Fusion Magic

by Lucia Ashta

  “Coming.” I hoped I was telling the truth. Nessa’s exhaustion had been too evident.

  But before I could further concern myself, another pop set my heart to galloping. Sure enough, Fianna dropped Irving while still a body’s length above the ground before practically crash landing to the ground next to him.

  And she was the stronger of the two fairies...

  “Will Nessa make it all right?” I asked her immediately. “She looked depleted before she left.”

  Fianna appeared ready to collapse and sleep a day or two, but she only stared at me before pressing her eyes and lips into tight lines of determination. When she popped out of sight again, as with Nessa, the pop was weaker.

  Nibbling at my lip, I kept my attention pinned on the sky above us while Quinn released my hand and made his way to Irving’s side. Since we’d last seen him, he’d been injured. Blood dripped from a slice above one of his eyes, and the flesh of his right front leg gaped open. Its fur hung like a flap, its white color now a rusty red. Even so, I didn’t think he was as injured as Brogan, whose breathing seemed too shallow.

  Come on, fairies!

  Seconds passed and extended into minutes. To me it felt like hours. I had no real idea how much time had actually gone by before I finally heard a warbled pop that was different than the usual signs of the fairies’ arrival.

  Fianna clutched Mulunu by the ends of her hair and dropped her the instant they appeared. Since Mulunu’s hair was nearly as long as she was tall, she didn’t drop to the ground any farther than Irving had, though she didn’t get up once she landed. Hugging her staff to her chest, she lay flat, breathing heavily, her eyes clenched. Other than the shoulder injury I’d already noticed, she seemed all right beyond being depleted of her magic.

  Satisfied that Mulunu would survive just fine, I really took in Fianna and Nessa, and I rose to my feet. “Is she okay?” I asked Fianna, who held her slightly smaller cousin against her body in a fierce embrace.

  “I don’t know,” Fianna said. “I can’t tell if one of those scumbags blasted her or if she just used too much magic too fast, but she isn’t responding.”

  “Oh no,” I whispered while Fianna shakily lowered the two of them to the top of their tree stump home and I walked toward them, hoping to assist in some way.

  “And where’s Trina?” I asked.

  “Who?” Fianna said distractedly.

  “The mermaid caught in the doorway.”

  “She was already dead.”

  “I know, but we can’t leave her there.”

  “We had no choice. The place was overrun.”

  I nodded like my head was on a swivel, working to accept the fact that we’d had to leave Trina behind. Poor woman. We’d saved her only to get her killed.

  Snapping out of it, I forced myself to focus. “Tell me how I can help,” I told Fianna. Sir Lancelot hadn’t allowed me onto the actual school grounds since the decision wasn’t up to him, but he’d granted me free access to the large area of forest that surrounded the Magical Creatures Academy. I knew the forest well.

  “Go get Melinda, and tell her to hurry.”

  “Right,” I said, and took off at a run, pressing my wings tightly against my back so as not to further injure the slightly torn seam of the one. The badger Melinda, who possessed legendary skills in healing, was likely to be on the school grounds I couldn’t access—the Academy Spell wouldn’t allow it. But surely I’d run across one of the pygmy trolls out on patrol, or better yet, Egan. The pegataur would definitely know what to do, and he’d do it fast.

  Everyone I left behind was in trouble because of me. I’d get them the help they needed, and then I’d find the way to set them free of the burden I’d become.

  All except Quinn.

  After the evidence of the constant threats we faced, I was going to make the most of the time we had together before our enemies killed us or our magic imploded, ending us with it.

  Quinn and I were forbidden creatures with a target hanging over us. Our love was equally forbidden.

  Our days were numbered. I wouldn’t waste a single one of them if I could help it.

  I infused extra speed into my stride as I ran from the home I’d shared with the fairies before my life had become unrecognizable.

  “Help,” I called out. “Help!” I cried, until finally someone responded.

  17

  As it turned out, the plants that had been keeping watch over the academy grounds before Naomi kidnapped me were still on the task, and had passed the message of our arrival down the line. I wasn’t sure how exactly the plants communicated with the headmaster, I just knew I was glad they did. He’d immediately dispatched Egan to see what we needed.

  Only a couple of minutes into my run, I crossed paths with the pegataur, who skidded to a stop the moment he saw me. While I informed him of the urgency of our situation in as few words as possible, he trailed his sharp, bright, forest-green eyes across me. Seemingly satisfied that I’d still be in one piece when he came back, he turned without comment and charged off in the direction of the school. Since his lower body was that of a horse, he ran far faster than I ever could, and was able to access the heart of the school to address the headmaster. As that was more than I could accomplish without calling on my somewhat unreliable angel magic, I ran back to the clearing where I’d left the others and impatiently waited until help arrived, keeping a wary eye on all the injuries, especially Brogan’s.

  Thankfully, when help arrived, it really arrived. Sir Lancelot himself supervised the many professors, pygmy trolls, and mages who came as fast as they could. The moment Melinda skidded to a stop in the clearing in front of the fairies’ home, she clutched her long, flowing skirts and apron in her hands and ran around the rough circle of the injured, doing what she referred to as triage. She barked out some directions to the professors and mages before settling onto her knees in front of Brogan, asking Liana for information as she worked, pulling out jar after jar of magical ointments from the deep folds of her skirts.

  It was only thanks to Melinda’s unrivaled skill that Brogan survived, though it had become clear that his recovery would be gradual. He would have certainly died if not for his supernatural healing and Melinda’s rapid intervention.

  Nancy, the academy’s staff witch, fashioned a makeshift healing room for our recovery, shaping the earth with the magic of her outstretched hands while chanting myriad spells. From the flat ground of the clearing in front of Fianna and Nessa’s tree stump home rose a simple room with dirt walls, open windows, and enough space to house us all. The beds shot up from the floor. Nancy then delivered mattresses, blankets, and pillows in a flash of brilliant light.

  After a day and night spent in bed alongside Brogan, Irving had healed completely from his cuts, but he was still too weak to move around much. His plight seemed the same as Mulunu’s, the fairies’, and Quinn’s. Once the fight and urgency had passed, the depth of their exhaustion and magical depletion really sank in. Nessa had been blasted by magic, but hadn’t taken a direct hit, the force of the attack mostly skimming her, and so her recovery was coming along nicely. She and Fianna slept in little hanging beds the size of my hand, next to Mulunu.

  Never before had I seen the sea witch allow herself such vulnerability. She slept soundly, though she refused to let go of her staff. She napped with it lying across the front of her body, both hands folded atop it. With her face relaxed, free of her usual ferocity, she seemed every bit her age, which was to say old as sand.

  “Everyone is going to be fine, sweetie,” Melinda said, offering a pat of comfort to my thigh, bare beneath my shorts; it was as high as she could reach without stretching. As soon as Melinda was sure no one was going to die, Sir Lancelot had insisted all of us mermaids be clothed. I was back to my usual outfit of crop top and tiny shorts, but even though I’d chosen the most minimal of clothing I could get away with, I was still highly uncomfortable. I’d grown accustomed once more to the freedom my extended time of nudity affor
ded. I’d caught Liana tugging at her similar outfit more times than I could count. For her, clothing would be even more awkward.

  “I won’t deny there were some close calls, but they’ve all made it out of the woods,” Melinda continued. “They’ll all pull through without significant problems, though I fear Brogan might be burdened with a limp, or at the very least scarring. His injuries were nearly fatal. We got lucky. He’ll likely live with the reminder of just how lucky he was the rest of his life.”

  I scanned the large square bed where Brogan lay curled up on himself, still a polar bear. Pink spots mottled his thick fur where the blood had stained his coat even after washing. Unable to summon the energy to shift back, his fur glistened with the numerous magical ointments Melinda applied to his abdomen, shoulder, and hindquarters every couple of hours. The badger had barely slept the night before; she refused to delegate the monitoring of the bear.

  Shivering at the thought of how close we’d come to losing the man who’d done so much to help us, even though we’d just met him, I allowed my gaze to drift to Liana, who slept in the bed next to Brogan, and to Quinn, who slept on her other side, an empty bed between them—my assigned bed.

  “You should get some more rest too,” Melinda urged, patting my thigh some more.

  “My wing and neck are fully healed. I’m fine now.”

  But Melinda merely raised her brow on her badger face at my protests. “No need to diminish the ordeal you went through, Selene.” Her voice was soft, meant only for me. We were the only ones currently inside the healing room other than her sleeping patients. “You were subjected to situations you should have never had to endure. Beyond the recovery of your body, take into account the recovery of your mind. Those blasted vamps seemed to have drained much of your blood and life force.” She paused. “I’m truly sorry, honey, I wish there weren’t so much greed in the world. Too much darkness infects the hearts of creatures lately.”

  My shoulders sagged at the fresh reminder that though we’d escaped our enemies for now, Trina had lost her life to their power grab, and my unique hybrid magic, along with Quinn’s, would always be a magnet to those who wished to harm us. This peace was simply a respite from their ploys and machinations. Beyond the weight of that reminder was the danger that Quinn and I posed to each other, to ourselves, and to everyone else in close proximity to us. According to Mulunu, who seemed to know more about us than we did, this danger was unrelenting, its outcome inevitable.

  “Now, now.” Melinda squeezed my leg, and I looked down at her kind, furry face, returning her gentle smile, though I struggled to do so. “Nothing is so bad as it seems in this moment, I’m sure of it. Everything will look better in the daytime after a good night’s sleep.”

  I wasn’t sure a good night’s sleep was possible. More often than not, when I closed my eyes I saw flashes of Antonio Dimorelli or Naomi Nettles, and if not them, one of the awful vampires who’d seemed so intent on ripping my throat out. Regardless, I allowed the kindhearted badger to guide me over to the lone empty bed. When I lay down, I turned to face Quinn’s sleeping form. I could just make out the steady rise and fall of his chest in the light of the dim glowing orbs Nancy had placed around the room. In their night setting, they emitted just enough light for Melinda to monitor our progress, but not enough to disrupt the rest we all needed so much.

  “Sleep now, hon,” Melinda whispered. She pulled the covers up over my shoulder and wings. “And remember not to touch him.” She hadn’t been the only one to remind me that Quinn and I shouldn’t come in contact with each other. I’d heard the caution at least a dozen times since Nancy had created the healing room for us.

  “Nothing will harm you while you sleep, I promise. I’ll be here all night long, keeping watch.”

  If only Melinda’s promises were sufficient to keep us all safe. After my limited time on land, I already knew it wouldn’t be enough. The desire to gain more power that drove the many merclans to fight only seemed accentuated in landlubbers. I didn’t see how I’d ever be safe while remaining on land, but neither did I think Quinn could follow me back into the water. He didn’t want to share a life with me while relegated to his unusual animal form, and I didn’t want that for him either. Besides, Mulunu had made it clear that I no longer belonged in the merclans. According to her, I no longer belonged anywhere.

  With a heavy weight clamping down on my heart from all directions, I stared at the man who’d changed my life in so many ways. My desire to share more time with him was as innate as my instincts. I was driven to be with him as much as he was driven to be with me.

  Holding on to that one fleeting desire, and the need to find the way to make it possible, I finally allowed my eyelids to settle. But I didn’t find peace in sleep. I feared I’d never find it at all.

  Something tugged on my consciousness. When I fluttered my eyelids open, I discovered Quinn staring at me and I smiled groggily. Before thinking, I reached a hand across the gap that separated our beds, but he shook his head, his face a map of grief.

  “We’re not supposed to touch, remember?”

  “Of course, how could I forget?” I groaned, amazed that I had managed to forget while I slept. I withdrew my hand and tucked it under my face atop a pillow while I stared at Quinn. The signs of weakness and exhaustion were all but gone from his visage. His frame appeared almost as muscular as it’d been when we first met. It wouldn’t be long before he’d be back to his usual self—at least on the outside. I wasn’t sure it was even possible for him to return to the person he’d been before. My memories haunted me, and I hadn’t endured two months of torture at the hands of Dimorelli and his goblins.

  “You have no idea how much I want to touch you,” he said, interrupting my thoughts. “You’re all that’s kept me going through the rough times.”

  Of those, there’d been far too many.

  I grimaced, hiding the evidence of my suffering. I didn’t want Quinn to realize how much it hurt me not to be able to touch him, especially when we were this close. During this last day and a half, when all we’d had to occupy us was our own healing, I’d made a solemn promise to myself: I wouldn’t let anyone else I cared about suffer because of who or what I was.

  The idea of being emotionally apart from Quinn wasn’t a realistic one, especially since I genuinely believed that the connection that linked us was too important—and too strong—to consider it a burden. If anything, it had been the greatest blessing of my life, regardless of all the negative situations it had delivered. Staring into Quinn’s abalone-shell-colored eyes, with their sparkle returned, I couldn’t but think he was the greatest miracle. My connection to him must be a gift, no matter what anyone thought or said. That’s how it felt. The sensation of our etheric togetherness consumed every part of me as it latched on to the corners of my soul, imbuing it with joy, doing what it could to overcome the raw and dark edges of my awful memories.

  “I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it,” he said, breaking the predictable spiral of my emotions. Since being relegated to the quiet of the healing room, my despondent thoughts had become my enemy, my hopes not always sufficient to overcome them.

  Snapping my attention back to the here and now, I blinked, taking in the way his lush lips smiled tentatively at me. Dark stubble covered the lower half of his face, making his eyes all but glow in contrast to the dark frame of his hair.

  “I don’t know if you feel the same, Selene,” he said, “but I know I can’t do without you. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and no matter what anyone says about how dangerous it is for us to be together, I don’t care. I can’t be without you. The only reason I’m not touching you now is because I don’t want to be responsible for harming anyone else. I’m willing to take the risk. Dammit, I have to take the risk, but I won’t risk anybody else. And that includes you. The decision is entirely up to you. If you want to go away and never see me again, I’ll respect that. It’s really the smart thing to do. We might blow up or something if we attemp
t to make love again.”

  He barked a nervous laugh, but all I could do was shake my head against my pillow.

  “I don’t care about the risks,” I said. “I don’t care what anyone says, including Mulunu. Every part of me feels drawn to you, and I know, and I mean I really know, that we are meant to be together, even if that means we’ll be leaving this world together, and soon.”

  His gaze followed my lips as he nodded.

  “Every single piece of me wants to be closer to you, connected to you,” I said. “I decided before we even got here that I had to see our connection through. If not…” I sighed. “If not, I’ll have failed the entire point of life as I see it. When I tried to step away from you, it was brutal. Our separation won’t work for me.”

  I held Quinn’s intense stare, mindless of whoever else might be in the room with us; I hadn’t even checked. “I won’t ask you to take the risk, but if you’ve already decided, then I’m taking it with you. If we go out in a blaze of fire when we next make love, then so be it. It will have been worth it.” I gulped, terrified of the high probability of that result. “Just promise me one thing, Q…”

  “Anything.” His eyes trailed across my face, landing on my lips once more while he waited for my response.

  “Don’t leave this world without me. I’ll take the risk. I’ll do it without hesitation. But I won’t have you leaving me alone in this world. I don’t think I could…” My vision blurred at the mere thought of having to go on without Quinn in my life when my heart seemed as much his as my own.

  “I promise I won’t leave you,” he said right away, extending his hand halfway into the space that separated our beds. “And you’d better not leave me.”

  “Never,” I said, making the same promises he was making me, knowing whether we kept them or not was entirely beyond our control. Extending my hand over the bed, I brought my fingers close enough to his that I could feel their heat. But we didn’t touch. Not yet. Not with our friends here.