Hopeless Magic (29 page)

Gently he picked me up and laid me on the ground, his mouth against mine again. Our magics swirled around us in the palpable magic that had become a connection of our auras. Except this time, I found them distracting. Usually they were alight with an iridescent glow, changing colors too fast to ever make one out clearly. This time however, the deep blue from my magic was overwhelming any other color in smokey wisps of air. The blue from my magic forced Kiran's to be black and the two colors seemed to be fighting in the night instead of wrapping themselves in each other like they usually did.

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I panicked for a moment, afraid the wind from the caves in India had followed me home, but then the blue was gone and the magics were back to the fast changing colors they had always been.

Kiran was kissing my mouth again. I tore my eyes away from the magic trying to give him my attention, but I was too distracted. I slowed down his kisses and eventually ended them, trying not to give the wrong impression.

"So, marriage, huh?" I cleared my throat

"Yes, marriage," he whispered, full of affection.

"If that's alright with you." He lay next to me on the soft forest floor, still kissing me sweetly.

"Will that make me a princess then?" I asked dreamily, still trying to forget the magic.

"And one day, queen," he whispered.

"But more importantly, I will get you." I forced myself to look into his eyes. They were turquoise, a reflection of his mothers and full of love for me. In that moment nothing else mattered, I didn't really care about being a princess or even queen; but if I were, if that dream 444/711

came true, I would be able to make everyone happy. I could set the Shape-shifters free, the Titan Guard as well, my family would be safe, and I could give the kingdom freedom to marry whomever they chose. If I were queen, I could solve everyone's problems without anyone I loved being in danger. And I would be with the man I loved, without secrecy or threat of danger.

We could be together forever.

"And I get you," he finished, confirming my future plans.

"And of course, live happily ever after," I sighed, finding the perfect nook of his arm and cuddling closer.

"Well, of course," Kiran said happily. "We will know more in a week or so when father comes to visit," he finished off-handedly.

"Wait, I'm sorry, what did you say?" I sat half way up. Lucan? In Omaha?

"Yes," he laughed at me. "He wants to visit for the Christmas holiday and stay through January for my birthday."

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"He has time to stay for a whole month?" Lucan in Omaha for an entire month could not be a good thing, no matter how much closer to progress Kiran and I were.

"Eden, he is the king, he can do whatever he wants." Kiran sat up with me and laughed again.

"It will be alright dearest. I said it before, he would very much like to see us together. It's a strategic move for the kingdom and of course he wants me happy."

"No, I know that's what you said. I just didn't think he needed to come here, to, you know, make up his mind," I smiled weakly, trying to reassure myself that this was a good thing. If Lucan wanted us together then it didn't hurt to speed things along. Still, Avalon and Jericho's faces flashed before me and I couldn't drown the sick feeling that they and everyone on the farm would be in danger. How could I protect them before I was queen, before I really had any power at all?

29.

"Avalon, seriously, I can't shop for your Christmas present if you are with me. I'll be fine," I pushed Avalon away, laughing at him. We had been at the mall for hours, Lilly and Jericho had gone off to find something special for Aunt Syll as not only a Christmas present, but a thank you for her hospitality; and I was finally down to just Avalon's gift, but I couldn't get him to leave.

"I can't leave you. Amory's orders," he said stubbornly, crossing his arms and giving me the defiant look I had started to believe was genetic.

"Listen, I've got Roxie, there is nothing to worry about," I tried again. "Besides, don't you need to get me a present?" I asked with all sincerity.

"No, you don't deserve a present," he rolled his eyes and then turned around, scanning the mall in every direction.

"It's alright Avalon," Roxie came to my defense.

"Listen, if I see anything suspicious, anything at 447/711

all, I will call you, or make Eden call you with the twin connection thing."

"Yes!" I agreed. "I will totally just let you know if anything seems out of the ordinary!" I exclaimed, excited to have someone on my side.

"Besides, Eden already knows exactly what she's going to get you, right Eden?" Roxie asked and I nodded my head furiously. "Can we get it in less than twenty minutes?" I nodded again.

"See Avalon? You have nothing to worry about.

You can even sit right here and we will come find you as soon as we pick it up," she looked at me again and I nodded for the third time.

"I don't like it," Avalon grumbled, but we both knew he had conceded.

"And no cheating," I demanded, tapping my temple with my finger.

"Yeah, yeah. Ok, then get going, I've already started timing you," he held up his wrist watch, waving it at us, and Roxie and I scattered off in a different direction, walking fast and laughing.

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"Oh, he can be such a drama queen!" I sighed, exasperatedly.

"No, I don't think so," Roxie defended him, but in a nicer way than usual. "No, I think he just cares about you."

I looked over at Roxie, surprised by her. She just smiled and I didn't know what to say. We walked into the electronic store and my eyes floated over the big TVs and fancy cameras and camcorder displays, looking for the game console I wanted to buy Avalon.

I wandered around the store with not much direction and Roxie gave me a little space, making her way over to the new movie releases. Eventually, I found what I was looking for and I stared at the two options I had researched, still not really sure which one to choose.

I had no clue which one Avalon would prefer, I just knew that he wanted one. He owned every kind of electronic anything back at the farm, but he had left them all for the visitors staying there.

I knew he wanted something for our house, but 449/711

felt that to go buy something would negligence of his duties.

I couldn't make up my mind and none of their descriptions were helping me choose which one was better. I felt like everything was written in a different language, a techie language that was as good as French to me. I was contemplating buying them both and just explaining the extra charges on my credit card later to Aunt Syl, hoping she wouldn't care.

"Can I help you find anything miss?" I barely glanced up at the sales associate trying to make a commission.

"No thanks, I've found what I'm looking for," I smiled politely, while turning my attention back to the two items in question.

"I'm very happy to hear that," he said snidely, but didn't move anywhere.

"Really, I've got it," I snapped my head up, not even pretending to be polite anymore. I was irritated.

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Irritation quickly changed to fear when I realized the man bothering me was not a sales associate at all. He was dressed in a nicely tailored black suit and had the distinct military look of a Titan. I felt his magical current, faint beneath his blood and chastised myself for not finding it earlier.

"I think we have more of what you're looking for, back this way," he gestured his hand towards the back of the store. I looked frantically around for Roxie but couldn't see her anywhere. The man put a firm grip on my arm, pulling me away from the people milling around the different displays.

Avalon, find me.
I opened our twin connection while stumbling through an employee door that led to the concrete hallways out of sight to the average mall-goer. Once on the other side, I gasped; there were six more Titans waiting and one of them was holding a flailing Roxie, his hand over her mouth.

I felt Avalon tense up, and knew he was watching what was happening.
Get Jericho first.
I demanded. I didn't care how powerful I was supposed to 451/711

be, I wasn't going to win this fight without some back up.

"
"What do you want?" I growled, irritated more than scared at having to be put in this position.

Again.

"
"Want? Why, will you give it to us if I say pretty please?" The man who had brought me back asked sarcastically and a few of the other men just laughed.

I couldn't help but feel intimidated by the seven grown men standing in a circle around me. Fighting one grown man had been hard enough, and this wasn't a bunch of kids in a forest. These were trained Guard with a purpose.

"
"Listen," I cleared my throat, and forced courage into my voice, "if you let us go, I promise not to take every single one of your magics. I'll let you keep it, k? And we can walk away and just forget this every happened."

A chorus of harsh laughter mocked me.

"
"Yeah, poor Becks," one man offered, clearly not taking me seriously.

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""
"You don't really expect to be able to take all of our magic, do you?" the first man asked, stepping closer to me.

"
"Well, obviously that's why Lucan sent you.

He's testing me. He doesn't actually expect you to succeed," I decided to stop playing games and just get to the bottom of this.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," another man spoke up. "We're just curious. We want to see what Becks was actually up against. That's all."

More evil laughter.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," I mumbled before throwing Roxie's captor back against a wall, cracking the concrete blocks in the shape of his body, but releasing his grip on Roxie. He didn't have time to stand up before she had thrown him down the hallway making him pay for ever touching her.

The rest of the men closed in on me fast, one grabbing my arms behind my back, while the others tried to pick me up. I used my magic quickly with the guy holding my arms and threw 453/711

him against the ceiling before letting him drop painfully to the ground. There were too many of them for me to focus on every one. While I was fighting off one of them, another would sneak up on me. I did my best, sending random blasts of magic behind me, trying to keep the others at bay while dealing with them one on one.

Unlike the team of four I drained of magic in the forest, these men were not leaving me alone to focus that much energy. Quick bursts were all I could work up and they were anything but debilitating.

Roxie was at the other end of the hallway, kicking some serious ass, but that was all she could handle at once. I was amazed, though, at how much power came out of such a little body; I gave her due credit for the attitude she carried.

She was pretty much a bad ass.

The hallway was crumbling around our fight.

Huge splits in the concrete floor and cracks up the walls would leave dangerous evidence of a 454/711

super human fight. At the moment though, I didn't have a choice.

I was determined to drain someone's magic, hoping that if the rest of them witnessed the devasta-tion, I could get my message through. But six against one was frustrating and exhausting and for some reason felt like I needed martial arts training.

I was losing ground and the six men were getting closer to stopping me. My magic needed more strength to get through. They seemed unstoppable; nothing was slowing them down.

I sent another man down the hallway, crashing into a clothes rack on wheels, sending metal hangers flying, but not phasing the man at all. He stood up and snarled, a sick smile twisting his lips. A look of pure enjoyment filled his eyes. I shuddered, while trying to dodge another Titan, this one diving at my feet and pulling me to the ground with a tight grip on my ankle.

I lay on the ground, with the six men, murderous intent written on their faces, above me. I took the 455/711

moment of silence to gather my energy. Even if this was it, I would take the down time to gather my strength and bring as many with me as I could.

The door behind the men slowly opened and Jericho, Avalon and Lilly came walking nonchal-antly through it, until the door closed behind them. They stood facing the men, ready to fight back. I couldn't help but smile. The cavalry had arrived.

"I told you it was a bad idea, Eden," Avalon announced, good naturedly. He hadn't been in a fight in a while, he was morbidly looking forward to this. "You should have listened to me."

"Avalon, merry Christmas," I joked back, out of breath. "This
is
your Christmas present."

"
"Aw, you have such good taste," he joked before sending three of the Titan Guards flying in every direction and reaching over to help me stand up.

The real battle began at that point, Witches against Titans, everyone, except Lilly, who was pacing the hallway wanting desperately to change 456/711

into her tigress form. The hallways of the mall, however, were not a place for a jungle animal.

Avalon and Jericho were nearly unstoppable. The Titans did not stand a chance against them. Roxie too, was finishing her fight off and I had finally gathered enough magic to do some serious damage.

"
The men wouldn't quit, they were weakening but were not going to stop. I wanted to finish this thing and go home.

Drain them.
I sent to Avalon, who nodded in silent agreement.

We stood back to back against the four men we were fighting and started, drawing power off of each other. The electricity moved freely back and forth between our blood and was quick to draw the magic out from the angry Titans.

The pull was easy. They continued to fight, but did not even try to keep their magic. Avalon and I drained them in seconds and they fell in crumpled heaps to the floor, gasping for breath, the twisted smiles still mocking me.

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The other three Immortals, backed away slowly from Roxie and Jericho before taking off down the hallway in full sprint. Jericho started after them, but Avalon stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.