by Dyan Chick
"Oh," McKenzie said. "You're talking about when they do the divination table or reinforce the wards."
"Exactly," I said. "And Dima, you can share yours, too. I was able to channel some of Alec's so I think you'll be able to help."
"I don't have magic," Dima said.
"Yes, you do," Alec said. "She found some in me, I'm guessing you have lots more. Look what you made me do the first night we met."
"There's a story in that, I'm sure," McKenzie said.
"Later," I said. "Alec, pull over the car."
The blinker sounded as Alec pulled the car into the shoulder, vibrating over the cut marks on the freeway before slowing to a stop.
"I hate sharing magic. I've only done it once and it was awful," McKenzie said, breaking the heavy silence in the air.
"I know," I said. It was an odd thing for a mage to share magic. Our magic was what made us who we were, it was part of us. When it was taken or given, it left you feeling weak and uncomfortable.
The few times I'd shared magic, I'd spent an hour recovering with a sense of emptiness that I couldn't shake. That was something I appreciated about being away from the mage community. Aside from the last few days, nobody had expected me to do group spells. And I'd been on the receiving end, which sent a rush of power through me. That wasn't a bad thing. I was asking a lot of McKenzie. More so than the others, who likely didn't notice their magic in the same way.
"If there was another way," I began, but didn't finish the statement.
"Let's just get this over with," McKenzie said.
I nodded at McKenzie. She knew that moving forward, we'd share a bond that only mages knew. I might even have to start being nice to her.
Taking a deep breath, I looked at the faces of all the people in the car with me. They all looked nervous, but determined. It was probably the best I would get from them. "I'm going to need focus from everyone to make this work."
My lips moved as I practiced the spell silently to myself. Even though I'd successfully done this before, my stomach churned as nervous butterflies flew circles in my midsection. I knew I needed to maintain a sense of confidence. These people were counting on me. I had to be a leader. "Alright, everyone, first I'm going to ask you to channel your magic and I'm going to pull from it. You might feel something different, I need you to let it happen, support it even. Once I have enough, I'm going to cast the spell."
"Wait, do you know the exact location?" McKenzie asked.
"Yes," I said. "Tavas was very specific in his instructions, don't worry."
She took a deep breath and nodded, clearly worried.
"Please do not think of any places, only think of sending me your magic. Only think of reinforcing the spell. Keep your minds focused on sharing your magic, on supporting me while I cast this, nothing else. Especially not other locations," I said.
"Great, now all I can think of is the Margarita bar in TJ," Dima said.
"Do not think about that," I said.
"I won't. Don't worry, I got this." She smiled. "But if we survive all of this, we're getting margaritas when we're done."
"Deal," I said.
"If you two are done, can we just get this over with?" McKenzie said.
"She's right. Tavas said he needed help, we shouldn't wait any longer," Alec said.
I nodded. "Right, here goes." Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the magic inside me. The magic that was embedded deep down, the place I hadn't used in years and somehow ended up having to access all too often lately. The swirling tingle of magic filled my insides, warm and welcome like an old friend.
Stretching my fingers out, I offered a hand to Dima and McKenzie in the back. McKenzie took hold without waiting for directions. Dima followed suit.
Extending my other hand to Alec, I nodded for him to take it. Silently, he took hold and almost instantly, I felt a charge roll through me. The hair on my arms stood on end as my friends focused on sending me their magic. I whispered an amplification spell and the rush that filled me made me gasp.
Alec's brow furrowed in concern, but he remained quiet, focused on the task at hand.
I nodded to the women in the back and to Alec before taking a deep breath and closing my eyes. It was now or never. Time to teleport on my own. Using the information that Tavas gave me, I focused on the warehouse he'd shown me. The exact location was vital, but a clear mental image could be used if it had enough power behind it. And the vision that Tavas had shared with me seemed to be embedded with magic, like a line of code on a computer, it clicked into place, sending my brain whirring as I murmured the words.
Something tugged in the pit of my stomach, throwing me back so hard that my hand was pulled from my friends, and I landed with a thud against the glove compartment.
My head was spinning and a sudden urge to vomit rose up so fast that without thinking, I pulled open the car door and let it out.
As I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, I realized that I'd just thrown up on someone's shoes. A pair of black leather designer men's shoes were now ruined thanks to me. They were large shoes, and my hands were shaking as I wondered how big the owner of those shoes was.
Still feeling drained from using so much magic, I swayed as I looked up to see the owner of the shoes. For a fraction of a second, I hoped it was Tavas. But as soon as my eyes traveled up the silk suit pants, to the crisp, white shirt, I knew I wasn't going to be that lucky. My eyes traveled up to the chest, exposed a bit by the open buttons at the neck. Then, I reached the beautiful, chiseled face, green eyes, and pale blonde hair of a very handsome man.
While I wasn't looking at Tavas, the slight point to the ears of this newcomer let me know I was face-to-face with another Fae. The blonde Fae lifted an eyebrow and pursed his lips. He did not look happy with me.
I shook my head for a moment, trying to regain a sense of reality. "I'm so sorry."
His upper lip curled and his nose crinkled as he looked down at his shoes, then he looked back at me. "I wish I could say this was the first time a woman did that to my shoes."
Now it was my turn to lift my eyebrows in surprise. "Really? That's happened before?"
"Do you know this guy?" McKenzie said from the back seat.
"Oh," I was so mortified by the fact that I'd thrown up on a stranger's shoes that I forgot the whole reason we were here. "Yeah, no. I have no idea who this is."
"Luka," the Fae said, then he pressed himself against me and peered into the back seat. "Hello."
I shifted in my seat and moved myself as far away from him as I could. Luka backed up so he was standing in front of the door again. "You four want to tell my why you teleported right into the location for the annual Fae Summit?"
"Fae Summit?" Dima said. "Seriously, Morgan?"
I ignored Dima's comments and smiled at Luka. "We thought a friend was in trouble, so we came at their request." I didn't see any reason to lie to him, so I kept it as simple as possible.
Luka shrugged. "Well, unless you're friends with that low-life, Tavas, you have nothing to be worried about."
My shoulders sunk.
"You're friends with Tavas?" Luka asked, seeming genuinely surprised.
"I wouldn't say we're exactly friends," I said. "But, yes, we're here for Tavas."
"I really wish you wouldn't have said that," Luka said. "If it had been anyone else, I could have let you leave. Now, I'm going to have to take you in."
"Alec, gun it," McKenzie called.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Alec said.
I looked over at him. Alec's gaze was locked ahead of him. Following his stare, my mouth dropped open and a cold chill ran through me. There were a dozen or so Fae standing in front of our car.
"Like I said," Luka said. "I'm going to have to take you in."
19
Whatever it was that Luka used to tie my wrists together in front of me, it was strong. I tried pulling my arms apart and the ties didn't budge. We'd all grown up with stories about the Fae and we'd all been warne
d about how dangerous they were. But it never seemed to matter. They weren't allowed in our realm, or so I thought, which meant I never expected to run into any. I didn't even know if the things I'd learned about them were true. Was iron really their only weakness?
"Can you tell us what's going on?" I said. "We didn't mean any harm."
"That's not my call," Luka said as he led me into a small building next to the warehouse.
As I crossed the threshold, I was greeted by buzzing florescent lights and the smell of stale coffee. Thin, brown carpet covered the floor and you could see a path worn into it from the traffic patterns in the room. A few cubicles were set up with desks and computers and a table with a burgundy couch took up a corner. I was guessing it was a waiting area of some kind.
Luka took his hand off of me for the first time since tying my wrists, then he lifted his chin toward the couch. "Have a seat. The Magistrate will be with you shortly. She'll decide what we do with you."
Knowing there was no way we could fight off the whole group of Fae, I swallowed, then walked to the couch. I sat down in the middle and the springs gave way as I sunk into the worn down cushion.
Without a word, Dima, Alec, and McKenzie sat down on either side of me, making me sink further into the couch from the additional weight.
"We'll be outside," Luka said.
I watched as Luka and the other Fae left through the door they'd taken us in. As soon as it closed, I started looking around the room, hoping to find another exit.
"This was a bad idea," Dima said. "Why are there so many Fae here? I thought they were banned from our realm."
"We should have let Tavas rot," Alec said.
"It was probably a trap the whole time, how did we not see this?" McKenzie whispered.
"Enough," I said. "No arguing, we can't do anything to change this. Right now, we have to work together to get out of here."
"Can't you two just magic us out?" Alec asked.
"Probably," McKenzie said. "If we hadn't just used everything we had to teleport here."
"I can't even charm my way out of anything right now," Dima said. "Plus, I don't know if it would work on the Fae anyway."
"Maybe diplomacy is our best bet?" I suggested. "Maybe this Magistrate will understand. I mean, most of us were taught to revere the Oracle, maybe she'll let us borrow Tavas and go."
"We're taught that here, what are they taught in Faerie?" Dima asked.
Her words rang true and I leaned back against the couch. What was I going to do? We needed to save James; we needed to save Lyla and the other dragon mages. We shouldn't even be here.
Tugging at the cord on my wrist again, I wondered if we could make a run for it. I lifted my wrists up to Alec, who was sitting next to me. "Can you break through these?"
He lifted his bound hands and worked his fingers into the binding. They didn't give. "I don't know what this is, but I can't break through it."
The sound of the door creaking open rang through the room and I dropped my hands.
A Fae woman with long silver hair, wearing a powder-blue suit stepped across the threshold. "You won't be able to break the bindings. It's Fae magic. Too powerful for anything you could cast in this realm."
I glared at her.
She walked with grace, her tall, slender form nearly floating over the threadbare carpet. Pausing in front of the couch, she clasped her hands in front of her and glanced from side to side, as if taking inventory of the four of us on the couch.
"What do you want with us?" I asked.
"We, what do we want?" she smirked. "You're the ones who teleported into a very important, very secret meeting. We had months of security and scouting to find a place that we could be free from prying eyes. We have wards around the entire complex. Wards that should have prevented anyone from penetrating. You should have been denied entry. You are the invaders here."
"We're not invaders, you're not even allowed to be in this realm," McKenzie said.
"McKenzie," I snapped. "Not now."
The Fae, who I had to assume was the Magistrate, narrowed her eyes and stared at McKenzie. "You might want to hold your tongue before I start sharing your secrets."
McKenzie's face drained of color and she looked down at her hands. I wondered what she was hiding that made her quiet down so quickly. After everything I've been through in the last week, I should have realized that everyone had secrets. Nobody in this life was without their own demons.
"Please, Magistrate," I said. "We didn't mean any harm. We are trying to save our friends and the Oracle said we needed Tavas."
Her forehead wrinkled as she stared at me. She seemed to be considering my words. "What do you need with Tavas?"
"I told you, the Oracle said we needed his help. I don't know any more than that."
"And trust us, if there was a way to avoid his help, we wouldn't be here," Alec added.
The Magistrate laughed, an honest-to-god throw-your-head-back laugh. It was startling. While she was an imposing figure, easily six feet tall, some of my fear broke down as she wiped away a tear on her cheek.
"Look, if you don't want us to take Tavas, that's fine. But we really need to save our friends," I said.
"But I thought you said you have to have him?" she asked.
I blew out a sigh of frustration. "Right, but we're on a deadline here and if we can't have his help, we have to find a different way."
A gentle knock sounded on the door and the Magistrate turned toward the sound. "Enter."
One of the Fae who had escorted us here stepped into the threshold. "It's ready, would you like us to hold?"
The Magistrate looked back at me. "How close are you and my Tavas?"
Startled at her use of the possessive term, my, I flinched before regaining my train of thought. This seemed like a test of some sort and I had no idea how I was supposed to answer. Finally, I settled on the truth. "We're not. He's a friend of a friend. The only reason we're looking for him is because of the Oracle."
She stared blankly at me for a moment, then pressed her lips into a thin line. "Very well, you may challenge for his life. Or you may take your leave."
The Fae holding open the door came forward and stopped in front of me, then waved his hand over my bound wrists. The ties fell to the ground.
I rubbed the place on my wrists where the binding had been even though they didn't hurt. It was nice to be able to move freely again. "What does that mean? How can I challenge?"
The Magistrate turned away from us and walked toward the door, slowly, as if she expected us to follow.
"What kind of challenge?" Alec asked.
Pausing in her step, the Magistrate turned to face us. "He's been sentenced to death. If you'd like to see him alive, I suggest you hurry."
"Of course, he has," I said, irritated. I stood up and shook my head. Of course I'd have to save Tavas from something like this. He seemed the type who pushed his limits and whatever he had done had caught up to him.
Alec grabbed hold of my upper arm, his bindings now free. "Maybe we should just go. We don't owe anything to Tavas."
The Magistrate smiled. "You really do know him, don't you?"
"What did he do?" Dima asked, breaking the silence she'd held since we got here.
"That's our business," the male Fae said, pulling his hands into fists.
Whatever it was, we'd clearly touched a nerve.
The Magistrate lifted her hand, halting the other Fae's movements. "It's fine, Samuel." She turned to me. "Tavas has a great many crimes to atone for. He's been on the run for a while. Most recently, in Realm's Gate."
I stiffened at the mention of my home city. Was she referencing Jimmy or the dragon or was there more I didn't know? I felt that at this point, it probably didn't hurt to say something in Tavas's defense. "The Oracle says he didn't kill Jimmy."
"That's what he said." The Magistrate didn't look convinced.
"If you aren't going to help us, why haven't you just killed us already?" Alec asked.
"We have an alliance with the dragons," the Magistrate said, nodding to me. "So to not anger the mother, we'll give you a chance. If you fail, you'll both die."
"Seriously, Morgan, we should go. Tavas isn't worth it," Dima said.
Part of me was on Dima's side. Part of me wanted to run. But the Oracle said we needed him. And it was starting to look like Tavas might not have betrayed me the way I thought he had. Why couldn't things just be what they seemed? These were the days I wondered if being human was easier. There wasn't as much complication when you didn't know about the Fae, or dragons, or shifters, or any of this.
"Morgan, do you think it's worth it?" Alec asked quietly. "Can we save them without him?"
That was the question, wasn't it? Swallowing hard, I straightened, trying to make myself look braver than I felt. We'd already tried to find the missing mages on our own and so far, we'd been almost eaten by a giant spider and threatened by a witch. We didn't have time for more threats like that. We didn't even have time for this. But I had a feeling that if we didn't save Tavas, we weren't going to make it to the mages in time. I wasn't sure what the Dragon-Bloods had in mind, but whatever it was, it was bad enough to keep James, an elite dragon, in hiding from them. Whatever they had planned, I had to try to stop it. "What do I have to do for this challenge?"
20
We followed the Magistrate out of the small building to find the dozen Fae who had brought us here waiting for us. They stood with their arms crossed and their eyes locked on me. Each man in the group was wearing a black suit. The only thing that made them not look like agents from some spy movie was the lack of sunglasses and the sharp, Fae features.
None of these men would pass for human to anyone who had knowledge of the magical world. They were far too beautiful, and most of them were probably nearing seven feet. I didn't often feel short at five-six, but today, I felt like a child.
The Fae guards bowed their heads and lowered their eyes as the magistrate walked through them. Luka stood at the end of the group, the only one of the men who wore his shirt open. I wondered if his status was different than the rest of the gathered Fae. He extended his arm for the magistrate. He bowed. "Your highness."