Fugitive of Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Protector Book 1)

by Linsey Hall

  “FireSoul,” she whispered.

  The earth felt like it fell out from underneath me. My head swam, and my breathing grew quicker.

  She knew.

  Doyen knew. She represented one of the supernatural governments. No way she wouldn’t squeal on me to the other two. The Order of the Magica wouldn’t hesitate to toss me in the Prison for Magical Miscreants.

  I sucked in a ragged breath, pulling myself together. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Hmm.” She straightened and turned to Aleric.

  No doubt she was giving him the same treatment. Served him right.

  I continued to saw at my bonds. Just a little more…

  The least thread of my bindings snapped, freeing me. This was it. I had no freaking clue what I was going to do when I got out of here—I was outnumbered, outpowered, and revealed to the Vampire Court—but I’d figure it out.

  Twenty feet away from me, Aleric winced. His brow scrunched up.

  She was giving him the same crappy head cleaning.

  “What are you doing?” he demanded. “What’s going on?”

  “She can read minds, you moron,” I said. “Do your fucking research.”

  He’d outplayed himself. Too bad I’d gone under the wheels of his runaway bus.

  “You’re the murderer, Aleric,” Doyen said.

  And there it was.

  “What the hell are you talking about? She did it.” Fear flickered in Aleric’s eyes. A rat, trapped in a corner. And he was about to bite.

  Unfortunately, he had two dozen buddies who would also bite. And I was afraid that the few who were eyeing the beautiful Doyen wanted to do more than bite.

  “I hope you’ve got some fire power up those sleeves of yours, Doyen,” I muttered.

  She needed to get out more. Didn’t she know not to poke a cornered animal?

  “You’ll come with us, Aleric,” she said.

  “Ha, lady. I don’t think so.” Aleric shifted. “I told you that she did it, and I want my money.”

  “Don’t be an idiot. You’re the murderer,” Doyen said.

  “Doyen.” Magisteria’s voice held a warning note.

  Too late.

  Aleric’s eyes darted. Looking for an escape. When all hell broke lose—that’d be my moment to escape.

  The machinery on all sides of the room began to creak and groan, churning to life. Steam poured out of the boilers, beginning to fill the room.

  Was this Aleric?

  Doors slammed open from behind. Two figures plummeted down from the roof. Ares and a winged demon—Roarke. He was dark gray in his demon form, with massive wings and claws that could tear a head off. Ares, his eyes burning with rage and his fangs fully extended, was just as scary.

  A roar sounded from behind me. Aidan’s griffin. His footsteps thundered on the ground as he charged. If I had to guess, I’d say he’d broken through the doors using his head as a battering ram.

  “Party’s over!” Cass shouted from behind me.

  “Or starting!” Del yelled.

  My heart leapt as chaos erupted. The gang members with magic began firing, shooting fireballs and lightning at my friends. They attacked back, Ares drawing his shadow sword and Roarke taking to the air.

  Aleric turned and ran for it like the coward he so clearly was.

  I sliced through the last of my bonds, lunging up. One of Aleric’s creepy demon goons grabbed Doyen from behind. She struggled, but couldn’t break his hold. The look in his eyes made me queasy. With steam filling the room, it could obscure everything, and he could drag her off somewhere unseen.

  I gave one desperate look at Aleric’s retreating back, then conjured my bow and arrow and shot Doyen’s attacker in the eye. It projected gruesomely from his skull. He collapsed, keeling over like a tree.

  She gasped, meeting my gaze.

  “Get out of here!” I shouted.

  Beside me, Ares stabbed a huge white demon through the gut, spilling his blood on the floor. Aidan, in his massive golden griffin form, chomped his beak around the body of a demon who tried to stab him with a wicked knife. The demon flailed until Aidan bit him in half.

  Bile rose in my throat at the sight. In the distance, near where Aleric had run, Cass and Del were surrounded by four demons, but cutting them down quickly. Cass hurled fireballs while Del fought in her Phantom form. She was the only half Phantom in existence, and when she took that form, she was transparent blue. Her blade glowed cobalt, and her translucent hair whipped behind her head.

  She was scary as hell. And I liked it.

  I raced toward them, hunting Aleric, who’d run past them.

  No way I’d let that bastard get away. Marin’s killer would not escape. And I really wanted to know his secret.

  The steam that filled the room made it unbearably warm and difficult to breathe. As I passed Del and Cass, Del lopped the head off their last demon attacker. It thudded to the floor.

  “Need help?” Cass yelled.

  “Why not!” We were a good team.

  I didn’t slow, but they joined me, racing toward Aleric’s retreating form. Through the steam that filled the room, I could just make out his black-cloaked figure.

  He reached the wide metal door at the end of the factory. He slammed into it, trying to push it open. But it held tight.

  He backed up and threw out his hands, sending a cloud of black magic toward the door. It collided with the metal, bending it backwards. It wasn’t totally destroyed, but it would be with one more blast.

  I raised my bow, aiming for his shoulder and hoping I could weaken him enough that he could be apprehended.

  I released my arrow, holding my breath as it flew.

  As if he heard it whistle through the air, he dodged left at the last moment.

  Cass threw a fireball at him. It caught on his cloak, but he shed the flaming garment. Seeming to give up on the door, he glanced toward the ceiling. There was a hole up there, courtesy of my rescuers.

  Seeming to make up his mind, he raced for a set of stairs in the corner, about forty meters from the door.

  “He’s going up!” I called.

  I fired one more arrow, but he was too agile. He had some kind of supernatural agility, no question. Even Cass’s fireballs missed their mark, and the icicle that Del threw shattered against the wall. Cass and Del had a variety of powers to draw from, each unique. But this guy was too nimble for any of us.

  We sprinted after him, cutting through the steam. By the time we reached the stairs leading up to the iron walkway that encircled the whole huge room, he’d reached the top. He turned around and threw out his hands. The stink of his magic welled, making me gag. The same cloud of gray dust burst toward the stairs.

  As soon as the magic touched the stairs, they disintegrated.

  “Shit, he’s a destroyer,” I said.

  He sprinted down the metal walkway, headed for the next set of stairs.

  “I’ve got this.” Cass’s magic swelled on the air, the scent of the forest strong. A golden glow shined from her as she transformed into a griffin.

  Cass was a Mirror Mage and could mimic the gift of any nearby supernatural. She chose to mimic Aidan, but as usual, her griffin wasn’t quite as big or as impressive as his.

  She was one of the strongest supernaturals I’d ever met—magic personified—but she hadn’t quite gotten the knack for the griffin. Hers was a bit scraggly looking.

  But right now, her skinny wings looked pretty good.

  I scrambled onto her back, Del behind me. Cass crouched low, then pushed off into the air. I clung to her back as she soared toward the metal walkway, giving Del and me just enough space to climb off.

  Aleric was nearly to the next set of stairs, but he turned and blasted his magic behind him. The walkway broke apart, leaving a fifteen-foot gap between us and him.

  Too far to jump. What could I conjure to fix this?

  Though to be honest, I wasn’t sure I had the strength to conjure much of anythi
ng. I hadn’t had a chance to properly recharge my magic in days, and I was running low.

  “Don’t worry,” Del said.

  She stepped forward, extending her hands as her magic swelled around her. Ice shot from her fingertips, forming a bridge where the walkway had disappeared.

  She winked at me. “Don’t slip.”

  I grinned and ran across the icy bridge, keeping my hand on the wall for support. By the time I reached the other side, Aleric was almost to the top of the second staircase. I sprinted up after him, my lungs burning. I couldn’t give him a chance to blast this thing out from under me.

  When he turned to shoot his magic at the stairway, I leapt for him, tossing my bow aside and grasping his ankle. I pulled his legs out from under him, and he crashed hard onto the platform.

  “Shouldn’t have turned back,” I grunted.

  He surged upright, sitting and reaching for me. I scrambled up, barely avoiding his grasp. But he wasn’t reaching for me. Instead, magic blasted from his fingertips. He aimed for me, but the gray cloud of his destructive magic destroyed the stairs behind me.

  Metal creaked and groaned ominously. The struts supporting this part of the platform couldn’t hold it.

  The walkway beneath us broke away from the wall. We plummeted, hitting the lower platform. Momentum heaved me toward the edge of the platform, but I clambered onto him, avoiding the fifteen-foot plunge to the stone floor below.

  He tried to throw me off of him, but I clung hard, conjuring a knife. Aleric grabbed my shoulders and pushed, but he wasn’t strong enough to dislodge me. I raised the knife, mind racing. I wanted to immobilize, but not kill.

  Though I wanted vengeance for Marin—and this guy was freaking evil—I didn’t want to kill him if I could help it. He wouldn’t get a redo in the Underworld like demons did. I’d rather leave the killing to the Vampire Court if they saw fit.

  “Bitch,” he rasped.

  Changing tactics, he swung his fist at my face. It collided, sending pain through my cheek and making my head spin. All around us, steam filled the room with white clouds. Sweat burned my eyes.

  He swung again, and I dodged toward the wall, but the movement made the metal walkaway beneath us creak and groan.

  Oh, no.

  The metal struts that supported us shrieked as the walkway tore away from the wall and plummeted to the stone floor fifteen feet below. We landed with a crash. I tumbled off of Aleric, my head spinning and breath blown from my lungs.

  Ready for another attack, I scrambled for the dagger that I’d dropped and raised it over my head, turning for him.

  But his body lay impaled on a piece of metal. One of the iron struts poked right through his chest. Blood soaked his shirt.

  My heart lurched.

  His gaze was wide and panicked, but he couldn’t speak. He had seconds left to live, if that.

  “Aleric!”

  He said nothing.

  I glanced around, but everyone was obscured by the steam. I turned back to Aleric, who was no longer twitching. The life was fading from him quickly.

  He was a dead man.

  The secrets would die with him.

  Unless he’d already told his big boss? He’d been unclear earlier. But what had been clear: this secret was a big deal. It would change everything, as he’d said.

  Shit.

  These guys were organized and dedicated. Some kind of crime syndicate or something. And they might have information that could help them immensely. Was I willing to risk letting them have that advantage? I didn’t know what their end goal was, but it had to be bad, if a guy as awful as Aleric was excited about it.

  And our only lead was inside Aleric’s head.

  But he was dying. His eyes had gone almost entirely dull.

  Shit. I didn’t want to do this. Really didn’t want to.

  I drew in a shuddery breath and reached toward his chest. My hand shook as it neared him, and bile rose in my throat. Around me, the sound of battle prevailed.

  I prayed to fate that my friends were safe. Maybe knowing whatever Aleric knew would help with that in the long run.

  As soon as my fingertips touched his chest, I gagged. Memories of my time with the Monster rose in my head. I was back there, in his dungeon room, being forced to steal magic to save my mother.

  But I’d failed.

  I couldn’t fail this time.

  I breathed shallowly, trying to control my lurching stomach, as I called upon the FireSoul magic within me. I only knew the theory of this, told to me by my mother, but it had to be enough.

  I sought the power within me, a banked flame that I’d repressed for decades. It burned low and bright, but I called it forth, fighting the nausea that churned in my stomach.

  Worry clouded my mind. Though my mother had said to never use this power, my deirfiúr had used theirs and were still good people. I could be too. And we needed to know whatever Aleric knew. It was important. I’d stake my life on it.

  The magic swelled within me, a flickering flame that glowed bright purple. It expanded inside my chest, lighting me up with heat as it expanded to my limbs. Purple flames flickered along my arm.

  The pain made my eyes tear. It was freaking hot.

  The tendrils of fire reached for Aleric, finding his soul and the magic within. It pulled at his two gifts—the Informa magic and the Destroyer magic.

  I winced, trying to reject the Destroyer magic. I didn’t want that! But it stuck hard to the Informa gift.

  In the end, my hesitation didn’t matter. The FireSoul magic within me roared, the flame drawing Aleric’s power deep inside my chest. I gasped as it filled me, conflicting signatures of darkness and light.

  The life faded from Aleric’s eyes as I collapsed beside him. My head spun as my soul tried to accommodate the two new magics within me. They were so different—so powerful. The Informa gift was basically knowledge, which was light and good, despite the way it was obtained. But the Destroyer magic… It felt like my chest was full of the same dusty cloud that Aleric had used to destroy the stairs.

  The Informa gift bombarded my mind as secrets poured out of it. Most of what I’d taken from Aleric was worthless—secrets of people I didn’t know or care about. Betrayals and trickery.

  But when his big secret hit me—the information that he’d learned at the Cathar castle—my mind spun. I gasped.

  “Dragons,” I whispered. “Returned.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The rest of the message was confusing, like the Perfecti had said it would be. I couldn’t decipher it. But the two words I recognized—those were a big deal. Dragons had been dead for centuries.

  But were they not?

  Around me, the steam began to dissipate. The battle sounds had decreased as well.

  I struggled to my feet, stomach lurching.

  Had I made a terrible mistake?

  Very possibly.

  But what I’d learned…

  I searched for my friends. Cass and Del were running toward me through the dissipating steam. Ares finished off the last demon, while Roarke and Aidan prowled the perimeter. Bodies were scattered throughout the warehouse, most disappearing because they were demons. In the corner, Magisteria and Doyen stood. Magisteria held a blade coated with blood. The body of a demon lay crumpled in front of them.

  “Nix!” Cass skidded to a stop in front of me. “Are you all right?”

  “Fine.” I drew in a ragged breath. “Just fine.”

  “Really?” Del searched my face.

  “We can talk about it later.”

  Behind their backs, Magisteria and Doyen were approaching. Ares, who’d just cut the head off the last demon, noticed. He joined them.

  The three of them walking toward me in a line made my knees shake.

  Aidan and Roarke loped up to join us, skirting around the trio of vampires and standing next to Del and Cass. All four turned to stand between me and the vampires.

  Their support made tears prickle at the corners of my e
yes. But I couldn’t let them stand between me and danger. Especially when Del and Cass were FireSouls too. But their secret was still safe.

  I nudged them aside and stepped between my friends and the vampires.

  When Cass hissed in my ear, I ignored her. Magisteria and Doyen’s faces were expressionless. And whatever was on Ares’s face, I couldn’t read it. Maybe I didn’t want to read it.

  Could they tell that I’d just used my FireSoul power? They hadn’t seen me through the steam, and I didn’t think I looked any different.

  Magisteria glanced past me toward the body of Aleric. “He is dead?”

  I nodded. “He is.”

  “Good. No more than he deserved.” Her gaze fell to the collar at my neck. “We will remove that.”

  My breath caught. That was a good sign. They’d probably want to keep it on if they were going to try to turn me in to the Order of the Magica.

  “Okay.” I waited, tense as a board, while each of the vampires touched their fingertips to the collar. It heated briefly, then fell away.

  My chest felt like it opened up—like I could breathe for the first time in three days. Thank fates.

  “As for the other,” Doyen said. “We will consult and be in touch.”

  “Other what?” Cass asked.

  “Um— It’s nothing. I’ll tell you later.” Shit. What should I do? If I let them walk out of here with knowledge of what I was…

  My life could be over.

  My friends and I technically had the magical firepower to stop them—but there was only one way to do it. And it’d make us murderers. I couldn’t ask them for that. Especially since Ares was so strong that we might not all make it out alive.

  I met Ares’s gaze. Did he know?

  His brow furrowed as he glanced at Doyen. He didn’t.

  It was settled.

  If I had to run for it, I would. Because I wasn’t about to start a fight that would risk my friends’ lives just to save my own hide. No way I could live with myself if I did that.

  “We should go,” I said to my friends. “Especially since whoever is in charge of these goons might realize we’ve just killed a bunch of his henchmen.”

  “All right.” Cass glared at the vampires.

  I didn’t blame her. They were pretty unlikable. All except Ares, who I still didn’t know what to make of.