by Ashley Meira
“Less thinking, more eating,” Ollie said, placing a giant bowl of mac and cheese covered in bacon before me.
“Can I force you to marry me?” I asked, swallowing a gallon of drool.
“I can make you food, too,” Adam said, shooting Ollie a look I wasn’t sure was completely playful.
“But you can’t pick her up from prison?” Fiona said, balancing a decadent slice of chocolate cake on her plate. “Or at least call and tell me no one is going to be there so I could meet her?”
“At least you’d be likely to bring clothes,” Symeon said, giving me an unimpressed once over. “Really, darling, were you attacked by wolverines on your way here?”
“This is what I was wearing when I got arrested.”
“That explains the smell,” Adrienne said primly.
“I will rub myself all over you,” I told her.
“You’ll definitely need to buy her dinner first,” Symeon said.
Adrienne rolled her eyes and forced everyone, including Ollie, to sit down. “Enough. Let the poor thing eat. She’s so thin.”
“You’re the one who said she smelled,” Fiona said.
Adrienne pursed her lips. “Just eat. Then, we can fill her in on what’s been going on. She’ll need time to acclimate to all these changes that have happened.”
“Well, there’s one thing that hasn’t changed,” I said through mouthfuls of delicious, cheesy pasta. “You’re all still giant pains in the ass.”
“Pot. Kettle.” Ollie rolled his eyes. “Did they tell you about Asia?”
Adrienne glowered at him. “I said after she finished eating.”
“I already filled her in,” he said.
“Is that what your meeting was about?” Fiona asked.
“Yeah,” he said solemnly. “Okushina, a small magical village near Osaka, was just wiped off the map. Tsunami. No survivors.”
The mood plummeted, but I couldn’t stop my hand from moving. The hunger was gnawing at my insides, and I needed to keep eating. Everyone seemed to take their cue from me, because they began picking at their food in silence. Ollie left for a moment to bring Adam some coffee, which he sipped while staring at the table.
I wanted to ask how many people had lived in that village, how many in total had been lost to Seraphine’s storms, but I kept eating. The number wouldn’t make me feel better, and I certainly didn’t need more motivation to want her dead. It would just add to the sadness that had overwhelmed me this past month. Now, if only for a short time, I would stick my head in the sand.
“Well,” Symeon said after a long bout of silence. “If it’s Seraphine — and it probably is — then she simply needs to be put down. Doesn’t Pierce Incorporated have assassins on call — or a nuke?”
Adam arched a brow. “What exactly do you think my company does?”
“That wasn’t a denial,” I pointed out.
“Before we can defeat Seraphine, we need to find her,” he said, once again not denying anything. I was grilling him about that later. “And I’d rather not nuke anything.”
“So, you do have nukes?” Fiona asked, narrowing her eyes. “Where do you store them? Next to your fine foods division?”
“I hope not,” Symeon said. “That would ruin the taste.”
“Then what will you do?” Adrienne asked. “How are you supposed to kill a god?”
“‘God’.” Fiona made air quotes around the word.
“To my people, she is a god,” Adrienne said firmly.
“Right,” Fiona gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry. But still, Gadot was considered a god, and Adam had no problem ripping him apart.” She shuddered. “Literally. That was vicious. And hot. Both literally and figuratively.”
Adam stiffened beside me. I squeezed his hand, recalling the rage he’d gone into after Charlotte had died. He’d shifted into his phoenix form and had truly torn the Emperor of Earth to shreds. Fiona was right. It had been hot seeing him so raw and unrestrained.
But it had also been frightening, which was what bothered him. After he injured Charlotte all those years ago, Adam put a premium on self-control. To be reminded of a time when he’d lost his grip was probably eating him up inside.
“Or Sophia could just punch her to death,” Ollie said.
“I’ll punch you to death,” I said. “Wait. No. Not you. Never you. Not while you can still cook.”
“What if I can’t cook anymore?” he asked with a pout. “What kind of friend are you?”
“Give the poor girl a break,” Symeon said. “She’s probably still coming to terms with losing her magic. Such an absolute shame. You know, if you’d told me your secret earlier, I could have given you much more lucrative work.”
“No use crying over—” I dropped my fork and stared at my friends in shock. “You told him?!”
“No!” Fiona gasped. “What the hell, fish boy?”
“Don’t call me that,” he said smoothly. “I’d heard you were arrested under suspicion of being Fireborn but the Inquisitors couldn’t sense any magic from you. Knowing you the way I do, it didn’t take me much time to connect all the dots.”
I gaped at him, trying to find the words. “IDs aren’t given in those announcements.”
“There was no announcement,” Adam said, his hands curling into fists. “We kept all mention of this out of the news.”
“Yes, but Reginald Hollingsworth didn’t keep it out of our pillow talk.”
I blinked once, twice, then slowly asked. “Pillow talk?”
“Yes,” Symeon said calmly. “It’s what we usually do after—”
“Stop.” I held my hands up. “No more details.”
“You asked.” He shrugged, somehow managing to make the gesture look elegant. “But really, what else can you do without your magic? Look menacing and utterly delectable at the same time? It’d work on me, but I don’t think Seraphine responds to such charm the way I do.”
“That’s it?” I asked, my brain swimming with everything that had been thrown at me. “That’s all we’re going to say about… me?”
“Did you want to discuss it more?” he asked as if we were chatting about the weather.
“Did you?” Why was I encouraging this? Symeon’s lack of outrage over what I was — or what I used to be, anyway — didn’t completely surprise me. The siren was a walking beacon of debauchery, but wasn’t he mad that I lied to him? Did he have no other reaction besides more work I could have done for him?
Symeon tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I don’t think so. Perhaps a vial of blood. I would have loved to obtain a sample while you still had your magic, but there may still be something I can do with inert—”
“No blood,” I said firmly. “Ever.”
“See?” He rolled his eyes. “This is what I mean. What is the point of discussing anything if you’re going to be a killjoy?”
“Maybe you should give him a sample,” Ollie said thoughtfully.
“What?” Symeon and I said.
Symeon cleared his throat. “I mean, of course. At least one of you has some sense.”
I glared at him. “Bite me.”
“Careful,” Fiona said. “He would.”
Symeon smiled.
“He won’t,” Adam said, shooting him a dark look.
His smile didn’t fade.
“What I meant was, maybe he can help,” Ollie said, sadness painted across his features. He was one degree away from pity, and I was ready to run right out the door, delicious food be damned. “There has to be something, right? Your magic can’t just be gone, can it?”
“I don’t know,” I said softly. I wanted to believe that this was reversible, but Bane had been pretty clear — and if a centuries old Fireborn said something, it was a good idea to listen.
Adam pulled me closer to him, and I reveled in his warmth. “After everything died down, I went back to Bane and asked.”
“‘Asked’.” Fiona did air quotes again. “If asked means—”
He cleared his t
hroat and shot her a pointed look. “Bane said there was nothing he could do.”
It took all my strength to hold onto my fork. Dropping it would have been an admission of weakness. I didn’t want that, even if my entire body felt like it’d been run over by a truck. Bane had been my last hope, and if he said—
“Then Fiona pushed,” he continued. “Forcefully. Very forcefully.”
“Because you suck at it,” she huffed.
“For whatever reason, she got through to him. Probably because he wanted to keep his hearing,” Adam muttered just loud enough for her to hear. “He mentioned something about your bloodline and said there might be something you can do to get your magic back.”
I straightened up so quickly my head almost slammed into Adam’s chin. Was it really possible? “Did he say what that something was?”
Adam shook his head. “You’ll need to reach out to him and see if he can teach you.”
“Sophia just got home,” Adrienne said, reaching for my hand. “Do you really think dragging her halfway around the world is a good idea?”
My friends exchanged worried looks.
“Seraphine is causing immense damage to the world,” I said. “I can’t just wait around while she destroys cities and kills millions of innocent people. Hell, for all we know, Nicholas has — or is about to — find more pieces of her soul. Who knows what would happen if she’s fully brought back? Seraphine needs to be stopped now, and I’ll be damned if I sit on the sidelines.”
“But—” Adrienne’s ocean blue eyes were filled with sadness, and I could see her pursed lips strain to hold back what she wanted to say. In the end she merely nodded and squeezed my hand before pulling away.
“Should you call ahead?” Symeon asked.
“I don’t recall seeing a phone at his place,” Fiona said.
“He’s a hermit,” Adam said. “I doubt he has one.”
“My dad did give him a communication charm,” Ollie said. “But apparently he never answers it.”
“Try anyway.” Adam pulled out his phone and exited the booth. “I’ll make travel arrangements.”
“Keep in touch with us,” Adrienne said seriously.
Symeon wrapped an arm around her. “They’ll be fine, dear. And perhaps when this is over, you can finally make use of that delicious pay day Liam Pierce brought you and enjoy the high life the way your sister has.”
“Hey!” Fiona puffed her cheeks out. “You make it sound like I’ve been spending her money left and right.”
“I’ve seen your shopping carts,” he drawled. “You have enough bookmarked to fill a small country.”
“But I haven’t bought any of it. I haven’t even quit working yet.” She turned to me, her emerald eyes glimmering with anticipation. “But now that you’re here and can access your insanely decked out bank account, I can stop chasing unicorns and punching out drunken vampires all day. And since I won’t be doing Guild work, I can tag along with you on your adventures for once….” By this point, she was practically vibrating in her seat. “Because we’re rich!”
I, and pretty much everyone else in the cafe, flinched at her high pitched squealing. I’d been too distracted with other matters to think about it, but she was right. Mr. Pierce hired me to find Charlotte and bring her back safely, so he should have paid me already.
A month ago, the idea of logging into my account and seeing that money would have made me act as insane as Fiona was. But right now, nothing excited me more than the possibility of getting my magic back. Everything else could wait. Still….
“Are you sure he paid?” I asked. “I think he wanted to address a few things first.”
“He paid,” Adam said, pocketing his phone. “He gave you his word, and he always follows through. I deposited the check myself.”
“Yeah,” Fiona said, shooting Adam a petulant glare. “Into her private account instead of our joint account.”
I couldn’t fight the snort that burst out of me. “Poor baby. You’ve spent this past month doing exactly what you’ve been doing for years.”
She turned her glare toward me. “I hope prison was hell.”
“Why? Living with you has prepared me for that tenfold.”
“This is going to be a fun flight,” Adam said, looking between the two of us with resignation in his eyes.
“When can we leave?” I asked.
“Whenever.”
“Let’s head home and pack, then.” Fiona stood and conjured a portal near the counter. She marched toward it but stopped at the threshold and threw me a playful look over her shoulder. “I’ve got some yacht pamphlets I want you to look at.”
Chapter Seven
“I’m exhausted,” Fiona exclaimed as we stepped onto the plane. “Can I take the bedroom, or did you two want to catch up?”
The wink she shot us over her shoulder was met with a glare on my part. Truth be told, I’d like nothing more than to throw Adam onto the bed and let out a month’s worth of tension. But no way in hell was that happening with my sister in the vicinity — and definitely not when I was stressing over a dozen things at once.
“Go sleep,” I told her as I curled up in one of the plush seats and turned on my laptop. “Maybe I can finally have some peace.”
“I wouldn’t be so tired if you hadn’t taken forever to shower and pack.” She checked her watch. “We should have boarded three hours ago.”
“It wouldn’t have taken me three hours to pack if you hadn’t distracted me with those yacht brochures.”
“Did you pick one?” Adam asked, looking between us with amusement in his eyes.
“No,” I said flatly. “I was packing — unlike some people.”
Fiona rolled her eyes. “I go through all the work of finding some nice places for us to live and this is how you treat me. You don’t deserve to use the bedroom. Hell, you two would probably keep me up the entire trip with all your—”
“Go away, or I’ll move without you,” I said, smirking at the outraged gasp my sister let out — and dodging the pillow that flew at my head a moment later. “I’m keeping this.”
“There’s two!” she called from the bedroom.
The door slammed shut soon after, leaving me to do some online banking while Adam spoke to the pilot. It was hard to believe that less than twenty-four hours ago I was sitting in a damp, windowless cell, and today I was sitting in a private jet with enough money to never have to work another day in my life. Assuming Fiona didn’t spend it all within a year, which I wouldn’t put past her.
Still, my eyes bore holes into the screen before me as I reread the number over and over again. It was the exact amount Liam had promised to pay me — plus the meager savings I’d had left — but seeing it neatly scrawled on a check was completely different to seeing it next to my account number.
The first thing I did — after spending a few more minutes staring to make sure this wasn’t a big illusion — was repay Adam. He’d loaned us a great deal of money after assassins destroyed our house, and while I understood why it had been necessary, I felt very uncomfortable owing him money.
The amount we’d borrowed felt excessive when he’d lent it to us, but as I stared at the obscene amount of money that remained in my account after the transfer, I realized I was in a whole new playing field. Then, I realized this was the kind of money Adam handled every day, and I closed my eyes while trying to come to terms with that. How was any of this normal? This was too much money for one person.
Not that I planned on keeping it all for myself. Fiona would have her share. We promised to look after each other, and I was never going to break that vow. I also mentally bookmarked some for Ollie. It was one thing when I was struggling to make ends meet, but there’s no way he could refuse me paying for his healer’s license now.
Despite the relief of knowing I was now financially secure, I couldn’t shake the tension from my body. I knew the chances of getting my magic back were slim and that worrying about it wouldn’t make a difference,
but my heart raced whenever I thought about going the rest of my life without it.
And Nicholas. His bland yet twisted face wouldn’t leave my mind. All the money in the world couldn’t protect me if he succeeded. Could it? Mr. Pierce had sent Charlotte somewhere safe after Adam told him about the coming threat. Maybe there were a few safe havens that could withstand my kidnapper’s nefarious scheming. Even Bane had his sanctuary to hide in.
Diana had warned me to hide, and while the thought of tucking my tail between my legs again made my blood boil, I understood the wisdom in her words. I had no intention of going quietly, but the safety of my friends weighed heavily on my mind. Was there somewhere I could buy, or build, that would keep them safe in case the unthinkable had occurred? Adam and his father might be able to help, but I’d accepted so much from them already. After spending so much time relying only on myself and my sister, it felt odd to fall back on others.
“Got any plans for all that?” Adam asked as he walked over to me, a plate of muffins in hand.
I logged out of my account and closed my laptop. “Besides filling my room with piles of cash and rolling around in it?”
“After that.” He chuckled and sat beside me, placing the plate on the table before us. “You know, Thomas Corbin’s estate is for sale.”
I wrinkled my nose at the reminder of that weasel — not to mention the events that transpired the last time I’d been there. I was never stepping foot on that property again. “First of all, ew. Second of all, isn’t that the Corbin family’s estate? Did the family agree to sell it? Third of all, ew.”
Adam’s lips spread into a delicious grin that almost wiped away all the disgust I felt thinking about Thomas. Almost. “It’s the family’s main estate, but since Jeffery is now the sole heir, he can do whatever he wants with it. He told me he wanted to distance himself from all memories of his brother. There was a bit of a scandal among the upper class, but nothing as big as when his brother’s dirty laundry came out.”
