Fated Magic (The Fated Saga Book 2)

by Sariah Skye

  I gasped. “Sell the shop?”

  She nodded vigorously. “Yes! I’ve had a handful of inquiries through the years, but I always ignored them.”

  I blinked, shocked at her revelation. “But… why would you want to sell the shop?”

  She gave a half smile. “Well, if I’m going to be here, then I can’t really operate a business a hundred miles or so away in Pineville, can I?” Kit grinned, clapping her hands together. “I really like it here, Leo. I feel more… at home, you know?”

  I laughed shortly, knowing well how she felt. “Yeah… I do know.”

  “Even though I’m not a mytho like—well, like you—I still feel like these people, these beings are more accepting, more loving…we’re just more similar. I feel more like myself here in the few days that I’ve been here than I ever have.”

  I gave her a supportive pat on the arm. “Kit—do whatever you gotta do, okay? I’m behind you.”

  She smiled. “Oh good—I’m glad you’re not disappointed. I mean—from what I understand you can’t really go back there, anyway.” In response, I chuckled and shook my head, mouthing no. “It wouldn’t be the same without you, anyway. Oh, Kit.” Feeling touched, I did something unusual for me—I reached out and pulled Kit into my arms, in a big hug.

  She squeezed back, tightly.

  “It’s nice to be able to talk openly with you about this stuff,” I said. “It was a pain in the ass trying to hide where I was going all those times.”

  She nodded vigorously “Yes, it’s good to know and just be yourself, huh? A lot of people never understood my practice of witchcraft. I didn’t really think anything would ever come from it, other than my own peace and satisfaction, but… to think I could really have some latent powers hidden?” She smiled widely. “It’s exciting!”

  “I’m just happy to have magic, finally,” I retorted, dryly. “Even if it was hidden from me along with memories and….” I trailed off into an unintelligible growl.

  “Is that Dragon speak?” Kit asked, her mouth slightly agape in awe and a bit of a smile.

  I giggled. “No, actually that’s just me being crabby. You’ve heard Dragon before, haven’t you?”

  “Show me again?” Kit asked.

  I nodded. “It sounds a bit different in my dragon form, but… you get the gist.” I growled out a phrase in dragon, complete with growls and guttural throat noises. Kit’s eyes widened.

  “Oh my!” she said, with a joyed giggle. “What did you say?”

  “’Hello, my name is Leorah and my life is completely fucked up!’”

  Kit threw her head back in laughter. “Dragons have swear words?”

  I let out an abrupt Ha! “Dragons invented fucking swearing!”

  We laughed. “I don’t think I could ever speak that language.”

  I shook my head. “Most humans can’t. It’s like a cross between angry German, screaming Russian and Klingon… sort of.”

  She snorted. “Wow…”

  Esmè entered the room briefly, placing a pretty teapot on a matching, pink floral patterned platter on the small coffee table in front of us. “I don’t want to interrupt you, but I thought you might like some tea,” she said, with a wink at Kit who smiled warmly. She handed both of us matching white cups and saucers and we thanked her as she poured us her hot, healing tea blend from the pot. Becka followed behind with a plate of scones and pastries and I practically salivated, feeling my stomach growl at the sweet fragrance of both the tea and the snacks.

  “I’ll take that as a yes, you want some,” Becka said, with a laugh. I reached for a scone and handed one to Kit. We both thanked them and they ducked out of the room, leaving us alone.

  “So. Tell me what's going on with you since last night?” She began. “The hair is great, but you seem… flustered.”

  I groaned as I was taking a sip of the tea. “You have no idea.” I set the cup back down in its saucer with a clink and told her about the potion Finnian had me take, the confrontation with Gabriel, the epiphany and kiss with Maxxus, my hidden memories of Maxxus, and my magic revealed. It hadn't been that long since I'd seen her, but it felt like an eternity given all that had happened.

  When I finished, Kit was stupefied. “Oh my goddess… you had… I cannot believe…” Kit blinked quickly, setting down her teacup on the table in front of her and wiping her eyes. “How could anyone hide an entire relationship from you?”

  I shrugged. “I do not know.”

  “Do you have any idea who?” she asked, as I shook my head.

  “Finnian says it must be someone close to me, but besides Grandfather and my brother…. no one is really close to me. And, I can’t imagine either of them doing that,” I insisted.

  “Oh, Leo… I’m so sorry. What are you going to do? How is Gabriel taking it?”

  I shrugged. “Well as to be expected. I’m still not sure about everything, but now knowing what I know about Maxx, it’s hard to not…” I trailed off, feeling my cheeks heat recalling the stolen kisses, the magic and all the time we spent together. I was happy. As a dragon. I couldn’t deny the absolute elation I felt inside when I thought about it. My heart fluttered once again, thinking about him.

  “Oh please tell me what you're thinkin'!” she insisted.

  I scoffed. “I don’t know. I know I don’t want to hurt Gabriel. I still have feelings for him. But, do they compare to what Maxxus and I had? Will he ever even remember what we had?”

  “What if he doesn’t?” she questioned and I shrugged.

  “I don’t know. I sort of have to let him make up his mind. He’s avoided it for whatever reason for so long… there must be a reason. Perhaps he was an asshole to me, or something and I don’t remember.” I sighed. “But, first, I have to go confront Nicodemus before I can even think about my boy dilemma,” I said, with a dry chuckle. “Should be cake, compared to all that.”

  “Wow… a real Court, and a queen…” Kit mused, amazed. You could just about see the movie reel playing in her head she was imagining: a stone chamber, colorful banners hanging from the tall walls, a velvet throne… well it was basically just like what you saw in the movies. “I wish I could see it.”

  “Someday, maybe. But, there may be other things you can see, first,” I grinned, remembering suddenly something I promised her while we were trying to recover her from the grips of the Shadows. I set my own teacup down, jumped up and grabbed her arm. “Come on… are you feeling up to going somewhere? I made you a promise over in the Shadow realm and I think it's time to deliver.”

  Reluctantly, she stood, despite my prompting and pulling. “Sure… but where?”

  I winked. “You’ll see.”

  Chapter 10

  Kit was in seventh heaven when we arrived at the unicorn barn, where I’d promised to take her while she was being attacked by the Shadows to help prompt her out of her terrible nightmarish ordeal. She squealed like a little kid at Disneyland; I’d never seen her so giddy.

  The unicorns were especially obliging, allowing Kit to stroke their long, silver manes and tails and bury her cheek into their soft, short-haired coats. She got into a conversation with one—a beautiful black male named Orion—with a midnight blue (almost black) mane and tail, a pitch black coat and bright, shocking blue eyes. Orion told her all about Unicorn history; how like the dragons, they too could shift into human form, though they weren’t as comfortable with their human forms as Dragons generally were. The shift was uncomfortable and a little painful, so most never did unless absolutely necessary. Their history was similar to dragons, living among humans peacefully until humans became greedy. Unicorns had healing powers, and humans begun taking advantage of those powers, trying to heal the nearly-dead and the incurable; exhausting the power of the Unicorn and leaving them magicless and vulnerable. The closer a being was to death, the more magic it took, leaving the Unicorns often depleted and exhausted. Like dragons, they then tried to seek solace in another realm, but many had been killed, trying to flee. Many never made i
t to the new realm, deciding instead to seek solace in little, supernaturally protected towns like Castle Danger.

  She was mostly healed, but still grew weary after a couple hours of visiting. I practically had to drag her back to Esmè's cabin across the town. It wasn’t until Orion volunteered to let her ride him—an honor not bestowed upon many humans in many, many years—did Kit agree to finally go “home”.

  I left Kit reeling as I left her to rest at Esmè's before I was summoned to the Loremasters’ building. We gathered in the ‘meeting room’ just off of Finnian’s office. I folded myself into a chair beside Kiarra and Daniel—purposely avoiding both boys who sat on opposite sides of the table and Finnian at the head, trying to ignore the stunned stares of Gabriel and Maxxus both as I walked in. Gabriel started to say something, but he was cut off by Finnian who spoke earnestly to him and I, “I trust you've had no more outbursts with the magic, right?”

  Gabriel shrugged easily. “Nah, I've been good. A good night's sleep solved all that. You?” he turned to me expectantly. I felt a little uneasy as his gaze traveled down my now naked neck and I had to fight the urge to hide my mark with my hand.

  But I shook my head. “Nope, all good. I guess I shifted in my sleep for some reason, but otherwise, it was all good.”

  “You weren't alone, were you?” Gabriel asked with concern. “The Shadows—”

  Maxxus spoke up gruffly. “No, I was with her.” Gabriel appeared taken aback slightly and I rolled my eyes, realizing what he probably was thinking.

  “Sleeping, that's it,” I said.

  Gabriel tried to save face, “Oh, I mean, there were no Shadow issues?”

  Maxxus shook his head once to the side, meaning no.

  “That is good.” Finnian gave him a curt smile and nod, and turned to the rest of us. “Okay, well… you all know why we’re here.”

  “Operation kick Nicodemus' ass,” I countered.

  “I still think this should be a group thing,” Gabriel protested, sounded perturbed. “With Leo’s lack of fighting skills, I would feel better if we were with her.”

  Finnian sighed. “I do have potions that may help, and normally I'd agree, but if something goes wrong, the magic needs to work fast and it's a lot easier to hide two dragons rather than five people. And it doesn't have to be terribly difficult. The spot where the portal was you all came through should still be there to a degree. You should be able to open it back up briefly to get through. That's where you and Nicodemus spent the most time, right?” he questioned the green dragon.

  Maxxus nodded. “Yes. If I know him, he's expecting Leo at any time to come over to see her grandfather or family or...whatever. If he's searching for her, that's the most likely place she'll be. Or at her home. But she can't get there without that portal first.”

  “What about one of the other portals?” Kiarra questioned.

  Maxxus considered this. “They're all too far. The only other portal in Anarach is clear across the kingdom in the outskirts of Highvale; deep in the mountains. He wouldn't expect Leo to select that one seeing as he has no idea she can fly now.”

  Kiarra nodded. “Makes sense.”

  “What exactly are they supposed to do when they find him, exactly?” Gabriel asked, confused.

  “That part is a bit trickier, and why you especially need to remain here,” Finnian said, removing a yellow pencil from behind his ear and pointing it at him. “If all goes well, I assume he'll open a portal to the Shadow realm—pretty safe bet. The essence of the one we opened here in Castle Danger is still here; Leo uses her magic to open it, and we shove him through and all three of you land here. Then we can subdue him and hopefully, he's the only threat to the Court and that's all we have to do.”

  “I want his blood,” Maxxus grumbled angrily, pounding a fist on the table.

  “Whoa there,” I said, with an uneasy laugh. I reached over and placed a complacent palm over his fist. “We aren't murderers. Though, I can think of a few dungeons I'd like to see him in.”

  Maxxus nodded with approval. “Agreed. Just please let me rip an arm off or something first.”

  I raised a brow. “I'm okay with that, I guess.”

  “So—wait,” Gabriel piped up, confused. “There is still a portal here in Castle Danger from the Shadow realm? Doesn't that sound…. risky?”

  I turned to the Loremaster expectantly. “I agree.”

  Finnian shook his head. “No, no. It's just the essence. No one but someone with arcane magic will be able to find it and open it. And technically someone with arcane powers can open a portal anywhere but it should be easier to essentially tear a hole in the fabric of time in a spot that's already weakened. I assure you, nothing is coming to and from that portal right now. It's impossible.”

  “What about another black dragon?” I asked. “Nicodemus is one.”

  “True, but their magic isn't powerful enough. Anyone going to and from the Shadow realm wouldn't be strong enough to pull that off.”

  “Then—how are we going to get out? I mean, we'd be entering it voluntarily!” I protested.

  “Don’t worry, I have a plan.” That was all Finnian said, and continued on. I exchanged a look with Maxxus and we both shrugged. It was futile trying to fight any information out of the Loremaster he wasn’t willing to give.

  “You should avoid the Court at all costs,” Finnian explained. “If he's not at the portal or anywhere nearby, abort and come home. Take another portal if you have to or you'll have a potion to get home through the remnants of the one in Anarach. If he's not there, we'll regroup and go directly to the Court. But under no circumstances should you get caught.”

  “Well, duh,” I retorted shortly. Finnian shot me a droll look.

  “And this is one reason why.” Finnian had had a yellow manila folder stuck in between his back and the chair back he was perched in. He opened it, tossing down a stack of parchment in the middle of the table. I was the first to reach out for the top one.

  “Wanted, Leorah e'na Miradoste. Pink dragon wanted for crimes of treason against the Court and Realm. Assassinate on sight; reward to whoever returns the body for proof.” Underneath was a ruddy sketch of both my dragon and human form and the amount of gold rewarded.

  “One million gold pieces?” I squeaked in shock.

  “One million!?!?!” Kiarra gasped, grabbing the Wanted poster away from me and gaping at her, her mouth open wide. I dared to glance at Maxxus who was clenching his mouth closed, the fury emanating off him like sparks from a raging wildfire.

  “Is that a lot?” Gabriel questioned.

  I nodded slowly, still amazed.

  “The Court has a lot of money—err, gold,” Kiarra corrected herself. “But even the most heinous of criminals—as rare as they are—are only offered maybe a thousand gold as a reward. They mean business.”

  Maxxus reached for the next poster in the stack, and growled. There was a poster for each of us—even Daniel and Gabriel. None offered as much gold as for me, but it was still a lot at one-hundred thousand gold for each of them; all with sketches under the Wanted headlines except for the humans as they had never actually seen either one of them before. They were described as “Desperate male humans that may be in collaboration with the named Wanted defectors”.

  “How do they even know about Gabriel and Daniel?” Kiarra mused, and I shrugged.

  Maxxus, who’d been very silent thus far spoke in a very controlled tone. “They have been spying on you all for some time, I suspect.”

  Finnian nodded. “Yes. Probably through Kit somehow.”

  I growled and Maxxus stood, defiant. “Then we leave soon. Tomorrow. Tonight even. It will give us time to gain our bearings in the realm and allow for travel time from wherever we end up. Let's get this done and over with and hopefully, Nicodemus will be it. A means to an end. And then we,” he looked directly at me as he said it, his gaze so intense I nearly squirmed uncomfortably in my seat, “can get on with our lives.” The meaning of what he said—the levit
y—was not lost on me.

  “Tonight?” I squeaked in hesitation. I swallowed nervously at the idea. This mission depended severely on my ability to use magic and while all my powers had been completely uncovered I still wasn’t 100% sure about them. Not that I would be any more sure about them tomorrow or the day after—but I figured I had a couple more days to panic before I had to save the world.

  I felt a reassuring hand on my forearm. It squeezed gently and I turned to see Gabriel was reaching over Kiarra to reach out to me.

  “Leo. You got this. I know you can do it… I have seen what you are capable of. You can do it,” he said, in a voice low enough that only I could hear (well, and Kiarra as well who was sitting as far back in her chair as she could, looking around at the ceiling, in her lap—anything but Gabriel and I, trying to let us have a “moment”). “I know you're nervous about your magic. I know that. And, I'm not wild about the two of you going alone, I understand the reason for it. Just get it over with.”

  I tried to quell the queasy feeling in my stomach and forced a not-so-confident smile. I could say nothing; the nervousness was congealing as a ball in my throat, paralyzing my voice.

  Feeling as if I’d break down if I continued to look at him, I turned away towards Finnian at the head of the table who had one eyebrow raised. He drummed that pencil on the tabletop even more rapidly than before.

  Irritated, Maxxus leaped up from his chair, reached his long body and arm over the table and smacked the pencil down flat underneath Finnian’s hand. Finnian smirked, as if he wanted to say something smart, but angering a peeved dragon wasn’t the most intelligent thing in the world to do—no matter the world—so he just let it slide with a wry smile and mouthed an apology. I had to push both palms over my face to stifle my wild laughter.

  “Are we all okay with this?” Finnian asked, peering at each one of us after Maxxus had sat back down in his chair. He only glanced ever so briefly at Maxxus who still appeared irritated.