Jason didn’t react to Hayden’s anger. He didn’t have to. Because Hayden was right. And that was the point. He was only a human – and he’d had to scrounge as much power as he could over his life to face up to magical bullies just like Jason.
“I’m going to ask you once more – do you deserve your own sympathy, Hayden Sinclair?”
Hayden started to shake his head, and I thought I knew what he would say, but at the last moment, he looked down at me, and I looked up at him.
Though I could barely control my expression, I made sure there was no hatred behind my gaze.
He looked away from me sharply. He stared at the ground, then slowly he looked up at Jason. “If you’re asking if I feel sorry for myself—”
“I’m clearly not asking that. I’m asking if you can sympathize with yourself. You’re a smart boy – you know the difference between feeling sorry that something’s happened to you, and being sympathetic to your own situation.”
Hayden took a hard breath. “Fine – I can sympathize with myself.”
“Good man. Maybe you’ve got a future, after all. But you’ve only got one path toward that future now,” Jason said as he emphasized the word path.
Hayden swallowed. “You want me to become an Internal Affairs informant?”
“More than that. Considering the damage you’ve done, you’re gonna have to be a hell of a lot more hands-on. The whole city is under fire,” Jason said as he spread his lips wide, his teeth clenching around each word. “And you will bear some of the responsibility for that, so you will help me to fix it.”
“… What are you talking about? There’s nothing I can do.”
“You know Jeopardy. You’re going to lead us to him. It’s time to cut off the head of this operation once and for all.”
“There’s no way Jeopardy is going to agree to meet with me unless I have what he wants.” Hayden swallowed again as he looked at me.
“There’s no way I’m going to use her as bait. So you can find another way. And no – I’m not going to give you the Hidden Grimoires.”
I should probably stay exactly where I was, but I couldn’t, and I started to push to my feet.
Instantly Jason stopped squaring off against Hayden, twisted around, and wrapped a hand around my shoulder. “Don’t move, Beth. It’s gonna take a long time to come down from D 20. They should never have administered it to you. Not as a finder.”
I knew I looked like hell. My brow was slicked with sweat, I was still shaking, and my hair was a matted mess. Jason didn’t seem to care. Because he looked… dammit, he looked at me with genuine compassion. I wanted to tell myself that Jason couldn’t feel anything genuine – that he was such a faker that every single action he took, let alone sensation he felt, was all to manipulate others.
But this was real.
From the hooded look in his eyes, to his sallow cheeks, to the droop in his shoulders. Jason hated the fact that this had happened to me.
So I pushed past his grip on my shoulder, and I stood.
“Beth – please—”
Though the antidote was slowly pulling the D 20 out of my veins, there was still enough left that I knew one thing.
There was an opportunity here.
I couldn’t look at Jason and instead locked my attention on Hayden. “Use me as bait. It’s the only way.”
I felt Jason stiffen. He’d put his hand back on my shoulder, no doubt to push me back down into a safe seated position, and his fingers tensed unmistakably. “There’s no way—” his voice shot up high.
“It’s my opportunity magic, Jason,” I said. As I spoke to him, for the very first time, there was no anger or suspicion or lust or anything behind my voice. Just as he had faced me with genuine feeling, I was now doing the same to him.
His fingers stiffened even more. “I’ll find another way. I’m a sorcerer—”
“You’re a trainee sorcerer, and you still don’t understand finding magic. I… I still have enough D 20 on board to recognize this. The only way out of this situation that will benefit everyone is if you use me as bait. I don’t think Jeopardy is going to meet you otherwise. If Jeopardy is allowed to continue….” I couldn’t finish my sentence, and instead shook my head. Though it was a costly move, it was less costly than articulating the horror that came up in my mind every time I turned my attention to what Jeopardy was capable of.
Jason looked at me seriously. He shook his head. “I know you think I’m capable of a lot – but I’m not going to use you as bait. It’s time to take you someplace safe so you can come down from the aftereffects of D 20.”
I shook my head harder now. “Trust me, using me as bait is the only way we’re going to solve the situation satisfactorily.”
“I’ll solve it less than satisfactorily,” Jason said, a hard edge to his jaw.
I was aware of the fact that Hayden was looking between the two of us, a confused expression crumpling his brow. “Just how do you two know each other anyway?”
It was a good question. Though I wanted to point out I barely knew Jason, that was a lie. Because every interaction I’d had with him was so damn intense, it felt as if we’d known each other for years.
Maybe Jason waited for me to answer, but when I didn’t, he turned half to Hayden. “I only met her a week ago.”
Hayden made a face. “… And you two are getting married?”
“We’re not getting married…” Even as I said it, I… ran out of steam. I wanted to tell myself it was just because I was tired – and not only had I used all my magic, but some idiot had pumped D 20 into my veins, and it had addled what was left of my brains. But maybe it wasn’t the aftereffects of the drug. Maybe it was the drug itself. What remained of it was still coursing through me, still increasing my power, and most importantly, still allowing me to see the truth.
The truth that was right in front of me.
I’d already softened a little to Jason, and who was to say I wouldn’t soften more? Who was I to say I wouldn’t fall head-over-heels for the man?
Hayden looked, quite rightly, as if we were both crazy.
“It’s all to do with some prophecy,” I tried to explain.
Jason stiffened. “He doesn’t need to know that,” he said in a low tone.
But the words were already out. Hayden ticked his head to the side, his brow crumpling. “Wait, what prophecy? You’re talking about the Zero Prophecy, aren’t you?” His voice shot up high.
Judging from the exact way Jason’s expression slackened, that indeed was the name of the prophecy.
I blinked hard. When this day had begun, I’d been sitting at the kitchen table, eating cereal and promising Josh that I would find the prophecy. The exact letter of it, so that – just as Josh had suggested – I’d be able to argue against it. No, I didn’t think I was some grand arcane lawyer who could argue her way out of any case. What I thought was that I was a finder. And I just knew I could find some way out of this prophecy if I tried hard enough.
“Do you know where this prophecy is?” I asked excitedly.
Hayden made another face, this one telling me I was an idiot. “Everybody knows—”
Jason cleared his throat hard. “We don’t have time for this. I need to pick up the Hidden Grimoires set and save the city. And no, Beth, I will not use you—” he began.
“I’m the one who’s meant to teach you finding magic, aren’t I? So I’m going to give you the only lesson Max ever taught me – and the only lesson that honestly matters. Follow your feelings, Jason,” I said. In many ways I couldn’t believe I was sharing this with Jason. I also couldn’t believe I was telling a man who I was meant to fall head-over-heels for to follow his feelings. Who knew how he would interpret that.
But this had to be done – because this situation was bigger than me, wasn’t it? It was finally time to tuck my head in and do as Jason said – save Madison City before it was too late.
Hayden quieted down as he realized something important was happening.
>
Jason? Looked at me evenly with the kind of determination that told me he would not back down. And yet, at the same time, he looked intrigued. “This is no time for a lesson,” he tried, though his heart wasn’t in it.
“When else would you rather learn this lesson? You don’t have any time not to learn it. Now close your eyes and center your attention on your breath.”
… Why the hell was I teaching him this?
Because I had no option but to. This was important.
I felt that Jason needed to understand this before he went up against Jeopardy. And he had to go against Jeopardy. Every time I turned my mind to that bastard, a hard chill raced down my back. One that promised me the city really was on a knife’s edge.
“Beth—” Jason tried.
“Just close your damn eyes, Jason. Concentrate on your breath. I don’t honestly know how I can practice finding magic in here, considering there’s an anti-magic field, but it doesn’t seem to affect me – so hopefully it won’t affect you.”
“Anti-magic fields can’t affect finding magic,” Hayden explained helpfully. “They only affect physical kinds of magic like a warlock’s power. But what—”
“Don’t interrupt – she’s teaching me a lesson,” Jason said.
Really? Jason kind of reminded me of Max combined with Josh – power and arrogance and irritation and capability all rolled up into one unfortunately handsome man.
Hayden brought his hands up and took a step back.
“Beth—” Jason said, exasperation twanging in his voice.
“Concentrate,” I said, voice dropping down low. At the same time, I tried to imbue it with… I don’t know, a sense of certainty. The same sense of certainty I got when I tuned into my opportunity magic and it told me what to do next.
I felt exactly like the blind leading the blind, but apparently that didn’t matter, because Jason was an exceedingly good student. He would have to be as the city’s only trainee warlock sorcerer.
He straightened, his shoulders slackened, and I… I felt him practicing finding magic. It was exactly the same sensation that ran through me whenever I felt Max doing the same.
We hadn’t been interrupted by the warlocks sitting outside in the tunnels – and I knew we wouldn’t be. They were too scared of the anti-magic field to come in. So we had all the time in the world – well, until Jeopardy destroyed the city. But the point was, Jason didn’t have to rush himself. He took his time as he drove breath after breath deep into his lungs. I felt more and more finding magic shifting through him. I was startled by his level of skill. I shouldn’t be – he was a frigging sorcerer. But that wasn’t the point. He was simply so… open to magic.
Open to possibilities, a part of my mind suddenly pointed out.
Jason was my exact opposite. I had always been closed off to chance. I was the kind of woman who liked to run her life in a regimental way. I hated surprises – hence all the ridiculous shenanigans that followed me finding out I was a finder.
Jason? If I was a closed door, he was an open door. Or maybe he was a key? One that was meant to open me.
I shivered at that explanation.
I watched Jason open an eye, and he frowned at me. “What is it? I just sensed a great deal of emotion from you. Have you just found something—”
I cleared my throat and straightened. To be honest, it was hard to keep on my feet. I kept rocking back-and-forth as new waves of weakness crossed through me. But this was important. “Keep centering your attention. Keep concentrating on finding the only true opportunity in this situation.”
As I instructed Jason, I did the same, locking my breath in my chest, half closing my eyes, and fixing my focus on the prospect that we could all get through this. Not just me and Jason, not just the city and the police force, but Isabella and Hayden too. Every person who’d been swept up in the Cruze Gang’s greed – they could all find a way out of this.
My mind finally felt as if it aligned, and at the exact moment it did, Jason let out a heavy sigh. His shoulders dropped even further, his hands opened loosely at his sides, and he looked at me. There was… a serene expression on his face. “You are a good teacher,” he said, and again he sounded genuine.
“You mean—”
“Yes. I tuned into opportunity magic – and I sensed what you did. But—”
“Before you say you’re not comfortable with this, trust the magic.”
“You want me to trust the magic more than I trust you?” There was such a prying quality behind his tone. One that almost suggested he’d known me all my life. And heck, maybe longer.
I was taken aback. “You don’t know me—”
“Are you sure?”
I could see Hayden was completely fascinated by what was going on here, but at the same time, I could also tell he was steadily getting more worried.
It wasn’t just the way his brow was marked, the stiffness of his lips, and the pale touch to his cheeks. It was—
Jason turned to Hayden. “There’s no need to become frantic.”
“Don’t waste your emotion-reading magic on me,” Hayden said. “I don’t know how long it will be until Jeopardy’s warlocks out in the corridor will start to get worried and call Jeopardy.”
“You have a point.” Jason took a hard breath. He looked at me, and I could tell he wanted to continue the conversation, but he turned his head and looked straight at a point in the air about a meter up from him.
That stilled Hayden. His lips opened slowly. “Can you… can you see the Hidden Grimoires?”
“Not yet. It will take some incantations. I assume they’re there. That’s the point where I’m feeling the most magic. It’s also the point where the heat and air are disappearing into. Now, do me a favor,” Jason looked directly at Hayden, “please pull Beth away to a safe distance. As I open the door to access the Hidden Grimoires… there will be a great discharge of magic. And as she has already encountered D 20 today, despite the antidote I’ve given her—”
“The magic might react to her again,” Hayden finished the thought. He shifted over to me, wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and helped to pull me back.
I turned over my shoulder, staring between my messy hair at Jason. “Be…”
He looked at me as he started to roll his sleeves up. “What?”
I battled with my consciousness. I knew what my heart wanted to say, and I knew what my brain wanted to do. And this time? I gave into my heart. “Be careful,” I managed.
Jason smiled.
To be honest with you… I liked that smile.
It was the kind of smile that promised when I finally opened my heart up to him, I’d find more I liked too.
Chapter 11
What happened next happened quickly. Jason was obviously very competent in what he did. It was also obviously not the first set of Hidden Grimoires he’d found. Though I knew for a fact he’d found one last week in Constantine’s tunnels, I got the impression that Jason had found at least one more set before, too. Could that account for his sorcery skills?
There was so much to ask him, but at the same time, I didn’t dare interrupt.
Hayden had taken me a good distance back, close enough that I could see, but not close enough that the magic blasting through the room could affect me.
Still, tingles of it chased across my skin, and when they impacted me, like rays of sunshine, they seemed to open up pathways through the darkness of my mind. Pathways to hidden truths.
I started to remember all the strangest things. Objects I’d lost in childhood, facts I’d forgotten in exams – you name it.
These little snippets of truth kept chasing through my mind.
Though I wanted to concentrate on Jason as he knelt on the floor, chanting with his hands held in a specific position, my eyes started to close.
I… I got the impression that if I asked any question of my mind right now, it wouldn’t be able to help but answer.
Hayden was by my side and had a stiff hand on my s
houlder. I could tell he was utterly fascinated by what Jason was doing.
Fair enough, as Hayden had spent pretty much his entire life hunting for rare books, this would be a culmination of his study, of sorts.
A magical circle had appeared in front of Jason. It was stunning. It was also… completely otherworldly. It looked like a circle that had been created by all other circles. From man-made drawings, to cells, to flowers – you name it. Every single representation of a circle in nature seemed all to coalesce to form the apparition in front of Jason. It was charged with magic, too. Great shots of it that blasted around in charges of flame and sparks.
They gushed over Jason but didn’t appear to affect him. Magic was coursing over his body, and it was every color of the rainbow.
I could have easily been distracted by the sight, but I wasn’t.
Because I realized right now I had an opportunity. To find the truth.
Though I could easily ask one question that had been on my mind since I’d met Jason, I knew there was no point. If I asked myself if I would marry Jason, I knew I wouldn’t get an answer. I knew that hadn’t been decided yet. There was an element of chance in every situation, you see – even in the prophecy. Because there was every possibility that I wouldn’t get out of this situation, Jeopardy would find me, and I’d be dead by the end of the day.
So my finder magic couldn’t tell me exactly what would happen far in the future. But couldn’t it tell me what had happened in the past?
I was kneeling down on the ground where Hayden had left me. It meant I didn’t have to concentrate on my balance as I collapsed my hands into my lap, pressing the thumbs together and locking the fingers hard. It was kind of an instinctual move, and when I looked down at my hands to see I was forming one of the sacred warlock symbols, I didn’t think anything of it. You see… I swore I was being led. Led back into the past.
The past.
I wanted… I wanted to know why I was meant to marry Jason. What destiny I had forgotten.
Before I could stop myself, I muttered that under my breath, “What destiny have I forgotten?”
At first, nothing happened. At first, the room continued to fill with charges of magic as Jason did his thing.
Forgotten Destiny Book Three Page 13
