by LJ Andrews
Queen of Jade
LJ Andrews
Copyright © 2021by LJ Andrews
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
Edited by Larissa Rees
Cover by Dark Wish Designs
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Part One
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Part Two
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Part Three
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
Part Four
26.
Part One
The Mage
Chapter 1
Magis creatures had existed in plain sight for centuries.
But dragons were supposed to be dead. Killed off by the original mages in brutal deadly wars long ago.
The truth was, dragons were real, and I was in love with their queen.
Weeks had passed since I’d almost died. The agony of that night still rippled through my chest. Darkness threatened to control my soul the longer I thought on everything. I saw his silver eyes when I slept. I replayed the way she died each morning, as if the sunlight were a constant reminder of her goodness and strength.
Mini hadn’t deserved the end she’d met. Her absence was an empty hole in each day, each training, each council.
The morning sun broke through the frosty window as I pushed thoughts of my friend to the back of my mind. Dawn brightened the green marks on my arms until the color tinted gold. Each arm was enrobed in the marks. Tattoos to most; few knew the truth of what the green symbols meant.
On my shoulders, down to my waist, a seal of gilded green took up space on my back. It was my favorite mark.
You might not think such a secret could be kept, roaming with dragons and all, but hiding the impossible became easier the longer time passed.
It helped that the royal wyverns were rather accustomed to living in plain sight. Not having many people in my life to conceal the truth from helped, too. Aunt Liz, the woman who’d raised me, needed to remain in the dark. To her, I was still a defective magis. A powerless, abandoned guy who fit nowhere. Not with human districts, not with the magically inclined. To her, I was still one mistake away from being tossed into dark, damp rune cells beneath the Magic Police Force buildings.
I wasn’t. Not even close.
I jumped when a fist pounded on my door. “Teagan—seriously, every morning. Come on!”
“Relax, Mitch! We always make it on time!” I usually dawdled in the mornings now, just to irritate my friend, a fae changeling who didn’t fit anywhere either.
Mitch jiggled the doorknob once more. “Yeah, well, one day I’d like to get there with some time to spare. I’ve got people to see too.”
Mitch’s steps stomped down the hallway while I tossed my T-shirt over my head.
Out of habit, my fingers traced a few of the swirls and lines of the marks on my forearm. A sort of comfort now when once they terrified me. The truth that dragons existed was difficult enough to wrap around my mind, but the idea that magical, energy-wielding mages existed—and that I was one of them—that was an entirely different challenge to accept.
With my toe, I shoved the gilded hilt of one of the mage blades beneath my bed. Even such a simple touch sent a spark shooting up my leg. The blades were mine. Everyone told me I’d be considered the new High Priest of mages because the blades chose me. I’d rather not be. The title had been corrupted by the previous owner.
Satisfied they were hidden, I shouldered a pack, and hurried out into the hallway.
The main level of the house was empty, only a few straggling magis reforms remained. An imp with bluish skin. A harpy with golden eyes. A few defectives who would never know what the unusable magic in their veins could do. I’d been grateful when the gaggle of succubus girls had returned home at the end of summer. Now it was quieter, less seductive, and I could sleep a little easier.
Outside a thin layer of frosty powder coated the gravel drive. A frigid wind picked up, flurrying snow around my face. Even still, since the fight between the dark High Priest, my body seemed to resist the cold. As though the power coursing through my veins were a constant furnace.
“Teagan,” a booming voice shouted from behind me. “Wait, I have to tell you . . .”
“The bus is leaving,” I called over my shoulder.
Sapphire’s rich, coal-like eyes found me from his office door. “And you care?”
I shrugged. “Hey, you guys are the ones who said I still had to participate like a proper reform.”
One of the imps lifted a bushy brow. His inky eyes darted between me and Konrad Sapphire. To the imp, Sapphire was the head counselor. A man not to be trifled with. The imp scurried away when Sapphire dragged me back inside.
Sapphire wasn’t a man. Not really.
One of the royal dragons and now with Mini’s death, my charge to protect as a mage. Even if my armor shone in emerald, I’d known the moment I promised to defend the Sapphire line, I would. As fiercely as I would the queen.
Sapphire let out a dramatic sigh. “You know you need to listen to me. One, I’m royal. Two, I’m still the head of this house.”
“Get a move on it,” the plump, trollish bus driver, Wanda, shrieked.
“She’ll murder me if I don’t go,” I said. “And you might be royal, but I’m the leader of the Mages. We’re basically the same. Try again.”
I took the porch steps two at a time, but Sapphire called out after me. “There’s something I think you should know before going to the barrier.”
“Is someone dying?”
“What? No, but—”
“Okay then, we’ll talk when I get home.”
“I can’t make any promises you won’t die if you don’t hurry!” Wanda shouted. Her stringy red curls wisped around her face, and already beads of sweat glistened over her hooded brow. I climbed the bus steps and she poked her finger at my heart. “Where’s your coat, boy? Those hideous things should be covered.”
The sith scanned my arms, disapproval written on her face.
“You know I didn’t get in this place by following the rules. I figure if Sapphire says it’s good, who am I to argue?”
She scoffed, used her thumb to direct me to a seat, and jerked the steering wheel, so I stumbled a bit. “Well, hopefully Ms. Drake will have the backbone to set you straight.”
Right. I rolled my eyes. Eisha was the one who had resisted the truth that the mages had returned. At the last interaction Eisha had with Bron, her mate had been slaughtered along with Jade’s parents. But after Mini died, I’d proven my loyalty enough for her.
Maybe I ought to let Wanda know Eisha had become one of my fiercest allies.
The others continued to resist my affection for Jade, but Eisha accepted there was something different about the bond shared between the two of us.
“Wanda is going to run over your foot when you get off,” Mitch said as I sat beside him.
“No, I think she secretly likes us,” I said. Mitch glanced at my arms but didn’t say anything, though I could sense
he wanted to. “What is it?”
Sapphire had approved Mitch’s dark curls to come in longer through the winter months since he hated the cold. He had a beanie pulled over his pointed ears, and lately his eyes looked more like molten gold than hazel. I was glad to call the fae a friend. Though, I think he suspected something had changed. His fae magic sensed other powers and there were moments I often caught Mitch scrutinizing me, as if he might catch a glimpse of something remarkable.
Mitch pointed to my arms. “Your tattoos—they keep changing. One day they look a certain way, the next day they are something entirely different.”
“What are you asking, Mitch?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, eyes narrowed. “But when I do, I’ll be sure to ask.”
I grinned. “Okay. Do that.”
I nudged Mitch’s elbow, ignoring the way the back of my throat burned. I shouldn’t encourage anything, but I also couldn’t deny the thought of sharing the burden was tempting. Mitch wouldn’t betray Sapphire, he viewed him too much like a father figure. And he was fae—maybe he could . . .
No. It would only place Mitch in danger if I involved him.
“You’re not crazy,” I said after a pause. “I had them done with witch’s ink. It’s got a few tricks in the color. That’s why it changes.”
“Really?” He sounded like he didn’t believe a word. After a few heartbeats he shrugged. “Guess it makes some sense.”
I slugged his shoulder as the bus rolled up to the barrier between the human district and magis side of Wyvern Willows.
Mitch picked up a satchel, a new grin on his face. “I know you only wanted to do the summer thing, but I’m glad you stuck around. Winter is ridiculously boring most years.”
“Me too,” I said. Originally, I’d been sent to finish magis high school at the summer program at Wyvern High. As principal, Eisha offered me an honorary diploma. Good behavior, she called it.
By all accounts I should’ve returned to Hamilton with Aunt Liz, but separating from Jade—not a chance. We brushed it off as an extended sentence, but Mitch figured I planned to live there like he did at this point.
Outside, the magis gathered around the barrier. Fae with horns, pointed ears, or long fingernails lined up with a few spell casters in robes, and herb witches with grimoires. Each quarter the barrier needed to be reinforced, and it fell to us to rebuild it.
“What can a defective do?” Boris, a rather unfriendly wolvyn who’d been caught stealing from a vampire harem shoved between me and Mitch.
“Ass,” Mitch grumbled and wiggled his fingers at Boris’s back. A thorn popped out of his neck with enough of a jolt, the wolvyn couldn’t help but shift. His skin sprouted coarse, dark fur. His nose became a narrow, wet snout.
All around other magis snickered when Boris whimpered and pawed at the thorn still jutting out of his fur. I laughed as Mitch wiggled his fingers again and it faded into nothing.
Boris snarled.
“Go ahead,” Mitch said. “Shift back.”
Wolvyn shifted naked, and usually with patchy bits of fur or a tail for a solid hour after. Boris bared his fangs and padded away into the trees. He’d either shift and freeze, or sit here, useless in his true form.
“You never use your magic,” I said to Mitch. “It’s stronger than it was.”
“I know,” he agreed. “I’m telling you, since that earthquake, it’s like I can do things I never thought I could.”
I didn’t miss the way Mitch stretched the word earthquake. During the battle with Bron the earth split in two. The only one who didn’t buy the quake story was Mitch. He’d sensed the magic of the ravine straightaway. But he’d never pressed.
Mitch would ask when he knew the right questions, to be sure. And he’d see through a lie. I was certain of it.
“I saw that, Mitch.”
My stomach flipped inside out and I turned to the silky voice.
Jade moved through the crowd like a true queen. The smile spread across my face, and I did little to stop it. Something had changed inside Jade too. She was powerful, regal—as a queen should be. But there was more. For years Jade had been trapped in her human form, unable to shift. Finally, not so many weeks ago, she’d returned to her dragon form for the first time in centuries.
Mitch scoffed. “He deserved it.”
Jade drifted toward me, never alone, of course. Though I was named as Jade’s protector, Raffi and Dash were her two warriors and never far behind.
Raffi scowled like usual, always on edge. But nearly having your head torn off by a lindworm allowed for some paranoia.
On the opposite side, Dash smiled more. As if he lived for battle and it inspired a different side of him. Dash bore his new scars on his corded neck with pride, always giving different stories as to how they came to be.
I curled my arms around Jade’s waist. Mitch groaned, but so did Raffi. I hardly cared.
“Bold today,” Jade said as her fingertips followed the marks on my skin.
“It’s hot in long sleeves.”
“It’s winter,” Mitch said.
I waved him away and he joined Raffi and Dash at the barrier. Already the pulses of white magic shot up and down as it strengthened. The barrier served two purposes: it gave the human district a clear line they could either risk and cross, or avoid. But it kept dark powers out. Not dark creatures—no—plenty of dark elven and wraiths and phantoms lived behind magis barriers, but it signaled malice and forbidden dark power. The sort of magic that manipulated the earth to do wicked things to innocent.
The sort of power that Bron used.
Clearly, this magis district barrier was no match for the dark High Priest. Then again, mages were supposed to be dead. No doubt the magis mayor—a pompous forest fae—had no idea his barrier would not hold against the ancient mage.
He hadn’t quite clued-in that dragons lived in town, either.
“Did Sapphire speak with you?” Jade asked in a low voice.
My brow furrowed when I met her gleaming green eyes. Maybe I should have given Sapphire the time to speak. “He tried, but we were running late.”
Jade nodded. “It’s fine. We’ll talk later.”
A wave of tension tossed over me. Our bond connected things like emotions and she had a knack for worrying when anything involved me.
I pulled her against my chest and lowered my lips to her ear. “Something’s wrong.”
“Really, it’s nothing that can’t wait. It’s just a . . . surprise, that’s all.”
I let it go for now and followed her to the others. I could fuel the barrier, but I needed to play the role of defective. As did Jade. So, we supplied the row of creatures with supplies, or water (some fae preferred wine) and food while they worked on the barrier. They had no idea my magic powered a second, invisible, barrier. A banishment of lindworms and dark mages.
We played our roles.
We planned.
We still had no clear way to protect the remaining royals.
Sapphire and Jade had sent word to the other elemental royals scattered around the earth, but . . . nothing returned. Truth be told, it left a sinking ache in the back of my skull. By now, someone should’ve reached out. Anyone.
“Ah, strong as ever.”
The two warriors stiffened. Their faces slack and focused. A man with stormy eyes materialized near the barrier. He studied the two warriors, passed over Mitch, but drew his eyes to me. His skin puckered in deep wrinkles near his mouth and eyes. He flicked his gaze to my arms, but bounced back as if he didn’t see the golden-green marks.
A few shrubs pulled aside and Eisha, dressed in a pantsuit, hurried to the guy’s side.
My chest tightened. Something was off.
“And who,” the man started, eyes on me, “are you?”
“Uh, Teagan Ward.”
The man nodded, a satisfied smile passing over his lips. “I am Aldwin from the—”
“State school board,” Eisha blurted out. She stood by Aldwin, a
false grin on her face. “The state school board, isn’t that right Mr. Aldwin.”
He puckered his mouth, a flash of white in his eyes, but turned on his heel, muttering, “Shameful” under his breath.
Jade’s fingers slipped into mine and calm spread through me at once. I offered a bemused glance, but didn’t get the chance to ask before Eisha was at my side.
“Teagan, come this way.”
Jade paled and the defensive instinct prickled along my arms, as though the armor might harden along the green marks any moment.
“Teag!” Mitch called out and gestured for the bus. “We’re leaving.”
I pointed to Eisha and Mitch tossed a suspicious thumbs up, but hurried away with the others.
Eisha used her head to point to a thick patch of trees. With Jade’s hand in mine, I left the barrier and faded into shadows of the trees. I pulled back a heavy bower of branches for Jade, and when I faced forward again Aldwin stood inches from my face.
One of his knobby hands shot out and locked around my wrist. “Ah, this is the great defender.”
My throat tightened, and with each breath I could feel the spaces between my ribs pit from my rapid breaths. A strange surge of energy rippled through my blood when I tugged my wrist away.
“Who are you?” I snapped.
“Were you not informed?” Aldwin asked with genuine curiosity.
Clearing my throat, I glanced back at Jade. Raffi and Dash were standing at attention now, Eisha stood at my opposite shoulder, a little protectively. Jade smiled, but it was forced.
“Teagan,” she said. “This is Aldwin. An elder.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“I am the lead elder of the wyvern council, Mr. Ward. Or would you prefer High Priest?” Aldwin said, mistrust in his tone.
“Teagan,” I muttered.
“Fine then.” A subtle accent quivered in his tone. “I’ve come to discuss what happened during the lindworm attack. We ask for your version of the event and, of course, we will need to assess your lineage.”
“What are you talking about?” The lineage part was the piece I didn’t want to explore.
Bron, he’d said he was my father. Evil, dangerous, and wanted to kill me—not exactly ideal. Then, there was the matter of my mother. No one was positive, but the High Priestess seemed the likely answer. The only problem—no one knew if she was on the side of Bron or the side of elemental dragons. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.