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

by Linsey Hall

Maximus stepped out of the bathroom, a too-small towel wrapped around his waist.

  I swallowed hard as my body heated. Damn, he looked good. “We’re meeting in ten minutes.”

  “Shite.”

  “Yeah.” I hurried into the shower. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

  As I hurried past him, he reached out, grabbed me around the waist, and pressed a hot kiss to my lips. It lasted only seconds, but my mind was fuzzy by the time it was done.

  He grinned down at me. “See you in a bit.”

  I swallowed and nodded, struck dumb, then hurried into the bathroom. I finished my shower in record time. Two minutes later, I tugged on my clothes and grabbed a random tube of lipstick off the bathroom vanity. I didn’t know what color it was and I didn’t care, but I considered it armor and I didn’t want to go into battle without it.

  I swung by the kitchen to refill my potion belt and bag, then met Maximus by the door, slicking on the lipstick as I walked. I was such a pro that I knew it would go on straight.

  “Ready to go save the world?” he asked.

  “Always.” I turned back to the bedroom where the Menacing Menagerie were still lounging. “Bye, guys! Be ready to go to war. We might be fighting soon!”

  I heard some excited chittering and squeaks, which I assumed came primarily from Eloise.

  Maximus and I hurried out of my flat and down the hall.

  I pressed my comms charm. “Ana? Bree? I was told we’re meeting now. But where?”

  “Kitchen again,” Bree said. “Everyone needs to eat.”

  Perfect. My stomach was already growling, as if determined to make up for lost time.

  The kitchen was crowded when we arrived, though Hans was still gone. Bree and Ana sat at the big round table, along with Cade and Lachlan. Jude, Hedy, Caro, and Nix were there as well, and everyone was scarfing down muffins and coffee.

  I hadn’t seen the platinum-haired Caro in days, and she looked as tired as everyone else. Her hair was messy, and she raked a hand through it as she looked up at me and grinned.

  Jude met my gaze. “No Hans means no hot food, but this should do.”

  My gaze landed ravenously on the carafe of coffee. “It’ll do fabulously.”

  Maximus and I sat, and I poured us each a cup. I looked between Jude and Nix. “Well? Did we find the island?”

  Jude nodded. “We did indeed. Your tip about the Mage’s Star and its distance from land helped us locate it.”

  Nix leaned forward. “And I’ve got a contact who can help you find the underwater entrance, if it exists.”

  My brows rose. “Really?”

  “Yeah. You’ll like him.”

  “We’ve also got a mega-sweet ride,” Caro said.

  I turned to her. “What is it?”

  “A submersible.” She grinned widely.

  “Like a submarine?” Maximus asked.

  “Exactly,” Jude said. “Caro, our multitalented water mage, is the pilot. You six are going in it.” She pointed to me, Maximus, Ana, Lachlan, Bree, and Cade. “You’re all immensely powerful, and we need a small team. You’ll be the ones in the sub looking for the underwater entrance. We’ll have standby teams in case it’s not there, but we’re counting on you.”

  “Where will the standby teams be?” I asked, not wanting them to be close enough to alert the Titans.

  “Don’t worry,” Jude said. “They’ll hold off. We’ll have them positioned in boats far away. I don’t think we can drop in from the top because of a protective spell that forms a dome over the entire fortress, but we’ll deal with that when the time comes.”

  Hedy leaned forward. “As Jude told you last night, we’ve finished both potions that will help you fight the Titans.” She nodded at Lachlan, the Arch Magus and a potions wizard. “You tell her about yours.”

  Lachlan turned his dark gaze to me. “The weakening spell needs to be deployed first. It’s in potion form and we need them to ingest it, but once they do, their magic won’t grow any stronger, which has been our main problem. They’ll also be physically weaker, and they should be susceptible to the second potion.”

  “That one will bind them,” Hedy said. “It’s basically our strongest murder spell. It will immobilize them so that they can’t move, and we can throw them back in Tartarus. But if that magic hits anyone who isn’t a god or Titan, they’re dead.”

  “At that point, your job is to weaken the defenses on the fortress,” Jude said. “We’ll send in reinforcements to get the Titans once they’re immobilized. The Order is going to help us put them back in Tartarus.”

  “We still don’t know how their magic is growing or what they plan to do with it,” Hedy said. “But if we can stop it and get them back into Tartarus, maybe we don’t have to worry about it.”

  Fates, I wanted an answer to that. I leaned back against the chair, my mind whirring. This was a big plan. With a lot of parts.

  I prayed I could live up to my end of the bargain.

  An hour later, I stood on a bobbing dock on the Greek island of Crete. I had the special potions in my bag, and we were ready to go. The sun shone beautifully on the sparkling blue water, but we’d be under the surface soon, deep in the darkness.

  Maximus stood at my side. So did my sisters, Cade, Lachlan, and Nix, the FireSoul. We were a good team. Bree and Ana had the power of the Norse and Celtic gods respectively, and they could kick some serious butt. Maximus was a badass on every level. And so were Cade and Lachlan. As a Celtic god of war, Cade was a great one to have on your side at any time. Lachlan was the Arch Magus—the most powerful mage in the world—and definitely not one to mess with.

  Caro was bringing the submersible around from its berth, and we’d load in soon. Nix would introduce us to her contact, then leave.

  I turned to look at Nix, who stared off to sea with a blissful expression on her face. “So, we’re meeting a giant sea turtle named Nestor here?”

  Nix nodded. “That’s the one. He helped me out when I was in the realm of the Greek gods, and we became pals. For a Twinkie, he’ll do anything.”

  I couldn’t believe that this was our guide, but if it worked, I wasn’t going to say no. I looked down at the bag of Twinkies in my hand. The partially hydrogenated treats were apparently Nestor’s favorite thing in the entire world, and Nix had told us to bring a bunch of them. Jude had a weakness for the American treats, so Maximus hadn’t had to conjure them.

  The water rippled in the distance, and Nix leaned forward. “I think that will be him.”

  The ripples in the water grew larger, and a huge green head finally broke the surface. The turtle was enormous—at least a dozen feet across. His eyes gleamed a brilliant emerald, and his shell was a pale shimmering green.

  “Nestor!” Nix waved.

  He bobbed his head and swam closer.

  “A Greek turtle is named Nestor?” Maximus frowned.

  “Don’t ask,” Nix said. “He’s a weirdo, but he’s nice and he’ll keep his word.”

  Nestor stopped right in front of the dock, his gaze going between Nix and the Twinkies in my hand. “Phoenix Knight.”

  “Hey, Nestor. Thanks for coming. We could really use some help.”

  “Could you now?” A cunning gleam entered his emerald eyes. “The kind of help that could get me some Twinkies?”

  “That’s exactly the kind of help we need.” Nix gestured to me. “Rowan and her friends are looking for the secret underwater entrance to the Titans’ fortress on the island of Lektos.”

  The corners of Nestor’s mouth turned down, and his eyes got shifty. “Why the flippins would you want to go there?”

  “So the entrance does exist?” I asked.

  “Does,” Nestor said. “But it’s a death trap, ever since the Titans showed up. The whole ocean around their island is tainted with dark magic now.”

  “It’ll get worse if we can’t sneak in and stop them.”

  Nestor fidgeted in the water, clearly annoyed and stressed. “It’s dangerous.”
>
  “We know,” Maximus said. “But can you help us?”

  Nestor sighed. “You’re sure you want to go there?”

  “We don’t have a choice,” I said.

  “Everyone has a choice, sugar.”

  Sugar? What a weird turtle. “Fine. I have a choice, and I choose to take the risk. It’ll be worth it. For the world, and for you.” I shook the bag of Twinkies to make my point.

  “I’m going to need more than that.”

  Maximus conjured a few in his hands, and the golden cakes gleamed inside their wrappers. “We’ll make it worth your while.”

  Nestor’s tongue snuck out to lick his lips. “All my magic, and I still can’t get my flippers on Twinkies unless some human gives them to me.”

  “That’s why you’re lucky to have me,” Nix said. “Along with my winning personality and loyal friendship, I keep you stocked in Twinkies.”

  Nestor inclined his head. “You have been good to me, Phoenix Knight. For you, I will help these humans.”

  Maximus tore the wrapping off one and tossed the cake into the air. The turtle lunged out of the water as if he were a great white shark, snagging the Twinkie and then splashing back into the water. I lunged backward, avoiding the spray.

  Nestor surfaced a moment later, a contented grin on his face. “I will lead you to the tunnel, but I warn you—it will be dangerous.”

  “Always is,” I said. “But if you can get us into the fortress, we’ll pay you handsomely.”

  Nix pointed into the distance. “Your submersible is almost here.”

  I turned to look, and spotted the top of the vessel chugging through the water. Caro pulled it up alongside the dock, and the top hatch popped open a few moments later.

  Caro emerged from the hatch, a big grin on her face. “Ready to go?”

  “We’ve got our guide.” I pointed to Nestor. “That’s Nestor.”

  He bobbed his head.

  “Hey, I’m Caro. Good to meet you.” Caro grinned at him, then disappeared back into the boat.

  I let everyone else climb in first, and turned to Nix. “Thanks again.”

  “You can do this, Rowan. I know you can.” She reached out and squeezed my arm. “Call on us if you need help.”

  “We will.”

  I followed my friends into the cramped confines of the submersible, squeezing onto a tiny U-shaped bench that sat in front of a domed window. I sat between Maximus and Bree. All six of us were pressed in like sardines, but at least we had a good view. Nestor flitted around in front of the viewing window, doing loops and showing off. After a moment, I realized that he was spelling a word with his movements.

  “Twinkies,” Maximus murmured. “That’s what he’s spelling.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “We’d better be prepared to pay up with those Twinkies, then,” Bree said.

  “Everyone ready?” Caro asked. She was situated behind a control panel, with a headset over her bright hair.

  “Let’s do this,” I said.

  As the submersible sank below the surface, the water grew darker.

  “Lights on.” Caro flipped a switch that made two massive beams of light cut through the water.

  I gripped Maximus’s hand, remembering the attack by the hydra in the lake. There were no hydras in the ocean, though, right? Nestor swam in front of us, leading us through the dark sea. Occasionally, a school of fish would flit by.

  “Anyone else feeling a bit claustrophobic?” Bree’s face was pale.

  “Just a bit,” I said. “You’re probably too used to flying through the wide-open sky.”

  “You’re in good hands with old Bessie here.” Caro patted the complicated dash in front of her.

  “Bessie?” Maximus asked. “You’ve named your high-powered submarine after a cow?”

  “Well, she’s reliable,” Caro said.

  “That’s pretty much the most important quality I can imagine for an underwater death machine,” Maximus said.

  Caro chuckled.

  “Nestor’s turning.” Cade pointed to the turtle, who was quickly adjusting his trajectory toward the left. Cade tilted his head to look toward the right. “But what’s that?”

  I blinked, using my extreme vision from Artemis. “Oh crap. It’s a great white shark.”

  The thing had to be twenty-five feet long. Maybe thirty. Way bigger than a normal shark. A megalodon?

  But weren’t those extinct?

  Whatever it was, the giant shark was headed right toward our turtle friend. Nestor might be big, but he was no match for a shark like that. My heart pitched.

  If we didn’t do something, we’d watch Nestor meet a grisly end.

  14

  “What are we going to do?” Caro asked. “This thing doesn’t have weapons. And we’re three hundred feet deep.”

  Nestor was swimming in a frantic pattern now, trying to evade the shark.

  I stared hard at the shark, trying to get a feel for his life force. If I could just use my gift from Artemis…

  I closed my eyes and focused on the beast, trying to separate my consciousness from my body and send it to the shark. It took a moment, perhaps because he was cold-blooded. Or maybe because of the water.

  Tension sweat dripped down my spine as I tried, until finally, I could see through the shark’s eyes.

  Whoa.

  This looked different. The water was another shade of blue, and I could almost predict where Nestor was going to swim. Worse, I could feel the shark’s ravenous desire to eat Nestor. He wasn’t particularly hungry, but he loved turtles. Something about the crunchy shell.

  Jerk.

  Hey! Don’t eat that turtle.

  The shark’s mind jolted. He sensed me within him, but didn’t quite know what to make of it.

  He resisted the suggestion, swimming faster for Nestor. Panic fluttered at the edges of my mind. This shark wouldn’t agree out of the goodness of his heart. He was a predator and Nestor was prey. He didn’t feel bad about eating his dinner. Second dinner, in this case, since he definitely didn’t feel hungry.

  My mind raced for a solution. Just think, damn it.

  He’s poison, I said. Look how big he is. Totally not natural. Full of growth hormones. It’ll give you terrible diarrhea.

  Did sharks get diarrhea?

  I could feel the shark’s revulsion. So yeah, it seemed like they did. And this guy did not like it. He kept swimming, though, determined.

  It’ll be the worst. You’ll probably end up pooping yourself in front of a lady shark.

  That did it. I could feel the shark’s horror at the idea. Apparently he had a lady he liked, and he did not want to get sick off of turtle in front of her.

  The shark turned in an abrupt 180 and started to speed off. He was so fast that it threw my mind into a tailspin.

  Where was my body?

  I’d lost track of it. The shark was too fast.

  Fear exploded within my mind. For the briefest moment, it nearly overtook me. Forcefully, I shoved it back. No way I was going to be hitching a ride with this shark forever.

  I calmed my mind and reached out for my body, using my gift over the sea to help locate it. Once I found the submersible—which was really easy to find, given how much it disrupted the ocean—it was easy to find my body.

  When I returned, I gasped, opening my eyes.

  “What the heck was that?” Ana asked.

  “My Artemis power is evolving,” I said. “I basically mind-controlled the shark.”

  “Wow, awesome.” She grinned, then pointed to Nestor. “He appreciates it.”

  The turtle gave us a quick wave with his fin, then kept swimming. My heart thundered as I watched him, and I took slow breaths to calm myself.

  Deeper and deeper we went, until the water began to shimmer weirdly.

  “What’s that?” Cade asked.

  The submersible shook and dropped, the current sucking us down. In front of us, Nestor flailed, his fins whirling as he tried to fight the curr
ent.

  “Where’s that coming from?” Bree’s voice was high-pitched, one of the few times I’d heard her sound afraid.

  My stomach lurched as the sub plunged through the water, going deeper and deeper, out of control.

  “I have no idea.” Caro’s voice was tense. “But the sub is underpowered. It can’t fight this.”

  We had to control the water, but I wasn’t strong enough alone. Not for this.

  I looked at Ana and Bree. “Together?”

  “Gotta try,” Bree said.

  All three of us had some kind of control over water. Bree had gotten her gift from a Norse water god, whereas Ana had power over the elements. I reached for their hands, gripping them tight, then used my gift.

  The power of the ocean slapped into me, tearing a gasp from my throat. The current was so strong that I could feel it inside myself. Whether it was natural or magical, I couldn’t tell. But it was insanely strong.

  I fought it, trying to calm the ocean. At first, nothing happened. Both of my sisters looked tense and pale. I could feel their magic in the air as they tried to slow the flow of the current.

  My muscles ached and my mind felt sluggish as I gave it everything I had. Long seconds passed, and sweat dripped down my spine. Ana and Bree gripped my hands tightly.

  The first clue that it was working came when Nestor slowed his frantically spinning fins.

  “I think you’re getting it,” Caro said, her voice strained.

  My magic joined with my sisters, and we forced the ocean to stop dragging us into the depths. I was so grateful to have them here with me, all three of us working together. Without them, I’d never have stood a chance.

  “We’re good,” Caro said. “I’ve got control again.”

  “Nestor looks better,” Maximus said.

  I sagged against him, but didn’t dare let go of my control over the water. I could still feel it pulling against me, wanting to drag us down.

  As Caro steered us through the ocean, following Nestor closely, my sisters and I kept the water calm. When the submersible’s lights finally shined on a massive rock wall, gratitude welled within me.

  We’d found the island.

  “Thank fates,” Bree said.