Shanton nodded and disappeared into the darkness. For such a big man, he was really good at moving quietly.
The quiet was deafening as we waited, and I glanced at Atasha, my nighttime vision just enough to make out the lines of her face.
I put up a small sound barrier and turned to her. “You don’t like it here,” I whispered.
She didn’t reply right away, but her head turned so she could look at me. “This is what I know. It is not as bad as you probably think.”
“You can come with me?”
“Oh, amaorah, I’d love to go with you, to have all the time in the world to care for you. And we will. I promise we will. When things settle, they will never be able to keep me from you. But there are things I still strive to do here. We have forever, Laila.”
“Forever?”
“Has no one said anything?” she asked. She shook her head. “Of course not. Laila, we are immortal. Outside of unnatural causes, we live forever. I have all the time in the world to get to know you, and you have all the time in the world to get to know me and who you are.”
My heart stuttered as the full implication of what that meant settled on my shoulders.
Forever was good and dandy, but not everyone had that same opportunity. Sure, beings like Shanton and Dwight lived for an insanely long time. Vampires could live forever. But shifters? Humans? Witches and mages? They had an expiration date. I always thought I’d have one too.
Atasha pulled me into her side. Her warmth and her soft scent tried to comfort me, but all I felt was cold. “This scares you.” She paused for a moment. “Oh, I see. This means you will love forever.”
I scowled.
“Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like loving forever is a bad thing.” She tilted her head to the side and after a moment, understanding filled her eyes. “Because you gave pieces of your heart away.” Atasha’s voice softened as her eyes looked right through me and into the heart of the matter. I did. To seven people.
I licked my lips. “And set myself up for heartbreak when I outlive them.”
She pursed her lips while her eyes grew distant, lost in her thoughts. Finally, she blinked and gave me a tight smile. “There’s a human involved. I thought maybe it was just the dragon. That would not have been so bad since they live for a long time, not as long as you, but for a long time. But there is a human too.”
I nodded. Or two humans. Even a couple of shifters, but she didn’t need to know how complicated my love life was.
“We do not use it because there isn’t a point when we do not marry outside our race, but there is a ceremony to bind you to your loved ones. They will not die as long as you stay alive.”
“And if he doesn’t get himself killed,” I muttered bitterly. Elliot was really good at jumping into the middle of things he had no business jumping into.
She smiled. “That too. If you really wish it, once everything is settled and you’re ready, I can come help perform the ceremony. It’d be an honor to do the ceremony for you, and you’ll need the help.”
My mouth popped open. I hadn’t expected that. “You’d do that for me?” Suspicion bubbled up, and she laughed, though it came out more sad than amused.
“We aren’t all bad.” Her expression darkened briefly. “Some of us push back against tradition. It’s the whole reason you’re alive. Your mother enjoyed breaking boundaries rather than just pushing them. You’re my niece, and I hate that I didn’t get to be there for you growing up. Let me at least do this for you. If you don’t want me in your life, I’ll have to deal with that and respect your wishes. But, at least, let me make sure your future is a happy one with the man or men that you love.”
I nodded. “Okay. When I’m ready, though.”
Her smile widened into a genuine one. “Of course. Only when you’re ready.”
Soft rustling drew our attention as Shanton came back. I released the sound barrier around us just as he came into view. “He’ll be out for a few hours.”
“Good, come on. Let’s get you out of here.” Atasha took off with us trailing after her until we reached the ward. She lifted her arm and the ring on her hand glowed a silvery white in the darkness before blinking out.
“Hurry.” She waved us through and as soon as Shanton was on the other side with us, Siitha came running out and through the ward, joining us.
“Where have you been?” I asked the big guy, giving him a good petting. “I was afraid you weren’t going to show up.”
When I looked up, the ward was down, and Atasha was smiling, the moon’s light making it easier to see past all the shadows of darkness.
“When things settle, I do hope you will think about coming to visit again.” She shook her head before I could respond. “But I understand you may not want to. That is okay. I also hope that you will welcome me to your home.”
“That I can do,” I said.
“Remember what I said, about awakening your powers, and also about loving forever. I am here for you. Anytime. Goodbye, amaorah.”
Before she could disappear, desperation clawed at me. I didn’t want her disappearing from my life yet. So I quickly asked, “What does that mean? Ama-oo-rah?”
She hesitated and then smiled big. “Ahm-ah-or-ah,” she replied slowly. “How about this? When we meet again, I will tell you. Hold onto that hope a little bit longer, Laila. I really am here for you. For life.”
With that, she left me standing with no idea what to do with what she’d told me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
We were surrounded by creatures that were small, barely reaching my knees, but that didn’t stop them from making use of their sharp teeth as they jumped at us. They were all crouched on all fours, their furry white ears pressed tightly against their heads as they growled. Their bushy white tails were all straight up in the air, the fur looking like they had been electrocuted. The rest of their bodies were pitch black, and they may have looked cute if it weren’t for the mouth full of sharp teeth and the glowing blue eyes surrounded by blackness.
“Think they aren’t happy about us killing their friend?” I asked, eyeing the first one that had pounced at us and now lay in two pieces only a couple of feet away. Shanton had moved at a speed that only a few could achieve when it flew at me. When I had a chance to grasp what happened, the creature was in two pieces before us. It didn’t take long for the rest of its posse to come out growling.
“That and they’re probably really hungry. With their size and knowing what else is in the wild, they must hunt in packs.” Shanton’s words were a growl, and while anything sane or with a lick of instincts would know to tuck tail and run, they weren’t. Not a bright bunch, which explained why they had to gang up on us if they wanted any hope of taking us down.
I wasn’t about to make it that easy. And by the deadly gleam in Shanton’s eyes, neither was he. In that moment, the only thing holding his frame in his human shape were his clothes, but even those were straining as he fought to remain humanoid. I didn’t think shifting into a dragon was going to be too helpful. We had a rocky mountain behind us and the creatures surrounding us in front with massive trees to maneuver around.
“Stay behind me,” Shanton said and moved further in front of me, trying to crowd me against the mountain. Siitha was in agreement as he too pressed against me to herd me further away from the creatures. I wasn’t so sure what was harder, the rocks at my back, or Shanton’s body.
“Do you think their bite is poisonous?” I asked, reaching down to hopefully comfort Siitha enough to keep him from charging into the mob.
“Why would you think that?” If he wasn’t so focused on their every little movement, I knew he’d be giving me an incredulous look.
“I think it’s an important question before they sink their teeth into us. And they look like they should be poisonous.”
He snarled. “They aren’t sinking their teeth into anyone.”
“I see fifteen of them.”
“And I’ll pull every single one of their teeth out.”
They didn’t seem to agree with him when they chose that moment to jump. These creatures had a lot of power in their legs as they pounced from almost twenty feet away, no need of momentum to reach us.
Three came at us. Shanton didn’t let them land alive. He was fast, too fast for me to see what he did, and when they finally did reach the ground, they didn’t move. Dead.
Thinking three wasn’t enough, six of them decided to come after us. Shanton took down four with his speed, but the other two made it past him and came right at me. Looking down the maw of a creature wanting to bite my face off was never something I wanted to do again. Siitha moved fast, taking one down, but that left one more coming at me.
I moved to the side in a sad attempt to avoid it as fear tried to overwhelm me. I ended up tripping. Biting back a scream, I threw up my hand, sending my magic out at it.
It should have shocked the creature, but it just shook its body and snarled, running at me with bounding leaps. It smashed into me, and I barely got my arm up fast enough underneath its jaw before it took my face off.
“Laila!”
There was growling and snarling all around. They were a determined bunch.
My mind worked quickly as I came up with different plans and finally settled on one. I pushed out my magic and aimed it into the ground. There was a rumble, the ground shaking before roots burst out, spraying us with mud. It wrapped around the creature and yanked it off me. I scrambled to my feet and saw Shanton standing there, with the seven remaining creatures in the air, dangling from roots.
I took in a gasping breath, trying to get my heart to calm down as the adrenaline rushed through me. The creatures kept snarling and howling, the hairs along their neck now standing on end.
“Holy shit,” I said.
Shanton was in front of me in the blink of an eye, his hands on my shoulder as his gaze roamed all over my face. “Are you okay? Did it bite you?”
I shook my head. “I’m fine. Not a single scratch. What should we do with them?” I motioned to the dangling creatures. Siitha came to my side with a whine, bumping his head into my thigh.
“Tear them limb from limb.” Shanton looked like he’d take too much pleasure in doing just that. There was an agreement from Siitha when he growled.
Not wanting to get a front row seat to either of their bloodthirstiness, I pushed out magic. The ground shook again as the roots retracted, taking the creatures with them. They howled and whined, trying to get free but the roots weren’t easy to cut through. They disappeared underneath the ground, leaving behind plumes of dirt and loud screeching wails.
“Or you can do that.” He glared at the ground.
“You aren’t digging them back up. Leave them to suffocate.”
“You do realize that’s a more painful death than just killing them, right?”
My eyes widened, and when he came closer to me, I swatted his stomach. “Why would you say that?”
He sighed and pulled me along. “Forget I said anything.”
We marched in silence for a few minutes, but it wasn’t as companionable as it had been before we discovered the elementalists’ territory. Something weighed Shanton down since we’d left their lands. And it seemed the more time passed, the more the tension built. Apparently, there was an elephant in the room so to speak, but I didn’t know what that was. It could be anything at this point.
All I could do was wait for him to finally just let me know. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long.
“Do you really plan to awaken your powers?” he asked, his back stiff as he ducked underneath a log. I did the same, doing my best to not brush up against the poisonous blue moss growing on it. Shanton had already warned me about the painful death I’d go through if I were to touch it.
“Yes.”
His body became wooden with my answer.
“Shanton, speak to me. What is going on with you?” I asked.
“I’m just trying to find some place we can keep you safe while you’re under so you can take that shit.”
“You don’t want me to do it.”
“I didn’t say that. I just hate what it will do to you, and I hate that I can’t do shit about it.”
“You heard Atasha. If we want a chance at Padraig, I need to be stronger.”
Shanton whirled around and was in my face faster than I could blink. “I’m strong, Laila. I’m strong enough to take down that bastard. He’s nothing to me.” His words were a hiss, and I recognized the look of the dragon in his blazing eyes. The red in them were usually a low flicker, but now his eyes held an inferno.
“Dragons are killable,” I said simply. “You can die too. And right now, Padraig has a ticking time bomb of pure, undiluted magic with him. He sets that off, and no one, not you, not this land, not me, will be safe. He’ll take us all down as his last hurrah if we don’t move smart enough.”
“I’m fast. He won’t have time to set it off.”
I cupped his face and went on my tiptoes, giving him a brief kiss. Our lips brushed, and his energy made my lips tingle. His hands went to my waist and held on tightly.
“This isn’t about being fast, this is about being smart. That man was going to be on the Highborn Council, and I know I laugh it off or make light of it, but I’d never want to go against anyone on that council. I have a feeling I wouldn’t survive. He’s powerful. He scooped right into my brain and was able to take my memories, take the information inside of my head. And he did that with energy, not magic, but energy alone. I nearly killed myself to stop him. He’s a smart man. If he already had some kind of prototype before he broke into Biomystic, then he was already on the right path. And if he didn’t have a prototype, he came up with one really fast after the break-in.” I leaned forward and kissed Shanton again. “I’m doing this because I want Padraig taken down, and also, because I think if I don’t do this, I’m going to hate myself.”
I pulled away and left Shanton standing there. After taking a few steps on my own, I could hear movement. Siitha refused to let me take lead, so he walked in front of me, keeping his nose to the ground in search of danger.
Wanting to lighten up the mood, I said with a smile, “Can’t believe we have to clean up the elementalists’ mess. Again. Think we should start charging them for our services? I’m pretty sure we could ask for anything we wanted.”
He chuckled. “They’ll be in debt to us. That’s priceless.”
“And in their eyes, probably chafes.”
I kept the mood light as we hiked, refusing to let either of our thoughts go down the dark path. Awakening was a huge danger. Atasha didn’t go through all the risks, but she didn’t need to tell me. I could see it in her eyes, and I understood magic and energy enough to know how it worked. If my body couldn’t find a balance, it would fall apart. I could implode or maybe explode. I could just disintegrate or bleed out of every orifice of my body as my insides scrambled. Magic and energy was never meant to be together, not the way that the elementalists used it. Power.
It had to be the most unstable existence in the world. The moment one side went out of whack, the entire system would become dangerously volatile.
I could die.
Or I could become something more. Be who I was apparently supposed to be.
I drew in a breath and closed my eyes briefly. “We have to be about two days away from them. They were staying near the elementalist land, circling, but they’re moving out again.”
“Tested it out on the guards and now they’re up to something else.” When I glanced back at Shanton, his eyebrows were furrowed. “I don’t like this.”
“Me either. I hate not knowing what they’re up too. I’m hoping they’ll stay in one place.”
“Either way, we need to find a place for you for at least a day. I have help that should be coming. They know the land far better than I do. They were supposed to meet up with us when we left the elementalists.” He shrugged. “T
hey’ll catch up.”
“They’ll? Who’s coming?”
He smirked. “You’ll see.”
“I’m not that big of a fan of surprises.”
“It’s a good one, I promise.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Is it the other guys? Did they find me? Did you tell them where I am?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I promise it’s not them, but do you not want them coming?”
Using my foot, I nudged at a branch. “That’s a loaded question.”
“I think it’s a simple one.”
“I want them here. I feel a bit silly, running off like that. And I hate admitting that to you.”
“Why did you run away?”
“Time. Desperation. Frustration. Anger. They’ve been holding me with kid gloves since that break-in. If I so much as sneezed magic, they were jumping down my throat about using it. None of them use magic. None of them. They don’t understand that I can’t just not use it for days and weeks and months. What I did, a part of me didn’t expect it to work. I didn’t think I’d be able to track like this. But it worked, and here I am. I didn’t want them to get away. I was scared that we’d lose them forever out here in the middle of nowhere. So, I followed.” I sighed and looked around us, at the tall trees, the vines hanging from them, the sun trying so hard to filter through and failing miserably. “I never thought we’d be this far out.”
“You are terrible at asking for help, Dr. Laila Porter. I don’t know anyone who is worse at it than you are.”
“Excuse me?” I glared back at him.
He just raised an eyebrow, unrepentant. “You don’t know how to ask for help. You go forward, and you keep going, even when all the shit is falling around you. You’ll drown before you ask someone to pull you out of the water. Everyone, we just want to be here for you. We just want to help you when you’re struggling.” He chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy sound at all. “You make that insanely hard at times. Like coming out here. You should have asked for help.”
I sighed and my shoulders dropped in defeat. “I was an idiot, wasn’t I?”
“Only a little bit.”
Magical Redemption Page 23