Rebellious Magic: A Snarky Paranormal Romance (Modern Magic Book 5)

by Nicole Hall

  Oren’s chest tightened. She’d calmed down, but the direction of her thoughts doused him in icy fear. “But you didn’t.”

  She smiled sadly. “But I didn’t. Instead, I let you convince me to hide and let you convince me to care. I can feel your disapproval of the way I treated that goblin, just like I can feel your dread right now. You think I’m channeling Hollis? If only. If only I had a fraction of her power, I could save myself. And you.”

  She held up a hand when he took a step toward her. Oren forced himself to keep his hands loose at his sides. At least she wasn’t afraid of him. The bond gave him that much. But she’d pulled back inside herself, unwilling to let him see anything but the outermost parts of her.

  “I need some time alone. Don’t follow me.”

  Oren watched her walk out of the garden and turn toward the apartment. His instincts said to follow her, regardless of her wishes, to keep her safe even if she no longer needed a shield, but being her mate didn’t give him control over her. Like Keris had said, the mate bond only indicated magical compatibility. Their relationship wasn’t built on that bond, and he couldn’t rely on it now to force her to his side.

  She’d asked for time, and he’d give it to her. Even if it felt like a part of him had been ripped away. No one had warned him that finding his mate would result in so much pain. Oren rubbed his chest and considered his options.

  He’d spent the last few days following up leads, and today, he’d asked the right question. Oren had a fairly good idea where Bri had ended up. He’d come back to pick up Dru, but found her note instead.

  His heart had nearly jumped out of his chest when her fear had slammed into him halfway to the community garden. He’d arrived just in time to see the goblin throw his knife at Dru’s bag. The incongruity made him pause, but he hadn’t been about to let her take another hit, advanced healing or not. Her panic had almost swallowed him, but he’d controlled it enough to shift on command.

  The real surprise had been Dru’s reaction to learning about being manipulated again. She’d believed in the danger up until Hank had admitted otherwise. The attempts on her life had been an acceptable consequence of being the daughter of a psychotic dryad queen, but Dru had maintained the ability to react to the attempts in her own way. The manipulation of her fear, the push to make her behave in a certain manner, had called forth a surge of angry, rebellious magic.

  His mate had always struck him as a deep well that only let people see a reflection on the surface. Her use of magic against the goblin thrilled him. He’d advocated a softer approach during their conversation, but her raw power and willingness to use deadly force called to something primal inside him. This was a mate who could fight by his side if necessary.

  Her dismissal of the damage she’d caused to the vegetation, though, worried him. Her innate attachment to plants was a core tenet of her identity, and she’d tossed that aside for her more bloodthirsty impulses.

  The attempts on Dru’s life had been real enough. Had she fallen into the street or eaten the Chinese food, she might have ended up dead. The instigator may have intended to scare her, but the scenarios were risky unless another unknown factor came into play. A factor like Oren. What would ‘average guy’ have done if Oren hadn’t saved Dru each time?

  A bird chirped somewhere near him, rousing him from his thoughts. A quick glance around the garden revealed that Dru had left her bag behind. Hank had left his weapon as well, embedded in the wooden shelf.

  Oren dislodged the knife and examined it. Dru’s blood coated the edge, and he had a momentary urge to rip something apart when he remembered arriving at the garden to see her gash. That goblin didn’t realize how lucky he’d been. Dru had healed even before she’d run from the ‘horde’, and Oren had been able to stay hidden. Not that he’d been surprised that Dru had found trouble.

  Hank had wielded a fixed-blade hunting knife with a wooden hilt sized for small hands, a solid choice considering the long fingers most goblins sported. He must be skilled to be able to throw such an off-balance weapon with the accuracy he’d displayed.

  Oren carefully placed the knife inside Dru’s bag, along with the goblin’s business card. He’d learned to use any advantage he could find. As much as he wanted to follow Dru to the apartment and prove to her that she wasn’t a convenient damsel in distress, her worry about Hollis finding Bri first had taken root inside him. He could get to Bri and bring her back to Dru in a few hours.

  Shouldering the pack, he left the garden, but turned away from the apartment. The bond insisted that he reverse course immediately and join his mate. Her distressed emotions pulled at him, but his presence would only make things worse.

  Each step farther away became heavier, and he had to argue with himself that he wasn’t abandoning her. It wasn’t like Aiden or Seth. He wasn’t turning his back on her while she fought off dangerous foes.

  As he walked, he cursed the bond and the goblin and the inability to park close to his destination in a major metropolitan center. He’d retrieve Bri, and together, he and Dru would come up with a plan to stop Hollis as well as circumvent Dru’s deadly position between the dryads and Ljos.

  Dru’s birthday wasn’t for a few more weeks. All they had to do was stay away from Vethr until they were ready.

  14

  DRU

  Turned out her magic wasn’t so useless after all. Dru power-walked all the way back to the apartment. New Yorkers didn’t run unless being chased by zombies, and even then, sometimes the right move was to turn and fight. She wanted to fight. Part of her wanted Oren to chase her down and prove her wrong. The other part chafed at the idea that she’d been herded into her current situation like an errant sheep.

  Jeff nodded at her as she stomped through the lobby, but Dru couldn’t muster up a polite response. Chalk up one more tally mark in the bitch column of her day. Right next to the one where she’d nearly killed a couple of innocent plants. The elevator dinged, and Dru frowned at her reflection in the shiny, metal doors.

  Hank the goblin had deserved being squeezed to within an inch of his life, but that pumpkin vine probably wouldn’t recover. It definitely wouldn’t produce any viable blooms. She’d never used her magic that way before, with brute force and an iron will. Her style involved gentle encouragement and positive reinforcement. Oren had been right when he’d compared her actions to Hollis.

  She sighed and rubbed her face as the elevator eased to a stop. Her anger had spread like wildfire, and she hadn’t even tried to control it. Worse, she’d accused Oren of manipulating the situation as much as Hollis. She’d felt his pain when the words had landed, but being upset by what she’d said didn’t necessarily mean her accusation wasn’t true.

  Hollis had set Dru up so she’d go running for a protector, and that’s exactly what she’d done. Had Oren known? Is that why he’d been lax about being around when the whole point of her staying in Seth’s apartment had been to have someone watching over her?

  The question haunted her as she locked herself in the apartment. How much had Oren figured out and how much had he used the situation to get what he wanted? Everything she knew about the bond that connected them came from Oren. Hollis twisted the truth all the time, but Dru had never sensed that level of deception from the man who’d bound her, albeit accidentally.

  Dru chewed on her lower lip, already regretting her last words telling Oren to stay away. Worrying about his motivations wouldn’t get her anywhere. They needed to have a discussion. Face to face. One where she opened herself to the bond, and used it to determine if he’d been playing her.

  The back of her neck tightened and a pinching feeling spread to her temples. A summons from Hollis. Dru winced and rushed to the bathroom, closing herself in. Moments later, Hollis appeared, dressed formally as the dryad queen in a deep green gown and an ornate golden crown.

  Her frown marred her perfect make-up, but didn’t detract from her beauty. “Daughter.”

  Dru leaned against the counter and cons
idered resting her aching forehead against the cool glass of the mirror. “What do you want now?”

  Hollis gasped. “That is no way to speak to your mother and your queen.”

  Dru chuckled wearily. “You’re right. My apologies.”

  The sarcasm sailed right past Hollis. “You’re forgiven. I contacted you because I wanted to offer my congratulations.”

  “For what?” A chill of foreboding skittered down Dru’s back, and she stood up straighter.

  “For finally accepting a bond, of course. Naturally, I would have preferred the dryad royal I chose for you instead of that dirty shifter who’s been sharing your bed, but he has proven to be a useful tool. I may even allow you to keep him upon your return.”

  Anger burned in her gut, and her hands curled into fists. “Oren is infinitely better than any dryad royal you picked out, and our bond has nothing to do with you.”

  “Ah, except the man closest to you is loyal to me instead. It’s an unorthodox way to breed, I’ll admit, but a half-dryad will still have the necessary royal blood and deep connection to Ljos that I require. He acquiesced to my demands quite nicely.”

  “What are you lying about now?” Dru’s insides froze as she remembered the night with Oren against the window. Panic reared, and her hand covered her flat belly.

  Hollis smiled, her eyes drifting down to Dru’s hand, then back up. “I don’t lie to you, daughter. I’ve waited for you to accept your role, given you the freedom to choose your life until you’re called upon, with the fervent hope that you would realize the truth.”

  “And what truth is that?” she whispered.

  “The truth that destiny is unavoidable no matter how hard you fight. You’ve been bound, and you’ll produce an heir. Think back on your time with him. Do you really believe he’s capable of protecting you, willing to sacrifice for you? Or does he perhaps have other reasons for his actions.”

  Rage and doubt bubbled inside Dru as Hollis’ words echoed her earlier thoughts. “He’d never work for you.”

  Pity tinged Hollis’ smile. “Believe what you wish, it’s no concern of mine. Despite what you think, you are the vessel, and you’ll be home soon enough.”

  The subtle feel of the mark on her neck tightened like a leash, and she let the fury take over, slamming her fist into the mirror. The glass shattered and rained down on her in a shower of tinkling destruction. For a moment her arm ached from the force of the blow and a thousand tiny cuts, but her newly acquired super-healing rapidly eased the outward pain.

  Bright light exploded behind her closed eyelids, and Dru sank to the floor. Hollis didn’t appreciate her outburst and choked off some of her magic, making her light-headed. In her head, she heard Hollis’ voice, something she’d only done once before without a mirror, just before Dru’s eighteenth birthday.

  You belong to me.

  Dru squeezed her temples between her palms, trying to ease the pounding pressure. Hollis’ presence faded with her parting words. After a few ragged breaths, Dru relaxed her stiff posture. The pain in her head receded slower than the cuts, but it slowly went away too.

  Dru rose from her hunched over position on the floor and thought she might throw up. Her stomach churned with fear and disgust, and a wrenching pain in her chest brought on a flood of tears.

  Could Oren be loyal to Hollis? She could barely think it, let alone believe it, but Hollis had known. She’d known about Dru’s relationship with Oren, and about the bond, and about the decision to use Oren’s magical protection rather than a condom. The urge to throw up intensified when she considered that she hadn’t questioned him about his magical protection, or about the mate bond.

  Dru touched her stomach again and tried to will the nausea away. She’d trusted Oren. Could he have used that trust to fulfill Hollis’ commands? The possibility crushed her since she couldn’t discount it with one hundred percent certainty. Dru swiped away the tears streaming down her face in hot little rivers. She’d broken her own rules. No lasting connections, nothing that let someone else run the show, no potential for betrayal. Oren had that potential.

  Except…that truth didn’t sit right. The initial rush of emotions began to diminish, and logic seeped in. She stood, careful of the glass scattered across the floor. Her heart ached, but had Oren betrayed her? Words were easy. He said all the right things, but had he truly acted against her in favor of Hollis?

  Her instincts said no. Her heart screamed hell, no. She knew Oren. When she looked back on their time together, she saw an honorable man trying to do his best to fulfill his promises. But Hollis hadn’t lied. Dru could sense when she did, and in this case, Hollis had spoken the truth.

  If Oren worked for Hollis, he’d hidden the connection where she couldn’t find it. The bond connected the deepest parts of them, and at her core, she refused to believe he could fool her so thoroughly. When she’d lobbed the indictment at him earlier that he’d manipulated her, she’d been vocalizing her fear instead of his intentions. Even at the time, she’d known that deep down.

  She shook off the bits of glass and left the mess on the floor. Keely would be pissed, but a mirror was easy to replace when they were loaded. The daylight in the living room surprised her. After the revelations in the bathroom, she expected darkness to have taken over to match her mood. A bit of fantasy, but Dru squinted at the bright light either way.

  The mate bond didn’t lie. Hollis hadn’t lied. Was Dru lying to herself?

  Believing Hollis meant she could jettison Oren from her life before facing Ljos. The thought squeezed her chest, but he’d be safe. In the end, he’d be safe. She shook her head, realizing that she’d focused on the wrong part of the conversation. It didn’t matter how Hollis manipulated the truth, Dru would take any excuse to protect Oren from their bond.

  When had he become so important that she’d rather believe he’d betrayed her than risk him suffering? Dru closed her eyes and dropped her head as she landed on the answer. When she’d fallen in love with him.

  Deep breath, now. Deep. Breath. She loved Oren, and it terrified her. It also filled her with strength and courage. Dru lifted her head, her eyes wide open. Screw her rules and her fears. Screw Hollis. Her mother had spoken some version of the truth, that much had been clear in their connection. Too much was obscured for her to make sense of which part, but she knew someone who might clear it up for her.

  Nick answered on the third ring, irritation clear in his terse hello.

  “I need your help.”

  He paused, and she could practically see him putting aside whatever had made him cranky. “What do you need?”

  “Some more detailed answers about Hollis and her lackeys. I need to know what I’m up against before I travel to Vethr.”

  “Why would you go there?”

  “Hollis made a good point when she was harassing me today. I can’t run away from my destiny.”

  “That’s a load of bullshit. Going in without a solid plan will get you killed.”

  “That’s why I need your information.”

  Thick tension filled the silence. “Where’s Oren?”

  A quick shot of pain made Dru suck in a breath. “Not here. I told him I needed some alone time in the apartment.”

  Nick grunted. “Stay there. I’ll come to you.”

  OREN

  Driving away from Dru proved one of the hardest things he’d ever done. To accomplish it, he had to create a shield between them. Her anger and hurt tore at him until he couldn’t focus on anything except running after her to make things right. With the shield, her emotions remained mostly hidden behind a veil.

  He hated it. His bond with Dru made him feel whole, like he’d existed as half a person before her, and blocking it removed part of himself. To make matters worse, the nagging worry that he’d made the wrong decision in leaving wouldn’t be silenced.

  His whole life he’d adopted the attitude that it was better to wait and see than react recklessly. He’d thought Dru believed the opposite when he’d
first met her, but then she’d let him past her walls. She thought deeply before she acted when it mattered to her. Her need for solitude now was part of that process, and he respected that.

  Turning onto Bri’s street in another rundown small town, Oren admitted what had really been bothering him since he’d left. Confronted with the conspiracy against her, she’d accepted the possibility that he’d taken advantage of the situation.

  She hadn’t trusted him, not truly.

  Oren pulled to a stop in front of a square building that appeared to be split into four apartments. He shut the car off, but didn’t get out. His shoulders tightened until he felt the pull all down his back. Teeth gritted, he released his grip on the steering wheel, then slammed a hand into it, once, twice.

  Dru was his mate, but even if she wasn’t, he’d do anything to protect her. Couldn’t she see that? Couldn’t she sense it from the bond? He’d rather chew off his own leg than manipulate her into a relationship with him. As it was, he’d essentially abandoned his assignment shortly after meeting her. She’d asked, and he’d capitulated.

  He closed his eyes and dropped his head to his chest, letting the pain come. Was this what Aiden had felt? Seth? This agony and longing all jumbled together. Dru’s scent lingered in the car from their last trip, and Oren couldn’t escape it. Didn’t want to.

  The mate bond didn’t come with pre-determined emotions, and he’d hoped for a short time that maybe she felt the same as him. That she loved him.

  Instead, she’d walked away. What would it take to be the one she fought for?

  Oren let despair have a moment, then he raised his head and blinked in the bright sunlight streaming into the car. He couldn’t force her to choose him—he’d never want that anyway—but he could make a choice for himself.