Smoke and Magic: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (Touched By Magic: Dragon Book 2)

by Ashley Meira

  Mirrors were on my no-look list this week, so I had no idea what state my face was in. Terrible, if that was all he could say. “How’s Adrienne?”

  “Angry.” He frowned. “Has she always been that scary?”

  “Only when you try to baby her.”

  “She was kidnapped and almost sacrificed to an evil sea witch.”

  I shrugged. “She’s stubborn. Did the doctor clear her?”

  “The doctor fired her after she made him cry. Adam offered his personal healer. He’s checking her out now.” He paused, shooting me a quick glance. “Fiona will probably bring her over when he’s done. Try to cheer you up. I actually had stuff baking for you. She said she’d take it out of the oven, but you know Fiona.”

  “Adrienne’s a water mage. She can put the fire out.”

  “She’s an ice mage.”

  “You were at her apartment, right? It’s not like your place will burn down.”

  He raised a brow. “I’m not sure if I should be baking you more cookies or less.”

  I shrugged, and we dropped back into silence. Ollie seemed intent on eating his cheeks whole, so I decided to get dressed in case I needed to rush him to the hospital. I froze, one leg in my pants. If that was the case, I shouldn’t have put on my hippo print PJs.

  “People wear PJs to the E.R., right?”

  He blinked, his cheeks like a pair of tomatoes. “You’re topless.”

  I turned around and pulled my pants on before grabbing the matching camisole. “It’s not like there’s anything to see.”

  “There’s stuff there.” When I turned, he was waving a finger at my chest while staring at the ground. “Can we talk?”

  I raised a brow as he went back to biting his cheeks. “We’ve been talking.”

  “I spoke to my dad,” he said, his eyes darting around the room. “I mentioned what you did that night. With the mage who grabbed me.”

  Slowly, I walked back to my seat. Ollie’s dad was a Fireborn admirer, but that didn’t mean he knew anything about them. “How is your dad?”

  “Good,” he said softly, still looking away from me. “He was pretty excited to hear I wanted to know about Fireborns. That’s what it was, you know.” He caught my eye and quickly dropped his head. “What you did — Magic Break — my dad said it’s an ability that traces back to one of the first Fireborn, Anastasia.”

  “Anathasia,” I corrected, hugging my knees.

  “You knew,” he said. “I thought you might not, but you do.”

  I inhaled, my chest burning like I’d swallowed fire. Was this really happening? I knew I shouldn’t have left the tub. “What exactly did you tell him?”

  “I didn’t use your name, if that’s what you mean. He doesn’t know I was asking about you.”

  “Finally!” Adrienne said as she and Fiona stepped through her portal. “If that man—”

  “Seth,” Fiona said.

  “—asks me how I’m feeling one more time, I’ll freeze him and smash his face in with a chair.”

  Fiona stepped back. “Being kidnapped has made you mean.”

  “I took a blow to the head,” she muttered. “I didn’t get shot. You people are overreacting.”

  I didn’t have x-ray vision, but Adrienne looked perfectly fine on the outside. She was back to her impeccably groomed appearance, and her hair had never looked shinier. Must’ve been from being in the water or something else related to nereids — I refused to believe she just had amazing hair no matter what she went through.

  “Maybe.” Fiona frowned at us. “But that doesn’t explain the tension in this room. What’s up, guys?”

  “Sophia was just about to tell us the truth,” Ollie said, finally meeting my eyes. For once, I wished he hadn’t.

  Fiona’s eyes threatened to swallow her face, and she seemed to have forgotten how to blink. Adrienne looked between the three of us, trying to gauge the situation.

  “I see,” she finally said. “The truth about what?”

  “About what she is,” he said, his voice getting harder. “About what she can do.” His eyes bore into mine. “That tidal wave nearly killed us. Then it vanished.”

  “The necklace only held part of Seraphine’s soul,” Fiona stammered. “It probably wasn’t strong enough to—”

  “I’m Fireborn,” I blurted out.

  The air left the room. Adrienne turned a shade of green I’d only seen on Cheza while Ollie looked like I just shot him. He hadn’t been expecting such bluntness, it seemed. Neither had I.

  “But she’s not evil,” Fiona said. “She’s a total pain in my ass, but she’s not evil. She just saved the city! And other cities. And us. Plus—”

  Adrienne held a hand up before running it down her dress, smoothing non-existent wrinkles. Then she did it again. And again. Until wrinkles actually started to form. Then, she smoothed those.

  If I hadn’t been eating like an anorexic bird lately, I’d have thrown up. I settled for letting my stomach acid churn as I chewed on my lower lip. No tears though. Not yet. Despite the thrumming of my nerves, I held onto hope.

  “How long have you known?” Ollie stammered. “I mean, did you just figure it out recently, or have you always known?”

  Fiona and I exchanged looks.

  “Define recently,” I said, shoving a hand through my wet hair.

  “Perhaps you should start at the beginning,” Adrienne said.

  My lungs still burned, but I took a breath and started talking. Turned out, it was easier to spill my guts than I thought. It was like a faucet. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. The words rolled off my tongue — my first memory of waking up in that cell, my magic, the nightmares I’d been having, Nicholas, Diana, whatever the hell their plans were.

  “I thought I saw something on your leg,” Ollie said.

  Yesterday, I’d have joked about him peeping. Today, I lifted my pant leg and showed them the brand on my thigh. They both sucked in a breath at the sight. Neither had looked pleased before, but their expressions dropped further.

  They remained silent after that. Fiona sat on the table in front of me, her fingers twining with mine. I gave her hands a squeeze before speaking again.

  “Harboring a Fireborn carries a severe punishment.” I sounded like shit. Looked like it too, apparently. “Too severe. That’s not even counting Nicholas.” I swallowed. His name still felt odd on my lips. “I can understand if you don’t want to be my friend anymore.”

  Fresh laundry assaulted my nose, so out of place in this situation. “I don’t,” Ollie ground out, his magic flaring further. “I don’t understand. What the hell?”

  Adrienne let out a deep breath. “Honestly, I’m insulted.”

  “Huh?” Fiona said.

  “We’ve known each other for three years.” Ollie stood up. “You’ve been lying to us for three years! Yeah, yeah,” he said when I started to protest. “You wanted to protect us. Blah, blah, blah.”

  “What kind of people do you think we are?” Adrienne asked. Unlike Ollie, her voice was calm. However, there was no missing the displeased snapping of her magic. “And now you have the nerve to try recusing yourself?”

  “Hey, I’m supposed to be a bad guy.” Ollie mimicked my voice eerily well. “I’m going to lie to my friends about it, then give them a chance to walk away like I’m such a nice person. Well, you’re not. You’re a dumb person. You can’t have it both ways.”

  “Truly,” Adrienne said. “Do you think we’d abandon you over this? You risked outing yourself to save Ollie’s life — not to mention all you went through to save me. Ollie told me what a wreck you were the entire time I was gone.”

  “But you think we’re such pricks that we’d hate you for something you were born with,” Ollie added, his freckles hidden under an angry flush. “Born as. Whatever! The only thing that pisses me off is that you didn’t trust us enough to tell the truth.” With that, he dropped back in his seat and crossed his arms.

  “We’re supposed to be your best friend
s.” Adrienne’s magic calmed, leaving remnants of hurt and disappointment in the air. “Family, even.”

  I looked back at Fiona. My shock, and guilt, was reflected in her gaze. They were right. I shouldn’t have doubted them. We were family. I wouldn’t leave them behind if they were Fireborns. How could I have ever thought they’d cut me off?

  “I’m sorry.” I sniffed, fighting the burning in my eyes. No. More. Tears. Not until New Year’s — and then only if someone stabbed me. “You’re right. It’s just….”

  “We woke up alone,” Fiona finished. “And scared. In some dark place where everyone wanted to hurt us. Then, we spent five years on the run, living off scraps away from society. When we came here—” Her lower lip trembled and she rubbed her eyes. “Damn it.”

  “You made us feel right at home,” I continued. “You took us in. We didn’t want to trust anyone, but you were always there for us. We thought the least we could do was protect you. We didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  Fiona sniffled. “We trust you with our lives.”

  “Good.” Ollie puffed his chest out. “Remember that next time you pull a dumb stunt like this.”

  “Which will be never.” Adrienne gave us a sharp look.

  “So, can we hug now?” Ollie said. “Because I’m not really good at the authoritarian thing.”

  I leapt into his arms. He wasn’t as strong as Adam, so it was lucky he was sitting down. The four of us almost caused the chair to topple, but we held on anyway.

  “I regret suggesting a hug,” Ollie mumbled.

  Adrienne shushed him and hugged us tighter. “Thank you for understanding. And for telling us the truth.”

  “You know what we need?” Fiona said. “A movie night. Now that Adrienne is single again—”

  “Urgh!” Adrienne scowled. “Do not remind me of that worm.”

  “—we can do things the old-fashioned way.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “I’ll get my laptop,” Fiona said. “Unless you want to ask Adam if we can use his theater.”

  I felt like a deer in the headlights. “Crap.”

  “You haven’t told him?” Ollie asked with wide eyes. “Dude, tell him. He literally spoke about having babies with you. He won’t care.”

  “Excuse me?” Adrienne’s brows hit her hairline. “Who is having babies?”

  “No one is having babies!” I sat up. “We’re using the laptop. Fiona, did you take Ollie’s food out of the oven?”

  “Oh.” Fiona flashed Ollie a pretty smile. “Oopsie.”

  His jaw dropped. “My tarts!”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I woke up in a puppy pile of limbs and familiar magic. Ollie was snoring in my ear, his breaths quieter than Fiona’s. Adrienne nuzzled my stomach, her midnight black hair still flawless after hours of sleep. I wouldn’t have minded being a nereid instead of Fireborn.

  Closing my eyes, I felt around the house for the thing I wanted most. Pine tickled my nose, and the face I’d been dreaming of entered my mind once more. As nice as it was waking up surrounded by friends, I preferred waking up with Adam. Not that I’d ever admit that out loud. Each of the peacefully slumbering angels around me would scratch my eyes out.

  I slipped out of bed and watched with a smile as the three of them rearranged themselves to hug each other. My chest tightened. I was one lucky girl. Casting them one last glance, I exited the room.

  Hopefully, my luck would hold.

  My stomach started growling the second I stepped into Adam’s home theater. He was hunched over a table in the front, laying out delicious-smelling food. Melted cheese, cooked meat, and hot bread — pizza. I placed my hands on my stomach to prevent it from leaping out and devouring everything in sight.

  “Hey,” I said shyly, lingering by the door.

  “Hey.” His smile was blinding. He ran a hand through his hair and nodded to the table. “This was supposed to be a surprise. Ollie said you’d be up in six hours.”

  I raised a brow. The little gnome had drugged me with his stupid desserts. If he wasn’t surrounded by two vipers who’d eat me alive if awakened, I’d go upstairs and kill him. He probably knew that too. Butthead.

  Adam held an arm out but didn’t move toward me. My plan had been to tell him here, then run. Like a total freakin’ coward, sure, but at least I’d have gotten it out. Now? I all but ran toward him.

  Halfway down, my palm smacked into a chair. I clutched it for dear life and walked the rest of the way with a semblance of calm. That all went out the window when I saw the food laid out before me.

  Pizza, macaroni and cheese, French onion soup, duck — actual duck that came from the market instead of being hunted and half-cooked by two starved girls — and a smorgasbord of desserts that smelled of Ollie’s magic. I swallowed hard, my steel will melting. Did I really have to tell him?

  Adam dropped his hand. Crap. I didn’t mean to ignore him, but I couldn’t bring myself to reach for him. What if I couldn’t let go?

  “You didn’t have to go through all this trouble.” My voice was raspy, but my eyes burned more than my throat.

  He shrugged, his face as impassive as ever. “It’s pizza Wednesday.”

  “It’s Monday. Or Tuesday. Not sure.”

  “You missed last week’s pizza Wednesday because of assassins, remember? Can you really say no to all this food?” His eyes were teasing, the corner of his lips quirked up.

  I stepped back. Gluttony aside, it felt rude to reject all the effort he’d put into setting this up. When all else failed, I defaulted back to my original defense: terrible humor. “What’s the catch?”

  “Hmm….” He wiggled his fingers. “You have to hold my hand.”

  I couldn’t resist. My fingers laced through his, the warmth of his skin lighting up every inch in my body.

  “Perfect. Now, we can eat.”

  “Adam….” I shook my head but didn’t let go. “I—”

  “Or we can go to your place. Pizza and the ocean. What’s not to like?” he said, shooting me a wink.

  “I’m not living on your yacht.” Fighting his charm was difficult, but my frazzled nerves made it easier. “Fiona said you offered to help with our repairs. Thank you. We’ll pay you back.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” His thumb stroked my knuckles.

  I didn’t want to pull away. I also didn’t want to have the conversation we needed to have. And I couldn’t enjoy everything he’d prepared yet. Maybe at all.

  All I could think to say was, “How are you?”

  “I’m great — in tip-top shape.” He thumped his chest with his free hand. “My healer’s pretty amazing.”

  “Seraphine hit you really hard,” I said softly.

  “Not as hard as I thought she would. Good thing she wasn’t at full strength.” Adam stepped forward until I could feel the heat from his chest. “Seriously, I’m fine. Check for yourself.”

  A cursory examination revealed nothing, but something was still bothering me. I frowned, realizing what was wrong. Something was off. Something had been off since Symeon woke up and told us about Seraphine. My attraction for him had put rose-colored goggles over my eyes, but now I could see clearly.

  “Is something bothering you?” I asked.

  “I missed you.” He was still smiling and holding my hand, but now I noticed the tension in his grip and the clouds in his normally clear eyes. “You’ve been avoiding me for three days.”

  “I have,” I admitted. “I’ve been thinking about things.”

  “About moving into my yacht? You should. Fiona will kill you if she hears you said no.”

  “What aren’t you telling me?” The hypocrisy slapped me across the face, but I took it like a champ. First him, then me. Anything to prolong our time together — just in case things didn’t go well.

  “A lot of things. For example, I’m not fond of carrots.” He pursed his lips when he noticed my displeased expression. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “I was feeling gu
ilty.”

  “For offering me your—”

  “Don’t call it a palace.”

  “—castle?”

  “Nice.”

  I placed a kiss on his knuckles. It felt nice, with his warm skin under my lips. No wonder he was always doing it to me.

  “For that night,” he finally said. “After Symeon was attacked. You were clearly upset about what happened—”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I forced myself to withhold all beatdowns on his face until he had a chance to explain. “That night was amazing. If you regret it—”

  “Not at all.” He cupped my cheek, placing his thumb over my lips. “That’s not what I meant. You were upset about those events. Understandably so. I can’t think of anyone who would be okay after running into someone with their exact face.” He sighed, pressing his forehead to mine. The extra contact felt wonderful, but my temper had been prodded, and I refused to enjoy it. “I was so relieved you managed to relax by the end of the night that I didn’t realize you might’ve been acting on those emotions.” He let go of me, his fingers sliding from mine, and looked away. “I felt like I might’ve been taking advantage.”

  Taking advantage?

  I shoved him. Hard. Harder than I ever had, enough that he hit the ground.

  “You jerk!” I cried, my vision blurred with tears. Frustrated didn’t even begin to cover what I was feeling. “I’m not some— You actually thought— I wouldn’t do that— I trusted you!”

  “Sophia—”

  “And you think I was just using you to feel better? Ass!” I wiped my eyes, my skin burning at the harshness of my movements.

  “I’m sor—”

  “You’re damn right you’re sorry!” I crossed my arms and turned away, refusing to think it was sweet he’d felt guilty at all. Most guys wouldn’t have thought of it that way. He did. But he was still a jerk. A stupid, caring jerk who always put my interests first. I felt him come closer. “Don’t touch me!”

  His arms wrapped around me. So much for my interests first. He kissed the curve of my ear. “I’m sorry. Please don’t cry.”

  “I’m not crying,” I said, wiping more tears away. I couldn’t be crying. It wasn’t New Year’s, and no one had stabbed me. Except he had. He’d stabbed my heart. “I’m pissed.”