Fairy Magic (13 page)

“Makani is on the second circle.”

“Yes.”

“So if the tear is only between earth and the first circle, how am I supposed to get him out?”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

“Not helpful,” she told him.

He touched her arm. Magic buzzed beneath her skin, and the symbols blossomed to life. “The magic that links you and Makani together will draw you to him.”

“You could help me,” she said. “Like
actually
help me.”

“I’ve helped all I can. It’s now up to you.”

“You could come with me.”

“No, my magic doesn’t work there. The spirit realm drains magic, leeching it away until you are nothing but a shell of your former self. The deeper we go—the further we are from this realm—the faster our magic drains. The weaker we become. Hell likes to eat some magic more than others. It really likes my magic. But you are in your element there. You will be fine.”

“Now, I must go,” he said, then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

CHAPTER TEN

Demon's Fortress

NAOMI RETURNED TO their Gothic rent-a-castle to find Alex and Logan sitting on the sofa in the living room. He was reading through a daunting stack of papers. She was drinking hot chocolate. Alex’s eyes widened as they took in the wrinkled fabric of Naomi’s silk evening gown.

Alex grinned over the back of the sofa at her. “You didn’t come home last night. Did you meet a handsome fairy at the gala and he invited you back to his place?”

Not a fairy. A Dragon Born mage. And he tied me up in his tent. No, wait. That sounded wrong.

Naomi was about to tell Alex all about it when she sensed something off about her friend. “Are you all right?”

“How do you always know?”

“When something is wrong? I just do. Call it magic.” She offered Alex a comforting smile. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, but I guess I should. You’re not the only one who’s been having visions.”

“You?”

“Yes. But they’re more like nightmares. I kill everyone. The world’s cities are burning. I attack Sera.”

Logan set his hand over hers. “Alex believes she is seeing what she will become.”

Naomi glanced down at the Dragon Born book on Alex’s lap. “Can Dragon Born mages see the future?”

“Not as far as I know,” replied Alex, looking glummer than ever.

“Alex, those dreams are horrible and scary, but they are not real,” Naomi told her. “And even if they were visions of the future, they cannot be the only vision. You are in control of what sort of person you will become.
You
. Not your nightmares.”

“You don’t understand. I already am that monster.”

Makani had called himself a monster too, but he wasn’t. Neither was Alex.

“The last time I checked, you killed monsters to protect people,” Naomi said. “That is who you are. You would never burn down cities or attack innocent people, especially not Sera.”

Logan nodded in agreement.

“What does the Dragon Born book tell you?” Naomi asked her. “Have you learned anything useful?”

“Not really. I’ve been reading through it, but it’s more about connecting to my dragon and my twin than it is about spells and magic. It’s not a history of all the Dragon Born who have ever lived and what happened to them. Or even a list of those who went insane. I need a book about that, if there even is such a thing.”

“And what are you reading?” Naomi asked Logan.

He slid a piece of paper from one stack to another. “We’re trying to figure out how the thefts last night and this morning are connected.”

“There was one this morning?” Naomi asked.

“Yeah, zombies in the graveyard.” Alex twirled her finger around in the air.

“Sorry I missed it.”

“Don’t be. They exploded all over me.”

“Eww.”

“Exactly,” said Alex. “Say, you might be able to help us. We know two of the five things stolen: the Fairy Crown and the Hellfire Ruby. Both are fairy creations.”

Logan handed Naomi a few papers. She glanced at the photos of the artifacts, recognizing them immediately. She’d seen them referenced in one of Gran’s books.

“I know of them,” she told them. “And I know how they are connected.” She extended her hand toward the stapled bundle of papers Logan was holding. “May I?”

He handed it to her, and scanned the multi-page list of items that had gone missing in last night’s thefts. She picked up a pink highlighter to mark three items buried inside all the text: the Midnight Cape, the sword Asunder, and a pair of gloves called Dragon Skin.

“Your thief is collecting a set of seven enchanted artifacts called the Ornaments of the Dead,” Naomi told them.

“What do they do?” Alex asked.

“They control the dead.” She’d found them listed in one of Gran’s necromancy books. Those necromancers were into some pretty messed up magic.

“There are two items missing,” said Logan.

“Yes,” Naomi replied. “A belt with three stones called Orion’s Belt. And Starlight, a moissanite ring.”

“That means the thief will strike again,” Logan said.

“Yes.”

“Wow, thanks. You just saved us from more boring research,” Alex told her. “If only we’d had these lists to show you last night.”

“That wouldn’t have helped. I didn’t know about these objects the last time I saw you. I only learned about them when I was reading through some books in my gran’s library last night.”

“So the thief wants to control the dead.” Alex clenched her jaw. It made her look scarier than she really was. “But he can do that already. He used magic to control ghosts and zombies.”

“Maybe he’s using the artifacts to gain those powers,” Naomi suggested. “Or to boost powers he already has. He might be a necromancer. He started with ghosts, the easiest of the dead to control. Then he moved on to the next easiest: zombies. He’s gaining more and more power over the dead as he collects more artifacts.”

“Well, let’s stop him before he manages to turn a demon into his errand boy,” said Alex. “We need to figure out where the last two artifacts are being kept.”

“I know where one of them is. Orion’s Belt is hidden inside of the Witches’ Cauldron, a brothel in the city center owned by three fairy sisters.”

Alex and Logan jumped up.

“Let’s check out the Witches’ Cauldron,” he said.

“You’ll have to rename the thief Double Threat now,” she replied, smirking. “Using artifacts to gain magic powers is cheating.” She looked at Naomi. “Care to come with us?”

“As much as I’d hate to pass up a visit to a fairy brothel, I have to pass. I need to infiltrate Nymphenburg Palace.”

“I thought you did that already,” Logan said.

“Yes, well, that didn’t go quite to plan, so now I have to get back in.” She hit him with her best fairy smile. “Do you have any ideas?” He’d spent a decade as an assassin. If anyone knew how to infiltrate an enemy stronghold, he did.

“Now that the gala is over, the gates are closed again,” he said. “You will need to sneak inside. I have some equipment that might be of assistance to you. A box full of electronics. It’s in the pantry, way in the back.”

“What is a box of electronics doing in the pantry?” she asked him.

“It’s not the only box of electronics back there,” Alex said. “Or weapons.”

“Ha. Well, it’s a good thing there’s no actual food back there. I’m not counting the beef jerky since that doesn’t qualify as food.” Naomi stuck her tongue out in disgust.

“Actually, Kai ate the beef jerky,” Alex told her.

“Did he? Good.”

“And the commandos went grocery shopping,” Alex added. “There’s real food in there now.”

“Good. I’ll have to check that out now. I’m starving.” Her stomach grumbled. She hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, and pizza night felt like it had happened days ago.

“When you go to infiltrate the palace, use the small blue box,” Logan told her. “There’s a small device in there, about the size of a lipstick tube. Turn the ring and it will disable the electronics in the building for a few seconds. That should be long enough for you to get inside.”

“Cool. Just like a spy.” She shot him a happy grin. “So, is the tube actually a tube of lipstick?”

“No.”

Naomi looked at Alex. “You need to teach him about dual purpose accessories.”

Alex laughed and returned the Dragon Born book back to its spot on the shelf. “See you soon, Naomi.”

“Yep.”

Naomi headed straight for the kitchen. She was going to grab a tray and pile it full of fruit and crackers. And when she was done, she’d make herself a hot chocolate. About two steps into that grand plan, magic washed over her, carrying her back to the spirit realm.

* * *

Naomi watched Makani strap on his sword. Then he extended his arms high above his head, stretching out his muscles. The sun cut through the forest canopy, bathing him in a halo of white light. Down below, Sleeping Beauty’s castle waited, a menacing darkness simmering beneath its sunlit stones. Nature really had gone wild in this realm. On earth, she’d be looking up at the castle, not gazing down on it.

“He is in there.” He lunged to the left to stretch out his side muscles.

“Who?”

“Valin. I can feel his magic inside the castle. Are you ready?” he asked her with a conspiring wink.

Despite his easy manner, she could feel the tension boiling beneath the surface. His magic was strung up tightly, tense almost to the point of breaking. He was clearly getting himself psyched up for battle, but you’d never have known it from the relaxed sway of his body as he stretched. His wall of control, coiled around that body of pure power, built to do damage, was frightening.

“Ready?” she laughed. “You haven’t even told me your plan. Besides, um, blowing up the castle.”

“That’s basically it.”

“And how do we do that?”

He rose from his final stretch, walking over to her. Heat baked the air, heavy and thick. It felt like she was sunbathing on the sun’s surface.

“Here’s the plan,” he said. “You will fly over the castle and land on top of the gate. Knock out the guards there, then open the gate for us.” His voice hummed with the commanding confidence of someone who’d spent seven hundred years telling people what to do.

“Of course, Your Majesty. Whatever you say,” she said with a smirk. She just couldn’t help herself.

“Do you want to help or to make smart comments?”

“I want to help. Sorry.” She sighed. “But I can’t fly, and I don’t think my Fairy Dust is powerful enough to take out so many guards.”

“Your magic is more powerful here. More powerful than you can imagine. You can do it. Spirit Warriors draw their magic from the spirit realm. Others are drained by the spirits. You are nourished by them. That’s why you are strong.”

“You sure know a lot about Spirit Warriors.”

“Yes, so trust me when I say you can fly and that your Fairy Dust will be sufficient.” He nudged her toward the edge of the cliff.

“Are you sure about this?” She tried not to drop her gaze, but it was kind of impossible not to look. The valley below was so vast that it extended from one edge of her peripheral vision to the other. “It’s a long way down if you’re wrong.”

He stepped up behind her, setting his hands on her shoulders. “I know you can do it.”

“Well, that’s nice but—”

He pulled her around, his hand curling around the back of her neck. His mouth swooped over hers, dipping her back into a slow, sinful kiss. She gasped, and his tongue slid past her lips, ravaging the inside of her mouth with unrestrained passion. His magic crashed against hers, igniting her senses. She swayed, but his arm locked around her back, steadying her before she stumbled.

“You can do it,” he told her, his lips brushing against hers one final time before he pulled away, leaving her breathless.

She’d kissed a lot of people, but she’d never been kissed with such hunger—like his life depended on ravaging every depth of her mouth. She walked in jagged steps toward the cliff’s edge, uplifted beyond fear, beyond doubt. She jumped.

As she fell, her breath catching in her throat, she realized Makani had manipulated her into doing exactly what he wanted. Again. Insufferable dragon. He was worse than the dark fairy who had linked them. Anger mixed with adrenaline—and the sudden, certain fear that she was going to die. Magic ignited inside of her, and wings split out of her back, carrying her toward the castle.

The warm wind kissed her face and rustled her white feathers. She soared over hills and trees, valleys and stones. For the first time in her life, she was truly and completely free.

Still riding the wings of exhilaration, she dove for the castle. The guards weren’t even looking up, not expecting an aerial attack. She set down on one of the front watchtowers, sprinkling the guards with Fairy Dust. Like a pink ribbon of glistening gemstones, it blasted through their ranks and knocked them down. She stepped over the napping soldiers, pulling up on the lever for the drawbridge.

Below, metal groaned against stone. Every guard in the courtyard turned toward the opening gate, drawing their weapons. Makani and his band burst through, knives clearing the air before them. Emma, Bruce, and Troy ran toward the archers making their way to higher ground. Makani stayed below, cutting through the guards. He was a brutal, savage fighter—a fighter without mercy. And yet his movements were beautiful, like a seamless dance sequence.

Naomi dropped to the ground beside him, her wings folding back into her. She blasted a pair of guards who were trying to sneak up on him.

“See? I told you your magic would be sufficient.” He tugged on her arm, pulling her against him as he threw a knife over her shoulder at a guard.

“Wow, sufficient,” she said, spinning to set up another round of Fairy Dust. “What praise. Be still, my beating heart.”

Makani pulled his sword from the last guard standing, kicking the demon’s henchman to the ground. He stepped up to her, as close as he could be without actually touching her. He looked down, meeting her eyes.

“Your magic is beating hard.” He pressed his chest to hers. “And your heart too,” he added with a wicked smile.

“Because we were fighting.”