was at it.

“Are you all right?” Cyrus asked her, watching her uneven steps.

“Fine.” She noticed that there wasn’t a scratch on him. For all she could tell, he was back to full strength. That would make losing him that much harder. “How many people did you have to eat to heal those injuries in one night?” she asked.

“A lot. But don’t worry. They enjoyed every minute of it.” He winked at her.

The arch loomed before them, and there were no cowboy gangsters there this time. There was, however, a pack of monsters blocking her way. As large as lions but with the bodies of wolves, they looked like trouble. And from the rumble of growls buzzing on their snouts, they weren’t in any mood to talk. They were spread all around the arch, which meant she couldn’t blast them all with Fairy Dust in one go.

She was considering her options when she heard a swoosh and a yelp. She looked behind her at the dead wolf at her feet. It had tried to sneak up on her, and Cyrus had shot an arrow through its head.

He grinned at her. “See? I told you I’d be useful.”

The beasts charged. She blasted them with a ribbon of Fairy Dust that cracked and snapped at their bodies like a whip, slapping them down one after the other. A few of the wolves got through, charging her. She drew her sword. Beside her, Cyrus was cutting through the beasts like he’d been born for nothing else.

As the last monster fell, Naomi stepped up to the arch. She tried to rush through it, but Cyrus grabbed her hand. She felt herself being pulled into the second circle. As the magic opened up a sliver between the realms, she spun around and kicked Cyrus back to the first circle.

“This is my journey alone,” she told him as he faded away.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Secret Cave

NAOMI WANTED TO protect Cyrus from the horrors of hell, but he was a big boy. He could look after himself. She only hoped he had the sense to go back to earth before his magic grew too weak and the monsters found him.

She walked through the ruins of Munich. The second circle of hell was even further removed from the real world than the first. And now that she was really, completely here—not just wafting between realms—it hit her harder. Only about half of the city remained. Hell’s wilderness had claimed the rest. Trees and vines twisted up the husks of buildings. A spicy sweet taste hung thick in the air, mixed with the stench of overly ripe fruit. The red moon blended into a sky that had bled over. She hoped that wasn’t an omen of things to come.

Naomi plucked the bond that linked her to Makani. She felt him close by. He was somewhere in the city. He hadn’t waited for her. Typical.

Not that she was surprised. She followed the thread of magic that linked them, passing a crumbled field of former buildings. She recognized the sight from her last flashes of him. When she passed a familiar broken pink car, she knew she must be close.

Gangs and scavengers and monsters peered out of buildings and trees, the air heavy with the stench of their fear. She heard whispers of
Spirit Warrior
, as though the name were a curse. Word must have gotten around about her magic. But somehow she didn’t think she was the reason they were hiding.

A war horn howled on the wind, then the hoof thumps of the unicorns of the apocalypse clicked against cobbled streets. Naomi ducked behind a wall of wooden crates, peering through the gaps to watch the arrival of Valin’s army. This group was small—only about fifty soldiers. The rest must already be elsewhere in the city.

A ripple of magic slid across the back of her neck, and she spun around, lifting her knife.

“About time,” Makani said, a smirk on his lips. “Did you get lost on the way over here?” He looked even better face-to-face. His magic tasted even better too.

She lowered her knife. “I had to save a few more people. You’re not on the top of my list, you know.”

The air crackled between them, electrified by a storm of colliding magic. It snapped against her, bombarding her with visions. She saw herself through his eyes, like she was looking through a mirror. The magic crashed, and she stumbled. He caught her as she fell. As their hands touched, the storm puffed out. The spell that had wound her magic together with his faded. She sighed with relief, straightening.

“The spell the fairy cast on me has broken,” she said. “He wanted me to come to you, and I have.”

Makani inhaled deeply, then in a flash, he had the point of his knife pressed against her chest. “What sorcery is this?”

She blinked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I would know the stench of that magic anywhere, even after seven hundred years.” His nose crinkled up in disgust. “Darksire.”

She held up her hands. “I am not Darksire.”

He inhaled again. “No. You’re not.” His shoulders relaxed, if only slightly.”

“Ok,” she said. “So now that that’s settled, do you mind lowering your knife?”

He retracted the knife. “The magic is fading.” He lifted his hand into the air, rubbing his fingers together. “The spell,” he whispered like he was speaking over a tomb. “You said it was placed on you by a dark fairy?”

“Yes.”

His eyes burned with wrath. “Darksire’s spell.”

“Darksire… Wait, are you saying that Darksire is the fairy who placed the spell on me?”

“That spell was woven by his magic. He hid it well beneath the layers of your spirit magic, knowing your potent aroma would mask his wretched stench. Only once the spell broke, separating from you, was I able to smell him.”

“But why would Darksire want me to get you out of hell? And how did he perform that spell? Only a Dragon Guard fairy could have done it… Oh.” The word popped on her lips. “He is a Dragon Guard.”

“
Was
a Dragon Guard,” Makani said fiercely. “He is one no longer. He lost the right to call himself a protector of the Dragon Born the day he took up his master Damarion’s campaign to destroy us.”

“But what does Darksire want with you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why did he free Firestorm from hell?”

“They were allies. She was there too, seven centuries ago, helping Damarion and Darksire kill the Dragon Born.”

“What is she?”

“A monster, a miasma of vile magics. She is the worst of every kind of supernatural, twisted and corrupted to serve only darkness. Darksire corrupted her.” His fury scorched the air. His pain poisoned it.

“What happened?”

He turned away. “It was a long time ago. Another life. It does no good to dwell on it. Right now, we have other problems.”

“Saving your friends from Valin. Where are they? How do we get to them?”

“It’s not that easy. They are in another part of the city. There are many soldiers and beasts between us and them,” he said. “We have to be smart about this. They are to be executed publicly tomorrow night. We will rescue them at noon.”

“When the army’s powers are weakest,” she said.

He nodded. “Valin’s soldiers have taken over the city. There are patrols everywhere. We need to get off the streets and lie low until tomorrow.” He waved her forward. “Come with me.”

He led her down the broken street. They hadn’t made it far when a stream of ghosts poured through one of the houses. The ghosts formed a wall of otherworldly magic, blocking the street from both ends. A melancholy melody of magic hummed beneath a straightjacket of demonic control.

“Do you know a way around them?” Naomi asked Makani.

“No. We will have to fight them.” He stepped forward.

Naomi hesitated.

He glanced back at her. “What’s wrong?”

“I feel bad fighting them. They don’t have a will of their own. They’re being controlled by Valin.”

“Then we will set them free. Just like last time.” He extended his hand to her.

She took it, feeling a pleasant crackle as her skin brushed against his, their magic blending together.

Twin swirls of gold and brown magic spiraled in his eyes. “Your magic is even more magnificent in person, with your full power here.” His head dipped and he kissed her softly on her lips.

Magic surged inside of her.

A smile slid across his lips. “Yes.” His nostrils flared. “Magnificent.”

“Ready?” she asked, clearing her throat.

“Ready.”

They released their magic together. It flowed like a liquid ribbon of glistening blue light lit up with tiny pink diamonds. The magic hit the otherworldly, smashing their solid wall into a dozen individual ghosts. Naomi and Makani turned and blasted the second group as well. Dark smoke rose from their shimmering bodies as Valin’s spell burned off of them. The ghosts dipped their heads in thanks, then disappeared.

“It will take Valin some time to trap more ghosts and break their minds,” he said.

Happiness spread her mouth into a smile she couldn’t contain—and didn’t want to. “I’m glad they’re free again.” She squeezed his hands. “Thank you for helping me save them.”

Behind Makani, a streak of light shot out of a broken window like a tornado of magic. Naomi slammed against him, pushing him out of its path. It hit her instead, cutting through her body like a splash of ice water that froze the breath from her lips, plunging her into darkness.

* * *

Naomi opened her eyes, blinking back darkness. Makani’s eyes flashed with relief.

“What happened?” she asked. Her head was in his lap. She tried to sit up, but the world was still spinning.

“A ghost passed through you, then flew off. We must have missed him when we freed the others.” He brushed his hand across her forehead. “Are you all right?

“I’m fine,” she said. “Why did the ghost do that?”

“Some ghosts can take over a living body.”

“Yours?”

“No,” he said. “The Dragon Born are immune. Between our mage and dragon halves, we have too much magic in us. Ghosts need a shell, someone without any magic, to possess. It’s a complicated spell. When Valin lost control of the other ghosts, he must have brought this one around to attack you. He didn’t realize your magic, born of the spirit realm, is even more resistant to such an attack than mine.”

Naomi shivered. “I’m so cold.”

“It’s the residual magic. It will pass,” he told her. “Can you walk?”