by Cece Rose
“Um…why are you on my hand?” I question hesitantly, feeling confused, but nervous to question her in case she starts throwing things again.
“Big people shake hands when they make agreements,” she says, as if it makes perfect sense.
“Oh, okay. So, what do you eat?” I ask awkwardly not really knowing what else to say.
“Some flowers, plants, and I like some bugs, too,” she answers. Bugs? Eck. I try not to let the disgust show on my face. I hear Kaden and Nick moving.
“Is it okay for my friends to come out now? You’re not going to throw anything else, right?” I ask her.
“So long as you keep your truce, I shall refrain from attack,” she says dutifully, taking off from my hand to buzz around Kaden and Nick. “You're big even for a big person,” she comments to Kaden as she lands on his shoulder.
“Thanks?” he says unsurely, shooting a ‘help me’ look at me and Nick. Nick makes a beeline for the door.
“Where are you going, Nicky?” I ask, and he freezes. “Rude not to say hello to our new guest,” I add. He sighs and turns around on the balls of his feet.
“Hello, Abby, was it?” he says, holding out a hand for Abby to come land on. She zooms across the kitchen and lands on his hand.
“It was your magic that fixed me?” she asks so quietly, I barely catch her words. Nick nods. “Thank you, I owe you a debt, fae creature; call upon it wisely,” she says.
“Good to know,” Nick replies as Abby takes off from his hand and darts out from the kitchen, no doubt to cause more chaos in another room of the house. I feel a tap on my shoulder.
I turn to see Kaden standing behind me holding a broom out. Please no.
“Have fun cleaning up the mess, M. Cal will be home…in about an hour, so you have till then,” he says chuckling at the mortified look on my face.
“Why do I have to do the cleanup!” I moan.
“Because it was your idea to save the pixie,” he replies. “Have fun!” he adds cheerily, as he makes his way out the kitchen after Nick.
I look around the messy kitchen and sigh, my shoulder slumping. Great, just freaking great.
Chapter 9
“You’re pushing her too hard,” Mason calls from the far side of the room. He’s just sitting leant up against the wall, witnessing my torture. He’s only passing the occasional comment, leaving most of my training to Kaden. I’m sure he’s secretly enjoying watching me fall on my ass constantly.
“Shut up, Mase,” I call back to him. “Circumdo adnecto,” I whisper quickly, tugging on my centre and pulling up a protective bubble around myself, Kaden’s harmless ball of energy bounces uselessly off it.
“M, you are gonna have to try another tactic. Calling a circle constantly isn’t a good technique. You may be somewhat safe in there, but you can’t attack back from in there,” Kaden critiques. After spending the first two hours of our ‘short session’ doing things like running, jumping, and hitting things, I’m already exhausted. Why the hell did Kaden have to egg me on to test out my magical strength, too?
“But I know how to do it, and I can call one quickly. I’m perfectly safe so long as I can hold my circle,” I reply, not seeing what the giant’s damn problem is.
“Yes, but what if you can't hold your circle? An undrawn circle can be broken by someone stronger than you, and even if they're not stronger than you, they can just wait you out. You can't hold a circle forever, angel.” Why does that sound like a challenge?
“Try and take my circle then,” the words slip from my mouth as if of their own accord. I’ve never been one not to try and rise to a challenge, my competitive nature just springs out at any given opportunity.
“Just don’t be disheartened if I take it down easily. I’ve had to do it a few times on the job,” he says, shooting me a confident grin as he steps forward. “Okay before I try and take it, try and strengthen your circle. Put more of your energy into it, feed it more than you can feel it asking for,” he explains in his lecture voice. The exact same voice he used to explain the correct way to throw a punch. Apparently, my technique sucks, go figure. My technique may have sucked, but I definitely pack a stronger punch than I used to. Forging the demon blade has changed me, or sped up my changing, I’m not sure which.
“I’m ready,” I announce to Kaden. I concentrate on holding my circle and keeping a steady stream of energy running through it, pushing more into it than I normally would.
“You sure?” he asks, gently placing his hands against the barrier of the circle, the bubble of magical energy shimmering where his hands press against it.
“Go for it,” I answer, biting my lip as I concentrate. I am determined not to fail at this, like everything else. I feel a slight tingle run through my connection to my circle, nothing particularly alarming though. I hold steady at the amount of energy I am running into it, not wanting to burnout. We stand there for a few minutes in silence, I feel slight nudges on my circle every so often, but I just pump a little more energy in. A frown has taken over Kaden’s face. “Are you going to actually try anytime soon?” I ask feeling impatient. I feel another nudge on the circle, stronger this time, but still no trouble to control.
“I am trying,” he mutters, clearly unhappy as he closes his eyes as if to concentrate harder. More energy hits my circle. I easily just pump more of my own energy in, holding my circle with ease. He’s surely playing me? It can’t be this easy. I give Kaden a curious look. “It’s not just the ability to hold it for a few minutes, M. It’s keeping it up that’s hard,” Kaden says quietly, answering my unasked question. I tap my foot on the ground impatiently, waiting to tire out or something.
“Isn’t there something I can do to fight you back from in here? This isn’t hard, but it’s boring,” I ask.
“No, you can’t use magic on someone outside of a circle while you’re in it,” he answers.
“Huh,” I reply. I let my mind drift and find myself remembering pushing the magical energy back at X the second time I saw him. Isn’t that similar to the energy pushing we’re doing to hold and take a circle? Can I push energy through the circle and into Kaden seeing as he’s already connected to it?
As soon as the thought strikes me, I can already feel my magic responding, slipping into the walls of the circle and gently pushing back at Kaden through the barrier.
“M, what the hell are you doing?” he asks, clearly feeling the gentle pushes. I slam a larger push of magic through, a little too much. Fuck. Kaden flies back across the room and hits the far wall.
“Shit!” I drop the circle and run across the room, but Mason beats me there and is already leaning down over Kaden.
“Kade, are you alright?” he asks while turning Kaden onto his back. He doesn’t move or open his eyes. Shit, fuck, why can I not ever just leave an idea alone! I shove Mason to the side, so I can get to Kaden.
“Kadie?” I whisper, moving my hand to touch the side of his face, noticing a slight cut on his forehead. Crap. I freeze just staring at his unmoving form when Mason laughs.
“What the fuck are you laughing at?” I snap at Mason, not seeing anything funny. Mason just smiles at me.
“Maybe you should kiss the princess and wake him up, he’s messing with you,” Mason says. I turn back and look at Kaden who now has his green eyes open and is trying to hide a smug smile. Asshole.
“You are such an ass. I was really worried!” I snap while standing up and moving away from Kaden.
“You’re the one who threw me at the wall,” he says teasingly not seeming at all bothered.
“Shit, I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to. I was just trying to cut you off from the circle, so you couldn’t take it,” I explain.
“Smart idea, but that shouldn’t have been possible. Where the hell did you learn that, M?” he asks.
“That’s how you fought off X the day Kaden and I met you, wasn’t it?” Mason asks. I look at him quizzically. How the hell would he guess that? “Kaden mentioned that he saw X on the grou
nd, and you were running. I always wondered how you managed to get a demon to the floor without knowing any spells. That was just pushing the magical energy itself, correct?”
“Yeah, I think so. But how do you know so much about magic, for a tiger shifter, I mean? You guys can’t do spells, right?” I question. He seems to hesitate slightly before answering.
“No, tiger shifters can’t do magic,” he answers.
“So, M. Now that we’ve established that you are a magical anomaly, how about we test how you fair against two of us?” Kaden asks, smoothly changing the conversation to another subject.
“You want me to fight both of you?” I ask incredulously. He can’t be serious.
“It would be an effective way to test how you fight back against magic and physical attack at once,” Mason muses aloud.
“Effective? I’m gonna get my ass handed to me.” I snort.
“Just a little,” Kaden teases, chuckling. He sits up and then stands, so he’s towering over me again. It really isn’t fair just how huge he is against me, not that he isn’t a tree I’m willing to climb. I snort again at that thought.
“What’s so funny?” Mason asks me, and I feel heat creep into my cheeks.
“Nothing, just thinking about how hilarious it'll be when I kick both of your asses at once,” I tease. It's Kaden and Mason's turn to snort laugh at that one. Clearly, they have doubts about my ability here.
“How are we doing this?” Mason asks Kaden.
“I reckon the way we would go against Nick back in the day would work well; they're more alike than either of them would admit,” Kaden replies.
“I'm not anything like that asshat,” I grumble.
“Sure, you're not, angel,” he says placating me.
“So, when are we going to—” my words are cut off as Mason slams into my side and has me pinned to the blue mat on the ground in seconds.
“Hey! No fair, I wasn't ready!” I whine. I try to cover up how him pinning me to the ground is making me feel, but I feel like I may as well be drooling, it's probably so obvious.
“Nobody waits for you to be ready in real life,” he says softly as he stands up, offering me a hand. I take the offered hand and he pulls me up onto my feet, and then darts out the way, just as an orb of energy hits me from Kaden. It knocks me back a little but is otherwise harmless. Just as I get my balance, Mason takes out my legs with one of his, making me fall on my ass. Again.
“You guys don't play fair,” I whine, not even bothering to stand up as I try and formulate a plan. Mason offers a hand to pull me up again, and I take it, but instead, I tug him down, as I swipe his legs with mine. I quickly roll on top of him, using the element of surprise against him. I hold Mason down, not that he's really putting up any resistance at the moment. Why isn't he trying to get free...? Kaden! “Circumdo Adnecto,” I whisper, just in time, as I feel his ball of energy hit the barrier of my circle.
“Damn, that was quick,” Kaden says, giving a low whistle.
“Good job, Mona,” Mason says, giving me a smile as I stand up from him. I drop my circle to let him out. I remember reading how uncomfortable people can feel trapped in another’s circle, especially people who don't have magic of their own. I think back to having the halfling in my circle in Callan's shop, and try to shake the guilt at how stressed out that must have made him. The dude tried to slash you up with a knife. You were just protecting yourself. As much as I try and remind myself that I had to do it, the guilty feeling doesn’t shift. I’ve wondered where he might be now, but Nick wouldn't tell me where he'd taken him. Maybe it’s best I don’t know.
“What’s up, M?” Kaden says gently, nudging my shoulder with his elbow.
“It’s nothing, I just got lost in my thoughts a little then,” I mutter.
“As long as you’re sure. How did you know I was throwing the energy at you, anyway? Unless you’ve developed eyes in the back of your head?” he teases.
“Mason gave it away. He wasn’t trying to get me off him, which he could have easily done and flipped us, so I was pinned down and not him. Even though I am stronger now, I doubt I’m as strong as him, so the fact he didn’t even try tipped me off. He wanted me on top, so I was an easy target for you,” I explain.
“You've got some brains hiding away in there after all, M,” Kaden teases, but he looks impressed.
“Shut up,” I mutter, trying to hide how happy I am that I impressed him.
“Ready to go again?” Mason says from behind me. I start turning to face him.
“I thought you didn’t wait for—” my words are cut off as I’m knocked down again, landing squarely on my ass.
“Exactly,” Mason says smugly, as he looks down at me with his honey-coloured eyes. I give him and Kaden an outraged look, but apparently my death glare isn’t effective from the floor, as they both just laugh at me. We’ll see who’s laughing by the end of this session, boys.
I ignore Kaden’s outstretched hand and pull myself up, but I manage to trip over my own feet and fall over, causing them to laugh even harder. Okay, so it may be them laughing, probably. I look up at them feeling my frustration rise and deflate as I accept my inner suck.
Who am I kidding? It’ll definitely be them laughing.
Chapter 10
I shift in my spot on the sofa, watching Kaden and Nick play some stupid racing game on the big TV. Abby is sitting perched on Nick's shoulder, whining every five minutes about him moving around too much. As much as the pixie would loathe to admit it, I think she's grown quite fond of Nick over the past few days. The tiny little creature had managed to earn the right to call him Nick within two days. Nick had said it was because pixies were volatile, and he didn't want to set her off, but I think he is just as fond of her.
I look back at the screen, watching them zoom around the track. I grimace picturing the go-karts from Sunday. I'd tried playing the game with them earlier, but I couldn’t concentrate enough on it, with my mind doing its own racing with worry. I keep glancing at the clock, wondering if Adam will actually show up in front of everyone, or if he’ll wait to try and catch me alone.
As if summoned by thought alone, I feel the air pressure shift slightly, more muted than it normally feels. A very slight pop hits my ears, making me look around and spot Adam leaning casually up against the wall by the mini-bar. He's dressed in a pristine suit, the black jacket clinging to him just right. It has to be tailor-made for him, nothing off a rack fits that well. He raises a dark eyebrow in question, giving a pointed look with his bright, red eyes at the guys who haven't noticed his presence.
How did Kaden not hear the pop? I open my mouth to draw the guys’ attention when Adam places a finger over his lips in a shh signal. He slowly walks forwards, and I watch him transfixed, my heart slamming against my chest. He walks right around the sofa, and into the guys’ line of vision. A smug grin takes over his face.
The guys aren’t reacting or freaking out. They’re not doing anything that you would do if a freaking demon showed up in your game room. They can’t see him. Fuck. As if to add insult to his point, Adam makes a show of waving his hands around in front of the guys faces. He then walks back and forth in front of the large flat screen, a damn spring in his step. I frown, but refuse to move. The second he tries to grab me, the guys will know he’s here, invisible or not. I know they won't let me go without a fight. I really don't want to go, no matter how selfish that may be.
He seems to read the expression on my face, and a sly smile crosses his own. He quickly pulls an ornate dagger from his sleeve and holds it near Nick’s throat. I stand, his point duly noted.
“You okay, M?” Kaden says, frowning up at me.
“Me? I'm fine…right as rain, just…erm…tired. I think I'm gonna go to sleep,” I tumble over my words, them flying right out of my mouth in a rush. Adam stands back from Nick, still holding the dagger ready to strike, should the need arise. I turn to walk to the door when Callan and Mason walk in. Great, more possible collateral.
“Bed,” I mumble. As I try to slip from the room, a hand clasps my wrist. I look up and see Mason staring down at me intently. “Yes?” I ask, feigning innocence.
“There’s somebody else here,” Mason says softly, tugging me closer to him. Well fuck, there goes that plan.
I look across at Adam who narrows his red eyes in scrutiny at Mason. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting any of them to notice his presence.
“Why would you think that?” I ask, as both Nick and Kaden stand, looking around the room.
“I can smell them,” he explains. Kaden crosses the room to us, and I am handed over to him. He curves a possessive arm around my waist, keeping me close.
“I can only hear our heartbeats; are you sure they’re still here?” Kaden asks.
“I am fairly certain,” he answers as he steps closer in Adams direction, his nose twitching.
Nick mutters something quietly in Latin, and his eyes turn completely white as he looks around the room. Callan puts his back firmly against a wall and appears to be silently assessing the situation. Kaden pulls me towards where Callan is standing, putting the wall close behind us too. He’s clearly trying to avoid anything attacking us from behind.
“I can’t see anything with my fae sight. That means if someone is here, we should be really fucking worried,” Nick mutters.
“What could manage to hide from you like that?” Callan asks Nick.
“Not a lot…” he trails off, looking intently at me.
“What have you done now?” he asks, and I notice Abby is no longer on his shoulder. Hopefully, the pixie has been smart enough to hide away somewhere.
“Me? I haven’t done anything,” I say quickly, trying not to look in Adam’s direction, but it’s hard not to sneak peeks. He’s still holding the dagger, and he’s making crude stabbing gestures in the guy’s directions. His warning is clear, give away his position, and the guys will pay the price. Despite the situation, Adam appears to be having way too much fun tormenting me. Stupid damn demon.