Magic Lost: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (Touched By Magic: Dragon Book 3)

by Ashley Meira

  “No.” I scoffed. “Adam’s… in the shower.”

  Her eyes narrowed, but before she could reply, Adrienne pulled her back. “Sharing is caring.”

  “Then perhaps someone can share with me why we’re in the kitchen again,” Symeon’s voice called as he and Ollie stepped into view.

  “How about sharing why you’re at Ollie’s again?” I told the siren. “It’s weird.”

  “We’re all weird here, Alice.”

  “That isn’t the line.”

  “He enjoys the company,” Ollie said, giving me a big grin as he waved. “Or he misses you. I miss you.”

  “Aw,” I said, my heart swelling. “I just saw you.”

  “Yeah, but I used to see you every day. Lately, you’re always overseas.”

  “Blame that boyfriend of hers,” Adrienne said coyly. “You need to teach him how to share, Sophia.”

  “If you’d like,” Symeon said, “I know a great way to train men—”

  “No,” I said quickly. “Wait. Men as in males or humans?”

  The smile on his face made me feel dirty.

  “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

  “Darling—”

  “How was your meeting?” Fiona asked, saving both mine and Symeon’s lives. “What did Liam Pierce want?”

  “He wants me to find a missing girl,” I said, not wanting to give away my theories on that. Why had I bothered calling them if I wasn’t going to share anything? Right, because I was an idiot.

  “No wonder you look down,” Adrienne said.

  I nodded. Yeah, let’s blame it on that. “Her last known location is right by Goliki. I’ll be heading over there tomorrow.”

  Ollie’s eyes lit up. “Awesome! If she passed by there, my mom will definitely know about it. She keeps an eye on everything. I’ll message her and let her know you’re coming by tomorrow.”

  “Goliki isn’t far from Plitvice,” Symeon said. “Once you find the girl, perhaps you can visit the dragons. If you do—”

  “I’m not stealing anything from dragons,” I said.

  “I’ll pay you.”

  I blinked. “People aren’t allowed in the sanctuary.”

  “That’s never stopped you before.”

  “Damn it,” I muttered. He had a point. Dragons probably wouldn’t top the list of crazy things I’d faced for him, either.

  “My dad used to sneak me in there sometimes,” Ollie said. “Until my mom found out.”

  I smirked. “How long were you deaf for?”

  He paused and thought about it, his eyes widening as the memory played in his mind. “I don’t wanna talk about it. Ever.”

  “Was it scarier than when you took my pizza?” Fiona asked.

  Adrienne gasped. “You touched her pizza?”

  “That sounds a lot dirtier than it actually was, I imagine,” Symeon said, making a show of being disappointed.

  I watched them bicker with a soft smile, my mind wandering to my unknown past. I wondered if my father ever did mischievous things like that? Little secret trips to the movies or sneaking Diana and me some ice cream despite our mother saying no dessert. Or was he the stern one and my mother the “fun” parent? Did she chase us around the house or play the wicked queen to our fairy princesses?

  An old willow tree flashed into my mind, with two little girls sitting beneath it. It was the same image I’d seen the last time I encountered my sister. Was it an actual memory or just wishful thinking? Were my parents still alive, or had they died protecting me from the monster that stole us away? Or…. I swallowed thickly as Nicholas’ words came back to me.

  “Such an ungrateful child. Running away from daddy after all he did for you.”

  Symeon’s voice snapped me out of my reverie. “Perhaps Adam has finished his shower, and she’s ogling him.”

  “She wouldn’t look so glum if that were the case,” Adrienne said. “Are you alright, Sophia?”

  I jerked my head in a half nod. “Just worried about this girl.”

  “So,” Symeon said, “no turning the phone to reveal a shirtless Adam?”

  “Symeon!” Fiona scolded. “Wait. What the hell is wrong with me? You better turn that phone when he walks in. In fact, go into the bathroom now—”

  Ollie clamped a hand over her mouth. “Anyway….”

  I chatted with my friends for another fifteen minutes before hanging up. My spirit still felt heavy, but there was a slight lift in my step as I pulled out my pajamas and headed for the shower.

  Chapter Nine

  My mood both skyrocketed and sank further after my shower, when I came downstairs to find Adam closing the front door behind him. He barely spared me a glance before brushing past me and heading upstairs. I stared up after him, trying to make sense of his actions and my raging emotions. He’d come back, but he was still upset. Not that I blamed him.

  When I heard the shower start, I curled up on the sofa and waited for him. I didn’t want to be asleep when he came out, and honestly, I was a little worried he’d sleep on the couch to avoid me. He could if he really wanted to, but I’d have much preferred curling up against him as we slept together.

  My communication ring heated up as I continued peering up the stairs like a lovesick puppy. “Hello?”

  “You’re not just worried about that girl,” Fiona accused.

  “I have no—”

  “Lie to Ollie when he asks if you like his vegetarian goulash, don’t lie to me.”

  “Vegetarian goulash makes no sense.”

  “I’m at home. Alone,” she added before her voice softened. “You looked like someone drowned your puppy. What happened?”

  Geez. Had I looked that bad? So much for my poker face.

  Sighing, I told her what had transpired, from the initial flight to England all the way to Adam coming back after I’d chased him off. By the time I was finished, the shower was off, and Adam had gone to the guest room.

  “Talk to him,” she said unhelpfully.

  “Thanks,” I hissed, keeping my voice as quiet as possible. “I thought you were good at relationships.”

  “I’m single,” she said dryly.

  “By choice.” I couldn’t think of a single one of Fiona’s boyfriends that she hadn’t broken up with. It was possible she’d left them before they had a chance to call things off, but the woman had never been dumped.

  “Look, you can talk to him and clear the air, or you two can ignore each other and ruin the best thing in both of your lives.”

  “Is there a third option?”

  I could hear the eye roll in her voice. “You two can ignore this and pretend it never happened, becoming one of those couples that never talk about their problems and let resentment grow. You know, the kind you hate.”

  “They make no sense,” I said. “You’re supposed to talk to your partner— Oh. Damn it.”

  “Don’t you hate it when your own logic ruins things?” she asked smugly.

  “I’ll ruin you.”

  “Then who would give you advice?”

  “Adrienne,” I said as Adam made his way downstairs. “Got to go.”

  Her outraged cry was the most satisfying thing I’d heard all day, but my amusement was quickly lost as Adam sat next to me. He was hunched over, elbows on his thighs and fingers templed underneath his chin. He was shirtless, and water dripped from his wet hair, staining the light gray sweat pants he wore. I pulled my knees up and hugged them as we sat in silence.

  Finally, we both spoke at the same time. “I’m sorry.”

  He frowned, bewilderment painted across his handsome face. “Why are you sorry? I was the jerk.”

  “Um, were you not here when I snapped?”

  “I was. And I was pissed.” He sighed, slicking his hair back. “Then I took a walk to clear my head. You were right. I was pissed at and about everything but you, yet I made you shoulder all the blame.”

  My heart clenched. “You didn’t—”

  He reached for me but froze ha
lfway. I grabbed his hand before he could retreat. His muscles relaxed, and he gave me a tired smile as he squeezed my hand. “I apologize. For everything. Especially what I said on the plane.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “It’s not.”

  I frowned at his stubbornness. “I still forgive you.”

  “Thank you,” he whispered.

  The hitch in his voice broke me, and I rushed forward, enveloping him in a hug. His arms wrapped around my waist, squeezing me for dear life. “I thought I lost you.”

  He shook his head. “Never. I’m so sorry I made you feel that way.”

  “I’m sorry, too. For being a bitch, not for you making me feel that way.”

  He snorted. “You were being honest. I needed to hear it. And you need to hear the truth.”

  “You’re a woman trapped in a man’s body?”

  “Sophia….”

  “Charlotte is your sister?” I said, testing my theory.

  “Charlotte—” He leaned back, giving me a bemused look.

  “Not fun when someone steals your thunder, is it?” I was referring to when I tried to tell him I was Fireborn, only to have him say it first. Ass. My ass, but still. “Unless I’m wrong. Am I wrong?”

  “You’re right.” He pressed his forehead to mine, and I could feel each furrow against my skin. “Was it that obvious?”

  “Maybe to a smart person. I had to be knocked over the head with it.”

  I climbed onto his lap, my knees on either side of his hips, and told him what I’d found in Charlotte’s office. The confused expression remained on his face, joined by anger, disbelief, and guilt.

  “How did she get my drawings?” he asked when I finished. “Damn it. My father. Of course. But why did she keep them?”

  “Because you’re her brother?” I said.

  “Half-brother,” he said bitterly. “My dad had an affair and—”

  I kissed the sigh from his lips and cradled him to my chest. Of course. His father had an affair. I hadn’t even thought about that. No wonder he was so pissed at him, especially taking into account how much he loved his mother.

  “He promised to never make her cry,” he told me, repeating the vows Mr. Pierce had made when he proposed.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whispered into his hair. “Did she know?”

  “Yes,” he said, fury coating his words. With another heavy sigh, he leaned back against the couch and laced our fingers together. His eyes stayed glued to the ceiling as he spoke. “We weren’t supposed to know, Damien and I. We had basketball practice that day, but it got cancelled. When we got home, we heard yelling. My parents never yelled at each other.”

  I kissed his knuckles, waiting for him to continue.

  “We peeked into their bedroom and saw our mother collapsed on the bed, crying. She looked so sad. The way she was staring at my dad, her expression a mixture of betrayal and disbelief. I’d never seen her like that before, like her entire world had been shattered.” He swallowed thickly. “I’ll never forget that look on her face as he told her about the affair. Charlotte was ten, I think. He wasn’t even aware she existed until he received news that her mother passed away. When he connected the dots, he demanded a paternity test. It came back positive, obviously.”

  “So, he wanted to take her in?” I asked, wondering how I’d react to such news. It was impossible to imagine. Poor, poor Elaine.

  “Yeah,” he said, and I ignored the way his voice cracked. “Her grandparents — her mother’s parents — refused. They raised her themselves, but he insisted on taking responsibility. He paid for her education, her clothing, everything. My mom managed all our money, so he had to tell her. Probably wouldn’t have bothered otherwise,” he added spitefully.

  I opened my mouth to disagree, then shut it. What did I know?

  “My mother died a year later.” He swiped a hand across his face before placing it back in mine. I ran a thumb across the tears he’d wiped away. “I can’t help but wonder if he’d broken her heart so badly that she lost any strength she might have had to fight off the cancer. I can’t believe it beat her so easily. She was the strongest person I knew. After you.”

  I sniffled at the compliment and buried my face against his neck.

  “He’d met her before that. Charlotte. He visited her and spent time with her. More than he did with Damien and me. Guess he figured we had our mother for that. Our sick, dying, brokenhearted mother.” He squeezed my hands so hard it hurt. “I wanted to see her, you know? To understand what was so special about this twelve-year-old girl that made her more important than us than my mother’s heart — the one he swore he’d treasure.”

  “You and Damien went looking for her?”

  “Damien didn’t care,” he spat before sobering. “No, he did care. In his own way. He loved our mother as much as I did. Do. But he didn’t want to meet her. Said that was dad’s life, not his. So, I went after her on my own.”

  He released my hands and pulled me into a hug. “I was twenty-three. Fresh out of university the year before and enjoying the lifestyle that came with being rich and powerful.”

  “Like Damien but more handsome?”

  The laugh he gave me was little more than a sharp exhale, but I took it. “Pretty much. I’d just been named the tenth most powerful elemental mage in the world. I was arrogant and thought I was the best. All that dumb shit. I was nowhere near as powerful or controlled as I am now,” he said wistfully. “Wasn’t hard to find her. She was innocent, but I was so full of rage that I didn’t see it. To me, this kid represented everything that had ruined my family. It was all her fault.”

  Unease trailed its fingers down my spine. “What happened?”

  “She recognized me. Apparently, my dad had shown her pictures of my brother and me, though he never bothered telling us about her.”

  I pulled back. “He doesn’t know you know?”

  “He does. It was one of those unspoken things around our house. When my mom died, he kept up the charade. Years later, I guess it doesn’t matter to him anymore. He doesn’t know I met her, though. If he had, I probably wouldn’t be alive today.”

  I clung to him, waiting for the bomb to drop.

  “She was so happy to see me,” he said, as if he still couldn’t believe it. “I had come by after her classes, so she thought I was here to pick her up. She went on and on about how glad she was we were meeting, about what a great surprise our dad had given her by sending me to get her.” He nuzzled against my chest. “When I heard her say that — our dad — I lost it. My magic snapped. It lashed out and hit her. She fell to the ground and didn’t move,” he said, sounding like a little boy. “I thought I killed her. Instead of checking her pulse or trying to heal her, I ran. I just ran. Like a fucking coward.”

  “You were—”

  “Twenty-three,” he hissed, pulling back. His face was twisted with anger and self-loathing. “Old enough to fucking know better but too much of a spoiled ass to care. I thought losing control was normal. It happened to everybody. Everything changed that day.”

  “It was an accident,” I said weakly. “She survived.”

  “Someone found her, thankfully,” he said, glaring at his reflection in the TV screen. “There was no permanent damage, but she was left with a huge scar.”

  “I saw it,” I said, remembering the jagged line across her face.

  “I did that. I—” He inhaled sharply and lifted me off his lap so he could pace around the living room. “I stopped partying after that. Stopped drinking for years. I devoted myself to controlling my magic, to mastering it, so I could never hurt someone like that again.”

  I followed the defeated lines of his shoulder up to his face. Shame was painted across his features. This explained so much. Why he was so in control of himself, why he’d gone from a douchey rich kid to a businessman known for his analytical skills, why he took charge of his family’s security. He wanted to keep them safe, and he never wanted to let his emotions get the better of him aga
in.

  My eyes burned as I thought of the way he’d acted when we first met. He’d been honest, sure, but it was calculated — a give and take between us. He’d flirted and made jokes until his feelings for me grew. Then, he began to open up. Even now, he only showed his true feelings when we were alone. He trusted me in a way he trusted no one else.

  And I’d been a total idiot who spent the entire day thinking he’d stopped caring.

  “You ruined that, you know?” he said, still pacing. Good thing too, or he’d have seen me crying into the couch. “You make me lose control. Things were going fine until we met. Then…. Well, actions speak louder than words. If it were anyone else who’d fallen into that ice lake on the Pyrenees, I’d have thought before trying to fish them out as a phoenix. With you, I just dived, wanting nothing more than to save you. When we escaped that cave and the adrenaline wore off…. I can’t think of a single time in my life when I’d been so scared. That was the first time I hadn’t thought things through since I hurt Charlotte. And there you were, licking my face and giggling like a school girl.”

  He turned to me, the loving smile on his face dropping as he took in the mess. My face hit his chest as he pulled me into a tight embrace. I watched through blurred eyes as my tears dripped into the crook of his elbow.

  He’d told me about his past when we were in Nice, but they’d been happy memories. And while they’d made me feel closer to him, they were nothing like this. I didn’t think it was possible, but hearing his story, learning about how that awful incident motivated him into becoming the man he was today, made me fall for him even more.

  “Don’t cry,” he said into my hair. “I didn’t say all that stuff to make you sad.”

  “I’m not sad,” I said, pulling back. Then, when I realized I was a soaking, snotty mess, I ducked my head and spoke to our toes. “Thank you for letting me in.”

  His words were so quiet I thought I had imagined them. “Thank you for accepting me.”

  Chapter Ten

  A robin flew past my nose, its cherry red wings like a streak of lightning. I wrinkled my nose before scrunching up my face at my sister’s laugh.