Magical Redemption

by Jaliza A. Burwell

  My lips whispered ancient words, a language created by the Goddess Hekate and meant to be used as a punishment to criminals. It was a simple spell, but the repercussions were harsh. With the touch of energy to help, I hoped it wouldn’t be as bad as what I read about. If the spell was done incorrectly, it became a double-edged sword, affecting both the caster and their target. I didn’t care. He needed to understand what he’d done.

  As I said the words, power whirled around us. Atrius tried to shove me off with his own power, but I refused to give him time. As the words poured out of me, I wrapped it up with the memories and emotions I’d taken from the dreho; its pain, its suffering, anguish, anger, all of it. I grabbed it all, wrapped it up in the spell, and shoved it into the elementalist. If I could’ve gotten away with it, I would have killed him, and I wouldn’t have cared. His was a life that would not have been wasted.

  I released Atrius and moved back. Hands grabbed me and yanked me further away, but the spell was done.

  Atrius suffered. He screamed. Thrashed around on the ground. Blood poured from his orifices as he begged for it to end. His mind was stretched thin, ready to snap. I hoped it did. I hoped it broke him.

  I breathed heavily as I stared down at him, all my anger now dissipated, all my rage now gone. My legs shook with strain. I fell to my knees, but I grinned at the man as he finally stopped thrashing. I barely stood back up and tried to step forward, but hands held me back.

  Without a care to who held me, I projected my voice instead, my words coming out gruff and harsh. “If you ever create another one of those creatures, I will hunt you down, and I will end you. I don’t care about the repercussions. Someone without a care about life does not deserve to exist. I will end you.”

  When his eyes widened with fear and he whimpered, I knew my words reached him. He got the message and a good taste of what I was able to do.

  “Let her go,” a low rumble went through the room.

  “She needs to be detained,” an unfamiliar voice responded.

  I realized three men held me back, and I didn’t know any of them. Shanton’s wings were out and though he was across the room, he was ready to charge forward and kill them. He probably would have sooner, but first he needed to break through a barrier that someone had wrapped around him to keep him away from me.

  “Let her go and release the dragon,” Ilrune snapped as she slipped through the crowd and to us. Her cold eyes flickered to Atrius before focusing on me. “We will retire to my chambers.”

  “Ilrune, she hurt your protector,” one of the men protested.

  Her eyes glowed bright as she focused on the idiot guard to my right. “We will retire to my chambers. Release her. I do not want a furious dragon shifting in Za’rashak.”

  The hands released me, and before I could step away from them, Shanton pulled me into his chest as he growled at them. With pale faces, they moved further away from us.

  “Come, Laila. We have things to discuss.” Her eyes turned to Atrius with disgust before she turned around, her silver dress shimmering in the light as she left.

  We trailed after her, Shanton tucking me into his side. He practically carried me, my legs still wobbly, but at least it looked like I left on my own feet.

  After pissing off all the elementalists, the last thing I needed to do was show weakness. Now it was time to face the repercussions of my actions.

  Frankly, I didn’t care. I’d given Atrius what I’d wanted to give him for months. I felt better too, with all that fury inside of me dissipated. For now, at least.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Ilrune disappeared inside a door, and we paused outside.

  I did a side-glance, looking at Shanton’s stony expression. He was pissed, and I was pretty sure the seams in his suit were stretched out, almost torn through.

  Wanting to lighten the tension a little, I said, “Did I flash them when I kicked Atrius’ ass?”

  His lip quirked up. “Unfortunately not.”

  “Good.” I nodded and pushed through the door.

  We went into a gigantic office space. Ilrune sat behind an L-shaped black desk. The room smelled of fresh cut wood and old leather books. Next to her was a wide window looking out to the property. Since her office was at the back of the building, instead of getting a good view of the courtyard, we got a breathtaking view of the wild and the few houses that sat behind the building. We were on the fourth floor so we got to see over the other buildings and out to all the trees that stretched out before us.

  We sat down in the guest chairs and stared back at Ilrune’s stony expression. She blinked and her mask broke. I expected to see fury or irritation, not humor. That threw me off.

  “Are we in trouble?” I asked.

  “Not at all.”

  “I almost killed your protector.”

  “Protectors are assigned, not chosen. Atrius would be the last man I’d choose. He has ambitions, and they do not align with my own. I like to keep him as far away from me as I can. I rather enjoyed the show.” She looked me over more slowly. “And the power you displayed. Are you aware of what you did? Of how impossible that is?”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “You used power. Without going through the transition ceremony, that is impossible.” Her gaze met Shanton’s briefly. “You borrowed energy around you to make up for not having access to your own. It’s not how it’s done, but you can still do it.”

  Wariness filled me up. She sounded a little too excited for my comfort.

  “This is why it’s important for you to understand who you are. What you did was dangerous. You almost went too far and burned yourself out.” She paused. “You would have used everything inside of you up and became an empty shell.”

  She hit too close to home. I was well aware of what happened, and she knew it. We’d already filled the Highborn Council in about what was going on. She was playing on that fear now. I felt her manipulation, and it pissed me off.

  “Then I’ll be more careful.”

  She shook her head. “It isn’t that easy.”

  I leaned forward. “But it is. It really is. It’s training, it’s practice, it’s being smart. I’m capable of doing that. I had to do that over and over again growing up. I know what you’re doing, Ilrune, but I refuse to play your games.”

  Irritation finally flashed across her expression. “Will we really be unable to get you to stay with us? We can give you the proper training. The safe training. Otherwise, you put those around you at risk. You endanger them.”

  My teeth ground together. Forcing my body to relax, I blew out a breath and leaned back. Shanton’s arm rested over the top of the chair, and I drew comfort from the warmth of his body and the simple touch of him against the back of my neck.

  “If you had found me before I began working at Biomystic Security, I think you would have had a chance.” As I talked, the epiphany of it all settled in me. “But since working there, I’ve built a network of people willing to work with me. They get me, unlike the people here. They understand my needs, and support them. They don’t try to tear me down, they never tried to shove me into a mold I’d never fit into and refuse to try. They taught me what it was like to have people who have my back. Here, I’ll be exhausted just trying to live through the bullshit, worried I’d be stabbed in the back. If it is as dangerous as you say, I have every faith in myself, and my friends and family, that we’ll find a way to make it work.” I grinned big. “I am a magical genius after all. Impossible doesn’t exist for me.”

  She stilled and remained silent for so long, I feared she was about to blow and try to end me then and there. “Very well. Will you at least stay another day? Atasha wishes to spend more time with you tomorrow. Her family… it is unfortunate, but she doesn’t have close family anymore.”

  “What happened to them?” I asked. “To her family? To mine?”

  Ilrune’s perfectly arched eyebrow twitched. “That is a history we cannot share with you as things stand.”
/>
  As in, you aren’t one of us and so we won’t tell you shit. I was good at reading between the lines. Ilrune stood up. “We will be tightening security around the borders, so please don’t wander around by yourself. If you wish to explore, any of our guards have been instructed to escort you, just find one of them and they’ll take you around.”

  “Why the increase in security?” I asked.

  “Just precautions after you mentioned the man you search for.” Her expression tightened again and I got the sense they knew something. I wanted to call her out on it, but I was pretty damn sure I wouldn’t get anything out of it.

  “Thank you,” I said, standing. Shanton got up too and went to the door, holding it open for me.

  “No, thank you. It was a pleasure seeing Atrius beaten. He’ll remember today for a very long time, and I’m sure it’ll be easy to remind him if he were to forget.”

  I chuckled and nodded, taking my leave.

  Back at the room, I turned to Shanton. “They’re hiding shit from us.”

  He smirked. “Of course, they are. That’s why we’re going to stay here until we ferret it out.”

  “So you think Padraig wants them too?” I asked.

  “I think they know exactly who he is. Now we just need to find those answers.”

  “Think Atasha will tell us?”

  His smile slipped into a serious expression. “I don’t know. I’m still not sure about her. Yes, she’s your aunt, but this is also her home. I don’t know where her priorities lie.”

  “She was sincere when she made that oath to put her life on the line for me.”

  “Maybe so, but is she willing to put herself in a position to do that by choice?”

  I mulled over his question as I slipped into the walk-in closet and stripped down. He was right. It was one thing to promise to keep me safe with her life and another to go above and beyond to do it. I didn’t know her enough. Did I like her? Yes. It was eerie how similar we were with our looks and in our mannerisms. She was blood without a doubt. I felt that pull to her, that connection.

  I just didn’t know if it was enough. I never thought I’d meet real family. I’d written them off long ago just like they did with me. Now I didn’t know how to feel with an aunt so close by or what to do with her sincerity.

  A scorching gaze stayed on me on the entire time I stripped down to my underwear and took care to put everything away.

  “You’re gorgeous,” Shanton said by the door. “And I’m not sure you realize how beautiful you truly are.”

  I smiled at him. “Enough for you to give me a wild night, to forget about where we are and what we’re doing here.”

  He pushed off the door frame and stalked toward me. He had taken off the black dinner coat and unbuttoned his shirt to give me a good view of his impressive chest. Muscles rippled as he came closer, his eyes scorching hot, flames flickering. I stepped back, a little intimidated by having so much focus on me. He crowded me into a corner.

  “I’ll have you screaming my name in no time,” he whispered, his hot breath brushing against my ear. I shivered at his dark promise. It sounded so deliciously amazing, and I really wanted to forget everything.

  He grabbed my hand and gently pulled me into the bedroom.

  “Be mine, tonight?” he asked. “I know you have all those other men after you and they all have a place in your heart. I want a place too. For tonight, am I able to have it?”

  I looked him up and down. “You’re a dragon,” I said.

  He didn’t answer.

  “Dragons are notorious for not sharing.”

  “It took a while,” he admitted. “When I asked you to do that mission, it was my attempt to steal you. At first, I thought it was just Lombardi, and I wanted to tease him, but then I saw the other men and the way they protected you. The way they stayed at your side, even when you did stupid shit. It got me thinking, and I had long discussions with my dragon.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You talked to yourself?” I asked.

  His lip flicked upward before smoothing out. “In a manner of speaking. While I am my dragon and my dragon is me, I still need to find peace with my dragon, a middle ground between who we are as individuals. I guess it’s on par with meditating. I needed to meditate and work out conflicting emotions with my dragon. So I did. We came to an agreement. What you would see as sharing, we see more as extra protection to someone we care about.”

  My mouth parted in surprise at his admission. The sincerity tugged at me and my body involuntarily moved closer to him. He wrapped his arms around me and moved me closer so our bodies pressed against each other.

  “I am a dragon. I am very much a dragon. I want to roar at the world to never touch you, but knowing the others feel the same, the others fight to keep you safe and watch over you, it makes it easier to see it in that capacity. We all want to keep you safe. That’s all there is to it. And I care enough about you to make sure you have that safety.”

  “Whoa, that’s one way to look at it,” I whispered.

  “Yeah. It took hours of meditation to come to that conclusion. As long as you don’t freeze us out, as long as we have a place in your heart too, I’ll make it work.”

  Not having any words, I went to my tiptoes and kissed him. His lips were hot against mine, his fire stroking the one inside of me. He ignited my body and when his chest rumbled, primal desire swirled deep within me. I practically melted into him as I opened my mouth and let him take control. He turned me and walked forward until my legs found the bed. I crawled onto the bed, sitting on my knees.

  He unclipped my bra and quickly relieved my breasts from their confines. The moment the bra was gone, he was on me. His mouth took in my right nipple and his hand massaged the other, tweaking the sensitive flesh. I moaned as he explored my body, leaving my nipples and kissing his way up the column of my throat, finding every part of me that was sensitive.

  I found his waistband and unzipped him, pushing them down. He kicked his pants off, leaving him in briefs. Holy shit. Briefs were hit or miss for men. For Shanton, it was a hit. The soft fabric hugged his hips and molded to his hard cock.

  Our lips clashed again as I pulled him onto the bed with me. He draped himself over me, bit down on my lip, and swirled his tongue with mine.

  He pulled away. “You taste so fucking good.” The red flecks in his eyes blazed, his dragon right at the surface. He kissed my lips before trailing down my jaw to my neck. When he got to that sweet spot between my neck and shoulder, he bit hard.

  “Fuck.” My hips lifted off the bed and ground against him.

  He chuckled. “You’re so damn responsive right now.”

  “I’ve ached for you,” I admitted and refused to let that embarrass me.

  “Fucking hot.” He kissed the spot he bit, soothing the pain before working down my body again. Just as he was about to my take my nipple into his mouth, he froze.

  “What?”

  He moaned and rested his head against my breast instead.

  “Shanton,” I warned, wanting him to keep going. I was on fire, and he needed to keep stoking the flames.

  “Spies,” he growled out, and I stiffened, feeling like cold water was doused over me.

  “Seriously?” I asked, looking around for signs of them.

  “Don’t look too surprised.” He swore underneath his breath and crawled off me.

  “No fucking way.” I moaned, hating the elementalists more now. I waved a hand, sending out a ward around the space. “I put up a ward, so get your ass back here.” Refusing to let him get away from me, I grabbed his arm and used a little bit of magic to give me the strength to yank the stubborn dragon back on the bed. Somehow I ended up on top of him.

  “What—”

  “Fuck no. You are not running away from me.”

  He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You’re really not going to accept my no as an answer?”

  I leaned forward so my breasts pushed up against him. “If you really mean it, I’ll
get off you. If you say no again, I’ll stop. But mean it. Because this shit is annoying. I want sex, Shanton, and yet it seems all everyone does is dance around it. I’m horny.”

  We glared at each other as I waited for his answer. He gave it to me, just not in the way I’d expected. There was a flurry of movement and then he was over me, his eyes blazing as he took in my face. Then his lips were on mine and everything was exactly how I wanted.

  Dragons were possessive, and Shanton proved that as he claimed my body. My panties never stood a chance as he tore them off me. I broke out into goosebumps as his hands trailed down my stomach.

  He teased me, keeping it slow as his fingers inched closer and closer to my core. By the time he reached my sensitive flesh, I was ready. His finger slipped inside, and his whole body purred, the vibrations from that one sound going straight to my core.

  His mouth claimed mine. My senses went crazy as his presence overwhelmed me. It was just him and me, nothing else, no other worries. And like me, he wanted fast.

  I moaned as his finger pumped inside of me. He added a second one, intensifying the pressure and before I knew what was going on, I was screaming my release. I blinked past the exploding pleasure and met Shanton’s intense gaze. He was completely focused as he stared down at me—as if I were the only person who mattered in the world.

  In his arms, I felt like the world could burn down, and I wouldn’t care because he was with me. “I don’t do slow, Laila,” he said in a deep, gruff voice.

  “Who said you had to?” I asked.

  That was all he needed me to say as he slammed into me. I screamed as he filled me up, so impossibly much. I was ready to come again right then and there from that movement. He stopped long enough to make sure I was okay, and then he moved. His thrusts were exactly as he promised, hard and wild. I matched his movement as we got a rhythm going. The muscles in my core clenched around him, and he grunted in response, sweat dripping down his body.

  I dug into his skin, needing something to hold onto. He moaned, and with every thrust of his hips, I responded. His speed told me he was close. I could barely breathe, my own release threatening to spill over.