by Linsey Hall
Power of Magic
Linsey Hall
Contents
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
Epilogue
Thank You!
Excerpt Of Death Valley Magic
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About Linsey
Copyright
1
The alarm blared, a shrieking warning of oncoming disaster.
I surged upright before my eyes were even open, instinct propelling me toward wakefulness.
“What is it?” Maximus’s groggy voice sounded from beside me in the bed.
“Attack. The castle is under attack.” I scrambled out of bed, throwing the blanket aside and hitting the ground running. I raced around the room, searching for the clothes I’d discarded in haste the night before. Where were my damned pants? I needed pants.
A quick glance at the clock showed that it was three a.m., which was definitely not a pants hour. Unless you were about to defend a castle. Doing that in my underwear was a bad plan.
Maximus was out of bed in an instant, his strong body totally naked. Under any other circumstance, I’d have paused to admire him. But not now. Right now, I needed to get to the castle walls.
Were the Titans attacking? We’d fought them only five days ago, binding their dark magic so it couldn’t spread through the world anymore. They’d disappeared and we hadn’t heard from them since—nor had we managed to locate them—but they had to be pissed at us.
Finally, I located my last pair of clean underwear and tugged on some old jeans that had seen better days. A bra and shirt came next, followed by my leather jacket. As I tugged them on, a sharp pain twinged in my side.
I pressed a hand to the spot. “Ouch.”
“What is it?” Maximus asked as he tugged a shirt over his head.
“Nothing. Just a weird stitch I’ve been feeling in my side lately.”
“How lately?”
“Just a few days. It’s already faded.”
Maximus frowned at me. “A few days?”
“Yeah, so?”
“We were with the Titans five days ago. Could it be related to that?”
“I don’t know.” I hated that idea so much that I shoved it to the back of my mind. “Come on. We need to go.”
He gave me a look that said he wouldn’t be forgetting this, and we exited the bedroom in a rush, racing down the spiral stairs to the living room.
The Menacing Menagerie sat on the couch, their eyes wide. They’d been banished to sleeping on the couch once Maximus and I had taken our relationship to the next level, which we’d done immediately after our run-in with the Titans five days ago.
What’s going on? Romeo’s bright eyes met mine.
“We’re under attack.”
Eloise perked up, her little badger face clearly excited. The light of battle gleamed in her eyes, and she grinned, her teeth sharp and fierce. Poppy smiled, too, the little possum nudging her badger friend.
“Well, come on, then,” I said as I grabbed my potion belt off the kitchen counter and strapped it around my waist. My potion bag came next, and I shoved as many bombs as I could gather into the leather bag.
I might be mastering my Dragon God magic, but I didn’t ever think I’d give up my potions.
The five of us hurried from the apartment, spilling out into the darkened hallway. The door slightly down the way opened, and Bree and Cade rushed out. The Pugs of Destruction were already racing down the hall, their ghostly blue forms bright in the darkness.
“What’s happening?” Bree demanded, her dark hair messy and her T-shirt on backward.
“No idea.” I joined her in a sprint down the hall.
As we passed Ana’s door, it opened. The Cats of Catastrophe streaked out, three blurs of black, orange, and white. Ana and Lachlan followed them out the door.
“Know what’s going on?” Ana asked, her voice breathless. Her blonde hair was piled in a messy knot.
“Nope,” Bree and I said in unison.
Together, the six of us sprinted down the hall, our animal familiars racing along like a tiny four-legged army of weirdness. The sound of doors slamming and shouts echoed through the hall as the rest of the Protectorate headed toward the castle walls.
We sprinted into the entrance, a massive room at the front of the castle. Hans, the cook, appeared at the top of the stairs that led down to the kitchen, his eyes wide and a big wooden spoon gripped in his hand. Boris the rat, his constant companion, rode on his head, clinging to his perch on top of the chef’s hat. Florian, the ghostly night librarian, appeared a moment later, along with Lavender and Angus, my fellow classmates.
By the time we ran out the front door and into the courtyard, there were nearly two dozen of us, all dragged from our beds. We raced across the lawn, the moonlight illuminating the dark grass.
Near the main castle gate, I spotted Jude standing on top of the castle wall. We veered for her, sprinting as a group. Stairs led up to the ramparts at a dozen strategic points along the castle wall. I raced up the nearest set, my lungs burning.
The sight that greeted me on the other side of the wall dropped my heart into my stomach.
“Holy fates.” I leaned on the castle wall, scanning the crowd that stood below.
There were hundreds of Magica and demons, armed to the teeth. Magic sparked around the lot of them, dark and fierce. It made my skin itch and my hackles rise. They weren’t attacking—not yet—but they were ready to.
The demons looked normal—that is to say, like a bunch of evil jerks. But the Magica…
“There’s a manic glow in their eyes,” Ana murmured.
“Like they’re entranced,” Bree said.
I nodded, my heart thundering. “They’re under the Titans’ thrall. They have to be.”
We knew that the Titans’ dark magic was converting humans into cult worshippers who were filled with dark magic, but seeing them was a whole different thing.
There were so many.
“They look like the worshippers we met back at the Titans’ island fortress.” Maximus gripped my hand. “But how did they get here?”
I scanned the forest behind the army, but spotted no portal gleaming in the distance.
Jude strode up to us, her face set in stern lines and her starry blue eyes shadowed with exhaustion. We’d been searching for the Titans for five days, and that was on top of the exhausting search that had happened before. No one looked good now, especially not our leader.
“They snuck up during the night,” Jude said. “Silent and swift. We only noticed they were there when Hedy went for a walk on the walls because she couldn’t sleep.”
“Why aren’t they attacking?” Maximus asked.
“They can’t,” Jude said. “At least, not yet. There are a lot of them, but they’re no match for the protection charms on the castle walls.”
The castle had been attacked earlier that year. As a result, the Protectorate had reinforced our boundaries.
“How much more magic would they need to break through?” Maximus asked.
Jude turned toward the army, a frown creasing her brow. “I don’t know. More. Which they could probably get.”
“If the Titans joined them, they might be able to get past our defenses?” I asked.
She pursed her lips. “Probably.”
“So let’s launch the first attack,” Bree said. “Take them
out before they can do damage.”
Jude shook her head and pointed. “There are too many. And see the shimmer in the air? They’ve got some kind of protection spell on them. I don’t know what it would take to get through there, but I’d want a bigger army on our side before we tried.”
Maximus propped his hands on the waist-high castle wall and stared at the army. “I think they are a warning of some kind. If they were going to attack, they already would have.”
“A warning of what, though?” Cade asked.
“No idea.”
The rest of us murmured our agreement. If they were going to attack, they wouldn’t just be standing here, giving us warning to beef up our defenses.
Jude cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “What do you want?”
The army was silent for a moment, then a figure stepped forward and shouted, his voice loud and clear, “Rowan Blackwood.”
Well, shit.
My heart thudded hard against my ribs, and Maximus’s hand tightened on mine.
“Well, they can’t have you,” Bree muttered.
“Not happening,” Jude shouted. She turned her back on him and opened her mouth to speak.
Before she could say a word, a voice echoed from the comms charm around my throat. “Rowan? It’s Queen Penthesilea. We need you at headquarters. The Great One wants to speak to you.”
My gaze darted to Jude. I was loyal to the Amazons, but the Protectorate came first. And since we were currently under attack because of me….
“Go,” Jude said. “They clearly aren’t going to attack now, and even if they did, it would take them days to get through our defenses with their numbers. See what this Great One has to say.”
“Who is the Great One?” Bree asked.
“She’s like their wise woman. An oracle of sorts. The queens have consulted her on my behalf before, but she’s never wanted to speak to me directly.”
“It can’t be a coincidence.” Jude waved her hand at the army that waited outside the gates. “No way they show up at the same time the mysterious Great One wants to see you.”
“I’ll go. But call me immediately if you need me,” I said.
“We’ll figure out what the hell is going on here,” Jude said. “In the meantime, see what you can learn. This could be what leads us to the Titans.”
I nodded, sharing one last glance with my sisters, then looked at Maximus. “Do you have a transport charm I can use?”
He nodded and dug into his pocket, then handed two over. “I’m going to visit the Order headquarters and see if they’ve learned anything new, but be careful with the Great One.”
“I’m sure she’s fine.”
“Maybe.” He pulled me close and kissed my forehead.
I blushed, since we were standing right in front of everyone, but I couldn’t help but smile.
I turned from him, leaned over the castle railing, and shouted, “I’m leaving, so there’s no point in attacking.”
Jude grinned. “Nice touch.”
“I thought so.” I made sure to stand near the wall when I chucked the transport charm to the ground. I wanted the army to see me disappear. A silver cloud exploded upward. Right before stepping in, I caught Jude’s gaze. “Seriously, call me if you need me.”
She nodded, and it was the last thing I saw before the ether sucked me in and spun me through space.
I arrived in the main lobby of the Amazons’ headquarters in Istanbul a few minutes later. The street outside of their building had been quiet. Since it was essentially the business district, it didn’t stay alive with nightlife like other parts of town.
Which was for the best, since the Menacing Menagerie accompanied me for the first time ever. A raccoon, a possum, and a badger would be pretty out of place in Istanbul’s most professional neighborhood. I pushed open the big glass door that led into the lobby of the Amazons’ headquarters. Two guards stood in the middle, their keen eyes traveling over us. The Menagerie’s little toenails clicked on the marble floor of the lobby as we walked toward them.
They rose to their feet as we neared. Their black tactical gear was neat and pressed as usual, and they stood at perfect attention.
“The queens are waiting for you on the bottom level,” said the one on the right. Her dark hair gleamed in a long tail down her back, and she shared a look with the blonde at her side. Her expression was serious and slightly worried. It had to be about whatever I would find in the basement. I shifted uncomfortably.
The Great One was always spoken about in hushed tones, and I doubted I’d be sitting at her desk and asking a few questions.
“I will escort you.” She gestured toward the elevators.
“Thanks.” I hurried toward the elevator bank, the warrior at my side. There was a palpable tension in the air that I didn’t normally feel when I visited. The Menagerie followed, and for once, Romeo kept his mouth shut. Honestly, it made me even more nervous.
When we reached the elevator doors, the Amazon reached out and typed a code into the number panel on the right side of the door.
Magic sparked on the air, and a little light turned green on the number panel. Right beneath it, a small silver panel opened to reveal a dark nook in the wall.
“Stick your hand in there like this.” She raised her hand and stuck out her index finger, then held it so her palm faced the ceiling.
I mimicked the gesture and stuck my fingertip into the little cubby. A sharp pain pricked the fleshy pad of my finger, and I winced. “Ouch.”
“Just a little blood magic to make sure your intentions are pure.”
I withdrew my finger and shook it. “They are.”
The elevator doors zipped open.
“It seems the spell agrees.” The Amazon grinned at me. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” I shot her a wary look as I stepped inside.
The Menagerie followed, apparently immune to the need for testing.
As the elevator zoomed to the bottom floor, I wondered how everyone was doing back at the castle.
Had the army attacked yet? Once they did, would we have time to mount our defenses?
Fates, I hoped so.
The elevator descended into the ground, and every few seconds, magic popped against my skin. It felt like protection charms, and they were strong.
Did the Great One herself reside down here, or was it just her office? Was she even a person?
The elevator dinged, and the doors whooshed open.
My gaze zeroed in on the flaming portal that stood in the middle of the empty space. It flickered with red and black light, and just the sight of it made me nervous. I’d never seen a portal that looked quite so ominous, and it was the only thing in the room.
This was a sacred space, a secret space. And if I wanted to meet the Great One, I’d probably have to step through that creepy portal.
I shivered at the idea, then stiffened my spine.
“Rowan, that was quick.” Queen Penthesilea’s voice echoed across the large, empty room.
I looked toward her, spotting the two queens standing to the right of the portal. The black and red lights had caught my attention so fully that I hadn’t noticed them at first.
As usual, both queens were dressed in the Amazons’ signature black battle gear, with their hair pulled back tightly from their faces. They were tall and graceful, looking like they could take on giants if they were so inclined. Their magic filled the air around them, making it clear that these were some seriously powerful women.
“You said the Great One wanted to see me?” I walked toward them.
“She does,” Queen Hippolyta said. “It is rare that she requests an audience, but we feel that she will likely impart valuable information to you.”
Rare was right. I’d only ever heard whispers of her, but never spoken to an Amazon who had actually seen her, other than the queens.
“I hope she’s got something big,” I said. “Because shit has really hit the fan back at the Protectorate.” I stop
ped in front of them. The Menacing Menagerie lined up behind me, clearly on their best behavior. I didn’t need to look at them to know they were trying to be good. The silence made that obvious enough.
“You’ve brought your little army.” Queen Hippolyta smiled slightly. She totally liked my tiny dumpster divers. Couldn’t blame her.
“My armed guards,” I said.
“Quite impressive.” She smiled at them, and I glanced back, catching sight of Romeo giving her a wink. “Unfortunately, they cannot accompany you through the portal as they were not invited. And really, it’s no place for animals.”
I swallowed hard as I glanced at the portal, which was still majorly creeping me out.
Romeo gripped the leg of my jeans. I’m not keen on going in there.
“Ditching me so soon?” I asked him.
Just making sure I’m around to save your butt from the Titans.
I reached down and ruffled his little head. “Fair enough.” I looked at Queens Penthesilea and Hippolyta. “Do you know why the Great One wants to speak with me now?”
“We believe something has changed recently, but we do not know what,” said Queen Hippolyta.
“Well, I’d better go find out.” Despite my nerves, I was desperate for answers. We’d been hunting the Titans for five days with no luck. Anything that would help me find them—and defeat them—was welcome.
“Then come on.” Queen Penthesilea gestured me forward, toward the glowing red and black lights.
We walked toward the portal, and I stopped in front of it. Queen Penthesilea stood at my left, and Queen Hippolyta at my right. The Menagerie lined up behind me.
The portal flickered with black and red flames. Heat billowed out, roasting my cheeks and drying my eyes. I blinked, squinting into the eyes of death. I’d never seen a portal with eyes, but this one had two massive red irises that stared straight at me. Something deep in my soul told me that this was death. Despite the massive heat, my skin chilled.