by Antara Mann
“Yes, that makes sense,” he agreed with a side glance my way.
The hearth-witch was having an intense conversation on the phone and we had to wait for her to finish.
Once she’d put the phone down, she turned to Kagan, all smiles. “Mr. Griffith. What else can I help you with?”
He smiled at her, his lips lifting crookedly in a sexy way. “Well, I wonder if… but maybe that’s too much to ask.” The witch was spellbound even before he leaned over her, plying her again with his fairy magic.
“We found the records of last year’s winning mages, everything but their addresses, jobs, and other personal information. Do you have these details, as well? I mean, it’s not confidential, is it?”
The girl seemed slightly puzzled. “Umm, of course this information is sensitive. In fact, I probably shouldn’t be discussing this with you…” She couldn’t finish because Kagan had dipped his head level with hers, his eyes gleaming in emerald green. He gently laid his hand on hers, magic pulsating out of his hand and swirling around hers, as well. She let out a girly giggle and blushed anew. I pressed my lips together hard.
The witch cleared her throat. “I think we have this information somewhere. Let me check it for you, Mr. Griffith.” She glanced to her computer and, pulling her hand from the fae’s grip, typed something fast on the keyboard. Shortly after, she added, “Yes, we do have this information. We need it so that we know where to send the winners’ awards.”
“If I’ve got this right, winners receive a statuette with their name and place in the contest, either a golden, silver or a bronze one, plus a monetary reward,” the fae said to her but loud enough for me to hear. “Am I correct?”
“Yes, sir,” the witch acknowledged.
“And where do you keep this information? Do you have a paper record or is it only stored on your server?”
A faint smile danced on her lips. “We don’t store such sensitive information online or on our server, Mr. Griffith; it’s too risky for various reasons. The only record is on the 1st floor, in the clerks’ room.”
“Very good.” A broad smile spread over Kagan’s face. “How can we reach this room?”
“You go straight down the corridor — it’s the third door on the right, at the end. I will call the clerk in charge and ask her to open the door for you. The entrance is protected by a special magical monitor. You need magnetic cards only our employees have in order to enter.”
“Great. And one last question: Do you at any point reveal or publish the mages’ addresses or any such sensitive information in a publication accessible to the public at large?”
The hearth witch gaped. “No, not to my knowledge. As I said, it’s dangerous. But you best check with the clerk in charge. I am sure she knows all the details.” She smiled at us, and in that moment Kagan’s magic snapped shut, sizzling in the air like a light breeze. The hearth-witch’s demeanor changed completely. Her smile was gone, and I didn’t need the power to read minds — it was clear as day she wanted us to leave her alone ASAP.
“Thank you… Meghan,” I said after peeking at the badge pinned to her shirt. “The Magic Council and the two courts are forever indebted to you.” I gave her the most dazzling smile I could muster.
The fae thanked her, too, and we went to the room in question. We were only a few steps away when the door opened and a middle-aged lady wolverine shifter came out. “Meghan told me you two are from the Magic Council and are investigating the disappearances of two mages who happened to be last year’s winners, right?”
“Yes. We are interested to see where their personal information is stored,” the fae said.
“Ah. It’s here. This room accommodates a few teams, including the delivery team. My clerks are pretty versatile, handling many tasks. Please, come in,” she said, holding the door for us.
A smile came to my lips unbidden as I walked past the shifter. Her hair was dark blond, her eyes blue, and she had a very energetic personality. I instantly liked her. She seemed a very capable and trustworthy person. I understood why she was in charge of the clerks.
The room we walked into was even smaller and more crammed than the one where the archives were stored. Four low-level supernaturals were either typing on the laptops before them or filling in some paperwork in big, ancient-looking tomes that reminded me of Awen’s.
“Hey, guys, please welcome our visitors, Council investigators Griffith and Shaw,” the shifter introduced us. “They’d like to ask you a few questions about two missing mages who won last year’s Magica of the Year contest: Aldwyn Saal and Kevin Rydell. Who handled the data on last year’s contest?”
She had barely asked the question when one of the clerks hastily stood from his chair and ran toward the window. Before either Kagan or I could react, the guy did something I’d never seen before in my life: He placed his hand on the glass, and his touch created a small, light-bluish circle that swirled around. It grew larger and then dispersed into thin air, sucking the guy within it. For a second his body became literary transparent, and in the next moment, he was gone.
“What the hell…? Holy magic, did you see that, Kagan?” I turned to him.
Kagan didn’t utter a word, his eyes glued on the spot where the guy had merged with his magic. He rushed to the window, touched the glass and peered through it. “Look,” he said to me.
I was by his side in a flash. Peeking through the window, I saw the clerk running down the street.
“How is that possible?” I muttered, taken aback. He hadn’t used fairy dust magic to teleport, nor did he teleport in the traditional fashion; he just… merged with the glass and disappeared.
“Indeed,” the fae agreed. “We’ve got to follow him.”
The air around us swirled as it always did whenever he teleported us. I put my arm around his waist and he kissed my forehead gently. Yellow-white light vibrated around us, then it grew into a big swirl that took us through the ether onto the street.
Chapter 11
“There, I see him!” Kagan shouted and pointed at the suspect’s back.
I squinted at the figure in the distance. It was certainly a male but I couldn’t see any other identifying features. How does he run so fast? I asked myself. The runaway suspect moved with unusual speed. I quickly realized Kagan’s fae extra-sense ability allowed him to see the guy clearer than a normal person.
The fae ran toward our suspect at breakneck speed, and I followed him. Kagan ran like the wind, at the same time managing to gracefully dodge any passersby. Despite his speed, we lost sight of the suspect. He had simply vanished into thin air.
“Feckin’ hell!” Kagan cussed.
I chuckled; just couldn’t help it. Kagan looked incredibly sexy when he was pissed off.
Pulling back all my focus to the task at hand, I called my magical sense — my connection to the other supernaturals, the inborn skill that helped me navigate their complex world — and activated what I liked to think of as my magical radar. In the last few weeks, since I’d begun my training sessions with the fae, and especially thanks to Anumati’s gift, my magical radar had improved dramatically. The invisible thread in my center tugged at the far right side, and I ran that way, following the lead.
“Did you feel his pull?” the fae shouted from behind me.
“Yes, this way. I tracked him down,” I shouted back.
“Me, too. My magical radar points in the same direction.” Kagan was now level with me. He flashed me a smile as we ran. His presence and magic warmed my insides and gave me a breath of fresh energy.
The street we ran down ended in another busy street. We hit it right in the middle of the afternoon’s rush hour. It was overcrowded, full of commuters, street merchants and people with pets on leads just waiting to trip us up. This was probably why the clerk had run this way. He was safe here, knowing we couldn’t do anything to draw attention to us. The Council would have our heads if we fought in public. If we could only seal the street somehow…
The thought
had only just crossed my mind when Kagan called out his fairy magic and the air swirled. A powerful wind rose, and an invisible barrier encased the whole street as if it were a giant shimmering bubble. He’d also put a concealment charm on it, making the street unattractive to humans so they would feel compelled to leave it. Well, it was certainly quicker than having to wipe the memories of all the humans who might see the supernaturals’ fight.
I took a few steps back and forth, searching with my magical radar. “He must be somewhere here,” I said.
Through the crowd of humans, the suspect’s magic stood out like tiny champagne bubbles on the surface of a flute. The sensation of his magic gave away his presence. I knew he was close; the difficulty lay only in finding him.
I barely uttered the words when a strong ball of magic hit me hard in the back. It was meant to inflict pain so strong it would incapacitate me, and if my magic had been weaker it would have done. That realization gave me the will to pull myself together and try to dull the searing agony coursing through my body.
Be strong, Alex. This pain is unreal. Your mind is more powerful than your body, I commanded myself. Suddenly, a new kind of lightness fluttered within me. It invigorated my senses and weakened the pain — only its memory lingered. This actually worked! I was impressed, but now was not the time for self-congratulation.
I turned around and saw the suspect standing before me, just inches away. His eyes gave away his magic — tiny sparkles glowing in a feverish dark green color. The sparkles multiplied, growing brighter, and his power intensified. He hurled a new ball of magic at me but this time I was ready. I summoned a magical barrier 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide around me. His spell hit the shimmering wall and ricocheted onto the brick wall behind us.
I’d lost track of Kagan when I’d begun pacing up and down the street, but he was here now; he’d found me. Kagan charged at the guy, blasting him with a good dose of his fairy dust. It hit him straight into his chest. He staggered but didn’t fall over, as most low to middle-level supernaturals would do. He was clearly powerful but rusty. My magical sense told me he hadn’t used his powers in quite a long time.
I summoned a medium-sized fireball in my hand, its edges sizzling on my fingertips, and hurled it at the suspect. But he’d regained his strength, ducked my attack, and the fireball blasted the wall behind him. A dozen bricks crumbled to the street below. The air around us swirled ominously. I recognized the swishing sound; it always preceded a telekinetic’s attack. He was about to hurl something at us. The thought had barely crossed my mind when bricks, stones, gravel and sand showered upon us. They exploded against the luminescent surface of the barrier that protected me but Kagan cursed in rage as a few bricks hit him.
“Come inside the barrier!” I shouted at him, adrenaline surging in me, but he was too enraged to listen.
The fae’s magic sizzled in the air, building up like a thunderstorm. With one swift motion, he blasted the suspect, hurling him across the space and pinning him against the brick wall.
I touched Anumati’s necklace. I was growing tired of this battle, and I intended to finish him right away.
The fae’s power had lifted him off the ground and smashed him against the brick wall hard enough to make him stumble, dazed. A small trickle of blood ran down his face.
I summoned my own magic but nothing happened. Heck! I didn’t even feel the slightest flutter of magic from the necklace. Something must have gone wrong.
“Who are you working for?” Kagan bellowed at the guy, his voice sharp as a razor. He marched over to the suspect.
I hastily reached for the center in my thread, the place where I liked to imagine my magic was stored, and summoned it all. But the ball that came out onto my fingertips was abysmal — so weak and small, I couldn’t have disarmed anyone with it. Shit, what’s just happened?
The suspect smirked at me. Suddenly, I wanted to wipe the smirk off his ugly face.
“Miss your little toy, huh?” he said, his voice hoarse.
The fae turned to look at me, puzzled, and the supernatural seized his chance. He used his telekinetic powers to hurl a trash can right at the fae. It caught him off-guard, hitting him squarely in the back. The rogue squinted at us, the waves of his magic intensifying, promising pain and punishment.
Kagan hurled his magic at him, but just like mine, his blast came off weak and useless.
The supernatural laughed out loud, his laughter bordering on a cackle. The mere sound of it made my skin crawl. He clearly reveled in humiliating us.
“What did you do, you feckin’ bastard?” Kagan charged the guy, but with one swift motion of his hand, the rogue hurled a magical wave at the fae, which made him crash against the brick wall in the same spot where he’d been just moments ago.
“What the hell…” Kagan let out a cry, but it died out when his body hit the wall hard with a loud crack, and more bricks fell over him.
My heart shrank at seeing my boyfriend being hurt. The almighty fae, the heir to one of the magical dynasties, was lying helpless before this suddenly stronger than us supernatural.
Anger boiled inside me, and I clenched my fists. I would not let him win. I would beat him up!
First think, Alex.
“Kagan, I think he stole the magic from Anumati’s necklace. I think he stole both our magic,” I said, realizing I couldn’t use the magic inside me anymore. “Lucky that the magical barrier I summoned is still intact, though.”
The rogue gave me a dirty look. His menacing, gleaming eyes said that he intended to make me pay.
“Down, bitch,” he spat at me.
I had to crack his magic, ASAP. Kagan’s words came to mind, from our training a few days ago. He’d cautioned me about the possibility that the necklace might not work in Garrett’s or his minions’ presence. This supernatural was definitely one of Garrett’s minions.
He is a sorcerer, my inner voice said.
I suppressed the desire to make a snarky comment about its cameo appearances and asked instead, How can I win this fight?
I barely asked when the sorcerer hurled a blast at me. It was almost strong enough to break my barrier this time. My luminescent protective spell was still working, though weakened, and it pushed back the attack.
A few more such blasts and he’ll tear it apart, my inner voice said. It seemed the sorcerer had decided to focus on me for now. Before I could try calling out my magic, and before he could hurl a new spell at me, Kagan pounced on the sorcerer’s back. He summoned whatever power he had left in himself and bit down on the guy’s ear, like a predator. The rogue howled in pain and tried shaking the fae off his back, but the surprise, the fae’s sharp teeth and the pain were making it difficult. This gave me time.
How did he do it? I asked my inner voice. I mean, how did he use the magic in my necklace? I’m sure he stole it. There must be a way to take back the magic from him.
Yes, there’s a way — you’re a half-goddess, the voice reminded me calmly.
I wanted to kick myself. What was I waiting for? Written permission? I connected with my goddess magic, summoning it. The situation was becoming dire and I needed to take control. The sorcerer had finally managed to dislodge Kagan and neutralize him — Kagan lay still on the ground.
The rogue drew nearer to me. The barrier’s wall bent further under his renewed attempt to break it down with his magic. And then Kagan dragged himself to his feet and charged him again, yelling like a beast, humiliation and rage seething in his voice and aura. No one could defeat him, my warrior, the almighty fae, one of the chosen few, brave descendant of a magical dynasty as old as time itself.
The goddess power began tugging at my center, building up inside me. I tried to rush it. Kagan was in trouble, and I didn’t want to see him suffer any more at the hands of this madman. I knew from the time when I was locked in Garrett’s basement a month ago that the voice needed time to act and release my hidden magic. But I didn’t have the luxury of time right now.
I darted a
look at Kagan. His face was smeared with blood and dirt, his hair disheveled. He strained his muscles, the energy within him bubbling. The magic in him was weak, but his emotions surged within his body, ready to be tapped into. I thanked the fates for our love, because once again it would save us. Just as my love for him was enough to awaken my goddess powers, his love for me fueled his need to fight to the death to protect me.
In that moment, awash with gratitude and in awe of my love, I knew we could overcome any obstacle as long as we were together.
Kagan focused harder on his rage, letting it fill his whole body. He directed his hands and eyes toward the earth beneath his feet. His eyes glowed in his peculiar light-greenish color as he slowly began draining power from mother earth itself. I smiled — this was Kagan through and through!
The ground beneath us shook and a crack appeared right beneath the sorcerer. It was a start, but not good enough. The rogue looked to his feet and laughed.
Kagan reached further for the power of mother earth, sweating profusely, and I could feel the pain he experienced. It was exhausting and detrimental to our health to intensify our emotions to the max, especially the negative ones.
The sorcerer was still blocking our magic, and what was worse, he was using it against us. My own powers, still twisted by him, came over my senses like a raging tsunami, and I watched, helpless, as he flicked my magic at the fae. Twisted, darkened and malevolent, it snapped, swishing across Kagan’s body. The fae dropped to the split ground, but he managed to shoot back a small blast of his fairy dust.
A cry of anguish escaped my lips. Kagan’s face was a mask of utmost agony. The air around us became tinted in dark-blue, then in dark-purple. It buzzed as if electrified, and a flash of lightning appeared in the otherwise blue afternoon sky. The thunder rattled in the air after a short delay.
Just then, a new power surged within my body, making me feel giddy with excitement. My goddess magic was full to the brim, so I could set the rogue’s ass on fire. Right now!