Dark Arts and a Daiquiri (The Guild Codex: Spellbound Book 2)

by Annette Marie

  Gasping, I lurched up—but Kai’s knife was gone. I’d dropped it.

  On Varvara’s other side, Zak was on his feet again, blood streaming from lacerations across his torso—his own reflected attack.

  “You think I didn’t see that fool girl?” Varvara sneered. “You think I didn’t notice your familiar leave you? I did not survive this long by being inattentive.” She leveled a hand toward Zak. “The game is over, druid. I will kill you, take my new apprentice, and perhaps even claim the d—”

  Her mouth hung open, but no more words came out.

  At her feet, Nadine crouched with one hand braced on the ground. In her other hand was Kai’s knife—now buried in Varvara’s thigh. Varvara screamed furiously and smashed her metal-clad fist into Nadine’s face. The girl tumbled away from her and the sorceress raised her hand—

  A blinding flash. The white bolt leaped out of the darkness and struck the knife. Sizzling power burst across Varvara and she convulsed. Lightning raged over her body then died away, and the sorceress crumpled, her clothes smoking and limbs twitching.

  With one hand pressed against my bruised chest, I staggered toward Nadine. Zak reached her first, crouching as he gently turned her over. I knelt on her other side.

  She smiled despite the blood dribbling from the gash in her cheek. “Druid,” she whispered. “You … came to save me?”

  Zak hesitated.

  “Of course he did,” I told her matter-of-factly. “He even asked for my help. Practically begged me.”

  I ignored his scorching glower. Not that I could see him glaring, but I could sure feel it.

  “Tori …” Nadine frowned dazedly. “Who are you, really?”

  “Ah, well, I actually work for a guild that was trying to save you from the dastardly clutches of the scariest druid on the west coast.” I shrugged. “But, I mean, not much I can do if you want to be an evil druid’s assistant.”

  “You work for a guild?” she gasped, wide-eyed.

  “Yeah.” I gently squeezed her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re safe, Nadine.”

  She peeked shyly at Zak. “Can I … can I go back with you?”

  “Yes,” he said, his husky voice surprisingly soft. “You’ll be safe with me.”

  She grinned—the sugary grin of a teenager in love. Completely head over heels in love. I winced and hoped Zak knew how to gently let down an infatuated teen girl. As he helped her stand, she worriedly examined his bleeding lacerations.

  I arched an eyebrow at his mask. “By the way, you look like a comic-book supervillain.”

  “Hoods can fall off,” he growled. “And I didn’t want her seeing my face.”

  At the mention of the sorceress, the three of us turned to the fallen woman. She lay face down, limbs twitching sporadically and her breath whispering harshly from her lungs. Hmm, still alive. Tough old buzzard, wasn’t she?

  Zak jerked Nadine back, his other hand rising defensively. And that’s when I realized—not whispering breath. Actual whispering.

  An incantation.

  Varvara raised her head, silver hair tangled across her face. “See you in hell, druid.”

  Red light erupted across the brick circle. As it sped outward, Zak scooped Nadine under his arm, grabbed my hand, and bolted in the opposite direction. Hissing power built in the air as we sprinted away—but not fast enough.

  I yanked the Queen of Spades out of my pocket and whirled. “Ori repercutio!”

  Varvara’s spell erupted, the air rippled, the ground quaked—then blazing light and crushing force slammed into me. It hurled the three of us into the air. We soared for several long seconds, then crashed down in a tangle of limbs.

  A painful minute passed where I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even breathe as excruciating magic crackled through my body. Pulling myself together, I realized I was lying half on top of Zak, Nadine on his other side. Holy crap, everything hurt. What would that spell have done to us if my artifact hadn’t reflected some of it?

  I pushed myself upright, wincing with each movement. Zak grunted and sat up too, then turned his attention to Nadine. While he checked on her, I stumbled in the direction I’d last seen Kai.

  He was sitting in the grass, propped against a tree trunk, his face ghostly-pale. “Varvara took off toward the dock. Aaron and Ezra chased after her.”

  I helped Kai up and pulled his arm around my shoulders. We shuffled out of the trees and onto the lawn, the grass charred and the brick circle split open with zigzagging fissures from Varvara’s spell. Yikes.

  Zak and Nadine came out of the trees a moment later. His feather tattoos were back, meaning Lallakai had rejoined him, but I didn’t see the vargs. Hopefully they were okay.

  Nadine gave me a wobbly smile. She was clutching Zak’s hand with both of hers, happier than she had any right to be.

  Kai scrutinized the druid suspiciously, but Zak ignored him. We stood in silence, waiting. Three minutes passed, then silhouettes appeared on the brick sidewalk that led to the shore. The two figures headed toward us—Aaron and Ezra. There was no one else with them.

  “Shit,” Kai muttered.

  “She escaped,” Aaron announced bleakly as he and Ezra reached our quiet gathering. His gaze shifted to Zak, and flames licked down his sword. “The night won’t be a complete waste, though. Would you like to surrender, or should we beat your ass into the ground first?”

  “Seriously?” I snapped. “He saved you.”

  “He’s still a rogue and a murderer. Saving lives doesn’t exonerate him from his other crimes.”

  Pulling away from Kai, I stomped over to Zak and parked myself in front of him, facing Aaron and Ezra. Their expressions darkened ominously.

  Zak jabbed me in the back. “Get out of the way, Tori.”

  I glared at him over my shoulder. “Not you too! Is this—”

  The darkness behind him rippled—then wind blasted across me. The earth shook as something huge struck it, and shimmering blue and purple light filled my vision.

  I looked up—way up—until I found the dragon’s dark eyes. Wings half furled, Echo crouched behind Zak. The faint galaxy-like swirls that shifted along his scaled sides dazzled my vision in the darkness. He was breathtakingly luminescent, a specter of the heavens descended to earth.

  And he was huge. Absolutely massive.

  “Oh,” I said weakly. “Hi, Echo.”

  The dragon lowered his nose to a few feet above my head and puffed, ruffling my hair. I focused on Zak, searching his stupid mask thing. Clutching his hand, Nadine craned her neck to take in the beastly specter.

  Stepping forward, I gripped her shoulder. “You sure about this, Nadine? My guild can help you too.”

  “I want to go.”

  Nodding, I pulled her into a hug. She reluctantly released Zak to return my embrace.

  “The druid has my phone number,” I murmured in her ear. “Let me know when you’re all settled in. And if you ever need anything, tell me.”

  “Thanks, Tori.” She beamed as she stepped back. “You’re pretty cool for a guilded … what are you, anyway? A sorceress?”

  “Human, actually. It’s a long story.”

  Her mouth fell open, but I was already turning to Zak. With a quick glance at Aaron, Ezra, and Kai—all three staring at the dragon and seemingly afraid to move—I grabbed Zak’s shirt collar and rose on my tiptoes to put my mouth by his ear.

  “You are a supreme dickhead and I haven’t forgiven you for anything,” I half whispered, half growled. “Take good care of Nadine.”

  He snorted in amusement. Catching my elbow, he pulled me close again and spoke in a low murmur. “I saw Echo’s mark on your arm. I don’t recommend taking him up on any favors, but if you do, be very careful what you ask for.”

  Anxiety flittered through me at the warning. I peeked at my inner wrist, but the wyldfae’s shadowy mark was invisible in the dim light.

  Releasing me, Zak stepped away. I was still unscrambling my thoughts when he drew Nadine to his side. E
cho’s huge foot stretched out and he wrapped the druid and the girl in his taloned digits. Wings unfurling, he leaped skyward.

  The blast of wind from his wings blew me off my feet. I landed on my ass as the dragon soared into the air. The night sky rippled and the dragon faded from sight. Zak and Nadine were gone.

  “He took the girl!” Aaron burst out, his voice startling me. “Tori, why did you let him take the girl?”

  I got up and dusted myself off. “She wanted to go with him.”

  He gawked at me. Ezra was still staring into the sky and Kai looked ready to keel over.

  “But you wanted to save her,” Aaron protested, disbelief and anger competing in his voice. “You were determined to make sure she was safe!”

  I glanced up. “She is safe.”

  “But—”

  “Guys?” Ezra murmured. He pulled his gaze back to the earth and smiled vaguely. “I think … I might have lost too much blood.”

  I had just a moment to spot the gash running across his chest and arm, the result of Aaron’s surprise attack, before his eyes rolled up and he crumpled to the ground.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Hunching my shoulders, I stared at my clasped hands. The silence vibrated through the office, bouncing off the bookshelves that framed the desk in the center. I peeked up at the man sitting behind it.

  Darius. The guild master. The man in charge. The person responsible for every mythic who called the Crow and Hammer their guild. My boss. He surveyed me with serious gray eyes beneath expressive eyebrows. His salt-and-pepper hair was brushed back, his goatee neatly trimmed, and his aura of unquestionable authority as undeniable as ever.

  Someday I would find the courage to backtalk to him. Maybe.

  “Do you have anything else to say, Tori?”

  “That’s it.”

  “The last time we met in my office, I explained that your life is not disposable and I won’t tolerate anyone, including you, treating it that way.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I’d known better than to expect cheering and delighted hugs from the guild master, but most everyone else was thrilled by my return. I’d been swarmed by members since arriving for my shift, all of them relieved that I was safe. Many had helped with the search after I’d handed myself over to Zak, and I was still thanking them for dropping everything on my account.

  But Darius wasn’t one to miss the big picture, and his demeanor had grown more intimidating with each question about the Ghost that I refused to answer.

  He sat back in his chair. “During our last meeting, I also told you that, because you are not a member of this guild, I can’t discipline you as I would one of my guildeds. I can’t garnish your bonuses or restrict your privileges. However”—I winced at the word—“it’s clear you haven’t taken the lessons I wanted you to learn to heart.”

  “I have,” I mumbled.

  A pause. “Have you?”

  Wringing my fingers, I nodded. “I had a lot of time to think while I was gone, and when I got back … seeing how much I scared Aaron, Ezra, and Kai … feeling the same kind of fear for Nadine when she was captured …” I swallowed. “I realize I made an incredibly selfish decision when I went with the Ghost.”

  “But you no longer fear for Nadine’s life now that she is again under the Ghost’s power?”

  “No,” I said simply.

  Darius stroked his goatee. For a long minute, we sat in silence while I waited for him to grill me about Zak again, about why the notorious Ghost had unnecessarily saved Aaron and Kai, why I’d let him re-kidnap a teenage girl, and why I wouldn’t explain anything. But he just watched me.

  Finally, he steepled his fingers and rested his elbows on the desk. “Tori, independence is an admirable trait, but it can be rooted in pride, insecurity, and fear as easily as it can stem from strength, confidence, and self-reliance. Be sure you know what drives yours.”

  I nodded numbly.

  The intensity of his gaze lessened. “Is there anything else you wish to discuss?”

  Sitting on my hands so I wouldn’t fidget, I muttered, “Varvara escaped.”

  “She did indeed. A difficult opponent even for experienced mythics. Given the opportunity to approach her with more planning, I would have selected quite a different team to apprehend her than three hot-headed mages.”

  My eyes dropped to the floor. “Kai almost died, and Aaron and Ezra probably would’ve been killed too if … if the druid hadn’t …” I looked up at him. “It’s my fault. I pushed them to rescue Nadine right away, without waiting for help.”

  Darius’s sudden amusement took me by surprise. “And Aaron received his penalties for that recklessness earlier today. Ezra and Kai will receive theirs once they’re released from our healers’ capable hands.”

  “Oh …”

  “Their choices are not your responsibility, Tori.” He raised his eyebrows. “However, exerting your considerable influence over them in a more responsible fashion wouldn’t be amiss.”

  “My … considerable influence?”

  With a mysterious smile, he rose and picked up a sheet of paper. Half terrified it was a termination letter, I peered down at the paper. It wasn’t quite that unpleasant, but the familiar form was almost as bad.

  “Get that done,” he told me, “before MPD comes knocking.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I headed for the door. As I pulled it open, Darius spoke again.

  “By the way, Tori.” He leaned against his desk. “Jobs, bounties, and bonuses are for guild members only. I’ve reminded Aaron of that.”

  I winced. No side income for me, then. Stepping outside, I closed the door and headed downstairs. It was for the best. I wasn’t equipped for guild jobs, magically or emotionally. Before I did anything else exciting, I needed to get my head on straight. Every time the whole “you turned yourself over to a notorious rogue and disappeared for two weeks” thing came up, I felt a little stupider.

  Ten minutes later, I was signing my name at the bottom of the form with a flourish when Aaron dropped onto the stool beside me and rested an elbow on the bar top. He must’ve arrived while I was upstairs.

  “Whatcha doing?” he asked without preamble.

  “Hey,” I greeted him, unable to contain my grumble. “I’m just finishing this stupid form again. Clara has lost it six times now but I think Darius suspects I’ve been hiding them or something.”

  “Oh, that form.” He propped his chin on his hand. “The application requesting approval for a human working at the guild. The one that’ll get you fired the moment it crosses an MPD agent’s desk.”

  Yeah, that pretty much summed it up. I glared at the sheet, feeling sick, but I’d known all along that my job here was temporary. Darius had called MPD’s never-gonna-happen approval a “bridge to cross when we come to it” but I wasn’t banking on him pulling a bureaucratic miracle out of his ass.

  Time to change the subject before I got depressed. “How are Kai and Ezra?”

  “Kai is still under observation. They said something about lung damage or risk of pneumonia or … I dunno. No big deal, though. Our healers are amazing. They can fix anything.”

  Worried despite his assurances—Kai had been with the healers for three days already—I asked, “What about Ezra?”

  “They sent him home this morning. He’s under orders to rest for the week.” Guilt flickered across Aaron’s face. “I can’t even rag on him about getting cut up since I was the one who did it.”

  “It’s not your fault, Aaron. That spell Varvara hit you with was seriously nasty.”

  “I knew better than to get so close to her.” He grimaced. “Rule one when fighting alchemists—don’t get near enough for them to dose you with anything.”

  “Yeah, but we thought she was just a sorceress, not an … alchorceress? Sorchemist?”

  Aaron snorted. “It’s a good rule for sorcerers too.”

  “Well, it all worked out, so don’t beat yourself up.”

 
“Yeah,” he sighed. He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling in a thoughtful way. “She’s vanished off the map for good, but I was thinking about taking another go at the Ghost’s bounty.”

  I jerked upright on my stool. “What?”

  He gave me a lopsided grin. “With all that extra motivation while we were searching for you, we made some progress in the hunt for his whereabouts. And now that I’ve seen him with my own eyes, I think I can catch the bastard—and once we have him in custody, I can find out why you’re terrified to spill any info about him.”

  “No.” I waved both hands in a no goal motion. “No. Definitely not. Bad idea. Do not even go there.”

  “But—”

  “He saved your ass.” I tried not to sound panicked, but a shrill note crept into my voice. “The least you can do is leave him alone. Come on, Aaron.”

  He surveyed me, then shrugged airily. “Okay, fine. I’ll leave him be … for now.”

  My eyes narrowed suspiciously but I didn’t press. Pushing my stool back, I hopped to my feet and grabbed my form. “My shift started ten minutes ago. I need to get to work.”

  “But I haven’t had a chance to ask you if you’re free on Sunday night.”

  I cast an amused glance over my shoulder. “Free for what?”

  “Dinner,” he said brightly, trailing after me. “Like I said before, I promise to turn my phone off. No last-minute cancelations or interruptions this time.”

  “Hmm,” I pondered as I walked behind the bar. “Don’t follow me, Aaron. You aren’t allowed back here.”

  Ignoring that, he followed me right through the saloon doors and into the kitchen. Thankfully it was empty, but still.

  I stopped and folded my arms, the form sticking out from under my elbow. “I have plans. I promised to spend the day with Justin. He’s still sulking over how I ignored him for two weeks, and since I can’t tell him I was kidnapped, I have to suck it up and play the nice sister for a day.”

  “Monday night, then,” he suggested. “I missed you too, you know, and I was way more worried than your brother.”

  I hesitated. Not sure why, since I didn’t have any plans beyond spending Sunday with Justin. “Okay, dinner on Monday. But I want to swing by and say hi to Ezra tomorrow. I haven’t seen him since …”