Academy of Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Valkyrie Book 2)

by Linsey Hall

Something was changing within me. More magic—new magic—swelled within my chest. Trying to break free.

  Instinct drove me to press my hands to Cade’s chest. He was hard and warm. On fire.

  He flinched, surprised. His gaze rose to my own. A connection flared between us as I fed my magic into him, giving him a healing light that flowed from my chest, down my arms, and into him.

  He gasped quietly, lips parting. Confusion creased his brow.

  “What are you doing?” he murmured.

  “No idea.” My gaze raced over him, looking for signs of improvement.

  In my head, the voice whispered, More! More! Heal him.

  I followed its command, feeding him more magic.

  “The pain is fading,” he murmured. “How?”

  “Still no idea.” My breath grew short as the last of my magic flowed into him. I sagged, barely able to prop myself up against the hard ground.

  Cade surged upright, the water sloshing, and reached for me. His strong arms held me upright, keeping me from collapsing on the ground. Warmth flowed into me, tension and pleasure. Despite my exhaustion—and confusion and fear—my body heated, drawn to Cade.

  I looked up at him, suddenly aware of his nakedness. Of the miles of muscles that were pressed against me. Of his closeness.

  My breath caught, heat racing across my skin as visions of him kissing me raced through my head.

  Then a voice came from the door to the room, jerking me out of my trance. “Alateivia.”

  Chapter Eight

  I looked over. An old man stood in the doorway, his gaze riveted on me. Not to the giant naked god who was holding me—but on me.

  “Alateivia,” he murmured, shaking his head. He made a symbol with his hands—something like making the sign of the cross, but a Fae version, I assumed. Then backed out of the room.

  “What the hell?” I scrambled away from Cade and stood.

  He sank back into the water, concealing himself. “You healed me.”

  “Did I?” I thought I had, but honestly, this whole thing was a mind scrambler.

  “You did. I feel totally better.” Awe lightened his features.

  Emrys hurried into the room, his face creased with confusion and a tray of sandwiches in his hands. “What happened? Grandfather said he’d seen a ghost and went to his room.”

  “I have no idea,” I said. “Can I speak to him?”

  I wanted to know why he’d said Alateivia. What did that mean? Had he been talking to me?

  “He’ll have returned to his trance,” Emrys said. “He spends most of his time in meditation. Once he’s in that state, he can’t be woken.”

  Crap. “Do you know why he would have said Alateivia?”

  Emrys shook his head. “No idea.” His gaze moved to Cade. “You look a lot better, man.”

  Cade nodded but didn’t say anything about me healing him. I kept my mouth shut, too. I didn’t know what the hell was happening to my new magic, but I wasn’t about to share it around.

  As soon as we returned to the Protectorate, I was going straight to the library to look up Alateivia. And Rán. And Njord. I needed answers—and I needed them now.

  Exhaustion hit me, making me sway. Actually, what I needed now was a shower and a nap. Using up all my magic to heal Cade had left me wobbly.

  “We’ve got a spare room you can sleep in,” Emrys said. “Just one bed, though.”

  He looked a bit sad, as if realizing his dream of picking me up was fading. Ah, well. There were more girls where I came from.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” Emrys said. “We can talk about why you’re here then.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “Do you mind if I shower?”

  “All yours. Room is the one at the end of the hall on the left.”

  “Thank you.” And boy, did I mean it. “Without you, we’d be screwed.”

  He nodded, then put the sandwiches on the counter near the door. “Here’s some food if you want it. Night.”

  “Thank you,” Cade said.

  I turned to face the wall, away from Cade. “I’ll give you a few minutes.”

  “Thanks.” The water splashed, and this time, since he was healthy again, I could really imagine what he looked like without feeling guilty. Tall and muscled and naked.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose. I really needed to get a hold of myself.

  We worked together, for fate’s sake. Like, really worked together—on cases and everything.

  Total conflict of interest, just like he’d said.

  “I’m out,” he said.

  I just nodded, trying to get my breathing under control. A moment later, I turned around. He was gone.

  Whew.

  It didn’t take me long to strip down and take a quick shower. The hot water pounded away at my sore muscles, feeling like heaven. I had no idea how this ancient desert town managed their plumbing, but right now, I really didn’t care.

  Once I was clean, I hopped out of the shower and scrubbed off with the thin green cloth that hung on the wall, then scarfed down some of the strange sandwiches that were filled with meat I definitely didn’t recognize. Not PB&J, my fave, but I’d eat anything right now.

  I found the bedroom at the end of the hall where Cade and I would spend the night.

  It was dark inside, with no windows and only a low-burning candle on the bedside table. Cade was a lump under the covers on the far side of the bed, still as a log.

  I had no idea if he was asleep, but I wouldn’t put it past him to fake it. It was what I’d do if I’d come in here first.

  As quiet as I could, I toed off my boots and blew out the candle, then slipped into bed next to him, climbing under the covers. The chill in the air was a marked contrast to Cade’s heat from the other side of the bed.

  I lay silent and stiff, tension vibrating through every muscle. There were only inches between us, a tiny space that buzzed with energy. All sorts of thoughts—sexy ones that I’d just die if he could read—raced through my mind.

  Ages passed as I stared blindly at the ceiling, until finally, exhaustion pulled me deep into slumber.

  Terror raced through my veins like acid, and my lungs burned as I ran through the quiet streets of Death Valley Junction.

  “Rowan!” I yelled. “This isn’t funny!”

  I squinted down a darkened alley that was lit only by moonlight. A tumbleweed rolled past, but no Rowan.

  “Rowan!” Fear and anger vibrated in my voice.

  “I don’t think she’s hiding.” Terror laced Ana’s words. She ran at my side, hunting for our sister. We hadn’t seen Rowan in hours, ever since she’d gone out to the truck at the side of the house.

  “Where the hell could she be though?” In truth, I was terrified of the answer.

  Ana stopped, panting. I stopped, too, my heart thundering, and turned to her.

  Ana’s blonde hair was done up in a mohawk, and heavy black makeup marked her eyes. She’d started wearing the style a year ago on her seventeenth birthday. Tears streaked down through the black eye paint.

  “I think they got her.” Ana’s voice broke.

  They. The shadowy figures who’d driven us from our home when we were children. Our mother had taken us and run, and we’d managed to stay hidden for over a decade.

  Until now.

  “But why would they take just her?” I asked. “If they managed to find us despite our concealment charms, why only take her?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I spun in a circle, the night heat pressing down on me. The streets of Death Valley Junction were empty. We’d spent the last two hours combing all the bars and alleys, but we’d had no luck.

  “I can’t believe she’s gone,” I said. We’d had no trouble since we’d moved here four years ago after our mother’s death. And now?

  Rowan was gone.

  My heart tore in two as the reality sank in. My sister. Gone. Taken by those who hunted us.

  I woke, a cry strangli
ng in my throat. Wet tears streaked down my temples and into my hair.

  Warm arms—strong arms—wrapped around me. Comforting. Constraining.

  I thrashed, breaking free.

  “Are you all right?” Worry edged Cade’s voice.

  I blinked, my vision returning. We were in bed together—the tiny one in the Fae apartment, I realized. I scrambled to sit upright, my heart pounding and tears still rolling down my cheeks.

  Cade sat next to me, worry on his face. “What is it?”

  I sucked in a ragged breath, trying to stop the tears long enough to talk. It was that awful, gasping kind of moment where you can’t get a word out.

  Cade opened his arms just enough to be an invitation. I gave in, falling into his arms and weeping, and pain tore through my chest. I hadn’t dreamt of Rowan’s disappearance in years. And it’d felt like I was back there—reliving it.

  After a while, the dream faded, along with the grief. Embarrassment was quick to rush into its place.

  We were colleagues, not in a relationship. And all I’d done was lust after Cade or cry on him.

  I wanted to be cool and collected, not a mess of emotion.

  But there was no denying it—I was one big mess. Of emotion, magic. A disaster.

  “What’s wrong?” Cade asked.

  I scrubbed my hands over my face to get rid of the tears. “Nothing.”

  “Aye, Bree. That looks like nothing.” He squeezed my shoulder, then dropped his hand. His expression was pure acceptance. No judgment.

  I sighed, my breath ragged. “I dreamed about the time my sister went missing.”

  “You mentioned her before.”

  “It’s pretty much the defining moment of my life. And Ana’s. We want to find her.”

  “Understandable.” His gaze turned serious. “When this is over, it will be our priority to find her.”

  “Thank you.” Hope flared in my chest. He’d offered to help before, but I was glad we were moving up the timeline. I couldn’t bear to wait anymore. Even if I hadn’t proved myself to the Protectorate yet, I wanted their help finding Rowan as much as I hated accepting it.

  Taking help from anyone for any reason had always rubbed me wrong—but Ana and I had already tried everything we could to locate Rowan.

  If she was even still alive.

  I shook away the horrible thought, unwilling to go there. Positivity was the only way forward. Action, above all else.

  And if I was going to find Rowan, I needed to save the Protectorate. It was my home now. And it was my best shot at finding Rowan.

  “We’ll find her, Bree,” Cade repeated.

  Warmth filled me. It was a light of hope and gratitude and joy and just sheer liking Cade. Our time together—as fraught with danger as it’d been—had proven to me that I liked him. I wasn’t just attracted to him. It was more than that.

  And I needed to shove it down deep and focus on the task at hand.

  I climbed out of bed, breaking the spell of intimacy with Cade. “Let’s get going. I feel like we’re getting close to answers.”

  Cade nodded and climbed out of bed. We pulled on our shoes and left the room, following a savory smell.

  Emrys was inside a kitchen, pulling a kettle off the stove. The space was more rustic than the kitchens I was used to, but the food on the table was obviously breakfast.

  “You sleep all right?” Emrys asked.

  “Aye, thank you,” Cade said.

  We sat.

  Emrys gestured to the food, which looked like some kind of porridge. “Help yourself.”

  I filled a heaping bowl and dug in. The porridge tasted a bit like savory leaves—which was pretty freaking weird—but I was so hungry that it was good anyway.

  Emrys took the chair across from us. “So, what brings you here? Clearly, you’re after something.”

  I nodded, swallowing. “The dark curse that’s spreading over this realm. What is it?”

  “No idea. It started a week ago and has been getting worse every day.”

  Only a week?!

  “Worse?” Cade asked.

  “Yep.” Emrys pointed to the wall. “It’s crumbling more than it was before. It’s the curse’s fault. And people have been more irritable the last week—more than usual. I think it’s one of the reasons they attacked so quickly last night. Normally, it’d take more than that to get them to shift into their fighting form.”

  Shit. This was what would happen to the Protectorate if the curse spread. “So it’s like a destruction curse of some kind?”

  “I think so.”

  “Why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?” Cade asked.

  “The source of the curse is coming from the abandoned village of Eidollawn. No one is willing to go there, except me.”

  “Why? What’s there?”

  “Nothing except the VDBs. They took it as their main roost when they invaded hundreds of years ago. There are thousands there.” Sadness glinted in his blue eyes. “When the VDB arrived, most of our people left, going to another realm. Those of us that refused to go—or weren’t allowed to, because we were locked in the jail—stick to this village. No one—and I mean no one—goes to Eidollawn. Except me.”

  “Why do you go?” Cade asked.

  “Scavenging. There aren’t a lot of ways to make a living here, and I don’t want to join a gang.” He shrugged. “A few years ago, I found tunnels into Eidollawn. I sneak through the houses and take things I can sell. It’s not like those people need it anyway. They’re long dead and gone.”

  “You haven’t tried to get other people to go to Eidollawn to stop the curse from spreading? And how does it come from there?”

  “I did try to convince the Elders. But like I said, everyone is irritable. They weren’t willing to listen. And there’s a terrible taboo surrounding Eidollawn, anyway. They weren’t willing to consider it. Until now, I haven’t even told people it’s where I get my goods.”

  “I can’t believe the Elders won’t do anything about it.” I didn’t know what a Fae Elder was, exactly. But the name Elder made me think of kindly guardians.

  Emrys shrugged. “We’ve lived through terrible things before—they assume we’ll live through this, too. But I’m not so sure.”

  “The curse spreads quickly,” Cade said. “It’s only been a week.”

  “Are you trying to imply that they could come around?” Emrys laughed. “Because I don’t think so.”

  “It doesn’t matter either way,” Cade said. “We’re here to stop it. Can you take us to the source of the curse?”

  “Is it a person?” I asked.

  “A portal,” Emrys said.

  A portal. Which meant that dark magic was coming from somewhere else, spreading through this land, and then through our portal into the Protectorate.

  Were they targeting us on purpose? “Where does the portal go?”

  “I have no idea,” Emrys said. “It hasn’t been there long. Only a couple weeks. I never had the guts to go into it.”

  “Can’t blame you,” I said.

  “The portal is coming from a well in the center of Eidollawn. I took the information to the Elders and struck out.”

  “And you went to the bar after,” I said.

  “What better place to drink my sorrows?” He grinned, suddenly looking so young. “And it brought me to you two. The ones who will help. It’s fate.”

  “Fate.” I believed in fate. I had to believe in fate. I’d been a leaf blowing in the wind my whole life. The moment I got a bit of control—like over our life in Death Valley—was the moment that something went haywire.

  So I had to believe in fate—that there was a reason all this crazy shit happened to me.

  “Exactly,” Emrys said. “I’ll take you to Eidollawn. But I won’t return to the portal.”

  “Why not?” Cade asked.

  “Scary as hell, man.” Emrys shook his head, his face pale. “Why do you think I hightailed it away from there and told the Elders? Then went to
drink it away when they said they wouldn’t help?”

  “It’s fine,” I placated. I didn’t want to lose Emrys. We needed him. “Can we go now?”

  Emrys nodded and stood. “Yeah. My grandfather will sleep most of the day, so I can go. I just need to be back by nightfall to sit with him.”

  “All right.” We’d run into a lot of considerate young men in this Fae world.

  “Come on.” Emrys led us out of the house.

  We followed him down the narrow street toward the right. The city was quiet this early in the morning. Though it wasn’t bright, sunlight gleamed through the cracks in the wooden roof, shining sharp rays of light on the street below.

  We made our way down to the ground level at the far edge of town. We were on the other side of the town from where we’d entered, if my sense of direction was leading me right.

  The scent of animals filled the streets here.

  “I have a carriage,” Emrys said.

  Carriage? As in horse and…?

  He led us into a large stable where strange Fae horses stamped their feet and whinnied.

  Yep. Horse and carriage.

  It made sense that they didn’t have cars, since this place had pretty much frozen in time hundreds of years ago. Still, I wished we had the buggy.

  Emrys was quick in gathering four horses—if one could call the horned, fanged creatures horses—and attaching them to a sleek-looking carriage.

  I walked around the vehicle, appreciating its lines. The tires were large and sturdy, while the body was simple. Just a bench and cargo bed in the back.

  “I bet this goes fast,” I said.

  “Sure does.” Emrys patted the neck of the horse. “Built it myself just for this journey.”

  The horse turned to look at me, yellow eyes gleaming. The creature’s hair looked like it was made of glittering amber, and its horns sparkled with golden light.

  Emrys climbed up onto the seat. “Come on.”

  We climbed up next to him, and he snapped the reins. The four horses started trotting, their gait higher than that of a normal horse. We neared the large barn doors, and they swung open.

  Morning sun blazed into the dimly lit barn, and Emrys grinned. “I don’t know how people stay cooped up in there all the time. I’d go crazy if I didn’t get out occasionally.”