by J. R. White
Rolling his eyes, Joshua took an extra step forward and answered, “Father tracked the magic left behind by the knife the thief used.”
That explained the familiar feeling of the magic, and now he knew for sure they couldn’t hear anything further than four or five feet away. Malcolm’s gut instinct seemed to be right. “And it led here?” he asked.
“Yeah. How did you find this place?” Joshua asked, watching the area around them as hard as Malcolm was.
Even though they’d found each other, the magic pressing in on Malcolm was the same. The protective spell around him stretched out to mingle with Joshua’s barrier. “I was looking into the thief from the Lacuna Library. There should be a line of power running straight through here, but there’s not.”
Shooting Malcolm a disbelieving glare, he asked, “Really? Are you sure it hasn’t just been diverted or drained?”
“Pretty sure, but I’m keeping it in mind while I poke around. Still, the magic mingled with this spell feels familiar. Almost like a ley line,” Malcolm explained, making the realization even as he said it. “There’s a line here. It must be bound by the oppressive spell.”
Trying again to push his magic out, Malcolm wondered who could have created all of this. It had to be ancient. The modern factions and families would have demanded an explanation for a complete blockage of even a minor ley line. Glancing at his brother, he decided to try some chitchat while he thought over everything. “How long have you been here?”
Joshua seemed just as distracted as Malcolm, but he still answered, “Long enough to know that whatever spell was cast on this place is decaying rapidly. I haven’t seen anyone, but my guess is that whoever stole that spell also did something to make this one fall apart.”
The idea that the spell bearing down on them was breaking down made Malcolm shoot a sharp look at his brother. He was about to ask how Joshua knew that, but a sudden flash of light stopped him in his tracks. Shielding his face with his arm, Malcolm felt the mild heat of the magic try to singe his skin.
“Oh, and I’ve found a few booby traps. Be careful,” Joshua warned, lowering his own arm from his face. “They can be hard to spot. So pay close attention.”
Glaring at his brother, Malcolm pulled his tracking magic back and sent it to the edges of their protective bubble. Slowly they started moving forward again. Whatever was going on, it was pretty clear that working with Joshua was in Malcolm’s best interest. His brother probably knew more about the ley lines and might be able to get them out of any trouble faster.
Now that Malcolm knew that the crushing spell was actually falling apart, it made sense. The massive amount of power it took to not just block but hide a ley line must be collapsing in on itself. Was it by design or had the thief sabotaged the spell?
As Malcolm thought it all over, Joshua made a comment that threatened to blow the whole plan up. “You know, you really shouldn’t be dating Meredith.”
Holding back the rising anger, Malcolm tried to keep his attention on his scouting magic. “Not really the time or place for this,” he warned.
Joshua either didn’t care or saw it as the perfect time, because he continued. “I can’t have children, Malcolm.”
Malcolm’s heart tightened and for a second he lost his breath. He stopped and closed his eyes for a moment to let his pain for his brother settle. That was a blow to anyone, but to the head of the Blackwood line or any other family it must have felt like complete failure. “I’m sorry, Joshua. I know what family means to you. But what does that have to do with my relationship with Meredith?”
Stopping beside him, Joshua was calm. Malcolm would have expected his brother to show sadness or anger, but this was almost creepy. Lifting his chin, Joshua explained, “It means you could be the father of the next head of our family. You could even be in line for that role.”
Shaking his head, Malcolm refused to let the carrot dangle in front of him. Joshua was and always had been the clear successor to their father. Teasing the younger brother with it now was wrong. “That’s not fair, Josh. I was never in line for that responsibility. Not really. Don’t try to force it on me now just because you don’t approve of who I date.”
Letting his gaze drift off into the forest around them, Joshua nodded. “If I could change it, I would. You and Meredith really are a perfect match, but not now. Not with everything at stake.”
Gritting his teeth, Malcolm held tight control over his emotions. This wasn’t the place and he had to keep reminding himself of that as he stared at his brother, the golden child who was always a step ahead. “You just keep trying with that new wife of yours and leave my relationship alone.” It was no secret that Joshua’s fiancé was living with him at the manor. There hadn’t been a large wedding yet, but it was clear the two had shared personal vows.
“Malcolm, you can’t seriously try to ignore this?” Joshua demanded, jerking his head around to face Malcolm.
“Damn right I can,” Malcolm declared. “I’m sorry you can’t have kids, but I’m not sorry for my choices. Meredith is a good woman and I’ll stay with her for as long as she’ll have me.” He meant it. Now that they’d finally found a way to be together, he wasn’t going to let her go for anything less than her refusal. Considering what he’d done, he was well aware that Meredith might kick him out of her life, but he’d be damned if he lost her because of his family.
Worry crept into Malcolm’s gut again and he was so concerned about what Meredith might do that when he heard her voice he almost thought it was his imagination.
“Malcolm, you ass, what do you think you’re doing?”
When Malcolm saw his brother’s eyes go wide his world sank even lower. His beloved had caught up with him and sounded a lot angrier with a disembodied voice than his imagination had considered. "Meredith!?!” he cried, half scared and half shocked that she’d already found him.
****
Slowly Meredith woke up, bathed in the late evening sunlight flooding through her bedroom window. Hugging her pillow, she stretched her toes and leaned back to press against Malcolm. When she didn’t feel him behind her, she let go of her pillow and rolled onto her back. The sheet was cool under her skin and the man was nowhere to be seen.
“Huh,” Meredith huffed, rolling out of bed. Before venturing out of her room, she grabbed her discarded jeans and a fresh t-shirt. She was pulling her hair back into a messy ponytail when she walked out into the living room. No sign of him there either. The almost ritual scent of coffee wasn’t even in the air. Malcolm always got a pot of coffee going if he was the first one to wake up, even if it was from a daytime nap.
A troubling feeling took hold of Meredith, and instead of searching for her lover, she hurried to her study. She’d hidden the maps to keep them away from Malcolm, but at the time she really didn’t think he’d take them without her permission. Now she was feeling a regretful worry.
The study door was wide open and the light had even been left on. Biting the tip of her tongue, Meredith hoped they’d just left it that way in their rush to get to the bed. One look inside the room told her differently. The safe was closed and nothing was out of place, except for a note that had been taped on the mantel of her fireplace.
Malcolm’s candle sat just above the note, peacefully oblivious to the rage that was taking her over. Meredith didn’t have to read the note to know what Malcolm had done, but she ripped it from the polished stone shelf anyway.
Sorry. I have to see this through. Stay there and stay safe.
~ M
“I’m going to kill him,” Meredith hissed, crumpling the paper up in her fist. She marched to the safe and pulled the picture from the wall. She knew her maps wouldn’t be there, but she couldn’t stop herself from looking anyway. Seeing the papers gone, she opened the safe. Everything was still in place, but that didn’t change the fact that Malcolm had tricked her. Seething, she slammed the safe closed again and let her anger set in.
Malcolm had deliberately used her. He’d had s
ex with her, wonderful sensual sex, just to get her to fall asleep. Meredith wouldn’t put it past him to have used some spell to help influence that restful slumber. Then he’d taken her maps and gone off on his own to find out what was going on with that damned dragon line. He’d not only gone off on his own, but used her to get what he wanted.
Tears started blurring her vision as she marched around her study. A thick knot of hurt was clogging her throat. What’s wrong with him? To her, it all seemed like Malcolm was just itching to find more trouble. Whatever was going on with the dragon lines wasn’t something they should meddle in. The Lacuna Library and the Magic Counsel should deal with it. Had he done this to her just so he could go off and step on more toes?
There was hell to pay and Meredith was determined to make sure her sweet Malcolm knew it. She stormed through her study, jerking up her large silver bowl and yanking a bottle of water from a cabinet. Finding her wayward lover was her top priority, and as she slammed the bowl down on the carpet, she could already feel the brand on her shoulder throb.
Dropping down in front of the bowl, Meredith slowly poured the water. Even angry, she had to remember not to let the water slosh or spill. She needed still water. The calmness of the water was necessary for a clear and accurate search.
While the water smoothed out, Meredith took a deep breath and reached deep inside of herself. Finding her spiritual center, she let out the breath slowly. As the boiling rage moved to a simmer, she started thinking about Malcolm. Not what he’d done, but just him. She needed to find him, and that was all her mind needed to know for the moment.
Concentrating on the invisible thread between them, Meredith waved her hands over the dark water. Even though the faded brand on her shoulder didn’t connect their magic anymore, it did give her a direct line to him. Maybe that was something Malcolm hadn’t considered when he’d stolen her maps. Maybe he expected her to track him down. She didn’t really care.
Staring at the surface of the water, Meredith watched the world flash by. Her magic searched for Malcolm and rushed through time and space to find him. When the image in the water finally settled, she saw him standing somewhere deep in a forest.
Seeing him, knowing that he wasn’t hurt, caused relief to wash over Meredith. In her haste to find him she hadn’t even realized she’d been worried. Still, unlike Malcolm, she couldn’t tell where he was and had no idea how to get to him, but she could see him whole and alive. Then her anger boiled back up. “Malcolm, you ass, what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, knowing their connection would allow him to hear her. It was just like her call for help in library, but this time Malcolm was going to need rescuing.
“Meredith!?!” Malcolm cried.
Even though his shock brought Meredith a bit of satisfaction, it did very little to ease her rage. Seething, she asked, “Did you forget I’m a scryer? I can find you no matter where you run off to. Now get back here and bring me my maps.”
Malcolm’s hands shot up and he looked around with wide eyes. Meredith could see him swallow before he said, “Babe, I’m just checking the place out. You can’t be blamed for any of this.”
That may have been true, but Meredith couldn't care less about that. “You used me.”
It was interesting watching Malcolm’s eyes dart back and forth, as if she was standing somewhere just out of his sight. He was almost cute as he worked through what he was going to say. “I didn’t use you. Tricked you, but not use.”
Narrowing her eyes, Meredith wondered how upset he would have been if she’d been the one to have sex and then steal one of his spell books. “You stole my maps and tracked this down on your own. Do you want me to talk about how you tricked me?”
“No,” Malcolm said quickly. His hands actually came up like he was trying to ward off an attack. “Okay, I did all that, but I did it to keep you safe. You said it yourself, you can’t keep getting mixed up in my schemes.”
“Is that Meredith Blackburn?” a familiar voice asked. Malcolm’s eyes went wide again and he jerked around to stare at the other person.
At once Meredith knew who was there. Moving her hand, she nudged the vision wider and saw Joshua standing just a few feet away. A look of cheer was covering his face. It had to be caused by her argument with Malcolm. A bit of that old family grudge surfaced and she hissed, “And for you to get involved with this, Joshua. I better not learn that you were a part of this from the beginning or I’ll have a pound of flesh from the Blackwoods.”
“Babe, he was investigating on his own and it led him to the same place we were looking at,” Malcolm explained. If the thief from the mansion was the same person, then the brothers could easily end up in the same place.
Still, the forest around them seemed off. There was a haziness to it that had settled in over them. Staring at the watery vision of her lover and his brother, Meredith bit back her anger and rolled her eyes. “Okay. We’re not finished, but what have you found so far?” she asked.
The vision of Malcolm perked up and he looked around. “Well, it’s a big forest, but we can feel the pull of a strong ley line, and there are booby traps set. What do you see?”
Meredith waved her hands over the water’s surface and expanded the area she was looking at. Just like working on a tablet or phone. Focusing on the new area and pulling the details of the place forward, she said, “It’s a big forest, but there are little patches of magic spread out here and there.” The bright dots of energy glowed on the water and Meredith could pin point a handful just a few yards away from the two men. “You’ve got small spells all around you. It’s like a checkered board.”
Glancing around the area, Malcolm asked, “Can you see the ley line or the spell that’s locking it down?”
“That would have to be the nice hazy bit of magic overlaying everything, but it’s getting denser by the second. Like it’s about to fall in on itself,” Meredith explained. It was hard to put words to what she was seeing. The haze was like a weak fog that was thickening the longer she focused on it.
Still, it seemed to catch Joshua’s attention. His amused expression changed into worry and he asked, “How long before the spell breaks down?”
Meredith tried to focus on the dragon line they were standing on and the magic that must have it blocked. The binding spell was weak and crumbling, but there was nothing that could help her figure out how long it had. “That I can’t tell you, but you’re pretty deep in the middle of it.”
Turning to his brother, Malcolm said, “Joshua, we’re not going to find anyone here. Whoever did this is long gone.”
“Agreed. Which way should we go to get out?”
Before Meredith could say the entire area was covered in those magical traps, Malcolm spoke up. “I say we just pop out of here instead of wading our way through these traps.”
Joshua held his hands up and asked, “Does your candle travel work? I wasn’t able to leave after I got here.”
Narrowing his eyes, Malcolm started digging through his shoulder bag and said, “That would have been nice to know a lot sooner than now.”
Worry was already bubbling up in Meredith. If Joshua couldn’t just transport out, that meant the spell around them had them stuck, just like it held the dragon line.
Casually, Joshua shrugged and said, “I was going to wait out this spell. Once it breaks, I’ll be able to leave.”
Watching Malcolm light his candle, Meredith said a silent prayer hoping that the magical tool would help. It didn’t. One second Malcolm looked worried and then he looked defeated. Blowing out the candle, he asked, “Looks like we’re waiting. What happens when the spell breaks?”
A surprising voice of reason, Joshua suggested, “Meredith, can you take a peek? Just see what’s going to happen? If it looks like someone is just setting things back to rights, we don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
That wasn’t a bad notion. Meredith wasn’t sure why she hadn’t thought of it before. Divination wasn’t always her go-to fix, but it could
have and may still save a lot of trouble. “I can do that,” she said, and she slowly stood. Once she was clear of the bowl, she hurried over to the cabinet and pulled out another bottle. It contained a special oil that would float atop the denser water in her bowl.
Carefully sitting back down, Meredith poured the oil. As the light yellow oil spread over the water, she asked, “What exactly should I look into?” The vision of the two men was still clear under the new layer, and even though she had a good idea of what she was looking for, they had a stake in this too.
Malcolm answered, “Look at the intersection. If it looks normal once everything has broken, then we’re done.” At his side, Joshua gave a nod of agreement.
That was exactly what Meredith had in mind, and with a quick tap of her finger on the surface of the oily water, she brought to mind the major dragon line.
Meredith’s fingers trembled as they hovered over the shimmering surface. Rippling from the minutes between the now and the then, the picture she saw was the future. The vision painted a large scene.
A rooftop stood tall over a city. The dim light of the first evening star sparkled on the horizon. At first the building was bathed in shadows, but then a burst of light poured over it. Brilliant light flooded forward, covering every inch of the roof with a stream of magic. Meredith’s breath caught. The dragon line was going to break free, just as was planned. An instant later, the magic on the roof intensified, but the river of power went stagnant.
Then, as suddenly as it had stopped, the magic was flowing again. Except it was all flowing with the minor line that was currently trapped with Malcolm and Joshua.
Shocked, Meredith blurted out, “They’re diverting the major dragon line.” Swiping away the future vision, she watched the men for any signs that one of them knew what to do.
“Who would do that?” Malcolm asked. Meredith could see his confused expression under the ripples of her vision and wished she knew the answer.
It had been Malcolm who had thought of going to the library and set this whole mess into motion. “Who could have known you’d be going to the library?”
