Chaotic Magic: A Snarky Paranormal Romance (Modern Magic Book 6)

by Nicole Hall

  Samantha’s anger began to stir. Ambiguous warnings of future disaster are supposed to be my job. Besides, how am I supposed to hide if I don’t know who I’m hiding from?

  Find a way.

  I’m not going to hide, Keris, so you might as well help me defend myself.

  A hint of pride reached her. You’ve been compromised. I can’t protect you this time. Be warned. The elders—

  Keris? She frowned at the silence. Keris, are you all right?

  No answer, not even the slight pressure of Keris’ presence. Samantha tried to reach out with her magic and her mind, but she didn’t hold out much hope that attempting the connection from her side would work now when it never had before.

  She quickly met a barrier, but when she pushed against it, the magic allowed her to pass. Her power stretched thin, but she found Keris on the other side. Her triumph was short-lived. A shocked Keris sent her a single message. Go! Then shoved her back through the barrier.

  Samantha’s magic snapped back into her, and her eyes flew open with a gasp. A stabbing pain behind her forehead made her shy away from the brightness of the overhead light. She clutched her head and tried to breathe through the worst of the reverberation.

  “What’s wrong?” Luc had dropped the usual irreverence from his tone. His hands wrapped around her wrists and lowered her arms so he could see her face. “Samantha, talk to me.”

  The pain began to subside at his touch, enough that the light didn’t blind her. Keris needed to work on meeting surprises with appropriate levels of panic.

  Samantha blew out a slow breath and met his eyes. “Something’s wrong with the clans.”

  4

  LUC

  His heart had jumped into his throat when Samantha grabbed her head, obviously in pain. The worst of it seemed to have passed, but she’d gone pale with her announcement.

  “What’s wrong with the clans? And how do you know?”

  Her face closed off, and Luc wanted to shake her. Weren’t they past the distrust yet? He settled for wrapping his hands around her chilly ones.

  “Keris contacted me to give me a warning, but her message was cut short. When I sent my magic after her, she deflected me.”

  Luc’s eyes narrowed. “You sent your magic across the barrier between the realms?”

  “Yes, and she sent it right back.”

  His grip on her gentled. “That explains your headache. I’d appreciate it if you’d stop having magical emergencies in my vicinity. It’s unnerving.”

  She tried to pull her hands away, but Luc held strong until she gave up with a sigh. “Yes, I’m very sorry. My excruciating pain must have been terrible for you.”

  “Apology accepted. Let’s see if we can’t keep you pain-free for the foreseeable future. What was her warning in reference to?”

  Samantha’s back straightened again. “She wanted me to hide, said I’d been compromised. I asked her who I should be hiding from, but I didn’t get a clear answer. Something about the elders.”

  “Anything else of concern?”

  “Give me a minute to sort it in my head. I’m still a little fuzzy.”

  He’d bet her fuzziness wasn’t an accident. Samantha had just begun to open up about the secrets of the clans, and her closest connection there suddenly broke in with a vague warning? He wasn’t naïve enough to blame happenstance. Keris, or someone close to her, had to have been monitoring Samantha. If not for the complicated protections at her home, he’d assume they had a magical eavesdropper.

  Recent events, though, led him to revise that suspicion. Several of the clan’s youngest generation had broken away for various reasons. They thought the problems stemmed from a collaboration between the clans and the evil former queen of the dryads, but Luc had noticed patterns before that. Shifts in the flow of magic.

  The various realms—the ones they knew about—had changed position, growing closer or farther apart. His own previous realm was barely connected to Terra any longer, requiring a massive influx of magic to access except for at the few points of contact.

  Samantha stared over his shoulder, lost in thought as she chewed on her bottom lip. Her inexplicable power offered a prime example of the change he’d noticed. Humans were traditionally the weakest of magic-users, when they had magic at all, but she broke the stereotype in both training and natural talent. He suspected the mage who had taken her in had some kind of Fae ancestry based on the ‘rules’ she’d learned.

  “Chaos is coming,” she muttered.

  Luc’s attention focused laser sharp. “What did you say?”

  The fog lifted from her eyes, and Samantha blinked a few times. “Sorry. It was one of the things Keris told me. ‘Chaos is coming.’ As if that were helpful at all for determining a threat in the real world.”

  She didn’t know it, but her thoughts ran along a parallel track to his. Chaos was the perfect term to describe the shifting of established magics. “You don’t give her concerns credence?”

  “I think she—” The sound of wind chimes cut her off as they both turned to stare at her cell phone lying on the counter.

  Samantha didn’t move right away, so Luc retrieved the phone and brought it to the table. He didn’t recognize the number, but ‘Hank Goblin’ flashed on the screen. She’d taken his advice. A warm feeling washed across his chest, and he grinned at her.

  “You called Hank?”

  “Sometimes you have good ideas.” She tried to snatch the phone away, but Luc held it out of her reach as the chimes continued. After two unsuccessful attempts, she relented. “Very mature. At least answer the phone before he hangs up.”

  Luc couldn’t explain his sudden playful mood, especially considering the dire circumstances of Keris’ warning, but he hadn’t liked seeing Samantha nervous. Now that she’d focused on his antics, Luc hit speaker phone so he could hear both ends of the conversation and set the phone between them.

  “Took you long enough.” Hank’s gruff Brooklyn accent filled the room.

  Samantha smiled at Hank’s annoyance. “Hello, Hank. You’re on speaker phone with Luc and I.”

  “Probably for the best that Luc is there with you. At least for you. Not so much for him. Speaking of. You at your house?”

  Luc jumped in before Samantha could answer. “Why is that important?”

  “Because word on the street is that someone put a hit out on your lady. Vinnie says two factions of redcaps took the job. Assholes, the bunch of them, but they don’t play around. Might want to run.”

  Samantha met his gaze with wide eyes. “What?”

  A thump and pain-filled grunt came from Hank’s side of the conversation. His voice became muffled, like he’d covered the phone with his hand. “I said I would, didn’t I?” Luc and Samantha shared a confused look, then Hank was back. “Hey, good luck finding your dagger, but I ain’t messing with no redcaps. No refunds.”

  Hank hung up before they could ask anything else, and Samantha reached for her phone with trembling hands. “What are the chances this isn’t related to Keris and the clans?”

  Luc took a slow breath. “Zero. What are the chances Keris hired the hit?”

  She stood and tucked the phone into a hidden thigh pocket on her leggings. “Zero. Why hire a hit then send me a warning?”

  Luc’s gaze lingered on her long, toned legs, but this wasn’t the time for fantasies. “Interesting that Hank would also warn you while abdicating your contract. He doesn’t strike me as the sympathetic type.”

  “You think someone convinced him to do it?”

  “I think goblins will do anything for gold.”

  Samantha huffed. “Well, I paid him a deposit digitally, so I doubt he’s getting any gold from me.”

  Luc understood. Redcaps were a dark mark on the magical community that he’d had the good fortune to never encounter during his extensive time in Terra. He’d heard of them, though. As had Samantha, if her stiff shoulders offered any indication.

  She pressed her lips together for a s
econd, then wrapped her arms around herself. “You should go.”

  He raised a brow. “And miss all the fun?”

  “It’s not a joke. I don’t want your death on my conscience.”

  “And what of yours? I should turn my back on a lady in need and allow her to fend for herself?”

  Her jaw tensed. “I’m not helpless.”

  Luc stood and crossed to her, cupping her elbows and pulling her into a loose embrace. “I know.” He spoke against her hair, and Samantha’s rigid posture crumbled. “I won’t leave you to fight alone.”

  She slid her arms around his waist and burrowed her face into his neck. “You’re crazy. We can barely stand each other. Why would you stay?”

  He ran a hand down the long waterfall of blonde silk and gave her an answer she expected to hear. “How am I supposed to coax you back into bed if redcaps have run off with your entrails?”

  Samantha laughed. “Should have known it was about sex. Also, please never tie those two images together again.” She paused. “I’m not about to hide, but I’m not against a tactical retreat.”

  “It’s too late for that.” Luc had felt the magical creatures begin to gather outside the house right about the time Hank had hung up on them.

  She sighed, her warm breath wafting across his neck. “I know.”

  Luc pressed a kiss to her temple, then shifted her away from him. “Can you tell how many?”

  Her eyes went vague, then focused on him again. “No. Only a few have tried to step past my boundaries. It feels like they’re testing the protections. What about you?”

  “No, not from here. I’ll go find out the old-fashioned way, by stealing a look through the window. Stay here. Reinforce your spells.”

  Samantha nodded and crouched to spread her hands on the worn wood floor under her. An odd sense of pride filled Luc. No panic or arguments from this one. He’d expected at least a token protest, so she must be more shaken than she let on.

  Luc shut off all the lights, then stood to the side of the window and peeked past the curtain. Dozens of red glowing eyes blinked back at him from the courtyard. One small body wasn’t entirely hidden in the shadows. The size of a toddler and wearing rough-hewn clothes, the creature crouched to one side of the steps. If the sharp-looking dagger didn’t give him away, the long, scraggly grey beard and pointed red hat made it clear redcaps were indeed surrounding the house.

  On silent feet, Luc crept to the windows overlooking the lush backyard. More red eyes. Hank had said two factions. Redcaps were bloodthirsty and vicious, but the separate factions were incapable of working together. Perhaps they could use that to their advantage.

  He rejoined Samantha in the kitchen and touched her arm to get her attention. “Does your ‘get out’ spell have any other terminal locations?”

  She climbed to her feet and shook out her fingers. “No. The property provides a feedback loop, that’s how I’m able to use the spell without totally depleting myself.”

  He couldn’t help his smile, despite their precarious situation. “Clever. I’d wondered how you had the power to teleport me after performing a finding spell.”

  She raised a brow, but an answering smile appeared on her face. “Thank you, though it wasn’t meant to transport a horde of angry death goblins.”

  Luc chuckled. “Don’t let Hank hear you say that. His people get very offended when reminded of their relation to redcaps.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Do we have a plan?”

  “Of sorts. I call in backup while we take Keris’ advice and hide. With luck, your protections will hold and the cavalry will come to our rescue.”

  Samantha propped her hands on her hips, and the color finally returned to her face. “The protections will hold.”

  Luc captured her hand and brought it to his lips with a grin. “I do love a confident woman.”

  “Save your sexy talk for later. Make your calls.” She pulled her hand away and busied herself tossing provisions into a grocery sack.

  Luc fished his phone from his pocket, then frowned at the symbol on the screen indicating no service. “Do you have Wi-Fi?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is it on?”

  Samantha stilled and turned to face him. “It should be. Your questions are not instilling a lot of faith in your plan.”

  Her Wi-Fi wasn’t working on his phone either. A heavy sense of dread moved through him. “Give me your phone.”

  To his delight, she tossed it to him without question, but he cursed as soon as he checked her connection. “No service, no Wi-Fi. Both phones.” He tossed the useless technology back, and she left it on the counter.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Either the redcaps have developed a sudden interest in a frequency jammer or they’ve decided to finally use their power for something other than blood magic.”

  Samantha nodded and walked briskly out of the room. Luc caught up to her at the bottom of the stairs, pulling her out of view of the windows. He respected her decisiveness, but her survival skills needed work.

  Redcaps had excellent vision and hearing, especially at night, and he didn’t want them to know the exact location of their prey. He also wanted to make sure there were no nasty surprises waiting for them on the upper level. Luc met Samantha’s eyes and held up a hand indicating she should wait. She crossed her arms and waved him ahead.

  One or two redcaps he could handle, but they never attacked in ones or twos. Samantha had been exactly right when she’d spoken of a horde. Luc crept up the stairs, careful to keep himself between Samantha and the upper landing. His magic assured him that the floor above them was clear, but Samantha had fooled his magic before.

  For the first month he’d known her, he’d thought she was simply a human. They hadn’t run in the same magical circles, and she excelled at keeping her power hidden. He’d only figured it out when she’d spilled coffee on her blouse and used an ancient curse that no powerless human would have uttered.

  Traditionally, the curse invited a demon to feast on the heart of an enemy, but it also required a phoenix feather for the requisite summoning. As phoenixes had left this realm long ago, the words themselves had become a sort of catch-all phrase for frustrated magic-users. The curse had gotten his attention, and the woman had kept it.

  Luc reached the top of the stairs and listened in the dark. The old house shifted with nearly imperceptible groans, but no other sounds of movement reached him. Samantha laid her hand against his back, and when he glanced at her, nodded toward her bedroom.

  The blackout shades covered her window, so Luc allowed Samantha past him into the room. He closed and locked the door behind them, but stopped her from flipping the switch on the overhead light. Anything outside would see the light come on around the edges of her curtain, and the screen saver on her computer monitor provided plenty of illumination.

  He felt more than saw the glare, but she didn’t waste time arguing. She entered her password and her email came up, but the icon only spun ineffectually. No connection. Samantha grunted in frustration and pushed away from her desk.

  Luc had suspected as much. “Magic, then. That seemed the more likely scenario. We’ll have to adjust our plan. Without backup, we need to find another way out of your lovely home.”

  Samantha hauled a half-empty backpack out of her tiny closet, dumped her grocery bag inside, and bent to tie on a pair of sneakers. “How fast do you think those redcaps are?”

  “It’s not their feet you should be concerned about outrunning. Those daggers aren’t only for show, and whatever magic they’ve picked up would find us long before we could make our escape.”

  “I have an idea about that.”

  Luc expected her to give in to frustration or despair, but he should have known better. Samantha didn’t back down from a challenge. She straightened and tied her hair back out of her face, a warrior prepared for battle in athleisure wear.

  “Let’s hear it, love.”

  SAMANTHA

&
nbsp; Samantha ignored the ‘love’ and pulled her shirt away from her sticky skin. Apparently, being under attack in her own home made her sweaty. “I think I can reprogram my protection spells to keep things in instead of out.”

  Luc cocked his head. “It would take a massive amount of power to hold two factions of redcaps when they’ve scented prey.”

  She shook her head. “Feedback loop, remember? The more they push against it, the harder it will hold.”

  “The only way to achieve that level of control is to make the spell extremely fixed.”

  Samantha winced. She’d hoped he wouldn’t notice that detail. Her house was her fortress, thanks in part to the mage who’d trained her. He’d shown her how to augment her power with sigils and stone. As long as she stayed inside, the circle protected her without needing much power on her part. The system became less useful when the mechanics were common knowledge.

  “Fascinating. Let’s try it. If it fails to succeed, we’ll use your teleportation as a last-ditch effort and hope luck is on our side.” Luc’s magic probed the bubble of protection she’d made around the house, but Samantha smacked his arm.

  “You can explore my system all you want later. Right now, we need to go back downstairs.” She strapped her bag across her back and waited for him to jump at her opening, but Luc surprised her.

  He eyed her for a moment. “The pantry?”

  “What?”

  “The pantry. You’d need somewhere secure and mostly private. In addition, the floors in that inconsequential room are better taken care of than elsewhere.”

  “I’m going to choose not to be offended by that since I take very good care of my home. How did you know?”

  Luc shrugged and hurried her to the stairs. “I pay attention.”

  They made it halfway down before pain ripped through Samantha’s head again. She must have made a noise because Luc turned and cursed when he saw her bent over and rubbing her temples.

  Samantha shooed him forward. “Move faster.”