Abducted by Magic

by Kelli McCracken

  Realizing it was a girl, I held onto her and lowered her to the ground. Her dead weight was too much for me to hold up on my own. Strands of damp purple hair clung to her face. I smoothed the strands away so I could get a better look at her. She looked no older than twenty.

  Where the hell were her friends? How could they let her leave the bar this wasted and without a coat? Her whole body was trembling.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  She blinked at me and her lips began to move, but all that managed to break free were wheezing gasps.

  There was no way that she was drunk. I ran my hands over her body, searching for any sign of injury. I paused when I slipped over something warm and sticky. Lifting my hand away, my stomach flipped at the sight of crimson staining my palm and fingers.

  “Oh my god!” I forced my shaking hand over her wound, trying to slow the blood that was draining from her body. “Help!” I screamed, scanning the street for anyone that might be walking by. I gauged the distance to the bar, cursing the cold night that had kept the bouncers inside. I would only need to leave her for a minute. I was about to lay her down when she finally spoke.

  “Stay,” she wheezed. “There isn’t enough time.”

  “You need an ambulance.” There was so much blood. Moisture traced a trail down my cheeks. I couldn’t let her die in my arms. I had to do something. “I’ll only be gone a minute. I promise I’ll come right back.”

  With more strength than she should have had, she gripped my wrist. “Dying.”

  “You’re not going to die. Hang in there. I balanced her on my lap and began to dig through my purse for my phone.

  “Listen.”

  Why the hell did I have so much shit in my purse? I didn’t even use half of it. Letting out a frustrated growl, I began to toss the contents on the ground.

  Her fingers flexed around my wrist again, causing me to gasp in pain.

  “Listen.”

  I couldn’t look away from the torment in her eyes. Even though everything inside me screamed to ignore her and call for help, something made me wait. What if she was trying to tell me who did this to her? If these were the last words she spoke, I owed it to her to listen.

  “Sorry,” she wheezed, then choked out a wet cough. “Guardians…will help you.” She coughed again. “Do what they say. Tell them I’m sorry...especially Jax.”

  She had to be hallucinating. None of this made sense. Why would her guardians help me?

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Promise,” she pleaded.

  “I promise.” I had no idea what she was rambling about, but it was obviously important to her. At this point, I would tell her whatever she wanted to hear. I released a relieved breath when my hand closed over my phone. I was about to swipe my finger over the screen when it flew out of my hand.

  “What the hell?”

  I glanced down at the girl in my arms. Her gaze steadied and focused on me. Her chest rose and fell as she struggled to take each breath. If her hand wasn’t gripping my wrist, I would have sworn that she knocked my phone away.

  “It’s time.”

  Her lips began to move again, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. I leaned closer until my ear was hovering over her mouth. The words she whispered too soft for me to hear. I jerked back when my wrist began to tingle under her fingers. The prickle increased to a steady burn.

  “Ow!” I tried to twist my wrist out of her grasp, but I might as well have been fighting against a vise. The heat pulsed up my arm, spreading through my body. My breath halted in my lungs as electricity fired through my body.

  Another whisper left her lips, but this time, I heard what she was saying. “Sanguinem magicae.”

  The language was foreign to me. Though I didn’t understand what she was saying, my blood turned cold. A red mist formed around us, then began to swirl. The more it spun, the darker it became.

  Fear paralyzed me. It wasn’t just the fact that this young woman was dying in my arms. Whatever was happening around us, I had a feeling it had something to do with the words she spoke. As much as I wanted to blame this on a drunken hallucination, I’d only had one drink.

  Despite how much I wanted to run away, I couldn’t. I barely heard the sound of approaching footsteps through the buzzing in my ears. My vision began to blur as my heart slammed in my chest.

  “Samara! Stop!” someone yelled. They sounded so far away. The last thing I felt was the cold concrete as my body slammed into it.

  Chapter 2

  ~Roark~

  Samara was dead.

  That single thought played through my mind as I observed the young woman who had found her, cradled inside my leather sofa. Her presence increased my guilt. She was a reminder of my failure, of the failure of my brothers. It was more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We’d lost track of our ward. Now, she was gone.

  My chest grew heavy.

  It didn’t feel real. Maybe that was because I didn’t want it to be. Samara gave me a purpose. She was the reason for my existence. My brothers and I were supposed to protect her. Tonight, we’d failed.

  Tucking my hands behind my back, I paced in front of the sofa. The last time Samara and I had spoken, we’d discussed the old ways, the high priestess, and how Samara had communicated with her ancestors. They had given her a warning.

  I had begged her not to approach anyone in the coven on this matter until we had a chance to inform the other guardians. She hadn’t listened. She never listened. Still, that didn’t mean she needed to die.

  My entire world spun around me, leaving me more confused by the minute.

  I knew Samara lost her life due to her recklessness, but why was this woman alive? I witnessed what happened, though I still didn’t believe it. The power should have killed the girl. Instead, she’d survived. At least I thought she had.

  I paused near her head and studied her face again. Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. It was all the proof I needed that she lived. Still, I didn’t know if this was permanent. Perhaps it was why she hadn’t woken. Had the power been too much? Was her body weakening by the minute? If so, death was imminent.

  Our people would have our asses if a human died under our care. It wouldn’t matter what caused it. It was our job to protect the true power, the same power Samara had. Now this girl…

  Raven hair and porcelain skin filled my eyes. She was a child in comparison to my people, but in her world, she was a woman. I couldn’t keep my eyes from roaming over her curves, nor could I ignore the soft lips that parted slightly as she slept.

  Something about her tugged at me. I didn’t like the fact she was affecting my body. Samara never had. I had been Samara’s guardian, nothing more. Besides, Samara had plenty of men in her life. I’d guarded her several times while she was on a date. We all had.

  Rubbing my face, I blew out a deep breath and thought of what to do next. My brothers and I had to work together on this, which would be difficult when we weren’t a complete unit. As of now, it was just Quinn and me.

  Hopefully he had answers.

  Scanning the parlor, I found Quinn sitting in a chair, his nose so deep in a book it appeared attached. “Did you locate Slade yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  Quinn thought he could find something to help us figure out what happened with Samara and the woman we found with her. If anyone could find the answer in some dusty old book, it was him. The guy never did anything fun, not like Jax or even Slade.

  Yeah. Slade. What had happened to our other brother? It was the four of us who’d guarded Samara, and the four us who’d failed her.

  “I don’t understand this. Something is off.” I grumbled the words more to myself than Quinn.

  “How so?”

  Glancing at the woman, I shook my head and tried to piece the puzzle together. “Slade was with Samara. How was someone able to get close enough to kill her? And where is he?”

  After a moment of silence, Quinn shrugged.
“I don’t know, which is one of the reasons I’m researching. We should have been able to find them through our marks.”

  I lowered my eyes to my wrist, taking in the gray lines that formed a witch’s knot. It was my guardian tattoo. My brothers and I shared them, as did Samara. With her death, they should have changed to a rusty tone. Mine was now gray, not black like on the day I received it.

  Gazing at the young woman, I questioned why our guardian tattoo had appeared on her wrist. Who was she? Why was she around when Samara died? Had she killed Samara? So many thoughts ran through my mind. I couldn’t process them along with the pain of losing my ward.

  “Is your mark the same?” Quinn asked.

  Nodding my head at him, I concentrated on the woman, avoiding the subject I knew he wanted to discuss. I couldn’t.

  “Ignoring this won’t make it go away,” he said.

  “And discussing it won’t fix anything.” Pivoting toward him, I narrowed my eyes on his face. “We don’t know anything for sure yet. Let’s not speculate.”

  Quinn licked his fingers before turning another page. His sudden silence worried me. We’d just lost our ward, and one of our brother guardians was missing. Instead of losing his mind, he was calm, collected even.

  Out of all of us, Quinn was the most sensitive. He loved to get sentimental and mushy, but when it came to survival, he was strategic. He always had a plan or an answer. To know he didn’t this time left me with a feeling of dread. Something in the natural force around us was off. Magic was imbalanced.

  Creeping toward him, I waited for him to acknowledge me. He didn’t.

  “We have a lot of things to process in a short amount of time,” I said. “The coven will be looking for Samara if she doesn’t return. It would be best if we went to them.”

  Quinn chuckled. “Yeah, like you want to deal with the coven. Maybe it would be best if I went to them and you stayed to watch over her.”

  I followed his gaze to the young woman. We didn’t even know her name.

  “You want me to stay?” I asked.

  When he nodded, I scratched the back of my head.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “What do I do if she wakes?”

  “Keep her calm. Ask questions. Don’t be abrasive.” His eyes lifted toward me as he stared a moment. Once I nodded, he refocused on the book. “If you have any problems, you know how to reach me.”

  The old book slammed shut and dust flew in the air. Quinn waved it away and stood. His silver wings stretched to their full length and flapped a few times. Then he tucked the wings neatly behind his back.

  “It shouldn’t take me long to report to the coven. I’ll be back in a few hours. When I return, I’ll stay with the girl, whether she’s unconscious or awake, but you have to find Jax.”

  “You know where he is. We both do.” I grumbled the words as I thought about my fellow guardian.

  Quinn nodded. “You’re right. I do know, but do you think it’s wise for him to be alone, and drunk at that, when our other brother is missing?”

  “I never said Jax should be alone, Quinn, but we both know he’s dealing with some shit. Imagine if your last conversation with Samara went the way his did.”

  “There will be a time to mourn and reflect, but now isn’t it.” Quinn walked toward the bookshelf and slid the book back into its rightful spot. “We have to report Samara’s death and find our missing brother. Still, we can’t ignore what is happening. The power we protect, the same one Samara contained, has found its way into this young woman.”

  “You’re one hundred percent certain of this?”

  Nodding, Quinn pointed at the couch and the woman stretched across it. “You saw our symbol of protection on her wrist. There is no other reason for her to have it. Besides, I sense the power within her.”

  As I plopped into the chair he once occupied, I leaned back and folded my arms. “This is a disaster. How can a human hold the power? We’re not sure she can handle it. What if that’s the reason she hasn’t woken?”

  “I don’t have all the answers yet, but I believe this is fate, Roark.”

  “Humph,” I grumbled. “That’s insane.”

  How could a human hold such an ancient power? When I glanced across the room to the young woman, another question formed in my mind. How could I feel attracted to a human?

  “Insane? Yes. Impossible? No.” Quinn approached the girl as he spoke to me. “Just because she hasn’t woken doesn’t mean she can’t handle the power. It should have killed her as soon as it transferred.”

  He knelt beside her, his eyes aiming toward her wrist. I did the same, questioning everything I knew. We needed answers. Any discussion regarding the girl would wait until later.

  “Speculating will get us nowhere, Quinn. I think you should stay with the girl while I go to the council. After I apprise them of Samara’s death and this girl we found, I’ll babysit. You can deal with Jax.”

  “Fine. I just hope once you speak to the council, we’ll find Slade. We need him.”

  “He wouldn’t have left Samara, which means he might be dead.” My voice cracked. The thought of losing my brother shook me. He was wise, kind, and the one who kept us in line. In a way, he was our leader. I wasn’t sure how we could go on without him.

  Quinn’s gaze pierced me. “We haven’t felt our bond with him sever. It’s a painful process, one we wouldn’t miss.”

  I leaned forward, resting my arms on my knees. “Then why can’t we sense him? We should feel his energy, dead or alive.”

  Quinn glanced at the woman again, then rose. He said nothing as he made it to the French doors of the balcony. A breeze blew inside, causing the drapes to dance.

  “Roark, you know as much as I do, but I assure you that I will keep searching for answers. Our library holds a lot of old books. One of them will have something that will help us.”

  Leaving the chair behind me, I passed the young woman and joined Quinn by the window. “I’ll return as soon as I can. Until then, keep the girl safe.”

  There was no time to argue. My wings unfolded from my back and expanded. I darted out the window and leapt from the balcony. Thunderous thrashing filled my ears as my wings flapped. The trees I flew over bent at the tops, but I pushed myself harder, determined to get away from the house, Quinn, and the human girl.

  The faster I flew, the more I thought about her. I shouldn’t be so preoccupied with this strange woman. Her presence went against the rules. She was forbidden to us, yet her existence confounded me.

  Why was I drawn to her?

  Chapter 3

  ~Katarina~

  I shifted on my bed and groaned when that small movement sent pain shooting through my body. Why was I so tired and sore? My head felt like a dozen cannons were exploding inside.

  My fingers twitched. Where there should have been soft cotton sheets under my hand, I felt cool leather. My eyes opened as fast as the throbbing in my skull would allow them.

  Where the hell was I? This wasn’t my room and this definitely wasn’t my bed. I was curled up on a leather couch with a pillow tucked under my head and a fluffy throw covering my legs.

  Dark wood and leather-bound books surrounded me. My arms shook as I tried to push myself up. Warmth flooded my head and the room began to spin. Within seconds, my face slammed back onto the pillow. I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to take deep breaths until the queasiness subsided.

  This was all wrong. Very wrong.

  Opening my eyes again, I saw a man sitting on a chair next to me. His arms were draped over his knees, his gaze focused on me.

  I gasped and pressed my back into the couch, trying to put as much distance between us as I could. Nausea churned my belly as I struggled to focus on the man in front of me.

  “Who are you?” I whispered, unable to speak. High any louder. My throat was so dry, I could barely swallow.

  “There was an accident. You fell and hit your head. How do you feel?”

  “Like I was in an accident.
” Why couldn’t I remember anything? Why wasn’t I in a hospital? I pressed my fingers to my temples, wishing the pressure would relieve the pounding in my head. Each thump made it difficult for me to focus.

  “Here,” he said as he handed me a bottle of water.

  There was no way I was drinking that. What if he’d drugged it? What if he’d drugged me last night and that’s why I was in this room now? He could be fabricating the accident to explain why I was here. Something obviously happened to me, and until I figured out what, I needed to keep my guard up.

  When he realized I wasn’t going to take it, he placed the bottle to his lips and swallowed. He waited a few seconds before handing it back to me.

  “See? It’s okay,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  I continued to stare at the man in front of me. Had we met before? His eyes reminded me of warm honey. Such an unusual shade, one I had never seen before. Like the amber stones my grandmother believed would heal the soul. I remembered the pulse of the amber necklace my grandmother had given me years ago, the way it would warm my chest every time I wore it. Now it was hidden in the back of my dresser along with the past that I had long ago buried.

  “Drink some water and then we can talk.” His voice was like a soothing balm across my aching body.

  As I reached for the bottle, my gaze fell to my sleeve that was spotted with crimson. I rubbed my finger across the stain. Had I cut myself in the accident?

  Memories from the other night flooded my mind. This wasn’t my blood. This was another girl’s blood—she’d been hurt. I lifted my hands in front of my face, expecting to see them still covered in her blood. Someone had already scrubbed them clean. If not for the blood on the cuff of my shirt, I would have believed it was all a dream, but my heart knew the truth.

  “Where is she?” I whispered. I prayed she was okay, but I knew in my soul she wasn’t. There had been so much blood, too much for her to have survived. Was this man in front of me the person who’d stabbed her? Had he taken me, thinking I knew who her killer was?