Caged Magic: Paranormal Romance Book (Iron Serpent Chronicles 1)

by Sadie Jacks

  Ferria’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. She bit her lip. “What does my daughter have to do with any of this?”

  “I’m so glad you asked,” Saint said. He laid down a sheaf of papers about an inch thick. “Please, step a little closer.” He waved them to the far end of the desk like he was inviting them to watch an up-close magic trick. “You should recognize yourself in many of these pictures. Ferria, you little tease. I had no idea you were such a pet lover.”

  Taryk slapped Juan in the face. “Don’t you know not to treat animals that way, you sick fuck?” Blood spurted from Juan’s nose.

  “And Juan, you scamp.” Saint’s face lost its joviality. Death was written on his dark face, promised in his turbulent eyes. “Little girls are not for you to play with.” He nodded at Taryk.

  Taryk pulled Juan upright. Reaching out, he grabbed Juan’s dick and squeezed before wrenching it to the side.

  A weak high-pitched scream climbed through the air.

  I bit back my wince of sympathy. The pictures I could see out of the corner of my vision cured even that reaction. Fire burned in my belly, almost as hotly as when I learned what they’d done to Kiema.

  “Now, that we have your attention, I’m going to tell you how this is all going to work.” Saint moved around the desk and sat in Juan’s chair. “First, you’re going to sign this.” He shoved a piece of paper forward. “Turns out that you’re not actually Kiema’s parents. Bless the Goddess, that makes all of us very, very happy. You want to keep us happy. Yes?”

  Ferria nodded sharply. Juan’s head flopped to his chest, his body trying to curl in on itself.

  “Your computer guys are a bit sloppy when doing backdating. Luckily, we have quality men and women in our organization. You adopted—excuse me, bought—Kiema from an orphanage when she was two years old. You had her tested at MagCorp when she was three. Your lucky day, am I right? You’d brought home a cash cow.” Saint clapped, very slowly.

  “Too bad you treated her more poorly than those animals you got to fuck your wife. But that works in our favor. So once more we are very happy.” Saint slid another sheet across the table to them. “Your signature on the first gives Kiema all of your holdings, even that secret little stash of cash out in the middle of the ocean on that tropical island.”

  Juan’s puffy face widened in surprise.

  “Quality men and women in our organization. Like he said,” I offered.

  “Your signature on this says you faked her death for the benefits.” Saint stabbed a finger into the second paper. “Hurry now. We have other more important things than you on our list. Chop, chop.”

  Ferria bent and scribbled her name on both forms. Juan glared at us, like we were the ones in the wrong.

  I chuckled, the sound scary to my own ears. “Sign, or I’ll join the hit parade and your wife will be signing for you in absentia.”

  Juan grabbed the pen and signed his name with a slash that almost ripped the document.

  “Good boy,” Taryk said it like he was talking to a well-trained puppy. Even patted Juan’s head.

  “All done. That wasn’t so hard was it?” Saint smiled at both of them, his eyebrows raised in encouragement. Even I thought he was a little unhinged.

  They both nodded with him.

  “Perfect. Our new security team will be seeing you out. Don’t forget to take your keys with you. We won’t be needing them. The locks were changed while we’ve in our happy little meeting here.”

  Asher went to the door.

  “Oh, silly me, I almost forgot. One last little thing.” Saint raised his pointer finger in the air. “Where is the nearest Iron Serpent office?”

  Ferria fainted. Juan stared at her fallen body in disgust. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  We all laughed. But none of us were amused.

  “Looks like it’s my turn again.” I undid the buttons on my cuffs. Pushed my sleeves to my elbows. Shaking out my arms, I felt my eyes light up with sadistic joy. “Thanks. I’ve been pouting over here that Taryk got to have all the fun.” I pulled my arm back, fist—and heart ready—to beat the shit out of this human waste stain.

  “Wait!” Juan screeched and wheeled back into the solid wood of his oversized desk. His hands in the air protecting his face.

  “Damn it, Juan. Why can’t you just participate? I only want to beat you bloody. But nooo, you have to be a jerk and ruin my enjoyment. You’re such a fun sucker.” I dropped my arm.

  “The Order has offices all over.” Juan almost landed at my feet in supplication.

  I moved back, not wanting to get any of his blood and other fluids on my new boots. “Gross,” I whispered.

  “Good thing you can afford new shoes, bro,” Asher said from the back of the room.

  I nodded at him.

  “We know that, dipshit. We want addresses. Unless you’re too low on the totem pole to be of use to us.” Saint looked up at me, turning from the man. “He could just be a pawn, a peon, a pissy little piece no one really cares about.”

  Juan’s body jerked with each insult.

  I smiled at Saint. “You could be right. I mean, Xan found his connection pretty easily. It’s like they wanted to leave him waving in the wind. You don’t do that to quality players. I mean, we don’t.” I gestured between us.

  “Yeah, but we don’t leave any of our employees out to dry. That’s what you do to the trash,” Saint reasoned with me.

  I nodded.

  Juan sprang to his feet, his hands cradling his crotch. “Fuck all of you! K—”

  I lifted my fist.

  He swallowed, closed his mouth. “Owning my daughter got me a place at that table. I’m valued. I’m in the upper rungs of that ridiculous organization.”

  The words ‘owning my daughter’ went on a loop in my head. Like she was a piece of furniture or a stapler. My fist plowed into his face before I could think to stop myself.

  His body fell under the onslaught. I followed his smaller body to the ground, my fists trying to drill through his body like an auger.

  Under the shrill screams, I heard animalistic growls and snarls.

  “Ransom. We need him alive,” Taryk said in my mind.

  “Technically, we still have Ferria to give us information. Don’t interrupt his fun, T,” Asher argued.

  “He’s not going to share that kind of power with a woman, Ash,” Saint interjected.

  “Ransom. Stop. We need him to find Kiema. You want her back, don't you?” Taryk said.

  Her name filled my mind like someone blowing up a balloon.

  Kiema. Kiema. Mine.

  “He’s about to shift, guys. Get the info and get the fuck out of there,” Atlas said over the mental connection. “His implant is going crazy just like last time. Info, out, now.”

  “Saint, Asher,” Taryk called.

  Two sets of arms came around me. I snarled at them, but let them pull me away. I could feel my spirit going quiet.

  Slaps, punches, mumbled words, and screams registered on the edge of my concentration.

  “We’re out of here,” Taryk pulled me up. “Security!” he called as we moved to the main doors of the office.

  Our team of security pushed through the doors, guns drawn, faces disguised under masks. “They’re out. Shut everything down. Tell the employees to come back next week. Full pay,” Saint said as he helped remove me from the office.

  Kiema. Kiema. Kiema.

  “He’s about to lose it. Get him in the van,” Taryk called as we made it out into the sunshine.

  A heavy black door slid to the side. They pushed me through the opening. As I hit the rough carpeting, that peculiar blend of pain and pleasure rushed through me.

  My body elongated as I rose to my hands and knees. Shrieks of pain rippled down my spine as pleasure washed away the heat of the change.

  Shaking my head, I was about even with Taryk who still stood outside the van.

  “Fucking hell,” he said, his eyes wide. “You’re a w
olf this time.”

  The van door slid shut in my face.

  Chapter 50 – Kiema

  I plunged through the air, tossing and turning every which way but up. The ground was rapidly reaching up to greet me.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” I screamed it to absolutely no one. No one else had been stupid enough to get kicked off a flying helicopter by a psychopath.

  “Calm your mind.” The words whispered through my brain.

  Great, now I get to go actual crazy. This has been the best worst day ever!

  A laugh sounded. “You are not crazy. You are, however, about to die, so I suggest you follow my instructions,” the voice called again.

  Whoever my strange voice belonged to, he had one of the sexiest accents I’d ever heard.

  Something about the voice itself was familiar, but I had no idea what or why.

  Pushing that all from my mind, I tried to do my deep breathing exercises.

  Failed.

  I tried to just breathe like a normal human.

  Failed at that, too.

  The cold wind blasted my face, making it almost impossible to breathe. It ripped tears from my eyes, and made my nose feel like it was going to break off my face at any second. The gusting wind battered at my ears like being in the middle of a thunderstorm.

  “Turn to face the sky.”

  I began to laugh hysterically. “How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

  “Flip over.”

  Right, just flip over.

  I tried everything I could think of. Sitting up just made me nauseous. Rolling over had me rolling in so many circles I wanted to vomit again.

  “Roll over with your arms out.”

  I snarled at the voice in my head. He made it sound so easy.

  I was running out of time. I rolled over, both hands out to my sides. It felt like someone pushed on my belly while holding one of my arms in place. But damn if I didn’t actually flip over.

  I could finally breathe. I gulped in air, almost enough to make myself lightheaded. That possibly could be attributed to the fact that I careening towards the ground with no parachute or something soft and squishy to catch me.

  “You have fewer than twenty seconds until you hit the ground. I suggest you follow my instructions.”

  I either splattered into the ground and became a horrendous goo sack of human disgustingness, or I possibly died because I’m following an unknown person’s directions.

  What to choose? What to choose?

  I heaved a sigh.

  “Fine. Tell me what to do.”

  A low laugh brushed my mind. “Look to your left. “

  Sure, why not? I looked to my left. Arrowing straight for me was a black spear of some kind. As it got closer, it shifted from a spear into a person wearing all black.

  “Open your arms and legs into a big X.”

  I went spread eagle. Damn, I wish I had wings right now.

  The falling person angled in towards me. Grabbed my hand, pulling me with it.

  I immediately wrapped myself around him or her like bark to a tree. Curled around the front of my body, I noticed pretty quickly that it was a male. Didn’t matter, nothing was prying me off this guy.

  Using some kind of mystical arts magic, I was turned around and suddenly strapped to his body by a series of belts, hooks, and harnesses.

  “Ground, ground, ground, GROUND!” I screeched in my mind.

  “Very good, luv. Yes, that’s the ground. We’re going to say ‘ello to it quickly. Legs up now.”

  I lifted my knees to my chest. Covered my eyes with my hands.

  A quick jerk and we were zinging up into the air as if pulled back up by a strong vacuum. I glanced above us.

  A canopy of black blocked out the blue sky above me.

  “This is going to sting a bit, luv. But I’ll do the best I can.”

  I didn’t bother opening my eyes. I knew what grass, trees, and lakes looked like. I didn’t need the superspeed view.

  Before I could gulp in my next lungful of air, my ass skimmed over water. Almost as if it had reached up and grabbed me, my legs plunged beneath the surface. The water clung to them like Ransom’s hands—tight and not letting go.

  Black Spear was right. It did sting. It felt like someone was shooting needles into my overly sensitized skin.

  The water on my legs acted like a pair of brakes, but I think I’d rather have kept my skin. Just as the bank was rushing to meet us, we were falling.

  Straight into the water.

  My feet hit the sandy bottom of the lake first. I pushed with all my might back toward the surface. The guy I was attached to did the same.

  I broke through, glorious sunshine on my face, air in my lungs. My rescuer looked at me, his face still shielded.

  The same laugh that had filtered through my mind, now brushed through my wet hair and caressed my ears.

  “Luv, that was amazing. Swim for shore, yeah?” The next instant I was free of him.

  We swam to shore. As soon as my feet could touch, I set them down and marched for dry land. Water splashing all around me, I wasn’t quiet or calm about it.

  My feet hit dry grass. I dropped to my knees and vomited.

  “Si-sing-single worst experience of my life,” I said once I could talk again. And Gaia knew I had some horrible experiences in my lifetime.

  Black Spear made it to shore, bent down, did some weird stretching thing, stood upright, and looked like he was ready to go for a marathon hiking expedition.

  I hated this man. Deeply.

  “Wasn’t so bad. Come on. Ups. We’ve got to get you to cover before Slither comes back round looking for you.”

  He grabbed my arm, pulled me to my feet. With his other hand, he pulled his helmet off.

  I pushed at his hand. His bare hand.

  “Don’t…don’t…”

  Absolutely nothing was happening to me. Other than some stranger had his hand on me.

  I looked up at the guy. Bright red hair, cerulean eyes, sexiest mouth I’ve ever seen, and an earring in his left ear. “How can you touch me?”

  He winked at me. “Walk and I’ll talk.” He pulled me along, not really giving me a choice. After a couple steps in the direction he pointed me, he let go of my arm.

  I glowered as I pushed in front of him. My wet clothes clung to my body, making the hiking that much more uncomfortable. Gaia, I hope these pants dried out soon. Chafed thighs aren’t on my Top Ten list of awesome.

  “I’m walking. I hear no talking.” I stepped around a hole that looked big enough to swallow at least an ankle.

  A chuckle. “Name’s Lukas.”

  “Nice to meet you, Lukas. I asked how you could touch me, not what your name was.”

  “Feisty bit, yeah? I can touch you because I’m a Null. I do most recoveries for Reece. He was sending my voice into your head.”

  I stumbled to a stop, whipped around. “REECE?!” I kicked out at him before spinning back around and sprinting as fast as I could.

  He tackled me to the ground. “Let me go! Let me go! I won’t go with you. I won’t.” I bucked my body like a bull. Reaching up with my head, I tried to smash his nose in.

  He laughed in my face. The man had hands of fucking steel.

  “Please, please, please. Let me go. I can’t go back to OTIS.” The fight was draining out of me like water through a sieve.

  I felt tears fill my eyes as I pleaded with him.

  Lukas sighed heavily.

  Right before he punched me in the head.

  **

  To be continued in

  Wild Magic – Iron Serpent Book Two

  Releasing March 25, 2020

  Could you do me a favor? If you liked Kiema, Ransom, and the others, would you go leave me a review? Wherever you leave a review helps get this story out. Which helps me be able to keep writing about these great characters.

  Much love,

  SJ

  aged Magic: Paranormal Romance Book (Iron Serpent Chronicles 1)