by Nicole Hall
Her nails curled into Torix’s forearm. At this distance, he’d have to use magic, and with or without the protection of the necklace, Maddie would put herself between Aiden and Torix’s magic every time. Magic Torix still had access to. Her eyes darted to Lexi’s crumpled body, and she realized Torix was right. Lexi would heal, and in the meantime, Torix hadn’t weakened.
Now or never.
Maddie whimpered and slumped against him. The move forced Torix to hold her weight with only a hand at her throat, knocking him off balance. He stumbled back a step, and Maddie yanked her thread of magic to her. The Fae dagger flew in from behind them. As it approached, she gathered as much magic as she could from the nexus and Aiden and anywhere else she could reach.
A trickle of power from the trods that felt like her family and Oskar and Cassie, and even Seth, passed through her in an intoxicating rush, along her magic strand, and into the dagger. Connections she’d made and cherished. Maddie took all the separate magics and infused the blade with the will to penetrate and sever his twisted bond to Lexi.
Torix jerked to the side, narrowly dodging the dagger as it flew past him, but the hilt landed securely in Maddie’s hand. She immediately thrust the pointy end back into Torix. The blade sliced cleanly through his shields and into his flesh, sinking into his abdomen all the way to the hilt. Blood covered her hand, and the warmth surprised Maddie for a moment. He’d never felt warm to her.
Aiden darted forward as Torix’s grip on her loosened. His hand fell away from her neck as she turned to face him. Maddie maintained her grasp on the dagger and made sure her spell finished. He slid backward off the blade, leaving a surprisingly large, oozing hole in the front of him.
The sense of magic from Torix vanished completely. Aiden halted beside her, but he made no move to stop Torix when he reached a bloody hand toward Maddie with a grunt. She simply side-stepped him and let him fall face-first into the dirt. He slowly shriveled until only a disgusting-looking husk remained. Without his magic, or Lexi’s, he’d had no way to maintain his human form.
Neither of them made any move to help. Torix had brought this result on himself, and for once, Maddie was totally okay with her decision. She stared down at the dagger in her hand and released the magic she’d gathered. It let go reluctantly, and Maddie pursed her lips at the smugness coming from the weapon. One day soon, she’d have to ask Zee some pointed questions about the dagger, but that could wait.
A thud and some inventive cursing had them both swiveling with their weapons up to face the opposite side of the nexus. A tall man with dark red hair and familiar golden eyes rolled into the clearing, then stood and brushed dirt off his chest with a grimace and an oath. She’d never seen him before, but the word choice sounded familiar.
Aiden lowered his sword and put his arm out to do the same for her dagger. “What the hell? You were right behind me.”
Maddie squinted at him. “Seth?”
He looked up from cleaning himself. “Maddie.” Seth straightened and ran his hands through his chin-length hair. “One second you were ahead of me, the next I was alone in the trod. I felt Maddie’s call for power, so I sent what I could, but the Wood adamantly refused to let me be involved in this fight.”
Aiden glanced over at her, and she shrugged. “I wasn’t sure it would work.”
Seth finally looked around the clearing and noticed Lexi’s still body and Torix’s husk. “Looks like you didn’t need me after all.”
“She didn’t even need me,” Aiden muttered. “Talk about a badass.”
Seth approached Lexi and held a palm out several inches over her back. “She’s injured.”
“She’s a bad guy,” Maddie pointed out.
Seth looked at Maddie, then over to Aiden.
Aiden sighed. “We need to take her home. There are policies in place for people like her.”
“Crazy, narcissistic demi-goddesses? I would hope so. She’s lucky she’s not dead.” Now that the adrenaline and fear were returning to normal levels, Maddie remembered how pissed she was at both of these men for locking her away while they tried to save the world alone.
Maddie shook her head and crouched to wipe the bloody dagger on Torix’s shirt. He wouldn’t be needing it anymore. “You’d better take her before she heals enough to wake up. Aiden incapacitated her, but I won’t be so generous to someone who voluntarily fed Torix all this time.”
Aiden cocked his head. “How’d you know she was the source of his power?”
“Something Cassie said. ‘The pretty ones always look out for themselves.’ It gave me the idea to check.”
Seth nodded and lifted Lexi into his arms. “I can get her back, but I’ll have to leave her at the doorway for Keris.”
“She’s going to love this,” Aiden mumbled.
Maddie stored the dagger in her pack and joined Aiden in the center of the clearing. “How binding is your marriage anyway?”
Aiden waved the question away. “Marriages among my people aren’t particularly lasting unless accompanied by a bond of some sort. It would have been dissolved when Lexi was assumed dead. It won’t be reapplied now that she’s revealed to be alive after all.”
Maddie jerked her chin at Lexi. “I hope she finds the help she needs.” Both men stared at her. “I may not be a good person, but I’m not a bad one either.” Maddie sucked in a ragged breath and stared down at Torix’s body. She spoke to herself as much as to them, finally starting to believe the words. Torix’s power—her power—didn’t make her evil; she controlled how she used it.
Seth took a couple of steps, then turned back to them. “I’m calling in my favor.”
Aiden nodded and slid his arm around her waist. “Anything but Maddie.”
Warmth from his touch spread through her, concentrating around her heart. Maddie rested her head on his shoulder and waited to hear what Seth demanded.
“The artifact she’s holding. I want it.” He stood with his spine straight, shoulders back even with the weight of Lexi in his arms.
Maddie had the distinct feeling he hated asking for anything. She lifted her arm. The necklace dangled from the chain wrapped around her wrist, spinning idly. The weight of the magic inside it seemed lighter than before, and Maddie wondered how much of it she’d used to get through Torix’s protections.
She had no doubt it had saved her. In the split second between Torix dodging the dagger and Maddie stabbing him with it, she’d felt a pull. He’d tried to drain her, but the necklace stopped him. With Torix dead, she had no more use for it.
Aiden raised a brow as she untangled the chain and left his side to drape it over Seth’s head. “I hope this path doesn’t involve so much bloodshed.”
Seth bowed his head to her. “Me too. The terms are met and the bargain fulfilled.”
A tingle of magic danced over her skin then disappeared. Maddie wondered what would have happened if she’d said no. Could Seth have called off the deal without his favor or would the magic have enforced it whether he wanted it to or not? She had a lot to learn about demi-gods and their power. Especially now that she contained some of it.
Seth turned without another word and left. Maddie hadn’t forgotten his role in trapping her, but she decided she’d rather pay him back once he’d forgotten his transgression. It would be more fun that way. Aiden, though, she’d deal with now.
Before she could accuse him of crimes against her freedom, he pulled her roughly into his arms for a tight hug. “That was terrifying. Can we please avoid any life or death battles in the future?”
Maddie softened against him, wrapping her arms around his waist, but she deserved an explanation. “What was that all about with Lexi? When she first showed up, I felt your longing.”
Aiden grunted and pulled back to look at her face. “It wasn’t Lexi I was longing for. It was all the time I spent searching for vengeance for a woman who wasn’t dead.”
“Not to mention a woman who tricked you into slavery.”
He shook his head
. “She’s still clan.”
“That’s noble, but stupid.”
A smile flitted across his features. “It seems I’ve done several stupid things today. I’m sorry I had Seth lock you inside the wards. I couldn’t face the idea of losing you in a battle with Torix.” He laughed dryly. “I should’ve known you’d find a way out. I should have trusted you.”
Maddie smacked him in the shoulder, but his words soothed the hurt part of her. “Yeah, you should’ve. And I don’t like waking up alone.” The connection between them flared with heat. Aiden’s golden eyes dropped to her lips and back up. A move Maddie felt like a physical touch.
“Do I get bonus points for figuring it out on my own?” His voice rasped over her skin, and Maddie had to concentrate on why she was upset at him.
“Depends. What exactly did you figure out?”
“That you’re more important to me than anything in this or any other world. That I can’t blame it on magic or the challenge ring. Take everything else away, and still, all I want is you. That I love you, marenkya.”
Maddie sniffled, but couldn’t look away from his mesmerizing eyes. “It nearly killed me when I thought you still wanted Lexi.”
Aiden cupped her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb. “Never. I’ll always choose you.”
Maddie leaned into his hand. “I love you too, and I demand you teach me how to make wards and a pocket trod first thing.”
His head lowered to hers, speaking words across her lips. “First thing?”
Maddie raised onto her toes to bring them into contact. “Maybe second thing.”
The deep kiss drugged her, and Maddie easily forgot she stood in a clearing with Torix’s body and a magical dagger that may or may not be blood-thirsty. “Definitely second thing…”
Epilogue
MADDIE
Maddie wasn’t nervous, but she could feel the waves of Aiden’s anxiety pushing against her from the bond. They stood on the porch of Jake and Sera’s place, noticeably without any of Will’s fire damage.
Sera had told her that they’d caught Will splashing gasoline around the outside of the house and called the police. She’d been about to go out and take care of it herself when Will had suddenly collapsed, covering himself in the liquid. The police had found him there with several lighters in his pockets. Once he’d regained consciousness, he’d been babbling about magic and killing the Fae with fire. He currently resided in a mental ward awaiting enough lucidity to stand trial.
And as promised, Maddie had brought Aiden to family dinner.
Aiden feigned nonchalance, but his grip on her hand tightened painfully as he tilted his head toward her.
“Are you sure you want me here?” Aiden whispered.
“Yes. Stop asking.”
“I tried to kill Ryan…and Sera, for that matter.” His brow furrowed. “I think I might have tried to eat Zee once too when she was small and flying around.”
Maddie grinned. “I was going to say join the club, but I’ve never had the pleasure of eating Zee.”
Aiden raised a brow at her.
“You heard me.” Maddie knocked again, and from inside, Sera yelled something unintelligible.
“Remember, you can’t tell them about Aecantha.”
Maddie stifled a long-suffering sigh. At least he wasn’t crushing her hand anymore. “I promise not to mention your stolen pocket dimension. I have some experience keeping secrets from my family, remember?”
He nuzzled her neck and inhaled with a growl. “You don’t keep secrets from me, marenkya.”
Tingles raced across her skin, and she wished for the hundredth time in the last fifteen minutes that they’d just stayed at home. “You’re more than family.”
Jake chose that moment to open the door. Aiden took his sweet time straightening up, and Maddie flushed a deeper color than she already was. Her brother’s smile transformed into a scowl. “Is this why you didn’t just burst in like normal? Needed a little extra time on the porch?” He sounded disgruntled, but Maddie knew better than to take it seriously.
She raised her chin. “I’m trying this new thing where I respect Sera’s privacy.”
“Just Sera’s?”
“I like her more than you.”
His hand gripped his chest as if she’d maimed him. “Ouch, that hurts. I thought I was your favorite brother.”
“Your dad jokes are getting worse now that you’re actually a dad.”
Aiden had stood silently next to her up to that point, but he shifted when she mentioned baby Amber. The movement garnered Jake’s attention.
Jake sobered, and his eyes dropped to their linked hands. He lingered on the ring Aiden had given her the night before, then moved back up to Aiden’s otherworldly golden eyes. “I know you.”
Aiden grinned slowly, danger in his smile.
Maddie rolled her eyes. Enough with the macho crap. “Jake, this is my mate, Aiden. Aiden, my brother, Jake. We’ve all tried to kill each other at some point because of an asshole I don’t want to talk about. There, now you’ve met for real.”
The tension in the air dissipated, and Jake chuckled as he held out his hand. “Nice to meet you for real.”
Aiden released Maddie to shake it. “Likewise.”
She threw her hands in the air. “Great. Can we come inside or are we having dinner on the front lawn?”
Jake muttered something about sassy females and opened the door wider. They joined the throng, and Maddie squealed when Sera came around the corner carrying a gorgeous dark-haired toddler.
“Amber! Come to Aunt Maddie.” She made grabby hands until Sera handed the kid over with a smile.
“I could use a break. No matter where we hide the C-O-O-K-I-E-S, she finds them and magics them to her.” Amber giggled as her mom tickled her feet, then settled against Maddie’s shoulder to stare up at her adoringly.
Maddie felt Aiden’s gaze on her and looked up to see him watching her across the room. He was talking with Zee, probably about what they’d done with Torix, but his focus never wavered from her. He liked the way she looked with a child in her arms. She could feel it through the bond, which had gotten stronger and more concentrated the more they used it.
Ryan walked out of the kitchen, a beer in his hand, and Jake called everyone to the table to eat. Maddie didn’t remember a big dining table in the house, but then, a lot had changed in the last year. She handed Amber back to Jake and took a seat between Sera and Aiden. Around the table, people passed lasagna and garlic bread, told terrible jokes, and sent each other silent glances.
Her heart swelled with happiness at being surrounded by the people she loved safe and whole. A simple dream she’d thought she didn’t deserve. Aiden had changed that. He rubbed her thigh under the table. Maddie grabbed his hand, then sent him a big grin. He understood her joy.
Ryan cleared his throat, then spoke over the dinner chatter. “We have enough magical firepower around this table to fight a shit-ton of bad guys. Oww—” He glared as Sera, who nodded at the baby sitting in a high chair between her and Ryan. “Right. Sorry. A whole lot of bad guys. We need a name.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Not this again. We’re not the Avengers. We don’t need a name.”
“Well the Avengers is taken, obviously. But I was thinking—”
Maddie tuned Ryan out and squeezed Aiden’s hand. They’d been through a hell of a journey, but she’d do it all again to end up here with these weirdos.
Aiden leaned over, oblivious to Jake’s scowl, and whispered in her ear, “I love you, marenkya.”
Maddie turned her head and brushed her lips against his. “I love you too.”
Across the table, Zee snorted. “No. Absolutely not. It sounds like a crime-fighting octopus, and tentacles are creepy.” She shuddered, and everyone laughed.
Aiden stretched his arm across her shoulders, and Maddie settled back into him, making a face at Amber. The others could battle it out for a group name they’d never use. She had no need to loo
k for more trouble.
Maddie had everything she wanted right here.
Want Seth’s story? Read on for the first chapter in Impulsive Magic.
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Impulsive Magic
1
KEELY
Men were a pox on the Earth and nothing would convince Keely Cole otherwise. Her head ached from the tight chignon pulling on her scalp, and her skinny jeans were slowly becoming a second skin in the unseasonably warm April sun. New York City, and Manhattan specifically, was supposed to be a bastion of cool sophistication; the promised land after unpaid internships and grueling graduate work. But all Keely had to show for it was a box of her meager belongings, a mediocre reference letter, and a pair of ridiculous stilettos that weren’t meant for actually walking.
Her asshole of a boss had fired her because the company was going in a different direction. What he meant was I’m giving your job to my nephew. It was a shit job to begin with. Assistant editor at a no-name publisher that she suspected of being a glorified front for the owner. As far as she knew, they’d only published two books in the last year, and both had tanked. Keely hadn’t worked on either. She’d been too busy getting coffee and finding new, inventive excuses to avoid paying the authors.
Mid-afternoon on a Tuesday meant a relatively empty street. Everyone else had jobs to do. Fine by Keely, the space gave her more room to stomp. She normally enjoyed the fifteen-minute walk from her former office to her house, but unlike most afternoons, she hadn’t brought her sneakers for the commute.
The day was rife with poor decisions.
