Fairy Magic (25 page)

“No,” Emma said. “Our fight is here.”

Bruce nodded. “You go. Get Darksire. Make him pay. We’ll hold the ground here until then.”

“We will gather new allies and build an army for you so that when you return, no demon will be able to stand against us,” Troy said.

“If there really is a war of the realms, we will not let the demons come out on top,” Emma declared.

“I will return,” Makani told them.

Emma smiled with sheer devotion. “We know you will. You always come for us.”

As Naomi and Makani turned to leave, Emma caught her arm. “You make Darksire pay for what he’s done to Makani. Show him what happens to people who betray the New Dragon’s Guard.”

“That’s you guys?”

“Yes. And you too.” Emma kissed her cheek. “Be safe.”

The three of them stood together, watching as Naomi wrapped her arms around Makani, bringing him back to earth. The moment they crossed realms, he staggered. Naomi caught him, stumbling under his weight. They fell to the ground.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Seven centuries is a long time to be away.” He struggled to sit up. “My magic will need some time to adjust.”

Naomi wrapped her arms around him, helping him to his feet. She leaned him against a brick building. He was too big to carry, but she had to get him off the streets. Just because they were no longer in hell, that didn’t mean they were safe out in the open, especially in the central square where there was so much foot traffic. The passing pedestrians were already staring at Makani. Maybe it was the tattoos. Or the body that came with them. None of the people looked like evil minions, but that didn’t mean they weren’t. Naomi needed help from people she could trust. She pulled out her phone and dialed Alex’s number.

“Hi, Naomi,” Alex answered. “We’ve been missing you. Did you find your dreamy guy?”

Naomi glanced at Makani. “Yes. And I need your help.”

“Anything.”

“I need transportation for a big guy.”

“How big?”

“How much can you lift?” Naomi asked.

Alex laughed. “Is this for a job, or did your latest date have too much to drink?”

Naomi could hear Sera snickering across the phone line. It sure was nice to all be together again.

“Ok, heavy lifting isn’t our specialty,” Alex said. “But we’re sending some heavy lifting experts. Where are you?”

“The city square.” Naomi looked up at the clock tower of the new town hall. Miraculously, it was still standing, even after two nights of monsters rampaging the city. “We’re near the fountain.”

“Help is on the way.”

“Thanks, Alex,” she said, then hung up. She glanced at Makani. “My friends are sending help. Probably the commandos.”

“Commandos?” he asked.

“Big guys who can lift a lot.”

“I am a lot to lift.”

A smirk tugged on her lower lip. “Yes, you really are.”

“But I prefer to walk on my own.”

“I don’t think you’re ready for that quite yet,” she told him. “Let’s get you adjusted to the earth again. How do you want to pass the time? Care for a round of I Spy?”

“No.”

“Ok. Then would you care to tell me what the deal was with Valin’s brother?”

“You’re trying to fill the silence again.”

“It’s what I do.”

“This is not a pleasant topic,” he warned her.

“For you?”

“For you. I took great pleasure in killing Brant. And Valin too. Cyrus was right about one thing: I am a monster.”

“No, you’re a beast,” she told him. “That’s different.”

“Oh? How do you figure?”

“Monsters are ugly. Beasts can be alluring. Sexy even.” She winked at him. “In a completely frightening way, of course.”

“Do you always see the best in everyone?”

“I try to, but some people are beyond my optimism. Like Valin. And I have a feeling Brant was the same.”

“Brant was worse.”

“That’s why you killed him?”

“No, the kill wasn’t for the greater good of the realms. It was pure vengeance,” he said. “Brant murdered some people special to me. I went into a rage and killed him. No, I didn’t just kill him. I annihilated every piece of him. I wiped him from existence.”

Naomi tried not to picture that. “Whatever your reasons, you did the world a favor.”

“He’s not dead,” Makani said.

“What?”

“Remember what I told you about what happens when people die in the spirit realm.”

“They fall into the next deeper circle,” she said.

“Yes, think of it like multiple lives. Only each life is more hellish than the next.”

“How did you end up in hell?”

He looked at her. “You really are hitting all the cheery subjects today, aren’t you?”

“Sorry.”

“No,” he said. “You should know. Maybe it will help you understand. It happened at the end of the time when the Dragon Born were being hunted, right when most of my kind were already dead. There was a Spirit Warrior who was special to me. Her name was Amelia. Before the world turned against the Dragon Born, she and I worked together. We were partners, enforcing justice on the supernatural community.”

“You worked for the Magic Council?”

“Yes,” he said. “But I had to flee when the Council turned against the Dragon Born. Amelia came with me. We joined with other Dragon Born mages and their allies. We tried to stand against the Magic Council. We lost. At the end of it all, Amelia sent me to the second circle of hell to save me. The barrier from the earth to the first circle was fractured then too, so it wasn’t a safe place to hide. Neither are the deeper circles.”

“Have you been to those deeper circles?” Naomi asked.

“Yes, with Amelia. And…” He shook his head. “It was a long time ago.” He touched her cheek, meeting her eyes. “She was a lot like you. Strong. And determined to save the world.”

“I thought you thought I was weak,” she teased, very aware of how close together their bodies were.

“No, you aren’t.” He dipped his mouth to hers.

People shouted in alarm as a car roared across the square. Naomi turned her head to watch an enormous black SUV roll to a stop in front of them. The doors opened, and Logan and Kai jumped out.

Logan’s eyes locked immediately on Makani. “Where did you pick up this guy, Naomi?”

“From hell.”

Logan and Kai laughed.

“I’m serious,” she said. “His seven-hundred-year stay there has made him a bit wobbly.”

Makani’s gold eyes hardened.

“Well, it’s true,” she told him. “So turn that menacing glare in another direction, Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty?” Kai asked, his eyes laughing.

“Long story. Could you two carry him into the car?”

They moved to either side of him, lifting him between them like he weighed nothing. Naomi followed Makani into the back seats, sitting down beside him. Kai and Logan took their spots, then they all sped off across the square.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Meeting of the Dragons

NAOMI HEATED UP a pizza and grabbed a handful of Magic Spike energy drinks from the refrigerator. If Alex and Sera were any indication, Dragon Born mages loved pizza. She returned to the living room holding an enormous tray, which she set down on a side table.
 

Makani, Kai, and Logan stood in a triangle pattern, their arms folded across their chests, watching one another with eyes as hard as granite. None of them blinked, none of them looked away. A thick, heavy cloud—equal parts magic and testosterone—hung heavy in the air. Oh, boy.

Even Makani, who fifteen minutes ago hadn’t even been able to stand, had entered into the three-way alpha stare contest. He wasn’t even leaning against anything—yeah, because that would be a sign of weakness. God forbid any one of them admitted that they were mere mortals.

“You’re a dragon,” Kai told Makani.

“Is that a problem, shifter?”

“No, I adore dragons.” He flashed his teeth. “So cuddly.”

Naomi snorted.

“I don’t know what you are,” Makani told Logan.

“I’ve been infused with mage, vampire, and fairy magic.”

“That explains your magic.”

Since none of them looked like they’d be moving any time soon, Naomi picked up the food tray and set it on the cabinet next to Makani.

“I see we are at an impasse,” Kai said.

“Apparently so,” replied Makani.

“Eat,” Kai told him, pushing the tray into his hands. “We can resume this later.”

That seemed good enough for Makani. He popped open a bottle of Magic Spike, draining it in a single go. He gave the pizza a peculiar look before devouring it as well. He ate like he hadn’t had a decent meal in years.

Logan watched Makani eat. “You mentioned he was down there for seven hundred years?” he asked Naomi.

“Yes.”

“And you’re giving him pizza?” Kai asked.

“Do you think cake would be better?”

“No. He’s a dragon. Dragons need meat,” Kai said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“There’s salami on the pizza,” Naomi pointed out.

“That’s not the same,” said Kai.

“I’m going to have to agree with Drachenburg,” Logan said.

Naomi glanced at Makani, who licked the oil from his fingers. “They are correct,” he said. “My magic has atrophied from my extended stay in the spirit realm. It is only a shadow of its former self.”

As far as Naomi had seen, that ‘shadow’ was pretty damn powerful, but he knew his own magic best. She shuddered to imagine what his power would be like once he was back at full strength.

“Come on. We have sausages in the kitchen,” Logan said.

They all followed after him. As Logan began to fry up a huge pan of sausages, Naomi tossed Makani another Magic Spike. He was on his second plate of sausages when Sera and Alex came into the kitchen, their hands overflowing with shopping bags.

“I see the help we sent was sufficient.” Sera’s eyes drifted to Makani. “That’s your heavy lifting?”

“He’s cute,” Alex said. “Does he kiss as great as he looks?”

Makani chuckled. Naomi smirked at him. He sure was enjoying himself.

“What did you buy?” she asked the Dragon Born sisters.

“Oh, tons of things,” Sera said. “Alex has a whole new wardrobe.”

“Well, the monster apocalypse and the legions of the dead claimed my last one.” Alex glanced at the sizzling pan of sausages Logan was cooking. “By some miracle, my phone survived, though. That’s a first.”

“What did you get?” Kai asked Sera, his face so innocent it had to be a lie.

“Oh, you’ll like Sera’s new things,” Alex told him with a conspiring wink. “I encouraged her to embrace her wild side.”

Alex dug her hand into Sera’s bag and pulled out something that looked like a tiny black lace bikini. Kai’s eyes widened. Sera grabbed the lingerie out of Alex’s hand and stuffed it into her bag, blushing.

“No need to be squeamish,” Alex said. “I’ve already seen you in it, Naomi is probably wondering why it has so much fabric—”

Naomi chuckled.

Alex continued, “Kai is going to see you in it, and Logan has seen everything.”

“I really have,” Logan agreed.

“You’re forgetting someone.” Sera looked at Makani. “We haven’t even been introduced, Alex, and you’re showing him my underwear.”

“Oh, let me fix that for you,” Naomi said. “This is Makani, a Dragon Born mage who was stuck in the underworld since the 14
th
century.”

Makani moved forward with easy grace. Wow, he was recovering fast. He shook Sera’s hand. “Nice panties,” he said, his face perfectly innocent.

Sera forgot to be embarrassed. “You’re Dragon Born?”

He nodded. “And so are you.” His gaze flicked to Alex. “And you. A Dragon Born pair.”

Alex shook his hand, her eyes wide with excitement. “We’ve never met another Dragon Born mage before. We have so many questions.”

“You had no one to guide you as you discovered your power?”

“We had to hide our power most of our lives,” Sera told him. “We hardly used it.”

“So that is what the Dragon Born have been reduced to in this age.” Anger burned in Makani’s eyes.

“I’m afraid so,” said Alex. “Being Dragon Born is a death sentence. If there are any more like us, we haven’t met them.”

“You have shared your secret with some,” he said, looking at Logan and Kai.

Kai took Sera’s hand. “We will protect them.”

“With our lives,” Logan added, wrapping his arm around Alex.

Makani stared at them for a long while—so long that Naomi began to think the three of them had decided to start up their staring contest again.

“I see that. I feel it in the magic that binds you together. You have chosen your allies well,” Makani told the sisters. “But how many others can you trust?”

“I don’t know. Trust is difficult for us,” said Sera. “We’ve lived our whole lives with a death sentence over our heads. The supernatural community believes we are abominations, the spawn of dark magic.”

“The Magic Council started that lie the day they turned on us,” Makani said.

“Not everyone on the Council believes it.” Sera glanced at Kai.

Surprise flashed in Makani’s eyes. “You are on the Council?” he asked Kai. “And yet you do not believe we are abominations? You haven’t tried to enforce one of your prime mandates?”

“I was never good at doing what I was told,” Kai stated.

Makani nodded. “Then there may yet be hope for us.”

“If we can gather allies, if we can get enough of the Council members on our side, then we can change things,” Kai said.

“And how will we do that?” Sera asked him.

“You just let me worry about that, sweetheart,” Kai said, kissing her forehead. “You should put your efforts elsewhere.”

“Killing monsters?”

“And learning how to use your magic. You have someone who can guide you now.”

“I will do what I can.” Makani looked at the sisters. “You are both strong. I can feel it in your magic. But you have only just begun to understand your true power.”

“Our dragons,” Alex said. “How do we give them form?”

“Your dragon is a part of you. The other half of you. You share magic. As your magic grows, so does your dragon’s,” explained Makani. “In order for your dragon to split from you, you must have enough magic to sustain two bodies: mage and dragon. In other words, you need to grow your magic.”