Forged by Fire
Blood and Magic — Book Six
Danielle Annett
Contents
Also by Danielle Annett
Praise for the Blood & Magic Series
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
20. Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Also by Danielle Annett
About the Author
Missing James?
Forged by Fire
Blood & Magic: Six
Copyright © 2019 Danielle Annett
All rights reserved, including the rights to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the author.
This book is a work of fiction; all characters, names, places, incidents, and events are the product of the authors imagination and either fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Cover Design: Coffee and Characters
Editor: Megan Records
Proofreader: Amy Halter
Formatting: Coffee and Characters
Also by Danielle Annett
Blood & Magic
Cursed by Fire
Kissed by Fire
Burned by Fire
Branded by Fire
Consumed by Fire
Forged by Fire
Praise for the Blood & Magic Series
Cursed by Fire
“Oh my GOODNESS! I completely devoured this book in one sitting it was THAT GOOD!”
—Cocktails and Books Blog
“I thought Cursed by Fire was an awesome read and a great introduction to the series. I can’t fault it in any way and thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to more.”
—Book Passion for Life
“I personally am a Kate Daniels fan, and I loved this series.”
—Amazon Reviewer
Kissed by Fire
“I love how Danielle Annett writes. Her books are so intriguing, action packed, and unique.”
—The Book Quarry
“This twist in Kissed by Fire was exactly what I, as a reader, needed, even though I didn’t know I needed it until it happened.”
—Sapphyria’s Book Blog
“This is even better than the first one. I hope there are many more.”
—Amazon Reviewer
Burned by Fire
“I couldn’t believe how it ended either, now I’m super excited to read the next one!”
—Shooting Stars Reviews
“I have to say, Danielle Annett sucked me into a world of magnificent beings and creatures.”
—Amazon Reviewer
“Ugh, these endings are killing me! I love this series. The dynamics between Naveed and [redacted] are hot, hot, hot. It just keeps getting better.”
—Amazon Reviewer
Branded by Fire
“I have loved this series from the first book Cursed by Fire and all the characters as well. But I think that Branded by Fire is by far my favorite.”
—The Avid Reader
“Danielle Annett’s BRANDED BY FIRE is scorching hot.”
—Amazon Reviewer
“Branded by Fire is the best one yet (and the other 3 books in the series rock!)”
—Sapphyria’s Book Blog
Consumed by Fire
“I love this series! If you like urban fantasy with a strong female lead then you'll love it too!”
—Amazon Reviewer
“When an author can leave you hanging and wanting more; then that is a brilliant author”
—The Avid Reader
I am so incredibly thankful to my family. Thank you for letting me reach for the stars and for giving me the time to finish this damn book.
1
If you had trouble of the magic variety, you had two options. One, you could call the Human and Paranormal Enforcement Division, also known as the HPED. The first problem with this was that in order to call the HPED, you needed to be human.
They didn’t work for paranormals, no matter how low on the food chain you might be.
And if you were human, but the job wasn’t entirely human-related, as soon as they got a whiff of supernatural, they were out.
Sure, if someone broke into your house, they were happy to assist. But if that someone was a vampire ex-boyfriend with boundary issues, you were on your own.
The second problem you’d face when calling the HPED was that your issue needed to be small enough that they felt comfortable handling it.
The HPED prided themselves in being competent. They would never outright say a job was out of their league.
They would, however, tell you their case log was a mile long, and unfortunately, they wouldn’t be able to assist in a timely manner. Too bad. So sad.
If you were lucky, they referred you to a mercenary like me. If you were unlucky, they just hung up.
The HPED didn’t deal with murder or brutal assaults. They didn’t take jobs that actively put their lives in danger.
To be honest, I couldn’t blame them. They weren’t paid enough and unfortunately for them, tax dollars were a thing of the past.
Members of the HPED were paid by the job, and upon completion. If it looked like an investigation would take several weeks—let alone months— they were going to issue a hard pass when they could find a simple fender bender that they could wrap up in an afternoon.
Option two was calling a mercenary like me in the first place. It’s like that children’s cartoon saying: “No job’s too big. No mercenary’s too small.” I’m pretty sure it had something to do with pups, but this version worked for me so I rolled with it.
I wasn’t the only mercenary in town, but I was one of the best. And I took on all the jobs. Didn’t matter what the risk was. Didn’t matter how long it would take.
And, since I was a nice merc, I didn’t charge an arm and a leg if I knew the client couldn’t afford it.
There was a time when I would have, but all that changed when a boy was murdered in my city. It was like a switch went off inside of me. Couple that with my boss-slash-surrogate-father being murdered and me inheriting his business, and we’ll just say my priorities changed.
It could also have had something to do with being mate-bound to Declan Valkenaar—Alpha to the Pacific Northwest Pack—but I tried not to give him credit when I didn’t have to. It would just go to his head.
So with all that said, why the hell was I covered in sweat in an abandoned warehouse when I could have been sitting in my new shiny office, or out in the streets taking down baddies?
I glared at the handsome asshole across the room. His almond-shaped eyes narrowed further as he smiled and blew me a kiss before giving me the finger.
He, was why. And, I was going to kill him. I just needed to get close enough to his Asian ass to do it.
Before I could return his lewd gesture, I was forced to jump over the table or risk getting run over by it.
I landed in a crouch as it sailed past me before slamming into the metal wall leaving a dent.
What the hell had I gotten myself into?
> Another object—this time a metal folding chair—zipped through the air, aiming for my face.
“Motherfu—”
My feet pounded through the warehouse, each step a loud echo in the near silent room.
I sprinted through the wide-open space, zipping past more flying furniture in my haste to get away.
Chair, end table, lamp—they were all out to get me.
Think, Aria. Think.
Easier said than done.
You try coming up with a plan when a full warehouse worth of furnishings is trying to kick your ass. I never should have agreed to this. I knew I needed the training. Controlling my pyrokinetic abilities had been a challenge in and of itself. Couple that with my newly acquired telekinetic abilities and I was a virulent ticking time bomb.
But this—this was not training. This was borderline abuse.
Okay, I was probably being dramatic but I couldn’t even count the bruises anymore. By the end of today I wouldn’t be surprised if I was a giant ball of purple and yellow flesh. I could barely make out my normally sun kissed olive skin as it was.
Soft afternoon light filtered in through the dirt-coated windows, lighting the space and illuminating Dia’s annoyed frown. What the hell did she have to be upset about?
She wasn’t the one being pelted. No, she got to stand in relative safety beside Jason as he threw everything he had at me. If it weren’t for the spelled cuff still wrapped around her wrist, I’m sure she’d have been joining him in the fun.
“Stop thinking like a mercenary and think like a psyker!” she shouted.
I flipped her the bird.
A smile spread across her face. Oh, when I was through with —
Chest heaving, I rounded a pillar and ran smack into a coffee table, falling to my knees.
Muscle memory took hold and I jumped to my feet. I kicked the table in the center with my steel-toed boots. It split so I kicked it again, this time breaking it in half.
A smile spread across my face. “Take that!” Stupid table. The karate kid in me jumped for joy.
“You can’t win by killing the furniture.” Jason Hoang’s voice rang through the open space.
I shifted my gaze back to him. He leaned against a brick pillar with a bored expression on his face. Then again, he was always bored as though kicking my ass was hardly ever a challenge.
I wanted to punch him. What the hell kind of training exercise was this supposed to be anyway?
An idea formed in my mind and before I could second guess it, I launched to my feet and sprinted in his direction.
Jason’s dark brown, almond-shaped eyes narrowed. Of Korean and Chinese descent, Jason had dark brown hair that was shaved on the sides and longer on top. Today he wore ripped jeans and a quarter-sleeve, v-neck white T-shirt.
If I didn’t know better, I’d be fooled into believing Jason was the boy next door type. He carried a bored and aloof attitude and smiled easily but let me tell you—he was far from it and I sure as hell knew better.
He was the telekinetic mind behind the attacking furniture. Disable him and I’d disable the furniture. Sounded like a solid plan to me.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Oh, wouldn’t he like to know.
I smirked and continued my forward charge.
I was five feet away now and closing in when all of a sudden, the air in front of me shimmered, the only hint that he’d formed an invisible wall between us.
I ran headfirst into it and bounced back, falling on my ass.
“Shit!” I spit blood and glowered up at him.
“You can’t beat every opponent with brute force. You’re not a shifter.” He flicked his gaze toward Declan, who had so far been a quiet observer. Asshole. He was the reason I was here, training. You’d think being his mate would keep me warm and sheltered. But no. His idea of keeping me safe was by throwing me to the wolves to get my ass kicked.
I threw my hands in the air. “What do you want from me? I’m trying here.”
Dia stomped over and helped me to my feet before giving me a small shove in the shoulder. “You’re not trying. You’re a telekinetic. Use it.”
I shook my head. They didn’t know what they were asking. “I fight better with my fire —”
“Too bad. You’re never going to take down your mother if you don’t figure out how to master both and use them in conjunction with one another. And stop fighting like a street fighter. Look at you.” Jason waved a hand in my direction. “You’re covered in sweat, breathing heavy, and look like a strong wind could topple you over.” He shook his head and then turned to Declan. “Has no one been working with her?”
Declan’s emerald green eyes narrowed. “What exactly are you insinuating?” he asked and took a menacing step forward.
That’s right, baby! You tell him. I clamped my jaw shut before I could embarrass myself and say those words out loud.
Jason didn’t seem cowed. If anything, he was angrier.
“She isn’t a shifter, yet her first instinct is to run toward danger and try to beat it into submission. You’re handicapping her.”
And ensues the rage. It might not look like it based on Declan’s expression but that man was a walking ball of fury thanks to Jason’s words.
I ran a hand over my face. I didn’t have the energy to try and stop whatever altercation might result from Jason being an idiot.
Up until the past two weeks, Declan was my trainer. Before him, I’d trained with James—my werewolf best friend who had been conveniently unavailable ever since he went off on some hush hush Pack mission. So yeah, I could kinda see Jason’s point, not that I’d ever openly agree with him.
But I didn’t have a whole lot of options. Declan and James were two of the only people strong enough to train with me. Sure, both men could tear me in two if they wanted to, but between my pyrokinetic and telekinetic abilities, I could do permanent damage or accidentally kill someone.
I’d been focusing on strength and hand-to-hand training. It was safer. And it was my choice. Declan didn’t have the knowledge to hone my psyker abilities. But he was a hell of a fighter. He was doing the best he could with me and it wasn’t like I was an easy student.
Declan growled and every hair on my body stood on end. Rather than get involved, I decided to take this opportunity to catch my breath and took a seat on the floor.
It was nice down here.
“Why do you think you’re here? Help her or get out. Stop wasting our time.”
Jason sighed and turned back to me. “Whatever you learned during your time with the shifters, unlearn it. You need to create new instincts. You need to start reacting with your telekinetic powers first and physical force second. Understand?”
I nodded. Easier said than done but I was willing to give it a go.
“Okay then. Let’s go again.”
I heaved out a breath and rose to my feet. That break hadn’t lasted long.
This was my fifth training session with Jason and Dia. I was supposed to learn how to better manage my TK abilities. Instead, I tended to get my ass kicked and it was getting old.
I couldn’t deny that some of what we worked on did help with my control. The room didn’t shake and the floor didn’t shudder every time I called on my telekinesis anymore. I wasn’t on the verge of a complete loss of control. And I didn’t worry about inadvertently hurting people anymore. But I didn’t know how to fight like a TK. Jason and Dia grew up with their abilities. They used called on them instinctually. Telekinesis wasn’t natural for me. Fire was. I just didn’t understand why they wouldn’t let me burry my TK side. If you asked me, being a pyrokinetic was more than enough.
“I can’t believe Inarus never went over any of this with you,” Dia mumbled as she strode back toward her seat. I rolled my eyes and decided not to rise to the bait because in truth, he had. He was the reason I didn’t level the Compound when my emotions ran high. He was the reason I could be around the people I cared about. And he was also the r
eason I knew that unleashing my abilities unless I had complete control over them could be catastrophic to those around me.
I knew my telekinesis had the potential to be an asset. I mean, who didn’t want more power in a fight? But some mental block inside me didn’t want to wield it.
Everything in me screamed it was risky. Dangerous.
And no matter how many times I said aloud that I wanted to control it, use it even, in truth, I just wanted my telekinesis to go away.
I eyed the cuff wrapped around Dia’s wrist. Her telekinetic abilities were still bound thanks to the spell-worked cuff the Evergreen witches had provided back when she was just one more in an endless line of people who wanted to kill me. It should have come off on its own by now, but it hadn’t and I wasn’t going to bring it up.
A small part of me wished I had that cuff. But I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my pyrokinesis just to have the burden of my TK powers lifted. That cuff was an all or nothing solution. I couldn’t pick and choose which powers to smother.
I sighed. Dia might not be the enemy anymore, but she still wasn’t a friend.
So I ignored her and rolled my eyes. Inarus had taught me a lot. She didn’t know the mess I was before his help. And I wasn’t about to lay myself bare before her.
Forged by Fire: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Blood and Magic Book 6) Page 1