Page 29 of Whispers of the Magical Forest

"Civilians first," I snapped, throwing up a barrier between the mundies and the magical chaos erupting outside. "Get them clear!" My eyes scanned the room frantically searching for Aislinn and the evil minions that had attacked.

Fiona nodded as her magic wove through with a spell to encourage people to hurry toward the back of the cafe while their memories went fuzzy. It was a neat trick she'd perfected over the years of dealing with supernatural disasters in public places. It wouldn’t erase the memories. Thepeople could and would eventually recall what happened but that’s what we had Gadross and his gadgets for.

"Nothing to see here," she called out, her voice layered with persuasion. "Just a minor gas leak. Best clear the area!"

The scene outside was pure chaos. Purple energy crackled through the air like corrupt lightning. It cast strange shadows over the snow-covered street. In the middle of it all was Aislinn. She had squared off against a figure that seemed to shift between human and something decidedly not. One moment it was the well-dressed businessman from the house, and the next, it was twisted flesh and fur.

"Well," Fiona muttered as we ran for the door, "guess we found our shifter. Lovely fashion sense you've got."

"Less quipping, more running," I shot back. Although I had to admit his outfit was impressively coordinated for someone currently violating several laws of physics and good taste.

The man moved with unnatural grace. Each motion was fluid like water but sharp as broken glass. His form flickered between shapes and never quite settled on one. The effect was nauseating to watch. Imagine trying to focus on a picture that kept changing every time you blinked.

Aislinn's Fae magic blazed against the darkness. Ice and wind responded to her call. But something was wrong. Her power seemed to sputter and fade where it should have been strongest. It was like a flame struggling to stay lit in a storm.

"The binding runes," I realized with horror as I caught sight of symbols that blazed purple against the pavement. "They're dampening her magic! They've laid a trap!"

"Of course they did," Fiona growled as she pushed herself faster despite her injury. "This night wasn't complicated enough already!"

A vice constricted around my heart as we crawled through the broken window. We were too faraway. Even as we ran, I could see the trap closing. The magic pulsed and shadows wrapped around Aislinn like chains made of condensed darkness. Her eyes met mine for just a moment. They were wide with realization and fear. The sight would haunt me the rest of my life. A second later, both she and the shifter vanished in a surge of purple energy that left afterimages dancing across my vision.

"No!" Fiona's scream echoed through the suddenly silent street. Her magic lashed out. Raw power scorched the pavement where the shifter had stood. Mine erupted from me at practically the same moment. My phoenix burst from me, burning my clothing to ash and leaving me covered in flames. I rose into the air a few feet as my soul raged against what had just happened. There was nothing left to hit except lingering traces of corrupted energy.

I dropped near Fiona and recalled my flames. She hurried me to her car and threw open the trunk. A hole had opened in my heart as I stuffed myself into new clothes. Fiona pulled the business card from her pocket. It had that sickly purple glow I’d come to loathe. New text flowed across its surface like mercury. "The final vessel is secured. The old ways will return. Come and witness the remaking of the world... if you dare. Your friend's power will serve a greater purpose." Yeah, I knew the thing was designed to taunt us and lead us into a trap.

"I'm going to kill them," Fiona said with the kind of calm that preceded extremely violent explosions. "Slowly. And painfully."

"Get in line," I muttered as I reached for my phone when it buzzed. Gadross's name flashed on the screen. I answered quickly.

"What. Happened." His voice was tight with barely controlled fury. I could hear sounds of magical chaos in thebackground. I didn’t care what was giving him trouble. We had a bigger problem.

I explained quickly, watching as Fiona paced like a caged tiger. Her magic crackled around her in dangerous arcs. The wound in her side was forgotten in the face of this new crisis, though I could see fresh blood staining the makeshift bandage.

"The leader's involved with a twisted shifter," I added. "The guy behind this has got some serious magical juice. The binding runes they used, cut through Aislinn's defenses like they weren't even there. There are several mundie witnesses. We need you at the cafe."

"Because they were specifically designed for her," Fiona added grimly. "They've been planning this for months. They were following us. They knew exactly what they needed to counter her abilities."

I grabbed Fiona by one shoulder. “They didn’t know everything. She can protect herself because they have no idea she has witchcraft, thanks to our bond. They just see her as an extremely powerful Fae who gave birth to a dragon. She can use that until we find her.” I was careful not to say what Fiona was. That wasn’t information we wanted out there.

"Search the town," Gadross ordered. "I'm pulling in every agent we've got. And Violet? Try to keep Fiona from burning down anything important. We don't need that kind of attention right now."

"Bit late for that," I muttered. A nearby rubbish bin spontaneously combusted under the weight of Fiona's anger. Or maybe it was mine. The flames burned with her witch flames and mine. "Though to be fair, I'm as pissed as she is."

Fiona growled, and her hands were shaking. Either from blood loss or rage. Possibly both. "We need to find her. Now."

"We will," I assured her, though my own heartwas racing with fear for Aislinn. "But we need to be smart about this. Running around blindly is exactly what they want us to do. That’s how they get us, too. And I bet anything that they need us as well. They did this to get us to let our guard down."

"Right. Actually," Fiona said, pulling out some of the documents we'd stolen from the house, "maybe not so blindly. Look at this. It's a ritual diagram. They need specific locations for whatever they're planning. Places where the magical energy aligns just right."

I studied the papers. My magical senses picked up traces of power embedded in the ink. "These markings are like the ones we saw in the wine cellars."

"I’ll be right there," Gadross said through the phone. "If you leave, stay in contact."

"I'm going to kill that fashion-challenged bastard," Fiona growled as she studied the scorched pavement where Aislinn had vanished. Her magic left burning footprints in her wake as she paced. The heat of her anger literally melted the snow. Her power was tied to her emotions, and right now, those emotions were running hot enough to melt steel. I could relate but I was trying to keep my cool so we could come up with a plan and rescue Aislinn.

An idea hit me. “We need to try and track the magic to her.” I knelt beside one of the scorch marks and tried to parse the magical signatures with a tracking. Something about the residual energy made my phoenix stir uneasily beneath my skin. The corruption seemed deeper than natural darkness could account for.

"Getting anything?" Gadross asked as he appeared beside us with considerably more grace than Fiona's earlier exit from the café.

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