Magic Fire: an Urban Fantasy Novel (Shifting Magic Book 1)

by Catherine Vale

  Pain and their laughter, skittering across my body and illuminating my steadily darkening mind.

  For a few seconds, I welcomed death if it meant it would all stop.

  That was until I heard Darius roar—but not as a dragon. Briefly, the torture ceased, and as I twisted my head to the side, mouth hanging open and an endless stream of tears rolling down my cheeks, my hazy vision honed in on a figure bursting into the fold.

  Darius. In human form.

  “D-Darius…” I tried to reach out to him, tried to tell him to turn back, that he was no match for their magic. But he breached the warlock’s shield like it was nothing, and as my dragon pummeled that first warlock, I realized, my thought process still in bits and pieces, that it was because the shield was there to repel magical attacks. Shifters might not have magic, but a dragon’s fire was as good as in the natural world. The shield wouldn’t prevent a physical attack.

  Stiff and unsteady, I twisted onto my side to watch. One warlock down, a mangled bloody heap of a man on the floor. The other tried to blast Darius with an onslaught of multi-colored spells, fast and furious in their conjuring, but my dragon dodged and ducked and dipped out of the way before tackling the man to the ground.

  His attack was savage and merciless.

  But as effective as it was, it was short-lived. As I’d predicted, he was no match for all four warlocks, and the two who had tormented me soon had my dragon contorting on the ground, pummeled with a pain hex so powerful that Darius coughed up a mouthful of blood.

  “Filthy shifters,” the greasy warlock sneered, spitting on Darius as he lay trembling on the ground. Unlike me, his eyes were still focused, fueled by rage, and he refused to stay down until one of the warlocks magically pinned him up against the wall, his naked body covered in a mix of sweat, blood, and dirt.

  “Hate to break you two up,” the freckled warlock insisted as he lunged for me, snatching my arm and dragging me to the edge of the walkway, “but I can only imagine what mongrels you would breed, given the chance. Consider this a mercy.”

  And then he tossed me over the railing and into the hive—like he was tossing a piece of garbage into the trash. A scream tore from my throat as I fell, my very life flashing before my eyes. I stared up at what was left of the enchanted ceiling, wishing the last thing I’d ever see wasn’t a destroyed starry night sky, half-twinkling like a neon sign that had run out of juice.

  My view became obstructed, not by bursts of magic or gargoyles—but by a dragon.

  My dragon.

  Darius flung himself over the ledge and plummeted after me, shifting right before my eyes to hasten his fall.

  Time seemed to slow until it was just me and him, the rest of the world forgotten. The fear eased out of me, replaced by a quiet acceptance that once I hit the ground, I was dead. No wings to stop me. No power left to cushion my fall. Just me and the concrete, destined for the last date of my life. A beautiful sense of relief washed over me that Darius, of all the people in my life, would be the last thing I’d ever see. Not the fake stars. Not the explosions of battle. Darius—my dragon—in all his glory…

  … coming to my rescue. Sacrificing himself for me.

  I reached up as if to wave him away, to tell him to go back. He didn’t need to do this. Not for me.

  He responded with wings.

  His wings.

  They shot out from his back, practically spanning the entire width of the hive, and suddenly he was racing toward me faster than I was falling. I watched, mystified, as he flapped them hard twice before curling them in, gusts of wind like that of an oncoming tornado pummeling the walkways. People screamed—and Darius dived, shooting passed me. Seconds later, the wings shot out again, and I slammed hard onto his back, his spinal spikes stabbing hard into my skin.

  And then the falling stopped. I blinked hard, wondering if this was death, only to quickly realize my descent had slowed.

  Darius was flying. A strangled giggle crawled up my throat and burst out, and I rolled onto my stomach and held onto him with everything I had left.

  My dragon had earned his wings back. I closed my eyes tight as I hugged him.

  We still hit the ground hard, the impact loosening me and sending me tumbling off his back. The force blew away the billowing smoke around the castle, and when I pushed up onto my feet, the cobblestones taking a bit of skin off in the process, I found my dragon back in human form, motionless.

  “Darius!”

  My legs didn’t want to move, protesting each step, but I forced them to action as I scrambled to his side. He groaned when I rolled him over. He looked like hell, honestly. Beat up and bloodied. Sweaty—and sexy, as always. I wanted to kiss him and hug him and punch him for taking such a huge risk for me.

  Instead, I just stared down at him, tears welling.

  “Stop being such a drama queen,” he croaked, and through the haze of my tears I caught him smirking as he reached up and wiped a few tears away. “I’m fine.”

  His whole body tensed when I hugged him, and his hiss of pain pushed me away.

  “Stop moving, you ass,” I ordered, my voice thick with emotion. I used what little white magic I had left to treat his injuries. He’d heal on his own, but I owed him a start in easing the pain. Above us, the battle resumed slowly, with crackles of magic cutting through the air like lightning. But I ignored it all, hands roving his battered body and pausing here and there to fuel him with white magic. Darius was my priority—I only wish I’d realized it earlier.

  “Kaye,” he whispered, but I shook him off, only to look up when he said my name more urgently. Frowning, I glared at him, but then slowly followed his extended arm—right to a pair of demons charging toward us, bodies contorted and movements stiff, like someone had bent them out of shape and tossed them back into the fray.

  I turned weakly, ready to defend my dragon to my last breath—when a surge of white magic slammed into the pair and knocked them out of sight. From the shadows and smoke emerged my brother, looking a little worse for the wear but otherwise unharmed.

  “Kaye!”

  “Where the fuck have you been?” I all but shrieked. He jogged toward me and pressed a hard kiss to my forehead.

  “Summoning the reinforcements,” he told me, chuckling. “These idiots could sleep through any natural disaster, I swear…”

  The thunder of charging footsteps sounded through the hive, and supernaturals poured onto every level, finally pushing back Abramelin’s men.

  “Probably should take that as a sign I need to move the dorms closer to the heart of things,” he mused, then gave my shoulder a squeeze. “You okay?”

  “Thanks to this guy,” I insisted, a hand on Darius’s steadily rising and falling chest. My brother grinned.

  “I saw that. I owe you the world, dragon, for saving my sister.”

  Darius shrugged. “You owe me nothing.”

  “You fight well… for a shifter,” my brother teased, and I sat back, rolling my eyes as they clasped hands.

  “And you, for a fairy,” Darius fired back with a nod toward the pile of shattered demon parts.

  “Yes, more to do.” With that, my brother stood. “But you will be honored, brother, for what you’ve done today. For now, I think it’s time we get these cretins out of here.”

  “And when it’s all over, we’re resuming our conversation,” I interjected, pinning them both with the most serious look I could muster—though my heart fluttered at hearing Zayne refer to my dragon as a brother. Darius and Zayne exchanged glances, more unreadable than I would have liked, before my brother disappeared in a burst of fae speed. Sighing, I turned my attentions back to Darius and resumed my healing. While I wanted to appear firm with him, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.

  “Pretty sure you can’t yell at me anymore,” Darius muttered, wincing when I poked at a healing wound on his chest. “After, you know, my heroic flight—”

  “I wouldn’t count on that,” I told him. “Both of you still have a l
ot of explaining to do.”

  You know. After the battle was over and an army of creatures that wanted to kill me had been expelled from the hive.

  No big deal.

  Grimacing, I helped Darius to his feet and moved him out of the way, finding a safe place for us both to ride out the remainder of the battle in peace, our bodies healing and our hearts connecting.

  Epilogue

  “I have more questions than I have answers,” I said, as Zayne and I walked along the stone hallway, and crossed the inner courtyard to a wooden door at the back.

  “Of course you do,” Zayne replied with a smirk, opening the door and stepping inside. I peered into the room curiously, before entering.

  A library.

  The shelves were lined floor-to-ceiling with all kinds of books, from old leather-bound volumes and ledgers, to spell books that looked as though they were hundreds of years old.

  “Wow,” I breathed, shaking my head in awe.

  “This is our history. The elders took great care to preserve as much information as they could over the years. From the origin of the first known fae…” He paused by one of the shelves, his fingers running over a series of books until he found what he was looking for. He pulled it out, flipped open the front page and looked at it intently, as though it held the answers to all the questions of the Universe. “and your history…the first known shifter hybrid.”

  I looked up at him and saw the love he had for me, flickering in the depths of his eyes. In that moment, I knew how hard it had been for him to keep my truth a secret all these years. My heart finally let go of the anger that had been caged, and I felt some of the tension leave my shoulders. I let out a deep breath and accepted the gift he held out to me.

  “Thanks, Zayne.”

  He reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently for a moment, his eyes shadowed. “I’m sorry I kept this from you, sister.”

  “I understand why you did. I really do.” Tears, sudden and unexpected, pricked my eyes but I blinked them away.

  I heard footsteps behind me and when I turned, I saw Darius leaned against the doorway, a curious smile playing on his lips. The look he gave me—the lift of his lips, one raised eyebrow—sent a wave of heat rushing through me.

  He held my gaze for a moment before he stepped into the room. When I turned back to Zayne, the look on my brother’s face was one of intrigue, as though he could see into my heart, and knew all that I felt for Darius.

  “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.” He whispered, so that only I could hear.

  Perhaps he could.

  I opened my mouth to tell him that he didn’t have to leave, but he waved a hand at me as he walked across the room. “I have a lot to do. Abramelin won’t stop until he has destroyed every last clan of shifters. I need to figure out what his next move will be.”

  “Let us help you,” Darius replied, his gray eyes hard, and serious. “Tell us what we can do.”

  Zayne shook his head, and his gaze dipped downward. “You’ve done enough for now. Both of you have.” He lifted his eyes to Darius, and the expression on his face told me that the two men had formed a bond of mutual respect, and it made my heart sing. “But when we’re ready to fight again,” he continued, “I expect you both to stand by my side.”

  “You can count on that,” Darius replied, with a hint of a smile.

  I watched as Zayne walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Then my gaze shifted to Darius, who was still standing a few feet away from me.

  “So how long have you known?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

  “That you’re a shifter?” Something flickered in his eyes then, but it was gone so fast I wondered if I had imagined it.

  “Half shifter. But yeah, how long?” I folded my arms in front of me. “And don’t lie to me.”

  His eyes darkened a little, but he didn’t look away. There was that look again, and this time I identified what it was. Guilt.

  “Since the night we met.”

  I felt my eyes widen in disbelief. “Are you serious? You knew I was part shifter since…”

  “The cave. Yes…I knew from the moment you walked in.”

  “But how? “

  “It’s the same way you can feel the presence of another fairy. We can detect our own kind. We just feel it.” He shrugged. “I could also sense that you were in danger, which is why I wanted to stay with you.” He smiled, and for a minute I was lost in the wicked curve of his lips. “Well, that and because you’re absolutely beautiful.”

  Suddenly, everything started to make sense.

  I blinked, slightly flustered by the fact that Darius knew so much more about me than I knew about him, and equally as annoyed by the fact that I hadn’t even a whisper of a notion that I was anything but fae all my life. How could I have never felt that I was somehow different from my fae sisters? Why had I never felt the beast stirring within?

  As if reading my mind, Darius spoke. “It’s possible that your fae powers were always stronger than your dragon… you know, hidden away, overshadowed by your fae. And perhaps,” he paused, and I scowled at him, my eyes flashing. He raised an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth curving up into a smile.

  “Perhaps, what?”

  “Perhaps now your dragon wants to come out and play.” His voice had roughened, deepened, his smile going all dark and sexy around the edges.

  The challenge in his words caught me off guard. Something had changed in his expression, some of that calm coolness, going out of his eyes, replaced with a burning intensity that I had never seen before. I took a step back, not out of fear, but out of instinct, the same way you’d move if the pitch in a log caught, sending out sparks.

  He took a step forward, I took a step back, and felt my back hit a wall. The book was still in my hands and so I held it to my chest, as though it would serve as a barricade between the overwhelming need to be kissed by this dragon, and the untamed desire that burned in his eyes, threatening to be unleashed, should I so much as blink.

  Darius took one final step toward me, pulled the book from my hand and set it on the shelf next to us. His lips curved into that cocky grin that sent a rush of heat through my body, and he pulled me against him, his hands roaming over my back, down to my hips.

  “You know,” One of his hands came up, and he moved my hair aside, and kissed the side of my neck in that sensitive place that sends streaks of fire up your back. His voice rumbled against my throat and I cried out, as I felt his teeth graze my neck. “You really should read that book so you can learn all about us dragons…and what happens when we meet our mate.”

  “What happens?” My words came out as nothing more than a whisper, my breath catching in my throat. “And what do you mean…meet your mate?”

  His lips curved into a smile against my skin and it sent a streak of fire up my back. To my frustration, he lifted his head. When he looked at me, his eyes were filled with passion, and a fierceness that took my breath away. “Perhaps it was fate that brought you to me.” His words were slow, languid.

  His lips came down on mine, cutting off whatever I was going to say. The kiss wasn’t rough, but it held the promise of fire, of the animal inside of him just under the surface. His mouth moved over mine, forcefully parting my lips, his tongue sliding into my mouth, slowly, teasing, tempting. Everything inside of me was swirling, riled up, feverish.

  Then the kiss deepened and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He was warm and solid, a seemingly immovable rock. Shivers ran down my spine and I felt weightless in his powerful embrace.

  One hand slid around my waist, hovering there briefly before moving lower, cupping my ass. His other hand rose to cradle the back of my head, fingers tensing against my hair. It was clear from his movements what was on his mind, and I reluctantly broke the kiss, grinning up at him. The look on his face was one of naked emotion, the longing replaced with love.

  “As much as I want to…as much as I want you, I have too many questions.” I
t was hard to breathe, like all the oxygen had been burned away with the heat between us. And as much as I had wanted nothing more than to be with him, from the very first night we met, there were now too many unanswered questions about him, his clan, about me…and about us.

  He tilted his head to the side and smiled, eyes locked with mine, the intensity of his gaze revealing dark fire, a primal desire. Before I could think of anything more to say, he was kissing me again, this time slowly, very slowly.

  I lost myself in him, let my hand move to his face, touching his cheek, feeling the rough stubble on his jawline. My hand strayed lower, to the hollow beneath his ear, to his neck. And I felt the beat of his heart under my fingers. Strong...and steady.

  His lips moved from my mouth to the hollow beneath my ear. “Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

  The words were whispered against my skin, but they echoed through my mind. Behind my closed eyes, a vision played out. Images of the two of us together, happier than we have ever been, living in a world of unified peace. Then those images were replaced by others, more intense and passionate, invading my senses. Everything else faded into the background, and in that moment, I saw only him and I. My heart swelled with overwhelming hope—of my love for him, and the endless possibilities of our future together.

  I heard his sweet, whispered promises, and smiled. I hadn’t known this beautiful dragon for long, but already I knew this was just the beginning of something truly magical – something for always.

  And while a thousand questions still burned in my mind about what would become of me if my dragon surfaced, I had to trust that for now, his kiss was the only answer I needed.

  The End.

  * * *

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