Shadow Magic (Dragon Born Alexandria Book 4)

by Ella Summers

  Some time later, Logan found her in front of the koi pond. She was watching the fish swim lazily between the waterlilies, completely oblivious that the whole world had gone to hell.

  “You should do as Leilani did.” Logan sat down next to her on the bench. “You should change your magic and link with Sera. Damarion fears the Dragon Born. That’s why he tried to wipe them out. He fears your magic. That is our best and only weapon against him. If you change your magic back, he won’t be able to make you his Monster.”

  “I do want to link with Sera, but I don’t want to lose my connection to you in the process,” she replied. “I don’t want to have to choose.”

  “If you don’t revert your magic, you will never be able to link to Sera.”

  A tear rolled down Alex’s cheek, which she wiped away quickly. She didn’t cry. “I want to link to her. And to you.” She wanted anything and everything.

  He set his hands on her cheeks and said softly, “I will still love you. The magic doesn’t change that.”

  “I want a part of you to be in me and a part of me in you. And I want the same with Sera. You are the two people I love most of all in this world, and I can only be linked to one.” In frustration, she kicked a large rock stuck in the ground. “This is so unfair. I don’t want to choose between you.”

  “You’re not choosing between us, Alex. You’re choosing for the greater good.”

  Alex shook her head. “There has to be another way.”

  “There is.”

  Alex looked up at the sound of Sera’s voice. Her sister was hurrying down the path toward them, Kai by her side.

  “There’s another way, Alex,” Sera said again. “Instead of your changing your magic to link to me, I can change my magic to link to you.”

  “Is that even possible?”

  Tony ran up behind Sera. “It is.”

  “Using some of Drachenburg Industries’ better-kept secrets,” Callum added.

  Dal was there too, a few bags looped around his arms. Alex could smell something faint and flowery inside those bags. And she could sense powerful magic in them.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked Sera.

  “Absolutely.” Sera flashed her a grin. “I’ve always wanted cool powers, like seeing in the dark.”

  “You might find yourself with the urge to bite Kai now and again,” Alex warned her.

  A reflective, dreamy look washed over her eyes, then she declared, “I think he can live with that.”

  Kai snorted.

  “Let’s do this,” Sera declared.

  “Are you really sure about this?” Alex asked her sister a few minutes later.

  They were still outside, busy with preparations for the ceremony that would change Sera’s magic to make it more like Alex’s. Once their magical resonances were in tune, they could finally link powers. They could finally be the Dragon Born twins they’d been born to be.

  “Of course I’m sure,” Sera replied. “Not a doubt in my mind.”

  The commandos stood there, each one holding a vial filled with a different potion. Alex smelled something that reminded her of daisies and dandelions. Another something was acidic and cold, with a sharp bite, like frost. The third potion had a rich, thick scent. It smelled like blood mixed with alcohol.

  “Are you sure this is going to work?” Alex asked Kai.

  “Positive,” he said. “We’ve developed these potions for uses just like this: to change someone’s magic.”

  “So anyone can just change their magic to be whatever they want it to be?” Alex asked.

  “Not quite. There are limitations, and the process requires you to possess a healthy dose of magic to begin with.”

  Too bad. If they could have given magic to anyone, maybe some humans would stop hating supernaturals out of ignorance or jealousy. Then again, people excelled at nitpicking the tiny differences between themselves and others—and using those differences to divide everyone into ‘us’ and ‘them’.

  Kai faced Sera. Tony handed him the first potion, the one that smelled of daisies and dandelions. Alex guessed that was the fairy potion.

  Kai poured the thick liquid into a crystal goblet. Sera took it in her two hands, lifted it to her lips, and drank it all down in one go. Her shoulders shook, and her fingers lost their grip on the goblet. Kai’s hand darted out and grabbed it before it dropped and shattered on the ground.

  “Everything ok?” Alex asked Sera.

  Sera coughed. “That tasted awful.” She coughed again, but when Kai stepped toward her, she waved him away. “No, no. I’m fine. Let’s do this. Next!”

  It was Callum who handed Kai the second potion, the vampiric mixture of blood and alcohol. The liquid shone deep, dark crimson—almost black—through the clear crystal goblet.

  “This time, try to drink it more slowly,” Kai told Sera.

  She winked at him. “Na. It’s like pulling off a bandage. Gotta do it quickly, honey.”

  And with that said, Sera chucked it down like a shot of vodka. That was followed by a bout of coughing.

  “That potion…cough…tasted even worse…cough…than the first.” She shot an accusatory glare at the commandos. “You guys really need to work on these potion flavors.”

  “I wanted the vampire potion to taste like bubblegum,” replied Dal. “But Tony said bubblegum isn’t very vampire-like.”

  “Vampires and bubblegum,” Sera chuckled. “I like that.” She heaved in a deep breath. “Ok, let it rip!”

  Sera was putting on a brave face, but Alex suspected she was hardly holding down the potions. They certainly didn’t smell very appetizing. Alex’s stomach was getting queasy just off the fumes from them.

  Kai looked like he was worried about Sera too, but he must have realized by now that when Sera put her mind to something, she wouldn’t back down. Kai poured the third potion, which looked like cream.

  “This one isn’t like the fairy and vampire potions. It’s the catalyst that blends the other two together with your magic,” Kai told Sera.

  “Ah, good. I was wondering why I couldn’t feel any new magical powers,” Sera said.

  She grabbed the goblet from his hands and drank, like she needed to do this quickly, before she changed her mind—or Alex tried to change it for her.

  Sera doubled over but managed to hold on to the goblet. Her hands shaking, she returned it to Kai.

  “Now, that wasn’t so bad, was—”

  Sera’s words were cut off mid-sentence. Light flashed across her eyes. The shimmer spread out from there, all across her body like a river of diamonds. Then it burst out of her. The force knocked them all to the ground.

  Alex quickly got to her feet. She hurried over to Sera, setting her hands on her sister’s shoulders, and said, “Are you ok?”

  Sera shot her a crooked smile. “That was actually kind of cool.”

  “How do you feel?” Alex asked her.

  “Surprisingly good. Yeah, good. Powerful. This is wicked cool, Alex. You never told me how awesome all this power is.”

  “Yeah, well, I was just concentrating on not going mad on that power,” Alex said honestly.

  Sera took her hand. “That’s not going to happen, sister. Not as long as I’m here with you, by your side. And I will be by your side—and on your side. Always.”

  Alex turned to face her, taking her other hand. She looked past Sera’s shoulder. Naomi was there, and Makani and his Dragon Born twin Leilani too.

  “To link together, you each need to release your magic. Allow it to move across your linked hands, feeding it into the other, allowing your magic and souls to blend, allowing your resonances to blend together,” Makani instructed them. “Release. Let it happen. Your magic is one and the same. Your souls are one and the same. This is a Dragon Born mage’s natural state.”

  Well, that was quite vague, but Alex wasn’t going to argue. She just had to do it. Sera had already done so much for her. Alex would not fail now.

  So she exhaled a
nd relinquished her hold on her magic, allowing it to drip out of her fingertips—and into Sera. At the same time, her sister sent a magic stream in the other direction. Alex got a sample of Sera’s magic. It tasted a lot like her own magic, and yet not like her own magic. It was the opposite, the complement to her magic: Alex’s dark rich magic and Sera’s light, sweet magic. It was all together. It was all one. One magic. They augmented each other. They made each other whole.

  “Whoa,” said Alex.

  “I’ve got to tell you, Alex. You taste an awful lot like pure dark chocolate. A bit bitter really.”

  Alex smirked at her. “And you taste like strawberry shortcake, princess.”

  Both sisters chuckled.

  Now they were linked—and more powerful together than they’d ever been alone.

  Now they could face Damarion.

  And with this magic, with this power, they would stop him. Damarion had torn the world apart. He’d turned everyone against the Dragon Born. He’d tried to tear Alex and Sera apart too. It was time to end this, once and forever.

  34

  Shadow Magic

  They stood outside Gaelyn’s fortress. No, not Gaelyn. Damarion. Gaelyn, the kind supernatural Santa Claus, was a lie. Damarion was his true face.

  “The shield is gone,” Sera noted.

  She was right. Damarion’s protective bubble no longer enclosed the estate. It had been nearly a day since Alex had torn it.

  “He could have patched it by now,” she said. “But he took it down entirely.”

  Logan’s gaze swept across the house. “Damarion has left the shield down on purpose.”

  “He’s taunting us.” Alex frowned. “Daring us to face him.”

  “Let’s not disappoint him,” Kai said, his eyes hard and humorless.

  But for once, Alex was the cautious one. “What makes Damarion so confident?”

  “He’s nuts,” Sera suggested. “I don’t think he’s confident so much as mad with power and magic.”

  As they crossed the front lawn toward the house, Damarion’s forces came forward to meet them, but Logan had already taken that into account. Alex and Sera quickly cast a Spell of Entrapment around each of Damarion’s guards, trapping them in place. And then they just strolled past the stuck guards and walked right through the front door.

  It was better this way. Many of Damarion’s guards weren’t fighting for him by choice; they fought for him because they were magically-bound to follow his every command. They would die to defend Damarion, whether they wanted to or not. Trapping them in spells protected them as much as it protected Alex and her friends. The fight would be between them and Damarion, just as it should be.

  Alex had to say, their plan was pretty smart. Pretty foolproof.

  Until it all went wrong.

  They’d made it into Damarion’s house. He was sitting there in his lounge, completely relaxed. He still looked like Gaelyn—and yet nothing like Gaelyn. The beard and purple robes were still there, but his expression looked so foreign to Alex.

  Nightstar sat in an armchair to Damarion’s right, working on a sudoku puzzle. Two steaming cups of hot chocolate rested on the side table between the two men.

  Alex’s heart jumped when she saw Riley seated in the chair to Damarion’s left. He was completely still, perfectly motionless.

  “What have you done to him?” Sera demanded of Damarion.

  Alex’s blood boiled just considering the possibilities.

  “Your brother is my guest,” replied Damarion, sipping serenely from his cup.

  When he spoke, his voice was not the old, kind, crinkled voice of Gaelyn. It was polished, cultured, and hard. Something truly sinister brewed beneath the surface.

  Leilani looked at Riley. “Damarion has paralyzed him with magic. The spell is an old one, a spell borrowed from the spirit realm. It’s draining his magic. And the more Riley struggles to free himself, the faster his magic drains.”

  “But Riley is still conscious?” Alex asked.

  Leilani nodded. “Yes. He can see and hear everything. He just can’t move or use any of his powers.”

  “Of course,” Nightstar said. “His powers are nothing but trouble. And we want nothing to do with them.”

  “But you do want his powers,” Sera said. “That’s why you took him.”

  Nightstar laughed. “You think so, don’t you?”

  “Wait,” Sera said, scowling. “If you didn’t want Riley for his shadow magic, then why did you abduct him at all?”

  “That should be obvious,” replied Nightstar. “Even to you.”

  “This isn’t about Riley’s magic,” Logan realized. He looked at Alex and Sera. “They took your brother to create a rift between the two of you.”

  “To draw me toward Damarion,” Alex said softly. “He knew I’d grow frustrated with the proper, political procedures of the Magic Council and want to take Riley’s rescue into my own hands. He knew politics would get in the way. He knew I’d come to him for help and sanctuary.”

  “Yes, Alexandria.” The smile that had always seemed kindly on Gaelyn’s face looked only menacing on Damarion’s. “You like to think of yourself as unpredictable, but at the end of the day, you always follow your very predictable heart.”

  Alex scowled at him.

  “Oh, that’s not an insult,” Damarion said, his smile spreading wider. “You’re reliable. Like a sword. Or some good, old magic that doesn’t go out of style.”

  “Dragon Born magic,” said Alex.

  “Yes, yes,” agreed Damarion. “Dragon Born magic. Very potent. Very explosive, yet reliable. The perfect magic to maintain an order of chaos. The perfect magic to help me rule the world.”

  “Except in our linked, twinned form,” Alex said.

  “Yes, there is that,” replied Damarion. “A wonder you are, Dragon Born mages. One of you is quite useful, but two of you…well, I never had any use for two of you.”

  “You feel threatened by our unity,” Sera commented.

  “And by Riley’s shadow magic,” Alex added.

  “Shadow magic.” Damarion cast a disapproving look on Riley. “It’s demonic. I surely have no use for such unclean things.”

  Shadow magic. Come to think of it, Damarion had a kind of shadow magic of his own. Not the actual reality-changing spells, of course, but rather the way he and his magic operated: from the shadows. In secret.

  “Damarion turned everyone against everyone, and he became powerful because of it,” Kai said.

  “He’s been doing this for centuries,” added Makani.

  “Even without magic—or very little magic—he’s managed to accomplish so much through the magic of manipulation,” Logan said.

  Damarion nodded at him. “I thought you’d like that.”

  “I didn’t say I like it,” Logan replied coolly. “In fact, I do not. You tried to push Alex away from her family.”

  “And I pushed her toward you,” Damarion countered. “Because of me, you two met, fell in love, and will live happily ever after. You owe me.”

  “I don’t owe you a thing.” Logan’s words dripped with cold menace.

  “Careful, assassin. You can be replaced.”

  Damarion’s words were a stern warning, yet completely devoid of emotion. He must have lived for so long that all feeling had faded away. There was nothing but a big, empty vacuum where his soul should have been.

  “Enough of this,” Kai said impatiently. “Damarion, you sowed strife between all the peoples of Earth, magical and mundane. You turned everyone against everyone.”

  “You’re seeing it now.” Damarion’s eyes glistened with victory. “There’s so much more power in strife than in unity.”

  “If that were so, then why did you need to break Dragon Born twins apart? Why did you need supernaturals to hunt us down?” demanded Sera. “If you’re so powerful in your strife, why are you so afraid of our unity?”

  “You were just being difficult. A nuisance.” Damarion turned his gaze on Alex. �
��Come now, enough talk. We all know it will do you no good. Alexandria, you know what you must do. Claim your destiny.”

  “Yes, I know what I must do.” Alex took Sera’s hand. “What we must do. This is our destiny, to put an end to your evil.”

  They blended their magic together. Alex could feel the power in her magic—hers and Sera’s—growing stronger, building up to strike Damarion down once and for all. They waited until they were nearly overflowing, then they unleashed their solid stream of coordinated spells at him.

  It didn’t do a damn thing.

  Their spells never touched Damarion. The magic dissolved into nothingness before it reached him. Alex’s jaw dropped. Damarion was stronger than they ever could have imagined.

  “We have to try again,” Alex said quickly to Sera.

  And so they did.

  It was no use. Not a single one of their spells touched him. They couldn’t penetrate the invisible protective barrier around him. Somehow, inexplicably, he was completely immune to their magic.

  Let’s see if he’s immune to this! Nova snapped in agitation.

  She burst out of Alex at the same time Amara, Sera’s dragon, burst out of her. The two sparkling dragons dove toward Damarion.

  “Cute.” He lazily flicked them away, as though they were nothing more than fireflies, hardly worth his effort. “That was amusing.”

  He lifted his arms in the air. There was a loud pop. Then another. And another. There were so many of them now—dozens of simultaneous little pops—that they’d all blended together into one, sustained hum.

  “The spells,” Sera gasped.

  Alex felt it too. The Spells of Entrapment, the magic they’d use to trap Damarion’s unwilling servants, had broken. That was one of the most powerful spells Alex had ever mastered, and Damarion had broken dozens of them without breaking a sweat.

  The front door of the house burst open. Outside, Damarion’s forces were spilling out of the empty husks of magic. They flooded the house.

  “Breaking all those spells…that’s impossible. No one is that powerful.” Alex hurried over to Leilani. “You never said he could do that.”