by Linsey Hall
Aidan.
I relaxed, then smiled. My heart jumped in my chest.
“Hey.” He grinned down, his smile a slash of white in his handsome face.
His dark hair and the blue shirt he wore glittered with raindrops. It made him look even more like a model. The rugged kind, not the pretty kind. Though I appreciated both. I always felt vastly outclassed by him, but I’d learned to ignore it.
His magic surged against mine with the sound of waves crashing and the taste of chocolate. He smelled like the forest, and I had to stop myself from sucking in a deep breath.
A girl had to have some pride.
“Hey.” I smiled up at him. “Long time no see.”
My friend and maybe-boyfriend—honestly, I had no idea what to call him—had been gone on business for the last three days. I’d missed him.
“Sorry I was away longer than expected, but it’s done,” he said. His big hands gripped my shoulders, and heat shivered across my skin.
Aidan Merrick was the Origin, a descendent of the first Shifter and one of the most powerful supernaturals in the world. He was also a Magica with Elemental Mage powers and some healing ability. I’d met him about a month ago when he’d hired me to help him find a dangerous scroll. FireSouls can find just about anything of value, so I made my living finding valuable magic to sell at my shop. It was how Aidan had tracked me down.
After that job, he’d figured out I was a FireSoul—smart bastard—but instead of turning me in to the Order of the Magica, which would’ve resulted in a life sentence for me at the Prison for Magical Miscreants, he’d stuck by my side, helping me with a difficult job. Things had snowballed from there, though we’d never had any time for a real date or other romancey stuff.
Mostly, we’d been running for our lives or someone else’s. At this point, I didn’t even know what romancey stuff was. I’d have liked to figure it out, though.
“Yeah, well I can forgive you,” I said. “You’ve sort of let your business lapse while you’ve been watching my back.”
Aidan owned Origin Enterprises, a security business that made him immeasurably wealthy. At least by my standards.
“I like having your back.” Aidan grinned.
The sight sucker punched me. Damn, he looked good.
When had I become so shallow?
“But you never returned my calls,” he said. “Got anything to say for yourself?”
My stomach dropped. “Noticed that, did you?”
“Might have. Any reason why?”
Yeah, but none that I wanted to share. Ever since I’d stolen a Shifter’s magic a week ago, I’d been so freaked out by my changing powers—and intense desire to steal other supernaturals’ magic—that I’d done my usual. I’d shut down. I didn’t know how to share with anyone besides my deirfiúr, and this felt too dark to share even with them. I hadn’t felt like faking being okay on the phone. That felt like lying.
Though now that I looked at it from his perspective, disappearing hadn’t been great either.
“I’m sorry. That was bad of me. I’ve got a good reason.” I cringed. “Maybe not a good reason, but one that has nothing to do with you. It was all me. Being weird. I’m sorry.”
“I like you weird. But I’d like you better if you talked to me.”
“Fair enough. But later? I’m headed somewhere.”
“Where to?” Aidan asked.
“Dr. Garriso wants to see me about the Chalice of Youth.” My heart pounded at the idea of finally figuring out what it was. “So I’ve got to run. Meet you later tonight?”
“Why don’t I come with?”
“Uhhh.” I’d gotten used to having him at my side, but were we going to make it a regular thing? Would I like that?
There was only one way to find out. “Yeah, all right. Let’s go. But I’m driving.”
“Fine by me.”
I turned to cross the street toward my old junker, but Aidan’s hand caught my arm. I shivered. Gently, he pulled me back.
“Hang on.” His voice sounded rough. “I haven’t had a chance to do this yet.”
My eyes darted up, meeting his dark gaze. Heat flared in its depths, igniting the same within me. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, stealing my breath. My head swam as his mouth moved against mine.
He was the best kisser—his lips soft and skilled and his taste divine. My heart threatened to break my ribs. Just as I clenched my fists in his shirt, he pulled away.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go find out about that chalice. You seemed excited.”
What I was excited about was kissing him. Tension had raged between us for almost a month now, but between running for our lives and being called away by work, we hadn’t had a chance to actually act on anything yet.
It was getting to be about damned time, if my heart rate was any indication.
“Yeah, let’s go,” I said. “Were getting rained on anyway.”
“Oh, I could ignore the rain.”
I grinned and punched him in the shoulder, then turned away.
We crossed the street quickly, heading toward the park on the other side. Ancient Magic and P & P were located on Factory Row, the recently revitalized old factory district of Magic’s Bend. Rent was low and the company was weird, but that’s what I liked about it.
We climbed into Cecelia, my old junker with chipped paint and a spotty engine. It sputtered and coughed as I cranked it, but when the engine finally turned over, I wanted to cheer.
“You know, you could afford a new car with your take from your last job,” Aidan said.
I pulled onto the street. “Yeah, but I don’t care about cars. Cecelia here will do me just fine.”
The four million I’d made on my last job—a record haul even for me—was going toward increased concealment charms for myself and my deirfiúr and protection spells for our apartments and shop. Not to mention my trove.
FireSouls were said to share the soul of a dragon, though no one had seen a dragon in centuries. Considering the fact that my deirfiúr and I were as covetous as dragons eyeing a pile of gold, I believed it. We thought it was the dragon’s covetousness that gave us our special sense for finding treasure. The rest of that four million would go towards padding my trove—a collection of leather jackets, boots, and weapons. It might be weird treasure, but it was mine.
It didn’t take long to drive through Magic’s Bend, a medium-sized city of supernaturals. We chatted about Aidan’s trip as the tall buildings of the business district passed by in all their sterile glory, giving way to the quirky structures in the historic district where the good bars were located, and then by Darklane, where everybody knew the dark magic practitioners hung out.
“Here we are,” I said as we pulled into the large parking lot at the Museum of Magical History. The rain had lightened up while we were driving, but I still sprinted towards the back door.
I tapped on Dr. Garriso’s window as I passed, then headed toward the big gray door. Aidan joined me as we waited for Dr. Garriso to unlock it. We were here after hours, but you could always count on Dr. Garriso to be in his office. I wasn’t entirely sure he didn’t live there.
The door swung open, and the small white-haired figure of Dr. Garriso smiled at us. “Welcome, welcome. Come in.”
We stepped out of the rain and followed him down the cold, boring hallway, which was nothing like the rest of the museum. Researchers always got the shaft.
Dr. Garriso was a small man, about seventy, and favored the tweed coats that made him look like an old Sherlock Holmes.
He pushed open the door to his office. As soon as I stepped over the threshold, I couldn’t help but grin. It was like stepping back in time. Bookshelves lined every wall, stuffed to overflowing with ancient leather tomes and newer paperbacks. Old Tiffany lamps gleamed warmly from wooden tables, leather chairs invited, and the air smelled like tea.
How he’d turned the sterile researcher’s office into this wonderland from a past century, I had no ide
a. But I liked it.
“Could I get you some tea?” Dr. Garriso asked. “I have a lovely new blend from India.”
“Yes, please,” I said.
I could never resist Dr. Garriso’s tea. It wasn’t my beloved Pabst Blue Ribbon—PBR for short, the beer of hipsters and hillbillies—but something about it suited his office so well that I could never say no. And now wasn’t exactly the time for a cold one, anyway.
Aidan and I crossed the narrow space to the small seating area under the window. There were two plush leather chairs, but Aidan picked up a small wooden one in front of the bookshelves and brought it over. He fitted his huge form onto the seat, leaving the two nicer chairs for Dr. Garriso and me.
Not a bad dude.
“Thanks,” I said as I sank into the leather chair.
Dr. Garriso puttered at the small table holding the electric kettle and his collection of tea supplies.
The kettle dinged, and he fussed some more, then carried the tea over on a tiny silver tray and set it on the table between the leather chairs. He turned and retrieved a leather box from a high shelf.
I reached for my tea as he opened the box, sipping and sighing gratefully at the added sweetness. Dr. Garriso knew I had the sweet tooth of a twelve-year-old. Five sugar cubes. It was a little ridiculous, but I didn’t care.
“This is an interesting item,” Dr. Garriso said as he removed the ornate golden chalice from the box.
Shiny.
The yellow metal glinted in the low light, and my fingers itched to touch it. Though I preferred a different type of treasure, the dragon in my soul couldn’t help but covet anything that shiny.
“What is it?” I asked. “I know it can’t just be a beauty charm.”
Right before I’d met Aidan, I’d recovered the Chalice of Youth on a job, specifically for Mr. S, Magic Bend’s favorite weatherman. Del, who consulted ancient records to determine which enchanted artifacts I would go after, had determined that the Chalice of Youth would do for Mr. S’s needs.
But it’d turned out that the chalice was more than just a beauty charm. The Monster from my past had been hunting it as well. There was no way he’d have been hunting it if it weren’t special.
“Well, you see,” Dr. Garriso said. “It’s a difficult object. It is definitely a beauty charm, but that spell was placed on the chalice to hide its true purpose. The chalice possesses a spell that allows whoever drinks from it—”
An enormous crash sounded from one of the floors above, followed by a shout. Magic swelled in the air, a bitter, burning aroma that was hard to identify. But it smelled like dark magic.
I surged to my feet, Aidan alongside me, his massive form graceful despite his size.
“What was that?” Dr. Garriso’s white brows rose to touch his snowy hairline.
“Nothing good,” I said.
“Not a robbery,” Dr. Garriso said. “It can’t be.”
Pounding footsteps sounded on the floor above. A guard running? A thief?
“I don’t know, but we’d better check it out,” I said. I hated the idea of anyone coming in here and messing with the history contained within these walls. This stuff was irreplaceable. “We’ll be right back, Dr. Garriso.”
I raced from the room with Aidan. The sterile lights of the hallway burned my eyes after the dim pleasantness of Dr. Garriso’s office. We sprinted side by side down the wide hallway, following the sound of crashing and yelling, and pushed through the doors at the end of the hall, spilling out into one of the main exhibit rooms.
The ceiling soared high above, the setting sun gleaming orange from behind the enormous glass windows. Marble statues dotted the space, but no people.
Another crash sounded.
“Left,” I said.
We sprinted toward it, crossing through exhibits that held only artifacts. The sound of a fight beckoned, leading us to a moderately-sized room full of ancient vases and amphoras. Glass cases filled the space, gleaming dully in the light.
A purple portal glowed from the corner. Lavender light pulsed from it, illuminating the two figures who stood on either side, their arms outstretched, as if they were manipulating the magic that created the portal. They were Magica of some sort. Maybe demons, though some species looked human. Their power smelled like rot and decay, with a hint of the ocean behind it.
Dark magic covered their own signature.
Whatever they were doing with that portal needed to be stopped.
In the middle of the room, three other thieves fought off three guards who wore the blue museum uniform. Magic flashed from their hands, spikes of ice and flying jets of flame. But they kept the attack tight, contained. Their magic felt strong, like they could have blown the guards away.
But they held back. Did they want to avoid hurting the artifacts?
The guards rebuffed the attacks with circular shields. Magic repellers. When they could get a shot in, they sent blasts of golden light at the thieves.
Stunning spells, if I had to guess.
One crashed into the thief on the left, throwing him back almost to the portal.
“I’ll take the guys on the left,” I said.
“Right for me, then.” Aidan threw a spear of flame, precise and blazing, toward one of the intruders. It engulfed him, and he fell to the floor, screaming.
I called upon Aidan’s power over flame, using my Mirror Mage abilities to borrow his gift. It was safer than using my FireSoul power since Mirror Mages were accepted in magical society.
The evergreen scent of Aidan’s magic filled my nose as I drew it into me and crafted a bolt of fire. Warmth filled me, that now-familiar joy, as I molded the magic to my will. I sent the fire streaking toward the thief who stood to the left of the portal.
Direct hit.
I grinned.
Flame licked up his form and he flailed, tumbling back into the portal and disappearing. A pang of loss hit me. If he hadn’t fallen through the portal, I’d have been able to take his power.
“Oh, dear.” Dr. Garriso’s startled voice pulled me from my dark thoughts.
I flushed. What was I thinking?
I glanced toward Dr. Garriso. He’d entered through another exhibit and stood near the portal, his wide gaze traveling over the scene.
He was too near the last thief for my liking.
“Get back!” I shouted as I called upon Aidan’s Elemental Mage powers and crafted a spear of ice. I’d wound the bad guy with this, then be able to question him.
The ice froze my fingertips as I sent it streaking through the air toward the final thief. It punctured him right through the middle. He flailed, knocking over an artifact case.
Dr. Garriso’s shout echoed in the room. He lunged for the amphora that tumbled toward the floor. As he passed by the portal, it pulsed, a bright purple light illuminating the room. Magic surged, a dry static crackle in the air that made the hair on my arms stand on end.
The purple light expanded, reaching for Dr. Garriso and dragging him toward the heart of the portal. His wide gaze met mine as he was sucked inside. His sensible brown shoes were the last thing to disappear as I reached for him, my hand outstretched and too far away to be any help at all.
CHAPTER TWO
“No!” I lunged for Dr. Garriso, but he was long gone.
“Cass!” Aidan shouted as I sprinted for the portal.
Heavy footsteps thundered behind me. Just as I reached the glowing purple, an arm wrapped around my waist like a steel band and yanked me backward.
“You don’t know what’s on the other side.” Aidan loomed over me, ten times as strong as I’d ever be. I suddenly wished I’d stolen that demon’s immense strength back at P & P. Aidan could never have stopped me then.
I thrashed in his arms. “He’s my friend!”
“I know, but we need to be—”
I stomped on his heel, dropped my weight, and thrust my elbow back into his gut. He oofed and let go of me. I threw myself at the pulsing purple light.
Pain.
I slammed into a wall. Stumbled back onto my ass. I blinked past the searing agony in my face and hands, which had hit the portal first. My face felt like it’d been stomped on by a giant troll.
Slowly, my gaze cleared. I was still in the museum. The portal pulsed with light, looking like it was open.
“The portal’s closed.” I struggled to my feet, my heart pounding desperately.
Aidan took my arm, his strong grip steadying me. “Damn it, Cass. That was stupid. Are you all right?”
“Don’t worry about me.” I pulled free and approached the portal. “We have to get to Dr. G! But why is the portal still here? It shouldn’t be here if it’s closed.”
I reached out to the purple light. It glowed on my fingertips, turning them alien. A cold hardness met my touch.
“This is weird,” I said. My skin chilled with fear-sweat, the worst kind. Dr. Garriso was trapped.
Aidan approached, extending his big hand and laying it next to mine. “No. This isn’t right.”
I turned to face the rest of the room. The guards were snapping pictures of the fallen bodies with their camera phones. No doubt in case they were demons and disappeared soon.
Good idea. I tugged my phone out of my pocket and went to the nearest man. He had pale skin and dark hair, and though I could see no horns, it didn’t mean he wasn’t a demon. Demons were the favored supernaturals to act as henchmen for the baddies in the magical world. I snapped a picture of him just as Aidan joined me.
Two of the guards approached, stopping in front of us. A burly one with dark hair and ruthlessly pressed clothes demanded, “Who are you? Why are you here?”
His tone pissed me off. “Uh, we just saved your ass.”
“And threw the icicle that ended with Dr. Garriso sucked into that portal,” he snapped.
That deflated me in a heartbeat. He was right. I was responsible. I’d been having such a good time with my magic, getting so cocky with my new skills, that I’d chosen a riskier magic because I’d wanted to question the thief. I should have recognized there were potential casualties in the room and used my lightning, but that was a FireSoul power. I didn’t want these guards seeing it.
