by Char Webster
“What?” Aedan asked. “I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry,” Damian teased.
Once the waitress left their table, Aria turned to Damian. “No more stalling.
He breathed out a huge breath. “It’s a long story, and it’s personal Aria.”
Aria was instantly on edge. “Personal for you or me?” Please don’t say both, she thought.
Damian caught her attention and held it. “I don’t want to hurt you by bringing up the past, but it has everything to do with our assignment.”
She swallowed down a huge lump in her throat and nodded. “Just get it over with.”
Aedan and Julie were watching intently, but not saying a word.
Damian blew out another breath. He had wanted to have this conversation for so many years, but now that it was time for it, he was dreading it. “The man we’re after is a dark mystic named Pravus. I never learned his last name even though I pursued him for more than a century and a half. He started off as a mystic with little magical ability, which probably bothered him since he became consumed with wanting more.”
Damian took a gulp of his soda. “He became consumed with power and wanted more. He learned that he could steal magic but at a cost. When he was siphoning the magic from someone, he was also taking part of their energy and life force. He didn’t care who he hurt. This turned the magic he was stealing dark and corrupt, making him even more evil.”
Julie frowned at the story. “That sounds an awful lot like Roarik. The most evil dark mystic to ever exist.”
Aedan nodded. “I’m sure this guy Pravus learned how to do it from Roarik’s followers. People still try to free him.”
Not liking where this story was going, Aria interrupted. “What does this have to do with either of us?”
Damian was stalling. He didn’t want to bring up their past especially this week. “Do you remember my brother Kallias?”
Aria frowned. “Yeah? What about him?” Aria hadn’t liked his brother at all. He always gave her the creeps, and she knew there was something not quite right with him.
“Do you remember that Kallias had left our village for about a year?”
Aria thought back. “Yes. It was nicer without him.” She wasn’t going to apologize. It was as if a dark cloud had been lifted when he was gone. “But, then he came back, and he was even worse than before.”
Damian nodded sadly. “So you noticed that? Yes, he came back darker and more tainted. During the time he was gone, Kallias had met Pravus and had learned to steal magic.”
Julie drew in a breath. “Your brother?”
“Yes, he made some kind of a deal with Pravus, but he didn’t live long enough to fulfil it.”
Aria narrowed her gaze. “What aren’t you saying?”
Damian took another sip of his Coke. “He had made a blood debt with Pravus, which is an unbreakable promise to complete a contract. It’s sealed in blood and strong magic. Since it’s linked to your blood, if you don’t honor the debt, it will fall to the closest family member.”
Aria sighed, knowing what was coming.
“Since he died, the blood debt fell to me.”
“I need some fresh air.” Aria got up from the table and strode out of the restaurant and onto its deck along the water. Kallias had somehow ruined her life. He had sworn he would do it if she turned him down, and he did.
Aria leaned on the brick wall and stared out at the moving water. There was a large branch drifting along, and Aria focused it. She needed to be alone for a minute. Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to calm her racing heart.
“You should hear the rest.” He wanted her to hear it, but she had to want to, not be forced to listen.
She hadn’t heard Damian following her. Aria stood there frozen in place, not having any idea if she should hear the whole story or just the information she needed. Her magic circled around her. She hated that it seemed to search him out.
Damian motioned for her to follow him around the side of the building, away from any humans who might see them. She leaned against the side of the building with her arms crossed, not speaking.
He stared at her for a few moments and then made the decision for her. “Just know that he ended up stealing so much life force and magic and became so powerful that it took dozens of Enforcers to take him down.”
“And now he escaped.”
“Yes, and he needs to be stopped.”
Aria rubbed her temples. “They told me he would be after my magic. Why?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Damian.”
“Your magic replenishes itself when you use it. You don’t get tired or have to rest so it builds up again. You have an almost endless well. It’s really rare. He would have an unlimited supply of magic any time he wanted. He would become unstoppable.”
Aria was outraged. Hands fisted at her sides, she itched to pull out her sword. “How do you know this? Have you tried to drain me?”
Damian appeared stricken. “You think I would do that to you?”
She moved closer to him. “YOU LEFT OUR WEDDING! You left me standing there all alone in front of everyone while you ran away. So, yes, I’m asking you if you stole my magic.”
Damian pulled out his magic knife and drew a portal on the wall next to him. “I don’t need you on this mission. I did just fine without you before, and I can do it again. Good bye, Aria. Go home.” Damian walked through the portal and closed it behind him.
Aria was angry and hurt and had no idea what to think. He acted like she was the one who hurt him by asking if he had stolen her magic. What else could she think? He knew her magic replenished. How would he know that?
She paced around, kicking stones on the patio. Was she being too hard on him? Maybe she should have listened to the whole story. Now, it was too late because she had no idea where he had gone.
Aria took her time walking back inside the restaurant because she knew Aedan and Julie would ask questions, and she didn’t have any answers.
They were in the same spot she had left them in, but seemed to be in a lighter mood without her and Damian around.
“Hey.” She slid into her seat at the table, noticing that most of the food had been consumed. She shook her head. Julie had met her match with Aedan. They were both in love with food.
They looked up surprised.
Julie scrunched her forehead. “Everything all right?”
Aedan turned toward the door. “Did Damian find you?”
Aria played with the empty iced tea cup in front of her. “Uh, yeah, but he left.”
Aedan narrowed his gaze at her. “What do you mean he left? You two were fighting again, right? What did you say to him this time?” Aedan stood up, threw a bunch of bills on the table, and turned to leave. “You have no idea what he’s . . . You know what, forget it. You two need to work it out.”
“Now, what are we going to do?” Julie asked.
Aria stood as well. “We start searching around the town to see if anything seems off. If he’s as powerful as Damian said, we should be able to sense him, right?”
Aedan regarded her incredulously. “You want to go after him without Damian? Are you crazy?”
Aria shrugged. “He left, and I’m finishing this.”
Aedan followed her and Julie outside. He wasn’t going to leave the girls alone to get themselves into trouble. “Your big plan is to walk around?”
“Isn’t that what bait does, sit around and wait to get caught?”
~*~*~
Damian was sitting on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, California. It was one of his favorite spots to watch the sunset, but that wasn’t for a couple more hours. It was also one of the places where he could always clear his head. It reminded him a little bit of Greece. He hadn’t been back there in years, but at a time like this, when his past was colliding with the present, he missed it.
His arms were draped on his knees, and he dropped his head into his hands.
“I thought I would find you here.”
Damian picked his head up slowly, not wanting to acknowledge his visitor, but not daring to be rude.
“Still as stubborn as ever, aren’t you?”
“What are you doing here, Maxine?”
“I could ask you the same question. Don’t you have an assignment to complete?” She brushed off a spot next to him on the rock he was sitting on and sat down quietly. “It’s beautiful here. You always did love the water.”
“Some things don’t change.”
“No, they don’t even when they should. You need to man up and tell her the truth about everything.”
Damian glared at her. “I tried.” He could still feel her essence. It was both intoxicating and frightening. He could get caught up in her again so easily.
The glare Maxine gave him stopped any farther argument. “You need to tell her the truth about everything. I’ve kept my promise to not say anything and let you do it, but that’s going to end. You’ve made no attempt to fix things.”
“Why do you care?”
“It’s affecting both of you, and don’t tell me it’s not.”
“We’re both fine.” Damian picked up a rock and tossed it in the air, catching it as it came back down.
“Fix it.” Maxine stood up to leave. “She’s out searching for him on her own.”
Damian jumped up. “Is she crazy? What am I asking? Of course, she’s crazy.”
Maxine smiled slyly. “She doesn’t understand the danger. It’s not her fault. She’s only trying to do her job.”
Damian pulled out his knife to draw a portal.
“You can’t make a portal here. There are people around.” She pointed to an older couple walking along the cliff.
He grumbled as he made his way to some palm trees. He needed to find her before she got herself hurt or killed.
Chapter Five
How stupid do they think I am, Pravus wondered. He watched Aria and her companions, weaving their way through the town, trying to lure him. Didn’t they know he would only be found when he wanted them to find him?
It would be so easy to take them all, but where’s the fun in that? He didn’t need the Guardian or Enforcer with her. Their power was negligible. He craved Aria, but she wasn’t the only one. He needed Damian, too. It wouldn’t work without Damian. Their shared magic would be intoxicating. If only they would bind their magic together, but he was getting ahead of himself. Patience was required for his plan to work.
He had calculated everything down to the very last detail during the cruel years he had been incarcerated. Nothing was going to jeopardize it. Damian was the only variable. So far, he hadn’t done anything Pravus had predicted he would. That could be a problem.
“Do you want me to grab the girl?” Hugo asked, eager to assist. He wanted what Pravus had been promising him for the last hundred years.
“Not yet. It’s not the right time.”
Hugo was getting impatient, and Pravus needed to keep an eye on that. The rat shifter could ruin everything if he was not careful.
“I want what you promised me before the Legacy Council discovers I helped you escape. They’ll come after me, and I need to be strong enough to defeat them.”
Pravus approached him menacingly. “Don’t you threaten me! You know the kind of power I have. I can end your life right now.”
“You would still be sitting in that prison cell if it hadn’t been for me!” Hugo was feeling brave.
Pravus moved so quickly Hugo didn’t see it coming. He grabbed the man’s neck and squeezed, showing just how much control and power he possessed. “Do you see how easy it is for me, Hugo? Do you want to continue to challenge me?”
Hugo started to sweat and shake from fear. “No. No. We’ll wait.”
Pravus shoved him away and wiped his hands on his pants. The rat shifter had dripped sweat onto him. How revolting.
He saw Aria cross the street in front of where he had been concealed. Soon. You will be mine soon.
Pravus watched Aria and her friend leave and then Damian appear on the side of the building with his friend. Good, he didn’t need to alter his plan. I’m going to leave you a little present, Damian, he thought.
~*~*~
“We’ve walked this whole town. My feet are killing me, and I’m slowly starving to death. To make matters worse, we haven’t seen anything suspicious or remotely interesting,” Aedan complained.
“Your feet don’t hurt. You’re just being grumpy.” Aria wanted to ignore him, but he had been complaining nonstop for the last half hour, purposely to drive her crazy. It was totally working.
“What about food. You’re depriving me.”
Julie giggled. “You had all those appetizers a couple of hours ago.”
“Right. Hours. I had them hours ago.” Aedan dropped down on a bench, not moving. “I need the energy. I’m a growing guy.”
Aria sat down next to him. “We need a new plan.”
Julie fell onto the bench on the other side of him. “There’s that pub in town that supernaturals go to. We could try there.”
Aria shrugged. “That works. Let’s check it out.”
Aedan grinned. “Sounds like more fun than this.”
Julie rubbed her hands together. “Maybe we’ll find him and be done with it.”
Aria considered their clothes. “We need to change if we’re going to a club. Aedan, we’re going to run back to my place, and we’ll meet you back here in two hours.”
“Two?” Aedan frowned.
“Yes, we need to get ready.” Aria smiled sweetly. “Bye.” She pulled Julie up and led her away so they could portal home.
~*~*~
Damian glimpsed the girls disappearing through a portal. He had been seconds too late. He walked around the side of the building searching for Aedan. He almost walked directly into him as he rounded the corner, not paying attention to where he was going.
“Where’ve you been? I got stuck escorting the girls all over New Hope by myself,” Aedan demanded half-heartedly.
“Yeah, I can see how that would be a hardship.”
“Are you going to tell me what happened?”
Damian wasn’t in the mood. “Not now. Where’d they go?”
“To get ready. We’re all going to Triumph Brewing Company. It’s a brew pub in town. We’re hoping that might attract Pravus.”
Damian thought about it for a moment. “It’s worth a shot. When are we meeting them?”
“A couple of hours.”
“Good, I have a plan.”
~*~*~
“Ar, something you said before has been bothering me.” Julie was shopping in Aria’s closet again.
Aria joined her in the walk-in, concerned. “What’s that?”
“When you were telling me about seeing Damian with Legacy before you joined up. Why would he do that if he only wanted to get away from you? Maybe he was hunting Pravus the entire time. Maybe he was trying to make you safe.”
Aria walked out of the closet and fell into the chair in the corner. “I never thought about it before.”
Julie sat on the bed near Aria and played with the decorative pillow on the bed. “He might have been trying to keep you safe all this time.”
Aria’s stomach dropped. “Then why didn’t he tell me?”
“Think about it. He hurt you by walking away from your wedding. It was out of the blue and not something he would have done. It was out of character, right?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Aria didn’t want to think about the ramifications.
“Aria, I think he was trying to protect you. He should have spoken to you about it. But knowing you like I do, you would have wanted to help track him down, and Damian probably couldn’t have handled that.”
Aria leaned back on the chair, deflated. “Why would he do that? He disliked me enough to humiliate both of us in front of the entire village.”
Aria got up from her chair and went back into her closet to
select some club clothes.
Julie frowned. “You never found out why he left?”
“Does it really matter? He walked out.” Aria pulled down a black skirt from the rack.”
“Yes. I think it matters.”
Aria needed to change the subject. She tossed a sparkly shirt at Julie. “Here, try this.”
“Ooooo. I like it.” She hurried to try it on and stood in front of the full-length mirror. “I’m definitely wearing this.” She glanced at Aria. “What are you going to wear?”
“I’m just swapping out the black jeans for this.” She held up the black skirt.
Julie got a mischievous gleam. “Are you wearing that to drive Damian crazy?”
“No, I don’t care what he thinks.” Aria wondered if that was true as she changed into the miniskirt.
~*~*~
“They’re late.” Aedan tapped the bar with a short straw he removed from his drink.
Damian chuckled. “Did you expect them to be on time?”
“Yes. This isn’t a date. It’s a mission. Who the heck is late to a mission?” Aedan grumbled.
“They’re girls, and one of them is Aria, who will do just about anything to annoy me.” Oh, and he planned to annoy her right back.
Damian felt her presence and knew she had just entered the pub. “They’re here.” He had always been able to sense her if she was close, and that hadn’t changed in centuries. Their magic always reached out for each other, wanting to mingle and mix.
That announcement startled Aedan. Damian hadn’t been facing the direction of the door.
Aedan turned in his seat so he could view the door. “Uh oh.”
Damian could only imagine what his friend was worried about. He turned toward the door and grinned. Only Aria could walk into a room and command that much attention. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared.
“She’s always been like that.”
“She’s kind of hot when she’s not talking,” Aedan muttered.
Damian laughed loudly. “I should tell her you said that.” He hated that his eyes tracked her every move. He kept telling himself not to watch for her, but his body wouldn’t listen. It didn’t help that she was wearing that tight, little skirt and those boots.