Page 86 of Magic of the Damned

Their mother’s whereabouts had crossed my mind on more than one occasion, but I refrained from asking because her absence might have been rooted in a tragedy that they didn’t want to share. That might still be the case, although the question spilled out before I could stop it.

“Mother?” I asked. “Why doesn’t she live with the lord?”

“There is more than just one world like this,” he told me after several moments of consideration. “Their mother lives in another. Their union is best described as—” He stopped abruptly as he searched for the right word. “Transactional.”

Transactional? Was that the right word? Did anyone ever want that to be the case? Though, when power and influence was predicated on magical abilities, it made sense.

“Relationships like that aren’t unusual. Dominic and Helena’s father wanted heirs whose magic would match or be superior to his, so they could keep possession of this underworld. Lesser magical beings wouldn’t be able to ward off the periodic attacks from those who want to dethrone him. This underworld is considered the most desirable because of its proximity to the human world and the supernaturals that exist in it. Those who wish to have this world because of its affiliations with the supernaturals of your world don’t fully understand that it exists in a delicate—and strained—balance. It was cultivated over many years and with a great deal of effort. The ones who want to take this from Areleus—Lord of the Underworld,” he clarified, responding to my look of confusion, “don’t truly understand how precarious it is. Those who wish to overthrow us have numbers. Dominic, Helena, and their father have power. The power isn’t omniscient, something that neither Helena nor her father have come to understand, but it has the potential to cause great damage to those who challenge them for this world, and even the supernaturals of your world.”

Supernaturals of our world. He made it seem as if we had a harmonious and mutually respectful relationship. The supernaturals of my world lived in secret, using their magic to take advantage of humans and do whatever they pleased to us in order to remain concealed. The ones who wanted us to know of their existence wanted to subjugate us. I’d been able to negotiate some changes, when they needed me to return the most dangerous supernaturals to their prison. The underworld was now responsible for policing the supernaturals, making sure they stayed concealed and not at the expense of humans. If they violated the agreement, the Conventicle was no longer responsible for disciplining them—something they had proven to be feckless about, showing favoritism and leniency, especially when it came to supernaturals using humans or their magic against us. Although humans were in a better situation now, with regard to being the recipients of magic used against them, I couldn’t discount how perilously close becoming casualties was the alternative option. A war was brewing between those who wanted to overthrow the Conventicle and the current Conventicle. The ones who wanted to replace the current Conventicle were more ruthless. I wasn’t convinced they weren’t the better option. They’d rule with an iron fist. The only reason I hadn’t sided with them was because they wanted me dead. I was the problem, and they believed in ruthlessly eliminating all problems to maintain their anonymity.

Anand’s teeth clenched his lip, giving me the impression he’d provided too much information, until out of my periphery, I saw the swirl of images around me. They took solid form then disappeared. I stiffened, responding to Anand who’d assumed an attack posture and was watching attentively.

Fading between solid and swirls of midnight smoke, one finally held its form, just inches from me. Its slitted coal eyes reminded me of a snake. The tall, coltish thing drew back its wings and circled me. Its round face, nub nose, and wide mouth gave it a docile look, which I knew was deceptive. Something was off about it. Clawed fingers reached for me then withdrew. More swirls of colors misted around me that formed winged creatures who crowded me, drawn to me like bees to honey.

Through a space between the crowd of creatures, I watched Anand who kept a careful eye on them, his brow furrowed. The first creature who approached me drew back his lips to reveal jagged double rows of teeth. A long-forked tongue darted in my direction. I shoved him away, my arms wildly moving to put distance between me and the creatures. In retaliation, his clawed hand sliced me.

Simultaneously, they let out high, pained screeches as they dissolved into mist and disappeared. Illuminated black tendrils fanned from Anand like wings, expanding and consuming the space. His eyes eclipsed to a dark abyss as stifling magic coursed through the air. I struggled for each breath.

His wings and magic receded as quickly as they had appeared, leaving him sagging into himself, where he stayed for several beats. He looked fatigued. I couldn’t determine if it was from exertion or disuse. When he stood taller, ominous energy pulsed from him. A darkness clinging to him had me scuttling back to put distance between us. He advanced toward me but something in my face made him stop abruptly.

Holding his hand up, he said, “It’s okay. They’ve gone.”

It wasn’t just them that bothered me, but it was a starting point.

“They being?” I asked in a shaky whisper.

“Shades. Bound here by magic, they’re limited in their abilities. They live here but can’t sustain a solid form.” The “until now” remained unspoken. He blinked. “They typically can’t maintain their solid form long enough to be any danger. They’ve never been a problem before. In your world, they don’t have those limitations. There, they can fully use their magic in whichever unsuspecting human’s body they take.”

“It’s your magic that keeps them here?” I asked.

He shook his head, moving toward. He abruptly stopped, waiting for my approval. Remnants of whatever drove his baleful magic still lingered in the air as the painful wails his magic pulled from those creatures replayed on a loop in my head. My attention was split between thinking of them and of his magic that drove them away.

Appreciative of the time he gave me, seconds became minutes before I gave him the nod to come closer.

I wanted to go home. Tears welling in my eyes, I looked down at the stain of blood forming on my shirt.

“I need to see it, Luna,” he told me as he knelt and slowly rolled up my shirt. “It’s not too bad. Dominic can advance the healing, but it will heal fine on its own. They’re not poisonous.”

Not poisonous, just shapeshifter creatures of the underworld who were impotent only there. Who were attracted to me and able to maintain form and harm me. No biggie. Nothing to see here.

I want to go home.

“What are you?” There was probably desperation in my voice because his steadfast countenance dropped and a flush ran along the bridge of his nose.

“My mother was a shifter-witch hybrid.” I kept my face expressionless to not reveal that Dominic had told me that. “In my mother’s animal form, her bite affected shifters and vampires. It suppressed the abilities of shifters, and vampires responded as if they’d been staked.” Taking note that he used the past tense, I pondered what had happened to her, but his admission seemed to take so much from him that I refrained from asking.

Lifting his eyes to mine, he admitted in a low whisper, “My father’s a Mors.”

Witches with the ability to take a life with a spell and touch. But knowing that didn’t enlighten me as to why the shades responded to him that way.

“My magic affects shades,” he explained, standing up and running a hand through his hair, mussing it. A hollowness appeared in his hazel eyes. He nudged his chin in the direction we’d come from.

“Is that your only magic?” There wasn’t any way his ability to navigate the world remaining virtually unseen was in my head and not part of his magic.

“I can cloak myself, a skill neither of my parents possessed. The magic world dislikes the mingling of species, not only to maintain the purity and strength of the line but because how mercurial the magic is in hybrids. The inability to fully understand and counter the magic of the unknown isn’t handled well. If it’s too complicated and becomes a cause for fear, they believe that for the safety of their existence, the entity must be removed.”

His movements slipped back into a flowing ease but slowed by fatigue.

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