Magic Resistant (18 page)

“Spider legs?” He asked, expecting her to
avoid them. As if she’d give up useful spells like wall crawling
and sticky webs due to a dislike. He had a lot to learn about her
stubbornness and compulsive tendencies. Poor guy.

“Really? Spider legs?” She made a face at
him, playing it up. “Nasty, gross, little creatures.”

He laughed outright.

“You’re such a jerk.” Whirling away from him,
she flounced over to her mage belt.

“Do you want spider, tarantula or daddy
long-legs?” She adroitly asked as she pulled out three separate
bags from one of the pouches. A smug grin as she dangled them
knowing she'd won this round.

He gaped at her. “Honestly?! You carry spider
legs in your never-ending bag? Unbelievable.”

Sticking out her tongue at him, she then
snickered. “Some like to collect crystal figurines. I like to
collect spell components. Just a bit obsessive over it. Soon as I
find one I don’t have, I hunt it down ‘til it’s mine. Something
you’ll have to live with. Like I have to live with your coffee
addiction.”

“Hey, that’s not an addiction, that’s pure
pleasure. And speaking of pure pleasure...” Sauntering over to her,
he leaned down and gave her a slow, lingering kiss. Eyes fluttering
shut, she lost herself to him. Her world narrowed to the feel of
his lips, the heat of his body and the impatient caress of his
hands on her back. Naked is how she wanted him, wonderfully,
deliciously naked. His body hers to explore.

She’d been greedy with all the pleasure he’d
selflessly given her. It was time to return the favour. Undoing the
button on his pants, she gave him a wicked, sinful grin.

Chapter Fifteen

LYING IN BED
together, Julia shivered as Jackson’s finger traced the shell of
her ear. He skimmed across her earrings. Snuggling into his chest,
she dropped a tender kiss onto his nipple. Contentment flooded her
and she rubbed her cheek against his skin.

Jackson’s next words destroyed her serenity.
“How many are imbued?”

She barely stopped from tensing, her mind
racing. Why’d he have to remember? Her life would’ve been easier if
he’d forgotten about her earrings. How could she explain without
spilling all her dirty sins?

More important, would he keep her ability
under wraps? Would he understand why he needed to? If the Enforcer
society knew she could imbue items, they would all want something
done. A hard task, it took a lot out of her.

Each one took twenty days to create and she
could do two of them at a time. Once, only once, she tried imbuing
three of them. Keeper had advised her against it, told her she’d
regret it.

Stubbornly, she went ahead and did it,
determined to prove her worth. Ah, the folly of youth. Four days
gone in the blink of an eye. One minute she was chanting, the next,
she woke up in Keeper’s guest room. He hadn’t ranted, hadn’t
berated her, just said, “And that’s why you do two at a time, no
more.”

Missing several days of school, he’d covered
for her, said she had a family emergency. Hard to call in sick when
magic could fix almost any ailment.

Keeper had explained the amount of energy
required for three or more was too draining on a mage. Until her
energy replenished, she’d remain in a coma. She’d been lucky only
four days had passed. The worst he’d heard of was almost a year. It
all depended on the spell and amount of energy it took.

Once, she’d asked Keeper why he didn’t teach
others this dying art before it disappeared, lost to the twilight
of time. Despondent, he'd replied, “The mages took away the ability
long ago. I can’t teach it to anyone else.”

He never explained what he meant. No matter
how much she pestered him, he wouldn’t go into further detail.
After a while, she stopped asking.

Sighing, she said “What I tell you cannot
leave this room,
ever
. I mean it.”

Leveraging herself on her elbow, her eyes
bore into his. He had to know she was serious. This was more
important than he could ever imagine. Her death was almost a sure
thing if the Mage Coterie investigated imbuing. It’d be an easy
step for them to find out her genetic defect. Soon after,
execution.

Beheading, such a horrible way to die.

Warm, sticky blood dripped down her cheeks
like macabre tears mingling with her own salty ones. Seconds was
all it took for her friend’s life to end. Seconds to snuff out a
vibrant, joyful life. Julia dropped to her knees, unwilling to
believe Irene was dead, gone for eternity.

Startled by the change in her, his
light-heartedness faded. He too became serious, the smile
disappearing. The weight of untold horrors and years of experience
in the Enforcers settled on him. No longer did he appear blithe and
carefree.

“If it’s that important to you then yes, I
won’t tell anyone else. I swear it.”

She relaxed, knowing he wouldn’t swear to
something unless he meant it. Integrity was extremely important to
mages.

“They’re all imbued, all twelve of them.” She
almost fell off the bed when Jackson swiftly sat up, stunned.

“What?! All of them?! How in the nine hells?
That’s not possible! I haven’t run into a single imbued item, ever,
not a one and I’ve been all over this world. And you have twelve of
them?” Jackson rubbed his hands through his hair, trying to grasp
what she was telling him. Random strands stuck up and she almost
giggled. He could easily rock the punk look.

While she distracted herself with his
adorably messy hair, he was thinking over the implications. Tempted
as she was to divert him, curiosity kept her quiet. Would he figure
it out?

A few moments passed before he spoke again.
“You did them, didn’t you? You can imbue items. How? Can you teach
me?”

He grasped her hands, a silent plea. He
seemed unaware of his movements which broke her heart. She didn’t
want to deny him, such endearing eagerness. The intelligence
shining in his eyes squeezed at her. He’d be an apt, studious
pupil, willing to put in the hard hours to learn. For once, the
temptation to break a promise, ignore a sworn oath ate at her.
However, not even for Jackson would she tarnish her word.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but I can’t.” She
whispered sadly. This would be their first fight and it was all her
fault.

At first he didn’t get it. He thought she
meant either he wouldn’t comprehend the steps or she was hesitant
over her teaching skills. Finally, she bluntly crushed his dreams
and hoped he understood.

“I will never teach you how. I’m not allowed.
One of the conditions of learning, I can never,
ever
teach
this to anyone else. The second, no one would know who taught me.
The third, I wouldn’t tell anyone I did the imbuing, although since
you guessed, I’m not at fault.” She watched as he struggled with
his anger and disappointment at not learning.

He let out a frustrated sigh, fell back onto
his pillow and flung an arm over his eyes, shutting her out. Acid
churned in her stomach as she worried over his reaction. As she
suspected, he wasn’t pleased with her denying him. Learning to
imbue would be a huge accomplishment, especially since so few had
the skill. Well, according to common knowledge, no one did
anymore.

Her first loyalty, though, remained with
Keeper. He watched over her, kept her safe, trained her in secrecy
and understood her in ways no one else ever could. She curled her
knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

“I should leave, find somewhere else to
stay.”

Jackson again resembled a jack-in-the-box,
sitting up so swiftly they almost banged heads.

“Leave? Why? I don’t want you going anywhere.
Yeah, I’m kinda pissed you can’t teach me, but I’m not a child. I
know what a promise means to us and I won’t ask you to break one.
Does Markus know?” When she shook her head, he appeared oddly happy
about that.

“Wait, did you think Markus and I? Eew, no.
Friends only. He’s like my dad. There’s just no way...” She
shuddered at the thought and then swatted him on the hip for even
thinking it.

“So what can you tell me about the earrings?
Can you tell me what they each do? How many casts do you have? Is
it difficult to imbue them? Why earrings?”

He stopped asking questions when she covered
his mouth. Instead he licked her palm, his eyes crinkled with
laughter. She squealed and removed her hand.

Wiping the wetness on the blanket, she
laughed. “Geez, one question at a time! Each earring has a
different spell. Only two of them are constant so I don’t have to
renew them. The other ten require cleansing and re-imbuing once
I’ve depleted the spells. If, after a year, I haven’t used all the
spells, I still have to re-imbue them as the energy will fade
away.”

She touched the earrings on her left ear. The
magic swirling in them hummed under her fingers. The used ones had
a different vibration of energy. When drained, they’d feel the same
as an ordinary piece of jewelry.

“The bloodstone’s so I can understand
different languages and it’s a constant. Emerald to slow my descent
if I fall. Peridot gives me a fire shield while the star rose
quartz causes an earthquake. The sapphire lets me cast flames from
my fingers. Last on this ear, the garnet. Holds a person, but one
at a time.”

Her hand drifted to her right ear. She
twisted her head so Jackson could see each piece of jewelry. She
fingered the pearl decorating her tragus. That one and the
bloodstone hurt the worst going in. The others had less cartilage
to pierce.

“On my right, the pearl gives me a constant
mental shielding. The agate for physical shielding and the diamond
casts invisibility. Notice the top two are defensive spells? Makes
it easier for me to remember which ones to use during battle or
when I’m running away.” She said the last bit with a chuckle.

“Now the bottom three are my offensive
spells, to give me an edge when fighting. The jasper creates a gust
of wind and the amethyst shoots magic arrows. The ruby will cast
fireballs which I know the troll just loved.” She smirked, glad she
hadn’t been a hindrance. Instead, she’d proven her worth and
fighting prowess to Jackson.

“And that’s all of them. Most of them have
five castings and then they’re pretty decoration. Some, though,
have ten. Like the fire shield and the fireball.” A deep breath as
she flopped down onto the bed. Sharing, exposing herself went
against every instinct. Her fingers burrowed into the blanket,
clutching at the thin fabric as she waited his reaction.

Very few people had her trust and with good
reason. Only one person was privy to all of her secrets - Keeper.
Markus, she trusted with her life, but even he wasn’t aware of the
imbuing or her magic resistance. To keep both her and Markus safe,
she kept this information from him.

Jackson turned on his side, raised his upper
body and rested his head on his hand. She took a moment to admire
his chest, trailing her fingers up his ribcage before sneaking a
peek at his face to see his reaction to all this information. He
appeared calm and thoughtful.

“So why earrings? Why not rings, necklaces or
some other type of jewelry?” His questioning more curious than
anything. His inquisitive nature had taken over.

“Because no one asks why I’m wearing so many
earrings. They think it’s a quirk. Rings and necklaces would get in
the way during battle and they might get lost. Gems because it’s
easier to cleanse the residual energy and are best for holding a
spell. Takes a lot of practice though. Took me over a decade to
learn how to do it correctly. I exploded a fair bit of gemstones.”
She chuckled at the memory.

So young, not yet in her teens. She’d let
loose some curses she’d heard from older mages and Keeper had
reprimanded her. Told her she hadn’t earned the right to swear.

“First time it happened, it scared the hell
out of me. Thank goodness Ke... my teacher was with me. He told me
it was normal. Happened to him as well. I would’ve given up without
him keeping me sane.” A sad smile as she thought of Keeper’s
endless patience. She missed him, missed his sage advice.

Between her time with Keeper and Markus, plus
weekly visits with her family, she’d never been out of touch for so
long.

Which brought to mind a potential ally.
Hesitant, unsure of his reaction, she broached the touchy subject.
“Hear me out before you say anything. I think we should involve
Markus. He has lots of contacts, more than anyone knows. Once he
sees all the information you’ve gathered, I’m sure he’d help us.
He’s not unreasonable. And he doesn’t blindly follow what the
Coterie says.”

Jackson was shaking his head before she
finished speaking. “No, no way. I don’t want him involved. Bad
enough he’s hunting me. No need to give him a target by talking to
him.”

“Why not? I know he’d help if I asked
him.”

“We can’t trust Markus. He tried to kill us
with the Devouring Plague or have you forgotten that?” He demanded,
now sitting up, no longer calm. “We had to cut through Fay
territory to escape. It almost cost us our lives.”

“Markus doesn’t know the Devouring Plague. He
doesn’t!” Julia snapped at him. Markus would never hurt her. She’d
known him for over thirty years, most of which he’d been her
mentor. He might be an overbearing ass sometimes, but he wouldn’t
try to kill her. She vehemently ignored the tiny niggle of
doubt.

Would he ignore his duty as an Enforcer if he
found out about her resistance? How far did his loyalty extend to
her?

“How do you know? He’s not with you every
second of the day. Hell, he doesn’t know about your earrings! You
keep secrets from him, why can’t he keep secrets from you?”

Jackson’s words pounded into her, reminding
her of the lies she lived. Each one ripped at her. Protection, of
herself and others, lived at the core of her being. The choices she
made may not be the best ones, but when the alternative was
death…