Alpha Magic (The New York Shade Book 4)

by D. N. Hoxa

  “It’s a year’s supply. We just want to make sure we’re prepared for everything. Like I said, we’re still new at this,” I offered with a smile, but I wasn’t sure if she bought it.

  She went somewhere in the back to prepare the spells for me, and she took longer than just a couple of minutes, but when she came back, she had a nice, shiny paper bag in her hands, and she put it on the desk. Reluctantly, I dragged my feet and went to make the payment. Her eyes gleamed when she saw me pulling out the money from my pockets. I’d taken a lot more than I was going to pay, just in case. I hadn’t bought spells before, so I hadn’t been sure about the prices.

  I waited patiently for her to prepare the invoice, go back to the backroom to get the copies from the printer, and finally take the money.

  “Do you mind if I ask you a question?” I asked Allison and took out the piece of paper Damian had left in my apartment.

  “Certainly,” she said, all too eagerly.

  “I have this spell for a potion, but I’m not sure what it’s for, and I thought maybe you might know, since that’s your job.” I wasn’t too hopeful. Malin knew a great deal of spells, and if she didn’t know what this was, I was pretty sure nobody else would.

  “Let me see.” Allison unfolded the piece of paper and read it, her brows narrowing deeper with every word she read. Then her eyes went over it all once more.

  “Where did you get this?” she asked me in a whisper. That certainly surprised me.

  “A family friend gave it to me. He said it was a very old spell, but since he had no idea what it was for, he thought I could use it. You know, for the maneaters.” It was the best excuse I had.

  “This is not going to help you with maneaters, I’m afraid.” Allison gave me back the piece of paper, her hand slightly shaking. Definitely a surprise. “The full spell has been erased from every book that ever had it. I’ve only ever read the first half of it. It’s called the Biter’s Poison, and the Guild used it in their fight against vampires a long time ago. If you drink this potion and a vampire bites you, your blood will poison them.”

  Goose bumps on my arms. If I’d had any doubts that Damian had left me this spell, they were gone now. A potion that would make my blood poisonous to vampires. It was…perfect, damn him.

  “Thank you, Allison.” I turned to the girls, who were bored out of their minds, waiting for me, ready to get the hell out of there already.

  “A pleasure,” she said and stood up from her desk.

  “It was very good to see you, Allison,” Malin offered with a wave, and I was almost at the door, thinking we were done, when…

  “Sin Montero, was it?” Allison called. The way her voice sounded, I just knew that I wasn’t going to like what she said next. I stopped anyway. “You’re Damian Reed’s mate, right? I thought I remembered the name, but I wasn’t sure until now.”

  Fucking hell. I turned. I smiled. “You must have gotten the wrong Sin Montero. I don’t know a Damian Reed.”

  She analyzed me for a second. I could see in her victorious smile that she thought I was full of shit.

  Except I wasn’t, not completely. I was not Damian Reed’s mate.

  “Have a good day.” I opened the door and walked out.

  Why would people think that I was Damian’s mate? Even Kit seemed nervous about it. He kept squeaking weakly from my shoulder.

  “Is Damian telling people you’re his mate, Sin?” Jamie asked as we walked toward the nearest exit of the Shade.

  “He wouldn’t,” I said, shaking my head, but it was a lie. I had no idea what Damian Reed would or wouldn’t do.

  “Then what the hell was that about?” Malin wondered, but I didn’t have an answer. Instinct told me to go knocking on Damian’s door and ask him about it. He knew. He always knew.

  But I smothered that instinct until it died. I was not going to see Damian Reed, and once the Uprising was gone, there would be no reason for us to ever meet again.

  Chapter Seven

  Here we go again, I thought to myself as I sat alone in Virgin Square the next night. I was a nervous mess—far worse than the first time. I looked at my surroundings, at the darkness that hid everything I didn’t want the Uprising to see, and I wondered if it would even work.

  We’d spent the whole day yesterday planning, Carter and I. Then we’d spent the better part of today getting things ready. We’d even drunk the potion that Damian had given me the recipe for. Malin had needed three hours to make it, and it had tasted awful—like dirt and shit mixed in together. It was going to be a nice weapon against Amina, and knowing my blood was poison to her now, I would even let her bite me if she got close enough.

  It was a very simple plan. We’d sent word—discreetly—to one of the Uprising’s minions, a werewolf who lived in Queens, that I would be here tonight at ten p.m. to make a deal with Chris Conti about working for him and the Pack of the Bronx. Everybody knew that Chris Conti wanted to hire me so the whole thing should be believable to Amina and the rest of the Uprising. That’s why they’d be here and try to take me out, and we’d fight. With some luck, I’d kill Amina, and by the time the Guild got here, they’d arrest everybody else she’d brought with. I planned on telling the Guild everything I knew about the Uprising.

  Well, everything that didn’t involve me personally and didn’t give away my secrets.

  Then, the Uprising would be gone. A simple plan. A good plan.

  I had three spells with me and another five on the ground, where I thought I’d be able to reach them during a fight. I’d done this enough times already in my mind to have a semi-clear picture of how things were about to go down. Around me, there were twenty werewolves of the Pack, most Level Two, some of them Level Three. They were hiding in the buildings around the square, where they would wait for Carter’s mark. They were only to come out if the Uprising brought more people with them. Or hellbeasts and maneaters, like they had last time.

  That wasn’t all, though. Kit’s whole family was there with me, too. Not on my person, but somewhere close by. I’d spoken to Kit before leaving the apartment earlier, and he’d said he wanted the little ones to see what we were doing because eventually they were going to have to learn how to fight.

  Might as well start them young, he said. This world is far too soft, and if they ever find themselves in the Underworld, they’ll be eaten alive if they can’t fend for themselves.

  No reason why I wouldn’t trust him, and it was his family, so I didn’t comment. If he wanted them to watch, they could.

  “It’s going to be tricky,” I told Kit, who was perfectly alert, sniffing the air, moving from one shoulder to the other, searching with his eyes. Chris and Carter would be here any minute now, and then hopefully, so would Amina and her friends. “I can’t use my magic, but the spells will be enough. And my daggers.” I had two in their sheaths around my hips, and another two in the pockets of my jacket. It was a leather jacket, and it was cold outside—my breath was coming out in white clouds, but I couldn’t feel shit. My palms were sweaty. I was very nervous.

  Eventually, I saw the silhouettes of the twin brothers coming into the Shade through the human part of the City. My back was turned to Mane Street, which separated the Square from the rest of the Shade, just to give the Uprising the impression that I wasn’t expecting them, if they were already here, watching me.

  I don’t know if it only felt like it to me, but it took the twins forever to finally reach me. Seeing them side by side shocked me all over again just like it had the first time. They were the same just as much as they were different. Chris kept his dark hair much longer than his brother, and he was wider in the shoulders. They were exactly the same height and had the exact same eyes, too. Dark amber, like honey. But the expressions on their faces were completely different. Chris Conti looked like an Alpha should—brows slightly narrowed, eyes sharp, arms wide to his sides. Carter still looked like the carefree guy who couldn’t give a shit about anything, with his smiling eyes and that half-grin pla
ying on his lips like he couldn’t wait to find out what was going to entertain him next.

  Of the two of them, Carter was stronger. His wolf was stronger. But he never really let it show, which always impressed me.

  The first time I’d met Chris, he had barely spoken to me. In fact, Carter had practically forced him to speak to me, but now, it had apparently changed. He walked up to me holding out his hand for me to shake.

  “Montero,” he said with a nod. So I wasn’t sorceress anymore, either. A nice change.

  “Chris, Carter, thanks for coming,” I said and waved to one of the benches at the edges of the Square. If anybody could see us now, we’d just look like three people getting together to talk about something they didn’t want anybody else to hear. Which was exactly what we were going for here.

  “No thanks necessary. I’ve been looking forward to this for years,” Chris said. The lightness of his voice seemed forced. “I should thank you for playing bait.”

  “Let’s just hope it goes as planned.” The two of us sat on the bench, but Carter remained standing.

  “Or not. I do so love surprises,” Carter said.

  “My brother tells me you’re rejecting all my offers. I must admit, I’m impressed. Nobody in their right mind would refuse that kind of money,” Chris said, fast, like he’d been planning to say that all night.

  Wait a minute. Carter had only spoken to me about Chris’s offer once. How many offers had Chris made me? I wanted to be curious enough to ask him, but maybe some other time, when I wasn’t planning to overthrow the Uprising and was a bit more relaxed.

  “Whoever said I was in my right mind?”

  Both brothers grinned, and for a second, they looked completely identical. Chris opened his mouth to say something else, but Kit squeaked and began tugging at my earlobe, which hurt like hell. The twins raised their heads suddenly, looking behind me at Mane Street, their eyes darkening at the same time. I stood up slowly and turned around, expecting to see Amina Gray’s face—or at least the Spring fae, Faron. Even Boyle would do.

  Instead, I saw five completely foreign faces.

  They’d stopped right at the beginning of Virgin Square, their arms wide at their sides, their weapons shining under the moonlight. Most had swords, but two of them carried daggers as big as mine, too.

  “They’re not alone,” Carter whispered behind me. “More are coming from behind. And the sides.”

  My heart skipped a beat. My instincts were confused. This wasn’t making any sense.

  “Something’s not right,” I said in a whisper. Who were these strangers? Amina would never send somebody else to kill me—she wanted my blood on her hands. So where was she? I spun around and searched with my eyes, trying to see where she was hiding, because she was here. She had to be here. The whole purpose of this trap was to kill her and have the Guild catch the rest of the Uprising.

  “There are no vampires among them,” Carter said, as if he could read my mind.

  Oh, no. “What about the fae?”

  “I can’t smell him, either,” said Chris. “They’ve sent kids after us.” He sounded pissed.

  Just not as pissed as I was.

  I shook my head as Kit squeaked in alarm. He wanted to know what the hell we were going to do. For once, the answer was very simple: “We need to retreat.”

  “They’re not just going to let us walk away,” Carter said, and I could see that for myself. Little by little, more figures came out of the shadows, all around us. At least fifty people that I could see, and they were all approaching us slowly. They weren’t all kids—I couldn’t see all of the faces, but I thought I recognized some men and women I’d seen in Estird. They all looked bloodthirsty as hell.

  “She has to be here somewhere,” I said, more to myself than to them. It just didn’t make sense. Amina wouldn’t let a chance like this pass her by. She wanted to kill me, damn it.

  “Here it goes,” Carter said, slowly stepping away to the side, the two swords that had been strapped to his back now in his hands.

  “Fucking pricks. They sent kids after us!” Chris said with a growl, and the next thing I knew, his jacket hit the ground.

  “Run,” I whispered against my every instinct that wanted me to stand and fight. “We need to run.”

  If Amina or at least Faron and Boyle weren’t here, this whole thing had already gone to hell.

  “Too late,” Chris spit from behind me, and I heard his skin tearing as he shifted. Not a sound escaped him, and it was admirable. I’d gone through the shift once and I’d wanted to scream until the world fell apart, but not Chris.

  More shadows appeared on Mane Street, but these weren’t standing on two feet. They were standing on four. The Pack werewolves.

  Maybe it was the shock, but I don’t even remember how it happened. All I knew was that I tried to run, but there were people in front of me, to my sides, at my back. My daggers were in my hands and Kit jumped off me, squeaking.

  Then there was blood.

  A man a few inches taller than me tried to grab me by the throat. My mind was still a little foggy, but my instincts and my body knew exactly what to do. I ran the stolen dagger over his forearm and blood exploded, spraying me everywhere. The blade of the knife in his other hand winked at me as it came toward my face. I ducked and spun, my leg outstretched, and I tried to kick his feet from under him but he jumped, and by the time I came back up, his fingers were wrapped around my throat. His knife was an inch away from my face. I blocked his hand with mine and pushed myself back with all my strength. His fingers were very slippery from the blood still pouring out of the wound on his forearm so I broke free easily. Then I stabbed him in the gut twice and hit him on the temple with the handle of my dagger hard. He fell back half a step, giving me enough room to aim for his heart. Two seconds later, he fell to his knees in front of me. I twisted the stolen dagger, then pulled it out of him.

  The man hadn’t hit the ground yet before another two came at me. I was starting to regain focus now. I wasn’t as shocked as before, and I could see what was going on around me as I fought the two men. Chris’s wolf was huge, just as big as Carter’s, his fur a rich brown, his jaws full of big sharp teeth, coated with blood. He was in the process of tearing an arm off a woman’s torso, but I didn’t have time to watch. On the other side, Carter was fighting three people with his swords, a smile playing on his lips. People and wolves surrounded us, the scent of blood filling the air like magic.

  And the two men who were fighting me were already chanting theirs.

  I wasn’t prepared for this. I should have thought this through better. I shouldn’t have let my rage against Damian cloud my judgment. I should have planned better for things to go wrong.

  It only occurred to me when I found myself whispering the words of one of Aunt Marie’s spells. It was instinct. I spun around and cut the men with my daggers while they, too, chanted and tried to stab me. My fingers were already glowing purple. Dropping one of my daggers, I raised my left hand just as the spell came to an end. But I never actually managed to finish it.

  Invisible magic hit me everywhere, all at once. Two spells from the wizards. There was no more ground beneath my feet and I couldn’t even feel the fall. All I felt was the fire spreading onto my body, paralyzing me, and the invisible hand that squeezed my throat. Claws on my cheek, but it wasn’t Kit. These claws were bigger, sharper, more violent. Something grabbed me by the ankles and pulled me. The words of the spell I needed to chant as soon as I could breathe and move again were clear in my mind. A creature twice the size of Kit, possibly someone’s familiar, was still trying to tear my face off when one of the wizards stepped on either side of me and held up his sword, aiming for my chest. The creature was gone, jerked away from me, and my body convulsed as a jolt of electricity came through me. My hand moved up and I met the wizard’s sword with my dagger. I don’t know where I got the strength to move my legs and kick him in the back, but the second he leaned forward and moved his sword away an in
ch, I pushed my dagger up all the way. It buried somewhere in his genital area, I think. He screamed. Loudly. It must have hurt like hell, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. He wouldn’t need his private parts, anyway, not for long. I grabbed him by his pants and pulled myself up, then stabbed him in the stomach as I made it to my feet while he screamed, swinging his sword from one side to the other without aim. My body was still numb from the spells, but they hadn’t been strong, possibly Level Two, both of them. Thankfully. But I did manage to duck away from his sword, then pull up and stab him in the chest while his other hand was busy holding his crotch.

  Kit was on his shoulders suddenly, his fur coated with red—his teeth, too—and he bit into the cheek of the wizard. The sword fell from his fingers and he hit the ground on his back, still screaming. His friend, who’d been helping someone else fight a werewolf, saw that I was still alive, and he came at me again, chanting. This time, I started a Guild spell. It was faster, not powerful, but I needed time, and that’s what it gave me. It was a standard attack spell, and it hit the wizard in the face when he was still two feet away from me. My fingers glowed and my tongue moved fast as I chanted the next spell, this one longer, more complicated, much more powerful. Another was coming for me from the side, but I didn’t dare look away from the wizard while he tried to break away from my magic long enough to defend himself. He couldn’t. Raising my free hand, I aimed it in between the wizard and the woman who was running for me. That was the thing about Aunt Marie’s spells—they weren’t specific. They didn’t care about aim—they just caused a lot of damage. Purple light laced with fog shot from my hand and grew bigger, brighter until it hit the sides of the both of them. They hit the ground instantly, and I ran forward, stabbing, kicking, moving away from their attacks.