Modern Magic Series: Prequel & Books 1-3

by Nicole Hall

  Thanks to his week of practice with Sera, and a lifetime of listening to Ryan bitch about the Fae, he had a basic idea of how magic worked. There had to be a catalyst for Maddie to trigger the circle. She’d probably do to Tim what she’d done to him. Get him loopy on the steam, walk him where she wanted him, and finish the spell. Except it had taken him a while to get loopy. More likely, the steam was meant for him, and she was going for speed instead of security.

  Jake couldn’t tell if she’d put her glamour back on, but she was more confident and bitchy than usual. It felt disloyal to think that, but she’d also used hidden magic to freeze him in place so he didn’t interfere with her evil plot, so he rolled with it. Tim knocked, and Maddie opened the door with a big smile.

  “Tim, you’re right on time, as usual. And did you get a new truck? It looks fancy.”

  “Yes, ma’am. My parents gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday,” Tim said from the porch. Jake willed him to stay out there, or better yet, turn around and go back to his family, but he wasn’t that lucky. He bet Maddie hated being called ma’am.

  “It’s a beaut. Maybe you could take me for a ride later.”

  “I’m not supposed to be driving around with girls, but you’d probably be fine.” Jake could hear the kid blushing. It was almost painful to listen to.

  “Well c’mon in, that essay won’t fix itself.”

  Maddie was all Southern charm, and Jake knew it was almost time. He opened himself to the bond, dropping the shields he’d been shoring up. Sera would feel this, but he hoped she was still relaxing at his house and would be fine. Heavy footsteps vibrated his head on the floor as Tim walked into the room. He visualized tangling his fingers in the heavy rope of the bond. Warmth flowed up his arms, over his shoulders, and into his chest. It was more than Sera’s power; it was their shared emotions and memories and strength, and he needed it to break Maddie’s spell.

  Tim stepped into Jake’s line of sight, a frown across his face. He’d said something low, but Jake had missed it. Maddie’s smile had slipped as she motioned him further into the room. She’d put the table on the far side against the wall to make space for the circle, so Tim would have to walk across it to get to his normal study space.

  He stumbled, and Maddie put her hand on his arm to steady him. The steam must have been for both of them after all. Tim was twice her size, but she had no trouble maneuvering him to the edge of the circle. Behind his back, Maddie made a motion with her hand, and with his mind firmly locked in the bond, he could faintly see the circle change. The white chalk glowed blue like a glow stick left out in the daylight. It was time; he hoped his belief that his little sister was still in there somewhere wasn’t misplaced.

  Jake pulled hard on the bond, absorbing as much of Sera’s power as he could get, and it was a lot more than he was expecting. Suddenly, he could see the stillness spell on him. The circle blazed with dark blue light, shimmery and sliding over itself like an oil slick. He could see the glow of other magic around the room, different colors and sheens, translucent over the objects on her shelves. It was breathtaking. This must be what Sera saw when she opened her mind, and he had the sudden need to see her like this, ablaze with magic and light.

  He hoped he’d get the chance.

  With a punch of Sera’s power, the spell dissolved around him and he could move again. He popped up on his feet and raised a hand to Maddie and Tim. He wanted them to stop moving forward, but not be trapped, so he used the shield imagery he and Sera had been working on. The air in front of them became solid, and Tim bounced off of it, knocking Maddie back as well.

  Jake could see the golden magic shimmering in the air. He’d done it. He’d made a shield. Holy shit, Sera was going to be so proud. Her power was still filling him up, and he felt a little light-headed from the sheer magnitude of it. Maddie snapped her head to him and raised her hand. Time for part two of the plan.

  Jake lunged past the golden shield and into the circle himself. It was like diving into a freezing lake. His body seized up, and he fell to the floor. Through a haze of pain, he thought he was spending a lot of time face down on Maddie’s floor today. He grimaced and tried to move the arm he was laying on, but he was motionless again. This time all his muscles ached.

  He probably should have released Sera’s magic first. The bond was still there, but it was sluggish, and he could feel her exhaustion. All the awesome power he’d borrowed was gone. He’d hoped it would go back to Sera, but she definitely felt drained.

  Behind him, Maddie was shrieking something about fools, but he didn’t care much. His eyelids were getting heavy, and his aching muscles were begging him to go to sleep. Tim was suspiciously silent. Jake forced his drooping eyes open when Maddie nudged him with her foot.

  “You ruin everything,” she seethed. Behind her, he could see Tim’s legs on the floor. Maddie followed his gaze and narrowed her eyes. “I put him to sleep. It’ll wear off in a couple of hours, and he’ll think this was all a dream.” She walked over to the stove and clicked it off, then walked back.

  “Why would you do this to me? I only needed to borrow your truck to move Tim to the clearing. Okay, and I wanted you to know the truth about me. About my power. But I didn’t want to hurt you.” She raised a fist like she was going to punch him then let it fall. “I’m so much stronger than you, and you still can’t help trying to be the hero. Now look what you’ve done. Torix is going to have to use your body instead, and you’re going to be lost forever. What would Mom and Dad say?” She leaned down into his face, angry and defiant. “What would Sera say?”

  Jake knew what Sera would say. So many ‘I told you so’s, for the rest of his life, which he hoped would include her and wouldn’t include being stuck in a tree. Now he needed her to save them both. With the last of his energy, he tried to reach her through the bond, to tell her he was sorry about the key thing and he loved her. He wanted her to know, even if as an adult he’d been too chicken-shit to admit it to her face.

  13

  SERA

  Sera’s eyes met Ryan’s from the forest floor. The sprites were slowly drifting away from her, back into the trees or closer to Ryan. She knew her hands had lost their glow, and she could see the moment that Ryan realized her magic had deserted her. His eyes got wide, and he threw another bit of magic at the wolf. This time it slid off the oily coat like water.

  She tried to stand, but her knees gave out again. They might be in more trouble than she thought. Her body was exhausted, even though she’d felt fine a minute ago. Whatever Jake had done had sapped all her energy as well as her magic.

  The bond was still there, but the glow was much fainter than before. What the hell had he done? Was this his way of making sure she didn’t go off without him? Without warning, a bit of her power slammed back into her. Not enough to make her feel confident, but she was able to stand effectively. It felt like a rubber band had snapped along the bond. Along with her power came a burst of emotion from Jake. She’d been unsure if they could do that if they weren’t physically touching and vulnerable.

  Warmth and confidence washed over her, along with a whopping sense that he was in danger. He hadn’t been trying to stop her, he’d been trying to save himself. The threat faded and left remorse and need in its wake.

  She wanted to ignore the woods and the wolf and Ryan and focus on Jake, but she couldn’t afford any more mistakes. The wolf looked back at her over his shoulder as if he’d sensed her distraction, but he didn’t make a move. Standing on the trod, with the sprites floating around like confused dust mites, he took stock of her position then turned and growled at Ryan.

  The pieces finally clicked for Sera. The wolf wasn’t threatening her, he was protecting her from Ryan. He hadn’t been aggressive at Maddie’s place or at Jake’s until Will showed up. Not even in her dream. She’d felt threatened by him that first day when they’d met with Zee, but the wolf had chased all three of them out of the clearing. When she’d broken off, he’d kept chasing Ryan.

>   The one who had hidden magic and knew how to use it. It was time to reassess her allies.

  The trod stretched out behind her, and this time she didn’t hesitate when she turned to run. Her body protested, but she didn’t trust Ryan not to catch her if she took off at a slow shamble. She heard him curse behind her then the snap of teeth coming together. A quick glance back showed Ryan watching her and trying to get past the wolf. True to form, the growling animal kept himself between them.

  “Sera, don’t go against Torix on your own.” He sounded like he was struggling, but she refused to turn around again to find out. It was obvious he could take care of himself.

  The path turned, and Sera lost even the sounds of their stand-off. Sprites drifted out of the trees ahead of her, as the dusk deepened. A split in the path appeared, and Sera slowed to a walk. The rightmost path was filled with sprites lighting the way. Her senses told her that way led to town, with kids running around in costume and Halloween festivities starting. That way was promised safety, but it was temporary. She’d be going back on her promise to the Fae to help deal with Torix, that in itself was probably dangerous, but she’d also be risking all those people to save herself and only temporarily at that.

  It wasn’t even close to a fair trade.

  The leftmost path was dim, and the sprites there looked like they were low on batteries. Every horror movie she’d ever watched told the monster was that way. With the knowledge that Ryan might be right behind her, she took a deep breath and felt for the bond. It was steadier than before, but nowhere near back to full strength. A sense of urgency tugged her to the left, and the choice became obvious.

  Jake was down the monster path. So was Torix, and the fate of the world most likely depended on her fledgling magic skills. Sera wasn’t sure why the trod offered her a choice when she’d been focused on reaching Torix’s clearing, but it wasn’t much of an option anyway. She thanked the Wood for the out, then turned left and walked into the dimness with no Ryan in sight.

  The sprites wafted ahead of her, providing a little more light now that full darkness was falling. Not for the first time, she wished she wore a watch so she could see how close the time was getting. Every few steps, she probed the bond, and it told her Jake was somewhere in front of her.

  Sera wasn’t sure how she felt about that. There was still residual warmth from whatever he’d done to her, but her power level was dangerously low when approaching a confrontation with a super powerful Fae. Then there was the matter of him taking her keys. She had large confusing feelings for him, and there was a good chance she’d fallen back on her past and seen Jake through the lens of her relationship with Will. He’d taken her keys, yes, but he’d sent Ryan so she wouldn’t be stuck by herself. And now he was probably in trouble.

  What had happened to him? A big part of her was glad she wouldn’t be facing Torix alone, but she was equally worried and pissed at Jake. He’d told her not to go alone, and yet here he was without her.

  They’d shared an amazing night together, and she’d responded by throwing logic out the window in favor of assumptions and panic. She could admit she might have overreacted… a little, but the truth was the truth. Relationships were limiting. They required compromise, and she wasn’t interested in compromising herself any more. Will had demanded she shed more and more of herself the longer they were together. Her mom hoped every day that Sera would turn into a normal woman who had a 401K, shopped at the Gap, and didn’t see little people hiding in the garden. Granted, that only happened once, but it’d made an impression.

  Evie had wanted her to embrace her magical heritage, but hadn’t trusted her enough to talk to her about it openly.

  That one probably hurt the most. Evie was supposed to be her stalwart defender, on her side no matter what. Why was the truth so hard for people to speak? Why did everyone feel like they knew better than her how to run her life? The bond pulsed inside her, and she had to admit that Jake had never really treated her like that before today. Even though he didn’t listen to her and didn’t trust her to take care of herself, he was upfront about what he wanted, even if it made her angry at him. She wondered what had prompted him to take that path with her today.

  Sera’s legs were dragging, and she swore the next time there was an epic battle she’d do more cardio to prepare. Night had fallen completely, but it was peaceful walking along the path with the sprites to light the way. She hadn’t seen or heard another creature since she’d left Ryan and the wolf, and she wondered if anything lived in the in-between along the trods. Zee’s warning to stay on the path echoed through her head, and she looked nervously into the darkness to her right. There were no sprites out there, and the moon didn’t penetrate past the tree canopy to reach the forest floor.

  It was completely black and still. She could hear her labored breathing and the crunch of dead leaves under her feet, but nothing else. If something was out there stalking her, it was silent. It would also have to get in line behind Torix and his servant if it wanted to suck the life out of her.

  With that cheerful thought, several of the sprites in front of her blinked out. She stopped walking and cast out her senses. At the very least, she’d know if something magical was approaching.

  Several seconds ticked by, and nothing moved. The remaining sprites lingered anemically, but they provided enough light for her to see. The path continued to stretch forward, and she was hesitant to create a brighter light and make a better target. One day, she’d learn not to spook herself, but today was not that day.

  The bond hadn’t changed. It urged her forward with a mild urgency, but told her nothing about her current level of danger. Sprites were fickle things, maybe they got bored or found something more interesting. More likely, considering her drained state, they sensed a stronger magic and abandoned her. That didn’t bode well for where she was heading, but at least they weren’t hovering around some nightmare creature off the path.

  Her feet wanted to keep moving even though the rest of her wanted a quick nap. The bond and her own sense of resolve spurred her into moving again. Realistically, there was no reason to hurry. Running down the path would get her there as fast as a leisurely stroll, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong and she was woefully unprepared.

  Sera didn’t know what she’d expected when the trod finally deigned to spit her out, but Maddie struggling to shove tiki torches into the ground was not it. She looked around, but they weren’t in Torix’s clearing. A clearing, yes, but it was missing the giant dead tree. The Fae were messing with her once again.

  The morning at Maddie’s hadn’t slipped her mind, but she was plagued with doubt about her people judging skills. There were no filet knives or gummy candies in sight. Unless Maddie did something threatening, Sera was going to treat her like the girl she remembered.

  “Hey Maddie.”

  She jumped and spun around. “Sera?” A look of panic flitted across her face, then she pasted a smile on. “Sera. It took you long enough.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’ve been trying to get this party organized for hours and this is all I’ve done so far.” She gestured around the break in the trees that contained a lit camping lantern, several more tiki torches scattered haphazardly about, and a bulging grocery bag. “I could really use your help, so thanks for coming early to set up.”

  Sera felt like she’d stepped into an alternate universe. “I’m sorry, Maddie, I don’t know what’s happening. I’m sort of here by accident.”

  Maddie visibly deflated. “Oh, of course. I thought when Jake showed up that he’d talked to you.”

  That confirmed Jake was in the Wood, explicitly where he’d told her not to be, but it didn’t feel right. If he’d had to track down Maddie, it would explain why he’d been gone so long, but not why he’d need to defend himself.

  “Where is Jake?”

  Maddie went back to her torch and spoke over her shoulder. “Oh, he’s around here somewhere. You know how he is, c
an’t let us weak little women take care of anything ourselves.”

  Her comment rang very close to what she’d been telling herself all day, that Jake saw women, and Sera in particular as weak. When Maddie said it, though, everything in her revolted. Jake didn’t see her as weak. Even if she didn’t have the bond to confirm it, every time she’d asked him to back off he’d listened. He was definitely overprotective, but he’d only plowed past her objections once, and that had been this morning. She had to admit it was possible he’d made a mistake while grappling with the change in their relationship.

  Either way, Jake had never come off as condescending. He interfered, a lot, but his intentions were always to help or protect, not to take over. He protected out of love. Maddie should know that.

  “What’s going on, Maddie?”

  She finished with the torch and moved on to the next one. “A party for some of my friends. I really thought Jake told you about it. You should hang out. It’ll be like old times. We don’t start for a while, but it should be a lot of… fun.”

  The way Maddie said fun didn’t sit right with Sera. The bond was clear that Jake was very close, but he hadn’t shown up yet. The sprites had disappeared when she’d emerged from the path, and their absence told her there was no active magic happening. Sera was hesitant to relax her guard enough to look for a more insidious reason. In her current state, it wouldn’t take much to work her over. There was no point in wasting the energy she had with potentially unhelpful magic, but she didn’t need magic to tromp through the woods looking for a grown-ass man.

  Maddie didn’t seem to care one way or the other what Sera was doing. It went a long way toward convincing her that she’d told the truth. If she was helping Torix, wouldn’t she care that someone had shown up to stop her? She had a momentary twinge for not helping when Maddie was so clearly struggling, but she needed to find Jake and regroup.