“Should we get down to business?” Damian gestured toward the study.
We followed him in and sat side-by-side on a couch in front of the low coffee table. Damian closed the door and took a seat by his desk at the far end of the room.
Was he really that affected by my proximity?
If so, fates, were we in trouble.
Damian flexed his fist absently. “That was far too close.”
I shut my eyes for a second. The memory of Matthias’s magic wrapping around my throat washed away the warm sense of security I’d had lounging in Damian’s bed. Matthias was out there. Hunting me.
A shudder ran down my spine. “You can say that again.”
“We need a plan to get this fucker once and for all,” Rhia hissed. “Neve wasn’t the only target. I texted Gretchen earlier to let her know what happened, and she just got back to me. Apparently, there’s been an influx of demons since this last night. The Order managed to catch a couple of them, but not before another operative was kidnapped.”
“Another? When did this happen, and why?”
Rhia shrugged. “Apparently, around the same time they came after you. I don’t know why.”
A low growl escaped Damian’s throat. “He’s looking for information and trying to size up the Order’s weaknesses.”
I shot him a piercing look. “How do you know that?”
“Because I fought at his side for a long time. And because I’ve been doing the same thing.”
“What?” Rhia exclaimed.
“There’ve been a few rogue demons in town, scouting for info. I had my people pick them up, and we’ve been asking questions—the hard way.” He fixed me with a long gaze, and my stomach churned.
It was easy to forget that Damian had another life in which he was a ruthless crime lord who wouldn’t blink an eye at grabbing someone off the street and brutally squeezing them for information.
It was horrible, but I was somehow okay with it. And that made me sick.
I rubbed my eyes. “I’m so tired of always reacting, of running away from this asshole. Matthias ambushed us at his house, at Apollonia, at the Archives, at Helwan. We need to take this battle to him. Hit him in the nuts. Take him down when he’s not expecting it.”
“Great, but how?” Rhia asked. “He’s clearly tracking us, but we have no idea where he is, or what he’s up to.”
I recalled the realm I’d seen through Damian’s memories, and irritation rippled through me. “I assume he’s holed up in his tower in the Realm of Chaos, making plans to invade the city. Either there or waiting in the driveway to nab me the moment we step outside.”
“You’re safe here,” Damian said quietly. “Matthias is nowhere near Magic Side. I can’t feel him with my dragon sense. He’s probably not even on this plane.”
I shuddered at the reminder of what Damian was. His FireSoul magic allowed him to find the things he wanted. And judging by the fire in his eyes and the tension in his body, I was pretty sure he wanted to rip Matthias’s heart out and was concentrating very hard on that image.
My heartbeat accelerated for no apparent reason.
Rhia scowled. “So, what do we do? Try to lure him out of his fortress? Wait for him to attack again?”
“Absolutely not,” Damian said, his tone cold. “We tried that at Apollonia, and he ended up getting the jump on us. We need to turn the tables. I have an idea, but it will be risky.”
I leaned forward. “What?”
“There’s a backdoor to the fortress. Before Matthias transported the Searing Citadel to the Realm of Chaos, I explored the tower and found a teleportation circle. I took pictures. We could use that information to make a similar portal here that would connect to the one in the tower. A gateway inside.”
I recalled the photos Damian had shown Lily and me of the runes last week. “Won’t it be guarded?”
“Yes, but Matthias has no idea that we know it exists. So, we might get lucky. We take a small team, sneak in and take the bastard out at his desk before he knows what hit him. It’s the one place he probably thinks he’s safe, and that makes him vulnerable.”
I stood and started pacing. “Before we run off to the citadel, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. I have an insane amount of power that is inextricably linked to emotions that I have little control over. The longer I can’t control my magic, the easier it will be for Matthias to bind me. I’m a liability.”
“True. That’s why you should stay here. I’ll take a team in. Trained killers. Quiet and fast.”
I spun and locked Damian with a piercing stare. “Absolutely not. I am going with. Matthias is mine. I’m sorry, but the truth is, I’m the only one with the strength to defeat him.”
Damian tensed, and flames danced in his eyes. “Yet he’s got the power to drain your magic and bind you. We got very lucky this time.”
“That’s why our first priority should be figuring out how to make sure I can control my magic and avoid his binding spell. If you and your team of cutthroats fail, then he’ll come straight for me, and we’ll be in an even shittier situation.”
“She’s right,” Rhia said. “We need to find a way for Neve to resist the binding spell.”
“But how?” Damian asked, unconvinced. “You’d need to find someone with magic like yours.”
“Well, we’re shit out of luck because the only djinn I know is a psychopath who wants to tear my limbs off. That’s a hard pass.” I plopped down onto the way-too-firm couch.
“What about the marid king?” Damian asked.
Rhia rested her elbows on her knees and turned to me. “You mean the father of that half water genie you guys rescued from the Searing Citadel? Didn’t he banish Damian?”
I nodded but frowned. “That won’t be enough. I spoke with him before I returned. The marid king has been a genie his entire life. He doesn’t know what I’m going through. Besides, he has mastery over the oceans. I am from the Realm of Air. Quite a bit of a difference.”
Rhia and Damian were silent.
“I need a djinn. Someone who is related to me.” I sighed. What I needed was my family.
An idea sparked in my mind. The way the djinn had spoken about them to me suggested they were out there.
“That’s it!” I whispered, almost under my breath.
I just needed to find them. And now I had the power to do so.
My eyes met Damian’s piercing gaze. “I need you to make a wish. My parents might still be alive, and if so, I must speak with them. They might be able to teach me something about my powers. I’ve looked for them before, but with a wish…”
His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. “You know that’s too dangerous, Neve. I won’t do it.”
Irritation prickled my skin. “Damn it, Damian. Your wish got us into this mess. Now you’ve got to help me fix this. This could solve one of our biggest problems. I can’t control my magic. You of all people know what that means.”
My words cut through the air, and Damian went rigid. Regret and guilt flickered in his eyes. The silence between us grew, and I could feel Rhia’s unease wafting through the room.
I fixed him with a glare. “My magic is our best weapon against Matthias. If I can’t use it, we’re fighting with one hand behind our back. We need to use my powers to our advantage.”
He sighed. “Fine. You’re right. We need to take advantage of your powers. However, we also need to be careful. I have a couple stipulations.”
I scowled.
“One, I’m only going to wish that you can speak to your parents. I don’t trust us to wish for anything more than that. Don’t try to go to them. You don’t know what situation they could be in. And don’t summon them here. We don’t understand your powers or how they work yet, and the consequences could be disastrous. Just find out where they are, what they can tell us about your magic, and how to use a binding spell. Deal?”
My parents.
I couldn’t believe this was happening. “Deal.”
“Once we figure out how to control your magic and break the binding spell, we recruit a team to infiltrate the citadel and take Matthias out. The longer we delay, the greater the risk to you and Magic Side.”
Relief and excitement fluttered in my chest. I was going to be reunited with my parents. I’d always assumed they were dead, but the djinn’s words in the Realm of Air suggested they were out there. Alive. And now I was going to find them.
“Deal.” I grinned ear to ear.
The day was finally looking up.
5
Neve
Five minutes later, I was sitting face to face with Damian. His eyes burned into me, and it took every ounce of willpower to ignore the way his closeness sent shivers racing up my thighs.
I thought my body and I had come to terms with this. Apparently not.
How had it come to this? A genie crushing on a fallen angel that might kill her. My cheeks burned with embarrassment.
I closed my eyes and pushed him out of my mind. I had to focus on controlling my magic.
When Damian had wished for me to heal him, I’d seen a thousand possibilities. I’d panicked and chosen one at random where he was whole again. I’d gotten lucky.
If I could control my choice, I could get exactly what I wanted. In legends, genies always twisted wishes. Damian had said as much about the djinn. Maybe, if I focused, I could twist the wish to my advantage.
I took a deep breath, letting the air calm my mind, and I opened my eyes.
“Okay. I’m ready,” I said in a shaky voice. I wasn’t afraid to see my parents again, just feeling the unease of the butterflies doing somersaults in my stomach.
Damian locked me with those piercing green eyes. “Are you sure about this?”
“Abso-freaking-lutely.” I winked at Rhiannon who was looking pale. In fact, both her and Damian looked pale. “I’ll be fine you guys.”
If not, I’d figure it out as I went. No chance in hell I’d miss the chance to find out where my parents were.
“Alright, let’s give it a whirl,” Rhia said, glancing at Damian, whose gaze never left mine.
He ground his teeth but nodded. “Fine. But promise me you’ll stay focused and be careful.”
I handed Rhia my phone for safe keeping. “I promise.”
Lie.
I’d do whatever it took to find my parents. Damian had no idea how long I’d prayed for this moment.
I’d always assumed they were dead, but sometimes, I had dreams where they were still alive. Dreams where their disappearance had just been a big misunderstanding.
Maybe it was.
“All right.” He took my hands. “Then genie, I wish for you to find your parents so that you may speak to them.”
His words drifted through the air, almost as if Rhia had slowed time. Then they hit me like a freight train. I gasped and arched my back as a thousand tiny fires came to life inside of me.
My magic was back.
My vision blurred to black, and I blinked, opening my eyes to the cosmos. Rhia and Damian were gone. The apartment was gone. I was floating in a black abyss surrounded by flickering lights; each was a doorway of possibility. Endless opportunities. My mind homed in on one, and I turned, focusing my burning gaze on it. There, behind a glowing door, were my parents.
My heart seized, and I reached out. They were so close I could touch them. And why not? My power was infinite.
I reached forward, touching the light that emanated from the portal to my parents. Warmth flooded me, and then a violent force latched onto my wrist, tugging me through a worm hole.
My body spun through the darkness as the invisible force pulled me in every direction, like a rollercoaster from hell. I screamed, but my voice was drowned out in the vacuum of space.
Fear consumed me, and I hugged my knees, praying to the gods that wherever I ended up, it was in one piece.
Fates, what have I done?
Damian
Neve disappeared in a burst of wind.
The air tore from my lungs as the invisible thread that linked us together snapped, like a high-tension cable, a sucker punch to the gut.
The world spun.
She’s gone.
“What happened? Where did she go?” Rhiannon shoved me.
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “I have no idea, but I can’t sense her. She’s somewhere far.”
“Shit!” Rhiannon snapped. “The wish was clear, you said it perfectly.”
I had. Against my better judgement, and once again, it had come back to haunt me. Worry and frustration churned in my veins, like an angry sea breaking against the shore. I should have stood my ground. Whatever happened from here on out was the fault of my weakness.
I had to find her. Fast.
I racked my brain. “I wished that she could speak with her parents again, that was it. We reasoned it out.”
Rhiannon paced the room, face flushed. “Fates, what if her parents are dead? What if the only way to speak to them was by her dying and going to an afterlife!”
My stomach knotted. I hadn’t thought of that. Gods, what had I done? Why was I so arrogant in the face of magic I didn’t understand?
She spun on me. “We knew she couldn’t control her magic. This is our fault.”
I set my jaw. “We’ll get her back.”
“How can you say that? We have no idea where she is.”
“We’ll get her back. If I have to fight my way through the entire fucking netherworld, I’ll do it.”
She glared, but finally, the tension drained from her shoulders. “Wherever you’re going, I’m coming with.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else. We need a seer. Lily DuVoir knows Neve already, which will make it easier for her to find her.” I didn’t wait for a response. I dug my keys out and strode to the car.
After a shocked moment, Rhiannon hurried after.
She hopped in beside me and slammed the door. “How far can you sense Neve with, well, whatever it is you’ve got?”
I turned the ignition. “My dragon sense. I’m not sure what the range is… miles for certain, and her pull is incredibly strong. She hasn’t been out of my range since I returned from exploring the Searing Citadel.”
“Could you feel her if she were in Guild City? How about on the other side of the world?”
I shook my head as we roared down the Midway toward the Dockside Dens. “I have no idea.”
Rhiannon sunk into her seat, her expression grim. I tightened my grip on the wheel, my knuckles turning white. “Call Lily. You have her number I assume? Let her know we’re on our way.”
She nodded and put the call through. I pulled out my cell and speed dialed the Dockside boss. “Alastair, it’s Damian. I’m headed into Dockside to see Lily. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. No surprises.”
He consented, and I hung up. Dockside was run by a shifter pack, and they were damned territorial. It was all too easy to ruffle their fur. It was always best to give the alpha a heads-up—a courtesy amongst rivals. I’d hired some of Alastair’s wolves to protect Neve, but that was only possible because the alpha had owed me debt.
Ten minutes later, I pulled to a halt in front of Lily DuVoir’s apartment building—an old redbrick structure with an Art Deco tower.
I nodded to some shifters stationed across the way as we got out of the car. They were probably expecting us by now. I found Lily’s button on the call box under Madam DuVoir—mysteries and curses divined. The button made an ear-grating buzz as I pressed it. After a few seconds, the door unlocked with an electric clack, and we headed inside.
Lily DuVoir was waiting at the top of the landing. She had dark, curly hair and a timeless youth to her. Anxiety uncharacteristically tugged at the edges of her expression.
“What’s happened to Neve?” She spoke with a slight French accent that turned up the corners of her words.
We explained the situation as Lily led us into her sitting room. While she listened, she pulled a small tabl
e into the center of the room and set up three mismatched vintage chairs. “Sit, sit.”
I pulled a chair back for Rhiannon and sat down beside her.
Lily flicked her wrist, and the heavy drapes slid closed, and the lights dimmed. “I’m more of a specialist in curses. I will look, but I make no guarantees. Do you have anything of hers?”
“Not now. We could—”
“No matter. I know her, which makes things easier—though even a small trinket would have helped.” Lily placed a crystal ball on the table and took the last remaining chair. “Join hands.”
Rhiannon took my hand without a second thought. Lily placed her fingers in my palm and quickly raised a quizzical eyebrow. How much could she read through that touch?
It didn’t matter. Even if she discovered I was a FireSoul, I had to get Neve back.
Lily closed her eyes and rolled her head side to side. “Good, now close your eyes and concentrate on Neve. And for heaven’s sake, keep your mouths shut while I’m working. Any yammering, and we’ll have to start over.”
I closed my eyes. Rhiannon’s grip tightened as Lily’s magic swirled around us. Chicory and the taste of caramel. I pushed her signature out of my mind and focused on Neve.
The vibrant tint of her red hair, and the way it danced around her face even when there wasn’t a breeze. The intricate pattern of the tattoos that wound around her arms and across her chest. The way she mouthed words when reading. The way her lips felt against mine. The way she tasted.
I reached out with my dragon sense but found only absence. The minutes dragged on.
Suddenly, Lily threw my hand down in exasperation. “I’ve got absolutely nothing.”
My stomach twisted, and I opened my eyes. “What does that mean?”
“She’s not on Earth, that’s for sure. She might be in one of the netherworlds or hells, possibly in one of the planes. Wasn’t her family from the Realm of Air?”
Rhiannon’s eyes darted to mine, and she nodded. “Yes. Can you see that far?”
“No, that would require a specialized crystal ball or something connected to the planes.”
I summoned the Atlas of the Planes from the ether and laid it on the table. “Would this help? It’s an atlas of the Realms of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water.”
Broken Skies: Dragon’s Gift: The Storm Book 4 Page 4