Dragon's Gift: The Amazon Complete Series: An Urban Fantasy Boxed Set

by Linsey Hall

  Annoyed, and afraid.

  I’d had my dark magic under control. I’d never expected to get more of it. And a Dragon God power, at that. All of my sisters’ Dragon God powers were good powers. Or neutral, at least.

  I shook away the worry and followed Maximus to a narrow stone building. He unlocked a heavy wooden door with ornate carvings that looked like a private entrance of some kind, and it led into a beautiful, quiet lobby. Whatever this building had been, it was old. But in a fancy way. Like a nineteenth century government building.

  Maximus shut the door behind him, stopping the wisps from entering. I wasn’t sure on the rules on them entering private domains, but Maximus didn’t seem willing to let them. I turned to inspect the building. The little lobby contained two elevators, and Maximus took the one on the right.

  The ride up was silent and quick. Both of us caught our breath. My clothes stuck wetly to me, and I shifted, miserable. I hadn’t noticed while I was still running for my life, but now it was a pain in the tail.

  The elevator stopped, and we stepped out into small foyer. He unlocked a door, then led me into a living room with windows that overlooked the city. Yellow lights gleamed like diamonds in the distance, thousands of homes and shops welcoming the day. A brilliant orange sunset shined through the many windows. The furniture was good quality but simple.

  “Wow, this is nice.” I spun around. An open door gave a peek of the kitchen, and another showed a big computer sitting on a desk. I’d wondered how he would live. “Not very much like what I expected.”

  “I like the modern age.” A smile quirked up at the edge of his mouth. “It’s a good change from rural Germany and the Colosseum.”

  I remembered what he’d said about being abducted as a boy from a village in Germany around the turn of the millennia and sent to the Colosseum in Rome to be a gladiator. Yes, this had to be much better. And now that I thought of it, this place made a lot of sense.

  “You’ve certainly put the past behind you.”

  He rubbed his chin. “It’s a past meant to be left behind. I wasn’t close with my family. And the Colosseum… Well, I’m sure you can imagine.”

  I nodded, able to picture the misery all too well.

  “I can remake myself here,” he said. “And I like that.”

  I pointed to the computer in the little office. “And you’re stepping into the present, it seems.”

  “Ah, that. Well, I try.” A rueful smile stretched across his face, and suddenly he wasn’t the super deadly gladiator I’d come to know and lust after. He was just a guy. A handsome, powerful, rich guy. But just a guy. “Not going quite as I’d hoped. I don’t have the knack for it.”

  “They’re overrated anyway.” Chilly, I tugged off my wet leather jacket.

  He stepped forward and took it from me. “You need dry clothes.” His magic swelled briefly, and then a set of clothes that were identical to mine appeared in his hands. He handed them to me, and I grinned. “You can change into those upstairs. Then let’s look at the map. We have a short while before the others catch up.”

  I nodded, spotting the wisps outside the windows. Damned things hadn’t managed to follow us in, but they certainly weren’t leaving me alone.

  Maximus showed me to a staircase that led up, and I realized that his place was really a lot like mine. Much bigger and not full of potions and crap, but a similar layout.

  His room was simple, with a massive bed covered in a gray duvet. The scent of him was everywhere—cedar and soap and that uniquely wonderful scent of his skin. I took a deep breath, just once, then tried to ignore it.

  Wisps floated in front of the windows outside, and I stalked over and pulled the window shade down. Annoying little jerks. Since I couldn’t bear to take longer than necessary with that map waiting, I skipped the big marble shower and tugged on the clothes he’d given me, then pressed my fingertips to my comms charm.

  “Bree? Ana?” I murmured.

  The connection crackled, and Bree’s voice came through. “Rowan! How are you?”

  “Still in the lead.”

  “Are you safe?” Ana asked. “Injured?”

  “Nope. Not yet. But those damned witches beat us to the first clue. A map.”

  “Damn it,” Ana cursed.

  “Be careful around them,” Bree said. “We’ll update Jude that you’ve seen them.”

  “Thanks. Any word on the electric sword, Bree? Was your guy able to enchant it?” I asked.

  “Yes.” I could hear the smile in Bree’s voice. “It’s in the ether. Call on it if you need it.”

  “Thanks. Love you guys.”

  “Love you back.” They spoke in unison, and I smiled.

  I cut the connection and tossed my wet clothes in the laundry room that was off the bedroom. I grabbed the map we’d gotten from the attic in the haunted house, then hurried down the stairs. As I passed a table near the door to the living room, I caught sight of a massive pile of gold.

  “Whoa.” The word escaped me before I could help it.

  Maximus looked up from where he stood in the middle of the living room, clearly having just changed into fresh clothes.

  I shot him an impressed look. No other conjurer I’d ever met could conjure gold or money. “If you can do that, why don’t you just do it all the time?”

  He shook his head. “It takes a lot of energy. I can make enough to buy pretty much anything I want.” He gestured to the amazing apartment that had to be really expensive. “But I like to work for the things I own. I do make some for charities, though. I can’t make enough to upset the balance of the world economy—that’d take me hundreds of years, probably.”

  That was good, at least. “What charities?”

  He shrugged, turning toward the kitchen. His voice turned gruff. “Kids, animals, environment.”

  Those seemed like good ones. I smiled, liking Maximus even more. I had to bet he chose kids because he’d had a shitty childhood. Animals because he was a decent dude. And the environment because I imagined it looked a whole lot different now than it had in his day. I kept all my assumptions to myself, though. He didn’t seem like the sort to want to discuss his motivations.

  “Food?” he asked.

  “Oh my fates, yes.” My stomach grumbled, as if it suddenly remembered it was hungry.

  The kitchen was bright and modern, but the fridge was mostly bare.

  “I’m not much for cooking.” He pulled sandwich stuff out of the fridge and I grinned.

  “Fine by me. Neither am I.”

  We threw together some quick sandwiches and drank water out of the tap. He must have been on the move so much between his work for the Order and training me that he was low on supplies. Unless he conjured them all and just didn’t care to keep a full fridge. I was so damned hungry that I probably could have eaten a sandwich made of sawdust and tires.

  As I polished off the sandwich, I unfolded the map on the counter and stared. Out of the corner of my eye, I realized that the white wisps were shining through the windows, determined to get a good view for the audience. But I was too entranced to care.

  At first, the map made no sense. Just squiggly lines. Then I realized that part of it was glowing slightly.

  I pressed my fingertip to the brighter spot on the map, and magic flared. The paper shined, and an envelope burst forth, appearing out of thin air.

  Maximus stiffened. I grabbed the envelope, which was made of a heavy ivory paper, and carefully opened it.

  “Feels a hell of a lot like an invitation.” I unfolded it and nodded. “Yep. We’re invited to Cinderella’s royal ball.”

  “Cinderella? The fairy tale?”

  “The very same.” I looked at the map, realizing now that the glowing spot had been the destination. It no longer glowed, and it was easier to make out the details. “The Royal Palace of South London. There’s a Royal Palace in South London? Does the queen know about that?”

  “Supernatural,” he said. “It’s here, in the supernatura
l district.”

  “Ah. Never been.” Besides my time with the Protectorate and the occasional adventures to help Bree and Ana with their work there, I hadn’t seen a lot of the world. Alaska as a kid, then whatever states we passed through to reach Death Valley. Then Scotland.

  “What time?”

  “Seven p.m., tonight.” My shoulders relaxed, gratitude flowing through me. “We get a rest.”

  “Good. We could use one.” His gaze sharpened on the envelope. “There will be a lot of guests. With those two purple-eyed witches on the loose, we should get backup.”

  “Want me to ask the Protectorate? Or do you have people at the Order you want to bring in?” I hated that idea, honestly.

  “Better to use the Protectorate. They’re skilled and I trust them more.”

  “Really?”

  “I’m not an idiot.” He grinned. “They’re tough and smart.”

  “That they are. I’ll call and ask.” Maximus waited while I pressed my fingertips to the comms charm again and told my sisters what was up. They promised to go to Jude and then update me with their progress.

  I cut the connection and flipped the invitation over. On the back was a beautiful illustration of a woman’s shoe. It sparkled like glass. Beneath it, in a scrolling text, read the words Find me.

  “Cinderella’s glass slipper,” I said.

  “It’s the next clue. We must have to find it.”

  I frowned. “I guess so.”

  Maximus’s gaze turned serious, and I swallowed hard. When he spoke, I wasn’t surprised by the words. I’d been waiting for them. “How did we get out of the pumpkin patch? That wasn’t my magic.”

  I looked toward the windows, where the wisps flittered, and lowered my voice to a whisper. No way I could let those things hear me. He leaned close to listen, and I could feel the heat of him.

  “New magic,” I murmured. “Dragon God magic. I killed the plants.”

  “The power of death?”

  I shrugged, miserable inside. “I don’t know.”

  “Is it linked to the darkness that was inside you already?”

  I shook my head, my hair brushing against his shoulder. “I don’t think so. It feels new. Different. The plant’s life force flowed into me, making me stronger.”

  “That’s very useful.”

  My heart thundered, and panic gripped me with cold claws. “I don’t want that power. Death magic is dangerous. The Order of the Magica forbids it.”

  He nodded, his gaze serious. “You need to learn to control it.”

  “But I don’t want it.” I was just mad. At the world. At myself. First I got the dark magic from my time with the Rebel Gods, and now this—death magic as one of my Dragon God powers.

  Is there something about me that attracts this?

  “It’s not all bad, Rowan.” Maximus’s gaze searched mine. “Death is the other side of the coin of life. It’s natural.”

  “But it’s dangerous.”

  “You were already dangerous. You could whip up a potion that would kill a man in a second. And the way you use your sword? It’s the same.”

  “It’s something the Order frowns on.”

  “And we’re going to have to be careful with that. A bunch of old men with too much to fear. If you practice and learn to control it, they never need to know.”

  It was the story of my life, but I didn’t want to think about it. Instead, I focused on the hand that I’d laid on the table. Maximus’s larger hand moved to cover mine, and my vision narrowed in on it. His palm was hot and hard, strong and calloused. It dwarfed my own, and my breath caught.

  Prickles of awareness traveled all the way up my arm to my neck, then down the rest of my body. Every inch of me tingled.

  How the hell could a simple touch feel like that?

  Even my breathing was weird. Slow and hard. Tunnel vision narrowed my line of sight, until all I could see was where we touched.

  “Do it.” His voice was low, rough.

  Do what?

  What were we talking about?

  “Practice your magic. On me.”

  Practice? All I could think about was his lips. His hands.

  “You drew life from those plants until they withered. I’m a hell of a lot stronger than a pumpkin vine. So draw energy from me. I can always pull back if it’s too much.”

  Why would he pull away? This was too good.

  Then my mind caught on the first words he’d said. Awareness crashed back into me, driving away sexy thoughts of what he could do with his hands.

  We weren’t flirting.

  He was trying to get me to kill him.

  My gaze flicked up to his. At first, I thought maybe there was the briefest flare of heat in his deep blue eyes.

  “No. I’m not going to try to kill you.” But I didn’t move my hand out from under his. I was too weak.

  “Not kill me.” His smile suggested that I was a moron, but somehow, he suggested it in a nice way. Which wasn’t possible, so clearly this was all my hormones talking. “Just practice drawing power.”

  I wanted to draw a smile out of him. A kiss. Not power.

  Because despite his moronic idea, I was still seriously feeling the connection between us. I wanted to just lean forward and press my lips to his. It’d be amazing, I already knew. The most amazing kiss ever.

  Behind him, a white light flitted by the window, then zipped through, somehow sneaking through a crack at the base. It flew over to hover by his head.

  I blinked and leaned back. “Shit.”

  8

  Maximus blinked and turned to face the wisp. A fierce scowl creased his features. He pulled his hand out from under mine, and I mourned the loss. With a quick shove back from the table, he stood and reached out for the wisp.

  He was so quick that his hand closed around the thing in a flash. He carried it to the window, where more wisps were trying to get in through the tiny gap their fellow had found.

  He spoke directly through the glass, his voice hard. “I’ve tried to humor your rules and let these damned wisps follow. I even let them spy through the window. But entering my home is too much. Begone until the beginning of the next challenge.”

  His voice was so hard, so serious, that it sent a shiver down my spine. I should have focused on the fact that he said begone like the old-school gladiator dude that he was, but it was his tone that got me.

  It got the wisps, too. They zipped away.

  He opened the window and flung the other out, then slammed it shut and pulled the curtains. When he turned back to me, he frowned. “Miserable things.”

  I nodded, just staring at him. I was a total ninny, but his toughness just made me want him more.

  What a moron.

  “Let’s keep practicing,” he said.

  “We never started.”

  “We’ll start now.”

  “I’m not practicing on you.”

  He sighed, frustration evident in the tenseness of his muscles and the crease of his brow. “Fine. Then you need to practice on something. Just so you can see that this magic isn’t evil.”

  “It is.”

  “Accept that death isn’t evil, Rowan. It can be used by evil and for evil, but in itself, death is not evil. It’s not the same as the dark magic that poisoned you before. I can feel it.”

  He was right, though. I could feel it, too. The power terrified me—it was just so dangerous to have—but maybe it wasn’t evil. It didn’t feel as dark as the other magic had, at least.

  Anxiety shivered over my skin, making it feel too tight, but I nodded. “Fine. I’ll practice on a plant, then.”

  The tiniest smile quirked at the corner of his mouth, so little that I wasn’t even sure I’d seen it. He went to the corner of the kitchen and picked up a little plant from the windowsill.

  I frowned at it. “I really don’t want to kill your basil.”

  “Is that what this is?” He looked at it appraisingly. “I just thought it smelled nice. And the idea of b
ringing plants inside… Well, it was foreign to me.”

  “The modern age is wild,” I said wryly.

  He set the plant down on the table and returned to his seat. He was a couple of feet away now, not nearly as close as when I’d been whispering to him about my magic, but I could still smell him. Still feel him.

  It took everything I had to drag my attention away. I focused on the plant, touching a fingertip to it. Maximus was right. If I had this in me, I really needed to learn to use it. Maybe I could one day get rid of it, but until I had the time to figure that out, I needed to learn to control it.

  The plant felt fresh and green under my fingertip. I had no idea how I could feel the greenness of it, but somehow I could. It meant life to me, and it flowed up my fingertip and into my arm.

  I yanked my finger back, panting.

  Had I controlled that? Had I pulled the life out of it?

  I shook my head to clear it, then pressed my fingertip to the plant again, trying to repel the life force that I felt within.

  It worked. No tingles flowed up my arm, no greater sense of strength. A wobbly smile stretched across my face.

  “Take power from it,” Maximus said.

  I wasn’t sure if that was his nice way of saying “kill it,” but I decided not to focus on that. I would take just a tiny bit.

  I imagined the death magic within me as a bottle locked tight with a cork. I loosened the cork, accessing just a tiny bit of the death magic. Letting myself feel the life in the plant.

  The magic burst to the surface, sucking the power out of the plant. It flowed up my arm like raw energy, and the plant withered.

  I yanked my arm back. “Damn it!”

  “You did well.”

  “I did it too fast. I was trying to only take a little. I need more control.”

  “You’ll get it.”

  “I want to give this power back. I thought I’d escaped having dark magic that randomly killed.”

  “You did. This isn’t random, and it’s not dark. It’s just part of life.”

  “The shitty part.”

  A wry smile tugged at his lips, making him look impossibly handsome. “I won’t argue with that.”