by Casey Lane
Snorting, Matthew shook his head. “You should know. Is this really the first time you’ve been away from the castle for a night out?”
Nodding, Sunny took another sip of her drink, this time prepared for the sensation. It went down easier this time around and made her stomach feel all warm and fuzzy. “Sloan pretty much has me practicing all day long. We did come to town once a couple of weeks ago to stretch our legs, but we didn’t stay late.”
“If I’d known it was your first night out, I would have taken you somewhere else.” A plate of warm bread and something she couldn’t identify was delivered to them and Matthew selected a slice of bread. “Want some?”
Sunny eyed the plate suspiciously. Matthew had recently taken great delight in trying to trick her into eating gross things. He was quickly turning into the older brother she’d never had, and she’d learned to ask for clarification on what was being served before she took a bite. “If that’s haggis, I’m outta here,” she warned.
A quick burst of laughter escaped Matthew. “Ah, I have you paranoid, do I? No, it’s just brie and mushrooms baked inside some pastry.”
“Oh. Then yes, I’ll try it.”
They ate in companionable silence for a few seconds and Sunny relished the change from the heavy meals the men at the castle seemed to insist on. “I haven’t seen you around lately,” she said after she’d swallowed a bite of the velvety cheese.
Matthew shrugged. “I’ve been spending most of my days in my office here in town. These days, I pretty much use my room at the castle to sleep and nothing else.”
Sunny couldn’t help but wonder if the young man was trying his best to avoid a certain blond giant but didn’t say anything. “What kind of law do you practice” she asked instead.
“Business mostly,” he replied, wiping his mouth on a napkin before taking another swallow of his drink. “Most of my days are spent negotiating Raven’s business deals.”
Business deals? The leader of the clan actually worked? Oh, the man was busy enough. He was constantly dealing with clan stuff but she’d never actually seen him work outside the castle.
Matthew laughed again and tapped her nose with a single finger. “You should see your face. Yes, Raven works. Who do you think pays to run the castle and the clan?”
She hadn’t really thought about it before. Now that she actually did think about it, she felt a little guilty. She hadn’t offered to get a job to pay for her room or board or anything. She’d taken it for granted they would take care of her while she trained.
“Hey,” Matthew said softly. “I know what you’re thinking. Raven is a financial genius, okay? He has more than enough to support all of us in style for the next five hundred years, and that’s if he stopped investing right this second. He’d rather you train your magic than worry about contributing financially when he doesn’t need you to.”
“Are you sure you can’t read minds?” she asked. He’d certainly seemed to be able to pick up on what she’d been thinking about for the last half an hour.
Matthew popped another bite of cheese into her open mouth and grinned. “Nope. Not a drop of magic running in these veins, I promise. You’re just easy to read.”
“Really?” She’d never had anyone say that to her. Usually they said they couldn’t figure out what she was thinking, let alone how she felt.
“You’re an open book, my dear.”
Snorting, Sunny threw a peanut at Matthew and laughed as it bounced off his impressive chest. “You sound as old as Leith when you talk like that.”
Matthew’s face fell for a second and Sunny groaned inwardly. Shit, she wasn’t usually so insensitive. “Sorry,” she said softly.
The young man was quiet for a few seconds before clearing his throat. “Don’t worry about it. It’s true. And I have to get over him.”
Sunny brightened. “Yeah. Let’s get you a date,” she exclaimed as she scanned the pub.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but I doubt you’ll find many gay men here. I’ve been thinking about asking Prince Gareth out for dinner.” He lowered his voice and leaned close. “I have it on good authority that dragons tend to swing both ways.”
She giggled. It was nice having someone her age to hang out with. Even Anna, who was the youngest handler next to her, had been raised in another generation. “Maybe I could convince Raven to let me go too.”
“Yeah right,” Matthew said with a smirk. “Like Sloan would let you come.”
“Hey,” Sunny said, trying her best to sound affronted. “Sloan is my trainer, not my boss. And besides, we argue all the time. It would be nice to have a conversation with an attractive man without worrying about how moody he might get.”
“Are you saying I’m not attractive?” Matthew shot back. “Stop trying to horn in on my fun. Besides, I know exactly how you and Sloan like to resolve your arguments.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she huffed, trying to hide behind her glass.
“Uh huh,” Matthew said with another smirk. “I heard your argument in the hall the other day. I don’t think that particular bathroom has ever been used for make-up sex before.”
Sunny giggled even as a blush worked its way up her neck and across her cheeks. Two days ago, they hadn’t been able to wait until they got back to one of their rooms and Sloan had fucked her on a random bathroom counter. It had been really late and neither of them had really considered the fact that they might be disturbing someone else. “Sorry,” she muttered once her laughing fit had stopped.
“Don’t be. It was the most action I’ve had in months,” Matthew teased. “And apparently, Sloan is really, really good in the sack.”
“Oh, God,” she groaned and buried her face in her hands. “This is so embarrassing.”
Matthew laughed long and loud, and she only looked up when it trailed off. The expression on his face wasn’t a good one. “What?” she said.
“Oh, holy fuck,” he whispered. “We are in so much shit.”
Spooked by Matthew’s scared expression, Sunny looked around the pub. She didn’t see anything out of place. In fact, except for a few new patrons, there was absolute nothing different. “What’s the matter?”
“Leith told me a couple of days ago he’d felt an increase of unfamiliar magic, but with his power growing, he had trouble determining how close the strange witch was. Well, I think one of the guys who just walked in is from the Takahashi clan. We need to get out of here.”
Her heart instantly started racing. Trying to look as casual as possible, she accepted Matthew’s help off the stool and stuck close to him as they moved for the door. “I borrowed one of Raven’s cars. It’s down the street a little,” she said.
The tall Asian man by the door shifted a little and Sunny tensed, but he turned away from them instead. Matthew tugged her through the door and held on tight to her hand, digging in his pocket with his free hand for his cell phone. “My car’s right here. We’ll take mine, and Raven and I will come for the other car tomorrow.”
Sunny watched as he hit the number one on the phone’s keypad and raised it to his ear. “Who are you calling?” she asked as they hurried to Matthew’s car.
“Raven,” he said as he cradled the phone between his ear and shoulder and unlocked the car, shoving her inside.
Apparently, Raven picked up right away because Matthew started talking almost immediately. “Rave, I’m pretty sure Sunny and I ran into a Takahashi witch at the pub. We’re coming home right now.”
He tossed the phone to Sunny. “Here, keep Raven on the line until we get to the castle,” he ordered as he stuck the key in the ignition.
Sunny raised the phone to her ear. “Raven?” she asked. She wasn’t really sure what else to say. She was nervous but then again, maybe Matthew had made a mistake.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Raven crooned, clearly trying to keep her calm. “Matthew will get you here fast and we’ll get everything sorted out.”
Of course, the car would ha
ve to start in order for them to get anywhere. “Shit,” Matthew muttered.
Sunny glanced over and saw his hands shaking so badly, he could barely grip the key, let alone turn it in the ignition. “Maybe I should drive,” she said, already halfway over the seat.
Matthew ignored her and finally succeeded in starting the car. “Raven,” he called out, even though Sunny was still holding the phone against her ear. “I remembered where I saw the Takahashi before. He was in the picture you showed me from thirty years ago. The one you said was probably a Takahashi handler.”
“Fuck,” Raven breathed. “Get out of there now.”
Before Sunny could relay the message, there was a deafening thump from behind and the car lurched.
Sunny dropped the phone on the seat and looked over her shoulder. The Asian from the pub crouched on the trunk, staring in with a wicked smile.
“Fuck,” Matthew shouted. “Raven, get people here now. We’re about to become involved in a confrontation.”
Sunny reached over and locked the car doors automatically, not that it really mattered. If the guy wanted to get in, he would break the window. “Drive,” she screamed at Matthew.
The car shot forward, but a loud screeching sound caused Matthew to jam on the brakes, nearly throwing her through the windshield. Sunny hit the window head first but luckily, she stayed inside the car. She shook her head, trying desperately to stop it from spinning. “Fucking hell,” Matthew shouted. “It’s definitely a Takahashi handler.”
Still dizzy, she fought to understand what was going on. Ravenʼs voice was screaming from the phone, which was on the floor. He hollered about how he, Anna, Sloan and Leith were on their way.
The loud screeching started again and Sunny clutched her head as the sound drove into her brain like a knife. Matthew’s put his face in front of her. “We have to get out of the car,” he screamed.
She scrambled after him, ignoring the nausea the sudden movement caused, and slid through the opening where the door used to be.
Wait. The entire side of the car was missing, peeled off like the rind of an orange. And if she wasn’t mistaken, it took her feet a few seconds longer to meet solid ground than she had expected.
She blinked hard, trying to focus on what was going on but her brain refused to accept the fact that the car was hovering nearly a foot in the air. A chunk of metal flew past her, narrowly missing her head. She heard Matthew’s pained cry behind her and spun around to see the twisted piece of metal pin his leg to the ground.
It suddenly hit her that Matthew had no magic and it was completely up to her to protect them.
A protectiveness like she’d never known before welled through her. Matthew was her friend, a real friend. She was sure he wouldn’t abandon her, unlike all her other so-called friends in her life. She would protect this man to her very last breath, if it came down to it.
Her mind cleared, all pain forgotten. Moving so Matthew was directly behind her, Sunny eyed the other handler. He’d stopped throwing things at them and eyed her suspiciously. “You look a little small to be the new handler,” he called.
She would show him. The ball of fire she summoned was hotter and bigger than anything she’d ever summoned before. She threw it toward the other handler and it collided with a metal shield, presumably the side of Matthew’s car.
The feedback from her magic colliding with the other handler’s sent vibrations up her arms and the pain in her head, which she’d managed to forget, came back with a vengeance. Still, she held the magic, forcing the flames higher and hotter until the makeshift shield melted.
The magic flowed through her, unchecked, and started to flare out of control. She could hear Sloan’s voice behind her, screaming at her to pull the magic back but it was too late. The other handler’s eyes widened and he ceased his magic, disappearing from view.
“I have to hold the illusion,” Raven shouted.
Sunny was confused. What illusion?
Sloan was suddenly at her side. “Sunny,” he said urgently. “Concentrate. Pull back on the flames a little. Raven can only hold the illusion the other handler set up for so long.”
She had no idea what everyone was talking about but she did what they’d trained her to do. She emptied her mind of everything but the flames and calmly called it back.
The fire seemed to laugh in her face and instead of extinguishing, it flared even higher. Several cars that lined the streets were completely engulfed and some of the buildings were starting to burn. No matter how much she calmed herself and tried to call the magic back into her being, it ignored her.
“Sloan,” Raven croaked. “I can’t hold it much longer.”
“Anna,” Sloan shouted. “We need to call up a rainstorm.”
It took a few seconds but Sunny felt the first drops of rain sizzle off her skin. Soon, it was pouring and the flames were slowly diminishing.
With the fire dying out, Sunny was able to take control of her magic again and pulled back on some of the flames. She was sweating and ready to vomit within thirty seconds. Her head felt like it was going to explode and the pressure, which she’d come to associate with a buildup of magic, was staggering.
Next to her, Raven finally collapsed. “Sunny, relax and sit down,” he ordered weakly. “Let Sloan and Anna hold the rainstorm until the firefighters get here.”
She did as he directed, collapsing next to him and laying her aching head in his lap. People started streaming out of buildings, screaming and calling for the fire department. She finally realized Raven had been holding some sort of magical illusion in order to keep the ruckus under wraps. “You have some explaining to do,” she said. “Like why the fuck was that handler able to make things fly around.”
Raven looked contrite. “We may have forgotten to mention … different clans have control of different things. The Takahashi has control of things like telekinesis and mind reading.”
Sunny sighed but didn’t say anything. Her head hurt too much to process that information right then. She’d figure it out and give the appropriate person hell for not telling her later.
Sirens wailed in the distance, and Sunny managed to push up enough to look for Matthew. Leith was behind him, supporting him even as the younger man clutched his leg. She tried to drag herself over to them, but Raven grabbed her wrist and forced her back to his lap. “Leith will take care of him. You need to stay still and wait for the paramedics yourself.”
“Paramedics?” she asked.
“You’re bleeding,” Raven said, wiping some moisture off her face she’d thought was sweat and rain, and showing her the red liquid on his fingers.
Tears filled her eyes. Now that the initial adrenaline rush was wearing off, Sunny was feeling the effects of the battle. Every part of her body hurt. She didn’t want to go to the hospital. All she wanted to do was find a bed, snuggle up with Sloan and sleep for the next two days.
The noise around her increased and two strangers bent over her. “Let’s see what we have here,” one said.
Sunny tensed but Raven stroked her hair. “It’s just the paramedics. Relax.”
She knew Raven wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. She really did. But everything in her called out for Sloan.
A bright light was flashed in her eyes and she groaned when a shaft of pain streaked through her brain. She could hear the paramedic saying something about a concussion and for her to hold tight while they checked on the other victim.
Finally, Sloan dropped down next to her. He was covered in soot, soaking wet and mad as hell. He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Her heart skipped a beat as she reached for him. He would shelter her. He would support her. He would take her home and sleep beside her until she felt better.
“What the hell was that?” Sloan whispered furiously.
Sunny blinked. It was not exactly the response she’d been expecting.
“Sloan,” Raven said softly.
Sloan’s brown eyes snapped with anger. “Your little display of ma
gic nearly killed all of us. Stop playing and grow up, little girl.”
“Sloan,” Raven said again and this time, it was a clear warning.
She pulled herself up so she sat back against Raven.
“No. Listen up, Sunny. You are a handler. You hold an immense amount of power you clearly aren’t ready for. I don’t know what to do about you anymore. You need to try harder before you kill yourself. God, I can’t even be around you right now.”
The water handler stormed off, leaving her reeling in Raven’s arms. Sunny turned her face into his chest and started to sob.
Funny how she hadn’t realized she’d fallen in love with Sloan until the man had broken her heart.
Chapter Eighteen
Sloan paced the waiting room, trying desperately to stop his hands from shaking. He hated hospitals with a passion. The only thing worse than the white walls of the room were the pale green, lumpy couches. How was one supposed to sit comfortably while waiting for news of their loved one? Maybe that was the point. He wasn’t supposed to be comfortable while Sunny and Matthew were suffering.
Anna was curled up in a corner of one of those couches, picking at a string sticking out of the hem of her T-shirt. “They’ll be okay,” she said quietly, not meeting his eyes.
Sloan nodded but didn’t stop his pacing. He needed to move if he was going to have to be confined in this room. He still hadn’t gotten over the sight of Sunny, pale and bleeding, fending off the Takahashi handler all by herself. She’d been surrounded by flames and for one second, it had been magnificent.
When the Takahashi handler had taken off into the night, he had been torn between chasing the man and going to Sunny.
Then the fire had roared out of control and not even the fire handler could survive being engulfed in flames. He’d called down the rain so fast, it had made him dizzy and still, it hadn’t been enough. Anna had had to stir the currents, creating a massive storm, in order to even control half of the flames.
Sunny had eventually gotten a hold of the fire and called it back into her, a process he knew could be painful if the magic had gotten too big. He’d just about lost it when she’d collapsed but had enough presence of mind to make sure any fire near his loved ones was extinguished before he’d rushed over to her.
