by Nicole Hall
Dru tried to ignore their pointed barbs. “How?”
“I can perform a finding spell.”
Her brows shot up as excitement raced through her blood. “That’s possible? Everyone I talked to about it said the spell stretched the magic too thin to be of use.”
“That’s true for most people. Not for me.”
Dru had so many questions. She’d gleaned most of her magical knowledge from Hollis’ questionable teaching, overheard conversations, and one conspiracy theory message board that had a surprising amount of useful information. The guy running it mostly posted about the Fae, but his theories on magic had been spot on until he’d abruptly stopped posting a couple of years ago.
Oren didn’t look surprised by Luc’s announcement, and Samantha had only stopped glaring at him to chew. They seemed to be waiting on her to respond.
Dru clapped in the silence. “Great. Let’s do that. What do you need?”
His eyes flicked to Samantha again. “Assuming you and Oren are willing to be hands-on in your approach, I’ll need a fourth to complete the spell.”
Samantha’s fork clanked to her plate. “No. You know what happens when our magics mix.”
Dru winced. “Is it dangerous?”
She let out a long breath. “No, only uncomfortable.”
Luc spread his hands. “I’m willing to bear it for Dru. Maybe your friendship isn’t as important as you’d let on, hmm?”
Samantha’s hand clenched around her fork, and Dru prepared to throw herself between the two of them if she tried to stab Luc. In any other circumstance, she’d be one hundred percent in Samantha’s corner, but she needed that finding spell. She also needed Samantha to cooperate because finding yet another magic-user in the city would be difficult.
Dru put her hand on Samantha’s arm and frowned at Luc. “Your snide comments aren’t helping, but I appreciate the offer.” She turned to Oren. “What about Seth or Keely? Could one of them be the fourth?”
Oren shook his head at Luc’s shrug. “I don’t want Seth anywhere near this. Tamra is particularly deadly for him, and he’ll follow Keely back if we ask her.”
Samantha grunted, and Dru shifted in surprise. She’d never heard her extremely prim friend make that kind of noise before. Then again, she’d never believed Samantha would stab someone with a fork before. It was a day full of fun new information.
“I’ll do it,” Samantha enunciated each word clearly, but Dru could see the tension in her jaw as she spoke to Luc. “You and I will come to terms at a later date.”
Luc inclined his head with a wicked gleam in his dark eyes. “I look forward to it.”
7
DRU
Dru looked around at her ragtag band of helpers. Not so much ragtag, except herself. She had yet to change out of her sleep shorts. They’d finished breakfast in companionable silence, a true feat with Luc and Samantha at the same table. As soon as she’d stopped basically growling at him, he’d stopped taunting her.
Oren sat back in his chair with his arms crossed nonchalantly. Today, he wore a tight black shirt with his jeans. A very tight black shirt. He’d been listening to Luc talk, but as Dru’s eye lingered on his biceps, he glanced over and grinned. Dru stuck her tongue out at him and tried to tune back in to Luc’s lecture.
He’d been talking about magical refugees for the last ten minutes while Samantha had gone upstairs to change. She’d been uncomfortable doing magic work in yoga pants, apparently. Luc, at least, had seemed to appreciate Samantha’s pants as she’d walked out of the room. The sexual tension between those two was going to explode one day and kill someone.
Luc wore suit pants and a jacket over a button-down shirt with the collar open, the same outfit she’d always seen him in. Pressed and dressed, as Samantha liked to say, usually about herself. Not her type at all, but he presented a nice image with his chin cleft, dark good looks, and fashionable beard stubble.
Oren caught her eye and raised a brow. Busted. She should probably be listening instead of ogling the company.
The clicks of Samantha’s heels preceded her into the kitchen. Dru kept the surprise off her face, but she’d been expecting Samantha’s usual at-home attire, slacks and a blouse. Instead, her roommate had gone full power suit. The dark red pencil skirt did amazing things for her legs, and she’d put her blonde hair up in one of those complicated twists she favored. In less than ten minutes. Dru wanted to applaud the return of kick-ass ice queen Samantha.
If she hadn’t turned around at just that time, she might have missed the clenched fist and heat in Luc’s eyes. From one second to the next, he’d gone back to irreverent superiority. Samantha barely spared him a glance as she resumed her seat at the table.
“Let’s get on with this. I have work to do today.”
Luc nodded. “As the lady wishes. Dru, do you have anything of your sister’s?”
Oren’s hand found hers under the table, and Dru appreciated the support. She shook her head. “No. I’ve never met her.”
He frowned. “That does bode a bit of a problem, but I have a solution. I’ll need some of your blood.”
“My blood?” Dru squeaked. She cleared her throat. “Why?”
“I’m assuming you share common parents, so you share blood. I can use the parts of you that are in her to find her.”
Oren squeezed her hand. “Only a few drops, right?”
“Of course.” Luc lifted a bag from the floor that Dru was almost certain he hadn’t had a minute ago.
The leather satchel cinched closed at the top, and he pulled a smaller pouch from inside without giving Dru a better look. He followed that with a tiny, flat cauldron that resembled the thing she got guacamole in at Mexican restaurants. Samantha threw out a hand to stop him from setting it on the table.
“No fires in here. I like this table.”
He smiled. “Magic works better with a little heat.”
Dru did a double-take as pink crept up Samantha’s cheeks. He’d made her stoic roommate blush. She didn’t move her hand though.
Luc sighed. “No fires that will harm your table. You have my word.”
She searched his face, then moved her hand back to her quadrant. “Will this take long?”
“No, gathering the power will take the most time, but even that should only be minutes.” He set his tools down precisely then faced Dru. “I have a blade in my bag, but if you would prefer a different method of letting blood, I would arrange it now.”
Dru winced. She hated the sight of blood. Luckily, Samantha and Oren both had other ideas. They both started speaking at once, but Samantha waved Oren on to continue.
“We’ll use my blade.”
Luc lifted a brow. “Worried I’ll ensorcell your lady? A fair concern, actually. I applaud your forethought. We need a few drops of blood in the censer. Samantha, love, if you’re so worried about your table, why don’t you find something to protect it from any errant splashes?”
He dismissed them to pull more pouches out of his bag, and Samantha huffed, but left the room. Dru assumed to retrieve the waterproof tablecloth they used occasionally.
She turned wide eyes on Oren. “I don’t like bleeding.”
Oren’s thumb rubbed a gentle path across her wrist. “I’ll make it quick, and you won’t feel any pain.”
“How can you know that?”
“Experience.”
Dru shuddered. Had he practiced on himself? Someone else? She didn’t know much about his clan, but life there sounded violent. While she’d been imagining a bear standing on two legs wielding a kitchen knife, Oren had pulled a sharp-looking dagger out of somewhere.
She took a deep breath and looked away from him and the weapon. “Where do you keep that? I’d think I’d have noticed it the other night.”
He chuckled. “I don’t wear it in the apartment. Magic keeps the sheath concealed everywhere else.”
“Fascinating. Do you have other weapons on you right now?”
“What do you think
?”
“I think you’re wasting this truly Olympic level of distraction I’m attempting here.”
Oren lifted her hand to kiss her palm. “We’re done.”
Dru’s gaze flashed back to him in surprise. “Done?” She hadn’t felt anything, not even him moving her hand over the table.
He smiled and showed her his empty hand. “Done. No blade, no blood.”
She flipped her palm toward her and marveled at the lack of any kind of injury. “Did you heal me?”
His easy smiled faded a little. “No. Healing isn’t one of my skills, at least, not healing others.” His voice lowered, and Dru had to lean forward to hear him. “I believe the mark demonstrated another bonus.”
Samantha chose that moment to return, her eyes narrowed. “What mark?”
Dru lifted her chin. “Something between me and Oren.”
“Something that gives you the ability to heal?” Her sharp eyes landed on Dru’s neck, even though the mark wasn’t visible. She stared for a moment, and Dru felt the airy touch of Samantha’s magic like the brush of a feather. Thank goodness the mark didn’t react to Samantha the way it did to Oren. Samantha sighed, then shook out the tablecloth she carried to spread it over the table. “We’ll talk about this after the finding spell.”
Dru frowned. She didn’t like that tone. Samantha was one of her best friends, but she occasionally edged into ‘mom’ territory despite only being a few years older. Dru didn’t argue, mostly because she had a lot of questions about the nature of Samantha’s magic and why she’d never talked about it. The truth of that last bit stung a little.
Luc interrupted her pity party. “If everyone is ready, we can proceed.”
He held his hand over the guacamole holder and blue flames leapt up to meet him. The acrid smell of sulfur and copper made her wrinkle her nose and try to breathe through her mouth. If that lingered, Samantha was going to be pissed. No one else reacted to the scent.
“We’ll need to be in physical contact to build the magic. Holding hands will work.” Luc clasped Oren’s hand.
Oren already held hers, brushing his thumb over the sensitive skin of her inner wrist again. Tingles shot up her arm and spread through her chest. Her eyes shot to his, and he grinned, completely aware of his effect on her. Sexy as hell, but not the time. Dru extended her hand to Samantha, who took it right away. Luc did the same on Samantha’s other side, but she hesitated.
He wiggled his fingers. “You’re going to have to touch me, sooner or later.”
Samantha stared over his shoulder as she gingerly placed her hand in his.
“Are we going to call on the spirits of old?” Dru’s lame joke made Samantha smile and shift her focus away from Luc, as Dru had intended.
Luc frowned at her. “It’s not a séance. Brace yourself. You’ll probably feel a slight pull.”
Dru sucked in a breath as her magic surged out of her toward the center of the table. Slight pull, her leafy ass. She maintained the connection with her power, but not the control. The disconcerting sensation made her want to yank everything back where it belonged.
Her fingers tightened on Oren’s, and he leaned over to whisper in her ear. “It’s okay. You’re still in control. You can stop the spell at any point.”
Dru closed her eyes, trying to get past the vomit-inducing feeling of helplessness.
“Focus on your sister, please.” Luc’s soft words made Dru get a grip on her spiraling emotions.
She opened her eyes and sat up straight, gathering her scattered focus and aiming it at the sister she’d never known. The room around them darkened like a storm had blown in, and a bright green light appeared over the censer. It hovered in the air, then shot to Luc and disappeared into his forehead. He didn’t respond, only continued to stare at the now smoking censer in the middle of the table.
A faint yellow glow began to light the room, as if someone had turned up the dimmer switch. Only they didn’t have a dimmer switch. And the lights were all off. Dru tried to keep her sister in her mind, but little balls of golden fluff floated across her vision. She blinked, but they kept moving aimlessly in a non-existent breeze.
Sprites.
She’d heard about them, but she’d never been able to see them before. They appeared when different magics mixed. No one else paid them any attention. For the first time, she began to doubt her plan to isolate and take care of Hollis herself. How sheltered was she when it came to magic stuff?
The other three at the table seemed to use their magic with ease, and they definitely knew more than her despite her training. Dru worried that Brianne would pay for her stubborn refusal to ask for help if they didn’t find her in time.
All at once, the darkness faded and her magic snapped back into her. Dru grunted, feeling like she’d been punched in the gut. The sprites, significantly fainter in the bright morning light, began to float away.
Dru pulled her hands back and rubbed her belly. “That was anticlimactic. Are we finished?”
“I’ve done all I can.” Luc held his hand over the flame again, and it extinguished. “I can tell you she’s north of here within a hundred miles.”
Dru slumped in her seat. “A hundred miles?”
“What did you expect? GPS coordinates? Even my skills can only do so much.”
What were his skills, anyway? He’d been able to do more than anyone else she’d found in the last year, and he didn’t seem to be feeling the immense fatigue currently flattening her.
Oren stood and clapped him on the back. “I appreciate the effort. It’s more information than we had this morning, and it narrows down the search parameters considerably.”
Luc sent her a pitying glance that she wanted to wipe off his face. “She’s near a vast forest. It calls to her, but she resists.”
Samantha rolled her eyes. “A vast forest in central New York state, which is made up almost entirely of forests.”
Luc ignored her for once and carefully cleaned then stored his tools. “You’ll probably feel more tired than usual for the rest of the day.”
“Good. That means she won’t run off for this next part.” Samantha paced to the doorway, and Dru winced. She’d been expecting a lecture, but Samantha turned to Oren instead. “What did you do to her?”
Dru stood up, ready to defend him, but Oren stopped her incoming tirade with his calm words. “It’s a mark used by my people to forge a connection. The mark then acts as a barrier to other bonds.”
Samantha nodded crisply. “And how often does this connection manifest the way that yours has?”
Oren stepped up next to Dru and took her hand. “Never, that I’ve seen.”
“That’s what I thought. You marked her without understanding the full repercussions of your actions.”
“I understood I was protecting her—”
“And claiming her. Don’t forget that part. My protections here are very specific, and you’ve made it harder for me to keep her safe.”
“Well if you can’t keep her safe, then I will. She should come stay with me. The apartment is warded.”
Samantha glared at him. “I didn’t say I couldn’t keep her safe. I said you’d made it harder. Shouldn’t you be off doing your bounty hunter job? Any of them?”
Oren crossed his arms and returned her glare. “Shouldn’t you—”
Dru stepped between them and raised her voice to be heard over their squabbling. “Enough. I’m not a child to be fought over. Samantha, I knew what I was getting into with Oren. Mostly. And Oren, she’s right. We should be following my sister’s trail instead of tucking me away somewhere that I can’t help just because I almost got run over twice.”
“Twice?” Samantha’s brows lifted into her hair.
Dru grimaced. She’d planned to keep the second near-accident a secret. “It wasn’t a big deal. Some idiot wasn’t watching before he pulled out of an alley.”
Oren shook his head. “It was more than that. Someone was using magic in that car right before it nearly
hit you.”
Samantha pulled her out of the middle with a gentle touch on her arm. “I don’t want to see you hurt, in any capacity.” She gestured at Dru’s neck. “This is a whole lot more than a way to prevent bonds, and Oren’s purposeful ignorance on the matter worries me when someone is clearly trying to injure you.”
Oren frowned. “It’s not purposeful ignorance. My people use these marks all the time, but you know as well as I do that magic can be chaotic and choose a different direction than the one clearly set out for it.”
Samantha scoffed. “Only to poorly trained users.”
Luc interjected for the first time since Samantha had projected her ire at someone else. “You’re wrong, actually. Even adepts can’t always predict the will of the power.”
She turned on him. “Magic doesn’t have a will.”
“So says you. Many believe differently.” He cinched his bag, and draped it over his shoulder.
Dru tugged on Oren’s hand and jerked her head at the door. They could escape while Samantha and Luc yelled at each other. He smiled and let her lead him out of the kitchen. Unfortunately, Samantha wasn’t as distracted as Dru had hoped.
“Dru, I’m worried about you, and what happens when Nick arrives to find you gone?”
Dru sighed. Bringing up Nick was cheating. She usually followed Samantha’s lead, but in this case, Samantha’s argument had the opposite effect. Nick would be more likely to show up if Dru wasn’t here, and staying with Oren would keep any danger away from the house.
“Samantha, I love you, but this is my choice, and you have to let me make it. I’m going to stay with Oren for a while. Nick is a paying tenant. He’ll be fine without me. If he returns at all. I trust Oren, and I trust myself. I need you to trust me.”
For once, she’d chosen the right words. Samantha nodded. “Don’t forget to take a bag of clothes along with your work, and stay vigilant. Don’t let your search for your sister—or any other distractions—compromise your safety.”