Magic Unbound: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (Touched By Magic: Dragon Book 1)

by Ashley Meira

  “You need—”

  “I miss my magic,” I whispered, the words so low I could barely hear them. But Diana heard, and her eyes softened into pity for the slightest of seconds.

  “You—” She stammered over her words a few times before clearing her throat. A slight flush covered her cheeks as she dodged my gaze. “All the more reason for you to be careful. You have no way of defending yourself against the master should he choose to come after you.”

  “My sword.” The words came out automatically. Living in magical society meant hearing that a lot: no magic equaled no power. I’d spent the last few years trying to prove everyone who said that wrong.

  “Your sword won’t help you against him.”

  “Wouldn’t hurt,” I protested sullenly.

  Diana sighed. “I don’t have much time. The master doesn’t know I’m here, and if he did—” Her eyes darkened, shoulders tensing as she stared into the distance. “It doesn’t matter. I came to warn you: go into hiding. Santa Fae is safe for now, but the master’s plans are coming to fruition. Soon, everything will be upheaved. As soon as you get out, find a safe place — one impossible for others to find — and go there.”

  A heat I’d long forgotten existed spread through my veins. “I’m not going to hide from him.”

  “Isn’t that what you’ve been doing since your escape?” She hissed the last word out. I couldn’t tell if she was resentful that I’d gotten free — or that I’d left without her.

  “It is. And I’m tired of it. If you really want to help me, tell me what his exact plans are. His itinerary, his weaknesses, the strength of his forces…. Help me find a way to defeat him so this can end — so the world can be safe, and you can be free.”

  “There is no way to stop him,” she spat. “That’s the point. He’s been planning this for centuries. You can’t stop the storm, but you can hide from it. Find somewhere safe before it’s too late.”

  The chair let out a screech as Diana rose, and she winced, clearly unused to making that much noise. If what she told me was true and she had come here behind Nicholas’ back, I couldn’t blame her for being so high-strung. But should I believe her? She was my sister, yes, but she’d also spent at least a decade under Nicholas’ tutelage. Was her loyalty truly to me, or was this all an elaborate scheme cooked up by her master?

  Then again, what did Nicholas gain from me hiding? Sure, it’d get me out of the way, but was he actually worried about my interference? The prideful part of me said he should be; I’d helped destroy Gadot and Trixie, two of his would-be generals. But how many other allies did he have? What threat did I truly pose to a man as powerful as him?

  If Diana had given me a clue, something that I could use to destroy him, then his interference would make sense. It could have been a trap: give me a false weakness to lure me in, then take me out. But no. She’d simply said to hide.

  I considered it. I’d be insane not to. A chance to get away from all of this? A place where my friends and I could be safe from all this chaos. It sounded like a dream. It had to be. But Bane had accomplished that, hadn’t he? He spent who knows how many years hiding amongst the dragons in their sanctuary, unbothered by the outside world.

  At least, he had before Gadot came stomping in. Gadot, who had been guided by Nicholas. Everything he touched spread corruption and misery. The carefully constructed life Bane build had been toppled by the monster who’d taken me as a child — and I’d helped him do it. I asked Bane to help us. I could have accepted his initial refusal and moved on with my life, but I pressed on, and he’d caved. In a way, all of this was my fault.

  “Let’s go.”

  I jumped at the deep voice behind me. “What?”

  The guard hoisted me up and led me down the hall I’d come in from. “Your visit’s over, so let’s go.”

  I nodded numbly, watching the scuffed cement floor glide past me as I stumbled toward our destination. My cell, most likely.

  It hit me that this would be the last time I had a true sense of security. Prison wasn’t good, but at least I knew what was going to happen each day. What was going to happen when I got out? I didn’t need Diana to tell me Santa Fae wouldn’t be safe for long. Gadot had made it clear how close Nicholas was to taking things to the next level. Soon, nowhere would be safe.

  Then what? I’d spent eight years of my life on the run, never knowing which day would be my last. And after eight years, I’d finally found a home, somewhere I felt safe. Now, I was going to have to give that all up for the harried existence I never wanted to experience again.

  The entire world was about to change.

  Where would I end up?

  Chapter Three

  The guard took us to the third floor instead of the bottom, where Z Block was. I figured if he’d been hired to murder me, he could have done it any time he wanted, so that probably wasn’t the motivation behind his actions.

  He led me down yet another corridor toward a pair of double doors. There was a familiar commotion on the other side, the kind I heard at Ollie’s cafe during lunch hour but louder. I guess convicted felons were rowdier than twenty-somethings looking for a latte and chicken salad. Go figure.

  Still, I’d spent all month having food shoved at me through a slot in a thick iron door. It had put me off at first, but the dim lighting in my cell made it harder to see what I was eating, which was a huge bonus with the food they served here.

  I stopped moving and turned to face the guard. “Why am I here?”

  “The Inquisitors are satisfied that you aren’t Fireborn. Therefore, you are no longer required to be kept in solitary confinement.” He pushed the doors open with his free hand. “It’s lunch time.”

  I frowned at the eyes that turned toward us. Most of the prisoners were focused on their food, but once whispers of a newcomer reached their ears, they began turning toward the spectacle. I counted at least fifty sets of eyes fixed on me before the guards watching the room hollered something that made everyone return to their food. Their words were lost as I surveyed the room.

  I may not have had my Fireborn powers anymore, but I still had years of mercenary experience under my belt. Not that I needed much experience to know the prisoners with inhibitor bangles were mages.

  The trolls stood out the most. Their hulking forms stretched to the ceiling, the tips of their ears brushing against the chipped cement above. The fluorescent lighting made their bluish skin look sickly, but it seemed to have that effect on everyone. Seriously, zombies had more color than the prisoners here. Maybe that’s why they were all staring at me. At least these guys got time in the yard; I’d spent all month in a basement, meaning I probably looked worse than any of them.

  I took my spot in line behind a round woman with spiky purple hair. No inhibitor bangle meant she wasn’t a mage, but her face was turned away, so I couldn’t tell her species. Either it was the lack of lighting in my cell that made everything look like piles of gray mush, or they just served better food up here, because the steaming piles of sustenance I was approaching looked like heaven.

  I still couldn’t tell exactly what it was, though. The pale yellow stuff kind of looked like mashed potatoes. Maybe it all looked good because I was hungry. I hadn’t had much of an appetite during my imprisonment, but the idea of being released — even if it was into an impending war zone — had spruced me up.

  “Oi! Move it,” a nasally voice called. The pimply-faced mage behind me sneered when I turned to him before nudging me with his tray. “Some of us want to eat before we’re eighty.”

  It took more strength than I thought possible to bite back a snarky reply, but I managed to hold my tongue long enough to move forward. The woman in front of me grunted as a giant spoonful of possibly potatoes and something that resembled meat was plopped onto her plate before sidling forward to what appeared to be a stack of milk boxes. The lunch lady stared off into the distance as she slammed the same mix of food onto my tray. The impact splashed some of it onto me, but I wasn
’t about to start trouble with the people who handled my food.

  While I’d never been to high school, I’d seen enough drama filled TV shows to know the truly hellish part was coming up. Once I grabbed a box of hopefully not curdled milk, I turned to take in the field.

  If there was a specific order to the way people sat, I couldn’t see it. One group of cranky, malnourished law-breakers looked like the other — and none looked particularly open to letting me sit with them. I considered sitting on the floor in one of the corners, but I wanted the guards’ attention even less than I wanted any of these guys’.

  I watched the insult-challenged mage behind me stalk toward a table in the far left corner and firmly crossed it off my list before continuing to survey the room.

  The woman who’d been in front of me — an orc, if the large under-teeth protruding from her lower jaw out of her mouth was any indication — had settled in with three others of her own kind. If they were anything like Rosie, my co-worker from the Guild — I’d need to arm wrestle at least two of them before they’d let me sit, and I didn’t have the energy for that today. Or ever. The last time I tried to arm wrestle Rosie, she’d nearly broken my hand with her grip.

  I continued looking around for somewhere to sit, preferably before my mystery meal turned cold. The trolls were off the list. It didn’t matter how much weight I’d lost, there was barely enough space on the benches for two of them, let alone me.

  Like an oasis in the desert, I finally caught glimpse of an empty seat on the opposite side of the room. I approached it with caution, preparing myself for disappointment. With my luck, the table would be full of ornery werewolves or bloodthirsty fae. At least the guards wouldn’t let them eat me. I hoped.

  To my surprise, and intense paranoia, there was a single person sitting at the table. A small waif with tanned skin and thin limbs that seemed to big for their body despite the person’s petite size. Their back was to me, so all I could see was a large mess of black curls that sprung wildly in every direction. Its size and the way it cut off just past their shoulders made me think of a lion’s mane. I suppose it was possible they were a mage that could shift into a lion, but there were no more observations I could make from my position.

  I stood there, debating what to do. Did I simply sit down across from them, or should I ask for permission first? As if they could hear my thinking, the person turned around. Their eyes were a deep blue made all the more vibrant by the dark color of their skin. They bore into mine with a blend of curiosity and fear. Whoever this person was, they looked like a child, far too young to be locked up here.

  “Did you want to sit here?” they finally asked. Even their voice sounded young — clear, like wind chimes. There was no cadence toward either gender, however, and their androgynous features didn’t provide me with any clues. “Hello?”

  Crap. I’d been staring. I ducked my head in an embarrassed nod and scurried to the seat across from them. The rough cement scraped against my threadbare prison garb, but I was so happy to have found a seat — one with my back to the wall no less — that I didn’t care.

  “Thanks,” I said when I’d settled down.

  They nodded before continuing to poke at their food. I took my spoon and began doing the same thing. In the darkness of my cell, survival had been the only thing on my mind. The lack of light helped to disguise the food I was eating, and my mindset had given me the gumption to shovel everything into my mouth. Now, in the sober light of day, I found myself hesitating to eat what was before me. But hunger soon won out, and I dipped my spoon into the soft mass before me.

  Well, I’d been right about the mashed potatoes. Or so I thought. They definitely had a potato-like taste, but there was an odd flavor I couldn’t identify. Wrinkling my nose, I decided to go back to my baser instincts and shove everything into my mouth like I had this past month. Whatever this food was, it would keep me alive until I was free.

  The odd meat item turned out to be…. Chicken? Pork? Both? Perhaps neither. I honestly had no idea, and I got the feeling I wouldn’t like any answer given to me if I asked. It was chewy, a fine compliment to the lumpy mashed potatoes. At least having to chew everything distracted me from actually tasting it.

  It wasn’t until my jaw began to ache and I decided to give it a break by drinking some, thankfully, not-curdled milk that I realized my table mate was staring at me. Their face was still aimed toward the amorphous mass of sustenance we’d been given to eat, but their eyes were rolled up toward me.

  “Tastes worse than what I was eating before,” I said to fill the silence.

  It was true, too. This food may have looked better — slightly — but it tasted worst. Of course, that was because the food they’d given me before had no taste at all. Guess Fireborns weren’t allowed flavor. Maybe they thought we could absorb the power of seasonings and use it to escape. I guess shooting pepper at guards’ eyes would certainly make for an interesting escape plan.

  A ghost of smile appeared on their lips before they turned back to their food. After a long silence where I debated just abandoning the other half of my meal, they said, “Rivi.”

  I raised a brow. Rivi. So, a boy? Maybe. I had to reply. Did I give a fake name, or was I just being paranoid?. What difference did it make if Rivi knew my name? I was leaving soon, anyway. “Sophia.”

  Rivi nodded, their eyes rolling back up to look at me before dropping once more. I wanted to ask what they were doing here alone, or what someone as young as them was doing here, but I held my tongue. For one, it was none of my damn business. Two, I wouldn’t want to talk about why I was arrested. And third, for all I knew, Rivi could be a six hundred year old fairy. Unlikely, but not impossible considering the world we lived in. I guess it would explain why they weren’t eating their food. They could be waiting for me to fatten myself up to eat me.

  Not all fairies eat people, I reminded myself. My sister didn’t. Then again, I’d seen her devour a pizza before, and it had been absolutely vicious. I shuddered and pushed my tray away. Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry anymore.

  “You get used to it,” Rivi said quietly, finally taking their first bite of food. Their face was impassive as ever as they swallowed, but I caught the corners of their lips turn down for a second. “Eventually.”

  “I won’t have to, hopefully,” I said, toying with the edge of my milk box. “Should be getting out soon.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Yeah?”

  Rivi nodded. “Eventually.”

  And I thought I was bad at speaking to people. Maybe I was, and that’s the reason why this conversion was suffering a slow, painful death.

  A new crowd of prisoners filtered through the double doors, their uniforms a blinding sea of ugly orange. I looked down at my own jumpsuit, wondering why I’d never noticed how awful the color was. Guess being kept in a dark, dingy cell had its perks. If I never saw orange again, I’d be a happy woman.

  With my back to the wall, I had an almost full view of the cafeteria. Pulling my tray back, I shoveled the bland food into my mouth as I watched the other prisoners mill about. Another group of orcs, male this time, left the line with their trays and made a beeline to one of the more isolated tables. Four of the five humans there scurried away when they approached. The orcs grabbed the fifth by his collar and flung him aside. He slid across the ground until his friends helped him up. The guards placed a hand on their nightsticks and stood at attention, but once it became clear the situation wasn’t escalating, they leaned back against the wall.

  Rivi spared the orcs a displeased glance before returning to their plate. The fact that Rivi’s features remained turned down long after looking away told me all I needed to know: stay away.

  Not that I’d have many opportunities — apart from meal times, male and female prisoners were kept separate from each other. I paused mid-bite, wondering if that meant the Fireborns locked up in my hallway were all women or if we were held together. Did it matter when our cells were solid concrete instead
of rows of bars?

  I swallowed my mouthful of mystery meat and potatoes before dipping back in for another bite. My fork clanked against the plate, and I looked down to find it empty. Huh. Guess I was hungrier than I thought. Rivi’s plate was barely touched, but they placed their fork down nonetheless.

  “Not hungry?” I asked.

  “I don’t need to eat,” Rivi said, rolling their eyes up to meet mine. “Much.”

  “Much food or something else?”

  Rivi smiled softly. “Ready to leave? After lunch, we have free time.”

  I nodded, and we moved to put away our trays. My neck prickled as we walked. There were eyes on me. The initial crowd I’d walked into had thinned, but there was still a fair amount of people. There was no way to look around without giving myself away. I tried to shrug it off, but my voyeur was really interested. Rubbing my neck could tip them off, so I tightened my grip on the tray instead.

  I may not have been looking around, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t distracted. A solid impact slammed my tray into my ribs and caused me to stumble back. The questionable meal sloshed around in my stomach as I looked up to apologize to whoever I bumped into. A large pair of under-teeth peeked out from a deep scowl as the female orc I’d hit glared down at me. Her pitch black eyes bore into mine, and her friends — including the orc I’d been in line with — circled around us. I kept my eyes on the female in front of me but made sure her friends were in my periphery.

  “Sorry,” I said, making sure food hadn’t gotten on her uniform. A bump was one thing, but wearing prison slop would put anyone in an unforgiving mood.

  The orc snarled, baring more of her dangerous-looking teeth. “Watch where you’re going human.”

  She took a step forward, forcing me back as her friends followed suit. I held her gaze. While I would’ve preferred to keep a low profile and get through the remainder of my time here without trouble, I wouldn’t hesitate to defend myself if the situation called.