Fairy Magic (17 page)

“With white Fairy Dust?”

She nodded.

Anger flared inside his magic. “I told you never to use that magic on the living. You don’t know what it will do to me. Or to you.”

“You were dying. I had to do something.” She reached for him. “How do you feel?”

He stepped away from her, shaking out his arms and legs. “Normal. For now.” His mouth tightened into a hard line. “But there will be consequences from this. There are always consequences when you dabble in pure magic.”

“Pure magic?”

“Pure light or pure darkness.” He set his hands on her shoulders, shaking her. “You are insane. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I’m not going to apologize for saving you.”

“You could have killed yourself.”

“What was I supposed to do? Just let you die?”

“Yes.”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t do that. Not when I had the power to save you.”

The anger in his eyes softened. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “You are a foolish woman, Naomi.” He looked at her, something other than anger burning in his eyes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

He leaned in, dipping his mouth to hers. But instead of kissing her lips, he kissed her cheek. Then he pulled away, a wicked spark in his eyes. He must have been feeling better if he could play games with her.

She glowered at him. “Let’s get you out of here before you drive me to kill you myself.”

He winked at her, then gathered some weapons from the tent. Makani slid past the flap in the canvas, returning a moment later with the soldier who’d been standing guard outside. Makani pulled hard, snapping the soldier’s neck. The feat wasn’t as easy as Hollywood would have people believe, but Makani was a beast. His strength was simply inhuman. As Naomi watched the dead soldier drop to the ground, she couldn’t even bring herself to feel sorry for him. He’d made his bed when he’d joined a demon’s army. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a choice. He wasn’t being controlled like the ghosts were.

“The ghosts,” Naomi gasped, their presence a ripple of ice against her warm skin.

She slipped out of the tent, Makani close on her heels. Overhead, a stream of ghosts covered the camp like a glimmering dome of light, trapping everyone inside.

“Can you break the control Valin has over those ghosts?” Naomi asked Makani.

“Control over ghosts is a power Bael gave him. It’s strong,” he said. “But if we work together, I think we can do it.”

“I can’t break magic.”

“No, but you can control the flow of spirit magic. We will combine our magic and free the ghosts. That will be just the distraction we need.”

He held out his hand to her. She took it, gasping at the rush of magic that cascaded across their link, drowning her in sweet oblivion.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

His magic purred against her skin, caressing her with sinful suggestions.

“Fine.” She cleared her throat. If only it were as easy to clear her head of those wicked thoughts. “Let’s do this.”

They lifted their linked hands, shooting a burst of spirit and dragon magic at the stream of ghosts overhead. The ghosts let out a scream, then dispersed, finally free of the prison Valin had made of their minds. As they escaped, the harmony of their thanks purred across Naomi’s magic.

All across the camp, soldiers shouted out in alarm.

“They think they’ve been attacked by another demon’s army,” Makani said. “Only a demon or a demon’s warlord could have killed the ghosts.”

“But we did something much more powerful.” She smiled. “We saved them.”

“Come on,” he said.

They ran through the camp, using the confusion to slip past the soldiers. She turned toward the woods, but he pulled her in another direction.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “This isn’t the time for grand heroics. You nearly died just a few minutes ago. You can destroy Valin’s army another time.”

Makani kept running, his legs moving so fast that Naomi could hardly keep up.

“Makani, please. Don’t throw your life away for vengeance.”

“I’m not going to kill Valin,” he told her. “I’m going to save my friends.”

“They were captured?”

“Yes, I saw them when I was brought in. Valin’s forces got them as they escaped the castle. They were waiting for them. The whole area was surrounded. They set us up.”

“Just to get you?”

“Yes, and now I have to save my friends. This isn’t about vengeance. This is about saving them from Valin. He will torture them just to get back at me.”

“What did you do to him to make him hate you so much?” Naomi asked.

“You mean, besides opposing his demon master’s rule over the spirit realm?”

“Yes, besides that. I saw the look in his eyes when he tortured you. This is personal for him.”

“So you were there. I thought I felt your magic.”

“Only my mind was there,” she said. “People couldn’t see me. I couldn’t touch anything. Otherwise, I would have fought them and stopped them from hurting you.”

“You couldn’t have taken them all.”

A savage smile curled her lips. “But I’d have had a dragon on my side."

“A dragon with broken ribs.”

“Somehow, I don’t think a few broken ribs would have stopped you from killing Valin.”

“No.” Flames danced across his eyes. “They wouldn’t have. And I will get my chance.” He turned around, his eyes scanning the camp.

“What is it?”

“They’re not here. They’ve been taken out of the camp.” A deep growl buzzed in his throat. “Where are they?” he roared, his voice splitting the magic in the air.

He grabbed a passing soldier and dragged him into an empty tent. Then he pulled out a dagger and hammered one through the soldier’s arm. The soldier cried out. Makani did the same with the other arm. The soldier’s body shook. He looked one hard dragon’s stare away from passing out.

Makani slapped his face. “Where are they?”

“Who?” the soldier asked groggily.

Makani hammered a dagger through his leg. “Where?” he demanded in a hissed whisper.

The soldier moaned in pain. Makani grabbed another dagger.

“No, stop,” the soldier gasped. “Your soldiers were taken into the city.”

“Why?” Makani’s voice snapped like a whip.

“Valin has plans for them, a public demonstration of what happens when people throw their lot in with the great dragon prince. They are to be executed in the central square tomorrow night.” Laughter rolled off his lips.

“We have to get out of here,” Naomi told him.

Makani picked up another dagger and plunged the blade through the soldier’s chest with cold detachment. “Ok,
now
we have to get out of here.” He grabbed her hand, pulling her along with him as he ran out of the tent.

“What happens when people die in hell?” Naomi asked quietly.

“The dead don’t die in hell. They are just hurled into the next deeper circle of hell. Again and again, until they reach the core of hell. And there they really die. There in the core of hell, they become ghosts.”

“So every ghost has seen the core of hell?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Wow. It was no wonder their minds were often so fractured.
 

“And what happens to the living in hell?” she asked him.

“The same, except we suffer more.”

They’d reached the edge of the woods. Behind them at Valin’s camp, the soldiers were still running around in confusion. They hadn’t yet realized that Makani was free.

“You’re going to the city, aren’t you?” she asked as he continued to run.

“Yes,” he said, the fire in his eyes fueling his strides.

She felt herself fading, slowly sliding out of the spirit realm. “Don’t do anything crazy while I’m gone. I’m coming to you.” Her hand slipped out of his. “I promise.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Midnight Cape

THE DARK TUNNEL of the necromancer’s hideout was cold and damp. Compared to the heat of the spirit realm, it was a regular winter blizzard. A sliver of light cut through the darkness from the open doorway at the end of the tunnel. Her footfalls cushioned against the mulch ground, Naomi crept into a cavernous underground chamber.

She was greeted by the sight of a dozen dead bodies strewn across the ground. Alex and Logan stood opposite a woman in a dark cloak that flowed like black honey and simmered with spirit magic. The Midnight Cape. And the woman must have been the crazy, magic-enhanced Convictionite Alex had mentioned. She was kneeling before one of the corpses, picking through her belongings like a scavenger.

“What are you going to do with the artifacts?” Alex demanded of her, her voice as clear as crystal in the rotting room.

Slow and easy, Naomi inched toward the woman. If she was anything like Logan, her keen senses would pick up even the slightest rasp of movement. Luckily, Alex was doing her best to draw the Convictionite’s attention, buying Naomi the time she needed to grab the Midnight Cape.

“You’ll see,” the Convictionite said.

“Ah, so you don’t really have a plan beyond keeping them away from Majestic.” Alex opened her mouth and yawned loudly. “How anticlimactic.”

“I
do
have a plan.”

So did Naomi: to grab the cloak and knock this psychopath on her ass. She’d kidnapped Marek’s mother. Naomi didn’t know Margery Kensington very well, but she’d come to consider Marek a friend.

The Convictionite rose. “I have a grand plan and it’s nothing as ostentatious as leading an army of dead like Majestic wanted to do. Honestly, the woman had no finesse. No subtlety. She was all brute force. Burning through buildings. Legions of the dead. Exploding corpses.” She let out a haughty laugh. “No subtlety. No style.”

Just a few more steps.

“And you have style?” Alex asked her.

“I have much better plans for the Ornaments of the Dead. Nothing as crude as an undead army. I will use the Ornaments to communicate with spirits, to use them as spies.”

What was it lately with people and dipping their feet into the rivers of hell? Didn’t they realize that there was a divide between earth and the spirit realms for a reason?

“You can’t let her do it,” Eva said. “The Ornaments of the Dead will allow her to free spirits from the spirit realm. She would have the spirit of every human who has ever hated supernaturals at her beck and call. She could give them the power to take solid form like some ghosts can do.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. “And with that power, she will set all of those spirits against the world’s supernaturals.”

“A beautiful plan, don’t you think?” the Convictionite said.

“I think it is a dark and wicked plan, born from an evil, depraved soul,” Alex told her. “Just what I’d expect from the likes of you.”

“That’s rich coming from—” The Convictionite spun around, her eyes lighting up with surprise when they saw Naomi. “Who’s this?”

Alex flicked her hand, summoning a blast of magical wind that blew the Midnight Cape off the Convictionite’s body. Naomi jumped up and caught the cloak, wrapping it around herself. A surge of spirit magic rippled across her skin, flooding her with power. She slid into the stream between realms, popping up inside the first circle.

She could feel Margery Kensington’s magic, a potent beacon in the realm of dying magic. Exhilaration rushed through Naomi, the Midnight Cape flapping in hell’s wind as she ran. The cape spoke to her—not in words, but in a beautiful song. Speeding past the broken husks of buildings, she ran faster than she’d ever run before, high on spirit magic. Along the street, a glowing, glistening river of magic beckoned her, a fast track passageway across town. They were speckled across the spirit realm. Ghosts and spirits used them to cover great distances, but they were also available to anyone with enough spirit magic. Naomi plunged into the river of light and magic.

Like a high-speed train, it shot her across the city. Streets and buildings bled away on either side. Exits whistled past. The exit closest to Marek’s mother was coming. She could sense it—thanks to her newly-awakened magic, boosted further by the power of the Midnight Cape. Naomi threw herself out of the stream. Her body hovered in the air for a moment, uplifted on the wings of spirit magic, then she hit the ground running. She hurried into a patchwork brick building, following the stairs down into the basement.

Margery Kensington sat in the corner, chained to the wall. Her sleek suit was dusted with dirt. Sweat had pasted her hair to her head. A group of thugs much like those Naomi had encountered at the gateway had surrounded her. Wings of magic sprouted from Naomi’s back, launching her into the air. She flew over their heads and planted herself between them and Margery Kensington. The thugs gaped in shock at her glowing magic wings as they folded back into her body, then faded out like wisps of smoke. She grabbed the iron chains holding Margery to the wall, shooting her magic through them. Her spirit magic ate away at the metal, dissolving it into tiny silver crumbs.

“Are you all right?” Naomi asked, pulling her to her feet.

“Yes, thank you, dear.” Her gaze slid to the Midnight Cape. “How did you get the cloak from that wretched woman?”

“It was a team effort.”

“My son?”

“Is there. I’m sure he’s raining down devastation on the woman who took you. My cousin is there too,” she couldn’t help but add.

“Eva,” Margery said, a hint of regret in her voice. She’d been the one to break up Eva and Marek, claiming only a full-blooded mage was good enough for her son. She hadn’t spoken to Eva since Marek had rekindled their relationship. She sighed. “I have been wrong—about a great many things.”

“It’s not too late to fix it,” Naomi told her.

“I hope you’re right.”

The thugs’ shock had worn off, replaced by sheer stupidity. One of them drew a knife and pointed it at Naomi.

She lifted a brow at him. Seriously? She’d flown through hell on wings of magic, and he wanted to fight her?

The others were no smarter. They drew their knives too.

“This is our house,” the boldest of them said.

“You can have it if you want,” Naomi told him. “We’re leaving.”

Mr. Bold barred their path with his knife. “Not before you pay a toll, you don’t.”