Page 11 of Bound By Fire and Magic
“I’ll play nice. Let’s get this over with.” He pushed out, shoving the door closed.
As they walked up the concrete path, the hairs prickled at the back of her neck. A rustle in the bushes made her jump, and she bumped into Kirin. His hands automatically closed over her shoulders and pulled her close.
The front door opened, and Nana’s face peered out of the crack, looking every bit like a Romanian gypsy with her large nose, dark eyes, and black scarf over her head. “Ellie! Have you heard from your—” She took in Kirin with flared eyes. Her voice lowered to a harsh whisper as she looked behind them. “Get in here quick. The cursed Brownies are out tonight, causing all kinds of problems. And I’m not talking about the ones selling cookies.”
A face peered through the leaves in the bush, eyes glowing. Kirin hissed at the Brownie, and the Elemental shrank back. As Elle passed, it grabbed at her ankle, its jagged nails scratching her skin.
Kirin thrust his hand into the bush, his hand clamping around the Brownie’s neck. It was still hidden in the bushes, so any Mundane who happened to look over would only see him throttling the bush. With a fierce expression. If her ankle didn’t sting like a bitch, she’d be howling with laughter.
The Brownie’s eyes bulged. She couldn’t hear what Kirin was saying beneath his breath, but when he let go, it scurried away. Far away, skittering across the street and disappearing in the shadows of the neighbor’s perfectly sculpted bushes. Kirin ushered Elle into the house, closing the door behind them.
“No, I haven’t heard from Dad,” Elle said in answer to her nana’s cut-off question. “Have you?”
Nana shook her head, but her gaze pinned Kirin before shifting to Elle. “Don’t tell me you and the Dragon boy have taken up again.”
Elle rubbed her forehead. This was how it had been when she and Kirin had dated. “This is about Dad being missing, Nana. Please be civil.”
Kirin’s nostrils twitched. “You’re bleeding.” He bent down and lifted the bottom of her pant leg. “The Brownie got you.” He stroked the skin surrounding the three scratches.
All of her focus was on his fingers touching her skin and not the sting of the scrapes.
Nana eyed them. “Must get the Earthen.” She moved fast for a woman who was, as she liked to say, old as dirt.
Nana returned with a brass bowl filled with a brown liquid and nudged Kirin out of the way with her shoulder. She dipped her fingers into the sludge and rubbed the nasty-looking stuff on Elle’s scratches. It looked and smelled like manure. That scent brought good memories of working in the barn with the horses, but most people didn’t get that nice connotation.
Like Kirin, whose nose was scrunched. “What is that stuff?”
Nana dipped her fingers in again. “It is a type of healing dust, mixed with shark oil, used to disinfect against all vile creatures’ attacks.” She flicked a blob at Kirin.
Elle shot a look at her. “Nana.”
The first time Nana and Kirin had met, he’d held out his hand toward her, and she’d made a rude Deuce gesture. It had never gotten better.
“I don’t understand why you have brought him into my home,” Nana muttered, coming to her feet.
“And I don’t understand why you and Dad dislike Dragons so much,” Elle said. “I get the discord in general, but your feelings go deeper.”
Nana shrugged. “We have seen the beastly nature of them firsthand. They pretend to be fierce but they are cowardly. They pretend to be loyal but they betray those they love.”
“Hey—” Kirin started to say, but Elle cut him off with a quick shake of her head.
She turned toward Nana. “And yet, Dad married one.” Then had forbidden her from dating one. The teenaged Elle had thrown that bit of hypocrisy in her father’s face when he’d told her to break things off with Kirin. “Given your dramatic statement, there is a real reason for your feelings. Tell me. So I can understand.”
Nana’s face shuttered, as it did whenever the subject came up. “It is not my place to say.”
Elle let out an annoyed breath. This wasn’t the time to press, in any case. “I brought Kirin because his father is also missing.” Elle pulled the Oreos bag from her tote and held it out. “What is this?”
Nana’s eyebrow arched. “A bag of cookies that smells very bad.” She slowly reached for it. Her nose twitched, and her voice dropped to a fearful whisper. “Shadow Magick ash.” She ran to the kitchen and dumped it down the drain, running the disposal and chanting unintelligible words under her breath.
“What does that mean?” Elle yelled over the noise.
Nana cut the disposal and came back to the living room. “Driftwood is used in ceremonies in which a god is summoned and Shadow Magick is performed. The ash retains the scent of magick. I was only present at one such ceremony, and I still remember that smell. Where did you find it?”
Elle’s stomach was getting tighter as the pieces came together. “At the factory.” She pulled up the pictures on her cell phone. “We found this on the floor.”
Nana’s eyes widened. “Summoning symbols.”
“I think I know what was being summoned.” Elle described the creature that Kirin fought, remembering the fear and shock she’d felt as it hovered over him.
