Stolen Magic

by Char Webster

  ~*~*~

  “D. That’s the worst story I’ve ever heard. I understand why she hates you, but why do you hate her?”

  “I don’t hate her. It’s hard to be near her and know that she’s out of reach. Also, she’s pulled some stuff over the centuries that make it pretty easy to dislike her.” Damian silently added that it was a lot easier to be mean to her and feel justified than it was to accept blame for messing everything up.

  “You still love her.” Aedan’s eyebrows shot up in surprise when he realized the truth.

  “It doesn’t matter, and it’s too late.” Damian finished off his beer and stood up. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Where we going?” Aedan was in the mood for some fun.

  “We need to stop off at my place in Charleston to get our gear. I’m in the mood to spar, and hopefully someone will be around to accommodate me.”

  Aedan grinned. “It’s going to be a fun afternoon.” He loved hanging out in the sparring rings at Legacy. Some of the best fighters of all time have demonstrated their skill there. “I hope the Westons, or Ethan will be there. They’re awesome to watch fight.”

  ~*~*~

  The magic was draining out of him slowly along with his essence. The half-mystic half-fae could feel his life slipping away, and he was helpless to stop it. He tried to fight back but couldn’t hold onto his power.

  A manic laughter filled the small alleyway, and he knew that would be the last sound he ever heard. “You can’t stop me. No one can. I’ll take anything I want.”

  The supernatural tried to engage his magic to escape, but it was useless. He was going to die. After two hundred years, his end was minutes away. Gripping his attackers arm, he recited a curse he hadn’t used in a hundred years. If he was going to die, his attacker’s life would be fraught with nothing but misery. The immortal passed on from the world at peace knowing he had given someone else a chance he didn’t have. His attacker may be an immortal mystic, but he would soon be losing some of his abilities.

  Chapter Three

  Aria shoved her feet in a pair of black and pink flip flops and pulled the hot pink bikini wrap over her swimsuit and tied it at her hip. She couldn’t wait to get in some serious beach time.

  Julie was already at her sliding glass door with her beach bag and chair, waiting impatiently for Aria to hurry up and get ready. “What’s taking you so long?”

  “I couldn’t find the matching wrap.

  Julie groaned. “Seriously? You’re just going to take it off once we get outside.”

  “You know I have to match everything, Juls.” Aria would even match her nail and toe polish to her outfits.

  Julie checked out Aria’s ensemble. “Your flip flops even go with your bikini. How do you do that? If your beach chair matches, we’re just done.”

  Aria laughed and pulled out a beach towel that went with the outfit as well.” Grinning, she brushed by Julie and made her way to the sand. Aria set up her chair facing the ocean, laid her towel down, and settled back to relax.

  Julie was on her chair with her arms up over her head, soaking up the sun. She loved coming to Aria’s house and only having to walk a couple of steps to the beach. She should find a place like this somewhere.

  Thirty minutes later, the sun was blocked by a figure, but the glare was making it impossible to determine who it was standing before them. Aria could see long hair and a flowing skirt that was whipping around the visitor’s ankles but could not make out her face.

  A familiar voice made Aria groan internally. Her time on the beach was going to end. Maxine never came to see them unless there was something major happening.

  “Hi girls.”

  Julie shot up to her feet. “Maxine! What’s going on?”

  Aria stood up as well. “Hi, Max. Everything okay?”

  Maxine smiled warmly. “I hate to do this, but you’re going to have to cut your vacation short.”

  Both girls began packing up their beach bags and folded their chairs. The three of them walked back to Aria’s townhouse.

  Aria smiled at her old mentor. “Welcome to Sunset Beach, Florida, Maxine. I don’t think you’ve been here before.”

  Maxine glanced at the cedar deck in front of her. “Aria, I would love to see your new place, but it’s going to have to wait for another time. We need to go.”

  “Go where?” Aria had a bad feeling.

  “The Legacy High Council needs to see you immediately.”

  Julie gasped. “Oh my.”

  “I didn’t do anything lately.” Aria was running through a list of things she’d done recently that the Council could frown upon.”

  Maxine shook her head slightly. “You haven’t done anything wrong. They have an assignment for you.”

  “Assignment? What is it?” Aria had never been brought before the Council for an assignment. The only times she had faced them in the past had been when her brother got bored and thought things were too dull. He had a way of pulling her into his mischief. She would never forget the last time. She thought they were going to get prison guard duty, but they had lucked out.

  “They didn’t tell me what it is. They simply said to bring you at once.” Maxine was examining the blue and white striped cushions on her white wicker deck furniture.

  Aria was proud that the huge umbrella matched the striping perfectly.

  “We need to go.” Maxine seemed in a hurry.

  Aria glanced down at her bikini. “Ummm. I think I should probably get changed first.”

  “You have five minutes.”

  The three women entered the living room, and Aria and Julie sprinted upstairs.

  Maxine called up to them. “Where something appropriate.”

  Aria had trouble containing her laughter.

  Julie stopped in front of Aria’s closet. “What did you wear before that made her say that?”

  “Ripped jeans, black chunky heeled boots, and a leather jacket.”

  “There isn’t anything wrong with that.” Julie knew there had to be something else.

  Aria shrugged. “They had a little issue with my t-shirt.”

  Julie winced. “What did it say?”

  Aria tried not to grin but failed. “It said, ‘It’s too early to deal with your level of stupid.’”

  Julie covered her face with her hands. “Why would you wear that there? You know how formal they are.”

  “You mean stuffy.” Aria liked to push the elder supernaturals on the Council. They were stuck in the past and needed to get with the times.

  “Where was I when this happened?” Julie had thought she had been around for all of Aria’s misadventures.

  “You had been assigned to help out with those twin wolf shifter boys while their parents had been called away. Markos and I were a little bored.”

  “Ugh. That was the worst assignment ever. Those two boys were awful!” Julie shivered thinking about how many horrible pranks they pulled on her. It had been the worst couple of days of her long life.

  “They couldn’t have been that bad.” Aria watched her friend’s face grimace at the memory.

  “Ha! I would have liked to see what you would have done in that situation!

  Aria laughed until she snorted. “They took your clothes. Not that big of a deal.”

  Julie hmphed. “Those two monster pre-teens picked the lock on the bathroom door and took all my clothes and towels out of the room. They even took the floor mats. I had to leave the room with nothing on!” The shower had glass doors and not a shower curtain, which caused her to have to leave the room completely nude.

  Aria couldn’t stop laughing. She pulled out two sets of black pants, t-shirts, black jackets, and boots. It was their standard uniform. “Here. I don’t know if you brought anything to wear in the field.”

  Dressing quickly, Aria stopped in front of the mirror to see how wild her curls were. “It’s going to have to go up in a bun. I don’t have time to do anything with it.”

  Aria was envious of Julie�
��s perfectly straight brown hair. All her friend needed to do was run a brush through it and she was good to go. A brush would get stuck in Aria’s hair, and she would spend an hour trying to get it out.

  Julie stopped in front of Aria’s closet. “I’m going shopping in your closet.” She picked up a dress from the rack. “This is amazing.” She was admiring the splashes of colors over a navy background.

  “Any time you want. We’re the same size.”

  “It’s a shame that we’re always working and don’t get a chance to wear clothes like these too often.” Julie was running her hand along the silky materials in the closet.

  “I’ll make a stylista out of you yet.” Aria grinned at her. “Let’s go before...”

  “We need to leave now girls!” Maxine called from downstairs.

  “We’re coming!” Julie called to her.

  They both hustled down the steps and found Maxine in the foyer. “Let’s go.”

  ~*~*~

  The gym at Legacy was crowded with Enforcers when Damian and Aedan walked through it to get to the changing rooms. Legacy kept their training facilities updated to rival the best places on earth. Damian spent a lot of time working out when he wasn’t tracking rogue supernaturals.

  Aedan quickly changed into sweat shorts and a tank. He didn’t want to miss any of the fights. “Ethan must be sparring today. This place wouldn’t have nearly this many of people if he wasn’t.” Everyone loved to see the intensity and passion he displayed while fighting.

  Damian glanced up at the viewing area above the sparring ring. “There’s quite a crowd watching today.”

  Aedan grinned, rubbing his hands together. “Then we better do our best to impress.” Aedan waved to a few girls who were hanging over the railing in the viewing area.

  There was a line of those waiting to spar, so Damian started to jog the track as a warm up. Aedan fell into step beside him.

  Several laps in, Damian noticed two enforcers step into their path.

  Damian smiled and put out his fist so they could bump it. “Logan, Steven, it’s been a while. How are you guys?”

  Steven nodded his head in acknowledgement. “We’ve been on assignment. It’s been interesting.”

  Logan grinned as if he had a secret. “It’s been more fun than we’ve had in a long time.”

  Aedan was instantly jealous. “D, how do they get the good assignments, and we don’t?”

  Steven laughed. “It’s funny you mention that. Derrek wants to see you two.”

  Damian raised his eyebrows. “Is he in his office?”

  Logan nodded. “Yes. You better hurry. He hates to be kept waiting.”

  “Thanks. We’ll see you guys later.”

  Aedan nodded to the two Enforcers and followed after Damian. “Are we getting changed first?”

  Damian shook his head. “No. Let’s get this over with.”

  When they got to Derrek’s office, it was empty, so they leaned against the wall in the hallway on opposite sides of the doorway to wait.

  “Get in here,” Derrek growled from his chair.

  Aedan twisted to look inside the room. “Hey. Where’d you come from?”

  Damian bumped Aedan’s shoulder on the way inside the office. “Portal, knucklehead.”

  Aedan grumbled on the way to the chair in front of Derrek’s desk. “Must have just missed it.”

  Damian and Aedan took their seats and waited for their boss to begin. It was obvious from his mood that they were not going to like what Derrek had to say.

  “The Legacy High Council has requested the two of you for a very important assignment. You will be working with a couple of guardians to track down an escaped prisoner. Normally, we wouldn’t be bringing in guardians, but you’ll understand why shortly. This particular criminal has the potential to destroy everything in the magical world.”

  Damian had a bad feeling in his gut. “Were we requested specifically? There is a team who hunts down escaped criminals.”

  Derrek stared at him. “You were, Damian.”

  Aedan faked devastation. “What? I’m nothing? They didn’t ask for me?”

  Derrek stood from his seat. “You’re lucky they aren’t sending you to Siberia to clean the prison cells after the last stunt you two pulled!”

  Aedan winced. “It was not our fault that the dragon shifter girl didn’t have control of her powers.”

  Derrek growled. “Because of you two idiots, she burned down the summer home of one of the legacy elders. Don’t think they will be forgetting that any time soon.”

  Damian shot Aedan a look to shut him up, but it didn’t work.

  “That’s not fair! We had no idea that she was going to follow after us and expect us to kiss her.”

  Damian rolled his eyes. Aedan just couldn’t keep his mouth closed. “So anyway…”

  Derrek placed his palms on the desk and leaned toward Damian and Aedan. “Both of you get out of my office.”

  Damian grabbed Aedan and hauled him out of his seat. He paused in the doorway to ask a question. “Do you know who the escaped prisoner is?”

  “Yes. His name is Pravus.”

  ~*~*~

  Aria and Julie followed Maxine through a portal to South Philadelphia where they weaved through an alleyway leading to a convenience store that was open 24 hours a day. They waved to the large beefy man sitting on a stool behind the counter watching cartoons on the TV mounted off the ceiling. He waved to them without looking away from the Simpsons.

  The Legacy High Council was situated in a large realm pocket that could be accessed by doorways situated all over the world. Each entrance was guarded by supernaturals. This particular door was guarded by bear shifters.

  Maxine pushed through a door marked for employees only and continued through the storage area until they reached a dilapidated door with a sign saying “Janitorial Supplies.” Julie reached for the doorknob, but Maxine placed her hand on Julie’s. “Let me go first. They’ve increased security.”

  Aria raised an eyebrow. “Why did they do that? This realm pocket is protected by their best mystics and supernaturals. No one can get in here without a magically infused brand.” Each employee of Legacy had a magic spell infused under their skin that allowed them to enter the realm pocket and to also move around inside Legacy. Aria absently rubbed the spot on her wrist where the magic was originally inserted.

  Maxine took in a deep breath. “There’s been some trouble. You’ll find out soon enough.”

  Aria and Julie shared a look but didn’t reply. They simply followed after their boss and mentor. Once they stepped across the threshold, they were in a large open field overlooking what looked like a college campus. They had to hurry after Maxine as she jogged across the lush grass to the tallest and most impressive building in the grouping.

  Julie leaned into Aria’s side. “If we have time when we are done, we should hit the gym.”

  Aria turned toward the two-story building off to the left that held the physical training facilities. Julie’s idea of working out was to swim laps in the Olympic-sized pool. Aria liked the sparring rings and the weight rooms. They both would end their sessions in the sauna room or soaking in one of the Jacuzzis. It was an awesome set up.

  Maxine twisted around. “You won’t have time.” She pushed through the glass doors, expecting Aria and Julie to follow after her.

  Aria frowned at Maxine’s back. She hated being told what to do. Glancing around, she took in the world headquarters for Legacy. The first time Aria had ventured inside this realm pocket, it looked completely different. Three hundred years and modern technology made it look unrecognizable.

  Julie waved, and Aria glanced over to see who she was greeting. Two of their guardian friends where entering from the opposite side of the complex. Employees came and went through a series of doorways hidden throughout the world in numerous cities. Each entrance was hidden in plain sight.

  As soon as they entered the building, Maxine whisked Aria off and left Julie to wait
outside the Council chambers.

  Julie paced back and forth in front of the doors that led to the Legacy High Council Chambers.

  Aria had been in there for what seemed like forever. She couldn’t believe they had kicked her out of the meeting when she tried to join Aria.

  “You’re going to wear out your shoes if you keep doing that.”

  Julie swung around surprised. “Markos, what are you doing here? Did you do something to get Aria in trouble again?”

  Markos grinned mischievously. “Now, why would you accuse me of something like that?”

  She stopped in front of him. “Oh, don’t play innocent with me. I know way too much about you.”

  Markos flopped down on one of the benches that lined the walls. He was leaning back with one leg bent and his foot resting on the seat. “I’ve been so good lately that I have a halo.” He waved his hand over the top of his head, indicating the non-existent circle.

  Julie couldn’t believe his irreverent behavior. “What are you doing here, and how did you hear about this meeting?”

  Markos stretched his arms over his head. “I was working out when I heard the Weston’s mention that the High Council wanted to meet with Aria for a new assignment. They hoped to be included on the mission since it was sure to be interesting.

  Julie had resumed her pacing. “Oh crap! If Steven and Logan Weston want to be involved, that’s never a good sign.”

  Markos grinned. “They make things fun. If the Westons are involved, I’m sure Ethan Doyle will be too.”

  Julie glared at him. “You were feeling left out.”

  He leaned back fully and put his hands behind his head. “Nah. Everyone always wants me around.”

  Julie picked up her speed pacing. If Ethan, the Westons, and Markos were all involved, she was almost positive that Damian would be too. This could end up being a disaster.

  “You need to relax. You’re making me crane my neck to watch you.” Markos smirked at her.

  “Then don’t watch.” Julie stopped in front of the double doors and sighed. “This is taking too long.”