Magical Twist: Paranormal Women's Fiction (Midlife Witchery Book 3)

by Brenda Trim

  “It will help if there is a distraction. Otherwise, so many of us maneuvering around the city will be noticed.” I had no idea what the guy’s name was, but he wore a scowl much like Bas’s father did.

  Finarr shook his head. “Something that would gather the guard’s attention would be suspect in and of itself. Activity in Midshield s far too orderly for such an event not to draw scrutiny.”

  “That’s the idea.” Kelvhan set his fork down and set his fists on the table. Was he trying to intimidate us? “We want them to focus on, let’s say, an argument and not on visitors or the surrounding areas.”

  I rolled my eyes and swallowed the bite I’d been chewing. “We’re on the same side here. There’s no reason to get into a pissing match. Acting out of the norm will backfire and cost lives. Vodor won’t only focus on the event in question. He will expect it is a diversion, and knowing him, quadruple patrols.”

  Several people started talking at once. The noise in the room rose with each passing second. I sat there eating my meal while I watched the discussion. Sebastian began yelling at one point before he glanced my way and shut his mouth.

  “They aren’t going to listen, Bas. At this point, it would be a better idea if we made a move on our own. I want to live through this fight, and these assholes are too concerned that their position is the right one to see reason.” It wasn’t until I paused to allow him to respond that I realized the room had gone quiet.

  I swear a pin could drop in the silence. My gaze skittered around, never staying on anyone for very long. Some were obviously pissed, while others were shocked. Whatever. I didn’t need to be a soldier to know a stupid idea when I heard it.

  Aislinn finally broke the silence with a chuckle. “Fiona is right, but for those of you that don’t like her or are too biased to see her strength, I ask this. Why go with the loud approach when stealth works just as well? Why is it necessary to make that much noise? If you’re looking for credit for the plan, you need to check yourself. That is a very Vodor way of thinking. It doesn’t matter who proposed what. The idea is to overthrow him with the least number of casualties as possible, right?”

  Sebastian’s dad glanced from her to Bas, then me before he finally nodded. “Fair point. I suppose there’s no reason not to go in quietly.”

  “And we can take out guards one by one, replacing them with our men. It will be much easier if no one suspects anything is amiss to remove them without being detected.” That came from the first lady to talk after we arrived. Everyone seemed to like that idea.

  After that, others tossed out ideas. They all centered around surrounding the palace without being detected before moving on the King and his men. We needed to maneuver as many of our own soldiers into position before infiltrating Vodor’s walls. Once we were on his territory, we were in his hands. No one knew if he had traps or anything else staged around the palace.

  I finished the meat pie and leaned back in my chair, giving an opinion when I thought it was necessary. I could do much more. An earthquake rumbled through my insides, and my heart was trying to take flight right out of my chest. This was really happening. I needed to gear up before we made a move. The jeans and t-shirts weren’t going to cut it.

  Chapter 15

  “Are you sure it’s smart that we go to the surface to get this gear? It feels too risky.” Aislinn’s question was valid, and I considered the truth to her words and looked to Finarr and Teague. Sebastian’s brother had joined Teague to escort them to the clothing shop in the Underground.

  Unfortunately, they didn’t have the materials necessary to create the clothing the three of them needed. Ever since she had visited the first time, they’d been making combat gear for countless Fae that wanted to join them in the fight, so they were out of supplies.

  Finarr clapped Aislinn on her shoulder. “There’s a risk just being here. It’s minimal. The guards lost track of us long ago, and there will be no reason to suspect us going shopping for clothes. Besides, I’ve known Midurri my entire life. She’s the second-best clothing maker in all of Eidothea and keeps the lined fabric for combat gear in stock. She’s one of us, even if she doesn’t live down here.”

  Teague glared at us. “Go into battle without the proper protection. Why should we care or put our lives on the line?”

  I really wanted to throat punch Sebastian’s little brother. “Why are you with us, anyway?”

  Teague stepped close to my face. “Because Finarr is my best friend, and I will not leave him to supervise the three of you.”

  Finarr stepped in and pushed Teague back away from me. “Tensions are high, I get that, but we can’t start fighting amongst ourselves. We’re all here to overthrow Vodor. Now, let’s get them outfitted and get back before the meeting ends.”

  You can kick Teague’s ass. You have more power in your little finger. The thought was reassuring because it was true. Ever since I came back here, I noticed I could sense the energy surrounding everyone—even Violet and Aislinn.

  I had a feeling it had something to do with the changes in me, as reflected in my amulet. For lack of a better description, Sebastian's aura was the brightest and strongest aside from Aislinn. Violet was just as vibrant but in different ways. Her signature wasn’t like the Fae. That had to be thanks to her witchy heritage. Teague and Sebastian’s parents weren’t exactly dull, but they weren’t as strong as my friends, either.

  “We’ll be fine, Ais. Don’t forget the Backside of Forty can kick some serious ass. There’s no one here to rival our strength.” My words were the truth and earned me scowls and grumbling from Teague.

  Finarr laughed and walked to the exit Bas had shown me the day before. He wanted us to know how to get out of the Underground if there was an emergency. The ascension was quick, and before I knew it, we were outside in the exact location I had entered the first time I visited.

  A brisk wind blew through the trees. The sun was high in the sky but did nothing to erase the chill in the air. The colors here were far more vibrant than were found on Earth. And the air was sweet. There was no pollution.

  “It’s so quiet here,” Violet observed as she spun in a circle and looked around. “I have never considered how much noise pollution surrounds us even in Cottlehill Wilds.”

  Aislinn’s head bobbed up and down as Finarr lead the way. “Remember when we went to London? The trains, busses, and airplanes overhead added a deafening level of sound. It’s a wonder we managed to beat those dark Fae back.”

  “I used to live and work close to a city. I never thought about the commotion that always surrounded me until I moved to Pymm’s Pondside. That was a harder adjustment than discovering I had magic.” I had never considered that before and couldn’t help but wonder what that said about Earth and how humans lived.

  Violet turned to walk backward as she replied. “That had more to do with going from a house with three kids to an empty one. I should know. Now that the twins are gone, I’m more than a bit lost. The silence is the cherry on top of a shit sundae.”

  I knew exactly what she meant. “You’ll find your purpose. I hope it doesn’t involve moving to a new country like I did, but you will always have the Backside of Forty even if it does. Thank God they invented FaceTime calls. That way, you won’t even miss Aislinn’s stunning smile.”

  Aislinn snorted. “This is just a bump in the road. What’s important to focus on is what truly makes you happy. That’s what mid-life crises are all about. Realizing you’ve spent half of your life working and doing what you’re supposed to without much consideration for what makes your heart sing.”

  Violet turned back around, but not before I saw the mischievous glint in her eye. What was that about? I didn’t have to wonder long. “True. And I’ve noticed a certain dragon makes your heart sing, Ais. I think I heard how long and loud he made you croon last night.”

  “Wait.” I held up my hand with a chuckle. “How the heck did I miss that? I thought she was in bed with us.” I never once heard her get up and sne
ak out of the room.

  “If I’m not mistaken, it was during bath time.” Violet’s tone was teasing.

  When I cocked my head to the side, my chuckles turned to laughter when I saw how Aislinn’s cheeks were turning pink. Finarr joined in the laughter, but Teague ruined the moment. “We’re planning to face our greatest foe, and you guys are worried about sex. Unbelievable.”

  I shrugged my shoulders, not letting his censure bother me. “Someone’s never had a true partner in life. Otherwise, you’d know love or intimacy is what makes all of this worthwhile.”

  Finarr held up his hand to halt further discussion. “We’re getting close to town. We need to be on alert. Just because I said it was safe doesn’t mean we can let our guard down.”

  Finarr’s recrimination was enough to make me set aside the scathing “Wait. I don’t have any gold or whatever you guys use to pay for things. How are we going to get the gear?”

  “Don’t worry about that. We have it covered. Like I said, Midurri is on our side,” Finarr explained.

  I bobbed my head but kept my focus on the structures popping up now. We hadn’t passed any other facilities thus far. Now that we were encountering homes, I knew we weren’t too far from the town. Argies had told me before that we were close to small cities or towns when we ran into more and more houses.

  A few seconds later, voices reached us before we cleared the trees, letting us know we were very close to Steelgate. “This is where you and Sebastian grew up?”

  Teague’s gaze was elsewhere when he gave me a clipped nod. “It is.”

  The street here was dirt, but the buildings here were very similar to those built in the Underground. The smell of fresh-baked bread reached us first, followed by savory food and sweets.

  Looking into the first large window, I marveled at the leather hanging in the window. I paused for a second then noticed a cobbler making the traditional moccasin-type shoes Fae wore. We passed a bakery a few seconds later.

  The sight of loaves of bread made my mouth water. I didn’t see any sweets—just various kinds of bread, from dark to light brown. I wondered if they had rye. I loved a good rye with pastrami.

  The next shop looked like a candy store. “Is that a lollipop?”

  “That looks like divinity,” Violet added.

  Aislinn pressed her face to the window. “Can we go in here? Is there any chocolate?”

  Finarr shook his head. “No time. Midurri’s shop is right here.” I followed Finarr’s finger to see him pointing to a shop across the street.

  We were on the shop's stone porch across the street when I noticed Teague wasn’t with us. I glanced back to see him leaning against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest. “Is he coming?”

  “He’s keeping watch from there. I’ll be inside,” Finarr assured us. That was actually a relief. I didn’t need to have Sebastian’s brother watching me be fitted for clothes. He didn’t like me to begin with.

  “Midurri!” Finarr’s voice made me turn back around to see he had opened the door and entered the store.

  We followed him inside, and I wasn’t surprised to find a centaur staring at us. Midurri was tall like her sister, at least seven-feet. Her hair was dark brown, unlike her sister. They did have the same hazel eyes.

  Aislinn and Violet were staring at her with their jaws on their chests. We passed the wire mannequins with clothes on display in the windows while more hung on hooks along the walls.

  Midurri smiled at Finarr behind the long wooden table while her front legs stomped the ground several times. “Good to see you’re back, Finarr. What brings you in today?”

  Finarr stopped a couple feet from the centaur and maintained a relaxed posture. “I have special friends that need battle gear, and I promised them you are just the person to outfit them.”

  Midurri’s eyes flared, then shifted from him to me, Aislinn and Violet. I knew she couldn’t feel my energy. I’d learned the first time I had visited Eidothea. Thankfully, I didn’t need to take one of the potions like last time. I’d already masked my presence.

  “Is she the hybrid that came through the portal? The one that killed the Queen?”

  “She is. We are going to make a move, and they need to be protected. Will you help?”

  “Of course. Come with me.” Like her sister, she felt that was enough to get us moving and trotted to the back of the store. I grabbed Violet and tugged her. She snatched Aislinn’s hand before we made it more than two steps.

  Before we made it to the arch, Midurri had disappeared in the back. There were bolts of fabric and piles of clothing in the back area. The centaur was motioning us forward. “Here, put these on. Quickly.”

  “Thank you,” I replied before shucking my pants and sweatshirt. Unlike her sister, she didn’t leave to allow me to change. Sensing their discomfort, I nodded to Aislinn and Violet. After stuffing my legs into the dark brown pants, I pulled the shirt over my head.

  This fabric was soft yet stiff, unyielding, and big. Midurri motioned me forward. “Let me adjust that for you.”

  “Thank you for helping us. I already feel less exposed.” I held my arms out to my sides and heard my friend gasp when she pulled out the sides of the top before chanting the same word her sister had. She followed suit with the pants, and both items shrank around my body until they were as snug as leggings.

  “We all need to do our part. I can’t fight, but I can do this much.” The centaur grabbed something from the side of us that I couldn’t see.

  I lifted one leg and tried to bend it. The fabric was stiff, leaving little room to move around. How was I supposed to fight in this? It was better than the alternative. The magic imbued in the fabric made my skin tingle.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” I loved almost everything about Eidothea once you took Vodor and his soldiers out of the picture.

  Aislinn bobbed her head. “I need to learn that spell. It would make shopping so much easier.

  “Your shoes,” Midurri ordered. I lifted a foot heard a commotion in the main room. She slipped something on me then picked up my other foot, forcing me to wait to run out front.

  Violet was headed to the arch, but Aislinn didn’t make it more than a couple steps before Midurri grabbed her and adjusted the clothing. I left them to it and stopped in the middle of the passage between the two sections.

  The shop was filled with soldiers, and Finarr was on the ground bleeding profusely from a head wound. “That’s her.” I gaped at the guard that had outed me. His finger was like a laser-focused on my chest. How the hell did they find us?

  “What are you talking about?” I called my magic up and felt flames waver across my knuckles.

  “You might be hiding your magic, but your auburn hair is distinctive enough to confirm the reports we received. You’re the hybrid that stole something from the King. You aren’t getting away with it, either.” Spittle flew from the guard’s mouth as he spoke.

  Where was Teague? I craned my neck to see if I could find him. There was no one standing where he had been before we entered the shop. We were severely outnumbered. I needed to try and take out a few soldiers with my magic.

  “I’m not who you think I am. I’ve never stolen anything in my life.” I turned to the side and flicked my wrist, sending a fireball hurling toward the guard.

  He laughed and held up an amulet that sucked my spell inside. I didn’t see another casting until I heard Violet cry out before she landed in a heap. The side of her gear was smoking.

  It hadn’t been sized to her body, so I was able to see where the fabric had been eroded. Her skin had a deep purple bruise but didn’t have a gaping hole. My heart stopped when she didn’t move a muscle.

  Aislinn hurried out of the back before I could rush to Violet’s side. The soldiers all reacted at once. One threw a spell at me while another hurled a wire body at me, and another tossed something at Aislinn. I wasn’t focused on her, so all I saw was something flying through the air from the corner of my eye.

  I
scanned the street for Teague again but didn’t find him. Maybe he went to get Sebastian and Argies, and they would come to our rescue. I needed to buy us some time. I had to be careful to keep my energy hidden. I didn’t want to announce my location to the entire realm.

  I didn’t want to set the shop on fire, so I cast lightning toward the biggest group of soldiers. The grunts weren’t what I was hoping for. I wanted them crying out in pain. They repaid me in kind, and I felt electricity slam into my chest and steal my breath. Then I was airborne for a couple seconds until my body hit the corner of the table.

  For a split second, all I could think about was how my lungs refused to expand. Aislinn shouted something I couldn’t hear over the noise in the store. Hooves clomped, men screamed, and magic flew around.

  I hit the floor with a groan and grabbed my side. I swear it punctured a kidney. There was nothing like flank pain. I rolled away from a boot before it stomped on my skull. I swiveled my leg as I moved and swiped the guard’s ankle.

  He hit the deck next to me, and I kicked his chest. Movement from the corner of my eye made me turn in time to see a fireball heading right for me. My arms flew up to cover my face and head. The force behind the flames knocked the breath out of me with bruising force.

  Hands grabbed under my arms before I gathered my wits. I writhed and wriggled, all while kicking my feet out in an attempt to get free of the guards that had a hold of me. “Not going to work this time.” Cold metal clanked over my wrists to punctuate the threat.

  I screamed and called on my fire, wanting to burn the hands on my arms. Electricity fizzed in my core then winked out, leaving me cold and empty. I had never felt like this in my life. It was as if someone scooped out my insides during an ex-lap surgery.

  I tried again, but nothing responded to my call. I closed my eyes and sought out my river. It left me vulnerable, and I wasn’t all that surprised when hands clamped down on my ankles. Splitting my focus was precarious, but I was able to see a thick film covering my river of magic. It wasn’t a dry bed, but something was blocking it.