Defensive Magic: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy Tale (Lost Library Book 3) (31 page)

“I’m not sure exactly.” True—she didn’t have the date etched in her brain. “We’ve been dating a while now.” Also true—more than a few weeks was a while. “I’ve been meaning to tell you more about him.” Mostly true…eventually.

They knew he existed. And she really
had
been meaning to tell them more about John. The challenge had been in choosing which “more.” The supernatural part? The small business owner part? The kickass fighter guy part? The absolutely incredible partner, lover, and mate part?

Speak of the devil. John walked in and stood next to her. He must have heard just about everything her parents had said while he’d been outside. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leaned down, and whispered in her ear, “Sorry. I was waiting for Scott to drop something by. He got caught in traffic.”

His breath tickled her ear and made her shiver, and then she felt guilty for lusting after her “brand new” boyfriend in front of her parents, and then she was mad at her parents because John wasn’t her boyfriend, he was her mate. Her brain was completely fried. She was even rambling in her head. She was too frazzled for so many emotions to be jockeying for top position.

John squeezed her shoulders once and took control of the conversation. “Mr. and Mrs. Smith, it’s wonderful to finally meet you. Work has been hectic for both me and Lizzie recently; otherwise we would have been out to visit already. I hope that you have time for us to stop by soon for a visit.”

He was handsome, articulate, and showing some respect to her parents. Her mom was immediately charmed. “Well, we’d love that, wouldn’t we, Ronald? And call me Evelyn.” She jabbed a sharp elbow into her husband’s side.

“Right.” Ronald held out his hand. “Good to meet you. Would love to have you come out.”

John smiled in response to the invitation and clasped her Dad’s hand. “We’re just getting in from a long flight, but neither of us have had dinner. Maybe we could meet you in town? You could have cocktails, and then we could join you for dinner?”

Her dad gave her a look. “I could definitely use a drink.”

Lizzie smiled brightly. “Perfect. We’ll meet you in—” She turned to John.

“An hour,” he supplied. “Does that work? There’s a great Thai food place that Lizzie’s mentioned you might like.”

Her dad immediately perked up at the thought of Thai food. John gave him directions, walked both her parents to the garage door, and waved goodbye as they backed out of the garage.

“Who are you?” Lizzie asked, closing the door to the garage.

“A man who desperately wants to be alone with his mate,” John replied.

“Well done. I couldn’t even think straight. Mom’s hinting at kids and at the same time wondering when we’ll stop living in sin, and Dad’s thinking you’re a perv because any man who sleeps with his daughter is a perv.” As she was talking, she was stripping off clothes and heading to the bedroom. “I’m in dire need of a shower before we leave.”

“About that,” John started to say.

But Lizzie didn’t hear him. She opened the bedroom door and there were flowers everywhere—purple and yellow, just like she’d once told him were her favorites. No roses for her, she’d said. She walked slowly into the bedroom towards the bed. On the bed were more flowers. Oh my gosh—did her parents see all this? No. They were in the guestroom, and they wouldn’t have a reason to go into her room. She laughed. She was worried about her parents now?

John handed her a rolled up piece of paper tied with a ribbon. She hadn’t even realized he was holding it. She untied the ribbon and unrolled the piece of paper.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d think was romantic, so I decided to skip romance and go with what I know. I know you like flowers, and I know you want to mentor with Harrington.”

She looked down at the paper. It was an agreement between John and the Council. She recognized the Council members’ names from the meeting she’d attended with John.

“What is it?”

He almost looked like he was blushing. “A promise from the Council to support a travel schedule that’s outlined in the document. Abroad for two weeks, home for six.”

This
was the schedule Harrington had prematurely alluded to. And she’d bet a week’s worth of crispy, perfectly fried bacon that the paper she was holding—signed and dated by all the Council members today—had something to do with the rush John had been in to leave for Vegas. The challenges, the rumors. Those grumpy old farts on the Council probably wouldn’t agree to sign until John had rooted out and stopped the source of the challenges.

“I know it’s not maybe as much time as you might hope, but with everything that’s been happening—”

She flung herself into his arms and started to bawl. After she’d hugged him until her arms ached and her tears had stopped, she realized something was missing.

“I’m guessing there’s a ring involved with this?”

He laughed and swung her around in a circle. Setting her down, he said, “It’s a good thing I’m a confident kind of guy.” He gave her a wicked, oh-so-confident grin. “Between you and your parents, my ego would never survive otherwise.”

He kneeled, one knee on the ground, and pulled her Aunt Matylda’s ring out of his pocket. Voice steady, eyes serious, he asked, “Will you marry me?”

Lizzie laughed through fresh tears and nodded. “Yes.”

She sniffed. “I’m guessing you made off with it to have it inscribed?”

She tugged on his arm, but he wouldn’t stand up. So she sat on the ground and pulled him down next to her. If it wasn’t so completely unromantic, she’d swear he sighed in frustration. Sitting with him on her bedroom floor, she read aloud the inscription, “Mate. Wife. Love.”

Was he blushing again? Twice in one day. “I wasn’t really sure what you—”

“Oh, just hush,” she said, crying again. “You did good.”

And she let him slip the ring on her finger.

Half-dressed, sitting on the floor of her bedroom, her parents waiting at the Thai restaurant—not exactly how she’d pictured her proposal. She was certain this wasn’t how John had planned it. But no other proposal could have been more perfect.

Glossary of Some Things Magical

Alpha:
Titular head of a group of Lycan. The level of authority and function of an Alpha varies by pack with some Alphas acting as politicians, others as military commanders. The Texas pack is less traditional and is governed by both a council and an Alpha. Idaho’s Alpha governs more as a benevolent dictator utilizing a military-like structure.

Alpha Mate
: A political position within a Lycan pack. The title is assigned to the woman mated to the pack’s Alpha. The duties attached to the position vary by pack.

Dragon:
A magical being. Compare dragons to magic-users, who are humans with some magical ability. Dragons simultaneously share a human and dragon form, choosing at any given time which interacts with the physical world.

Enforcer:
A traditional role in a Lycan pack. Similar to a bodyguard, enforcers are frequently used as both protection and status symbols by Alphas when traveling on foreign pack soil. The Texas Pack enforcers were assigned to protect the Alpha foremost, then the Council of Elders, both within pack boundaries and abroad.

Ghost:
Remnant energy, left after a magic-user dies. Also described as the energy that persists beyond the existence of the living physical body. Occurs only in rare cases. It is believed that energy assumes an ability to think and act consciously.

Healer:
A type of magic-user whose talents allow him/her to magically heal. Healing abilities vary between individuals, but the most common abilities found are helping injuries to heal faster. Healing illness is a very rare talent. Healers are the only talent group to have commonly held ethical guidelines by which most abide, crossing cultural and geographic boundaries.

Inter-Pack Policing Cooperative or IPPC:
A cross-territorial
policing organization created initially by cooperating Lycan packs and joined by members of several other talent groups, including spell casters, and healers.

Lost Library:
Located within an historic house in Prague, formerly the Kovar family home. The Library contains the greatest known collection of spelled books. Historically, it was controlled by one or more powerful spell caster families, most recently the Kovar family. Possession of the Library and the secret of its location was lost over a hundred years ago.

Lycan:
A type of magic-user whose talents typically include shifting between human and wolf forms and self-healing. Lycan can share some characteristics with their wolf cousins, but are not to be mistaken as wolves.

Magic-user:
Any one of several types of people who can use magic, including Lycan, spell casters, witches, and healers. As a group, the community is referred to as magic-users. Most people with magical ability identify first with their magic type, Lycan or witch, and secondly with the larger and more encompassing magic-using community. It is theorized that all talent groups have a core of magical energy, and it is the natural inclination of a person’s magic that defines the talent group.

Pack:
An organized group of Lycan. The type of organizational structure varies by pack.

Pack Book or Record Book:
A spelled text containing a variety of pack information, including but not limited to genealogy, inter-pack conflicts, alliances, and Alpha challenges.

Record Keeper:
The Lycan term for a spell caster with a language talent, usually a woman. Record Keepers were able to create spelled texts by anchoring their words, thoughts, images, and emotions to a physical object, usually a book. Record Keepers could also pull information from spelled texts, typically utilizing a question and answer system.

Spell Caster:
Also called Casters. Spell casters use their magic to manipulate objects or bind spells to objects.

Vampyr:
A type of cannibal who primarily ingests magic. Traditionally accomplished by tying the subject’s magic more closely to his blood and consuming the blood.

Ward:
A common expression of the binding type of caster magic. The spell caster attaches a spell to an inanimate object to perform some specific function. Examples include, sensing wards, alarm wards, trap wards, and containment wards.

Dear Readers
,

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Defensive Magic
! If you’d like to share it with others, you have a few choices:

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Happy Reading!

~
Kate

Author’s Note

In writing
Defensive Magic
, I had help from a number of people. I’d like to give a shout out to both of my critique groups, Speculative Fiction and Romance. You guys are great! An inspiring and generous group of people. Thank you!

I also had some unique, crocodilian help for this book in the form of a web site: crocodilian.com. And it turns out that the web site is attached to a gentleman named Dr. Adam Britton. A supremely cool guy, Dr. Britton actually answered the hypothetical question, “If a crocodile and a wolf were in a magical battle, who’s your money on?” If I receive that email, I’m thinking, “Who is this whackadoo?” But the crocodile doctor answered, thoughtfully and fully. If you’d like more information on crocodiles, I strongly recommend his site. All crocodile errors in
Defensive Magic
are my sole responsibility.
Spoiler Alert!
I know that I’ll be revisiting Dr. Britton’s site for future research.

Other Works by Kate Baray

LOST LIBRARY NOVELS

Lizzie & John

Book 1:
Lost Library

Book 2:
Spirited Legacy

Book 3:
Defensive Magic

Kenna & Max

Book 4:
Witch’s Diary

LOST LIBRARY SHORTS

Clara & Logan

Story 1:
Rage, A Lost Library Short

Story 2:
Forgiveness, A Lost Library Short

Story 3:
Love, A Lost Library Short

Story 4: Revealed, A Lost Library Short

Information and buy links can be found for Kate's books at:
www.katebaray.com/books
.

Preview: Witch’s Diary, Book 4

After a series of mind-blowing sexual encounters with Max, Kenna is standing by her tried and true method of dating—she’s moving on. Having successfully dodged Max’s calls and crushed any remaining sparks, Kenna learns that one of their encounters has produced a few startling results—a long wished for baby and activation of her dormant witchy powers.

Can she reconcile her past relationship failures with a future that includes Max—if only as the father of her child? And what about her knitting, crafting, homebody mom who turns out to be a badass fire witch fighting for the good of humans everywhere? Can she be a devoted mom, a crime-fighting daughter, and a newly awakened witch without losing her sanity? With the help of her best buddy Lizzie, her shockingly capable mom, and a feisty little magical book that refuses to be silenced, Kenna might just have a shot.