Page 19 of Stolen Magic
“Oh.” My eloquent reply had Char flinching.
I shouldn’t have been upset that she never mentioned him, but I was. It smarted something fierce, and not because she’d met a guy and never shared it with me. It was because he was a druid, something I’d think anyone would be excited to share with their best friend. Almost like seeing a unicorn. Keeping Damian’s identity a secret had been a safe bet for Char, though. The same way she kept mine hidden because, for all intents and purposes, until Dimitri Bell barged into my life, I was one of the unicorns, too.
Damian muttered something under his breath that I missed, so I tucked my hands under my thighs and leaned forward on the chair. “I’m sorry, what?”
“It’s like this person isn’t even trying.” The druid chuckled, lifting one hand to rub the back of his neck.
His dirty blond hair was cut short with the top left longer, the strands curling over the tops of his ears. Unlike the Alpha, Damian, although similar height, had more of an athletic physique, all lean muscle and wiry frame, which was characteristic to his kind. Something I’d missed but had become obvious when his arm lifted, and the long-sleeved shirt crawled up his forearm where the to reveal the glowing swirls on his skin—another dead giveaway of what he was and why he was wearing long sleeves in summer in the middle of LA. I assumed the dead flowers on the outside of the house were a camouflage to hide what he was. Clever, but …
It must be killing him to see them daily. There was no doubt in my mind about that.
“Ummm.” The hum coming from the druid didn’t sound too promising.
“Something wrong?” After his last comment, a small amount of hope had bloomed inside me, and I had thought maybe I had misjudged Char. Perhaps there was a way to give the shifter what he wanted so he would leave me be. The uncertain humming splashed that whole idea with cold water, and I sagged in the plastic chair, holding my breath.
“No, nothing wrong but this cannot be right.” Damian spoke under his breath while numbers and letters flickered and moved across the screens. “I could’ve followed the wrong trail. One moment.”
Char and I looked at each other and stood, crowding behind the druid as if what he was looking at made any sense to either of us. Patience had never been my virtue, so I nibbled on my lower lip and raked the outer seam of my pants with the fingernail of my forefinger. I didn’t realize I was making a sound until Char’s hand closed over mine and stopped my scraping. I gave her a sheepish smile. The wait, now that I knew Damian had something, was nerve-wracking.
“Well, I would say the two of you have a big problem, indeed.” The druid removed his fingers from the keyboard and leaned back in his chair. He glanced at both of us in turn with a troubled expression on his face, and dread pooled in the pit of my belly.
“Where did they call from?” Char was braver than me. I couldn’t form words to save my life. All of a sudden, I honestly didn’t want to know.
“According to the trail, which I triple checked just to be certain …” Damian blew out a heavy and loaded with worry sigh through his pursed lips. His pale green gaze, which was full of pity, landed on me, and my heart tripped over itself. I tensed as if I could escape his next words. “The call came directly from the office of the CEO of Ice Matrix CO.”
“What?”
“That asswipe,” Char hissed at the same time as I shouted my disbelief too loud for the not-so-large basement.
“That can’t be true.” The denial burst out of me, but not even I believed it.
Everything replayed in my mind in a loop. Me stealing the book, and the person walking in just after I opened the safe through a door that wasn’t supposed to be visible to anyone from the outside, only to whoever had it locked in that room. The flowers I received with the threatening note. The stairway where somehow Dimitri just happened to bring his wife right when I was in his building. The vampire attack right after it. The Alpha walking into my store demanding we talk at the pier, and the perfectly timed attack by the mages. His rescue while he stayed out of the fight, leaving me to battle the elementals so I could reveal my deepest, darkest secret.
I didn’t realize I was shaking and whimpering until Damian jumped from the chair in alarm and Char wrapped me in a hug. I could see their lips moving, but the sound of my thundering heart was too loud in my ears, and I couldn’t hear anything apart from it. My breathing was too fast, and I struggled to fill my lungs with air, which made dark spots dance in the corners of my eyes. In the middle of all that, I couldn’t feel anything. My body was cold and numb, and Char’s hug was like hugging a stone since I couldn’t sense her wrapped around me at all.
Damian locked his gaze on my wide one, and his irises started to glow, low at first but brightening by the second. Everything else around me vanished, giving me tunnel vision where only two green glowing orbs became my entire focus. My friend was the only thing keeping me standing because my knees gave out, and I sagged in her hold. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was aware that I was having a panic attack, but there was nothing I could do to stop it.
It started like a tiny warm spot in my sternum. I startled from the sensation, worried that my magic was gathering because of my fear and would unleash at any moment, destroying everything and everyone around me. When it spread over my torso like a balm, I took a stuttering breath, realizing it wasn’t my power at all. The druid was doing something to calm me, and to my surprise, I didn’t fight him. In fact, I added whatever little magic I could to aid him, and soon the basement came into view. Our eyes stayed locked until I was able to hear their voices.
“Deep breaths, Allie. I got you, girl. Please,” Char choked through a tearful tone. “Slow, deep breaths, sync them with mine.” She blew out air that ruffled strands of my hair around the side of my face.
I followed direction mechanically, too afraid to return to the numb state.
“I’ll be right back.” Damian, his face blanched of all color, darted out of the basement.
We stayed breathing in sync where we stood, and he was back in less than a minute. A mug was clutched in his fingers, the liquid in it rippling from the tremor in his hand. The druid took my hand and curled it around the drink before bringing it to my lips. I stared at his face unblinking.
“It’s tea,” he assured me as he pressed the rim to my mouth. “It’ll help calm you down, nothing else. I swear it on my life.”
“Drink, Allie. Please.” The way Char’s voice broke made me part my lips and let the druid tip the mug up.
Bitter liquid slid down my throat, and after swallowing a large gulp, I coughed, spraying Damian’s shirt with it. If I expected him to flinch, I would’ve been disappointed. He stood steady and composed, lifting the tea to dribble in my mouth again. His gaze never left my face.
“Enough.” After half of the mug was empty, I turned my face away. “I just need to sit.”
Char shuffled in a half circle, while Damian turned his chair and they lowered me on it. My friend kneeled at my side, turning her face up to look at me, and the druid leaned back to perch on the desk next to his keyboard. With all my senses returning, so did the familiar anger that thawed the residual ice that tightened my veins.
“He set me up,” I told Char through tingling lips.
