Stolen Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress Book 3)

by Linsey Hall

  I reached for a white teacup painted with pink and blue flowers. “Thank you.” My eyes landed on the small plate of chocolate. “Chocolate?”

  “This is Switzerland.”

  I took a piece of chocolate, unable to help myself. “Do you have a name?”

  “None that need concern you.”

  “All right.” I hesitated. “I guess I’ll just call you the Nullifier, then.”

  “Fine. Now tell me what is wrong. I cannot say that I will help, but I will listen. It’s the least I can do for someone who has gained the approval of the dragonets.”

  “Can I ask how you found them?” I always figured it was smart to spend a few minutes of fostering good will by showing interest in the person you wanted something from. And I was genuinely interested.

  “I didn’t. They found me. They live here, in this forest. They protect me because they have grown to like me.”

  “Really? I thought dragons had died out.”

  He shrugged. “They may have. Like I said, these are not flesh and blood dragons, but magic. Though there is folklore that says dragons used to live in these mountains. Some believe they still do.”

  Real dragons, swooping amongst the dramatic peaks that surrounded us? My heart lightened at the idea, warmth flowing through my chest. I’d love to see that.

  “Is that why you settled here?” I asked.

  “No. I settled here because it is remote and there are no nearby magical settlements.” He sipped his tea. “Now what do you need help with?”

  I set my teacup down and told him about the portal and Magic’s Bend. Gravity settled over his features as he listened.

  “And so we were hoping you could come through the portal with us and disenchant the Pool of Enchantment. Then, we could get rid of the portal for good.”

  He leaned back in his chair. “Well, that is terrible. But I cannot come.”

  “You can’t?” I almost shrieked the words. I couldn’t believe he was willing to let Magic’s Bend be destroyed.

  “I do not leave my home. Considering that you need help far away, it is impossible.”

  Birds chirped in the distance, their song somehow piercing the roar of rage in my head. This guy had the chance to save a whole city and he wasn’t going to take it?

  “That is my final say in the matter,” the Nullifier said.

  I opened my mouth to respond, but my skin prickled with unease, a strange feeling that was totally out of place with my anger. The sense of foreboding wouldn’t abate. I glanced at Aidan. His brow was creased.

  Beyond him, the forest trees seemed to shimmer. I sucked in a breath, getting a hint of a strange smell. Dark magic? But I had to be imagining it. The Nullifier would crush any magic before it could even approach. He’d created a bubble, a no-magic zone.

  The birds went silent.

  My spine stiffened. I reached for my magic but found nothing. The Nullifier’s doing. So I moved my hand toward the daggers at my thighs.

  “There’s something—”

  An explosion blew my world apart, deafening me. It blasted me through the air. I crashed to the ground, my head ringing and my eyes blind. I lay stunned, gasping.

  Cool water brushed over my face, clearing my head.

  I blinked, my vision slowly returning. The water dragonet hovered above me. I scrambled to my feet. The yard was chaos. The flagstone patio had been blown apart by some magical concussive force. Rocks and dirt scattered all around. Flowers were everywhere.

  A dozen yards away, Aidan stumbled to his feet. The Nullifier lay on the other side of the yard, still. The magical void I’d felt ever since trying to access my magic lifted. Did that mean the Nullifier was dead?

  Please no.

  With him died our hope of saving Magic’s Bend.

  Suddenly, demons crashed through the trees, charging us. Their gray forms bulged with muscle, and their horns swept back along their skulls.

  Shadow demons.

  Fear tasted metallic in my mouth. These were the demons that the Monster most commonly used as his henchmen. But if they were here for me, how the hell did they find me?

  One demon raised an arm and threw a blast of smoke. It hurtled through the air, a gray cloud that I knew to be blazing hot and propelled by the force of a locomotive.

  I lunged, throwing myself to the grass and barely escaping the searing heat that would have plowed me into the ground and probably knocked me unconscious.

  As I scrambled to my feet, Aidan threw a huge jet of flame, bowling over three demons. Their gray bodies flew back, two of them smashing into the trees. The pines snapped and careened backward.

  Aidan’s magic appeared to be unlocked too.

  I drew upon my own, calling up my lightning and letting it crackle and burn beneath my skin. Warmth and joy surged as it unfurled in my chest. Now that I’d embraced my magic, using it was bliss. Like I was fully complete. How had I lived so long without this? Like I’d been half of myself.

  When I’d formed a big enough bolt, I threw it at two demons who were only ten yards away. Thunder cracked, nearly deafening, as it hurtled through the air and struck their hulking forms. They stopped dead in their tracks, their bodies jerking as they collapsed.

  More demons spilled from the forest. Aidan threw fire, his jets so precisely aimed that they killed the demons without lighting up the trees and grass. I shot lightning, picking them off as they charged. Thunder boomed, an eerie sound on such a cloudless, perfect day. My skin felt electrified. I reveled in it.

  Aidan and I made a good team. He was wasted as a millionaire business owner. Fighting was his strength.

  The dragonets streaked from around the house, their small bodies hurtling toward the demons. Glittering blue, blazing red, deep dark brown, and ethereal gray all charged toward the threat to avenge their friend, the Nullifier.

  The fire dragonet collided with a demon, lighting him up in an inferno of flame. The water dragonet quickly doused the blaze. I winced, thinking of the immense heat and then deadly cold of the water dragonet. The stone dragonet threw itself into a demon, the blow so hard that the demon flew off his feet and through the air, colliding with a tree.

  But the worst was the smoke dragonet. He flew straight at the face of the demon nearest me, disappearing inside of him. The demon’s eyes widened, horrified, as he convulsed and collapsed.

  Possession by smoke dragonet? No thanks. Especially since the shadow demon seemed to be suffocating from within, from the look of the smoke billowing from his mouth and nose. I shuddered, then turned back to the forest, ready to electrocute more demons.

  What I saw made my knees weaken.

  The Monster.

  He strolled from the forest, calm as could be, his suit so perfectly pressed he looked like he represented a Swiss bank. His dull brown gaze was bland.

  I drew in a ragged breath, suddenly unable to remember any of my powers.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Aidan stood between the Monster and me. His head whipped toward the Nullifier. A silver gray light swirled around Aidan until the massive golden griffin stood in his place. He crouched low, then launched himself in the air.

  I steadied my breathing, forcing myself to remember my magic, and called upon a bolt of lightning. When it crackled beneath my skin, I launched it at the Monster. Thunder boomed as it hurtled toward him.

  The Monster threw up a hand. My lightning ricocheted off the barrier he’d created, bouncing straight back to me. I lunged out of the path of fiery light, skidding in the dirt as it streaked overhead and plowed into a corner of the Nullifier’s house.

  I scrambled to my feet as Aidan swooped down from above, landing with a thud next to me. I met his dark gaze, understanding, and gripped his soft fur in my hands, then scrambled onto his back, settling in behind his wings.

  His magic washed over me, the scent of forest so strong it smelled like I was in a Christmas tree. The sound of crashing waves drowned out the Monster’s enraged shout. Aidan crouched low, then laun
ched himself into the air. Wind tore at my hair as we hurtled upward. I gathered up my lightning to shoot at the Monster, though I knew he would likely deflect it.

  “Get the Nullifier!” I shouted at Aidan as I aimed my bolt.

  Aidan turned from the Monster and flew toward the Nullifier, who still lay on the ground. I twisted on his back to keep the Monster in sight. The dragonets were charging the Monster, their little forms glittering in the sunlight.

  “No! Dragonets! No!” They were no match for the Monster.

  I hurled my bolt of lightning, distracting the Monster from the dragonets. The dragonets watched the Monster deflect the bolt, then turned and flew toward me. My heart soared.

  The Monster raised a hand and threw an enormous jet of fire at us. Aidan couldn’t see it, of course.

  “Left!” I screamed at Aidan.

  I gripped his fur as he dodged left, but the flame ignited his wing. The smell of burning feathers singed my nose. The water dragonet sped forward, throwing itself against Aidan’s wing. The dragonet exploded in a burst of water, droplets flying everywhere.

  “No!” I reached for the dragonet. I didn’t want Aidan to be burned, but I also didn’t want the dragonet to die.

  The flames extinguished and the water flew through the air, as if in rewind, and formed back into the shape of the water dragonet.

  A victory laugh escaped me as Aidan plunged toward the ground and the collapsed form of the Nullifier. I prayed that he was still alive.

  As gently as if he were picking up a kitten, the griffin’s enormous claws curled around the Nullifier and lifted him into the air. I twisted around to see the Monster raising his hand to throw another blast of magic at us.

  But Aidan was so fast that we were a hundred yards away in seconds. I was about to pull the transportation stone from my pocket and get us the hell out of Switzerland when the Nullifier shouted from his place resting in Aidan’s claws.

  I leaned over to look down at him, catching sight of his panicked gaze darting from the Monster on the ground below to the griffin above him. Less than a second later, the magic that had flared to life in my chest died, replaced by the now familiar aching loss that accompanied the Nullifier using his powers.

  Dread had only a millisecond to set up camp in my heart when the griffin beneath me disappeared. I screamed as we plummeted through the air, me, Aidan in his human form, and the Nullifier.

  Before his magic had been nullified, Aidan had flown us out over a deep valley. The ground was thousands of feet below.

  “Stop!” I screamed at the Nullifier, my gasping shout lost on the wind that tore at my clothes and made my eyes water. My stomach was in my chest, and my hands clawed at the air.

  The little dragonets swooped around us helplessly, too small to lift us.

  The Nullifier’s panicked gaze met my own.

  “Stop!” I screamed.

  A massive concussive force bowled into me, knocking the breath from my lungs. The Monster had thrown one of his signature sonic booms. Pain bloomed in my entire body. Before my vision darkened, I caught sight of the Nullifier pin-wheeling through the sky. He must have been hit with the majority of the boom. The Monster had hit me with one once. It’d made my insides feel like soup.

  When I opened my eyes again, we were still falling, though much closer to the ground. I’d only been out a second.

  My magic bloomed in my chest. Hope swelled. I prayed the Nullifier wasn’t dead, but the fact that I had my magic meant that maybe I wouldn’t be crushed to death on the valley floor. Aidan would have his magic too. And he could fly.

  I twisted my head, looking for Aidan. I caught sight of him twenty yards away, falling through the air. Silver gray light surrounded him, the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. The wind tore at my hair and clothes as I plummeted, and I prayed Aidan would be in time. I glanced at the ground. It was closer, but still far.

  Maybe this would work.

  A golden blur caught my gaze. I looked up to see the griffin, fully transformed. He swooped under me, catching me on his back. Relief welled. Not enough to banish the fear, but enough to get me moving.

  I clutched his warm fur gratefully and scrambled high onto his back. He flew left, then plunged again, right beneath the Nullifier. I reached out and grabbed onto the Nullifier’s tweed coat, then dragged him onto Aidan’s back. In the distance, the dragonets flew off, I hoped toward safety.

  I pulled his unconscious body close, my stomach still in my throat as we surged upward, the griffin’s powerful wings beating the air. I was so not built for this kind of travel.

  I dug into my pocket and withdrew the transport charm.

  “I’m throwing the transport charm!” I shouted at Aidan.

  I thought his head nodded, so I chucked the stone ahead of us and envisioned the safest place I could think of. The stone exploded in a poof of silver dust, and the griffin hurtled into it.

  A second later, we soared over the green fields of Ireland, Aidan’s massive estate below. It was the only house for miles, and the emerald hills rolled out in every direction.

  The griffin headed for the front lawn and slowed its descent to land gracefully on the grass.

  I scrambled off his back, trying to carefully bring the Nullifier’s body with me. I crashed to my butt, but I kept the Nullifier from further injury.

  The ground had never felt so good.

  I resisted the urge to kiss it and felt for the Nullifier’s pulse instead. His skin felt paper thin beneath my fingertips. He must be ancient.

  There!

  Faint, but definitely there. In a swirl of silver light, Aidan transformed back into a man.

  “We need to get in the house.” Aidan swept the Nullifier into his arms and sprinted across the grass. I surged to my feet and followed.

  We raced up the sweeping stairs to the front door. A gust of wind forced the door open with a bang. Aidan’s elemental powers, I realized. I raced into the foyer behind Aidan and shut the door, panting.

  “The house is guarded,” Aidan said as he took the grand stairs two at a time. “I think the Nullifier’s powers broke your concealment charm. As long as you’re near him, the Monster can find you. But if he’s passed out, your concealment charm and the protections on the house will hold. You should be safe.”

  For magic’s sake, I’d never even thought of that. I was losing my edge.

  I ran up the stairs behind Aidan, following him to the first bedroom on the left. He laid the Nullifier on the grand bed, then pressed his hands to his shoulders.

  Aidan’s magic surged on the air as he fed healing power into the Nullifier. The old man’s color improved slightly—less of a deadly pale, at least.

  “Dial zero on the phone near the bed,” Aidan said. “Tell Iona to get the closest healer here now.”

  Iona was the housekeeper, I recalled. I’d been here once before, and she’d made a delicious dinner, though I’d never met her. My fingers trembled as I dialed the phone. I blurted the request when she picked up. She didn’t even bother asking who I was, just said the healer would be here straightaway. I hung up.

  “How’s he doing?” I approached Aidan and stared down at the Nullifier’s still form. Though his color had slightly improved, his cheeks looked sunken, and his breath was shallow. I had to squint to even tell if his chest was moving.

  “Still alive,” Aidan said. “But that sonic boom hit him dead on. At his age, he’s lucky he didn’t die on the spot. Another hit like that and he’d have been dead.”

  This had been the trauma that Aethelred had mentioned. Time and decay might not get the Nullifier, but murder could.

  “You could have shifted in the air, Cass.” Censure laced his tone. “I like saving you, but you need to remember your powers. You could have mirrored my ability to shift and saved yourself. What if I hadn’t gotten to you in time?”

  He was right. Damn it. I’d been so freaked out by falling that I hadn’t even thought of it. The idea that I might have let myself be
pancaked because I hadn’t remembered all my powers made me cringe.

  I scrubbed a weary hand over my face. “You’re right. I need to be better at it.”

  He nodded. “Good. You’re powerful, but you need to be faster.”

  I studied the floorboards hard, disappointed in myself. I was learning. But he was right, there wasn’t time for me to do it slowly.

  A few moments later, a banging sounded at the front door.

  “I’ll get it.” I left Aidan to continue trying to heal the Nullifier and sprinted down the stairs, grateful to be on my own with my embarrassment. I peered through the wavy glass inset in the door. “Who is it?”

  “Healer Caerdowen,” a feminine voice said. “Called by Iona.”

  I didn’t feel any dark magic wafting through the door, so I pulled it open. A pretty woman with serious eyes stood on the other side. She was dressed like a mountain climber in cargo pants and an athletic t-shirt, but there was an old-fashioned doctor’s bag gripped in her hand. I stepped back to let her enter, then shut the door.

  “Come on,” I said. “He’s up here.”

  “What am I dealing with?” she asked as she hurried up the stairs beside me.

  “Sonic boom hit an old man.”

  “How old?”

  “No idea. Older than is natural. He’s got some protection against aging.”

  “All right, then.”

  We hurried into the room. Aidan stepped aside as Caerdowen approached. She studied the Nullifier, her gaze serious.

  I stood near Aidan and gripped his hand, comforted by his warmth and strength.

  “Do you think he’ll be all right?” I asked.

  “Give me a moment.” Caerdowen’s tone was all business. It comforted me. This chick could handle herself and whatever her job threw at her.

  I stood in anxious silence. When I was unable to take it any longer, I leaned up and whispered to Aidan, “I’m going to go call Aerdeca and see how the museum is doing.”

  He nodded and leaned down to kiss my forehead. A small burst of heat flared inside me. I ignored it and hurried from the room, pulling my cellphone out of my pocket.