Artifacts, Dragons, and Other Lethal Magic

by Meghan Ciana Doidge

  “The West Coast North American Pack welcomes the alchemist and friend of the pack Jade Godfrey, along with Kettil, elder and executioner of the Conclave, and …” Audrey’s formal invitation faltered as she eyed Warner and Drake.

  “Warner, the sentinel of the instruments of assassination,” Kandy said, barely missing a beat. “Drake, apprentice to the far seer.”

  Audrey nodded to Warner and Drake.

  They returned the gesture.

  “Please,” she said, stepping back and sweeping her arm into the house. “Enter, make your request, and we will do our utmost to accommodate you.”

  Trying to not smirk like a brat at all the formality being thrown around, I stepped into the entranceway, passing Audrey, then pausing before the werewolf. Kandy was still glued to my shoulder.

  I handed the cowboy hat to the werewolf. He took it, but didn’t put it on.

  “Henry,” Kandy said. Her voice was pitched low and fierce. “You don’t leave the house. And you don’t attack visitors. If that hadn’t been Jade at the door, you could have killed someone. You’re lucky she didn’t gut you.”

  The werewolf snapped his mouth shut and nodded. When he did so, his jaws were perfectly aligned and his blue eyes were startlingly human. My nose came up to his fur-covered Adam’s apple.

  I definitely wasn’t looking at a transformed werewolf in his half-beast/half-human form.

  He was a sorcerer and a werewolf.

  And then, with the taste of Kandy’s chocolate-berry magic in my mouth, I clicked together the missing piece of the puzzle.

  “Hi, Henry,” I said. “I’m Jade.”

  “He can’t talk,” Kandy said.

  “Why does his magic taste like pecan pie paired with a weird berry coulis on the side?” I turned to lock my gaze to my best friend’s. “Why does his magic taste like yours?”

  She instantly cast her gaze to the gray slate tile underneath our feet. The submissive gesture made my heart pinch.

  Henry was Kandy’s secret.

  “He’s mine,” she muttered. “He’s bitten.”

  I turned to look at Henry, about a hundred different questions at the ready.

  “Perhaps save the stories for later,” Audrey said as she brushed by us. “I imagine that even you don’t lay siege to an alpha’s home unless it’s important, alchemist.”

  She crossed through the entranceway into the living room beyond. Desmond was standing at the front picture window, gazing out to where Portland spread below the hillside on which the house was perched. The afternoon was waning, and the cloud-covered sun cast a light-orange hue along the horizon.

  “Laying siege?” I muttered. “Dramatic much?”

  “Is it?” Kandy glanced over her shoulder at Kett, Warner, and Drake, who were spread across the entranceway and effectively blocking the front door.

  I opened my mouth to protest, then clamped it closed. I should have thought about how much magical power I was dragging around with me as if it were an everyday occurrence. Most Adepts went a lifetime without ever laying eyes on a vampire, or learning that dragons were more than a myth.

  Kandy reached across and patted Henry’s exceedingly hairy arm. “Wards or no wards, that’s a lot of magic for a newborn to handle,” she said soothingly. “Now go practice.”

  Henry took off to the left, toward the house’s gym and offices. His toenails clicked across the slate but were muffled when he hit the hardwood of the hallway.

  I looked questioningly at Kandy.

  “Later,” she said gruffly. “Audrey’s right.” She cocked her head toward Desmond, then added in a hushed whisper, “Henry’s stuck like that for the days around a full moon. He’s practicing quelling the magic. But we’re … sort of trapped here for the week.”

  My heart lightened at this pronouncement. I had dozens of more questions, but now I knew my friend had a reason for her absence in my life. A reason she was embarrassed about, though I wasn’t sure why.

  The green-haired werewolf hustled into the living room to stand off to one side of her alpha. As she passed, Lara rose off the square-edged gray leather couch, which was a new addition to the otherwise sparsely furnished room. She winked at me over her shoulder. Then, pursing her purple-glossed lips, she shucked her purple suede ankle boots and padded over to join Desmond by the window.

  Flanked by his two enforcers, the alpha didn’t bother to turn around.

  Audrey stood by a low, round glass-topped table, which appeared to be constructed out of some sort of large steel-edged, wooden-spoked wheel. Desmond had finally replaced the glass coffee table, which had a way too regular habit of getting broken.

  The beta was the only one fully facing us as we wandered into the living room. Warner and Kett fanned out behind me on either side. Drake was tucked in behind my right shoulder.

  The beta eyed the coffee table beside her, then took a deliberate step away from it.

  The pack was ready to rumble. But I seriously hoped it didn’t come down to claws versus fists.

  I stared at Desmond’s too-broad shoulders, waiting for him to acknowledge us. When he didn’t turn, I stopped myself from gritting my teeth as I looked pointedly at Audrey.

  “Your request, alchemist?” she asked.

  I eyed Desmond a moment longer, then nodded formally to Audrey. “We request an audience with the oracle, beta.”

  Desmond finally glanced over his shoulder at me. His magic glinted from his eyes. I kept my gaze on Audrey.

  She chose her words carefully. “The oracle is a protected member of the pack —”

  “We’ve been sent by the far seer,” I said.

  Desmond’s shoulders stiffened.

  “Shit,” Kandy muttered under her breath.

  Audrey swallowed, then looked to Desmond for guidance.

  Okay, so something had happened between the pack and Chi Wen? I glanced back to Drake. The fledgling guardian stepped up beside me, shaking his head once to indicate that he didn’t understand the shapeshifters’ concern — even as I could practically taste it wafting off them.

  “No,” Desmond said.

  “No?” I echoed. An involuntary grin spread across my face. I definitely hadn’t been looking to fight, but I would if I was pushed. And I’d enjoy it. It would feed the darkness I kept at bay with chitchat and chocolate.

  Audrey took a step back from me.

  Kandy and Lara each took a step closer to their alpha, clearly indicating I’d have to go through them to get to Desmond.

  I tried to subdue my sudden need to wrap my hand around the hilt of my knife.

  “My apologies,” I said, though my words were stilted. “The last few hours have been a trying time for us. I mean no aggression. I understand the pack protects its own. We mean the oracle no harm.”

  “That’s what you say, Jade Godfrey,” Desmond said. “But your actions rarely match your words.”

  I clamped my teeth together.

  Audrey winced.

  From behind me, Kett spoke. “Perhaps it is time that you mend your relationship with the alchemist, alpha.” His cool voice was like a balm.

  “I don’t take orders from a vampire,” Desmond snapped. “Elder of the Conclave or not, you don’t outrank me in my territory.” His steely gaze swept across all of us. “The oracle is under my protection.”

  Kett stepped up to my left, then deliberately angled his head toward me, as if to exclude the shapeshifters from his next suggestion. “The beta and the enforcer in purple are aware of the location of the oracle.”

  Desmond snorted. “Try asking them directly.”

  Kett laughed, breathing his peppermint magic across my neck and shoulder. “Blood doesn’t lie.”

  All the hair rose on the back of my neck. I shuddered, licking my lips. “That is perhaps an unnecessary step, executioner. For now, at least.” Vampires could read people’s minds while feeding on them. Or maybe it was just an ability of Kett’s. Not that I had any direct experience, but Kett had threatened to get pe
rmission to bite me for my ‘blood-truth’ the first time I met him.

  “This …” Desmond spat as he shouldered past Kandy and Lara. “This is who you align yourself with.”

  I lifted my chin. “What alliance do you offer, alpha? You’ve already killed a member of my family.”

  “A black witch —”

  “Who I’d already rendered harmless.”

  “It was pack justice, Jade.”

  “And I’m not pack. You made sure I never could be.”

  Desmond glanced at Drake, then over my shoulder at Warner. “That was never an option. Your magic made it so.”

  “The guardians are under threat,” I said, deliberately and perhaps provocatively locking my gaze to Desmond’s. “We seek the oracle to counter that threat. There is a possibility we bring harm in our wake, but I understood that Rochelle and Beau are mobile.”

  Desmond didn’t answer. But he didn’t drop his eyes from mine, either.

  “We’re sent by the mentor of the oracle,” Drake said. “You have no right or cause to stand between us and her. We all walk the path of our own destinies. This is Rochelle’s.”

  Desmond glanced at Drake. The fledgling was actually taller than the alpha, though probably barely a third of his width.

  “The guardians have left the oracle in your protection, alpha,” Drake added quietly.

  “Are you threatening me?” Desmond growled. “I expect such disrespect from the alchemist, but I’m surprised to hear it from a dragon.”

  Warner laughed. “You think we’re interested in bandying words with you, shapeshifter? You think anything but Jade Godfrey’s presence holds us in check?”

  “This is my territory!”

  “And the world is ours.” Warner’s tone dripped with quiet condescension.

  Desmond took a step back — not from fear, but to open up a clear path to Warner. “I didn’t hear guardian in your title.”

  “But you heard apprentice to the far seer in mine,” Drake said softly.

  A muscle in Desmond’s neck clenched. And not knowing why I did so, I slowly lifted my hand and stepped forward to brush my fingers against his shoulder. I deliberately kept my gaze lowered and any and all aggression out of my move. “Kett is right,” I murmured. “Don’t take what’s between you and me and hold it between us and Rochelle. This is too important.”

  “It’s always about saving the world with you, Jade,” Desmond said. Not unkindly, though.

  He pulled his gaze from Warner to look at me. I didn’t drop my hand.

  “It was never going to be between us,” I whispered. “You don’t even like me. I never should have kissed you.”

  Desmond dropped his gaze to my hand on his shoulder, then looked past me. But he was staring into his own thoughts and remembrances, rather than into the dining room and kitchen. “I never should have forced a binding on you,” he said quietly. “But Hudson …”

  “Hudson was worth it,” I said, pleased that the thought of the former beta no longer triggered a well of sadness for me.

  Desmond touched the back of my hand gently. “I don’t take the protection of my pack lightly.”

  “It’s your life.”

  He lifted his gaze to meet mine. “Yes.”

  “And this … apparently … is my life.”

  Desmond nodded. Then he stepped away.

  My hand fell from his shoulder.

  Something had shifted between us. I might never be able to fully forgive him for Sienna’s death. But I could recognize why those actions had been necessary in his eyes.

  “Audrey?” Desmond said as he moved back to his post by the window.

  “They were in Astoria yesterday,” Audrey said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. How the hell it hadn’t been ruining the line of her skirt, I had no idea. I silently cursed her for this bit of fashion wizardry.

  “Oregon?” I asked.

  “They’ve left Astoria,” Drake said. “We’re looking for a Washington location.”

  Audrey huffed out a sigh, then started texting.

  “Once you’ve got that sorted,” a deep voice drawled behind us, “I’ll drive.”

  I had tasted him approaching, but I was still surprised to see a brown-haired, wiry man in his early thirties — rather than a werewolf — in the entranceway behind me. He’d paired his cowboy hat with a brown suit jacket, blue jeans, and honest-to-goodness well-worn cowboy boots.

  “Henry,” Lara purred from her position by the window. “You clean up nice.”

  Henry chuckled, running a hand through his short hair before he dropped his cowboy hat on his head. “The oracle owes me a favor. I think it’s time to collect.”

  “Marshal,” Kett said, slipping across the entranceway and offering his hand to Henry. “The wolf moon has been good to you.”

  Of course Kett knew who Henry was. I met Kandy’s gaze and shook my head.

  She mouthed the words, Know-it-all.

  “Westport,” Audrey said, continuing to text.

  Kandy looked at Desmond.

  He nodded to her. “Go, then. Come back intact … please.”

  “I’ve never met a bitten werewolf,” Drake said, calling my attention back to Henry’s surprising human reveal.

  The marshal, as Kett had called him, held his hand out to the fledgling guardian with an easy grin. “Henry Calhoun. I’ve never met one before, either. Or a dragon, for that matter.”

  Drake shook his hand.

  “The bitten don’t usually survive,” Kett said coolly. Then he slipped out the front door.

  Henry turned to me. “Alchemist,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “All good, I hope.”

  His blue eyes danced with mirth as he tilted his head, grinning at me instead of responding. Then his gaze fell to my necklace and got stuck there. Typical sorcerer.

  “Ah,” he said, remembering to speak. “I understand you might be open to fixing something for me.” He lifted his hand to reveal a set of gold handcuffs hanging off his index finger.

  “Oooo,” I said. “What are these pretties?”

  Kandy started guffawing behind me. Drake joined her.

  Warner snorted, then exited to follow Kett.

  Okay, so sorcerers weren’t the only ones who lost all sense when it came to tasty magic.

  I lifted my chin, covering my eagerness to lay hands on what appeared to be magical handcuffs. “What have you got to trade?”

  Henry grinned. “I own the property that Rochelle and Beau use when they’re in Westport.”

  I nodded sagely, as if I was giving the deal some great consideration. Then I pretty much snatched Henry’s cuffs out of his hand in agreement.

  So I liked wielding my magic. Who didn’t?

  CHAPTER NINE

  By the time we’d flown into the regional airport in Olympia, Washington, then rented cars and driven the hour or so to Westport on the coast, it was just after eight o’clock in the evening. The dark sky was partly cloudy, but it wasn’t threatening to rain … yet. In this part of the world, precipitation didn’t come with much warning.

  We’d split up for the drive. Henry was in front with Kandy, Audrey, and Kett in a hulking black Cadillac Escalade. Warner was driving a smaller green Ford Escape, following with Drake and me. Apparently, Kett hadn’t had enough notice to insist on white vehicles only.

  Although getting trapped within the portal certainly hadn’t been any sort of picnic, traveling that way was a lot less hassle than either flying or driving. It probably didn’t help that I was still exhausted.

  I was disappointed that I wasn’t traveling with Kandy, but she was concerned about Henry’s newfound ability to take human form even under the full moon — and was even more concerned that he might suddenly revert. Kett’s fascination with the whole bitten werewolf/sorcerer thing — of course and always — had inspired his tagging along in the shapeshifters’ SUV.

  Audrey hadn’t wanted Kandy or Henry to set foot out of the house, let alon
e go anywhere near Rochelle. The beta had been seriously snitty about it, in fact. Supposedly, their presence in Mississippi had ‘only made things worse,’ and the oracle and Beau were under Audrey’s supervision.

  The beta had also balked over ‘flying in a jet owned by a vampire.’ But she didn’t have much say about it after we’d all driven to the airport and boarded without her consent.

  The road cutting west away from Interstate 5 wasn’t treacherous, but it was seriously dark and underutilized. I’d expected the area to be similar to Vancouver Island or Squamish — a mostly single-lane highway weaving through rocky cliffs covered in mossy fir and cedar trees. But the land was fairly level, and for the most part, sparsely dotted with trees and foliage. At least, as far as I could see in the dark.

  Drake was sprawled out lengthwise in the back seat. I’d managed to refrain from chiding him about putting on a seat belt, though I had mine securely fastened. Warner wasn’t a bad driver, but he operated the vehicle like someone with insane reflexes and the ability to walk away from a pileup without a scratch. Occasionally, I had to remind him that cars were built for regular humans. Following behind Henry kept him in check. Though he grumbled about the snail’s pace every fifteen minutes or so, we were still cruising twenty or more miles an hour over the posted speed limit.

  I was slowly savoring the last few squares of a silky smooth bar of 75 percent cocoa from Akesson’s — part of the supply of chocolate I’d made sure was packed in my satchel before I entered the nexus what seemed like a lifetime ago. The single-origin bar from Madagascar somehow evoked a fruity tartness — citrus and red berry notes at the same time. Identifying the subtleties at play within its deep cocoa flavor was a great way to force myself to take a time-out.

  In order to keep the new treat all to myself, I’d given Drake one of my favorite bars — Manjari from Valrhona, an exceedingly fresh and fruity 64 percent cocoa with a finish of roasted nuts. Drake had accepted the treat, but he didn’t go all rapturous about it. Apparently, even great chocolate couldn’t fully revive his jovial nature.