Magic Edge (19 page)

“I am not a vampire groupie,” she ground out.

“Of course not. But you were bitten by a vampire, and then another vampire whispered into your ear that you were turning. He probably told you that you smelled like vampire.”

“Yes.”

Marek nodded knowingly. “See? It was all part of Holt’s plan to seduce you. The whole thing reeks of vampire arrogance.”

“You’re suggesting that he told that vampire elf to bite me?”

“No, he’s a warped little git, but he’s no traitor. However, I could see him taking advantage of a situation like that. He’ll be disappointed to learn that another man benefited from the fruits of his labor.”

“Holt said Gaelyn knew I was being turned and kept it from me so I wouldn’t have a mental breakdown.”

“People lie, Alex.”

“I know. And I can tell when they do. Holt wasn’t lying. He believed what he said.”

“Ok.” Marek patted her on the back. “Gaelyn hasn’t said anything about this to me, but we’ll talk to him when this is all over. To be honest, I’m more concerned about your snogging the assassin than your newfound appetite for blood.”

“So far it’s only been his blood I’ve wanted.”

Marek looked like he’d bitten down on a lemon. “One crisis at a time. Gaelyn tells me that the Convictionites have all four Orbs of Essence. The good news is I know where they’ve taken them.”

“And the bad news?” she asked.

“The bad news is they plan to use them tonight.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Secrets and Lies

“LOSE THE ASSASSIN,” Marek told her. “We have work to do, and he cannot be trusted.”

Alex thought about that. Gaelyn had agreed to hire him. They’d been working together for two days, and he’d fought alongside her. He’d even saved her a few times. He hadn’t made a single move against her.

Well, except lying to her about who he was. His family was running the organization trying to kill them. Logan said he would help her get the Orbs back, but when push came to shove, would he really take up arms against his own family? He didn’t strike her as the sentimental type, but family was family. Marek was right. They couldn’t risk trusting him. They were going to invade an enemy stronghold. The odds were against them, and there would be fighting. There was no way to sneak past all the guards. If Logan hesitated to fight back—even for a second—they’d all be dead.

Alex turned around and walked back across the room to Logan. This was going to be a fun conversation.

He was standing right where he’d been before she’d pulled Marek aside to tell him off—and gotten a stern telling-off herself instead. Logan tracked her progress, a predatory gleam in his eyes.

“Stop watching me like I’m your next target,” she told him, trying not to really look at him. Knowing she was going to abandon him made her feel guilty. Though it really shouldn’t have. She was doing the right thing. “Yeah, so I’m going with Marek now.”

He continued to watch her with that same calculating look in his eyes. Alex squirmed.

“I want to speak with you,” he finally said as she was about to turn away.

“Ok. Speak.”

“Alone.” He gave Marek a pointed look.

“Fine.”

He began walking.

“Wait,” Marek said, and Logan turned toward him. “Put on a shirt first.”

Logan caught the shirt he threw at him. With a cool, liquid smile, he slipped it over his head. Then he waved Alex toward a dark room. As soon as they were inside, he closed the door behind them and flipped the light switch.

Like the living room, this one had a wood floor and wood furniture. Everything was made of oak—old, antique oak. Ancient even. Closets, dressers, a giant canopy bed… Alex nearly choked on her own tongue. He’d brought her to his bedroom.

“Alex.”

She looked at him. At the assassin. Most definitely not at the assassin’s bed. It seemed…springy. The smile on Logan’s lips told her he’d caught her stealing a peek.

“What do you want?” she demanded.

“I overheard your conversation.”

“All of it?”

“Yes.”

She sighed. Of course he had. Super senses were useful for hunting supernaturals—and eavesdropping on other people’s conversations.

“I know that the Convictionites have all four Orbs and plan to use them tonight. You are going after them now. I’m coming with you.”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t trust you.”

“The dragon summoner doesn’t trust me,” he said. “But we’ve worked together. You know me.”

“Do I?” She let out a strained laugh. “Because you lied to me about who you really are. If you lied about that, how can you expect me to trust you about anything else?”

“I’m not the only one who lied about who they are.” He stalked forward. “Do you want me to have a guess at what you really are? I have a pretty good idea.”

Cold fire burned through her veins. She grew very still, waiting.

“You haven’t told him,” he said.

Of course she hadn’t told Marek. She hadn’t told anyone. Marek’s mother sat on the Magic Council. Friend or no friend, if he found out what she was, he’d have to report it. The punishment for protecting a Dragon Born mage was severe. Well, she didn’t actually know what the punishment was because no one was mad enough to defy the Magic Council. But it was highly unlikely that they showered you in flowers and praises for defying one of their highest mandates.

“It will just be our little secret,” Logan told her.

She wondered how much he really knew. Could he have guessed that she was Dragon Born? The Magic Council kept the details of her kind under wraps, except that they were supposedly extremely dangerous. But Logan had grown up inside an organization that was centuries old. Maybe their records contained accounts of the Dragon Born. Or maybe he was just bluffing when he said he knew what she was. She wasn’t willing to risk calling that bluff, though.

“You need me tonight,” he said.

“Do we now?”

“Yes. You two are hardly the most subtle individuals. I, on the other hand, know how to sneak into places. Your boy Marek blowing up the front door won’t cut it. The Convictionites’ numbers are too great for a full-on assault.”

“Marek is not my boy.”

“Of course not.” He reached for her.

Alex stepped aside, evading him. “Stop. We don’t have that sort of relationship. And we can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Again, because I don’t trust you.”

“Alex,” he said seriously. “I’ve got your back. Believe whatever else you want to about me, but just know that.”

She looked into his eyes, pushing her magic past the assassin’s mask. He didn’t fight her intrusion, though she was pretty sure he could have at least tried. She pried and probed and scraped—and probably hurt him a great deal more than she wanted to. Her magic was raw, the result of a great deal of power and zero training in how to use it. He bore it without the slightest reaction whatsoever. Torturing him must have been an exercise in futility.

“I believe you,” she finally decided. His aura was speckled with death, but nothing about him reeked of betrayal.

“Then I can come along?”

“You can come along,” she agreed.

“Good. That will save me the trouble of tracking you when you leave here.”

“Funny.”

“Practical,” he countered. “Someone has to be there to save you from your own recklessness.”

“Like Marek?”

He grabbed a band of throwing knives from his dresser and strapped it across his chest. “No, not Marek. He can’t even save himself. He’s even more reckless than you.”

“I’ll tell him you said so.”

“Good. Someone needs to,” he said, strapping on another band of knives.

“Just how many knives do you think you’ll need?” she asked him.

“More than I can carry,” he said darkly. “Would you like a few too?”

“No, I’m good. I wouldn’t mind a change of clothes, though. Infiltrating a Convictionite base in my running clothes makes me feel…naked.”

His brows lifted at the word, but he didn’t comment on it. “You could keep a set of your battle leather here. For our future work together.”

“Do you anticipate us working together again soon?”

“Yes, I do.” His hand brushed down her cheek. “Many times.”

She cleared her throat. “Are we still talking about fighting monsters and evil organizations?”

“Of course. What did you think we were talking about?”

“Oh, nothing.”

He kissed her lightly on the lips. “We’ll talk about
that
later, when this is all over. Somewhere quiet, maybe a nice dinner. Preferably, without crises popping up all around us.”

“That sounds nice, if not impossible.”

“We’ll just have to make it possible,” he said, leaning in for another kiss.

The door quaked with a stampede of pounding fists. Logan drew away from her, his eyes frozen with menace.

“Alex!” Marek shouted through the door. “We’re in a hurry! Let’s go!”

She pushed down the door handle and stepped out of the bedroom. Logan trailed closely behind, taking her hand as they came into the living room.

Marek’s eyes narrowed when he saw their linked hands. “We have a city to save. Say goodbye to your boyfriend because we need to go now.”

“He’s coming with us,” she told him.

“Why? Because he’s a good kisser?” Marek demanded, his words laced with ice.

“No, because I can get us inside quietly,” Logan said. “Without blowing up the front door and making a big scene.”

“There is no front door,” said Marek. “The Convictionites have the Orbs on a boat in the middle of Lake Zurich.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Swimming with Monsters

ALEX STOOD ON the ferry, her hands gripping the cool metal railing, her hair whipping in the wind. She glanced back at the rows of parked cars behind her, then turned to gaze across the lake’s dark, glassy surface. She could just make out the silhouette of the Convictionites’ ship, a black tear in a beautiful twinkling canvas of night sky.

The ship was floating in the middle of the lake, close to the ferry crossing’s halfway point. They were almost there.

A few steps away, in a dark corner beneath the stairs, Logan and Marek were trying to bribe one of the ferry’s crew. When Logan handed him a stack of money, the man didn’t push it away. He did, however, shake his head in disbelief.

“It’s your grave,” he said, pocketing the money.

As he turned his back to them, Logan and Marek hurried over to Alex.

“We’re good to go,” Logan told her, adjusting his wetsuit. “He’s going to turn a blind eye when we jump overboard.”

“He thinks we’re mad.” Marek’s laugh was strained. “And he’s right. There are monsters in those waters.”

“It’s our best chance of getting to that ship unnoticed,” said Logan. “They would see and hear any boat that tried to approach them. We need the element of surprise.”

Marek began to clench and unclench his fist in turn. His face was tight, like he was fighting hard against the urge to shoot swirling balls of destructive magic at the ship.

Logan watched him, apparently unconcerned. “We won’t have far to swim.”

“Again, I’ll say it. There are monsters in those waters. No sane person goes swimming in this part of the lake.”

Marek wasn’t wrong about that. When magic had come to Zurich, it hadn’t spared the lake. Every day, particles of magic seeped off the city’s supernatural population, draining into the water, saturating it with the perfume of a hundred thousand magical beings.

Some of the lake’s magic was harmless—or even wondrous. Clans of freshwater mermaids lived here. They spent their days sunbathing on the rocks or giving passing boats a playful splash. The water nymphs sang and danced, weaving their seductive spell on anyone foolish enough to stop and watch. The nymphs had their way with the men, then wipe their memories before returning them to land.

And then there were the magical glowing water lilies and swan shifters who lived in the shallow waters near shore. They were moody and loud—the swan shifters, not the water lilies, which were really only pretty. Despite their flair for dramatics, though, the swans were more annoying than threatening. They only preyed on people stupid enough to antagonize them.

So the lakeshore was harmless. The creatures that lived this far out, on the other hand, were in a whole other league.

Alex looked over the edge of the ferry. A school of fish passed by, their scales silver and their eyes glowing an eerie green. The boat cut through a floating debris field. Globs of pulsing, semi-solid goo clung to twigs, leaves, and pieces of discarded garbage.

Monsters stalked the deep waters. Fish with bloody appetites and mouths of daggers. Eels with magic-charged electrical attacks. Sea serpents who had laid claim to larger sections of the lake. They defended their territory without mercy. They didn’t even know the meaning of the word.

“Time to go,” Logan said.

He and Marek had already climbed over the railing. She joined them.

“I still think I should just summon a water dragon to carry us there,” Marek said.

“Save your magic,” Alex told him. “You’ll most certainly need it before the night is up.”

“And you? Won’t you need your energy? Swimming is exhausting work.”

“I’m used to it,” she said.

When the skeptical look on Marek’s face persisted, Logan said, “She chased a sea monster from one end of the lake to the other and still had the energy left to kill it. You don’t need to worry about her stamina.”

“And yours?”

“I’m a triathlete,” Logan told him. “And I kill heavily-guarded warlords for a living. You don’t need to worry about me either.” A cool smile slid across his lips. “But if you’re tired, you can crawl onto my back, and I’ll carry you there. Alex would be distressed if you were to drown.”

Marek sneered at him. “Do you think she’d mind if I blasted you to the bottom of the lake?”

“We’re about to sneak aboard an enemy boat,” Alex cut in. “We need to get on, grab the Orbs, and get off—all without getting ourselves killed. There’s no room on my team for infighting. You two need to get your shit together and cooperate. Can you handle that?”