Magic Lost: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (Touched By Magic: Dragon Book 3)

by Ashley Meira

  I reached for Charlotte’s wrist, feeling for a pulse I knew wouldn’t be there. Tears fell down my cheeks, burning against the cuts littering my face. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Maybe Bane can do something,” Fiona whimpered. “I need to help Adam, then—”

  “She’s dead,” I croaked out. “And you will be too if you go over there.”

  “How about you?” she said. “The magic should fix you up, right?”

  “It’ll strengthen me, but I’m not sure how much help I’ll be with these broken bones.”

  “You don’t need to move, just shoot magic at them.”

  Before we could decide what to do, a deafening roar filled the air, far deeper than Adam’s phoenix shriek. The earthquake that followed made the others seem like a massage in comparison. A tree collapsed, followed by several more as deep cracks began to spread across the ground. I traced them back to the source, unable to believe my eyes.

  Gadot was on the ground, unmoving. Blood drenched his entire body. Only his once again golden eyes were visible through the blood on his face. But the dullness in them was all I needed to see.

  He was dead. Adam had killed him. It was over.

  Adam flew to us, shifting back halfway and stumbling forward. “We need to get off this mountain.” His fingers were trembling as he reached for Charlotte. “She needs help. Hurry,” he demanded. “Open a portal, and let’s get out of here.”

  Fiona nodded and pressed her palms flat on the ground. Her arms shook under the earthquake’s violent movements, but she managed to keep her grip. The blood seeping from her forehead made me worry she didn’t have enough strength, but a green glow formed beneath us, and a second later, we were in front of Bane’s home.

  A loud roar greeted us. Based on the sound it was a few meters west, but I couldn’t see the source.

  Hoping it was one of the dragons giving birth, I yelled, “Bane!”

  Pain shredded through me as my face protested at the movement. Broken bones and large cuts did not support talking. I reached for Fiona, but before she could start calling out, Adam started howling Bane’s name. The fear in his voice was startling. I’d never heard him so terrified. Not that I blamed him. If I could speak, I’d be just as incensed.

  “What on earth—” Bane’s disgruntled words cut short as he spotted us. He rushed over, pushing us apart to survey the damage. “That explains the earthquake. You succeeded?”

  I nodded, leaning against his shoulder as he began healing me. The way he wrinkled his nose didn’t go unnoticed, but he held his tongue. He could send me a bill for his ruined robe if he cared so much. Hell, I’d buy him ten more if he kept healing me. The grunt of pain I let out as my cheekbone healed brought tears to my eyes, but soon I could speak without crying.

  “Thanks,” I rasped. “Charlotte—”

  “Fix her,” Adam demanded, cradling his sister’s broken body in his arms. He didn’t take his eyes off her. “Now! I can’t— I tried, but—”

  “She’s dead, Mr. Pierce.” Bane’s voice was calm, but I could see the corners of his lips turn down and feel the tension in his shoulders. “I can’t heal death.”

  “Yes, you can,” I said, crying out as my kneecap knit back together. The shredded skin on my arms was closing up, too. Though I was sure the only thing keeping me conscious was adrenaline — and that I needed rest as much as I needed air — I pushed myself up and met Bane’s gaze. “We can.”

  He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, but to my surprise, he didn’t shoot me down. Immediately, anyway. “Absolutely not. I haven’t lived this long because I enjoy sacrificing myself.”

  “The dragons—”

  “Won’t. Not with so many newborns to care for.”

  “Then, teach me,” I said, my words rough. Could I even save her in my condition? “I’ll give up my magic to save her. Teach me.”

  “Wait, what?” Fiona looked at me, utterly bewildered. “Give up your magic? What do you mean?”

  “I’ll explain later,” I told her.

  “No, I will.” Bane rolled his eyes. “I’d be surprised if you remain conscious after the process, and your sister doesn’t appear the patient sort.”

  “Will it work?” Adam asked, his gray eyes burning. “Can it bring her back?”

  “Yes,” Bane said hesitantly. “But—”

  “Do it.” Adam’s eyes pleaded with mine. “Please. She’s—”

  “What was she even doing there?” Bane asked.

  “She snuck over,” he growled. “Because you were too selfish to watch her.”

  Bane narrowed his eyes. “You—”

  “Stop,” I breathed. “Fight later. Teach me now.”

  Bane’s words were ice when he spoke. “I don’t think you realize what you’re truly giving up.”

  “She lives,” I said. “She lives.”

  He sighed, tucking my mess of hair back. “Take some time to think about this.”

  Adam grabbed his shoulder. “Why do you want her to stay dead?”

  “Why do you care more about someone you’ve known for less than a week than the woman you’re involved with?”

  “She’s my sister!”

  “Yes,” Bane said dryly, his tone sharp as a knife. “And you’ve been such a big part of her life up until this point. Much more than you’ve been involved in Sophia’s life.”

  “That’s not what I—” Adam cut off, clenching his hands into fists. “It’s my fault. She keeps getting hurt because of me. She died because of me.”

  “She died making her own decisions,” Bane said.

  “She destroyed the Wreath for us,” Fiona whispered, staring sadly at Charlotte’s still open eyes. “She stopped the ritual.”

  “Of her own volition,” Bane said before turning to me. “You’re not in the right frame of mind to make this decision.”

  “How long?” I asked, my throat burning. “How long can I wait?”

  He pursed his lips and let out a heavy, weary sigh. “An hour. Then her body can no longer—”

  “Teach me.” I wouldn’t be conscious in an hour. We had to do this now.

  “Sophia—”

  “Teach me.” I held his emerald gaze. “Please. She doesn’t deserve this.”

  I looked at Adam as he cradled Charlotte’s body. Despite Bane’s words, guilt still overwhelmed his eyes. His shoulders were slumped in defeat as he traced the curve of her cheek. I saw his lips were moving, and I could make out the words “I’m sorry” being whispered over and over again.

  He didn’t deserve this, either.

  “Neither do you,” Bane mumbled before sighing and rubbing his temples. “Place your hands on her chest, one over the other.”

  “Like CPR?” I asked, forcing my aching body over to hers. Everything still hurt like I’d been hit by a car, but at least I no longer felt like death.

  Bane kept an arm around me and helped me kneel at her side. “Yes. Let your Fire come to the forefront, then guide it toward the tips of your fingers.”

  I frowned at his instructions and gave him a skeptical look. My Fire could be muffled on occasion, but I’d never actively directed it anywhere. It did its own thing.

  He met my skeptical look with an impatient one, “If you’ve changed your mind….”

  I shook my head, regretting the motion as everything began to blur. The colors of the forest were not as exotic and lovely through vomit-vision. I closed my eyes to stop the colors from swirling and focused on my task. My Fire dimmed as I reached for it, almost as if it knew the sacrifice I had planned. It struggled against my attempts to make contact, dancing and writhing out of the way.

  A dragon’s roar shattered my concentration, and a pang of guilt hit me. Bane was supposed to be helping her give birth. Would she be okay without him? What was the mortality rate of newborn dragons, anyway? I couldn’t shake the thoughts from my mind as I mentally chased my Fire around. It hissed and snapped, unhappy to be corralled even by its owner.

  “It’s not l
istening to me,” I muttered.

  “Of course not,” Bane said. “It’s descended from a dragon’s soul. They’re not a species fond of being domesticated.”

  I frowned but kept my eyes closed. Dragons had no problem with me, so I didn’t see his point.

  I stiffened. Wait. What if I treated my Fire like a dragon? Testing my theory, I pulled back, letting my Fire do as it pleased once more. The capricious thing flickered around cautiously before returning to its original position within me. It remained calmed for a few moments before resuming what it had been doing before: crying for magic.

  It wasn’t necessary. I hadn’t drained myself with all that fighting, though I had used more magic than usual. Then again, I was Fireborn, and we craved magic like an addict craved their fix.

  I’d been good about keeping my urges at bay before. It certainly helped that I never used my magic — and had to dodge most magic attacks in case someone saw me. But things had changed. I was casting spells left and right — and I’d absorbed a lot of Adam’s magic while we were training in Nice. I tried not to, but it was impossible to dodge everything he threw at me.

  Still, I held true to my promise of never becoming a magic-crazed fiend. I tried to temper my Fire. That worked on occasion — I could convince it we didn’t need magic, that it wasn’t time for that now. On this occasion, it failed. My Fire blazed at the denial, scorching my soul — and stomach — with the pain of its hunger. Had my craving grown so much?

  Fear dug its cold fingers into my spine at the thought, and I forced my eyes open. Charlotte’s met mine, dull and dead. The sight spurred me back into action. As I closed my eyes, I realized it had spurred my Fire as well. It swirled around, reacting to my strengthened will.

  Taking a deep breath, I tried to guide it forward. It resisted, opposing the other half of my soul, but eventually gave in. Heat seared my entire body, pooling in my shoulders before seeping down my arms and into my fingertips. Fiona gasped as a bright light burned against my eyes. I kept them closed, not wanting to ruin the moment. Even now, I could feel my Fire roiling in protest. Its blazing claws dug into the half of my soul it hadn’t been a part of, unwilling to let go.

  “Relax,” Bane said quietly. “You cannot force this. It must be a willing sacrifice.”

  He was right, I realized. I was willing to sacrifice my Fire, but I needed to calm down. Ripping it out of me was impossible. I needed to do what that dragon and phoenix did hundreds of years ago. I needed to let the Fire seep from me and ignite her soul, snuffing itself out in the process.

  The thought made me falter, and I saw the light dim behind my closed eyes. After eight years of wanting nothing more than to lose my magic, I’d finally gotten a chance to experience the joy of using it. To give it up now…. It was harder than I expected.

  Thinking of Adam motivated me. Of the guilt in his eyes, the pain. The piercing shriek he’d let out in phoenix form when he saw her die. I thought of Liam, too, and the emotion in his normally stoic voice when he spoke of his daughter.

  The light was blinding, even against the darkness of my closed eyes. Heat seared my fingertips until I was afraid they’d burn off. It was the closest I’d ever come to experiencing actual burning, and it terrified me. I let the thoughts running through my mind keep me steady even as the heat grew and forced tears from my eyes.

  Then, it all stopped.

  The heat vanished, leaving me with an icy cold that would make Seraphine shiver. My eyes snapped open in time to see the world fall on its side. Strong hands caught me, and I felt the silk fabric of Bane’s robes brush against my cheek. As quickly as they’d opened, my eyes began to shut, exhaustion tugging at them like ten ton weights.

  Darkness edged into my vision, but I stayed conscious long enough to see the light flicker back into Charlotte’s eyes.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I woke up to pain, darkness, and hushed whispers amidst yelling. If the yells had been screams, I’d have thought I was back in that cell.

  I certainly felt like I had eight years ago. Worse even. Back then, I’d had my Ember, the remains of the Fire Within. My Fire had been snuffed out, smothered, but it still rested within me waiting to be rekindled. Now, it was gone — completely gone — and I felt its loss like my heart had been taken. Or was it my soul? That’s what Bane said last night: the Fire had been given to Fireborns by a dragon and phoenix. The Fire had been part of their very essence — and mine.

  The hollowness inside me felt literal, as if a part of me were missing. If I looked down, I expected to see a giant hole in my body. But when I finally opened my eyes, everything was a blur. Color seeped back into my vision despite my best efforts to return to death. I didn’t want to exist without my Fire. I couldn’t.

  Yet, whenever I tried to close my eyes, something pulled me back. A gray sky greeted me. Despite the melancholy shade, it seemed too cheery for what I was feeling. The desire to shake my fist at it faded as quickly as it had come. There was no fight left in me. I wanted this to be over.

  Pain lanced through me, searing hot and enough to jolt me fully into consciousness. It seeped into the hollow part of me and burned hotter than I’d ever experienced. Tears stung my eyes as I both mourned my loss and suffered from my physical injury. My head rolled to the side, and I forced myself to remain limp. Maybe if I did that, I could finally die. The memories of what happened fluttered past my reach. I couldn’t remember. All I knew was how I felt — and that I wanted it to stop.

  Just when I thought I’d succeeded, my body moved again. The whispers grew more frantic as the distant yelling increased. The whisperer was beside me, I realized. They were shaking me. That’s why I was moving.

  “—up!” the voice whispered. It was raspy but clearly female. “Oh my god, Sophia, wake the fuck up! We need to go now.”

  “Fiona,” I breathed, my voice raspier than hers. When I tried to move my hand, it felt like lead, which was better than the rest of me felt. “Let me die.”

  “No,” she cried in a panicked whisper. When she came into focus, she was a mess. Her hair was disheveled, and she was covered in blood and dirt. Most of all, her face was ruddy and wet from crying. “Get up now. I can’t carry you through a portal in my state. Bane healed us, but I’m exhausted. I’m not even sure I can open a portal to Arcadia, but we need to try. Hurry!”

  Arcadia? Why were we going there? Images of my last moments came back in snippets. Charlotte, bloody and broken. Adam, consumed by grief. Bane and the darkness in his emerald eyes.

  The light that had flickered back into Charlotte’s.

  I’d done it. I’d given up my Fire to save her. The very thought brought tears to my eyes as icy claws dug into my gut. It took me a moment to realize the iciness was real. A breeze brushed by me, ruffling my hair and sending chills against my spine. I was cold. My Fire was the thing that made me Fireborn. With it gone, I was a normal human. A normal, freezing human.

  I didn’t regret saving her, that much I knew. Even as I shivered against the bracing winds and felt the deep loss of everything I’d had — everything I’d been — I would never regret my decision to save her life. But my resolution didn’t make the pain go away, it didn’t renew my desire to live, and it certainly didn’t explain why we had to go to another world.

  “Bane,” I said. Maybe he knew how to fix this — or at least make the pain go away.

  “We’re in England,” Fiona whispered frantically, her muted voice reaching a crescendo. “After you brought Charlotte back, we were in shock. Adam…. He wouldn’t let you go. We just stayed there. I don’t know how long. Then, his father called and said you were needed at his place immediately. He must have sounded severe, because Adam used his family’s teleportation gem to bring us to Bayside Hills.” Her voice cracked, and she looked away as fresh tears brimmed in her eyes. “Inquisitors were waiting.”

  The word should have sent my heart racing, but it did nothing. Why did I have to care about them now? I had nothing. I was nothing. With
my Fire gone, I was little more than an empty husk. My eyes burned, and a hot trail of tears provided me with momentary warmth as they slid down my cheeks. An empty husk that could cry, it seemed.

  “Charlotte—”

  “She’s alive and resting inside,” Fiona said quickly. “Now, get up.”

  “Is this why you hired her?” Adam cried. I couldn’t lift my head to check, but he sounded a few feet away. “Some fucking trap?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Mr. Pierce said sharply. “I did no such thing. They checked your flight plan and saw you’d stopped by a few days ago.”

  “So, you ratted us out? I’m your son! Do you even care?”

  “Inquisitors must investigate all allegations regarding Fireborns,” Mr. Pierce said, his voice so robotic it sounded painful. “Someone called in a tip about Ms. Sinclair. These men are just doing their jobs.”

  “Sophia, we have to hurry,” Fiona hissed. “Adam can only keep them busy for so long.”

  I wanted to run. Instinct, I realized. It had to be, because at this point, I’d have welcomed being executed. Yet, the thought made my heart throb. If I died, I would never see Adam again. I’d never see my sister or my friends again. But losing my Fire felt worse than death. Why would my loved ones want me to continue suffering like this?

  “This is bullshit,” Adam yelled. I wanted to reach for him, to hold his hand. But how? I couldn’t even lift my pinky.

  “You’ve made your feelings quite clear,” Mr. Pierce said. “As I was saying, this entire inquiry is moot. It is plain to see that Ms. Sinclair possesses no magic whatsoever.”

  Despite already knowing that, hope fluttered in my chest at his words. They couldn’t execute me for being Fireborn because I wasn’t Fireborn. Adam and the others wouldn’t be sad. Fiona could stop crying. She could, but she wasn’t. Her thin fingers dug into my healed arm, and her shoulders trembled like a leaf in a hurricane.