Magic After Dark Boxed Set (Six Book Bundle)

by Deanna Chase

  ***

  The mystery of how Justus got his furniture in his underground dwelling was finally revealed. Simon drove to a back entrance I didn’t even know existed. In a very James Bond fashion, he clicked a button on his visor and we descended into the ground, via a lift discreetly disguised. It went down just far enough that the car rolled through a tunnel and ended up in an indoor garage.

  My jaw dropped.

  One had to appreciate how much money Justus, or the Mageri, had at their disposal. I wondered why Justus went to such great lengths in designing the secrecy of his home. What was he hiding from? After seeing where Simon and Samil lived, it was pretty obvious that living as a recluse wasn’t a prerequisite of being a Mage.

  Thank God.

  “Impressive,” I remarked.

  “That’s definitely what she said,” he teased. I groaned at his poorly chosen comeback.

  Even more impressive was the car collection. Fuck James Bond, he had nothing on Justus. The brightly lit garage was filled with toys: a sleek black Porsche, a classic English car, Mercedes, most I couldn’t identify. In addition to the expensive models were sporty ones and a few motorcycles, including a Ducati.

  “Justus always had extravagant taste. He likes to collect.”

  “I see. Where does he get the money for all of this?”

  “He’s been a Mage for a long time. You tend to acquire money over the years, and he offers his services for compensation,” he said, shutting his door. “We have positions within the Mageri. We do earn a respectable living.”

  Once inside, we walked down a long hallway and ended up in a room I didn’t recognize. It was filled with bookshelves on one wall from floor to ceiling. Only these were not books for Mage schooling, but a private collection. Some were very old and there were a number of familiar titles.

  Overhead, a beautiful chandelier that ran on electricity glowed, casting shadows on the wood floor. There were a few photographs and a detailed tapestry. To the right was a desk, but what drew my attention was a commanding sword mounted on the wall behind it.

  It was a large oak desk. Nearing the edge, I ran my fingers along the wood and over the beautiful rich leather binding of a very weathered book. It was a deep red with a striking symbol adorning the cover. My fingers traced the grooves of a large round circle that reminded me of the one I saw on Justus’s business card—only this one had stunning detail. On the bottom right corner was a thinly embossed single word: HALO.

  “Silver…” Simon urged.

  “What’s HALO?”

  “I can’t say. Come away from there.”

  Something on the desk caught my attention. It was a picture frame, and the photograph displayed was me.

  Me!

  It was a candid photo that Adam had taken when we were in Memphis and I was sitting in tall grass. Where the hell did he get that?

  “Let’s go, he doesn’t like anyone in here. I knew we should have taken the other passage.”

  Hands deep in my pockets, I walked through a door and stood in the middle of Justus’s bedroom. I had only been in there once. It was very basic and similar to my room. An oversized bed covered with a red silk coverlet, an old black wardrobe with a mirror fixed on the front, and a black sofa. The walls were empty except for the candles. The door through which we stepped in was an oversized mirror mounted on the wall; when it clicked shut it was simply a mirror again.

  Secret passageways, who knew?

  I handed my coat to Simon and almost made it into my bedroom when I stopped dead in my tracks.

  Voices. Plural.

  Simon gave an indifferent stare as I pushed past him into the open room. Justus lifted his chin to look at me. I saw the back of someone’s head in the opposite chair and my heart dropped. I immediately knew who it was.

  When he stood up to face me, I had already flown into his arms. I was pulled possessively to him and my feet came up off the ground.

  “Adam,” I whispered. His face pressed against mine and I inhaled deeply. “You came, I can’t believe you’re here.”

  He smelled so good, like the Adam I remembered. Rich, earthy, clean. I nuzzled into his neck instinctively and his chest vibrated with a low chuckle. “I missed you too, woman.”

  I felt like if I broke into a million tiny pieces, his embrace was the glue that would put me back together.

  Adam set my feet on the ground and his eyes dropped to every visible inch of my body—which was mostly covered with the robe—before he shot a hard look at Justus.

  “As I’ve stated before, she’s been healed, we’ve seen to her needs.” Justus stood up to face Adam and set down his glass of brandy.

  “Have you? Seen to her needs?” Adam’s eyes flared with anger. “What kind of life do you plan to provide for her?”

  Even if he was yelling, I missed the sound of his voice.

  “An honorable one, human. I think you know better than anyone that it is not the easy road that makes us capable of great things. It is the hard journey that leads to a greater destiny. You can never rise if you never have anything to rise above.” Justus swelled with the pride of a man who had perhaps done many great things and fought hard for them.

  “That’s fucking poetic. Tell me, does it keep you warm at night when you curl up with those thoughts, knowing that your views are putting her life in danger?”

  Adam edged toward Justus.

  “Don’t test my loyalties or my intentions,” Justus said. “We’ve already gone over this.”

  “You know what I want?” Adam began moving more out of my grasp. “Peace of mind. I want you to be man enough and stand here and look me in the eye… and tell me that you have her best interest in mind. Because I will hold you to it, feel me?”

  “Please stop,” I pleaded.

  Adam snapped his attention back and I pulled him close as his exotic scent spoiled me to splendor.

  “You need a shave,” I said, scratching his chin. He smirked all the way to his dark eyes.

  “I’m afraid Adam has forgotten his manners, letting the lady stand barefoot on this cold floor. Silver, come warm yourself.”

  I looked suspiciously at Simon, who was seeking opportunity to pull me away from Adam. I found a comfortable spot near the fireplace on a brown rug. I ran my fingers through real animal fur, certain whatever it was it either cost a fortune or Justus hunted the damn animal himself. Probably while riding an elephant on an ostentatious safari.

  Adam wrapped a thin blanket around my shoulders and collapsed in the leather chair behind me. Simon and Justus took the sofa, talking softly.

  My chin lifted, following the height of the stone fireplace that went flush to the ceiling.

  “How does nobody notice the smoke billowing out?”

  “Filtering system, it doesn’t come out from straight above,” was the reply.

  I looked at Adam. “Why are you here; did they call you?” By the way they interacted, it led me to believe he had been here for more than just a few hours.

  He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, one hand cupped in the other.

  “Are you keeping something from me?”

  When he looked to Justus, I knew.

  Justus rose from his seat and stretched, popping a few bones in his neck. “There are fresh clothes in your bedroom so you can freshen up. We’ll discuss our plans over breakfast, or lunch.”

  “Which would you like?” Adam smiled.

  I gave an innocent shrug. “I don’t care.”

  In my bedroom everything felt familiar, but nothing was the same. The blankets on the sofa were just as I had left them—soft and gently crumpled over the arm with my music player sitting on the cushion. The rest of the room was as neat as a pin. Across Goliath was a new pair of clothes laid out expectantly.

  In the bathroom, a small bottle of peach-scented lotion was next to my toothbrush—an expensive brand I could never afford. In his own way, Justus missed me.

  But there was something at the forefront of my thoug
hts—why was Adam here? Was my Ghuardian going to give me over to him? Maybe he’d had time to reconsider his commitment.

  Justus sat alone at the table and I took the seat directly across from him. An empty white plate stared up at me beside a glass of juice, which was gone in about four swallows. Justus gave a side glance at the kitchen door as if he were waiting for something.

  When the door swung open, I was delighted to see Adam with a skillet. He leaned over my shoulder and placed his world-famous omelet onto my plate. It smelled sumptuous. I brought my left hand around the other side of his neck and pulled his cheek to mine in gratitude.

  “I think I like this side of you, you’re more affectionate than before,” he said.

  “I’m just glad to see you.”

  “You smell like peaches, yum.”

  Justus cleared something in his throat and the chair legs made a disagreeable sound as they scraped across the floor. He eyeballed Adam, who briskly walked back into the kitchen.

  “Did you rest well?”

  I nodded, ignoring an ache that was crumpling me like a sheet of paper—hunger.

  Adam returned, filling each plate with an omelet. Simon followed behind like a shadow, carrying a bowl of fresh cut strawberries and toasted bread with jam.

  “Eat.” Justus nodded at my plate, fingers laced, not touching his own food.

  I licked my lips and pulled my glance away, as hard as it was. “I’ll wait.”

  He swallowed his temper rubbed his face in frustration.

  “Silver, please start before it gets cold. Don’t wait for us,” Simon sang out from the kitchen.

  Justus lowered his chin and gave me the look. So I caved, pressing my fork into the omelet. It was warm, buttery, and bursting with flavors of tomato, cheese, diced vegetables, and salty meats. Each bite wasn’t enough. Before I knew it, I was shoveling it in my mouth and swallowing faster than I could chew. My throat was out of practice and I had to dip my chin and struggle with each swallow.

  Simon set a plate of sausages down and by the time everyone was seated I had managed to pack the entire omelet in my mouth like some kind of an animal.

  Everyone stared.

  Embarrassed, I looked down at my lap. It seemed like a lost cause to retain any sense of normalcy.

  Adam leaned behind my chair, cupping his fingers beneath my chin to lift it.

  “I don’t want to see those pretty green eyes on the floor anymore, you hear? I’ll go make more.” He looked away. “Why don’t one of you sorry bastards give her more juice?” Adam left the room and a second plate made its way insistently to me, as did Simon’s drink.

  “He didn’t feed her,” Simon mouthed to Justus.

  “Are my abilities, gone? Did he take them from me?”

  “No, Learner, you will always be able to restore because you still retain your core light.”

  I moved my empty plate away and began to work on his. Adam returned with a second omelet twice as big as the first and I felt a wave of guilt. I sat there stuffing my face on Justus’s plate as all his efforts went to waste. He didn’t seem disappointed, just set the plate in the center of the table and threw a leg over his chair to take a seat.

  Justus nibbled a sausage, licking his fingers as he stared at his plate. “Adam is going to be the challenger.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “No, he isn’t. Don’t even think about it. If that’s what you’ve been sitting around scheming, then you can—”

  “The decision is made,” Adam interrupted, resting his arm on the table as he wrapped his fingers around a small coffee cup. “It was decided days ago, Silver.”

  I only quieted because it was the first time he called me Silver. Before I could catch my tongue, Justus lifted his voice.

  “We’ve gone over every possible scenario, but we all agree on one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Samil must die,” Justus replied. “The rule is that the power between him and the challenger will be leveled out. If a human challenges him, the Council will have no choice but to remove his power temporarily. The law is no Mage shall kill another, but there is nothing in the law about humans. Adam would have the power to take him out because Samil will be reduced to human form.”

  “How do you temporarily remove his power?” My appetite began to shrink.

  “A Mage can pull energy from another, but it’s only temporary and it leaks. Each Mage is born with gifts. Merc so happens to have the ability to retain all power, including core light for a period of—we speculate—twenty-four hours. After that, it leaks. The Council will use him to hold Samil’s power until after the challenge. In fact, I can easily see why it would have been one reason they brought him on the Council.”

  His thought wandered and Simon picked up where he left off.

  “We don’t trust Merc. We have a history with him. A Mage that can absorb all the power of another is dangerous. It’s an uncalculated risk.”

  “So you want to remove all power from Samil to make him mortal so Adam can challenge him to the death? They said they don’t fight to the death because of the value of a Creator.”

  “But there is a loophole, Silver.” Justus gave a cold stare. “He will be human. Adam would have full rights as a human to end his life for his own justice. A Mage is only Breed because of their light.”

  “What about the Council saying the winner takes the power?”

  “If the power is infused to your core light, it becomes yours; that is how it would be returned to Samil. There is one on the Council who has such a gift.”

  “That’s a pretty nifty gift. Sounds like between the members of the Council they could steal everyone’s power if they wanted.”

  Simon laughed. “Assuming they worked together, but two of them avidly hate each other. Merc and the one who holds the ability to infuse power—Sasha. They were former lovers. So if it is not infused to anyone, it will be lost from Merc.”

  Someone rapped their knuckles on the table and I pushed my plate forward.

  “You still didn’t answer my question. He’s human, he has no core light.” I stared at Justus.

  “Correct, he would not receive the power because it would kill him. The power is too strong to give even to a new Learner, which would be like giving a Lamborghini to a toddler. I haven’t worked out what the Council will do, we can only speculate. Honestly, Silver, I don’t give a fuck where that energy goes, pardon my language.”

  “He’s not a fighter! It’s too dangerous, Ghuardian, you’re putting his life at risk!”

  Simon muffled a laugh, almost choking on his omelet.

  “Mind telling me what’s so funny?”

  Adam cleared his throat and tugged at his ear. “Silver, you know I was in the military. I was part of an elite force, one that no one knows exists except the right people—or maybe the wrong. The assignments we were given were risky and dangerous. I am well-trained in specialized hand-to-hand combat, among other things.”

  “Among other things.” I always thought that should be the title of a book that revealed the biggest secrets in history, because that small little phrase was the most enigmatic and dangerous of all.

  “The man can bang out an omelet in three minutes, but he can also give a good beat down. Trust me, I fought him without using my energy. Bloke might have snapped my neck, but he hesitated. Guess he forgot that we heal.” Simon chuckled, biting a strawberry all the way to the green, leafy top.

  “Maybe it’s because he’s not a killer.”

  Adam ran his tongue across his front teeth beneath his lip, and there was something in that look that made it self-evident without any confession, that my statement was not entirely true.

  “You know, I never asked where you got those panties from that you put on me the night you found me. Some things are best left unsaid.” I stood up from the table and burned him with my stare. “But being some kind of military assassin? Not one of them. So anymore secrets that you guys want to tell me? Because apparently,” I ye
lled, “I’m just on the need-to-know basis. No big deal, it’s only my life you’re gambling with… his life.”

  I could feel the power surging within me as my shoes tapped down the hallway.

  “Silver, wait.” Adam beckoned from behind.

  “I cannot believe that I wasn’t part of this, Razor, and what are you thinking? I didn’t want you involved and now if anything happens to you it’s my fault!” I spun around. “Don’t you get it? I can’t take that chance—you don’t know what the Council might do. You don’t have a clue what our world is like.”

  “And you do?”

  “Why are you doing this? There’s got to be another way.”

  “Please, listen,” he said, stepping forward.

  My fingertips began buzzing with anger as I raised them up. “Back off, because I could hurt you. Go back to your life—it’s safer, it’s easier that way. I never wanted you to be dragged into this.” I took a breath and leveled down.

  His body leaned in and I stepped back until I bumped into the door.

  “You’ll join us tonight, no more secrets,” Adam said. “I know you’re pissed off, but I want to be the one. It’s not a favor or an obligation that I’ll enjoy breaking his neck. The way he hurt you…”

  “You don’t even know how he hurt me.” I nearly choked. “You haven’t seen me until now, and I look okay, don’t I? So why the fuss?”

  “I saw what he did to you the night I found you, goddamn it! That waking nightmare, which I will live with for the rest of my life, is all the motivation I need to know that I want to be the one to put him in the ground. It was always my decision, there was no convincing. I was in from the beginning.”

  “Look, if you are on some kind of mission to make peace with the world because of some bad shit you did in your past, do not play martyr for me.”

  He pressed his hand against the wall over my head and leaned in. “I care about you, Silver; I don’t want to see you hurt anymore. I’m not backing away from this and you can’t make me. I know the risk and it’s worth it.”

  Words that should have given me comfort but tore me apart instead.

  “The risk is your life! It’s not worth giving up because of some ideal you have of protecting me from the world. Doing this won’t bring me happiness. I know you aren’t that naïve.”