Phantom Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Seeker Book 5)

by Linsey Hall

  “Not much,” Roarke said. “Though they did say they were putting their top people onto figuring out what is wrong. If I visit them and share what we know, they’re likely to help us. We both want the same goal.”

  We were going to have to show them ours if we wanted to see theirs. Of course. As much as it made me nervous to engage with the Order of the Magica—these were the people who hunted FireSouls, after all—we had no choice.

  “Then you will meet with them tomorrow,” I said. “Find out what you can. Then we come up with a plan for how to defeat the demons.”

  “We will help,” Galina offered. The others around the table murmured their agreement. Zoya and Vera nodded.

  “You’ve already suffered such great losses.” Guilt pierced me at the idea of more Ice Fae dying.

  “We will suffer more if we don’t defeat the demons. There are thousands of them—you’re going to need our help.”

  She was right. I nodded gratefully. “Thank you.”

  “Just tell us what you need, and we will deliver.” She stood. “If everyone is satisfied, we will adjourn the meeting.”

  The crowded nodded in unison, murmuring their assent.

  Galina looked at us. “You are welcome to stay here for the night if you like.”

  Cass and I shared a glance of mutual understanding—we wanted to sleep in our own beds, if possible. And since we were no longer with Zoya, who refused to travel via magical means, we could hopefully get out of here quicker.

  I glanced at Roarke, asking with my eyes if he had a way to build and Underpath here. I really wanted to sleep in my own bed.

  He nodded at me, then turned to Galina. “Thank you, though we would like to leave tonight. You said that it is impossible to use transportation charms or teleportation. But if you have a cemetery or a haunted place, I can create an Underpath. Do you think your protective charms will prevent us from using that?”

  “What is an Underpath?” she asked.

  Roarke briefly explained his ability to travel via the unique magical portals.

  Her brows rose, interest glinting in her eyes. “That should be fine. The charms only prevent the use of the charms and teleportation because we don’t want people popping in unexpectedly. But your skill is unheard of to us. We wouldn’t have known to protect from that.”

  Worry creased her forehead.

  “There’s no need to protect from it,” Roarke said. “I am the only one capable of creating an Underpath entrance, and I mean you no harm.”

  “Of course.” Galina smiled, then led us toward the exit. Pond Flower followed along at her side.

  Zoya hurried over, joining us. The group hesitated by the door, waiting so Zoya could say whatever she so obviously wanted to say.

  “Thank you for asking me to bring you back here,” Zoya said. Her southern accent had faded in favor of the lightly Russian one that the other Ice Fae shared. “I was afraid—it was the reason I ran in the first place—but that was selfish and cowardly. You helped me see that I needed to stand with my people.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled at her. “Though I don’t think I deserve the praise. I just needed your help.”

  “Well, however it happened, I’m glad that we met and that I came home.” She shivered. “Though I’m not sure I want to live here permanently. The south is for me. But I’m glad to be reunited with my people.”

  Family was everything.

  Zoya hugged me quickly, then returned to the table.

  Without a word, Galina led us out of the building, and down the quiet street. Stars had begun to sparkle in the night sky, driving away some of the dark sadness that now cloaked the village. It was as if the stars promised that there was more than just us and death—we were part of something greater.

  And we were.

  Roarke hung at the back of the pack, tapping something into his cell phone. It took us ten minutes to reach the cemetery, which was on the other side of town in a beautiful spot. Sparkling headstones made of ice stood proud between silver birches. It was a nice place, quiet and pretty.

  “Will this do?” Galina asked.

  “Yes.” Roarke put his phone in his pocket and turned to her. “Thank you.”

  Galina inclined her head. “Call upon us when you need us.”

  Without another word, she left, drifting through the cemetery woods, her cloak glittering white under the light of the moon.

  It didn’t take long for Roarke to create the Underpath. I insisted on being last to leave the village. One at a time, he took us through to Mad Mordecai’s in Magic’s Bend. Pond Flower waited with me, eventually teleporting herself to Magic’s Bend when Roarke took me through the Underpath. When I stepped out of the smelly alley, my head still spinning from the journey, I caught sight of two big SUVs parked at the curb.

  I looked at Roarke. “Is this who you were texting on the phone back there? Demon escorts?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t think we were keen on walking home.”

  “I know I’m not.” I joined Nix in the second SUV. Pond Flower scrambled into the back.

  The demon driver looked like a college kid, with a baseball cap and scruffy hair. His teeth were a bit pointier than they should have been, but otherwise, he blended well in regular society. I had to assume his hat covered his horns. His magic smelled like light beer and laundry detergent. Or maybe that was just him.

  Either way, he clearly wasn’t evil like the demons we were hunting.

  “Heya,” he said, his surfer accent thick and out of place in Oregon. “We’ll be there in a jiff.”

  Roarke climbed in next to me, and the kid pulled away from the curb and set the music to blaring. I wouldn’t have heard my cell phone, but fortunately I’d set it on vibrate. The thing had 2 percent battery left, so I opened the messaging app to check the text I’d been sent.

  Have answers about the stone. Meet me tomorrow morning, eight a.m. - Dr. Garriso.

  I held it up for Roarke to read, my heart racing. “This is good news.”

  “Hopefully,” he said.

  I grimaced. “But if it were terrible, Dr. Garriso would have wanted me there sooner.”

  “Good point.” He squeezed my hand. “You can go check on that while I visit with the Order. Then we’ll reconvene.”

  “Perfect.”

  Our demon escort dropped us off at the curb in front of Ancient Magic. He pressed a button to automatically open the trunk, and Pond Flower leapt onto the ground. As I climbed out of the SUV, I took one last look at the kid before he pulled away. He really was nothing like the demons that we hunted.

  I suddenly felt bad for my prejudice against demons when I’d first met Roarke. I’d thought that they were all bad. Heck, most people thought they were all bad. But that was because we didn’t realize that there were so many decent demons living in hell, and even a few here on Earth. The problem was, the good ones kept such a low profile we didn’t realize they existed.

  That’d teach me to judge a group so quickly and harshly.

  I reached for Roarke’s hand and squeezed. I’d learned a lot from him.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Great.” My smile twisted. “I mean, relatively speaking. I’ll be better once this is all fixed.”

  Cass, Nix, and Aidan joined us on the sidewalk.

  “Agreed,” Cass said. “I’d like to get this sorted and then take a break. For years.”

  “Seconded,” Nix said, then her smile faded. “Except that I still have my fated task to accomplish. And given that neither of yours have been exactly easy…”

  “Let’s not think about that,” I said. “The Triumvirate business can wait. Let’s do this one step at a time.”

  “And the next step is sleep.” Cass grinned.

  “Exactly.” I gazed at the green door that led to our apartments, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed. “Tomorrow I meet with the Collector to learn more about that magical rock. Roarke will meet with the Order to see if he can get more info. Then we can al
l meet in the afternoon and discuss our plan.”

  “We’ll need to put it into action soon,” Roarke said.

  There was a chorus of “oh, yeahs,” and “definitelies.” No one wanted the demons hanging out any longer on Earth than they had to—and certainly not long enough to implement their plan, whatever that was.

  We all headed up to our apartments for bed. Pond Flower followed me, padding up the stairs. Though I’d been spending a lot of nights over at Roarke’s place, I wanted to sleep in my own bed tonight. Anyway—it was just up a flight of stairs. There was no way I was turning that down in favor of another car ride.

  Though I toyed with a brief fantasy of jumping on Roarke as soon as we made it into my apartment, by the time I walked through the door, the exhaustion really hit me. As if being in a place that was safe allowed my system to shut down and relax.

  Pond Flower hopped onto the couch and settled down for the night. That looked like a damned good idea.

  “I’m so beat,” I muttered.

  “Likewise.” Roarke followed me into the bedroom.

  We managed to yank off most of our outerwear before tumbling into bed. I had just enough energy to press a kiss to his lips before falling asleep halfway on top of him.

  Chapter Nine

  The next morning at seven thirty, I hurried down the stairs alone. Roarke had left earlier to go meet with the Order of the Magica, but I didn’t need to see Dr. Garriso until eight. I’d had to bribe Pond Flower to stay with Nix since she wouldn’t fit on my motorcycle, and she definitely wouldn’t fit in Madam Melephonus’s treasure-filled house.

  The morning was brisk and bright, the usual winter clouds having disappeared sometime in the night. I tugged on my helmet and hurried across the street toward Scooter. When I reached the motorcycle, I ran an affectionate hand over the handlebars. I’d been neglecting my bike lately, but once things were back to normal, I’d ride it more.

  I couldn’t freaking wait for life to be back to normal.

  I swung a leg over the seat and cranked the ignition, then pulled away from the curb. Cold wind tore at my hair as I made my way to Dr. Garriso’s office.

  He met me in the parking lot.

  “Good morning, Del!”

  “Morning, Dr. Garriso.” I climbed off Scooter and set my helmet on the seat. A spell would keep it from being stolen. All motorcycles sold in Magic’s Bend came with that nifty feature. “Did Madam Melephonus give you any clues about what she found?”

  His eyes twinkled. “Not a chance. She likes the limelight. She’ll wait to reveal that herself.”

  “All right then.” I joined Dr. Garriso in his stately sedan, and he drove us to the edge of the woods where Madam Melephonus lived. It was much easier to get past the enchantment this time, because now that she’d met me, she trusted me enough to give me the same “hall pass” that she’d given Dr. Garriso.

  Once again, the pretty blue house had cats all over the porch. They lounged in the sun and shade, on cushions and on bare floor. It didn’t look like such a bad life, being a house cat.

  Mouse, the slender cat with midnight fur, waited for us on the stairs. Her keen yellow eyes examined us as we crossed the lawn, and she wasted no time in hurrying to Dr. Garriso and insisting that he pick her up. He did, then climbed the stairs and knocked on the blue door. Lurch let us in, and he looked as equally unimpressed with me as he had the last time. His brow was heavy over his dark eyes, which never so much as glanced at me.

  I slipped by him and walked carefully down the hall, making sure not to brush against anything on the many shelves and send something priceless crashing to the ground. I really needed Madam Melephonus to like me long enough to tell me about the rock.

  We took a seat on the delicate settee. Once again, Mouse leapt onto the wingback chair and began to clean her toes. Occasionally, she glanced up with wise yellow eyes that said don’t try any funny business.

  I should get a guard cat for my trove.

  Madam Melephonus joined us shortly after. Once again, she wore a sequined-covered leisure suit and her colorful glasses. But this time, I didn’t even think about considering her flighty. She carried a large wooden box in her hands.

  “At least you’re punctual,” she said to me. For Dr. Garriso, she spared a sweet smile.

  “You’ve learned something?” I asked.

  She nodded as she set the box on the table under the window, then opened it. “Come and see.”

  I joined her, leaning over the box and gasping. “It’s broken!”

  The jagged black rock had split open to reveal a core of smooth, shining black glass. Obsidian?

  “No.” She shook her head as if I were an idiot. “It’s open.”

  “Open?”

  “Yes. The outer rock was just to protect the core.”

  “Is the inner rock obsidian?”

  “It is. But this isn’t how obsidian is found in nature. The rock has been imbued with magical properties. It is an amplifier—the most powerful ever known.”

  Of course. That’s how it had made my power work. It’d taken what little unpracticed portal magic I had possessed, and amplified it into something that could be used to create the portal to Oriamor.

  “Is it necessary to have a huge machine to make the amplifier work? I took it off of an ancient device.”

  Her brow arched as she gazed at me skeptically, and I realized what I’d said. It wasn’t kosher to tear apart ancient artifacts.

  “It’s not how you think,” I said. “The stone was being used to fuel a machine to open a terrible portal. We couldn’t leave this in the hands of the people who had it.”

  Her dark eyes bored into mine as she considered my words. Then she nodded. “Fine. I won’t give you a hard time. If Dr. Garriso thinks you’re on the level, then so do I.” She turned back to the rock, studying it. “And no, it doesn’t need some kind of machine to make it work. A powerful enough supernatural can bend it to their will, amplifying any magic they want.”

  Then maybe the machine had been used to control me. Whatever it had been, I was glad we’d destroyed it.

  “Thank you for figuring it out,” I said.

  “You must protect it.” She ran a gentle finger over the gleaming back surface of the obsidian. “I’d offer to pay you for it, but I get the impression you won’t accept.”

  I shook my head. “No. I think I’ll need it. But I’ll keep your offer in mind.

  We might be able to use it to help defeat the Shadows. An amplifier could come in handy, especially one as powerful as this one was purported to be.

  An hour later, I walked into P & P. Nix, Cass, and Aidan were waiting for me at our usual spot in the corner. Emile was there, too, with Ralph and Rufus on his shoulders. Cade sat next to him, having returned from his trip.

  “Hey!” Connor called from behind the counter. “Take a seat, and I’ll bring over your usual.”

  I hurried to my friends as Claire came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of pasties. She joined us, taking a seat next to me and setting the tray down for everyone. She pointed to one at the edge. “That’s veggie.”

  “Thanks.” I grinned at her, then grabbed it and bit in, burning the top of my mouth. “Ow ow ow.”

  “How’d it go with Madam Melephonus?” Cass asked as she juggled a hot pasty in her hands. She’d been too hungry to wait, too, it seemed.

  “Good. I think we have a weapon we can use.” Tentatively, I bit into the pasty. This time, I just got the savory taste of potatoes and carrots without the misery of a mouthful of steam.

  Roarke walked in a moment later, his face unreadable. That couldn’t be good.

  He joined us, sitting on my other side and greeting everyone. Connor came out with a tray full of drinks and took the last chair.

  The gang was together, so we could start.

  “Well, tell us more about the rock,” Nix said.

  I told them about its amplifying powers and how it’d been trapped inside the protective shell of lava
.

  “And she said it’s the most powerful in the world?” Roarke asked.

  “She did.” I sipped my espresso, grateful for the taste but not needing the caffeine. I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep until this whole thing was over.

  “Then we can definitely use that,” Roarke said.

  “What did you learn?” Aidan asked.

  Roarke sighed and faced the group. “It’s not good. They were only willing to share once I told them everything we knew—leaving out certain pertinent details, of course.”

  I assumed he meant our FireSoul natures and that he’d tried to shift the blame from me for opening the portal.

  “Up until that point, they’d been aware that something was off,” Roarke said. “But with my information, they were able to piece things together fully. Their intel suggests that the Shadows and their demon army are working to overthrow the Order of the Magica and the Alpha Council.”

  “They want to be in charge?” I asked.

  “Unlikely,” Roarke said. “They just don’t want anyone in their way to stop them from doing whatever the hell they want. Those two governments are the only two bodies of supernaturals with the power and organizational skills to pose a threat.”

  “Except for us,” Cass said.

  I smiled at her. “Hopefully the Shadows don’t realize that yet.” I turned to Roarke. “Do you have any idea how they are planning to overthrow the government?”

  “Not a clue. No one knows. They aren’t even sure they’re right about this, but it’s their best guess for why the demons are lying low and congregating.”

  “Where?”

  “All over. There are more than a dozen groups in different cities—all the evilest species of demons, but most of them reigning in their baser natures. For now. They don’t want to draw attention.”

  “So we find them and kill them,” Aidan said.

  “We could, except they are constantly moving around,” Roarke said. “And that’s not the worst of it. After my meeting with the council, I visited my headquarters in the Underworld. Something is wrong, and it didn’t take long to determine what.”

  Oh, shit. I’d never seen such a dire look on his face before.