the huntress 04 - eternal magic (22 page)

Now we really had a chance.

Something grabbed me from behind, wrapping hard around my middle. 

“Let go!” I thrashed, trying to break free as it dragged me backward. 

Around me, the demons were rising, shaking off their stupor.

When my feet scraped over the large circular stone that marked the portal, I shrieked, “No!”

Half a second later, I was sucked through the ether. My vision went black for a moment. When I opened my eyes, I was in the forest outside the FireSouls’ compound. 

I pulled away from the arm that encircled me and spun, kicking my captor in the middle before I’d even gotten a glimpse of who it was.

Corin tumbled to her back in the leaves that scattered the forest floor. I jumped onto the stone that marked the portal and envisioned the stone circle and the fight, wishing desperately to return there.

Nothing happened.

“Why the hell isn’t it working?” I demanded.

“It’s blocked.” Corin struggled to her feet, her arm wrapped around her middle. “I think you cracked a rib.”

“You deserved it. Send me back!”

“No. I can’t let you be abducted.”

“What about my
deirfiúr
? My friends!”

“The others will bring them here to protect them.”

“What if they can’t?”

“Then at least Victor won’t have all of you.” A hard expression entered her eyes.

“Damn it! Send me back!”

Corin shook her head. “Can’t. I have orders.”

Helpless rage made my skin heat and my chest feel too tight. I couldn’t believe I was here, trapped, away from the fight.

The transportation charm! 

I dug into my pocket and pulled out the small black stone, then threw it to the ground. But it didn’t burst into the glittery cloud that would take me wherever I desired. I picked it up and chucked it again.

Nothing.

“Won’t work,” Corin said. “Those are blocked here.”

Damn it. I shoved it back into my pocket and was about to try to call on my illusion power to scare her into following my orders when the charm around her neck made a noise. 

She pressed her fingertips to the comms charm. “Yes?”

“You can bring her back. They’re gone.”

“On it.” Corin’s gaze met mine. “Your lucky day. We’re going back.”

“That was a fast fight.” Dread filled my chest. Victor wouldn’t have left without a victory, and he had more men than we’d had.

Corin joined me on the portal stone and gripped my arm. The portal sucked me in, and a moment later, I stood back in the middle of the stone circle.

Demon bodies were scattered on the ground. Only ten feet away, Connor lay on his back. I ran to him and fell to my knees, laying my fingertips at his neck. 

His pulse was strong.
Thank magic.
My shoulders loosened. I glanced around, searching for everyone else. Among the bodies, I couldn’t find anyone I recognized. My skin chilled.

A thud sounded behind me and I spun. Aidan’s massive griffin stood in the stone circle, his coat glinting gold in the moonlight. Claire climbed off his back.

Magic shimmered around Aidan as he transformed back to human.

“They took Nix and Del,” Claire said as she fell to her knees at Connor’s side.

“What?” I asked.

“Almost immediately after you were dragged away, Victor changed tactics,” Aidan said. “I was nearest Claire, so I picked her up. Before I could reach Nix or Del, Victor’s demons grabbed them. They disappeared a moment later.”

“Damn it!” Fear clawed at my chest. “He must have taken them to the waypoint.” My dragon sense couldn’t find them there.

Connor shifted and opened his eyes, croaking, “What happened?”

“You got knocked out, dummy,” Claire said.

Alton approached. “But it kept you alive. The demons assumed you were dead and left you alone.”

I whirled on Alton. “You bastards! You dragged me off when I could have helped.”

Alton’s gaze chilled me. “We did what was necessary. And there were too many for you to be any help.”

“Your magic is, uh, pretty powerful, Cass,” Connor said. “Probably better you didn’t use it a second time. My insides feel liquefied.”

“Yeah,” Claire added. “At least this way, Nix and Del are still alive.”

I stutter-stepped backward. They were right. I could have killed them. In my fear and my rage, I could have let loose again with magic I didn’t understand. 

“I’m sorry,” I croaked. “I—I—”

“It’s cool.” Claire rubbed my arm. “You were just trying to help.”

I scrubbed a hand over my face, thinking about Del and Nix. “We’ve got to get them back.” Victor Orriodor made his home at a strange place that wasn’t on Earth. It was between the heavens and hells and impossible for me to find.

“Do you know how to get to the waypoint where Victor Orriodor lives?” I asked Alton.

“No. We do not,” Alton said.

I wanted to scream my frustration. But I didn’t have time to lose my shit. My
deirfiúr
needed me. I had to find them. 

Find them.

Of course. My FireSoul abilities hadn’t been able to locate the waypoint in the past, but maybe now that they had the extra power, they could.

“Will you guys step back?” I asked. “Far away. I’m going to try to use my new strength to find Nix and Del.”

Everyone nodded and walked away, well outside of the stone circle. I was really going to have to get a handle on my new magic, because I didn’t want to be a walking bomb.

But at least I had it back. 

It wasn’t hard to shove away all thoughts and focus on my dragon sense. I’d never wanted to find anything so badly in all my life.

Within a few seconds, I picked up the thread of their location.

But it wasn’t at the waypoint.

“They’re in Magic’s Bend,” I said, confusion welling.

“What the hell?” Aidan stepped forward.

The others followed, gathering around me in a large group—Aidan, Claire, Connor, and the nine FireSouls I’d met before. The dragonets hovered over everyone’s heads.

“Yeah, I’m sure of it.” No wonder it’d been easy to pick up the thread of their location. They weren’t at the waypoint. “Let’s go.”

“We cannot follow,” Alton said. “The Order of the Magica has a strong presence in Magic’s Bend. The League is already too small. If we are captured, we will disappear for good.”

“And then there’d be no one to rescue
us
from the Prison for Magical Miscreants,” Corin said.

I remembered what they’d said about that being one of their primary goals. Of course they couldn’t risk their entire organization.

“But when Victor removes them from Magic’s Bend, contact us,” Alton said. “We can help you at the waypoint, or another place that is removed from the Order’s influence.”

“Here.” Corin handed me a transportation charm. “Use this. It’s the least we can do.”

“Thank you.” They were committed to keeping me and my
deirfiúr
out of Victor’s hands, but not to the point that they’d risk their organization. I couldn’t blame them. “I will let you know what happens and if we need help.”

They nodded and departed, disappearing in pairs through the portal. Within moments, we stood alone in the stone circle, the moon shining serenely as if the ground weren’t singed and soaked with blood.

The bodies of the fallen demons had all disappeared, so it was too late to check them for transportation charms. At least we had two and the one from Corin. Enough to get us back and then some.

Aidan bent and picked up the dampening cuff I’d discarded. He handed it to me. “This might come in handy now. Maybe dampen some of your power so you can control it.”

I smiled and put it on. Calm descended over me as it diminished some of the crazy-strong power ricocheting around inside me. Hopefully with this thing, I could perform something closer to normal magic. The kind that didn’t come with a sonic boom.

 “I think it works,” I said. Until I learned to control the strength of my new power, it’d be better if I was at a slightly lower intensity. 

“Back to Magic’s Bend?” I asked. “We’ve got a rescue mission to pull off.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

We arrived back in Magic’s Bend a few moments later. Because of the time change, it was early evening, the hour when the light turns to dark. I hadn’t been able to tell precisely where my
deirfiúr
were from so far away, so we’d transported to my living room.

Connor held up his empty bag. “I’m running to my workshop. I need to refill my potion bombs.”

“Get something that’ll work as a mask,” I said. “If that building isn’t empty, we don’t want to be recognized.” 

He nodded. “Good idea.”

“Grab one for me,” Claire said.

“And meet us at my car.” I shrugged out of the coat Aidan had loaned me and said, “Let me grab a jacket and masks. Help yourself to anything. I’ll be out in a sec and we’ll go.”

Not that there’d be much in my fridge or pantry, but they were probably starving. It’d been ages since we’d eaten.

I hurried into my room and grabbed the first jacket I saw. It was draped over the bed, a discard from earlier. As I tugged it on, my golden dampener cuff glinted on my wrist. 

I scavenged in my dresser for a couple old ski hats. I found two black ones—very robber-chic—and pulled them out. There was a pair of scissors lying on my dresser, and I used them to cut eye holes. 

I returned to the living room to find Claire and Aidan eating granola bars and chugging soda. Claire tossed me one, and I tore into it, shoving a bite into my mouth before mumbling, “Ready?”

“Let’s get them,” Claire said.

I grabbed my keys on the way out, and we hurried down the stairs, polishing off our impromptu dinner. I ate because it was probably a good idea, not because I was hungry. But I was so rocky with worry that it was hard to swallow.

When we stepped out into the dark night, a drizzly rain chilled the air. Connor jogged up the sidewalk to join us, carefully cradling the messenger bag that now bulged with his ammo. 

I closed my eyes and called on my dragon sense. It pinged with recognition, that familiar tug pulling me down the street and toward the center of town.

“The business district?” I said. That was the last place I’d expected.

“What the hell are they doing there?” Connor asked.

“It’d be quiet this time of night,” Aidan said. “And it’s a weekend, I believe. Not a bad place for a secret meeting.”

“Let’s go.” I crossed the street toward Cecelia. 

We hopped in, Aidan next to me and Connor and Claire in the back. I said a little prayer as the engine coughed and sputtered, but it turned over.

Thank magic. 

I drove like a maniac through town, keeping my eyes out for cops and pedestrians. Fate favored us tonight, and no cops pulled us over. 

When we neared the business district, I nodded to a tall gray building in front of us. “It’s that one.”

“Take the next turn,” Aidan said. “There’s an overflow lot where people park for O’Connel’s, a local bar. We can park there so he won’t see us coming.”

I nodded, my gaze caught by the many windows that were blacked out like dead eyes. The building was mostly empty, but I didn’t want Victor to be looking out a window and see us come in. 

And if we were going to be breaking and entering, it’d be better if Cecelia wasn’t sitting right outside like a beacon.

 I pulled into the lot, which was appropriately dark, and turned the car off. I pocketed the keys and sucked in a deep breath.

Aidan squeezed my leg and said, “We’ll get them, Cass.”

I gave him a small smile, the most I was capable of right now, but I appreciated the gesture.

“Yeah,” I said. “We will.”

“So weird they’re in there, though,” Connor said. “Evil masterminds hiding out somewhere boring like the business district?”

“Not that weird, actually,” Claire joked. “Ask anyone where the bad guys are hiding during a recession.”

I laughed, but it was an awkward, nervous sound. I’d take a snake-filled, demon-infested temple any day over this kind of terror.

Before getting out of the car, I turned around to look at my companions. “Okay, I’ll lead. We move quickly and quietly.”

“And shoot to kill,” Aidan said.

“Happy to,” Claire answered.

“Delighted,” Connor added.

I handed a ski mask to Aidan and pulled mine over my head, adjusting it so I could see out the eye holes. It was itchy and awkward.

“I feel like a low-rent robber,” I said. 

“You look like one, too,” Claire said.

I grinned at her. She’d pulled hers on as well. None of us looked good, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t want to be recognized by the security cameras. That’d be a one-way trip to the Prison for Magical Miscreants. I’d only used my powers in Magic’s Bend a couple times in the past because I was so afraid of revealing myself to the Order of the Magica. Having security footage of my face breaking into this building—where I’d also be breaking out the magic—would be really bad. Aidan could only shift into animals, which was too bad. If he could shapeshift into another human, I could mirror that and avoid this damned mask.