Page 115 of Kiss of Magic

Fifty Six

Three weeks after the Second Dark War

Nat watched the last family enter the tunnel. They would head to the other side, then make their way along the riverbank until they were met by soldiers who would escort them back to Arjhan.

Not that they needed protection. The Forbidden Zone had once been home to a legion of dark witches and sorcerers who practiced out of sight of the rest of Nush’aldaam. But with the demise of the demons they had all but vanished.

Nat guessed they knew they would now be under greater scrutiny than ever before. And they’d lost some of their strongest members.

She’d heard on the grapevine that several sorcerers had been killed in the mortal realm. By a human, no less. Rumour had it they’d been thrown into a pit by a regular guy without any powers whatsoever. Nat thought she’d like to meet him one day.

If it was true.

There were also whispers surrounding the disappearance of a prominent witch, Denara, a senior leader in the dark community. Again, it had all been muddled hearsay.Her trolls had turned on her. She’d been consumed by dark magic. She’d been defeated by another witch whom she’d been trying to turn.The rumours were endless and it was impossible to say what was true. No-one knew for sure. Perhaps she’d just gone into hiding like so many of her dark brothers and sisters.

Something butted her in the middle of her back and she looked round. It was one of the draconi babies, its scalesglimmering blue and green in the dappled sunlight. Though she supposed she shouldn’t call it a baby anymore. The reptile was a year old and already reached her shoulder.

“Hey, Snout.” She rubbed his poll affectionately.

Snout had got his name because he would insistently butt his nose against anyone and anything until he was adequately petted. As a carnivorous animal that would one day learn to breathe fire, he wasn’t particularly fierce.

He’d been extremely happy that for several weeks, the Haven had been full of other people to pet him. People who were at first dismayed then delighted to learn that the dragons of old still existed in this small pocket of Nush’aldaam.

They’d been equally delighted to see the faeries. The tiny flying fae had long been thought of as extinct.

They had allowed Beast and Nat to live among them in their Haven. And they had graciously allowed thousands of refugees to take shelter there from the demons. But their generosity meant their existence was no longer a secret.

Nat rubbed Snout’s head and bit her lip worriedly. The people returning home had promised not to breathe a word of the strange and wonderful creatures they’d seen in the Haven. But Nat was a realist. She knew it would get out.

Then others would come to have a look. And before long, the Haven would become a tourist trap.

But there had been no other way. She and Beast couldn’t have sat on their hands and done nothing when they could offer help to thousands of people.

She looked for the beast now. He was sprawled on a low branch, arms and legs dangling, enjoying the sun. She climbed up next to him and he made room.

“Natalia.” It sounded like a lion’s purr. When she didn’t answer, he cracked an eye-lid. “What’s wrong, slayer?”

“I’m worried about the faeries. Everyone’s going to know about them now.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t?”

“The faeries have been discussing it. I’ve been listening in.”

It was always a mystery to Nat how Beast could understand faerie language. To her, their voices sounded like a lot of little tinkly bells.

“What have they been saying?”

“That it’s time they left the Haven. Being around all those people has made them realise how isolated they’ve become. They miss Nush’aldaam.”

Nat gazed at him in astonishment. For her, other people were generally the lowest pit of the seven hells. Beast was the only one she enjoyed being with.

She hadn’t minded having all those families in close proximity for a short while – some of them had been quite nice. But they were also loud and chaotic and messy, and she preferred peace.

The idea that the faeries missed the noise was strange. But not altogether surprising. They were a gregarious species and they liked helping people.

Hells, the first time she’d met them they’d healed her horse and taken her and Beast out of the rain.

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