Modern Magic Series: Prequel & Books 1-3

by Nicole Hall

  Dark wood paneling and dim lights cast shadows across most of the booths. The giant Texas flag hanging on the wall told her she’d traveled a long way from the little room in Wales where she’d fallen asleep. She looked down, unsurprised to see the leggings and tank top she’d gone to sleep in, but her knee-high boots were a new addition to the outfit.

  Maddie shrugged. Strange occurrences happened every day for her. None of the patrons paid her any mind, and the bartender ignored her when she settled onto a cracked vinyl barstool. Country music played from the speakers, and Maddie winced at the twangy noise. She’d never liked the sound, despite growing up in a tiny town in East Texas.

  There was no one else sitting at the bar, so she cleared her throat. The guy with the big belly drying glasses didn’t look up. Maddie sighed and glanced around. What had brought her here?

  Her eyes skipped past a familiar face in the far back booth, then jumped back with a shiver. He was looking down at a phone, so she couldn’t be sure, but his profile seemed right. Maddie suddenly felt very exposed by the lights over the bar. The stool squeaked as she slid off of it, and the bartender finally looked up. His brow furrowed as he stared at the seat where she’d been, then he went back to drying.

  He hadn’t seen Maddie. Yep, dreamwalking. Too bad she’d been unceremoniously yanked into a nightmare.

  Despite her throat closing up, she calmly walked to the shadowy corner on the far side of the room and leaned back against the wall with a good view of the booths. The man glanced up at the door, and she had her confirmation. Torix was in the bar with her. Or she was in the bar with him. Her heart sped up with fear, but he ignored her just like the bartender.

  The door opened with a rush of cold air, and a disheveled man in a topcoat came in. Maddie had seen him before too, but it took a moment for her to place him. Sera’s ex-husband. The creepy one who’d followed her to Mulligan last year. The last time she’d seen him, he’d looked like a movie star, but since then, he’d lost weight and grown a ratty beard. There was no doubt in her mind why he’d shown up, and after a quick survey of the room, he made a beeline to Torix’s table.

  The mild annoyance on Torix’s face transformed into a welcoming smile. Maddie couldn’t hear what he said, so she chose a booth closer to theirs—behind Torix’s line of sight—that allowed her to see his profile and listen in.

  “I’m glad you could make it, Will. We have much to discuss.”

  “You said you had a solution to my problems.” Will looked around the bar and frowned. “This place is a dump.”

  A muscled ticked in Torix’s jaw, but Will didn’t seem to notice. “A temporary meeting place, nothing more. You wish to take revenge on Sera and her ilk for what they’ve done to you.”

  Will’s eyes shot back to Torix. “What do you know about that?”

  Torix tilted his head. “I know a great many things. You were once successful, powerful, the master of your world.”

  Torix’s smooth voice coated her nerves in a hypnotizing calmness. Her fight or flight response worked overtime to convince her she needed to leave. Now. Nothing good could come from Torix and Will working together.

  Will sat up a little straighter at each of Torix’s words. “Yes. I was the master, and that bitch, Sera, took it all from me. They did something to me. Made it hard to think.” He shook his head roughly for a second. “I see things that weren’t there before.”

  “I can help you. You can be powerful again.”

  Maddie didn’t know Will, but she wanted to tell him to run far away from that offer. Memories tried to blind her from her own time with Torix, but Maddie pushed them away to focus. Sera had taken all of Torix’s power over a year ago, so Maddie wanted to know how Torix planned to fulfill his end of the bargain.

  Will nodded, greed in his eyes. “What do I need to do?”

  Maddie closed her eyes and shook her head for a moment. The idiot didn’t even ask any basic questions. She opened them again in time to see Torix pull a pouch and a tiny knife from a bag sitting next to him on the bench. “We share blood. Like unto like. Only a few drops into the pouch and we’ll work together to destroy Sera and her mate.”

  Will’s hand clenched into a fist when Torix mentioned Sera’s mate, and a new fear filled Maddie. She loved Jake more than anyone. Her brother had saved her last year while helping Sera stop Torix, and mate was definitely the right term for his and Sera’s relationship now. In all the time that had passed since then, Maddie hadn’t considered that Jake might be in danger.

  Her fingers tapped silently on the table. She wanted to stop the ceremony, but she wasn’t really there. Knowing Torix, these events had already happened.

  Torix sliced a shallow cut across his own palm with the knife and raised his brow. Will didn’t hesitate. He extended his own hand, palm up, and Torix made a matching slash. He held both their hands over the open pouch so the blood could drip into it. Maddie’s nose wrinkled as the smell of sulfur drifted to her, but no one else seemed to notice.

  Will gasped, and a wave of magic shot out from the booth. Maddie couldn’t see it, but she felt it like electric tingles covering her body. She shuddered. Years ago, she’d felt the same tingles, but this time, she experienced the sensation from the outside. Will didn’t know it, but he’d doomed himself.

  “It’s done. You’ll return to your room with the bird to await further orders.”

  Maddie’s eyebrows winged up as a pretty little songbird hopped out of the bag and flapped up to land on Will’s shoulder. He didn’t react to the new addition. In fact, all the personality had drained from Will’s face, like he’d been replaced by a mannequin. Man and bird got up from the booth without a goodbye and headed for the door. Torix watched Will walk out of the bar and smiled. Maddie considered trying to follow him to see what would happen, but to her surprise, Torix turned and offered her a slow appraisal.

  “You look well, my dear.”

  Maddie’s breath caught in her throat. He shouldn’t be able to see her, unless she’d been in his head the whole time. Her heartbeat pounded in her chest. She got a stranglehold on her panic and shoved it down hard. “What do you want?”

  He tsked and sent her a charming smile. “That’s no way to greet an old friend.”

  “You were never my friend.” She spit the last word at him, and his smile dimmed a bit.

  “It seems we remember things differently. All that time spent together, causing mayhem.” Torix leaned toward her, and his tongue snaked across his lips. “I’ve missed the taste of your fear.”

  A cold chill skittered up her back, but Maddie refused to retreat. “Leave me alone.”

  His eyes sharpened, and his nostrils flared. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. You’ve hidden yourself well, but the time for patience is over. It seems you have something of mine.”

  Maddie reminded herself that Torix was powerless. He couldn’t touch her, but with what she’d just witnessed, she had trouble believing the adage. “How did you trap Will?”

  He tilted his head at her like he was studying an interesting bug. “I don’t believe I’ll tell you that.” He closed the pouch and tucked it in the bag.

  Torix had pulled her in for a reason, ostensibly to show her he’d made a Will-zombie, but why would he want her to know that? Maddie wondered about the bird as well, but other aspects of this little visit took precedence. “You’re back in Mulligan.”

  He nodded once. “You’ll come to me, but will it be too late to save your brother?” He shrugged as his smile grew. “Perhaps I’ll come to you instead. Wales, is it?”

  Maggie snapped her shields closed tightly, cursing herself for reverting back to a scared little girl and forgetting her training. He’d been manipulating her, as usual. Misdirecting her, providing irresistible bait, and using her distraction to fish for information on her location. Maddie frowned when Torix didn’t disappear. As long as her shields were closed, he shouldn’t have had access to her mind.

  Fine. She’d separate the
m the old-fashioned way. Torix may have been controlling things until now, but it was her dream. She straightened her shoulders and stood. When he would have followed suit, a low growl from beside her had him narrowing his eyes instead.

  A speckled, grey and white wolf had appeared next to her. His huge body came up to her waist, and his lip curled back revealing very sharp teeth pointed at Torix. Maddie spread her fingers in the coarse fur along his back, glad to have backup, no matter how unexpected.

  Torix raised a brow and disappeared. The bar began to slowly fade around her, and Maddie took a full breath for the first time since she’d seen him. Seventeen months. She’d been hiding for seventeen months. Training, yes, and reading every scrap of magical information she could get her hands on, but in the end, her fear had trumped all.

  The wolf stopped growling as soon as Torix disappeared. He settled back on his haunches and stared at the now empty booth. The two of them together might have scared Torix off, but she didn’t think that was the case. Either way, she could have handled it herself.

  Maddie crouched down in front of the gorgeous animal, meeting his golden eyes.

  “I know you’re not a wolf,” she said quietly.

  He held her gaze for a moment, then she woke up in her bed in Wales. Maddie sat up and ran her hand through her long, tangled hair, pulling it away from her face. The weak predawn light of the room revealed her backpack and little else. In those seventeen months, she’d learned to travel light and always be prepared. When Jake and Sera had told her Torix had escaped, she’d known the danger would return. Fear and resolution fought for dominance, but Maddie refused to let fear win again. She threw the thin blanket off and began collecting her belongings.

  Torix had threatened Jake to force her back to Mulligan, and she’d do anything to protect Jake. Even deplete her savings. Maddie slung her pack over her shoulder and pulled out her phone. The international airline booked her on a flight that day for the cost of a small car. Without more information about the setting of the dream, she couldn’t afford to wait for a better deal.

  With trepidation fluttering in her chest, Maddie left her boarding house and waited for the bus to Cardiff. She’d wasted enough time hiding.

  1

  MADDIE

  Maddie hadn’t seen her family in almost a year. To be fair, her family hadn’t really seen her in much longer than that. She stood down the street from the house that she’d grown up in, which like Mulligan, had changed very little. Cars lined the street, and people gathered outside despite the chill in the air. She’d known about Jake and Sera’s christening party, but as usual, she’d declined the invitation. As far as her family knew, she had no plans to leave Europe. A visit from Torix provided great motivation.

  Her dad had the grill going in the back, and Maddie could smell the brisket from where she’d stopped walking. The scent urged her forward, making her mouth water. She hadn’t had a good brisket in months. The party made her nervous, but it also probably meant Torix hadn’t made his move against Jake yet.

  The bright sun made up for the fog and rain she’d left in Wales. She slid her sunglasses into her hair and squinted at the party. Jake and Sera would be there with baby Amber. It was their house after all, but so would Ryan and Zee. Her steps faltered. She hadn’t had much dealing with Zee, a few conversations after the events of last year, at Sera’s insistence, but if her experience had taught her anything, it was that Fae couldn’t be trusted.

  A cold gust of wind made Maddie shiver in her thin sweater. Her pack slapped against her back as she abruptly stopped in front of Sera’s old house next door. Maddie hadn’t been spotted yet. She ducked into the side yard between the properties and settled behind a couple of leafless trees. Her dark clothes blended with the shadows, and she crouched down to make herself smaller.

  Laughter drifted to Maddie, and she felt a pang of longing. She wanted to be there with her brother and her parents. Her niece was five months old, and Maddie’d never met her. Jake and Sera emailed her pictures, but it wasn’t the same. They treated Maddie as if the events last Halloween hadn’t happened, and the guilt nearly drowned her.

  Wisps of blond hair escaped her braid and blew into her eyes with the next breeze. She tucked them away and watched Jake come out the back door with Amber on his hip. Her shoulders sagged in relief at the proof that she wasn’t too late. Torix knew exactly what to say to get her to act, but after seven years, she’d gotten good at reading between his half-truths. He intended to kill her brother, but he wanted her first. And he wanted her in Mulligan.

  Jake had a beer in one hand and a huge smile on his face. He stopped at the grill to talk to their dad, then strapped the baby into a swing set up in the yard. Amber smiled big, like her dad, and kicked her legs at anyone who walked by. Sera came out of the house next, and Jake pulled her close. He said something to her that made her shake her head and dropped a kiss on her forehead.

  The whole exchange was exactly how she imagined their life. Easy and wonderful now that she couldn’t cause trouble. Maddie rubbed her chest where an ache spread. They’d tried to incorporate her after Halloween, but it had quickly become clear that she needed distance. The things she’d done for Torix, as Torix, haunted her. She couldn’t forget when every time she saw Jake the images of him unconscious on the forest floor flooded her. Maddie didn’t fool herself that she deserved the happy ending.

  Jake said something to make Sera laugh, then went back into the house. A couple of people stopped to chat with Sera as she made her way to the baby, and Maddie wondered what would happen if she crashed the party and announced Torix was back.

  Probably everyone would welcome her with open arms and patronize her while they tried to handle it. As if Torix were a minor annoyance or something. They’d more than likely get themselves killed. Maddie shook her head and adjusted to a more comfortable position. She’d gotten bitter, but then, she had a pretty good excuse. Seven years of servitude would do that. Apparently, a year of freedom didn’t provide a better mindset. Still, she should be thanking Sera instead of watching in the shadows like a creeper.

  Even now, Maddie couldn’t make herself walk over to her family and warn them. She’d come back for that express purpose, but crossing the distance proved harder than she’d thought it would be. Maddie considered emailing Sera the information to avoid any questions, but she didn’t want them searching out Torix. He may have lost his own power, but he’d clearly found another source.

  The baby waved her arms, but all Sera did was rub her little tummy and say something to Maddie’s dad. He nodded, and Sera turned to look directly at Maddie.

  The trees and shadows hid her well, but Sera was half-Fae. Maddie was surprised her hiding spot had lasted this long. Sera strolled through the brush at the property line and came to lean against a tree with her back to Maddie.

  “Why are you hiding in the yard?”

  “It seemed like as good a place as any.”

  Sera sighed. “There’s food and drinks in the house, and I know your mom would love to see you. Janet too.”

  “I know.” Janet had sent her a healing crystal, though she hadn’t known that Maddie even needed healing. It was strange and sweet, and nearly crushed Maddie with guilt for how she’d treated her former boss.

  As for her mom, every day since leaving for Europe, Maddie got an email containing a run-down of anything that happened to anyone in Mulligan. Maddie knew her parents weren’t planning to stay much longer, there were adventures to be had, but Amber was their first grandchild and they weren’t going to miss the Fae naming. Maddie understood the sentiment.

  “How did Mom take finding out about the Fae?”

  Sera shrugged. “The usual, mostly. She skipped the denial phase and went straight to excitement. Did you know she’d always thought there was something strange about the Wood?”

  Maddie chuckled. “Yeah. She’s believed in the fantastic her whole life. Having a part-Fae grandchild must be the greatest thing that ever happen
ed to her.” She couldn’t keep the sadness entirely out of her voice, and Sera picked up on it.

  “She wishes you were there, Mad. Her greatest wish is to have her whole family together and safe…and for Thor to descend from the heavens in nothing but a kilt, but we’re pretty sure that was the wine talking.”

  She snorted out another laugh. “That, I believe.”

  “Come to the party, Mad. Let us help you heal.”

  “I’m not interested in healing.”

  It was the wrong thing to say. Maddie couldn’t see Sera’s face, but the disapproval came through clearly in her stiffened shoulders. Years ago, Sera would have been the one hiding while Maddie coaxed her out. Coming into her magic had given Sera confidence that age hadn’t. Maddie was only a year younger than her, but she felt much older.

  “Jake looks happy.” The subject change worked to get Sera’s focus off of Maddie. “When are you two going to get married?”

  Sera shrugged. “We’re not in a hurry, but it would make things easier when we finally sell Evie’s house.”

  “You know I’ll be there, right?”

  “I know. Jake knows too, but he’d be happier if his sister came home for good.”

  “I can’t do that, Sera. I’m not sure I can ever move back to Mulligan. There are too many bad memories.”

  “I understand that. You know I do, more than anyone else, but running isn’t the answer.”

  “I’m not running. I’m preparing. Torix will be back.”

  “He’s powerless, Mad. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

  Maddie shook her head, even though Sera couldn’t see her. The moment had snuck up on her. All she had to say was Torix is back, and he has a Will-zombie, but the words were stuck in her throat. “Will was powerless. That didn’t stop him from hurting you.”

  “That’s true.” She was silent for a moment. “We’re worried about you and we miss you, but it’s your life. You get to decide what you need out of it. Promise me you’ll be careful?”