Savior's Spell: A fae and fur urban fantasy (Spellcaster Series Book 1)

by Gwen Rivers

Ten cloaked figures closed in, chanting.

  The ball of sun winked out and Magda collapsed.

  I ran. With the sword clutched in my hand, I sprinted for all I was worth. Using the air magic, I lept and then did a summersault over the closest dark fae so I landed beside Magda in the center of the circle.

  “You want her? You’re going to have to go through me.” Clutching the sword in both hands, I studied the hooded faces.

  “That can be arranged.” One shot a bolt of brilliant red energy that crackled with fire at my face. I held the sword up and my talisman absorbed the magical hit.

  Another shot from behind, this one made up of ice. The sword lapped it up like a cat with fresh cream.

  “Don’t you idiots realize this is a futile game?” I snarled. “You’re killing your own for power and expending all your stolen power to kill off more of your own. What idiot came up with such a half-baked plan anyway?”

  “I did.”

  One stepped forward. I braced for another attack, but pale hands rose and then lowered his cowl.

  All my quips vanished as my throat closed up. “Malcolm.”

  It was one thing to suspect my brother was still alive, to believe I heard his voice. But it was another entirely to see him standing in front of me, alive and unhurt.

  He looked different from the last time I’d seen him. Older, harder. His skin was unearthly pale and dark shadows ringed his eye sockets.

  “Malcolm,” I repeated on a choked sob. “I thought they killed you.”

  “Emma.” Even in his much-changed face, my brother’s eyes were the same hazel green, like moss found in the deep forest. They burned with intensity as he took me in. “Sister. I knew it would be you. That you were ready.”

  “Ready for what?”

  “For that of course.” He nodded to the sword. “You unlocked it, as I knew you would. Give it to me.”

  On the ground behind me, Magda moaned.

  I shook my head, my thoughts whirling. “Malcolm, I thought you were dead.”

  He didn’t show the slightest sign of remorse. “It was necessary. I had plans to put in place, troops to amass. The sword was the final weapon. I tried for two years to unlock it. Then I found out about the prophecy of the savior. And I knew you would be the one to help me. Give me the sword, Emma. And all this will end.”

  Memories washed over me as I stared up into my brother’s face. The night he’d discovered me touching myself.

  Awash in hormonal frustration, I hadn’t seen him at first. When I’d opened my eyes his were fixed on me. Blood rushed to my cheeks and I scrambled to pull the blanket up higher, to cover myself.

  “Hurts, doesn’t it?” He sat on the bed beside me and took my hand in his. He sucked my finger between his lips, wetting the digit. I froze as his tongue swirled over the pad, tasting. He closed his eyes and made a male sound. Then he placed it back between my legs, encouraging me to continue.

  “Doesn’t that feel better, Emma? Tell me you like that.”

  It…did. I didn’t want it to, but it did ease the ache. His eyes burned into me and I willed myself to stop. “This isn’t right.” I removed my hand and tried to scoot away.

  “It’s okay.” He stripped off his clothes and climbed into the bed, touching, caressing, building on my need. “We’re different, Emma. We don’t have anyone else. We can’t trust humans. Can’t trust the fae. All we have is each other. It’ll be our secret.”

  I could see the echo of that night in my brother’s eyes. Could see that same want seething beneath his pale skin like a million creepy crawly things ready to burst forth.

  “Why?” My grip on the sword tightened. “Why would you do all this?”

  “Only the strong survive, Emma. You know that.”

  “And our mother?” Tears clogged my throat.

  His face twisted into a snarl. “She wanted to take you from me.”

  Malcolm’s words hit me like a blow. This wasn’t my brother. My brother wouldn’t have abandoned me. Wouldn’t kill innocents. Wouldn’t have murdered his own mother.

  “Call them off,” I said to my brother. “Leave the fae alone.”

  “And you’ll come with me?” He knew I couldn’t lie. “You’ll give me the sword?”

  Slowly, I shook my head.

  “Emma,” his voice was the same soft rasp I’d been hearing in my dreams. But never had it held that warning edge.

  “I don’t want to fight you,” I said.

  “Then join me. Give me the sword.”

  “It doesn’t have to be like this,” I tried to tell him, to explain there were other ways to have magic than to siphon it off the fae. “Malcolm, please.”

  A blast of icy wind knocked him off his feet. Magda moved past me, her hand outstretched.

  The other dark fae moved in, but the werewolves, having taken care of the rest of the threat, attacked in mass.

  Behind me I heard a whoosh as the portal opened again. Liam, still in human form, strode through.

  Our gazes locked. His attention fell to the sword in my hands before returning to my eyes.

  Then he scooped up a small fae girl and ran.

  The smoke was thickening, choking. It was getting more difficult to see.

  A small dark form pressed into my side. I looked down into one brown eye and one green. “Kiesha.”

  I had to get her out of the building. But I couldn’t leave Magda. “Liam!”

  He reappeared, his arms free. I gestured to Kiesha. “Get her out of here.”

  The small wolf snapped at her Alpha and after a moment of silent communication he shouted, “She doesn’t want to leave you.”

  A burst of orange fire erupted from Malcolm’s body, like a sonic boom. My back hit the concrete. I lost track of Kiesha, of Liam. But I heard Magda shrieking.

  Crawling on my belly beneath the billows of smoke, I saw her blue body burning.

  Her eyes met mine an instant before she burst apart.

  “No!” My shriek echoed through the room.

  “Come on,” A hand clamped around my ankle and Liam dragged me from the building.

  Outside the night was dark and humid. The fae refugees that had escaped were nowhere in sight. The werewolves stood in a semicircle, guarding the entrance.

  “Magda,” I gasped and struggled to right myself. “Liam, you have to get her out.”

  “She’s gone. Emma, she’s dead.”

  I shook my head, even as I knew it. I’d seen the strike, felt the intensity of it.

  “Where’s Kiesha?” Liam glanced around the pack. My grief was put on hold as I checked for my small friend.

  Liam let me go and ran to the threshold of the burning building when the roof collapsed in on itself.

  “Kiesha!” Liam’s bellow rent the night.

  “Look,” I pointed to the sky where green and orange swirls of magic curled up from the blaze.

  One of them held a struggling werewolf.

  “You and the sword for this girl, Emma the Savior,” my brother’s disembodied voice called an instant before they vanished into the night.

  17

  “Skathi!” Liam’s voice boomed out across the open field. “Get your ass down here!”

  North, who was hanging out in Emma’s jacket, remained uncharacteristically quiet.

  “How the fuck did they get in?” Liam roared. His anger was a living thing, as was his worry for Kiesha. And for Emma. She was too pale. The shock of Magda’s death and Kiesha’s kidnapping at the hands of her brother had pushed the savior too far.

  Behind him, the wolves were shifting back to their human shapes. Gray and Andy were still in Manhattan but the rest were all present.

  Autumn moved to his side. “They had this.”

  She held up the necklace he’d given Emma, the one with the stone of destiny mounted within. He knew it was hers because he could pick up faint traces of her scent.

  Emma’s hands flew to her neck. She looked at him, gray eyes rounded in horror.

&nb
sp; Doubt flickered through him. No, she wouldn’t have.

  Would she?

  “She gave it to him,” Rubio, infamous for his temper, spat. He was fresh from his change, naked and his dark eyes promised retribution. “She let them through the wards.”

  “I….” Emma’s voice was tight as though she choked on something.

  “No, she didn’t.” Autumn got in Rubio’s face, her red hair whipping in the wind. “She was with Liam, right North?”

  “That is correct, beautiful wolf.” Emma’s jacket concurred.

  Rubio ran a hand through his hair. “Everyone knows the fae hate her. The pack has been in shambles since she arrived. Andy was almost killed and tonight dozens of fae were.” He rounded on Emma. “Was this the plan all along? You find a way for the twisted ones to get to the innocent fae here?”

  “Enough,” Liam barked. “Stand down, Rubio. This isn’t helping.”

  Rubio’s lips curled up in a sneer but he kept his mouth shut.

  “Autumn, take the pack back to my place. Get them dressed and fed, then go see to the fae before they do anything stupid.”

  His third nodded and then jogged toward his house.

  “North, beat it,” Liam growled.

  For once his PA did as he was instructed without a snide remark. Emma’s jacket blew as though a breeze meant only for her swirled about her and then they were alone.

  Liam waited until he was sure the other wolves were out of earshot before he moved closer to Emma. “Did you give him the necklace?”

  Her eyes flew wide. “What? How can you ask me that? I was with you.”

  “Did you leave this for him to find? Maybe give it to a third party to deliver to him?” He held out the necklace.

  Her lip trembled. “How can you ask me that?”

  “Because, Emma.” He shook his head slowly from side to side. “You made it clear you would do anything to get your brother back. Maybe you thought he would come here alone. That he wouldn’t attack.”

  “Not this.” She lifted her chin. “Not if it meant putting Kiesha in danger.”

  He wanted to believe her. She was fae, she couldn’t lie. Yet her brother was too and he’d faked his own death. “Tell me how he got a hold of this.”

  She looked down. Eyebrows pulled tight in concentration. A hand went to her face. Then she met and held his gaze. “The troll backhanded me. It must have come off then.”

  “And you didn’t notice?”

  She got in his face. “I was a little preoccupied worrying about where they were taking you.”

  “Don’t,” he snapped.

  “It was an accident. An oversight.” She met his challenge and held it. “I wouldn’t do that to you, Liam. To any of you.”

  He blew out a breath and then turned to face the sky again. “Skathi!”

  Emma grabbed his arm. “I’m going to get her back.”

  His tension ratcheted up even farther. “You mean you’re going to turn yourself over to him. Give him the sword?”

  She looked away. “If it’s the only way to save Kiesha, yes.”

  Liam stared at her. “If you want to go to him, then just go.”

  She reared back as though he’d struck her. “What?”

  “That weapon could annihilate us all. That sword can not be defeated in battle. If you give it to your brother, you might as well kill us all yourself.”

  She shook her head back and forth. “I’m the savior. If I can save Kiesha, it will be worth it.”

  “Worth whoring yourself to your brother? Is he really your type?”

  She backhanded him, hard. He saw the blow coming and allowed it. But when she went to strike him again with a punch to the gut, he caught her wrists. She struggled in his grip.

  “Bastard. Werewolf bastard. You are an alphahole!”

  “Maybe I am a bastard. But I’m not the one who’s been abusing you since you were fifteen years old.”

  All the fight drained from her.

  He wanted to kiss her. To ease her. To let her cry on his shoulder. To hold her close and never let her go. Instead, he released her.

  “I’m sorry that you found me,” Emma breathed. “I’m sorry that knowing me is hurting you. I didn’t want that.” She turned and walked away.

  His lips parted and he wanted to charge after her. Damn it, what was wrong with him? Had the strain of her rejection impacted his ability to think rationally?

  “Ska—”

  The word broke off as the goddess appeared before him. A bow was looped over her shoulder and a quiver full of golden arrows was strapped to her thigh.

  “Alpha, what cause do you have to disturb my hunt?”

  He pointed to the smoldering ruins of the center. “The twisted ones were here.”

  Her blue eyes flashed with cobalt fire. “You must find the savior.”

  “I’ve found her. But her mentor was killed in the attack. She doesn’t have enough magic to go up against the leader of the dark fae and live.”

  “The prophesy—”

  “To hell with the prophecy,” Liam snarled. “She’s my mate and I won’t let her die.”

  Skathi actually took a step back as though she feared him.

  “Tell me what I need to do to ensure that Emma survives,” he ordered the goddess.

  She blinked. “You won’t like it.”

  “I don’t care. Tell me.”

  “Summon the Wild Hunt.”

  Liam frowned. “What good will that do?”

  “They can capture her soul. Put it in another body for you.”

  He stared at her.

  “The savior must die but it is the soul that is your mystical connection. Your missing piece.”

  He understood very little about how reincarnation worked but he knew one thing for sure. “It won’t be Emma.”

  “It will be your mate,” Skathi said. “One not chosen for a destiny bigger than the two of you. I’m sorry, wolf. It’s the only way.”

  I let myself into Magda’s apartment and wanted to weep as I saw the unopened case of red wine pushed up against the entryway.

  Getting stinking drunk to honor the spellcaster seemed like the way to go. I promised myself I would, as soon as I got Kiesha back.

  I walked around the space slowly, taking it all in. Magda’s home. She’d gone with the flow, done her best to help the fae who insulted her, spit on her and demeaned her. She trained me against her better judgment.

  “Help me,” I whispered.

  No one answered. I absorbed the silence of the PR. No human emotions pulling at me. But for once it felt empty instead of restful.

  Liam’s words floated back to the front of my mind. “I’m not the one who has been abusing you since you were fifteen.”

  I’d hated him in that moment. Not because of what he’d said. But because of what he hadn’t. I sat in the same chair I had the day Liam had brought me to meet her. My sword lay across my knees, mocking me.

  My brother had raped me. And I’d gone along with it. I’d liked it.

  Dirty. Filthy. Whore. Brotherfucker. The tears fell.

  Gods, Liam must believe he’d been cursed to wind up with me for a mate.

  “Emma?” Fiona opened the door to Magda’s apartment.

  I didn’t turn to look at her. It seemed like too much effort. “I thought I’d locked that.”

  “It was, but I have a way with mystical locks.” Fiona moved farther into the space. “I’m sorry about Magda.”

  I dipped my head. It had become too heavy to hold upright.

  “I always liked her.” Fiona’s voice held a wistful note. “She was kind to me, in a grumpy sort of way.”

  I waited.

  “I heard…that is I overheard a couple of the werewolves talking. They said Kiesha was taken.”

  A lump formed in my throat.

  “What are you going to do?”

  I looked down at the sword in my lap. “I don’t know.”

  Fiona nodded, then went into the kitchen. I heard
her rummaging around and a few minutes later she emerged with two steaming mugs of tea.

  She didn’t bother to hand me one, instead, setting the mug beside me.

  “What are you doing?” I asked as she settled herself in the chair opposite me.

  “Being your friend.”

  “Why?”

  Fiona smiled. “Because, you look like you need one.”

  “Thanks.” My eyes filled with tears and I reached out and wrapped my hands around the mug. The warmth sank into my palms and slowly, worked on melting the ice encased around my heart.

  We sat there for some time until the old stereo switched itself on and a Russian voice called out, “The Alpha is looking for you, Kotik.”

  I set the mug aside and rose. “Did he figure out a plan to get Kiesha back?”

  “He tells me nothing,” North responded. Which was not a no.

  Fine then. “Where is he?”

  “At his house. Shall I tell him you are coming?”

  “Yeah.” I would have to deal with Liam sooner or later.

  I turned to Fiona. “Thanks for being a friend.”

  Her smile was sweet. “Anytime.”

  I didn’t hurry but I didn’t dawdle either. Liam was right, I had been single-minded. My drive to get revenge had led the dark fae right to us. My stubbornness to see my brother for what he truly was had led to Magda’s death and Kiesha’s abduction.

  I looked down at my sword. I’d leave it with Liam and then go.

  It was my destiny to die after all. Why put off the inevitable?

  18

  I strode up the steps to Liam’s brownstone. North, lurking in the door, opened it for me and added, “You took your time, da?”

  “Da.” I headed into the conference room where I heard raised voices.

  “They took one of our own,” the werewolf with the Latin accent and hot temper snarled. “We must retaliate.”

  “We can’t track them. That hasn’t changed.” That was Gray’s voice. Apparently, the entire pack had showed for the meeting.

  I tapped on the door and all heads turned to face me.

  “I’m leaving this with you.” I set the sword down on the conference table. “Not sure if it is silver or not, so I wouldn’t recommend touching it yourselves. Maybe one of the fae could do it.”