Artifacts, Dragons, and Other Lethal Magic

by Meghan Ciana Doidge

  Kett reacted to my teasing about as much as a statue would have.

  I took the tray from the steward, who apparently practiced the art of ignoring his passengers’ small talk on a professional level. “I don’t know your name,” I said.

  “Mark, ma’am.”

  “I’m not a ma’am, Mark.”

  The steward nodded.

  Then I felt awful for being pissy. “Hot chocolate with real whipped cream would be lovely.” I balanced the tray on the arm of my chair.

  “Food would be better,” Kett said.

  I narrowed my eyes at him as I unrolled a hot towel and wrapped it around my hands. “You aren’t the boss of me.”

  “Perhaps a fruit and cheese plate?” Mark smoothly interjected. “Or I could put together a lunch of sandwiches and a salad?” He glanced up at Warner and Drake, who were still conked out behind us.

  “The fruit and cheese would be nice,” I said while giving Kett the evil eye. “And the hot chocolate.”

  Mark laughed softly. “Of course, Ms. Godfrey.” Then he took off up the aisle.

  I turned to Kett. “Tell me what happened to you after Peru,” I said bluntly.

  Kett looked out the window instead of answering me.

  We were flying in a light-blue sky over an endless swathe of fluffy white clouds, somewhere above the northern United States. Alberta was a large province, but I doubted it would take us long to get from Calgary to Portland in Kett’s jet.

  “We’ve spoken about it,” Kett finally said. His tone was aloof, as if he hadn’t almost died in the temple of the centipede. “At length.”

  We hadn’t, though. Not anything more than him mentioning that he’d survived. Every query I’d sent by text was met with a response about some interesting magical fact he’d uncovered. He was currently studying alchemy and dragons, of course. Though the lore he was seeking was difficult to track down and not terribly plentiful. Which wasn’t surprising since it was sort of the treasure keeper’s job to collect, if not suppress, anything he believed fell under the guardians’ purview.

  Perhaps I was meant to read something into his interests, as a means of coming to some sort of understanding about his well-being?

  “Warner said something about voluntary house arrest.”

  Kett waved a pale hand dismissively.

  “And destroying a castle?”

  “Hardly.”

  The conversation was going absolutely swimmingly. “I’d like to know that you’re okay.” My heart felt as if it were stuck in my throat, but I swallowed it away.

  Kett turned his cool, ice-blue gaze on me. “I am as I always will be … simply more than I should be, for the moment.”

  I nodded as if I understood. Then, realizing I didn’t have any idea what he was talking about, I stopped myself. “More than you should be? So you’re locking yourself away because … you might be dangerous?”

  “I have a decision to make,” he said. “It isn’t the sort of thing to rush into. I’m not retreating from the world out of injury, Jade. You haven’t broken me.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re kind of unbreakable.”

  “Indeed. Might I suggest you keep that thought in the forefront of your mind.”

  “You know I can only think of so many things at one time.”

  Kett twitched his eyebrow disapprovingly.

  “Fine.” I sighed. I unrolled the second hot towel and pressed it to my face. Then after it had cooled, I bathed my face and neck with the third towel, finishing the process by smoothing some of the face cream across my cheeks and forehead. The ritual was soothing, and perhaps even more refreshing than the nap had been. The vampire always knew best. And yes, I knew how ridiculous that sounded, even in my own head.

  “I like your dragon,” Kett said. “He is adapting well to the twenty-first century.”

  “It’s a talent of his.”

  “And the new wedding bands? The ones with the runes?”

  I glanced down at my necklace. Kett had wicked eyesight if he could see the tiny runes carved on the inside of the rings.

  “A gift from Warner,” I said.

  A slow, soft smile spread across Kett’s face. It was an unusual expression for him … almost wistful. “Most long-lived creatures must continually walk the earth,” he said. “To maintain a connection to the ages. A grounding.”

  “The fire breather indicated the same.”

  “Did she?”

  Kett leaned forward eagerly. Which is to say, he tilted his chin toward me and lifted one eyebrow slightly, so I interpreted that as him being keen for any gossip I might indulge in about the guardian nine.

  I grinned as Mark dropped off my hot chocolate, along with the fruit and cheese. I plucked a red grape from the bunch on the silver platter, popping it obligingly in my mouth as I raised my eyebrows in Kett’s direction.

  He chuckled under his breath.

  See? I didn’t have to be a brat all the time.

  “The fire breather?” he asked, prompting me a second time.

  So I filled him in. And why shouldn’t I? He was putting his ass on the line for the guardians a second time, and they wouldn’t ever offer him a single word of appreciation. Other than not ending his immortal existence. Though that was presumably a huge boon for a vampire when dealing with guardians.

  I got the idea that Kett and I were supposed to be some sort of bridge between the vampire Conclave and the guardians. Though if things came down to it — say, if the ‘it’ was the edge of my father’s blade or a fiery whisper from Suanmi — I was pretty sure my opinion wouldn’t be a factor in whatever happened.

  ∞

  Showing up at Desmond’s front door unannounced probably wasn’t a great idea. But I had no idea where Rochelle was, and I was pretty certain that if I gave the pack too much of a heads-up, they’d make an effort to block me from seeing the oracle.

  Even I could read between the lines of Kandy’s absence from Vancouver and her stilted text messages. I was persona non grata among the West Coast North American Pack.

  Well, freaking bully for them.

  I’d let them say no to my face. Then I’d set Drake and Warner on them. Following up with a peppermint-powered vampire, if it came to it.

  Okay. I might have been feeling slightly defensive.

  One of Kett’s massive SUVs was waiting for us at the Portland International Airport — a Range Rover, according to what was printed on the nose of the insanely expensive-looking vehicle. In the afternoon light filtering in through the open bay doors of the private aircraft hangar, both the SUV and the jet appeared to be exactly the same shade of white. I wondered idly whether the vampire had all his vehicles custom painted.

  Warner, Drake, and I climbed into the cushy leather seats of the behemoth vehicle without speaking. We made the drive to Desmond’s home in silence, with Kett at the wheel.

  There really wasn’t anything to plan. I was hoping Rochelle was in the immediate vicinity. Though the far seer had mentioned Washington, and Drake thought the oracle preferred to be on the coast.

  I couldn’t argue with that. But, even in the off-season, a couple of hundred campsites along the American west coast was a couple of hundred too many to search. And even if I had Rochelle’s or her boyfriend Beau’s phone number, I had a feeling they wouldn’t take my calls voluntarily. Not even at Kandy or the far seer’s behest.

  It was weird to sort of be a bad guy for some people. Or at least an avoid-at-all-costs-then-duck-and-run guy. We should have stopped in Vancouver for cupcakes to soften our sudden appearance, but the last time I’d been face to face with Rochelle, I’d had to practically force her to eat one. Force-feeding wasn’t exactly a balm to my soul.

  We parked across the street from Desmond’s tall laurel hedge. It had easily grown two feet since I’d sat on the front steps with Audrey, discussing the fact that Kandy would have to stay with the pack to heal properly. I’d had no idea that meant my green-haired best friend would never return to Vancouver. />
  Exiting the SUV at the same time as everyone else, I slipped from the back seat and closed the door. I stood on the sidewalk, trying to get a glimpse of the house beyond the driveway.

  Drake was anxious, shifting from side to side. Then he followed Warner’s lead when the elder dragon folded his arms and leaned against the SUV’s rear hatch.

  Kett joined me on the sidewalk.

  “Maybe I should have texted,” I muttered, glancing around at the high-end neighborhood.

  A luxury car slowed as it passed us on the left, speeding up after Warner waved casually to indicate we belonged. We were the only vehicle parked on the street. Each pristine lawn in the immediate vicinity boasted a tiny sign declaring its house’s security system provider. It was that sort of community.

  “Maybe I should text now?”

  Kett lifted his face to the cloudy sky. A slight breeze ruffled his white-blond hair across his wide brow. “Wolf moon,” he whispered.

  I followed his gaze. It was too early and too cloudy to see the moon yet. “You mean the full moon? Tonight? Is that an issue?”

  Kett turned his gaze to me, though I couldn’t see his eyes through his dark sunglasses. “Not for you.” He flashed his teeth at me, laughing silently.

  I huffed, grabbing my phone out of my satchel as I crossed the wide boulevard. Other than the car that had just passed, the upscale neighborhood was quiet for a Saturday afternoon. Or maybe everyone just generally kept to themselves, whatever the day of the week.

  I paused at the foot of the driveway and texted Kandy.

  Hey! Surprise! I’m at the door.

  Then I lifted my head, surveying what appeared from the front to be a wide, brown-sided seventies-style rancher set back on the lot behind a wide front yard. The house was actually two levels, with a modern open floor plan. However, the way it perched on the hillside made it appear smaller. Two black SUVS — not quite as expensive as Kett’s — occupied the driveway, blocking the three-car garage. Even though it was January, the large front yard was green, well mowed, and well hidden from the street by the hedge.

  The house looked exactly the same.

  The magical wards, however, were new. By the taste of the earthy midnotes, the protection coating the house was of witch construction, but I had no idea if the wards were meant to keep magic out … or in … or both. Not until I tested them, of course.

  Kett stepped into my peripheral vision, then tilted his head questioningly. Grinning, he slipped into the shadows gathering at the edge of the laurel hedge and disappeared.

  “Cool,” Drake murmured.

  Warner snorted, though he quirked his lips in a brief smile when I glanced back.

  “I should have worn the T-shirt Kandy gave me,” Drake said.

  Something else shifted in my peripheral vision within the shadows, but before I could focus on it, it was gone. A hundred to one, Shailaja had just sent a shadow leech to check up on me. Now that we were away from the protection of the wards in Alberta, it certainly hadn’t taken her long to find me.

  “Any T-shirt from Kandy won’t go with the sword,” I said to Drake, distracted as I turned onto the front walk and crossed toward the house. Standing before the front door, I glanced down at my phone to confirm that my text had gone through.

  It had. So maybe Kandy wasn’t in Portland.

  I was being a complete ninny. Freaking out about seeing Kandy just because something was going on with her that she didn’t want to discuss. The werewolf had always been incredibly private. I probably should have been more worried about coming face to face with Desmond.

  I glanced back at Warner and Drake, who had crossed the street to stand at the mouth of the driveway. Judging by the peppermint emanating from the hedge to my right, Kett was about twenty feet away, slipping around the side of the house. The wards had intrigued him.

  What did the alpha of the West Coast North American Pack need with wards?

  I reached up and tapped the knocker at the center of the large wooden door. Three light taps. The wards didn’t react to my proximity.

  The door blew open.

  A hulking, hairy beast wearing a cowboy hat tackled me to the ground.

  We rolled across the front lawn before he managed to pin me. I slammed the heel of my hand up and underneath the beast’s chin — right before he tried to rip my throat out with his two-inch-long incisors. Then I held him off in a chokehold with the same hand while I tried to get a look at him.

  He’d lost the cowboy hat. He also appeared to be … well, a werewolf. As in, the mythological half-human/half-beast monsters from the old horror films. I’d assumed he was a shifter in half-form, but now, getting a better look at him and tasting his magic, I was pretty sure I was wrong. His eyes were blue, not awash with the green of shapeshifter magic. And his magic tasted of … brown sugar and pecans and pastry … paired with some sort of ripe berry fruit. Something was wrong, yet terribly familiar, with that mixture of flavors.

  As the werewolf struggled against my chokehold, a great gob of saliva hit me in the forehead. Just freaking gross.

  I could hear Drake giggling.

  Damn it.

  Plus, I was getting grass stains on my new silk jacket.

  I tossed the werewolf off me, rolling to my feet in the same motion.

  He flew across the front lawn, slamming into the side of one of the SUVs with a pained whelp. Then he fell onto all fours, panting with discomfort.

  The SUV was seriously dented. As in, I doubted whether either of its passenger-side doors would ever open again.

  Whoops.

  Warner started coughing, covering his laughter.

  I glared in his general direction, picking up the cowboy hat off the lawn and feeling badly about hurting the beast.

  But what the hell?

  Kandy jogged through the open front door. Despite the fact it was January, the green-haired werewolf was clad only in bright-blue cropped leggings and a pink-printed white Cake in a Cup T-shirt.

  “Henry …” she hissed under her breath. She sounded as though she might be looking for an escaped dog, while trying to hide the fact that he’d escaped in the first place. “What are you —” Then she spotted me on the lawn and a smile took over her fierce face. “Jade!” she cried.

  Drake barreled across the yard and attacked her. She didn’t even see him coming, and the fledgling was bigger than her by far. They went down in a tangle of limbs, both laughing manically. Gold glinted from the three-inch-wide rune-carved cuffs Kandy wore.

  With a confused but eager howl, the werewolf leaped across the lawn to pile onboard the tussling match.

  I sighed, then wandered into the fray to grab the werewolf and toss him back inside the house.

  Yeah, I’d put two and two together, and had come up with the idea that a movie werewolf brawling on the front lawn was a bad idea if you wanted to maintain a good relationship with your neighbors.

  I made an easy guess that the werewolf’s presence also explained the new wards.

  Henry tumbled into the tiled entranceway beyond the wide front doors; then Desmond filled the open doorway. Literally. His shoulders pretty much brushed the doorframe to either side, though he was shy of six feet. While he glowered at the scene in his front yard, his brunette beta, Audrey, appeared behind him, holding Henry in check. At least I was hoping I’d read the situation correctly, and that the werewolf was the Henry who Kandy had come out to look for.

  Desmond’s magic — smooth dark chocolate with a strong citrus finish — rolled through the front yard.

  Kandy tossed Drake away, rolling to her feet in front of her alpha with her head bowed.

  Drake slipped back to flank me.

  Desmond glared at the two of us, one at a time. Shards of his green shapeshifter magic danced in his brown eyes as he gave a momentary glance to Warner, who had come closer to lean casually against the dented SUV.

  The alpha then returned his gaze to me, flinching as Kett appeared at my other side.
r />   Desmond bared his teeth. It wasn’t a pleasant greeting. “Jade Godfrey.”

  “Desmond Charles Llewelyn,” I said, “Lord and Alpha of the West Coast North American Pack. We come with a request.”

  “Of course you do.” Desmond curled his lip in a snarl. Then, after glaring at all of us for another moment, he turned and walked back into the house.

  “Wow,” Drake muttered. “He’s seriously peeved.”

  Kandy spun, throwing herself between Kett and me and lacing her steel-muscled arms around my shoulders. She pressed her face into my neck, inhaling deeply. Then she whispered, “Take me with you. I’ll even promise to not eat any of your chocolate.”

  “Wow. That’s, like, totally crazy.”

  “You’re right. I take it back. You do have chocolate, right?”

  Audrey stepped through the front door, scanning all of us arrayed on the lawn and driveway as though we were peons who should be falling to our knees in worship before her. The dark hair cascading over her shoulders was a sharp contrast to the tailored, pinstriped collared shirt she wore tucked into a sleek pencil skirt. She looked as though she’d just brokered a billion-dollar business deal in between bouts of giving some lucky dude the best sex of his life.

  Except the werewolf peeking over her shoulder completely ruined the effect.

  I fought a smirk, drawing Audrey’s attention.

  “He’s worried about his hat,” Kandy whispered.

  “What?”

  “Henry. He’s worried about his hat.” Kandy elbowed me, drawing my attention to the cowboy hat I still held.

  I looked at the werewolf behind Audrey, then lifted the hat questioningly. The werewolf nodded his head, then opened his maw in what was most likely supposed to be a smile. Silhouetted in the doorway behind Audrey, he appeared to be seconds away from chomping off the petite beta’s head in a single bite.

  Something in the back of my mind screamed, Toothy monster! Run! Run!

  Instead of fleeing, I returned the werewolf’s smile.

  Audrey frowned. And the more I upped the wattage of my grin, the deeper her brow furrowed.

  “I could play this game all day, beta,” I said coyly. Then I blew her a kiss.

  Her mouth quirked. She swallowed the involuntary smile, covering it with a heavy sigh that seemed to suggest doing anything else was better than conversing with me.