Page 8 of Stolen Magic
The tap of the kitchen sink in our apartment didn’t close properly, so the plop of the water drops in regular intervals echoed in the silence, and the sound was like nails in my brain. It only added to my frustration. Not that we couldn’t afford a better place, but we stayed at our old apartment for safety’s sake. Both Char and I had placed wards around it for so long that no one in the world had a safer home. Anyone coming with ill intent would be fried before they even reached our front door.
“Rumors are that he is the strongest Alpha the pack has ever had, but I doubt he saw through your spell, Allie.” She finally lowered the cup and narrowed her dark eyes on me. “My guess is that he knew someone was there but the pinpointing was accidental. He is arrogant enough to pull it off, too.”
The vise that had been crushing my lungs since I left Ice Matrix CO. loosened, and I slumped in the chair, making it groan. Deep down, I knew nothing could pierce the invisibility magic, but I needed confirmation to put my mind at ease. Scrubbing a hand over my face, I glanced around the living room and the lived-in furniture in earth tones we picked together what felt like a lifetime ago. Scented candles I powered up with my magic were perched on every flat surface, their flickering flames dancing on a nonexistent breeze. Apart from the calming scents of sage, white tea, and lilacs, they assured every word spoken stayed between the walls. It was the first thing Char did, lighting them, before I spilled everything that happened. Behind the wingback chair I occupied was a narrow hall leading to a bathroom and both our bedrooms, plus a small workshop that Char used to brew her potions when home. Pictures of us on our travels graced the walls, both of us smiling from ear to ear.
A fist clogged my throat.
Accepting the job to steal the book might bring everything we built for ourselves to an end. As much as I appreciated Char’s reassurance, there was a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach warning me that our lives were about to be flipped upside down.
“I’m sure you are right.” I continued to do a messy job of butchering my nails with my teeth. “But since my client is not answering his phone after he paid the full fee for it, mind you, I’ve got half a mind to return the book where it belongs. It’s not worth the stress and paranoia. The money is sitting there, and he can have it back when he decides to finally accept my calls.”
“If that’s what you want, then do it.” The grimace on her face didn’t match her words. “At this point, I’m not sure it’ll make a difference, whether you return it or not. It’ll only lead to more trouble if they are expecting you this time around.”
“Did you open it?” There was no need to wait for an answer since her expression spoke volumes.
After I told Char what happened while we stared at our lunch instead of eating it, both of us tried to see what the big deal was with the small book. Apart from the powerful magic coming from it, it appeared unassuming and plain. There was absolutely nothing else special about it, until we bent over it and prepared to flip through its pages. No matter what we did, including using potions Char specifically prepared for it, we couldn’t open it. She suggested we try offering a few drops of blood as a last resort, but I drew a line at that.
Nothing good came from using blood magic.
“If you really plan on returning it, we should just let it be.” My friend scanned the books filling our bookshelves to bursting that lined one entire wall before turning her gaze back on me. “If you are not, I have a couple more ideas we could try.”
“I think—” I never got the chance to finish the sentence.
A loud crash came from the hallway in front of our front door. The protective wards around the place lit up like a Christmas tree, prickling my skin with thousands of papercuts. Glass shattered, too, the tinkling sound echoing between my ears like a gong. While I struggled to stand from the chair, Char darted toward her workshop, appearing two seconds later with armfuls of small bottles filled with potions.
“Get the book,” she hissed through clenched teeth and planted herself between me and the now-bulging door of our home.
That command got my legs moving, and I rushed to my bedroom, skidding over the wooden floor on my knees until I stopped myself when I reached my bed. Ducking my head under it, I yanked the black plastic suitcase out, thumbing the code to open it. I didn’t bother closing it after I snatched the book and my mother’s journal. Instead, I jumped to my feet, tucking them into the waistband of my pants under my shirt. The sound of the front door bursting into splinters had me dashing madly toward the living room, the daggers I didn’t bother removing from their sheaths already in my hands.
I skidded to a stop.
The scene unfolding before me gave me whiplash. While I had been worried about the shifter pack, along with their Alpha, gunning for my head because I dared steal from them, I ended up with a dozen vampires breaking into my home and doing their best to kill my best friend. Out of all supernaturals, vampires were the last in line of creatures that should be able to bypass the wards.
Char, to her credit, didn’t even flinch. Feet planted shoulder-width apart, she chucked potion after potion, nailing each vampire that crossed our threshold right between the eyes. Bright lights like mini suns exploded on their foreheads, setting them on fire, and they flailed around, wind-milling their arms as if that would help them. Taking a couple of steps back for a running start, I jumped over the sofa, spinning around like some psycho ballerina in the air and slashing the daggers through two necks that got in the way. Heads bounced off bodies, the vampires bursting into clouds of ash before they hit the floor. Small piles were already covering the parquet like tiny ant hills a foot or so from our front door.
Landing in a crouch next to Char, I stood and we faced the remaining creatures shoulder to shoulder.
“I have about four more,” my best friend said from the corner of her mouth, her voice breaking. It was the only thing showing how scared she was, something no one else would be able to tell by the way she glared fiercely at our attackers.
“On three, cover your eyes.”
I saw her sharp nod at my murmur, and I lowered my blades in hopes that the idiots would come closer. They lingered in the hallway, but seeing me step down gave them courage. Whoever was left made a mad dash for us, and that was all I needed. My mouth opened to utter the spell, but the glimpse of a furry body close to the stairs leading to the floor below gave me pause. Char’s scream when one of the vampires raked his claws over her arm snapped me out of it, and with a long breath, I shouted the spell.
“Leig an solas a-steach.”“Let there be light”was a powerful spell I should not have used, but I had no other choice. The blades of my daggers lit up a second before a blast of bright golden light filled not just the apartment but the entire hallway and stairs outside of it.
The vampires had no time to scream, the glow eviscerating them on impact. Ash floated around us in a macabre curtain of gray flakes when the blast died, leaving bright spots dancing at the corners of my eyes. As the spell dissipated, all the energy in me left in a whoosh, and I dropped on my knees, barely able to keep my head up. My chin kept dropping toward my chest, although Char was there with her arms wrapped around my shoulders to prevent me from face-planting on the dust-covered floor. Blood trickled down her arm before splattering at our feet.
“You did it, Allie.” Her usually sultry tone had a hysteric edge to it that didn’t sit well with me. Char was never hysterical, no matter what she faced.
With great effort, I lifted my head to assure her it was no big deal, and that we had done it together. A dozen vampires couldn’t hold a candle to a badass like her, and she needed to know it, but the words died on my tongue. My gaze found the largest wolf I’d ever seen staring straight at me from the top of the stairs. Midnight fur absorbed all the light around him while he stood unmoving like a statue. Silver blue eyes glittered with an emotion I couldn’t name, but before I called out to him, I blinked and he was gone. Shaking my head, I stared a bit longer, debating if I had really saw him or if maybe my imagination was playing tricks on me.
“Allie?” Char shook my shoulders, and, reluctantly, I dragged my eyes to her face. “It’s over thanks to you. Can you stand? We need to get the hell out of here.”
Since I was unable to talk, I nodded once and swayed as if drunk when I stood. Char balanced me with an arm around my waist, and with one quick glance around the apartment, she shuffled both of us out of there. So much for having the safest home and best wards. But that was the least of my worries. The most important thing I wanted to know was sitting like lead at the pit of my stomach.
Was the Alpha in my building to help me, or was he the one who’d brought vampires to my doorstep?
It was time to face the big bad wolf and get the answers I needed.
