Warner grunted, acknowledging me but not wanting to interrupt. I gazed up at him for a moment, seeing the gold of his dragon magic glimmering in his eyes. I registered his relaxed body language as he let me look at him, then smiled slightly as he ran his fingers across my shoulder and down my arm.
I threaded my fingers through his, lifting up on my tiptoes so I could brush a kiss against his ear. Then I whispered, “I think … I think I just want to get on with it all.”
He wrapped his hand around my waist, pulling me closer and swaying slightly to the music.
“I … I have this weird feeling …” I pressed a kiss to Warner’s cheek, then brushed my lips against his, heedless of my lip gloss. “An idea hovering just out of reach …” I shook my head, unable to fully articulate what I meant. “Maybe this has just taken too long … the wedding and the elves … I don’t know. I’m restless. I’m worried. I’m … worried that maybe we waited too long.”
“There is no ‘too long’ for us, Jade. There is no rush.”
“There was no reason to delay, either. But I let Gran insist on things. Properly printed invitations and napkins and … now the elves …”
“Four days,” he murmured, slowly moving me closer and closer to the middle of the dance floor.
I heard the dulcet tones of Ed Sheeran, singing the incredibly danceable The Shape of You — and I was a goner. I was in Warner’s arms and I couldn’t resist dancing any longer, no matter how many things felt as though they were hanging over me, weighing me down.
Rochelle and Beau had joined Kandy and Jasmine. Haoxin and Kett were spiraling around and around the room, leaving streams of magic in their wake. The taste of peppermint intermingled with that of chocolate, bitter and sweet, and with apple, and with spicy dragon power. No one was bothering to dampen their magic. It was my bachelorette party, after all. If dancing was on the menu, then magic was as well.
Tucked into the delectable pocket of tasty energy slowly building in the center of the room, and with the strength of Warner’s arms around me, I felt my shoulders finally relax.
“I don’t need a ceremony to tell me I belong to you, Jade,” Warner whispered against my ear.
I wrapped my hands around his neck, rocking my hips against his. He chuckled, sliding his hand up my back, then leading me in a swirling, spinning dance that was more about riding the power surging around us than matching the beat of the music. I gathered that power, all that energy freely given by my friends. I gathered it around us, luxuriating in it, greedily hoarding it in my necklace and knife, even as I channeled it into Warner’s knife.
The sentinel — my sentinel — chose to appear in sweater and jeans courtesy of his chameleon magic, wanting to blend into the contemporary world. But to me, his manifested clothing only ever barely concealed the warrior in dragon leathers. I could always feel the power of the blade that he wore in the built-in sheath on his thigh. A weapon I’d inadvertently created in desperation and terror, tainted by blood magic and the death of a sorcerer. But tamed by Warner.
The songs changed. Then changed again.
We danced. And danced.
At some point, I caught a glimpse of the younger Adepts. They’d left the dance floor and gathered around the tables together. One of them, most likely Drake, had relocated the diminishing stack of cupcakes so it sat between them. Drake, Mory, and Beau appeared to be systematically mowing through the obscene desserts, laughing and shouting. Rochelle seemed content to simply oversee her companions’ extreme indulgence.
Kett passed Warner a silver flask as he and Haoxin danced past us. Warner uncapped it with a flick of his thumb, offering it to me — only to have the guardian of North America snatch it back as she and Kett spun around to our other side.
I laughed, not a bit bothered by missing a sip of my own. I was riding my own magical high. I didn’t need any sorcerer-fermented barley juice to feel a buzz. The room was brimming with tasty and potent dragon, vampire, shapeshifter, necromancer, and oracle magic. And I was —
An elf was standing a few feet from the entrance door, watching us. I caught sight of her just before Warner spun me away.
“Elf,” I hissed.
Warner stopped dancing. The room continued to spin, tip, and swirl around me as I pivoted back toward the door, my knife already in hand.
No elf.
I scanned the room quickly, but with the floor, walls, and ceiling all in black and the random bright lights overhead, my vision was totally compromised.
“Where?” Warner whispered.
Kandy brushed against my right shoulder, still feigning that she was dancing. She had tucked Jasmine behind her. Kett and Haoxin continued to twirl blithely around us, executing the steps of some ballroom dance flawlessly. But by the set of their shoulders, they’d picked up on something. Probably me picking up on something else.
But maybe I was seeing things …
Magic shifted — just a fleeting glimmer, quickly dissipating. Then Mirage appeared a few steps away from me. She was still wearing her yellow jacket and jeans, lifting her hand to the jacket’s zipper. “I thought I could —”
Warner lunged, grabbing her by the throat so swiftly that she was unable to finish her sentence. “You dare, elf!”
Choking, Mira struggled. Her eyes widened as she realized she could neither breathe nor break away. Her magic shifted across her skin, the fine scales reflecting patches of black to mimic the walls. Then they showed a warmer skin tone, presumably matching Warner’s. Seeing that finally confirmed how Mira moved around so easily without being seen. It had previously only been a guess that the elves might possess a chameleonlike ability similar to Warner’s, but I hadn’t seen any direct evidence of that ability before.
Haoxin and Kett executed a final twist, broke apart, and came to a stop behind the elf, boxing her in. Kandy and Jasmine stood to either side of Warner and me. I could feel Drake, Beau, Mory, and Rochelle stepping up behind us.
“Warner,” I whispered, touching his outstretched arm lightly.
He loosened his hold.
Mira stumbled, bending over to cough, then to wheeze. She had gotten her zipper partway down, and I could see the top of the logo on the T-shirt she wore underneath.
Baby blue with pink printing.
She was wearing a Cake in a Cup T-shirt.
I felt like a complete asshole.
I knew what it was like to be an outsider. To not know how to fit in. I’d spent three months living in the guardian nexus, and during much of that time, the only person who’d spoken to me was Drake.
“I’m sorry,” Mira croaked. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Warner scoffed. “We aren’t interested in your games, elf.”
“No?” Mira straightened, her hand still pressed to her neck. “You looked like you were playing some game … or maybe having sex? Or, no … it’s called foreplay in this world, isn’t it? I just didn’t know that you did it in large groups.” She glanced toward the younger Adepts arrayed behind us. “Or with cupcakes.”
Kandy laughed harshly, as if a moment of mirth had been pulled from her against her will.
Warner didn’t take his fierce gaze off the illusionist. “Coming in here was a suicide mission.”
Mira met his gaze, then flicked her eyes to me.
“We were dancing,” I said, painfully aware — again — how foreign and strange everything in this dimension must seem to Mira.
“Ah, yes. A dancing game.” She said it as though she’d only read the word before, not heard it out loud. “I could feel the magic.” She touched the zipper of her coat again, hesitating. “But … I was wrong to approach. I’ve ruined your mating game.”
Damn it. She’d put on the T-shirt because we all wore printed T-shirts every day in the bakery. Because she wanted to fit in …
Or because she was completely playing me.
But if that were true, it would indicate that elves were well versed in human psychology. And it just seemed unlikely that
hundreds of years in a guardian prison and three months in Vancouver would have been enough time to work out the intricacies of human emotions.
“I told you dancing was a prelude to mating,” Drake said, cutting through the pop-music-scored tension that had swallowed the conversation.
I had no idea who he was talking to, though. Probably me.
“Shut your yap, fledgling,” Kandy muttered.
Completely ignoring the werewolf, Drake shouldered up behind me. Then he thrust his hand past me toward Mira. “I’m Drake.”
She flinched, then stared at his hand.
“I’ve never met an elf before,” Drake said, completely earnest.
Yeah, I wasn’t the only one easily beguiled by pretty magic.
Haoxin sighed the sigh of the long suffering. “You have absolutely no idea what power this one wields, fledgling. Yet you offer to touch her, to shake her hand.”
“She’s the illusionist, isn’t she? Jasmine has kept us informed by text message.”
Mira’s eyes had widened at Haoxin’s words. She nodded as if she’d come to some understanding. Then she stepped forward, placing her hand in Drake’s. “I am Mira. So named by Jade.”
Kandy glanced toward me. I dipped my chin, acknowledging the assertion without taking my attention from the elf.
The illusionist released Drake’s hand, then offered her hand to Warner. He didn’t take it, so she dropped it to her side again, looking back to me. “I thought to join you. To play with you. Your game. Since you don’t like mine.” She grinned, displaying her sharp teeth.
“This is ridiculous,” Warner snarled. “Her friend in the park tried to kill Kandy.”
“Hey!” Kandy cried indignantly. “Maybe I would have had it under control if you hadn’t butted your fat head in.”
“I believe that was my neck, wolf.”
I raised my hands to the sides, cutting off their bickering. “I have an offer from the treasure keeper.”
Haoxin stepped to the side, clearing her sight line so she could meet my gaze directly. “Do you?” She sounded intrigued. And I suddenly wasn’t certain whether that was a good thing, given her secondary title. Plus the champagne and the so-called sorcerers’ elixir she’d been drinking.
A grin slowly spread across Mira’s face. She leaned slightly forward to whisper, “You know what your dancing game looks like to me, Jade?”
Despite my best intentions to be adult about the negotiations I’d promised the treasure keeper I was more than capable of undertaking, an answering smile spread across my face. “Sword fighting?”
Mira laughed, tossing her head back.
“Elves aren’t known for their ability to distinguish war from peace,” Warner growled. “Or friend from foe.”
“No?” Mira took a step to the side, then a step back, swaying her hips to the music still pounding through the speakers overhead. “I understand dancing. Jade has taught me —”
And then Mira’s hand suddenly shot to her head. She staggered, pressing against the gemstone embedded in her forehead as if it pained her. She looked over her shoulder, back toward the club entrance.
“Come with me, Jade.” Some sort of stress had replaced the elf’s playful tone. “Come make your offer to my liege.”
She glanced back at me when I didn’t immediately answer, reluctantly taking her gaze from the door. “Please.”
“No.” Warner and Kandy spoke in unison.
But it was Haoxin’s gaze I caught over Mira’s shoulder.
The illusionist’s offer was most likely a trap. I could be leading everyone, my friends, into danger. I already knew the telepathic elf wasn’t to be trifled with — and neither was Mira, whether she truly wished to get back home or not.
But … if we were going to blithely walk into a trap, we were stronger together. Formidable, even. Two elves — hell, even a dozen elves — couldn’t get past Haoxin, Warner, Kett, Kandy, and me. In fact, I was pretty certain that Warner and Haoxin could face off against the elves just by themselves. At least as long as the sentinel wasn’t trying to save Kandy’s neck. The guardians had been doing just that for months, cleaning up the mess Shailaja had made when she compromised Pulou.
In response to my unvoiced question, the guardian of North America nodded. Telling me to proceed and that she would back me, all in one simple gesture.
I took a step forward, feverishly thinking about where and when to suggest we meet —
Rochelle’s hand fell on my shoulder. “Jade … wait …” The oracle’s tart-apple magic boiled across my back and up my neck.
Oh, God. No.
“We must go now,” Mira said, taking a couple of steps back toward the entrance. “They’re coming, Jade … and … and I can’t stand against her.”
Mira didn’t have to explain who she meant. And though I was slightly concerned about her indication that multiple people — multiple elves? — were on their way, I needed to deal with one disaster at a time.
First, the oracle.
I slowly pivoted to face Rochelle, ignoring an almost desperate need to tear away from her grasp. Warner and Kandy tightened the space on either side of me, covering my back but not completely blocking me from Mira.
“Jasmine!” Kett snapped. “The music. Please.”
I didn’t see how or if the golden-haired vampire responded. Because all I could see were Rochelle’s eyes and the white power simmering within them, spilling out over her cheeks.
The oracle reached up, placing the fingertips of each hand lightly under my eyes. “Jade,” she murmured. “Something … something is pending. White mist is stretching all around you, obscuring everything else …”
“We must go now,” Mira cried, taking a few more steps toward the door.
The music stopped playing. An almost-deafening silence flooded the room.
I had to force the words from my mouth. “What do you see, oracle?”
“You. Here. In this room,” Rochelle whispered. “You. Jade. The beginning of the end. It’s you. You are the weapon.”
Jesus. But tell me something I didn’t know. “I’m listening. Tell me … tell me …” Tell me what? What not to do? How the hell would Rochelle be able to process that in the moment? The vision was obviously just in the process of manifesting. That wasn’t how her gift worked. “Beau?”
“She’ll need to draw,” Beau said gruffly. “Then we’ll know … then we’ll begin to understand, at least.”
“No,” Rochelle said, shaking her head emphatically. But it was like she couldn’t further articulate whatever she was protesting.
The taste of Mira’s magic splashed around the edges of the room. As I turned to see that the illusionist elf was now standing by the door to the street, I inadvertently knocked Rochelle’s hands away with the quick twist of my head.
Mira wasn’t alone anymore.
A dozen other elves — each at least a head higher than the six-foot-tall illusionist — stood arrayed around her. While Mira was in jacket and jeans, the newcomers were arrayed in white-shelled armor. And bristling with weapons.
“Time to play, Jade.” Mira’s tone had turned bright with false cheer, indicating, to me at least, that the elves showing up hadn’t been her idea.
Haoxin stepped up, taking Kandy’s spot beside me. “I was informed that there were three elves originally imprisoned here. And that you eliminated one, dragon slayer.”
“Yes.”
“Yet a dozen stand before us.”
“Mira,” Kandy whispered. She’d stepped back to make way for Haoxin, standing just behind my right shoulder.
I nodded, agreeing with Kandy’s unvoiced observation. “I felt her magic a moment before the elves appeared.”
“So,” Kandy asked. “How many are real?”
“Let’s find out,” Warner murmured to my left. Then his sweater and jeans disappeared, replaced by dragon leathers. He unsheathed his blade. I felt its deadly, eager magic dance across the bare skin of my hand, wrist, and forearm.
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Then I remembered who was standing with us. They were tucked behind the dragons and the other powerful enforcers, and more than ready to follow us into whatever battle was looming. But Mory … Rochelle … even Beau and Jasmine might not have been up for what the elves could deal out. If they weren’t just an illusion.
“Is there a secondary exit?” I asked, not taking my eyes from the newcomers.
Haoxin and Warner were also diligently assessing the power of the elves, all of which remained stationary before us. As if awaiting orders — but from who, I didn’t know. Not Mira. So then the telepath, Mira’s so-called liege, was still hiding herself?
“Also, I need my satchel,” I said. Kandy had blindfolded me before I could grab the bag from my apartment.
“There’s another exit behind the stage. It leads to the alley, but it’s a dead end,” Kandy said. “The SUV is parked on the main street, so the front door is actually safer passage. If it’s the fledglings you’re worried about.”
I nodded.
From behind me, Jasmine reached over my head, wordlessly settling my satchel across my shoulders. I wasn’t certain where she’d gotten it, or if she’d had it the entire time. And I couldn’t even blame my lack of observation on sorcerer’s scotch. I wasn’t even buzzed from the magic I’d been dancing in only minutes before.
“Thank you.” I lifted the satchel’s flap, angling my hip toward Haoxin as I lifted the broken piece of tech from the interior depths, just enough to show it to the guardian. “Shall we try to continue with negotiations first?” I met her intensely blue gaze. “At least until we get some of our companions behind wards?”
Haoxin smirked. “How will they ever learn if you coddle them, Jade?”
“This isn’t their lesson, guardian. They have their own strengths and abilities. They are far too valuable to risk to a brawl.”
The guardian eyed me for a moment — a moment I spent silently pleading that she understood the need for caution just as much as the need for strength. Then she nodded, taking two steps forward.
Misfits, Gemstones, and Other Shattered Magic Page 19