Stolen Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress Book 3)

by Linsey Hall

  Nix conjured two oars and passed them over to Aidan. “Here you go, big guy. Put those muscles to use. Assuming we don’t end up in a volcano with the next world shift, I’ll take over in a bit.”

  Aidan nodded and took the oars, then slotted them into the oarlocks and began to row. Waves crashed against the boat, sending us rocking. Cold water splashed. I shivered and huddled deeper into my now-soaked jacket. I debated using magic to dry myself, but decided to save it.

  “Only a few hundred more yards!” Del called from her place at the bow. Land beckoned.

  The water around us turned to sand.

  The boat stopped dead.

  Dry heat filled my lungs.

  Desert again.

  “At least our clothes will dry quick,” Nix said.

  We climbed out of the boat and set off, used to the crazy changes by now.

  “How far did Dr. Garriso go?” As soon as I asked the question, I caught sight of a collapsed figure a hundred yards away. The dark clothes stood out starkly against the golden sand.

  My heart pounded. I ran ahead, pushing myself as the sand dragged at my boots. It was Dr. Garriso. It had to be. When I neared, I could make out his white hair and tweed coat.

  The tightness in my chest loosened. He was going to be all right.

  Suddenly, stone walls crashed down around me, cutting out the light. A torch crackled in its wall sconce, throwing a small amount of light into the room. I stumbled on the stone ground that was suddenly beneath my feet. Dr. Garriso lay ahead, but when I whirled, all I saw were stone walls. Not even a door.

  Nix, Del, and Aidan were gone.

  And I was in a cell.

  My heart beat frantically, and sweat broke out on my skin. “What the hell.”

  Dr. Garriso didn’t answer. I fell to my knees beside him, wincing at the hard stone.

  Gently, I shook his shoulder. “Dr. Garriso. Wake up. We have to get out of here.”

  How, I had no idea.

  Dr. Garriso’s face was slack, his breathing slow. Passed out. Or magically subdued? I couldn’t tell which.

  Panic beat its fists against my ribs as I climbed to my feet and went to a wall. I pounded against the stone. All it did was make my hands sore.

  I swallowed hard, shaking. This wasn’t like the rest of the world changes. It felt more deliberate.

  I turned to face the room.

  A door appeared in the wall.

  Shit.

  Suddenly, this was all too familiar. Like the cell I’d been locked up in as a child.

  A tall, slender figure walked through. He was dressed entirely in black—appropriate for this creepy place—and his skin was so pale he was almost transparent. Even his hair was nearly see-through. Though this whole area vibrated with the Monster’s evil magic, this man wasn’t the Monster.

  “Who are you?” I demanded. “Where am I?”

  I reached out for his power, seeking his signature to get a better feel. When the smell of magic hit me—smoke and burning—I stumbled back into the wall.

  “Holy magic, you’re a FireSoul.”

  “Indeed.” His voice was as crisp and cold as a winter morning.

  In a place that reeked of the Monster’s dark magic? “What is this place? Why are you here? Where are my friends?”

  He swept his pale hands out in front of him. “It is my creation.”

  “The whole waypoint?”

  He laughed, a horrible sound that sent a shiver down my spine. “Would that it were. No, just this dungeon.”

  “You built it quick.”

  “I’m powerful.”

  I could feel that. His power vibrated on the air. It smelled like burning plastic and felt like a cold trickle down my spine.

  “But this place smells like the magic of a man I know. And you aren’t him.” It made my stomach turn to call him a man.

  “No, that I am not. But I am his.”

  The hair on my arms stood on end. If he worked for the Monster, I couldn’t let him take me or my deirfiúr. But questions burned my tongue.

  “You’re not wearing a collar,” I said, thinking of the collar that Aaron had worn. Aaron had been a FireSoul slave of the Monster’s. I’d met him once not long ago and killed him, though I hadn’t wanted to.

  “It is unnecessary.” He approached, his walk so graceful that he almost glided. “I am willingly his.”

  I stepped back. “His creature, you mean? Minion to a monster?”

  He shrugged. “Monster, genius.”

  “Why would you side with someone like him? After all he’s done?” Enslaving child FireSouls, murder, torture.

  He looked at me like I was stupid and said, “Power.”

  Power. Obviously.

  “The magic he has taught me is like none you’ll ever know.”

  “And I don’t want to know.”

  “Don’t you, FireSoul? I can sense your power. Sense that you’ve killed for it.” He roamed the edge of the room, a spider drawing close to its prey.

  “I had to,” I said.

  “Not true.”

  No, it wasn’t. And that reality scared me.

  “And you liked it,” he said.

  I shook my head, though he was right. I liked not just the power, but the act of stealing it. But I didn’t want to like it. It was a fine line to walk—managing the power without becoming consumed.

  This man was consumed.

  There was so much that I wanted to ask, but it was past time for me to be getting out of here. This world was the Monster’s, and this guy couldn’t be here for anything good.

  I steadied myself, calling upon my magic and reaching out for his. I needed to know what I was up against if I was going to fight him. His magic felt strange and subtle, unlike most. Elemental mage powers hit you in the face normally, and so did most of the others. But this was odd.

  Finally, I grasped it.

  He was an Illusionist. The most powerful I’d ever met if he could make his illusions as real as the stone that had bruised my fists.

  Awkwardly, I pulled his magic toward myself, struggling to manipulate it into something I could use. I’d never mirrored an Illusionist before.

  I went for something easy, creating a shimmery illusion of smoke that surrounded him, obscuring Dr. Garriso and myself at the edge of the room. I lunged left, then called upon my lightning, letting it fill me with a crackling burn.

  Thunder boomed and the bolt streaked toward him. But it passed through him, then streaked through the rock wall behind him.

  Both were illusions.

  Shit.

  An arm wrapped around my neck from behind, a steel bar that cut off my breath. I thrashed.

  “Using my own powers against me?” he hissed. “Mirror Mage, are you?”

  So he didn’t know what I was? Or who?

  This close, I couldn’t use lightning or risk frying myself too. I grabbed for the dagger strapped to my thigh, but before I reached it, iron manacles snapped around my wrists. He grabbed my arm and yanked it back, trapping my hands near my waist.

  Too far from my blades.

  Shit.

  I struggled, but he was stronger than he looked.

  “Not so fast,” he said.

  I kicked back, nailing him in the shin. He grunted, then stood and tugged me up. I dropped my weight, hoping to break his hold, but he just dragged me away from Dr. Garriso’s body.

  “Where the hell are you taking me? You’re just going to leave him there?”

  “Don’t need him. But the master might like you. Another FireSoul. Knew it as soon as I felt you.”

  Oh, hell no.

  I called upon my lightning, doing my damnedest to keep it minimal, and sent a bolt into his middle. A horrible noise escaped his throat as he collapsed. It shocked me, too, sending painful electricity through my limbs. Nothing like actually using the magic.

  I scrambled across the stone toward his body, my limbs weak as jello. With a shaking hand, I reached for the dagger strapped to my r
ight thigh. The dungeon still surrounded us, so he wasn’t incapacitated enough for his magic to fail.

  He surged up, a silver knife in his hand and rage in his eyes. He looked mad enough to kill me. I lunged for him, my blade glinting black in the dim light.

  But he reached me first, sinking his dagger into my arm. Agony bloomed hot and fierce as warm blood poured down my arm. I forced myself to tighten my grip on my blade and heaved myself against him, throwing him onto his back.

  I plunged my dagger down, satisfaction arcing through me when it sank easily into his chest. He struggled weakly, his dark eyes dimming. I’d hit him straight in the heart, a quick death.

  As soon as his blood welled, the familiar hunger arose, clawing at me. My FireSoul roared up, ravenous, and white flame flickered across my skin, reaching out for his magic. I ached for it, for the moment his power would flow into me. It’d be so good. So, so good.

  No.

  I reared back, sucking in a ragged breath. His struggles slowed, enticing the FireSoul within me even more. My hands burned to push him down, suck out his power, and make it mine.

  That wasn’t me. I didn’t want it to be me.

  I had to control it. I had to fight this.

  But it called to me. Not just the hunger—the power itself. This man’s magic, his power over illusion, was one of the greatest magical gifts I’d ever seen. It’d be such an incredible weapon against the Monster.

  Though the emptiness roared within me, I clung to that rational thought. To any rational thought. This was too great a gift to leave behind. But I had to be in control if I were going to take it.

  Deliberately, I pressed my hands to his shoulders, trying to control the process of taking his magic. Trying not to let it overcome me. I didn’t want to become the ravenous thing that I feared my FireSoul would make me. The man below me was proof of what the desire for power could do.

  I had to be present for this act—me controlling my FireSoul, not the other way around.

  The white flame licked over my arms, bright and fast, and reached into him. It burned, but I embraced the pain as payment for the deed I was about to commit.

  When my magic latched on to his, I almost retched. It felt dark, tainted. But after a moment, the sickness faded. As he died, I realized his magic had been tainted by his evil. When I drew it back into myself, it was pure. Bright and sparkling like champagne.

  Warmth and strength surged as it flowed into me. It was both wonderful and uncomfortable, a pleasure I shouldn’t be taking as a result of theft, but I couldn’t help myself.

  When it ended, I fell off of him. He stared at the sunless sky, his gaze blank.

  Thank magic, the illusion of the dungeon had faded. I was back in the desert.

  “Cass!” Aidan roared.

  I scrambled to my feet and spun to face him.

  He, Del, and Nix raced across the sand toward me. Thank magic they were safe. I turned and crawled across the sand toward Dr. Garriso, my limbs still trembly.

  I knelt over him, pressing my fingers to his throat and staring fixedly at his chest. It rose beneath the tweed coat. My shoulders slumped. He still breathed.

  “Are you all right?” Del fell to her knees beside me.

  “Fine.”

  “We could feel you,” Nix said. “But we couldn’t get to you.”

  Aidan swooped me up in his arms. Hugged me. Pain streaked through my arm. My wound. I cried out.

  “Shit. Sorry.” Aidan loosened his grip and set me on my feet. His concerned gaze raced over me, settling on my arm. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah.” I tugged my jacket off and winced at the size of the slice in my bicep.

  Nix tugged the thin linen scarf from around her neck and tied it over the wound. I flinched, but at least the blood flow would lessen.

  “Let me heal you,” Aidan said.

  “No, we need to get out of here. Now. This is connected to the Monster somehow.”

  Nix’s and Del’s stark gazes met mine.

  “I knew it.” Nix shook her head.

  “Can you carry Dr. Garriso?” I asked Aidan. “Del, can you take us back?”

  “Yeah, let’s get out of here. I can’t transport to the waypoint—I need to save my power to get across, back to earth. But if we can make it to the portal, I can get us across, into the museum. Once we’re on Earth, hopefully I’ll have enough power to get us where we need to go, but no guarantees.”

  Aidan picked up Dr. Garriso. “To the hospital in Magic’s Bend.”

  “Okay,” Del said. “Let’s go, then. I’ll lead the way.”

  I sucked in a ragged breath of hot desert air. Pain blazed in my arm, and I felt like I’d run a marathon. Trekking across this sand was not my idea of a good time. I was just grateful that Del was using her dragon sense to find the portal. I didn’t have the energy.

  “Right,” Del said, and set off.

  We followed, Aidan carrying Dr. Garriso and me leaning on Nix. We dragged ourselves across the sand, down a mountain, over a moor, and through a jungle. I hated this damned place.

  “You okay?” Nix asked.

  I thought of the power I’d stolen, of how I’d been more in control this time. “Yeah, I think I’m doing all right.”

  And I meant it. Maybe I could get a handle on this whole FireSoul thing.

  “Good. We were scared.”

  “Me too.” Fates, I was tired.

  Finally, the purple glow of the portal appeared on the horizon. If we hadn’t had a FireSoul’s ability to find what we sought, we’d have been screwed. The changing scenery did not lend itself to navigation, and I seriously doubted a compass would work. Not that I knew how to use one. Never needed to learn.

  We reached the glowing purple portal and clustered around Del, each making contact.

  A second later, we stood in the museum.

  “Oh, shit,” I said.

  The room blazed purple. The air was thick as soup. And the guards and investigator were frozen in place, their bodies like mannequins, expressions of horror etched on their faces.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Get us out of here, Del.” Aidan’s voice sounded slow.

  I reached for Del, my arm moving so sluggishly it was like I was dragging it through sand. The air was thick, viscous. I moved slower with every millisecond that passed, like I was freezing in place with the portal.

  The faces around me glowed in the purple light, which pulsed behind us. The sickening feeling of the Monster’s magic surged from it.

  I could feel Del struggle to access her power. Her magic swelled, feeling like soft grass beneath my feet and smelling like fresh laundry, but it faltered, less sure than normal.

  Finally, we began to disappear. But even that happened slowly, as if the portal were loath to let us go. It had trapped the guards and investigator and was trying to trap us too. Normally, transporting blinked you out of a place so quickly you didn’t realize it.

  This time, I watched as my deirfiúr faded. It was eerie as hell.

  What felt like ages later, we found ourselves standing in the lobby of the town hospital. Bright white linoleum and the smell of antiseptic dragged me back to reality.

  My arm started hurting. Worry for Dr. Garriso swelled.

  A nursed rushed from behind the counter, her eyes wide.

  “This way!” She gestured, leading us through swinging gray doors and into a wide hallway.

  Everything else happened in a blur. The healers took Dr. Garriso away on a stretcher, and I was moved to a regular healer’s exam room. Medical implements and magical potions were scattered on the shelves. Magical medicine was a bit like human medicine, from what I’d seen on television. Some things were treated with human means, others with magic. Most with magic, though a good band-aid was never turned down.

  Aidan stood by my side. Del and Nix had gone with Dr. Garriso.

  “How are you doing?” he asked as he stepped around to my wounded arm.

  “Great.” My arm burned, bl
ood dripped onto the floor, and the rest of me felt like I’d been hit by a dump truck. “Remind me how many fights I’ve been in today? Three? Four? I think I’m losing it.”

  He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “You deserve a nap. But first, let me see if I can do something about this arm. At least make it feel better before the real healer comes in to finish the job.”

  Aidan hovered his palm over the wound beneath Del’s scarf. Warmth flowed through my arm, bringing with it relief.

  I plopped my head against his chest. “That feels so much better.”

  “This scarf is soaked with blood. Do you feel all right?”

  Fatigue dragged at me. “Yeah. We need to call the Order of the Magica. Tell them something is up with the portal.”

  “I will.”

  I swayed on the table. “I don’t feel so—”

  The edges of my vision blackened. I reached for Aidan, but blackness took me.

  I woke, my head foggy. I was no less exhausted. Darkness cast the room in shadows. I blinked, trying to make out the blurred shapes. Aidan slouched in a big chair near the bed, his chest rising and falling slowly. A sliver of light shined from the crack in a door, highlighting his face.

  Asleep.

  The bed felt like heaven, the sheets like they were a million thread-count.

  “Hey.” My voice scratched my throat.

  Aidan jerked awake, his eyes meeting mine. “Hey, how you feeling?”

  “Like shit.”

  “No surprise. You lost a lot of blood, as it turns out. That knife wound nicked some big veins.”

  Just my luck. “How’s Dr. Garriso? Nix and Del?”

  “He’s fine. Sleeping in a room down the hall. Nix and Del also.”

  “Are we at your place?” I knew he had a big house in Enchanter’s Bluff, the richest neighborhood in town, but I’d never been there.

  “Yeah. It’s close to the hospital. And the security is excellent.”

  I thought of the demons who’d showed up at P & P yesterday looking for FireSouls, and was glad to be here. And not just for the great sheets.

  “Does the Order of the Magica know what’s wrong with the portal?” I asked.

  “No. But they’re trying to work on it.”

  Shit. For being the most powerful magical organization in the world, they didn’t seem to know their ass from their elbows. Or this wasn’t a priority for them.