Infinite Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress Book 5) (11 page)

“It’s better than turning you in to the prison or the Order of the Magica. The Shifters know what you’ve done for us. So we’re going to take some time and figure out what is going on. If we can trust you not to harm us, we will release you.”

“What did Dermot tell you is going on?”

“That you are a FireSoul who robbed him. And that you are involved in a plot to take down the Alpha Council and Glencarrough.”

That sneaky bastard. How smart of him to tell her I was doing exactly what he planned. Now what was I supposed to say?
Nuh uh, that’s
his
plan?

 
“Why would I want to take down the Alpha Council?” It was all I could say.

“A vendetta against those who imprison your kind.”

I laughed. “Really? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. If I had a vendetta against people who were assholes to FireSouls, it’d be everybody!”

“That was my thought. Unless the Alpha Council hurt you specifically, I can’t imagine why you’d start by targeting us.”

“Exactly. So you can let me out.”

The grizzly growled at that, stepping forward. I hissed at him.

“No, I cannot,” Elenora said. “While I might be willing to, other members of the Council are not. They want more answers.”

“Fine. You can have them.” I told her about Dermot and Victor Orriodor. Her brows rose as the story continued. When I finished, she looked skeptical rather than worried.

For the first time, my heart really sank.

“That’s an interesting story,” she said. “You can understand why I am wary of it, however. Dermot is part of the Order of the Magica. Why would he want our downfall?”

“I don’t know.”

“We aren’t going to turn you in to the prison or reveal what you are to the Order of the Magica. Not yet. We will keep you here until we confirm your claims.”

“You’ll need to do it quick, because Victor has plans for you.”
 

“We will do our best. We haven’t replaced the Heartstone, so you can understand how this is a matter of utmost importance.”

Damn, that was bad. It’d make it so much easier for Victor to break into Glencarrough. As he’d planned.

“I will present what you have said to the Alpha Council,” Elenora said. “In the meantime, you will stay here.”

I glanced around at the barren cells. “Seriously?”

“We’ll bring in some furniture to make it more comfortable. But we can’t trust you in the rest of the keep.”

I had nothing to say to that.
 

She turned and walked out.
 

Right before she left, I asked, “Is Dermot still here?”

“He is not.” She left the room, the grizzly at her heels.

I slouched against the wall, my mind racing.

If Dermot and Victor needed me and my
deirfiúr
for the final havoc they planned to wreak, then what good to them was I locked up in here? They couldn’t even get to me.

Shit.

I almost pounded my head into the wall when I realized. I was such an idiot. If Dermot put us here, it meant he had a way to get us out. Of course. Whatever they planned, it would definitely go down at Glencarrough.

This probably worked out better for them. They couldn’t find me and my
deirfiúr
because of our concealment charms. But they could rat us out to the Alpha Council and get us thrown into the dungeons.
 

Where we’d wait for them to arrive. They’d break in somehow—aided by the fact that the Heartstone was missing and defenses were down—and they’d put their miserable plan into action.

I was one card in their deck, and I’d put myself right into their hands.

CHAPTER SEVEN

I spent the next hour feeling my way around every stone in the wall and floor, hoping to find an out. Nix and Del would come for me, but I didn’t want them to. It’d be the worst thing in the world for them to get caught in this cell, too. Sitting ducks waiting for Victor and Dermot.
 

And though Del could transport, she probably couldn’t do it within the confines of the dungeon because this place would block her magic, too. So it was up to me to find a way out of a stone box.

If only I’d found that last transportation charm when I’d been searching the properties room at the Prison for Magical Miscreants. That’d get me right out of here.

But then, the Alpha Council probably would have taken it from me.

So I’d have been screwed either way.
 

I stiffened when I heard a shuffle outside the door. Were people coming to deliver furniture, like Elenora had said? I crept over to the side of the door, hoping that maybe this time they wouldn’t be bringing a grizzly for a guard.

I stared hard at the door, waiting for it to open. But it didn’t. Instead, the black strips of iron that reinforced the wooden door began to glow hot orange. Then they began to drip.

They were melting.
Long, rolling drips of molten metal slid down the doorframe, pooling on the stone below. My heart pounded in my ears.

A moment later, the door creaked open. As it swung, I noticed that the locking mechanism had melted entirely out of the wood.

Amara peeked her head in. “Cass?”

“Holy shit, Amara.” She was busting me out of here.

“I’m half Metal Mage,” she said.

“I can see that. I’m so glad to see you.”

“Come on. Quick,” she said. Her ragged stuffed bunny was clutched in her hand. “No one knows I’m down here.”

I went to the door and hopped over the puddle of rapidly cooling metal. As soon as I got into the hall, my magic surged within me, coming back to life.

I hugged her quickly. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”

“No problem. You saved me once before. When I heard my dad say you were down here, I had to get you out.”

“You’ll get in trouble.”

She glanced back at the door. “Not like the trouble you were just in. I’ll lose screen time and maybe be grounded for a year, but it’s worth it.”

I grinned. “Thanks.”

I didn’t like the idea of her being grounded, but the Shifters cherished their kids. Nothing harmful would happen to her besides some solid boredom.

“No problem,” Amara said. “Let’s get Aidan out.”

She led me to a door at the other end of the hall. It was the same construction as mine had been, though there was more metal on the door. Probably because Aidan had more brute strength than me. They weren’t taking any chances with the Origin.

“Mind if I borrow your power?” I asked.

“Go ahead.”
 

I touched the widest metal strip that bisected the door and connected to the lock, then reached out for Amara’s magic. It felt warm against my skin, and as soon as I had a grip on it, I also felt like I could feel all the metal in the door. Not just the stuff under my fingertips, but all the pieces that were nailed to the other side of the wood as well.

I pushed the magic out of me, concentrating on melting the strips of metal. A second later, the metal liquefied and poured to the ground in a rush.

Amara and I both leapt back to avoid being splashed by the molten iron.

“Wow,” Amara said. “You’re strong.”

“Yeah.” I hadn’t expected to melt it so quickly. It’d taken Amara almost a minute to melt the metal on my door. I’d done it in a second. “You okay?”

She nodded. “I didn’t get burned.’

“Good.” I pushed open the door to Aidan’s cell, careful not to touch any part of the wood where the iron had been for fear that it might be hot.

As soon as the door swung open, Aidan stepped into the doorway, then jumped over the melted metal and joined us in the hall.

“I thought that might be you,” he said. His gaze dropped to Amara. “You came to save us?”

“Yep.” She grinned, revealing a missing tooth.

“Good lass.” He rubbed her head. “I’ll send you a present as a thank you. How does a pony sound?”

“How about a remote control helicopter?” Her eyes gleamed.

“Done.”

“Thanks!” Her eyes turned thoughtful. “Address it to my room. I think I’m going to be grounded a while.”

“It’s a deal,” Aidan said. “Now tell us, are there any other exits from Glencarrough?”

“No, just the gate.”

“Anything small?” I asked. “A place that rats might sneak in, maybe?”

She screwed up her face as she thought. “There are rats in the kitchens. I like to leave them cheese. I think they come in through the pantry. It’s against the main wall, so there might be a way out from there. If you were a rat.”

“Good thing I can turn into a rat, then,” Aidan said. “Now you run along. Maybe you won’t get in trouble for this if you aren’t caught.”

She looked down at the molten metal. “No one else can do that. So they’ll know it was me.”

“Thank you extra much, then,” Aidan said. “I’ll send you two helicopters.”

She grinned. “You’d better go.”

We hurried down the dungeon hall to the stairs.
 

I perked my ears, calling upon my heightened senses. When I heard no one coming, I said, “Let’s get to the top of the stairs. Then we’ll shift into mice. Amara, could you lead us to the kitchen?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

We climbed the stairs silently. At the top, Aidan mouthed, “Now?”

I nodded.
 

A swirl of silver gray light shimmered around him, then he disappeared. I looked down. At my feet sat a tiny gray mouse. I called on my Mirror Mage powers, reaching out for Aidan’s gift. I grasped ahold of it, smelling the forest scent of his magic, and envisioned myself turning into a mouse as well.
 

Magic warmed me from within, filling up my limbs. Suddenly, I was falling, the walls flashing in front of me. Or I was shrinking rapidly. A moment later, I looked down and saw tiny mouse feet tipped with transparent claws. Next to me, a gray mouse twitched his nose.

Aidan was a bigger mouse than I, but not by much. Amara loomed overhead.

“Ready?” she asked.

I nodded, then scrambled up over the stone stair, digging my claws into the minuscule crevices in the rock. Amara pushed the door open to reveal a wide hallway. It wasn’t as ornately decorated as the one we’d walked through before.

Good. That meant we weren’t in the main part of the house. Amara headed right, walking quickly down the hall, her ragged bunny slapping against her calf.
 

Aidan and I raced behind her, keeping ourselves tucked against the wall. Fortunately, the floor was gray stone like the wall, so we blended. If any Shifters came upon us, they’d probably be able to smell us, but hopefully our camouflage would buy us some time.

The world flew by as we ran, looking entirely different from down here. I picked up different scents and sounds and could even feel the thud of Amara’s footsteps through my paws. My little mouse lungs were heaving by the time Amara stepped through a doorway into a big, warm kitchen.
 

A massive man turned to her and grinned. His floppy white mustache made him look like Belle’s dad from the cartoon version of
Beauty and the Beast
.

Aidan and I hesitated at the door as Amara walked in.

“And what are you scrounging around for, Miss Amara?” he asked.

Amara walked quickly over to the big fire and sat down, drawing the man’s attention away from the door. “Biscuits, Master Murphy. I’m just desperate for some biscuits, and you make the best ones in the world.”

I would’ve laughed if I could have, at how thick she was laying it on.

“Do I now?” Master Murphy asked, his eyes twinkling.
 

I liked him right away, though I had a feeling he might not take kindly to rodents in his kitchen. I shrank against the wall as I watched.

“Do you have any of the chocolate ones?” Amara asked.

Master Murphy lumbered over to a cupboard. As soon as his back was turned, she pointed toward a narrow door set against the far wall.

The pantry.

I tried to telepathically send her my thanks before racing across the floor, my eyes on the prize. Aidan ran alongside me, his whiskers twitching. I skidded under the door, into the dark pantry. Scents of grain and cheese and dried beans filled my nose.
 

Heaven. My mouse stomach grumbled, but I ignored it and followed Aidan to the wall on the right. My eyes adjusted to the dim light as we ran along the crevice, searching for a hole.

I smelled it before I saw it, the slightest tinge of fresh air. Near the corner at the back, there was a tiny gap in the stone. Aidan glanced at me with his beady black eyes, then shimmied through the hole.
 

I followed, scrabbling for purchase to pull myself through. We raced along a tiny corridor made of stone and dirt, going down into the ground before coming back up and out at the exterior wall.

The noon sun was high in the sky by the time we burst free. I blinked blindly, getting my vision back. The exterior wall loomed behind us, feeling a million miles tall in my mouse form. An endless expanse of rolling, heather-clad mountains stretched ahead.

Beside me, a gray light swirled around Aidan’s mouse form. A moment later, a small hawk stood in its place, a species that I thought was native to Scotland. It looked like it fit the landscape, at least, with its glinting brown feathers.

I shivered as it looked at me, knowing it was Aidan and that I wasn’t really a mouse. But it was still creepy—to be prey eyed by a predator.

I was so anxious to shift that it was easy to reach out and grasp on to Aidan’s magic. I envisioned myself as an identical hawk and let the magic flow through me. It filled my limbs with warmth as I grew, my mouse feet shifting to form wings, my snout into a beak.

Aidan’s hawk nodded at me, then we pushed off the ground and into the sky. The first few flaps of my wings were a bit awkward, but I let instinct take over. We soared over the mountains, leaving Glencarrough behind.
 

The wind ruffled my feathers, and joy sang through me. We’d be home in no time.

When the blow hit me from behind, sending me plummeting to the ground, it caught me completely by surprise. Shock scattered my thoughts as I tumbled through the air, my wings flapping helplessly.