Immortal Magic (The New York Shade Book 3)

by D. N. Hoxa

  “And the Guild?”

  “So far, they’re only patrolling Manhattan. If they heard about the casino, they haven’t sent any teams to check it out,” Damian said, then looked at me for a second. “How did you end up in Fortune Fire last night?”

  “I was out for a drink with the guys when Kyle said he was going there. Once I found out that there was a reservoir nearby, I thought it would be a good idea to check it out, so I went with Kyle and Carter. The ghoul and the wizard showed up about half an hour later.”

  “Does the wolf know?”

  “He knows I’m lying. He just doesn’t know what for.”

  “You should have called me before going there,” Damian said.

  I rolled my eyes. “I had no idea that I’d actually find the ghoul there.” I’d hoped so, but to be honest, I hadn’t expected much.

  “Next time, call me.”

  Ugh. It had been barely five minutes, and I was already pissed off. “Is that an order, Mister Vampire?” I said sarcastically.

  He grinned. “Just a suggestion.”

  “Thanks. I’ll keep it in mind.” I wouldn’t.

  Apparently, Damian had never been to the Fortune Fire, which surprised me. He said he had no interest in gambling, but he was still fascinated by what I told him about the games and the people.

  The road to the casino was strangely really fast, compared to last night. Before I knew it, Damian had parked the car in a huge parking lot with only one car in it—Emanuel’s. I could see the side of the casino and the reservoir, but ahead of us, there was the racing track. It was bigger than I expected, stretching almost as wide as the building of the casino. Nobody was in the field yet, but I did notice two shadows on the roof of what looked like a judge’s stand. I’d never been to a horse race before, but I’d seen it on TV.

  “Kit, wake up.” I took off my seatbelt and opened the door. He took his sweet time waking up and yawning before he lazily came and scratched my hand, a request to grab him and put him on my shoulder. “Stay alert,” I told him, and we followed Damian out of the car.

  We could barely hear the music coming from the casino. The back of its building didn’t have any windows, so we couldn’t see anything inside. The moon shone full and bright silver in the dark sky, illuminating Emanuel and Nikola standing atop the aluminum roof of the judge’s stand. When they saw us approaching, they began to climb down. In fact, it just looked like they jumped. From an at least thirty-foot-high rooftop.

  We stepped onto the track, and suddenly, the entire place looked like it was about to swallow me whole. Too many shadows, too many places I couldn’t see, places people could hide. I let my magic out in search of essence, my flesh in goose bumps already. Whatever we were going to find here, it wasn’t going to be pretty.

  “They’re not here yet,” Emanuel said as he approached us, looking around, taking deep breaths.

  “Something’s wrong,” Nikola said, shaking his head. “I can’t smell her anywhere.”

  Shit. Had I read it all wrong?

  “They’ll be here,” Damian said. “This is the only place close to Manhattan that fits their needs.” He turned around, looking at the darkness that resembled the color of his eyes perfectly. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  He took off running, practically disappearing into thin air. Kit jumped off my shoulder, too, and started running toward the building. I didn’t worry—he’d stay close if I needed him. The rest of us walked closer to the stand to hide in its shadow.

  “I don’t understand,” I whispered. “The ghoul and the wizard were here last night. They were talking to some guy, and it was about the Treasure, I’m sure of it.” I didn’t know exactly what they’d meant, just that the guy had sounded terrified.

  “They didn’t see you by any chance?” Emanuel asked.

  “I don’t think so.” But it was a possibility. I’d run as fast as I could, but I wasn’t sure how much of a big deal the bouncers had made out of finding me behind that curtain.

  A few seconds later, Damian came back. “They’re not hiding anywhere around the track.”

  “So that leaves the casino,” Nikola said.

  “But we’ve been here for the past four hours. We’d have seen them,” said Emanuel.

  Damian took out his phone and texted someone. “If they’re in Manhattan, we’ll know about it soon. John and Zane are searching.”

  “Maybe we should go back,” Nikola said.

  “Give it a minute. They’ll show up,” Damian said.

  The guilt ate at me. I’d brought them here. And apparently, I’d been dead wrong.

  “I’m going to shift, see if I can pick up her scent better,” Nikola said and started walking toward the stalls.

  “Nikola, give it a minute,” Damian insisted, when I heard a squeak coming from the other side of the track. It was Kit.

  “Wait!” I called, and both of them turned to me. I tried to see, but it was pitch black out there. I needed to get closer.

  Kit squeaked like he only ever did when he wanted my attention badly. By the time I got to the other side of the track, Damian was there, staring down at Kit, who kept swinging his tail from one side to the other, his squeak a screeching sound.

  I squatted in front of him. “What’s up?” He squeaked again and took off running toward the back of the casino. “He’s got something,” I said and went after him.

  “How do you know?” Emanuel asked from behind me, but I ignored him.

  I followed Kit behind the casino and around it until we reached the side of the building. He didn’t run as fast as usual because he knew I wouldn’t be able to see him in the dark.

  “He’s her familiar, isn’t he?” Nikola asked. Right. He didn’t know about Kit and me.

  “Exactly,” I mumbled.

  “He’s taking us to the casino.” Damian looked behind us at the guys. “Are you sure that you didn’t see them?”

  Emanuel didn’t hesitate. “Yes, we’re sure.”

  “I would have smelled her. She wasn’t here,” Nikola said.

  But Kit had seen something. We were almost by the casino’s doors now. “Maybe Helen didn’t come this time. Maybe it’s just the ghoul and the wizards—and that witch.” It would make sense. She already knew we were after them and that Nikola could pick up her scent with ease.

  “Anything?” Damian asked him, but he shook his head.

  “Nothing.”

  Kit was already inside the doors and to the hallway that led to the underground casino. For a second, I wished I could use my talent on him and have him shift so I could understand exactly what he was saying.

  “What do we do now?” Emanuel asked. Kit looked at me through the glass doors, waving his little arms at me.

  “I’ll follow him. If you want, you can wait here,” I said and went through the doors. The others followed me, too.

  “It’s too dangerous. Approximately a hundred and twenty people are already down there. Too many supernaturals. Too much risk,” Emanuel said.

  Kit rushed down the stairs just as the ward slid off me but didn’t stop me.

  “We have no choice,” Damian said. “It’s the full moon. If they’re here, we need to know now, before it’s too late.”

  “Any word from John and Zane?” I asked as we descended the narrow stairs. I didn’t need to hide my daggers this time—two of them were already in the pocket of my jacket and another two in their sheaths around my hips. But still, there would be bouncers down there. Bouncers who knew me from the night before.

  Shit. How much did they remember?

  “They’ve got nothing, and the Guild isn’t sending out orders, either. Nikola?”

  “There are too many scents,” he whispered. “But I’m almost sure she isn’t here.”

  “Can you hide your sword somehow?” I whispered to Damian. He wasn’t wearing his armor this time around, only a black shirt and jeans, but his sword hanging on his hips was perfectly visible. He nodded, then grabbed the sword and pu
t it behind him, under his jacket. I was going to tell him that that wasn’t going to work, but the truth was, I could no longer see it.

  How the hell did they manage that? The thing was big. It was huge, and a leather jacket wouldn’t have been able to conceal it.

  But Moira’s sword was invisible, too. I’d never seen it on her, except when she reached her hands behind her back, and then suddenly, her fingers were wrapped around a handle. Maybe Damian knew the same trick. I was going to have to ask them if it was a spell or something. It would sure come in handy.

  Before long, we were in front of the double entry doors to the casino and the bouncers.

  Who weren’t the same guys from the night before. They were new—faces I’d never seen before. Relief covered me from head to toe.

  I undid the belt of my sheath and put it over the counter before anybody even asked me to. I looked up to see Mike—the same guy from the night before, staring at me. Fucking hell, couldn’t they have changed the hosts, too?

  “Hi,” I offered and my cheeks burned bright red.

  “Can I see some ID?” one of the bouncers said to us, when the other nudged him in the elbow and stepped aside.

  “There’ll be no need for that, Mr. Reed. Are you armed?” The other bouncer narrowed his brows.

  “Do I look armed?” Damian raised both hands to the sides.

  The bouncer let out a scream that must have been a laugh. Then he cleared his throat. “Welcome to Fortune Fire.”

  I didn’t know if Damian was surprised because he didn’t show it, but I could have kissed that bouncer for recognizing him at that moment. I took another look at Mike. He put a small key on the desk and raised a brow at me. I gave him another smile—a thank you for not saying anything. That is, if he even remembered. Then, I turned around and followed the others to the door.

  “Thank you, fellas,” Damian said and put some money in the chest pocket of the bouncer who’d let us in. He almost jumped back but controlled himself, sweat shining on his forehead.

  Finally, we were inside the casino.

  I searched for Kit, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. Though the place wasn’t as crowded as the night before, Emanuel was right—there were a lot more than a hundred people already in there.

  “Anything?” Damian asked Nikola again as we scanned the room.

  “No. I should have shifted. I can’t pick anything up like this,” Nikola said, his voice getting louder by the second. He was angry and he didn’t care to hide it anymore, apparently.

  “You wouldn’t have been able to get in here if you shifted,” Emanuel said. “Let’s search the place first.”

  “I’m betting they’re in the vampire room,” I told Damian as we walked deeper into the room. Emanuel and Nikola were already on the other side, behind the row of card tables.

  “Where is Kit?” he asked, but I shook my head.

  “I can’t see him.” There were too many people around us. Adrenaline pumped my blood like it did before a fight. My fingers itched to grab my daggers, tucked inside the pockets of my jacket. That’s why I’d bought it in the first place—it had inside pockets big enough to fit my daggers, and you could only see the tips of the handles through them. Probably the best money I’ve ever spent.

  “If we find them here, there will be a fight,” Damian said, lowering his voice. We walked slowly, searching every face, watching every corner. “Leave Helen to me.”

  “Are you still hoping to save her?” Because it looked to me like she didn’t want to be saved.

  “I am,” Damian said. “And one more thing: we need to let them do it.” I barely made out his words from his whisper.

  “Do what? Plant it?”

  He nodded. “I need a fruit.”

  I squinted my eyes at him. “Why do you need a fruit?”

  “I had to promise one in exchange for information,” he said, and it was easy to see that he wasn’t all too happy about it.

  “And you can’t go around it?”

  “Not this time.”

  I sighed. “Great. Get a fruit, destroy the plant, kill the people.” Easy peasy. Fire should do it. Fire burns plants. I knew plenty of spells to make fire. Unless the Treasure of Saraph was made of some kind of strange material that was immune to fire.

  Guess we’d find out.

  “Not the vampire,” Damian reminded me. “And for one last time—this isn’t your fight, Sinea.”

  Now was probably not the time to think about how sexy it sounded when he whispered my name like that, but what the hell.

  “It is now.”

  Even before I’d finished speaking, the ground shook.

  People began to scream instantly. Everybody froze in place, looking around, terrified, and so did I.

  An earthquake?

  The ground shook once more, then settled. Dust fell from the ceiling. Some people were already running for the doors. Others were still screaming.

  “What the hell?” I breathed, looking up at the ceiling, terrified that it would fall on top of us any second.

  “It’s not an earthquake,” Damian said. “It’s the reservoir.” His pitch black eyes opened wide. “It’s happening.”

  When the ground shook again, we didn’t stop. We kept going, practically throwing the people off us as they ran for the doors. The vampire game room. That’s where they would be. We just needed to get there and find Kit.

  The people almost knocked me over. They couldn’t wait to get out and they had no trouble pushing me away to do it, but Damian grabbed me by the arm and pulled me forward—until the crowd cleared and I finally saw Kit.

  He was standing in front of one of the private game rooms but not the one for vampires and ghouls.

  He was standing in front of the fae room.

  Damian must have seen him, too, because he pulled me in that direction. Unfortunately, Kit wasn’t the only one who’d remained behind. So had the three men guarding the black curtains of the game rooms—and one of them was the guy who’d chased me the night before.

  I must have been in luck because he didn’t even look my way. He and his friends were already terrified, and when he saw Emanuel coming for him with his fists locked tightly, he stepped back.

  “This is a private area,” he said, and his friends reached for something behind them.

  The one on the right, in front of the werewolf room, hit the floor first. The other, in front of the fae room already had a gun in his hand, but before he raised it, his eyes spitting fire, I saw Damian behind him. His head turned to the side real quick, and he fell to the ground, motionless.

  The one in the middle looked to the sides and took another step back. “I don’t want any trouble.” He raised his hands. He wasn’t reaching for his weapon, but maybe he was reaching for his magic? Mine said he was a wizard.

  Emanuel leaned closer to him. “Go,” he whispered, and the bouncer took off running toward the entrance.

  The ground shook a third time. The bartenders were gone, the bouncers were gone, and before we knew it, we were the only people in the gigantic room. Music still played in the background as Kit squeaked, pointing his hands toward the fae room.

  “Are you sure?” I asked him because I’d thought they’d be in the vampire room. His answer was to rush toward the curtain and disappear behind it.

  Damian pulled the curtain, revealing a dark corridor on the other side. Kit was waiting there, looking at the darkness, and when I approached, he climbed on my leg and stopped on my shoulder. He was really tense, too.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered to him, but the truth was, I didn’t know if it was okay. It was dark down that corridor, and so far, my magic wasn’t picking up on anything. At least the ground was no longer shaking.

  Damian’s sword was already in his hand, the sheath still invisible. He moved slowly and I walked behind him, Nikola and Emanuel behind us. My heart beat steady and I took in deep breaths, my daggers in my hands. My mind was alert, all the spells I’d need in a fight at the tip of
my tongue.

  The silence was deafening. A bit of a blinking blue light was coming from the left, through a triangular shaped doorway that seemed to be made of stone. Damian stepped inside it, and the next second, bright white light illuminated the room and the corridor. I was surprised to see two more doorways just like the first ahead, but no light was blinking through them.

  “I think I smell her,” Nikola said when we entered the room, and he started to strip out of his clothes. I was glad that there were plenty of other things to look at around me.

  The room wasn’t big, but it was strange to say the least. On the left, three panels of thick frozen glass divided the space into four sections. Inside them were chairs made out of light-colored wood with vines twisting around the legs and armrests. Behind the chairs there were circles about twenty inches wide, inside the walls, and they were made out of the same glass that divided the room. Something blue burned on the other side of them, but I couldn’t make out what. At the right of the room was some sort of a board, taking up most of the wall, and there were symbols engraved on it—possibly in Gaenish—and the board was divided into four columns. The symbols glowed blue, too, and it almost looked like they were moving if you looked at them long enough.

  The sound of Nikola’s shift took me by surprise. I could literally hear his skin tearing, even though my back was turned to him. The silence made it easy to hear every little noise, and it wasn’t pleasant. In my mind, I relived my own shifting glory back in Estird, and ice-cold shivers ran down my back. The pain was so incredible that I had trouble understanding why some werewolves didn’t mind shifting back and forth all the damn time.

  “Let’s go,” Damian said, and we stepped out of the first room, but this time, Nikola’s wolf went first. The dark brown wolf wasn’t as big as Emanuel’s because Nikola was a Level Two. I’d seen his essence and it seemed the higher the level of a werewolf, the bigger the wolf. Until now, Carter Conti and his brother Chris shifted into the biggest wolves I’d ever seen, and that’s because they were Primes.

  Nikola slowly walked close to the doorway across the hall but didn’t go inside. He sniffed the air then shook his head fast, as if to clear it, before proceeding down the corridor and through the last doorway. Kit held on tightly to the back of my neck with his tail, and his razor sharp claws held onto my earlobe, too. He was freaked out, so I gritted my teeth and ignored the pain.