Fairy Magic (30 page)

“He tore you apart?”

“Not at first. He was a Dragon Guard, sworn to protect us. To protect her. He was her Dragon Guard. They spent every waking hour together. A few years after he swore himself to her, they told me they’d fallen in love. It’s not unusual between Dragon Born mages and the Dragon Guard fairies sworn to protect them, but I didn’t see it. I was too busy having my own adventures. Even after I found out, I was too busy. I was never around. Perhaps I am as much to blame as Darksire for what happened.” He heaved a heavy sigh. “If I’d been there, I would have seen what was happening. I would have seen that he was corrupting her, poisoning her mind and her magic. But no. By the time I suspected something was amiss, it was too late. Darksire had already talked Leilani into bonding in a fairy ritual.”

“And that was bad?” Naomi asked.

“Dragon Born magic is…well, different. We are different than other mages and even more so than other supernaturals. When Leilani mated with Darksire in that fairy ritual, her magic shifted. It shifted again when her spell against the vampires backfired, infusing her with vampire magic. After that, Darksire manipulated her, encouraging her to embrace her new powers. Those powers grew. Her magic grew. The more it grew, the more she changed. We Dragon Born have powerful magic and we can be insufferable at times, but above all we have a very strong moral compass. We’re compelled to do the right thing. When Leilani’s magic shifted, she could no longer see what was right and wrong. That compass was thrown out of kilter.

“I tried to help her, but again I was too late. By then, she served a new master. Damarion, a supernatural with more power than anyone who has ever walked the earth. More power than the Grim Reaper your friends are so worried about. He won Darksire to his side, then used him to steal Leilani from the Dragon Born. She’d become addicted to the taste of power, and he was offering her more. All she had to do was agree to serve him.

“Damarion made her immortal, like Darksire. That changed her more than anything. Nothing could touch her. No one could stop her. She and Darksire could do anything they wanted. Kill anyone they wanted. And we couldn’t stop them. She became the most powerful Dragon Born who had ever lived, but she was not really Dragon Born anymore.”

“I don’t understand,” Naomi said.

“She had all our powers and then some, save one. Dragon Born are two twins, each one with their mage and dragon half. But we are more than that. The two twins can link up with each other just like we each can link with our dragon. The combined magic of Dragon Born twins is like nothing else. So beautiful, so harmonious. Supernaturals can mate and feel each other’s magic, but to link your magic with your twin’s is like linking up with the other part of your soul.

“But after Leilani’s magic shifted into something unrecognizable, a mismatch of inharmonious parts, we couldn’t link anymore. It felt like she’d torn out a piece of my soul.” He set his hand over his heart. “She was no longer my sister, my twin soul. Her magic was twisted and dark. She became something else: Firestorm. She did terrible things. Killed people. She became the monster of the Dragon Born nightmare tales.

“Not satisfied to ruin just one pair, Damarion set out to turn all the Dragon Born, to warp us into his army of monsters.”

“I have a feeling that didn’t work as he’d hoped,” Naomi said.

“No. It didn’t,” Makani replied. “By then, I’d shared what had happened to Leilani with the others. Damarion didn’t turn another one of us. And so he decided that if he couldn’t turn us, he would wipe us out. Our power was a threat to him. Damarion had a lot of influence over the Magic Council in those days. They had not yet realized what kind of monster he was. He turned the Magic Council against the Dragon Born. He said we were responsible for the hellish situation on earth. You see, back then a hate group was riling humans up against all supernaturals.”

“The Convictionites,” Naomi muttered.

“Yes, the Convictionites,” he confirmed. “The Magic Council needed to smooth over relations with humans. Things were different back then. Plague, famine, drought, war. Whenever something went wrong, magic was blamed. Humans killed a lot of other humans thinking they were witches. They killed a few actual supernaturals too. The humans didn’t even realize that the problems were a bit closer to home.”

Naomi thought back to her history lessons of that era. “The humans were summoning demons left and right.”

“Yes. The fools got their hands on magic books. Well, it doesn’t take a drop of magic to summon a demon. It only takes a desperate person to speak the words and invite a demon in to solve all their problems. The demons solved them all right. They possessed the fools who had summoned them, then spread death and chaos until demon hunters could send them back to hell.”

Demon hunters like Makani and his Spirit Warrior.

“The Dragon Born and our allies managed to weaken Damarion,” he said. “We banished him to the core of hell, but our numbers had been decimated. The Magic Council finished the job by continuing to hunt us.”

“They didn’t realize that Damarion had lied to them?” she asked.

“They didn’t know or didn’t care. The Council had always been afraid of us, of our power. Of our supposed threat to their authority. They didn’t realize that we didn’t want to rule. We only wanted to protect, to hunt those who hurt the weak. That need to hunt evil and protect the hunted is woven into our very nature.”

“That explains a lot about Alex and Sera,” she said. “For years, they hid their magic. They put themselves into great danger fighting monsters to save people, not using even a bit of magic. I thought they were crazy.”

He flashed her a smile. “Oh, we Dragon Born are all crazy. Don’t ever forget that. But, yes, it is part of our nature.” His smile slipped into a sigh. “But the Magic Council did not see that. Blinded by fear, spurred by hate, they saw only the threat we supposedly represented. They came for us. We were still weak from fighting Damarion. They knew that. They used that. And they finished what Damarion had started. They exterminated the Dragon Born.”

“Not all of them,” she said.

“No, not entirely,” he agreed. “What the Council didn’t realize was that though they might be able to kill all the Dragon Born, they couldn’t destroy dragon magic. It lived on in the world, manifesting in mages who can shift into or summon dragons. And every so often, a pair of Dragon Born twins is born. If they are unable to successfully hide their existence, they die. I met a few assassins of the Dragon Born in the underworld. I killed them, sending them deeper into hell.”

“But you escaped the Council,” Naomi said.

“Yes, I did. Amelia and I banished Firestorm to the sixth circle of hell, deep enough to really weaken her while still keeping her away from her master Damarion on the ninth circle. We returned to earth to find it in even worse shape than we’d left it in. Most of our friends were dead. The others had fled. Before we could get to Darksire to banish him too, the Council attacked us. We were forced to flee. Amelia sent me to the second circle to be safe. Then she went back to try to save some more Dragon Born mages, but Darksire found her. He killed her.”

“I’m sorry.”

“This isn’t about sorrow. And it’s not even about revenge.” The anger in his eyes hardened into pools of cold determination. “It’s about killing Darksire and Firestorm before history repeats itself. We don’t have much time. Firestorm must have regained enough magic to sniff me out. That’s how they found us, I think. And as soon as we go back to earth, she will eventually be able to find us again. We need a plan. A damn good one. And we need it now.”

* * *

Naomi didn’t have any idea how they were going to stop Darksire and Firestorm. She did know that they needed a way to mask their magic from Firestorm until they came up with a plan. And if anyone knew how to do that, it was Gran.

“That is one good-looking man,” Gran said, her violet eyes locked on Makani as she set down a bowl of cookies in front of them.

“Well, he is a prince,” Naomi told her.

Gran smiled. “You never did anything halfway, Naomi. Not just a dragon, but a dragon prince. Mmm. I bet he tastes great dipped in chocolate.”

Makani’s face was impassive.

“Don’t kill my grandmother,” Naomi told him. “She likes dragons. Right, Gran?”

Gran looked him up and down, wiggling her eyebrows. “What’s not to like?”

“Are you checking out my dragon?” Naomi asked her.

“Of course. You brought him here. It’s only fair that I get a peek at the man who is making my granddaughter glow. Just don’t tell your grandfather.” She shot Makani a sidelong wink. “That dragon is cute.”

“I believe the word you’re looking for is fierce and frightening,” Naomi said.

Gran chuckled. “Of course, dear.” She turned toward Makani, wetting her lips.

“Your grandmother is giving me salacious looks,” Makani told Naomi. “And you don’t even want to know what her magic is doing.”

“Gran will behave herself.” Naomi gave her a hard look. “Won’t you, Gran?”

“Oh, all right.” She folded her hands primly in her lap. “I’m perfectly serious. Ok, maybe about ninety percent serious. Fairies can’t survive without a least a ten percent mix of flirtatious spunk. It’s scientifically proven.”

“Oh?” Naomi asked. “Which magical research journal did you read that in?”

“Mages Illustrated.”

Naomi nearly choked on her tea.

“What is Mages Illustrated?” Makani asked.

“A pop culture magazine with sassy tabloid articles masquerading as high-brow journalism and half-nude photos of sexy mages on the cover,” Naomi told him.

“Men or women?”

“Both. They’re trying to hit the wider supernatural market.”

“It sounds like a delightful diversion,” he commented.

“I like him,” Gran told Naomi.

“Of course you do. He’s a sexy dragon.”

Gran winked at her, then her face grew oddly serious as she turned to Makani. “I read what happened to your people. What
really
happened. I’m sorry.”

Makani inclined his head. Apparently, he’d decided that she was ok. And not just because she liked sexy dragons.

“Would you like some more tea?” Gran asked him.

He nodded. Delight flashed in Gran’s eyes. She gave her long eyelashes a little flutter, then strutted across the living room to fetch the tea.

Naomi could barely contain her emerging chuckles. “Now you’re in trouble,” she told Makani. “Now she’s pulling out her full arsenal of charms.”

“I’m senile, not deaf, you know,” Gran called to them. She returned to the sofa carrying two steaming tea mugs, setting them down on the coffee table. “And I am a full-blooded fairy. Our libidos take a century or so to die out. I could tell you stories…” She closed her eyes, smiling. “Besides, she added, winking at Makani. “I’m closer to his age than you are.”

Now that was a troubling thought.

“Fairy nectar for your tea, dear?” Gran asked, fluttering her magically-lengthened eyelashes at him.

Naomi held out her hand, blocking the tiny glass bottle “Fairy nectar is made from a fairy’s magic,” she warned him. “It’s used to enthrall men.”

“I know.” He looked at Gran. “No thank you. I’ve already had another fairy’s nectar.”

Gran laughed. “Good for you. That’s all I wanted to know.”

“Geez, and I thought I was crass,” sighed Naomi. “I expected better manners from my grandmother and the Prince of the Pacific.”

“You’ve known me for twenty-five years, Naomi, and you expected better manners?” Gran said, smiling over her tea cup.

“I guess not. After all, you’re where I got my manners.”

Naomi glanced at Makani.

“Dragons have impeccable manners,” he said.

“Even when you’re picking burnt villagers’ bones out of your teeth?”

“Especially when I’m picking burnt villagers’ bones out of my teeth.”

Naomi snorted.

“I’m liking him more with every passing second,” Gran commented.

“Then you’d be willing to help us out?” Naomi asked.

“What do you need?”

“We’re hoping you had something to cover up magic, masking it from a Sniffer.”

Gran stirred her tea slowly. “Whose magic?”

“Mine,” said Makani.

“That might prove difficult.”

“But not impossible?” Naomi asked her.

“You can’t hide a dragon under a teacup, dear.” She opened up a fresh tin of chocolate chip cookies. “Who are you running from?”

Naomi gave in to the sweet assault of freshly-baked goodness, grabbing a cookie. “Darksire and Firestorm.”

Worry crinkled Gran’s forehead. “You are up against the Harbinger of the Black Death and the Dark Angel?”

“Yes.”

Gran nodded. “As I said, Naomi, you never do anything halfway.” Her gaze slid over Makani, her look more calculating than appreciative this time. “Masking a dragon’s magic. Hmm.”

“Can you do it?” Naomi asked.

“I’ll see what I can mix up.” She rose and walked over to her cabinets, grabbing a few bottles from the shelves.

“Care to tell me exactly what’s going on, Naomi?” Gran said as she mixed the potion.

“Well, you know how the Grim Reaper and the Convictionites were vying for control of the dead?”

“Yes.”

“Darksire is also dipping into hell. There’s a tear in the veil between earth and the first circle of the spirit realm. He and Firestorm are using it to help prisoners escape from hell. Living prisoners, people who served him once. And he’s been kidnapping supernaturals to feed to his new soldiers, trying to boost up the magic that hell drained from them. If they find a way to get to the prisoners deeper in hell, then we will be in for a world of trouble. We need to close the tears in the veil.”

Gran set down two glasses in front of Makani and Naomi. “Drink this. Both of you. It will mask your magic from Sniffers for a few days.”

“What’s the range?” Makani asked.

“Don’t let them get within a few blocks of you.”

Makani drank his potion in one long sip. He set the glass down on the table, then looked at Naomi. She drank hers too.

“Naomi, closing the tears won’t be enough,” Gran said. “You need to destroy that cloak.” She nodded at the Midnight Cape. “It is their only way into the spirit realm. If you seal the tears and destroy the cloak, they won’t be able to get here.”