Misfits, Gemstones, and Other Shattered Magic

by Meghan Ciana Doidge

  “Listen,” I whispered to my two best friends. “If something happens to me —”

  “Jade,” Kandy growled. Kett was silent.

  “Please.” I could still see Rochelle pressed against the SUV window and screaming my name in my mind’s eye. “You know we’re walking into some sort of trap.”

  “Even a dozen elves have no chance against us,” Kett said coolly.

  “Listen to me.” My tone was harsher, shakier than I’d intended. “Please.”

  Kett wrapped his fingers around my wrist. His cool touch grounded me.

  “We three have done this dance before …” My voice cracked. “My life isn’t more important than yours.”

  Kandy hissed harshly.

  I continued, needing to just get out what I had to say. “If I’m going to fall … if that is what the oracle sees … and someone else can be saved. You save them.”

  “Absolutely not,” Kett said.

  “The oracle —”

  “I couldn’t care less what Rochelle sees for you, Jade. If I allowed my choices to be dictated by others, I’d have succumbed to oblivion centuries ago.” And with that pronouncement, the executioner of the Conclave released my wrist. Turning his back on me stiffly, he crossed to stand by Haoxin.

  I looked at Kandy, raising my voice so Kett could still hear me. “I’m not explaining myself very well. I can’t stop whatever the oracle sees, not even if she managed to fully articulate the vision. I can’t stop fate. I can’t fight destiny.”

  Kandy shrugged nonchalantly, walking backward toward Kett. “No one thinks you can, dowser. But it’s our territory to defend, isn’t it? Our choices to make. Not just yours. What will be, will be.”

  Then the green-haired werewolf turned her back on me as well, leaving me alone on the wet sidewalk while she joined Kett and Haoxin.

  I took a shuddering breath, wrapping one hand around my necklace and one hand around the hilt of my knife. I allowed the magic that resided in both to settle me. I closed my eyes and let my power curl out and around me, released from the confines of the artifacts so I could call upon it in an instant.

  The taste of Warner’s black-forest-cake magic was pulled into the mix, filling my senses and tickling my taste buds.

  I opened my eyes.

  My soon-to-be husband was standing before me, resplendent in dragon leathers, and with the gold of his magic flecked through his fierce blue-green gaze.

  I grinned at him. Regardless of my attempt to be an adult and make adult choices, I couldn’t deny the anticipation of the fight waiting for us around the corner. At some point, caution always got flung to the side. The pieces would be picked up and mended in the aftermath. That was how things always unfolded. That was how it always ended.

  “Ready to kick some ass, my love?”

  “Always.”

  He chuckled. And together, we followed Haoxin across the street and into the mouth of the alley.

  11

  The elves were waiting for us in the alley, as Haoxin had said they would be. The warriors were once again arrayed around Mira. I could taste her illusion magic stretching across the width of the alley and up the exterior walls of the towering apartment buildings on either side. But unless Kandy was right about the warriors being the fabrication — a show of force and nothing more — I couldn’t see what other reality the illusionist was possibly projecting. Unless she was hiding something else.

  I stood about twenty-five feet back from the group of elves, with Haoxin on my left, Warner on my right, and Kandy and Kett tucked up behind us.

  “How drunk are you two?”

  Warner shrugged. “Drunk enough to make it interesting.”

  “Nothing like a buzz to get you through that whole not-my-usual-type thing, eh, sentinel?” Kandy laughed. “Been there, done that.”

  Kett chuckled darkly.

  Delightful. The oracle had me quaking in my pretty boots while everyone else was cracking wise. But then, it was my name she’d been shouting, not theirs.

  “Beware of the stones,” I murmured, reminding myself of the one clear warning Rochelle had been able to offer up. It was something she’d already warned me about, in the sketch from three months before. The charcoal drawing of me holding one of the gemstones that were embedded in each of the elves’ foreheads. I still had no idea what the vision foretold. Unless it somehow connected to the other warning that had been issued to me earlier that night …

  I turned to Haoxin, casting my voice as low as possible. “Pulou warned me not to try to fix the elf tech. That even if I managed to figure out how it was broken, the operation of it would kill me. It had injured the former warrior when he disabled it. Enough that he was … that the damage never healed properly.”

  Haoxin met my eye, then nodded curtly.

  With everyone informed of all the meager info I had to offer, I stepped slightly forward, drawing the attention of all the elves. I raised my left hand, vaguely stretching my arm in the direction of the bakery. Though I still wasn’t completely sure where we were in the city, I could feel the magic of my wards in the distance. I called for my katana. Magic whispered through the rain, which had increased from misting to sprinkling.

  The weapon, still sheathed, appeared in my hand. I still hadn’t tested my range outside Vancouver. But yeah, since absorbing Shailaja’s magic, I could now call forth any and all artifacts tied to me by blood, even through confinement wards not of my own making. That power was seemingly some combination of my own alchemy abilities and the capacity to open or manipulate portal magic that had belonged to the treasure keeper’s daughter.

  A delighted grin spread across Mira’s face, and she bobbed on the balls of her feet lightly with anticipation. A disconcerted murmur ran through the warriors who backed her.

  “I request an audience with your liege.” I addressed myself to Mira, but scanned each of the warrior elves in turn, trying to be stern but most likely managing only to project pissiness. I didn’t mind the rain in general, but standing around in it while waiting for destiny to catch up with me was seriously annoying.

  Yeah, my attention span was so short that I could stay terrified of what Rochelle had seen coming for only so long.

  Mira dipped her chin formally. “I will take you to her.” By the illusionist’s grin, I assumed she’d shaken off whatever had been worrying her on the dance floor. So clearly, I wasn’t the only one who preferred to live in the moment.

  “We will follow,” I said. Then, though it pained me to do so, I offered my katana to Haoxin.

  The guardian laughed. But then instead of taking my blade, she reached up over her left shoulder and unsheathed one of her own, seemingly out of thin air. Her guardian magic shimmered across her back. She wore an invisible sheath — its magic so harmonious with her own that I’d missed it completely. Even when she’d practically done a strip tease earlier to put on her T-shirt. That was some useful sleight of hand.

  So it wasn’t just the elves’ magic that could foil my dowser senses. Annoying, but good to know.

  “Do you think I’d dance with the executioner of the Conclave unarmed, dragon slayer?” Haoxin said.

  Kett chuckled from behind my shoulder.

  She flashed him a saucy grin.

  Though the guardian was easily four inches shorter than me, her katana was that much longer than mine. Haoxin casually tossed her weapon from her left hand to her right, then back again. Guardian magic splashed across the alley, expanding and contracting in a way I’d never felt before. Which reminded me — yet again — that I still had no idea what Haoxin’s specific guardian ability was.

  But I was fairly certain I was about to find out.

  Twisting my satchel so that it hung forward, I settled my katana over my back, leaving it sheathed for the moment. I preferred to fight with my knife, and would really get only one good draw of the sword with it over my back. But wearing the katana at my hip in combination with the knife and the satchel was awkward. Glancing to my right, I off
ered Warner a smile.

  He grinned back, completely at ease.

  But that wasn’t particularly odd. Even if they were all real, a dozen elves were no match for the five of us. I had a feeling Haoxin could probably have quelled this miniature uprising by herself, if I’d been inclined to walk away from the fight.

  And I certainly wasn’t.

  I called my jade knife into my right hand, holding it slightly behind me and offering it silently to Kett.

  He laughed again — the sound full of anticipation. “My hands will be just fine. Thank you, Jade.”

  Now it was Haoxin’s turn to chuckle delightedly.

  What was wrong with all of us? Each more eager than the rest to test our strength? To challenge our mortality? I was supposed to be negotiating a peaceful resolution, but we were all certain it would come to a brawl. Including the treasure keeper, who didn’t think I was capable of being diplomatic in the first place.

  I really wouldn’t have minded proving him wrong.

  Problem was, being diplomatic just might not have been in my nature anymore.

  Mira pivoted, turning back into the huddle of the warriors. More magic churned around her, rippling out and lapping the edges of the alley.

  I moved, giving chase. The others surged forward with me as one dreadful force. The pavement under our feet trembled in the wake of our combined power.

  The warriors spun away, chasing after Mira.

  Seemingly fleeing before us.

  But even I knew this was just part of whatever trap they were about to spring. And still I ran for it. Gleefully. Eagerly.

  As I stepped into the tunnel of illusionist magic and still saw nothing but the alley and the buildings around us, I realized that Mira must have been masking herself and the elves from the buildings above. Which meant that she would likely provide cover for the five of us, as long as we were close enough to her.

  Well, that was a bonus. Because Gran would have been seriously peeved otherwise that we had thrown down with elves in the streets of Vancouver without distraction and barrier spells in place.

  I ran, knowing that those with me could match me stride for stride. Knowing that for a brief while, I didn’t have to worry about pulling punches or being nice.

  At the intersection of the next street — West Pender, perhaps? — the warrior elves on the far right and left of the group ahead of us peeled off in either direction.

  “Kandy,” I barked, taking command without even thinking about it. “Kett.”

  Warner, Haoxin, and I crossed the three lanes plus bike lane in a half-dozen strides. Kandy veered right, and Kett winged off to the left, both pursuing the elves who’d split off from the main group. I was fairly certain that if they’d wanted to go after Mory or Rochelle, they would have done so already. But whatever the elves had planned, Kandy and Kett would certainly show them the error of their ways. I trusted in that. I had to trust that my BFFs could hold their own.

  Still maintaining about a twenty-foot lead and with Mira in the middle, the elves leaped over the cars parked at the far curb without touching down.

  Haoxin, Warner, and I followed. My landing was the only one to make any sound on the rain-slick sidewalk.

  The elves zigzagged through a series of short side alleys, avoiding the main streets. They obviously knew this section of the city far better than I did. But then, they had been plotting and planning whatever game they were playing for three months.

  Three elves broke off to our right, leaving the rest of the group and Mira running ahead.

  Warner cursed under his breath, then veered after the three, getting close enough to skewer the straggler in the back with his knife. Magic rippled, tasting faintly of bark.

  And in the moment before I turned the opposite corner with Haoxin at my side, I saw Warner slash through that magic a second time. The elf disappeared. I had created the blade Warner wielded to cut through any magic, and apparently that included elven illusions manifested by Mira.

  Kandy had been right. Not all the warrior elves were real. So perhaps Mira was the only one we were really pursuing. Which meant that drawing the others away was just another attempt to get me on my own.

  I cut the corner, losing sight of Warner.

  A hulking elf, easily topping seven feet tall, appeared before me. With no warning, he smashed a kick directly to my chest. I flew back, crashing into and badly denting an industrial-sized garbage bin.

  The elf disappeared a second before Haoxin’s blade would have taken off his head.

  “Teleporter!” The guardian laughed, completely delighted as she whirled back to check on me.

  I blinked up at the clouded night sky, trying to absorb some of the pain radiating across my chest. The buildings to either side of us were under construction. Concrete floors and steel beams slowly came into sharper focus. The alley otherwise appeared empty.

  I rolled up, literally peeling myself out of the crushed metal of the bin. Crouched over my hands and feet, I paused to cough up blood. My heart felt as if it had been punctured by every one of my shattered ribs. My necklace felt as though it had been embedded in me. But there was no way I’d be trying to get to my feet under those circumstances. Right? Right?

  “Dragon slayer?”

  “I’m fine.”

  The hulking elf appeared again, attempting to decapitate Haoxin. And she … moved … somehow … without moving her feet. Maybe it was just a super quick shift of her shoulders and I’d missed it …

  The elf avoided Haoxin’s return blow, disappearing then reappearing a few feet away and slightly to the right.

  I staggered to my feet. My ribs crunched and shifted. The elf had a monster of a kick — and he most certainly wasn’t an illusion. Which clearly raised the question of where the hell the other elves had come from. I didn’t think Pulou had lied. No matter how much of an asshole he was, protecting the world from such things was his primary function. But somehow, the treasure keeper had a bigger elf problem than even he knew.

  Haoxin and the teleporter traded a few more blows. The length of time between strikes and the elf appearing and disappearing was getting shorter and shorter. Haoxin was steadily closing in on him, perhaps assessing and learning his attack patterns. Branson, the dragon sword master who had trained me, was always going on about such things, about analyzing your opponent’s footwork …

  Wait … was Haoxin … taller? And moving in an odd, almost boneless way …?

  I shook my head. I must have cracked it pretty seriously, though most of the damage felt contained to my chest.

  The elf miscalculated. Apparently thinking I was still too injured, he appeared closer to me than to Haoxin. I lunged forward, calling my knife into my hand in the same motion — then stabbed him in the back. My blade slid through his white-shell armor without resistance.

  But instead of him simply spinning to knock me away, the warrior’s pine-scented magic flooded across the knife, the hilt, and my hand. For a long moment, I had to struggle to keep hold of my weapon.

  He was trying to teleport. And to take my blade and my freaking hand with him.

  I slammed a kick to the back of his knee. He fell forward, and I yanked my knife free.

  The elf disappeared.

  “Well,” I said, still holding my ribs with my left arm. “The teleporter appears to be real.”

  Haoxin cried out, laughing. “You may fight by my side any time or place, dragon slayer!”

  Then she took off ahead of me down the street.

  Right.

  Back to the running.

  The elf’s blood on my blade solidified, then began to flake off.

  God, I really did hate the running.

  I lost track of Haoxin, but my ribs mostly healed, leaving just a residual ache that would hopefully ease further as I moved. Once I realized I wasn’t going to catch up to the guardian — and began to worry that she’d darted off in another direction after the teleporter — I paused, stepping back under the wide eaves of a dark
restaurant on the corner of two one-way streets.

  Momentarily shielded from the rain, I reached out with my dowser senses, immediately catching a taste of Warner’s black-forest-cake magic to indicate he was just a couple of blocks behind me. I caught only a fleeting hint of Haoxin’s smoky-tomato-and-basil dragon magic, but since all the guardians could mask their power, I wasn’t surprised.

  Kandy’s bittersweet chocolate was farther away. Maybe stationary to the south? I really needed to train just using my senses, having been focused on wielding the instruments for almost two years. I could easily pick up Kett’s cool peppermint heading steadily my way.

  Then, so dim that it could have been a memory, I caught Mira’s moss-and-bark illusionist magic. I stepped back out into the rain the second I tasted it, just in case it faded as abruptly as I’d picked it up.

  My phone buzzed in my satchel, forestalling my dashing off into the night. Which might have been a good thing, actually. My chest really was still killing me. I was afraid to look at my necklace, because it still felt as though the sharp edges of the instruments of assassination — the centipedes, specifically — might have been lodged in my breastbone.

  I tucked back against the building again, not interested in turning any more corners while distracted. Usually it took a few attempts for me to learn a lesson, but apparently getting kicked in the chest once by a teleporter was enough for that one to lock in.

  The text was from Kandy.

  >The misfits are behind wards. Beau took Rochelle home. Mory is at Pearl’s.

  And Liam? Are you near BC Place?

  >No. Opposite direction.

  Okay, so I was seriously turned around. The buildings in and around Yaletown seemed to appear out of nowhere, practically springing up and reshaping the streets of the area daily. If I could taste Kandy’s magic behind me — moving toward me again — then that put me only a block away from BC Place and Liam myself.