She was pretty sure she was only going to get one shot at this.
“It’s never personal,” Marrow said. “Though it is fortuitous. I was, of course, hoping to find you at the other side of this vortex, but I never imagined I’d have the good fortune of finding Geoffrey and his attack dog as well.”
Emily’s bodyguard let out a low growl that reverberated through the bookcases. It was a terrifying sound, full of malice and warning. It was enough to make Nicole’s fingers still on the dial for a moment.
The snarl didn’t have the same effect on Marrow, though. He emitted a laugh that chilled Nicole down to the bone.
“Please don’t take offense, cur,” the fae said. “Just imagine the glory you’ll bring me when I return to the King with three heads instead of one.”
“I’m harder to kill than you think,” Fenrir snarled.
“Perhaps back home. But here, on this middle world, you are nothing more than another stray dog needing to be put down,” Marrow said. “Or perhaps you’re worried about the fate of the woman you’re so bravely trying to protect?”
“Don’t come near me,” Emily said with a shaking voice.
No. That pasty bastard wasn’t going to hurt her friend. Nicole turned the dial a little faster. Last number. She only needed a couple more seconds.
“You must be the mortal who has been helping these criminals,” Marrow said. “Don’t worry, my dear. There was no way your unsophisticated mind could fully understand the consequences of your actions. That’s why while your friends’ deaths will be long and agonizing, yours will be swift and painless.”
Nicole froze at his words. In an instant anger replaced her fear. Who did these bastards think they were, crashing into her store and threatening her friend?
Suddenly, she didn’t give a rat’s ass what these creatures were or where they’d come from. She clenched her fingers around the dial and wrenched it into its final position.
Thick inner bolts slid back, clanking loudly. Century-old hinges creaked as the door swung open, but Nicole didn’t care who heard.
The time had come.
A powerful force poured out of the safe. One that Nicole had felt plenty of times before, but never this strong, never this intense. The slight tingles she’d felt before when she’d held the book now shook her with the force of a storm crashing waves against the rocks.
Her grandpa had been right.
The book knew.
It knew, and it was ready.
And so was she.
Nicole reached inside the safe and grasped the ancient tome. Pulses of electric energy shot up her arms, meeting in the center of her chest. It stung, but she held on, trusting her grandfather’s words.
The book will tell you.
She hoisted the book out, jumped to her feet, and let the heavy weight fall down onto the countertop.
“What is this trickery?” Marrow snarled.
Nicole looked up to see everyone in the room, mortal and fae, staring at her with slack jaws.
“Nicole,” Shay cried out. “No.”
So, he did know her name.
The book will tell you.
Nicole slapped an open palm down on the cover. Her other she held out, straight and strong, in front of her. She drew in a deep breath. Her heart hammered. She listened to the thrum of power pooling inside her.
It didn’t tell her a damned thing.
Not until she saw Marrow grab the spear of the soldier next to him. He pointed it at Shay as he rushed forward.
“Get out!” The command poured out of her, and all the power that had pooled in her chest burst out all at once.
She had one second of complete and profound satisfaction as the store filled with a blinding gold light…and then searing pain swallowed her whole.
Chapter Three
No.
Disbelief rushed through Shay’s head. The rush of magic that filled the room was profound and blinding. The entire shop filled with a powerful energy. Shay instinctually closed his eyes against the brightness, but even with his hands cupped hard over his eyes, the light still found a way in.
The flash lingered for a full second before dissipating. Shay didn’t dare wait any longer before opening his eyes. The blast had been strong, but if he had survived it, then chances were so had Marrow and his men.
Sparkles still danced in Shay’s vision as he spun around, looking for the aftermath of the violent display of power…but there was none. Everything was as it should be. The bookshelves were upright. The papers on the counter were undisturbed. Fenrir still stood with his arms wrapped protectively around Emily. Geoffrey Merlin was hunched over, his arm shielding his eyes.
But Marrow and his men were no longer standing in front of them.
They were gone. Just gone.
But only them. There was no sign of destruction. No blood or smoke. No discarded weapons and armor piled on the floor. The windows and doors were intact, strong and sturdy as ever.
The magic had simply removed the threat.
A banishing spell.
Simple, powerful, and effective—brilliant in its simplicity.
She’d done it.
The bottom dropped out of Shay’s stomach. She’d done it.
Nicole.
She wasn’t there.
Without another thought, Shay propelled himself over the top of the counter, his legs knocking over piles of books in his haste. His heart clenched before his boots hit the ground.
She was on the floor, her body limp. Her arms and legs were crumpled beneath her. She hadn’t been able to catch herself when she fell. She hadn’t been conscious.
It was no wonder. That much power was never meant to be funneled through a mortal woman.
Dozens of questions rushed through his mind. What had she been thinking? Why had she used the grimoire? Why did she have it in the first place? Where had she been hiding it? Most importantly, how did she know how to use magic?
She didn’t, Shay realized.
The book had known how to use her.
Shay hadn’t been prepared for the thrum of power the grimoire had given off when Nicole had first slammed it down on the counter. No one had been. As far as they knew, nothing that powerful had ever been smuggled out of the Realm before.
It seemed they were wrong.
That became clear the moment golden beams of light had surged up from the book and into Nicole’s heart.
He’d tried to stop her. He’d called out to her. There was no way a mortal could survive the power of that much magic.
Shay bent down over her limp body. Her chest wasn’t moving. Her face was completely slack.
No.
He slid his arms underneath her back and scooped her off the ground, easily lifting her deadweight. She didn’t stir. Not even a whisper of breath drifted out of her open mouth.
No.
Cradling her against his body, Shay swept his arm across the counter, tossing aside the books and papers.
“Oh my God. Nicole.”
Shay glanced up to see Emily struggling against Fenrir’s hold. Shay nodded and the wolf let her break free. Emily rushed to her friend’s side. “What the hell happened to her?”
Shay shook his head. The specifics didn’t matter. Explanations could wait until later. All that mattered now were the effects.
“She’s not breathing.” A cold sensation seeped into his blood. He placed his hand over the center of her chest and felt the faintest of flutters. “Her heart is fading fast.”
“Not if I can help it.” Emily pulled herself up on the counter and straddled Nicole’s chest. Placing one hand over the other, she began to rhythmically pound against Nicole’s breastbone.
“What are you doing?” Shay demanded.
“CPR,” she said, exertion filling her words. “I’m trying to keep her heart going until we can get her to a hospital.”
Shay shook his head. “Your doctors won’t be able to help her.”
“Then find somebody who can,” E
mily shouted, obviously not willing to give up on her friend.
Shay shot his gaze over to Merlin. They shared a tense look. Both of them knew what had to be done. Just like they knew Merlin was the only one who could do it.
Shay ground his teeth. As much as he hated the idea of giving Merlin access to all the unchained magic floating through Nicole’s body, he hated the idea of losing her even more.
Shay nodded toward the magician. “Do it.”
Geoffrey Merlin nodded back, and began rolling up his sleeves.
Shay didn’t dwell on the decision. He’d made his choice. Maybe it was mistake; maybe it wasn’t. The only thing that mattered now was keeping Nicole alive long enough for the magician to do his job.
He turned toward Emily, who was still pumping away on Nicole’s chest. “What can I do?”
“Breathe for her.”
Shay’s brows pulled together. “What?”
Emily made a frustrated sound, but the rhythm of her hands over Nicole’s heart stayed steady.
“Open her mouth,” she said as though speaking to a child. “Put yours over it. And breathe for her.”
Shay looked down at Nicole’s slack face. The color of her lips had already begun to turn ashen. The life was draining out of her. Shay pulled down her chin. Her lips parted. He hadn’t been able to stop her from throwing her life away, but he could do this. He could breathe for her.
Nicole was floating. Up and away. Like nothing was holding her down. Like she’d left her body behind.
She wasn’t asleep. She knew that much. What was happening to her now was different. Like nothing she’d ever experienced.
She’d felt like she was taking a journey. Going to a wonderful place filled with love and familiar faces. Somewhere both peaceful and profound. Somewhere that felt like home.
Except she couldn’t get there.
There was a block. A wall. Something keeping her on this side of oblivion. It wouldn’t let her through. No matter how badly she wanted to go.
Not yet.
Nicole didn’t hear the voice as much as she felt it. Something…someone was communicating with her, and it didn’t want her to cross over. Whoever it was, he had the power to keep her perched on the edge of no return.
So she stayed there, hovering between the real and unreal, until she felt a pull. It was sudden, as if a rope had been looped around her chest. Now it was tugging her out of the dark seas of the beyond. With each passing moment the pull became stronger. Faster.
For a moment Nicole fought against the force dragging her back to the light. She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to go back. The place she’d been about to fall into felt like the pinnacle of serenity. Where she was headed now was anything but.
With every pull the unpleasant sensations grew—the aching, the throbbing, the burns that stung every inch of her body.
Her body.
She was back in her broken body, and it screamed in pain.
Nicole’s eyes flew open, but she saw nothing. She instinctively tried to suck in a breath, but her lungs were already full.
A heartbeat later, her vision cleared. Shay’s face pulling away from her own, a look of relief shining clearly in his eyes.
“It’s working,” he said loudly. “She’s coming back to us.”
Nicole glanced down to see Emily straddling her on the counter, but that wasn’t the weirdest thing. No, that would be the blond guy, Geoffrey, looming over her, catching the stream of golden light that flowed up from the center of her chest.
It took Nicole another couple of seconds to realize exactly what she was seeing. It was the same golden light that had come out of the book. The power she had used against the fae. The magic her family had dedicated their lives to protecting. And now this strange man was trying to take it for himself.
“No,” Nicole said, but her voice was too frail to be heard, so she tried to lift her hands to stop him instead. She shouldn’t have bothered. She barely had the strength to wiggle her fingers. But she was alive. They were all alive.
Her grandfather had been right. The book had known what to do.
And she needed its power to be around the next time her friends or her store needed saving.
“Stop.” Nicole tried as hard as she could to get the word out. This time she managed a whisper.
“Ignore her.” The unmistakable timbre of Shay’s voice filled her ears. “Keep going.”
Nicole wanted to fight back, but she simply didn’t have the strength. Not yet anyway…and that was the catch. The more of the magic Geoffrey drew out of her, the stronger she became, but at this rate there was no way she’d be able to stop him until he’d already drawn out every last drop.
With every passing second more and more of Nicole’s strength returned. Once she could move her arms and legs, she started to twist and thrash. It didn’t matter that they were screaming with pain, Nicole was determined to fight.
But the struggle didn’t last long.
“Steady her.” Shay’s strong hands clasped her shoulders, pinning her to the counter. A half-second later, another pair of equally powerful hands wrapped around her ankles. Nicole lifted her head and saw Emily’s bodyguard standing at her feet.
She tilted her chin back, ready to plead with Shay to let her go. She found his dark eyes already fixed on hers. Though his expression was flat, Nicole swore she saw a hint of apology in his gaze.
“It’s okay, Nicole,” he told her. “It’s almost over.”
His jaw tightened as he shot a questioning look at the man drawing the magic from her chest.
“Only a few seconds more,” Geoffrey said.
Shay’s hands tensed, and Nicole knew it wasn’t just to keep her from fighting. Tight lines around his eyes showed his conflicting emotions.
He was conflicted? How the hell did he think she felt?
“You have to stop.” Her voice was stronger now. Much stronger than before. “You have to stop now.”
“He can’t,” Emily said. She reached around Geoffrey’s hand and cupped Nicole’s cheek, trying to soothe her. “If he doesn’t get every last bit of this magic out of you, you’ll die. I just about lost my damned mind thinking we’d lost you a few minutes ago. I won’t let that happen again.”
She’d almost died? Really? So that’s where she’d been.
Damn. Sure, she didn’t want to die, but she had a responsibility to protect the boo—
“Done,” Geoffrey said, rubbing his hands together.
Shay exhaled a long, slow breath above her. His hands relaxed around her arms, and the big guy at her feet followed suit. Emily slid off her legs and down to the floor.
She was free—free to scream, and thrash, and punch to her heart’s content.
The only problem was now that Nicole was back at full strength, there was no fight left in her. Only pain. Searing agony that stabbed into her chest with every breath. She didn’t dare to draw anything deeper than a shallow hiss. It felt as if her chest might cave in completely if she tried.
“Hur—Hurts to brea—” she sputtered. She looked over pleadingly at Emily, who thankfully seemed to know what she was trying to say.
“We need to call ambulance,” she said. “I must have broken her ribs while I was doing chest compressions.”
Chest compressions? Emily had been giving her CPR?
Crap. She really had been close to death. But they’d pulled her back.
“That won’t be necessary,” Geoffrey said. He placed his palm in the center of his chest and briefly closed his eyes. A tiny golden spark briefly lit up his cupped hand, and in an instant, all the pain vanished. Gone in a heartbeat.
The bands around her chest loosened. The burning in her fingers cooled. Even the pounding of that morning’s headache dissipated in the time it took the spark in Geoffrey’s hand to burn away.
Nicole sucked in a huge gulp of air. Relief spread through her body in an instant. Relief, and awe.
Geoffrey had taken all her broken parts and stitche
d them back together with just a touch of his hand. All because he knew how to use the magic inside him.
Suddenly, she knew exactly what he was. She knew what was going on. She understood everything.
Nicole sat up and pivoted, so that her bent legs hung loose over the side of the counter. She stared at Geoffrey with her mouth hanging open.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered in awe.
A satisfied smile lifted his lips. “Not a god,” he laughed. “I’m just a humble—”
“Magician,” she finished for him. “And a damned good one too. A court magician or maybe even the King’s Own at one time, I’m guessing.”
It was all real. All of it. All of her grandfather’s tales. All the lore her dad had shared as bedtime stories growing up. All the bits and pieces she’d read in her ancestors’ diaries. Even the outrageous parts she’d always figured they’d embellished. All of it was true.
“What’s your name?” she demanded.
“Geoffrey Merlin.”
Merlin? The Merlin? Oh, this was too good.
She should have known. Sure, she’d figured out what he was the moment she’d seen him literally working his magic over her. That cocky self-assuredness was unmistakable. But never in a thousand years would she have guessed that she was dealing with the single most famous magician ever.
A bubble of laughter escaped Nicole’s lips. Apparently, the great Merlin didn’t like that though. The far from humble smile fell away from his face in an instant.
“How do you know all this?” he asked.
Nicole ignored his question and shifted her attention over to Emily’s massive bodyguard, Fenrir. “And you really are a Wolf, aren’t you? An actual beast.”
Now that she looked at Fenrir—really looked at him—there was no doubt what he was. The man was the embodiment of the wolf spirit. She could see that now. See it so clearly, she almost wanted to smack herself for not picking up on it right away. Huge and massive, and brimming with an animal energy that poured out from his body.
Fenrir’s gaze sharpened as he pulled back his shoulders. “I am.”
Jinn: Exiles of the Realm Page 3