Alpha Magic (The New York Shade Book 4)

by D. N. Hoxa

  “You were the ones who said you’d be there to fight—with him, all by yourselves. Nobody forced you,” I reminded him.

  Through the corner of my eye, I could make out the shadows of Kit and Dalia, lying on the couch, and the little ones running around the living room. At least they weren’t making any noise.

  “That’s different. We’re going to fight the Uprising one way or the other, and you already know why,” Chris said.

  Carter remained silent. He hadn’t said much to me since Damian came to visit.

  “It’s no different. If you trust him enough to go in a fight with him, don’t tell me not to.”

  “He’s a vampire.”

  “You’re a werewolf. Your point?”

  “He’s—”

  “For fuck’s sake, I know who he is, and I’m going to tell you, too—none of your damn business!” I said, a bit louder than I intended. Instantly, all five little hellbeasts were climbing on the legs of the chair, and before I knew it, my chest felt heavier. They were beginning to recognize the sound of my voice, it seemed. “You don’t need to trust him. After this, you don’t ever have to work with him or even see him again at all.”

  “But you will,” Carter finally said.

  “Yes, I will.” I almost wanted to lie to him because he looked so disappointed in me, but I couldn’t. I never had and I wasn’t planning on starting now. He deserved the truth. “Can we talk about the important thing here? What are your thoughts about tomorrow night? Do you actually think it will be possible to kill Adams and keep it all away from the Guild?”

  “It is, if we play our cards right,” Chris said. “Your friend was confident that she can have the Shade on our side. That’s the most powerful weapon we have.” He was talking about Malin.

  “I’ve seen it happen. The Shade will do anything for her, so you can count on it.”

  “What concerns me more is that the same thing that happened the night before can happen again,” Carter said. I flinched. “There’s no reason why the Uprising and Adams won’t set us up a second time.”

  “Damian seems to believe he won’t.” But I wasn’t sure, either. It had happened once already.

  “I don’t. I want to make sure we’re not walking into a trap again, so I’m going out there tonight to check the place,” Carter said. My first instinct was to tell him not to, but he was right. I just looked down at the hellbeasts hanging on my shirt instead, and played with them with my fingers. They loved that and it didn’t even matter that my fingers were already scratched and even bleeding in a few places.

  “What if something goes wrong?” I said in wonder. If something went wrong and I wasn’t even there. It felt like there was a hand inside my head, squeezing my brain every time I thought about it. I wouldn’t be there.

  “We’ll handle it,” Chris said. “We will be prepared this time. We’ll expect a trap. The bloodsucker was right—we take off the head of the snake, the rest will sort itself out. And if the Guild shows up, we’ll just have to keep them at bay until we’re done with Adams.”

  “Do you think he’s the man who killed your father?” I asked before I could help myself.

  “Yes,” Carter and Chris said at the same time.

  “He’s a wizard. Very powerful. It would have been no trouble for him at all to erase his tracks and make it look like it was a suicide,” Carter continued.

  I nodded. “If the Guild catches you—”

  “Let me worry about the Guild,” Chris cut me off.

  “We’ve got enough people in there to make sure that we walk away, even if we get caught. You don’t have to worry about us, Sin,” Carter said. That was certainly a relief.

  “What exactly are you?” Chris asked out of the blue. I looked at him to find his eyes on the hellbeasts—at Hungry, specifically, who was chewing on my fingernail.

  “Marauder,” I said, and I didn’t even regret it. To hell with it, what was done was done. It was only a matter of time before the whole world found out, anyway.

  Chris was surprised. He was shocked and it showed when he couldn’t bring himself to say anything for a good ten seconds.

  “I didn’t know they let those live,” he finally said, his voice a bit scratchy.

  “They don’t.” I’d just done what I’d had to do to survive the Guild.

  “What about those things? How?” he asked, pointing at the hellbeasts.

  “Kit’s family. He’s a hellbeast. He’s been with me since I was nine.” To me, it didn’t sound strange at all—just a simple truth—but it shocked Chris all over again.

  “Where are you going to go after we’re done with the Uprising?” Carter asked next.

  “I’m going to disappear for a while,” I said, just as the phone in my back pocket vibrated. It was a text from Malin.

  They’ve sent your signature in for testing, the text said. All the hair on my body stood at attention. Robbie must have told her. Real great. It was a matter of hours now.

  “They’re testing my magic’s signature,” I said to the twins reluctantly.

  “I’ve got a feeling you’re not telling me something,” Chris said.

  “She’s told you everything,” said Carter before I could reply. I looked at him. Why didn’t he want me to tell his brother about my magic level? He didn’t even look at me.

  “He’s right, I have. And I do appreciate you letting me stay here, Chris. Thanks,” I said because I hadn’t earlier. “I won’t forget it.”

  He instantly grinned. “I was hoping you would say that.”

  “You know, if you weren’t so goddamn bossy and cocky, I’d like you,” I said honestly.

  He laughed—a rough, throaty laugh. “I’m the Alpha. It’s my birthright to be bossy and cocky.”

  “Not here, it’s not. You can be a good guy for a couple hours, can’t you? Nobody can see you, and I promise it won’t kill you.”

  This time, it was Carter who laughed. “Good guy? He’d rather shoot his own foot.”

  “Both my feet,” Chris corrected with a grin.

  “Not going to lie, I’d love to see that,” I said, laughing.

  “And I’d love to see you use your Talent,” Chris said. “How about it?”

  “She already did,” Carter said. “She took my power, turned into a snow white wolf.”

  “Fuck that,” Chris said. “Are you serious? When did that happen?”

  So we told him, Carter and I. We told him everything that had happened in Estird, and eventually, after the hellbeasts got bored with me, we played another game of cards, for real this time. I went upstairs to the guest room a little past midnight, sure that I wouldn’t be able to sleep. My mind was buzzing with all kinds of thoughts, with fear and guilt and anticipation. And then, my phone vibrated again, making my heart skip a beat. This time, it was Damian.

  We’re going to be okay, little thief.

  I slept soon after, with five little hellbeasts on the pillow right next to me.

  Chapter Twelve

  Damian Reed

  I looked down at the City through the windows of the penthouse, a glass of wine in my hand. Night had fallen minutes ago. It was almost time.

  Alexander Adams knew why I’d called him. He knew what I was trying to do—it was the reason he’d accepted the call right away in the first place. He wanted to kill me, and he knew he could easily cover his tracks from the Guild once he did.

  I’d go as far as to say that he knew the Pack of the Bronx would be there, too. After what had happened two nights ago, it would be foolish of him not to anticipate it, and Adams was no fool.

  But there was one thing he didn’t know—and that was that I wasn’t fighting for myself for once. I was fighting for Sinea, and I was already damned, but I’d live another thousand years all alone before I let anybody win that fight.

  The elevator doors slid open and in came Moira. She was by herself. The rest of the Bane were already in the Shade, waiting.

  “Everything’s set up,” Moira said
, and I could tell from those three words that she was stressed. She didn’t need to be. The people Adams would bring with him were no real threat to her, and Adams himself was only going to come after me. “Charlie and Malin have set up all the wards. The werewolves are all in position. They’ve all shifted. We’re ready.”

  “Good. I’ll go get my armor.” I left the glass of wine on the desk.

  “Are you sure about this, Dam?” Moira asked.

  I looked at her. “Yes, I am. He’s my responsibility. We’re going to be fine.”

  “I’m not worried about us,” she said. “If that man is as powerful as you say—”

  “He’s a Prime. So am I. I’ve lived a lot longer. I’ve fought more battles than he has years.” I wasn’t sure if that was the truth, but it had to be close. “Are you doubting me, my deranged elf?”

  She smiled. “Well, you’ve gone soft recently, oh mighty Typhon. Of course I’m worried.”

  I laughed. “I might have gone soft, but I’m still a monster when tempted. Monsters are born killing, and that’s how they die.” And I was feeling very tempted to kill Adams now.

  Moira sighed. “I wish Sin was here, to be honest.”

  To say I was shocked would be the understatement of the century. “Beg your pardon?” She had made no secret out of disliking Sinea since the very beginning. I knew she’d get over it, but I honestly thought it would take years.

  She shrugged and looked down at the floor. “Don’t be an ass. All I’m saying is that she’s powerful. She’s…okay, I guess.”

  “Forgive me, but I have to ask: when did she become okay?” It was so sudden I had to know.

  “Before you left, when she called me,” Moira said, a stern look in her eyes, like she was challenging me. “You’d stood her up and the first thing she asked was if you were okay.” She held up two fingers. “Twice. She cares about you, I get it. She’s not going to try to kill you again.”

  I hugged her to me. “She didn’t try to kill me the first time either, my deranged elf.”

  “Let’s agree to disagree on that one,” she said, squeezing me for a second. “Now go change. We need to get going.”

  Ten minutes later, we entered the Shade.

  The location we’d chosen for the meeting was in a very quiet street in the east, a few streets over from Dugan Street and the club Cavalieros. I had a strong suspicion that the Judicum Prison was in that area, even though the Shade wouldn’t let us through to it, especially after what had happened a month ago when that redheaded witch had broken out of it. But there were a very small number of living areas in the wide street that ended with a building that existed in the human part of Manhattan.

  Somewhere down the middle of that street was a cafe that was almost always empty. That’s where Adams and I were going to meet. It wasn’t ideal. I’d have preferred a closed space, somewhere inside a building, but the plan had changed when the werewolves and Sinea’s friends had decided to join the fight. We needed to be out in the open, where they could hide and wait, ready to strike at the right time.

  The Bane had already spoken to the owner of the cafe. He was paid not to let anybody else sit there tonight and to stay in the back, leaving altogether if necessary when the fight broke out. I had a few ideas about how to kill Adams, but I already knew none of them would come to pass. He was too unpredictable. I’d fought men like him before—and won. But that never meant that I was going to win again. Underestimating him was a mistake I did not want to make.

  When Moira and I turned the corner of the street, we found it completely empty. I stepped over the thick line made of wood and spices on the ground. The wards were heavy on my shoulders as I slid inside them—Malin and Charlie had done a good job. Nobody was going to be able to pass them or see through them at all, just like it was planned. I could smell the werewolves hiding, and the rest of the Bane as they came out to walk beside me. My armor was on me, my Heivar sword tucked in its invisible sheath on the inside of the armor plate, and I was as ready as I was going to be. Hopefully, it would end soon.

  “This is for you,” Moira said and slipped something in the pocket of my black pants. It was an emerald infused with a lot of magic—a ward for my person that would stop at least three very strong Prime spells.

  “He’s here,” John whispered, too slowly for anybody else to hear. I’ll admit that I felt a bit of fear with every step I took. Moira was right, but she was also wrong. I hadn’t gone soft, but I was made vulnerable now. I risked losing a lot, things I hadn’t had to worry about in the past.

  Still, being a vampire certainly had its advantages. Nobody around me, not even other vampires could tell what I was feeling. My body would never betray me because it couldn’t—it was technically dead.

  “Stay outside,” I told the Bane when we neared the cafe. The silence in the air was deafening. The wolves the Conti brothers had brought were everywhere—I could only smell them, but I couldn’t hear a thing.

  When I stepped inside the cafe, I expected Adams to be with his people—Amina, at least, and the fae.

  Instead, he was alone, but I smelled them, too. They’d been here at one point, and they were hiding, just like everybody else, waiting. The fact that I couldn’t tell where bothered me, but I did smell the magic that was used to cover their tracks. They were here and they were going to come out very soon.

  Adams sat alone in the middle of the room, at a small table with only one other chair across from him. The bar was to the right, and the owner, Jacob Paine, was behind it, alone, wiping some glasses. He didn’t even look up when I entered, just proceeded to the other end of the room, slowly.

  A smile played on Adams’s lips while I approached him. He wasn’t a very big man, but he had a very big presence. I could feel the air crackling around him, just like I did the last time we spoke. Sitting down made me even more vulnerable, but he was sitting, too. I had no doubt that I would be up and attacking faster than he could say a single word, so I sat down on the cold chair across from Adams.

  “Good evening, Adams,” I said with a nod.

  “Reed,” he said. “It’s like everywhere I look lately, you’re there.”

  “I was here even when you weren’t looking. It’s the reason why you tried to kill me ever since I came to this Shade,” I reminded him. The Uprising had tried to get Sinea to kill me. It had been an order from Adams. I wasn’t sure of the reason, but I suspected Amina had something to do with it.

  “It’s business, my friend. Nothing personal, you know that,” he said, waving his hand, his thick fingers covered in black ink.

  “Absolutely. Life is nothing more than business. Yours is the same as mine.”

  He nodded. “We understand each other, you know? In different circumstances I might have even liked you. We could have worked together.”

  That certainly surprised me. I expected a lot of things from Adams but not a job offer.

  “In different circumstances, yes. As it is, I’m afraid you leave me no choice but to finish what I started in Nova Scotia.” He already knew I’d framed him. The grin on his face said he was proud of how he’d managed the whole situation.

  “You no longer work for the Guild. The Guild itself won’t be working for the Guild very soon. You know our fight is fair. All we want is equality.” He raised his hands to the sides, perfectly at ease. Too relaxed. It made me nervous.

  “You want a war. The Guild exists for a reason. Darkling are Nulled for a reason, and if you’d have seen how we got to this moment in time, you’d agree.”

  I’d lived a long time. Darkling were more powerful from birth. A lot more dangerous than the Sacri, and when I was first turned to a vampire, I saw a lot of things. I saw people, darkling with no limits, wreak havoc all over the world. I hated the Guild for a lot of reasons, but keeping darkling Nulled wasn’t one of them. Nobody would be safe in a world where people were free to raise armies from the dead and move millions with a thought. It would be chaos, and a lot of lives are lost in chaos.r />
  “Yes, I know of the reason. That reason is fear. They fear us, Reed. They always have. That’s the only reason why you try to control someone. Sacri, darkling—it makes no difference. We should all be free to be who we are. Wouldn’t you like that? Wouldn’t you like to be the beast that you truly are, to not have to hide your true nature from the world, take what belongs to you by birthright?” He let out a forced laugh. “Life is a war already. The fittest survive. The weak die. It’s how nature intended for it to be, and who is the Guild to put limits to it?”

  “If we all let out the monsters that live inside us, there would be no nature, no place to live for anyone. The Uprising was a mistake, Adams. You know it. We both know it. You can’t win against the Guild.”

  He smiled but it looked like he was just trying really hard not to shout in my face. Not that I would have minded. I already knew that I wasn’t going to change his mind—I didn’t even want to. But the sooner we ended this, the happier I’d be.

  “Well, I do get credit for trying,” he finally said with a sigh. “We would have made a good team, Reed. Alas, things weren’t meant to be easy between us.”

  I smiled. “Maybe in another lifetime, Adams.”

  My sword was already in my hand by the time I stood up. He didn’t move, but he didn’t need to. The door behind the bar opened and in came the Spring fae, Faron, and he wasn’t alone. There were four maneaters right at his back, which meant Boyle the Possessor was very close by.

  “I’m sorry that you won’t get to see this,” Adams said, and he smiled—a full smile, completely relaxed, completely genuine.

  That’s when I knew that something was wrong.

  I swung my sword at his neck, and he didn’t move. Instead, Amina was by his side, the blade of my sword between her hands, cold blood splattering everywhere. She looked at me and winked.

  “So long, my love.”

  Two people were already by my sides. The Bane was by the entrance, trying to get through the maneaters that had blocked it. I spun around and grabbed the Spring fae by the throat while his friend, a tall, skinny man I hadn’t seen before, tried to fist me in the face. I didn’t need to turn to look at him. With a swing of my sword, I cut off his forearm completely, then threw the fae away so I could stab him in the heart. Just as I did, Amina grabbed me by the hair, but she never got to pull me by it. John was by her side, almost too fast for the eye to see, and he yanked her to the side hard. The fae was already on me again when I turned to look at Adams.