by Linsey Hall
Do I!
I left them to it, eating my sandwich as I hurried up the stairs. I found Maximus waiting for me at the main exit, and I handed him the second sandwich.
“Thank you.”
“There’s a juice box where that came from.”
“Juice box?” He frowned.
I handed him the box of grape juice, and his expression cleared.
“Ah, those. I’ve seen them on the television. For children.”
“Or for powerful supernaturals.” I stuck a straw in and sucked, not bothering to explain Hans’s strange obsession. “This is one of the first modern things you’ve had trouble with. How are you so well assimilated?”
“A lot of practice. We’ll go over there, toward the woods.” Maximus led the way, eating his sandwich as we walked.
Once we arrived, he took my discarded juice box and made it disappear, along with his own trash. Had the Menagerie been here, I’m sure they would have liked that trash.
“Handy.”
“Very.” He stepped back. “Have you tried controlling your magic at all?”
“Of course. But I can’t get a handle on it. I focus as hard as I can, and as soon as I think I have a grip on it, it disappears.”
He nodded. “That’s your problem. It’s counterintuitive, but you need to not try so hard.”
I scowled, hating the sound of that.
“It’s the problem of the white bear. When you try not to think of a white bear, all you can do is think of a white bear. It comes into your mind no matter what.”
“Okay, that makes some sense. So what do I do?”
He conjured two blunt wooden swords, and tossed me one. “Practice while distracted.” He swung his sword loosely. “We’ll spar, and you try to loosely hold on to your magic. Envision it as a ball in your free hand. Squeeze it to force it down, but keep your mind on the fight.”
“Like a stress ball?”
“I don’t know what that is, but sure.”
I grinned. A second modern day slipup. It was so easy to forget that he’d only spent five years in present day.
“Now, go.” He moved toward me, swinging his sword.
He was clearly pulling his punches, moving slower than he normally would, and I wasn’t freaking having it. I lunged and slammed my wooden blade against his. They smashed together, the vibration rising up my arm.
His brows rose. “You’re quick.”
“I’m good.” I parried, then swung again, going for his waist. All the while, I squeezed my hand, occasionally envisioning sending my magic back down, deep inside me.
He dodged the blow, spinning around, then struck out with his blade and tapped me on the arm.
Annoyance flared. Slight nausea followed.
“Get ahold of your magic,” he said. “Don’t let your emotions allow you to lose control.”
I gritted my teeth, but he was right. The annoyance did make me lose control. I sucked in a breath as I dodged his blow, steadying my mind and gripping my fist tight.
Somehow, it worked. The fight kept my mind distracted enough and somehow helped me control the dark magic. I felt better as I fought, the darkness clearly receding inside me.
Sweat began to form on my skin, warmth flowing over me. We fought in the moonlight, and he was so skilled that it took everything I had to keep up.
I dodged one blow and managed to hit him in the leg with my blade, but he was quick, too, delivering his own strike to my shoulder.
We danced—there was no other word for it. It was violent and fast, but it was a dance all the same.
I preferred this to any nightclub. My mind felt free as I fought, and my magic stayed mostly under control. I couldn’t keep my eyes off his muscles though. Or his movements. He fought with such grace that it was mesmerizing.
Actually, I became a little warm, just watching him. The tension between us was tight as a wire, and it was far from violent. My breath came quicker, not just from the workout.
I couldn’t stop looking at his mouth.
Annoyed with myself, I picked up the intensity, moving forward.
He blocked my next blow, and I lunged forward, striking again. His arm came up, and he grabbed my wrist, stopping my sword in midair.
I breathed hard, so close to him that I could smell the scent of his sweat. It was…nice. Manly and sexy, somehow. My breath caught in my throat as my gaze dropped to his mouth.
I licked my lips, unable to help myself.
His gaze dropped, following the motion, and heat rose in his eyes.
I want to kiss him.
My breath heaved in my lungs, and I tried to control it. I moved closer to him, unable to help myself. His gaze darkened, turning molten.
11
“They’ve found something!” The voice echoed across the lawn, high and excited.
Maximus and I jerked apart.
Heat rose in my cheeks, and I turned to face the castle. Florian, the ghostly librarian, was running down the lawn. The Pugs of Destruction followed behind him, their ghostly forms glowing in the moonlight. Mayhem led the trio, her little wings keeping her aloft. Ruckus and Chaos followed, springing across the lawn. Chaos’s horns rose tall off his head, while Ruckus’s fangs hung over his little lower lip.
They were ridiculous, but had been an institution at the Protectorate for years. They were Bree’s sidekicks when they weren’t hanging out with Florian in the library.
He came to a halt in front of us, panting. His pale eyes were bright. “Hedy sent me to find you. They think they have a clue.”
“Excellent.” I turned to Maximus. “How do I look?”
“Not gray.”
“Great. Good enough for me.”
Florian’s gaze darted between us, clearly sensing that something was up, but he said nothing.
“Let’s go see what they’ve found.” I turned and hurried off toward Hedy’s workshop, which was located near the main gate in the castle’s exterior curtain wall. She kept it away from the castle in case something blew up. I thought it was good policy and should probably get a place like that myself.
The round tower’s door was open as we approached, light glowing from within.
I stepped inside, spotting Hedy and Lachlan bent over a table. They looked up.
“Good, you’re here.” Hedy’s eyes brightened. “I’m surprised you wanted to miss this, though you do look better.”
I hadn’t wanted to miss it, but I didn’t dare say that for fear I’d have to explain. “What did you find?”
She pointed to a bowl, which was filled with a gleaming silver liquid. Next to it lay one of the beast’s feathers. “We’ve recreated it. It’s a revival potion. Ancient in origin. Definitely from a jungle. I don’t know what it’s called exactly, but I was able to recreate what was on the feather.”
“Is there a counterpotion or spell?”
“According to this book, there is.” She pressed her finger to the ancient leather-bound tome on the table. “If we throw it on the beast, it will bind it and keep it from attacking. It can still menace people, but it won’t be able to tear them apart with its beak and claws.”
“And most importantly,” Lachlan said, “it won’t be able to feed and grow stronger.”
I nearly sagged with relief. That was exactly what I wanted to hear.
“Exactly,” Hedy said. “And the counterspell will make it possible to kill the beast. Right now, with this potion coating its feathers, it’s nearly indestructible. Their feathers will repel other potions, and their beak and claws are deadly. But the counterspell potion should weaken it enough that you can kill it.”
“So we definitely need this counterspell potion,” I said.
“I don’t think you stand a chance without it,” Hedy said. “It’d be impossible to kill them.”
“Can you make it?” Maximus asked.
“That’s the tricky part. This book doesn’t have the exact recipe, and I’ve not yet figured it out. I think it’s because I may not have
all the ingredients.”
“I can go ask Connor in Magic’s Bend,” I said, referring to our mutual friend who was a potions whiz.
Hedy nodded. “That would be good. We’ll keep working on it, too. Whoever figures it out first will alert the others.”
“And we need to find where the beast is hiding.”
“The rest of the PITs are searching for them,” I said.
Maximus frowned. “The PITs?”
“The Paranormal Investigative Team,” Hedy said. “Led by Jude. Though the acronym is a bit funny.”
“Ah, right. I recall.” He looked at me. “I’ll accompany you to Magic’s Bend.”
“Let’s leave now.”
“Murder!” The shout sounded from outside.
Everyone jerked and whirled toward the door. Florian stumbled in, his eyes wild. “There’s been another one. In the Grassmarket.”
“Holy fates,” Hedy said. “Again?”
“Again.” He shook his head. “I’m doing this too much lately, bursting into rooms and shouting murder.”
Dread welled within me.
No.
Not another. We were failing at every turn. The murders kept piling up, and we were too slow.
Jude caught my eye. “Will you stop by the scene and use your psychometros potion on any clues there might be?”
I swallowed hard, but nodded. I didn’t want to see the scene, but I had to.
“First, take this.” Hedy scooped up tiny vials of liquid, then handed me a piece of paper that looked like it had ingredients written on it, along with a copy of one of the book’s pages. “That’s all my notes and samples of the stuff you took from El Dorado. I’ve done my best, and hopefully Connor can take it from here and figure out how to make the counterspell. His ingredient collection is impressive, so that should help.” She shook her head. “I like to think I’m the best, but sometimes you need teamwork.”
After being alone with the Rebel Gods for so long, that was one of my favorite things about the Protectorate. We worked together, and when we couldn’t figure something out, we had other friends to help us.
I took the things from her and shoved them in the pockets of my leather jacket, then zipped them up, turned, and hurried from her workshop.
It didn’t take Maximus, Lachlan, and me long to reach the Grassmarket since we were able to take the portal. Once we were there, the location of the scene was obvious. The streets were empty save for a massive crowd at the end of the neighborhood, near the entrance to The Vaults.
My stomach lodged in my throat as we approached, guilt rising like sludge inside me.
We were almost to the crowd when Ana appeared next to me, clearly having just arrived.
“I heard,” she said. “This is awful.”
“No kidding. Do you know when it happened?”
“They found the bodies a few hours ago.”
That would coincide roughly with when the dark magic had burst out of me back in the jungle, destroying the guards. I shivered. If they killed again, maybe it would overtake me entirely. I remembered my worry that the explosions of dark magic within me led to the beasts feeding and prayed that wasn’t the case. I couldn’t help it when the magic exploded.
Oh fates, please don’t let that be happening. I couldn’t bear it if I were the cause of this.
We pushed our way through the crowd, Lachlan and Maximus using their bulk to move aside the crowd of looky-loos.
As before, the two bodies were sprawled in an alley. Their insides were now their outsides, what was left of them. Grief welled within me. These people had been innocent. And the monsters had devoured them, taking bits and pieces and leaving the rest.
On the far side of the alley, the Menacing Menagerie sat on a dumpster. Them again?
I left Maximus and Ana standing at the edge of the scene and hurried around the crowd, slipping in beside them.
“Funny finding you here. I’m starting to think this is more than a coincidence.”
We like the adventure of finding our own trash. But this time, we found them, too. Romeo frowned. This kind of stuff always happens in the darkness of alleys.
Poppy and Eloise snuffled, as if agreeing with him.
The raccoon made a compelling point, which was something I’d never expected to think. “Did you find any other clues?”
There are more feathers. He pointed to them. Lots and lots.
Enough that there could be more than one monster. I shivered at the thought and hurried forward, nodding at the Protectorate guards who blocked the scene. They let me slip past.
Maximus was already in the middle, crouching down and inspecting a feather. Ana crouched near another, frowning. I joined her, peering down at it. Then I looked up and spotted Jude.
She crouched next to me. “Try your psychometros potion on it.”
“Okay.” A little thrill of excitement flowed through me at being asked to use my potion. It was a contribution only I could make, and it felt good, especially after being helpless for so long.
I picked up the feather and dug the little vial out of my belt, then dropped the tiniest drop onto it. The silver liquid soaked in, and I pressed my tongue to it.
“Ew,” Ana muttered.
I agreed with her, but the words were stolen from my lips as a vision flashed in front of my mind. I gasped. “A mountain in the sea. There’s a tiny, desecrated church on top. Feathers everywhere. It’s their hideout.”
I lowered the feather and looked at Ana.
“How did you see that this time?”
“Perhaps it was their most recent location. That’s what led me to El Dorado. This feather was recently there, definitely.”
Ana held out her hand, and I placed the feather in it. Her magic flared briefly, and she closed her eyes. “Yes, maybe I can track this with my Druid sense.” She opened her eyes. “I’ll get right on it.”
“I’ll go to Connor,” I said. “If you can find the beasts, we’ll find the counterspell. Then we’ll go deploy it.”
I glanced up to see Jude looking at us, and she nodded.
I stood, then searched for Maximus. He rose from where he was crouched by the bodies and came over to me, his face drawn. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
We strode away from the crime scene, headed back toward the alley. I looked at Maximus. “The quickest way to Magic’s Bend will be to take the portal back to the enchanted grove at the Protectorate. There’s another portal in the woods that goes directly there.”
It didn’t take us long to take the two portals, though my head was spinning by the time I stepped out into the alley in the historic district in Magic’s Bend. It was still light in Oregon, and the party was just getting started in this part of town. Most of the good bars and restaurants could be found in the historic district, and, as usual, this alley smelled vaguely like a urinal from last night’s revelers.
I wrinkled my nose and stepped out onto the main street, sucking in a breath of fresh air, then hailed the first cab that passed.
The green-haired fairy behind the wheel turned around, popping her gum. “Where you headed?”
“Potions & Pastilles, on Factory Row,” I said as Maximus slid in next to me.
“Got it.” The fairy turned around and revved the engine, pulling away from the curb and flashing by old buildings painted in a rainbow of colors.
As one of the few all-magic cities in the world, Magic’s Bend was a place where supernaturals could let it all hang out. Literally. A man with a long serpent’s tail walked by on the street, and a trio of fairies fluttered their glittery wings as they walked, giggling and pointing at a shop full of scandalous dresses.
The cab passed quickly through the business district, flying by towering metal skyscrapers, then entered an older part of town. Factory Row had been revitalized about a decade ago, and Connor’s shop was located in one of the buildings on the bottom floor.
The cabbie pulled over to the curb. “We’re here.”
“
Thanks.” Maximus handed her cash and climbed out.
I followed, pointing to the bar and coffee shop that had Potions & Pastilles scrolled across the window in gold. Light gleamed in welcome from behind the glass, but the place was mostly empty since it was midafternoon. After the coffee rush and before the cocktail and beer rush.
“I thought we were going to a potions master?” Maximus asked.
“We are. Connor runs this shop with his sister, Claire. But on the side, he’s a potions expert and she’s a mercenary.”
“Sounds like this is a front for laundering money, then.”
“You know a lot for a guy recently out of AD 99.”
He just grinned and pushed open the front door.
I entered and sucked in the welcoming scent of coffee and Cornish pasties, the two afternoon specialties in the shop. In the evening, it would turn into a hipster whiskey bar.
Claire, Connor’s dark-haired sister, was manning the bar this afternoon. She looked up from where she was wiping off the counter and grinned. “Rowan, long time no see. How are you?”
Her British accent was light after years of being in the States, but it was still there.
“Hey, Claire. Good, all in all.” Okay, that was a bit of a lie, but now was not the time for small talk. She’d help me in a flash if she knew I needed it, but I didn’t want her to know I needed it. “We’re here to see Connor about a potion.”
She grinned and eyed Maximus, though she didn’t ask who he was. “I’ll go get him. Help yourself to anything in the pastry case.”
As she ducked back into the kitchen to find Connor, I looked down into the glass case. It was full of savory pastries stuffed with meat and cheese and veggies—or some variation of that, since there were a lot of them. Claire and Connor had brought the recipes over from Cornwall when they’d moved years ago, and they were fantastic. I wasn’t hungry after the sandwich, but I could probably use a coffee with a boost. We hadn’t had any real rest in ages, and I was definitely dragging.
Maximus stood next to me, silently surveying the space. I wanted to ask what he thought of it, but honestly, I didn’t need to. He probably liked it. Who wouldn’t? The coffee shop was done in warm wood with art on the walls and mason-jar lanterns hanging from the ceiling. It was very hipster trendy, but also welcoming.
