Page 12 of Stolen Magic
I had no ground to stand on, so I couldn’t judge my friend no matter what she did, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt. We agreed to never ask questions about our powers and such, but the fact that she knew I was a thief but hid things from me smarted like hell. Not that I’d show Dimitri that by any means.
My shoulder twitched in what I hoped was a devil-may-care shrug. “I don’t see why she wouldn’t.” Spreading my arms wide and my palms up, I took a step away from him. “As I said, I make candles. If you need one for … I don’t know, to get your passion going between you and your fiancé, just come by the shop. I got you covered. Until then, I’m out.” Spinning on my heel, I had barely taken a couple of steps when he spoke.
“How do you know about my engagement?”
My eyes closed.
Char always told me that my big mouth would eventually get me in so much trouble no number of spells or magic would be able to get me out of it. I proved her right the first chance I got. Yay, me. The dumbass who blurted everything that came to mind, including things I shouldn’t know.
I faced him but kept walking backward. “Huh? I was just saying. When you do get engaged or whatever. Call me psychic I guess.” My nervous laugh turned into a squeal when he snatched me by the wrist. I’d heard of shifters moving fast, but Dimitri pulled some vampire speed to materialize next to me in less then a second. “Let go of me.”
A few people who dared to walk near where we were standing gave us fleeting glances, but no one came to my rescue. I couldn’t blame them because Dimitri, although dressed in a suit, was more intimidating than a vampire baring his fangs at everyone. I’d stay away if I was them, too.
The Alpha didn’t release my wrist. In fact, his fingers tightened almost painfully.
“I’m not a shifter, but if you don’t remove your hand from me, I’ll bite it off,” I told him calmly and stopped struggling to yank my arm out of his grip.
“Or you could use your magic to free yourself, krasivaya.” When his baritone vibrated inside my chest, I realized how close we stood to each other. His scent, something untamed and wild, filled my nose, and subconsciously, my body leaned toward him.
“That would be very stupid if I was, as you like to accuse me of being a witch.”
It was the best course of action to ignore the breathless tone of my voice. My eyes lifted from his chest toward his face, and my breath left in a whoosh when I locked them on his gaze. His silver blue irises were stormy and dark as his lips parted slightly. I stopped breathing when his head lowered, but much to my frustration, he stopped before he kissed me. I felt his warm breath grazing my skin.
“Or maybe it would be smart,” he murmured, and a bright glow illuminated the space between us.
With great effort, I dragged my eyes away from his lips to look down. When I did, my whole body jerked back, but he had an iron grip on my wrist holding me in place. Magic glowed in the palm of his free hand trapped between us. Witch magic. And the idiot was using it out in the open in broad daylight.
“Put it away.” My hiss made him grumble something in what I guessed was Russian, but he did listen. “What the hell is the matter with you? Do you want to die?”
“Now you know I spoke the truth. Da?” Well, I knew what that last part meant at least. Look at me, all worldly and what not.
“Da,” I answered him instead of saying yes, and made sure I layered mocking into my tone. I felt like an idiot for thinking he was going to kiss me when all he was doing was hiding the fact he was performing witch magic in front of everyone. That frustrated me more than anything.
“Now, will you tell me where the book is?” Dimitri took pity on my pathetic self and stepped back. With the heat of his body away from me, I could finally breathe, so I rolled my shoulders and pretended his nearness was annoying. I’d die before he knew I actually liked it.
Pathetic.
“Why is this book so important?” Despite all my misgivings, I had to ask. “It’s a magical object. You, of all people, have enough money to buy ten of those at any time.” The sky started darkening, which was weird for the middle of the day, and I glanced up at the gray clouds rolling over our heads. I think that was the only reason he answered, his face tilted up as he frowned at the sky.
“It belonged to my grandmother. Inside it is our family tree with every name written where the magic was passed from generation to generation.” His handsome face turned my way, and the blood curdled in my veins. “Including mine. Whoever hired you to steal it could ruin not just everything my father has built. They could ruin me, too, along with my pack.”
“Oh, shit.” Hands shaking, I struggled to swallow the lump that squeezed my windpipe.
“Where is the book, Alaska?” Hearing my name rolling off his tongue in his thick accent had my knees buckling. The idiotic butterflies sprang into action in my belly, and I had to force myself to stay standing instead of melting into a puddle on the sand.
My mouth opened to tell him I had the book safe, but I never got the chance to voice the words.
The world around us exploded.
Chapter Ten
“Elementals,” Dimitri snarled, his head swiveling around searching for the mages.
People screamed, and panic made them run wildly around us like chickens with their heads cut off. The bright blue sky from a moment ago was replaced by thick dark clouds that churned ominously right above our heads. Lightning spiderwebbed over them, and a clap of thunder shook the ground under my feet. To make matters worse, the ocean pulled back, rising in a monstrous wave behind us. Panic had me frozen in place, and no amount of internal screaming could get my feet moving.
“Run.” He grabbed my arm and shoved me toward the walkway that circled around the beach. I stumbled for a couple of steps but didn’t listen. “Run, woman. Go!”
Two figures appeared a few yards in front of us, dressed in black cloaks with elaborate golden thread swirling on the fabric. The one of the left had their arms raised toward the sky, and the one of the right had them leveled up front as if reaching for the ocean. At least we knew which mage controlled what element. Without thinking, my fingers wrapped around the hilts of my daggers, and I pulled them out as I stepped shoulder to shoulder with Dimitri. Well, shoulder to chest, really, but who cared?
