Savage Magic (Shifty Magic, Book 3)

by Judy Teel

  "I'm more than a match for you without the PRC. Imagine how easy it would be to get answers out of you with it," I hissed.

  "I can still taste that one sweet drop of your blood on my lips." He smiled, his eyes still closed. "Intoxicating."

  My lip curled up as repulsion crawled across my skin. "Sounds like you think I do have something to bargain with," I said, barely keeping myself from gagging on the words.

  "So many long weeks on cheese and bread. Imagine the strain."

  My Were blood was poisonous to vampires. If he got more than a drop, he'd know I wasn't human. Of course, if it killed him it might be worth the risk.

  His eyes slitted open, curiosity glittering in their depths. "Beginning to think it might be worth it?"

  I propped my boot on the seat next to him and leaned in. "Not even. I'm in the mood for a little more drama." I hooked my forefinger up under his PRC and gave a light tug. His eyes flew open, his smarmy confidence gone.

  "So tell me—" I pulled a little harder and he came with it, his alarm spiking into full out fear as the collar gave off the high-pitched warning signal. I leaned in close, keeping just enough tension on the collar to make losing his head a real possibility. "Just between us girls. Why are you here?"

  "He needs you," he said, sweat beading up across his forehead. He licked his lips and his gaze dropped to my mouth, reminding me of another disgusting encounter. "I'm beginning to understand why."

  Except this time, I wasn't confronting a powerful and cunning vampire who was close to three hundred years old. This jackass nephew of Bellmonte's had probably been turned somewhere around the seventies and with his massive ego, he'd never be as dangerous as his uncle.

  I flexed my finger and the alarm on the collar beeped faster. "If you get out of here alive, I have a message for your lord and master." I leaned in close to his ear. "Piss off." Releasing him, I slid my foot off the bench, making sure my boot would have crushed his toes if he hadn't moved them out of the way in time. PRCs definitely came in handy when they were used on the right people.

  Sauntering back to the kitchen side of the building, I glanced toward the training ring across the compound where Deg watched me, hostility radiating off of him as strongly as Danny's sunbeam.

  Of course in some cases, a specially modified Browning was even better.

  * * *

  "How do I get my gun back?"

  Noah and I sat at a broad table next to a window that overlooked the grounds, a feast of roast beef sandwiches on homemade bread and mugs of sweet tea in front of each of us. Heaven. Even without a Dr. Pepper.

  The kid stopped chewing for a minute and glanced up at me in alarm. "Gun?"

  "I left it in our camp. The camp somebody raided when they grabbed Agent...Practitioner Miller."

  He swallowed. "Captain Grey probably has it."

  I took a long swallow from my mug. Sweet tea always made me appreciate living in the South. "Grey, huh," I said, thinking about her long silver hair. "Appropriate."

  "She was close to the Alpha's wife. They grew up together."

  "Was?" I asked, picking up the remaining half of my sandwich.

  He dropped his gaze to his plate.

  "Oh. I'm sorry," I said, and I meant it. I wondered if that was why Ryker had sent for his brother. Putting my sandwich down, I went for the fortification of draining the rest of my tea as sadness brushed through me. I wished I could still feel the comfort of Cooper's presence. "What does Aesei mean, Noah?"

  The kid shrugged. "'Next to lead', sort of."

  "You mean like a prince or a king?" I asked, remembering some of the vamp's snide remarks when we'd first been thrown into the dungeon.

  "Sure." Adequately distracted from his moment of sadness, Noah bit into his sandwich and chewed, his expression thoughtful. "But the definition can change depending on what it's paired with. Aesei ull Arr means 'protector of all'. Aesei Siian is 'one who dies for all'."

  "Ay-say See-ahn?" I repeated, testing out the strange words.

  "There are a few more, but it's been a long time since I had Nyi A'ph." Noah took a gulp of his tea. "Um, 'the wolves' tongue'," he added.

  Of course Cooper was some kind of prince. I'd suspected that he had some seriously high up connections when Ryker had gotten us out of a tight spot last summer. Still, it would have been nice to hear it from him.

  Did Cooper think it would make any difference to me where he ranked in his Clan? He had to know that I didn't care about any of that crap. Someone I could respect, also great in bed, a good fighter, smart, that's what I liked in a guy. Being so good looking it made my knees melt was also a nice bonus.

  "Be careful of Deg," Noah said as he got up from the table and picked up his empty plate. "He hates humans."

  "No kidding." I finished off my sandwich and followed him to the sink with my dishes.

  "He was captured early in the war and they say the human scientists tortured and experimented on him."

  "That would certainly do it," I conceded as he filled the sink with soapy water. Though I had my doubts as to the reliability of playground gossip. Still... "See why I need my gun to feel safe?"

  I pretended not to notice the sideways glance Noah gave me as he started washing our dishes. "Better to be helpless," he said, a glimpse of the man he'd turn into coming through in his tone. "It's a bad time for us right now. Everyone's on edge."

  "So when Cooper, um, your Aesei said I was his to protect that kind of painted a giant bullseye on me?"

  "When people are already scared, they don't like any kind of change. But I don't think anyone will try to kill you." He handed me the clean plates, so I picked up a towel from the counter and started drying. Most of my meals were out of a box or from a cheap restaurant, but I still remembered the routine from when I was little.

  "It's just that...."

  "Humans don't make good Were queens?" I speculated.

  He passed me the mugs. "That's not it. You could never be Nuo'lenir anyway. The Aesei gave up his right to be Alpha a long time ago. Before I was even born. And as long as Alpha Ryker is alive, there's no law against the Aesei having a human companion."

  Though that didn't seem to stop Deg and Rosalind from holding a grudge. "Good to know," I said, hanging my dish towel on the handle of the stove and trying to figure out how I was going to keep their vengeful attitudes from spilling over onto Noah.

  "He can't come here without getting invited. And he has to void getting bonded."

  My mouth went dry. I blinked at him. "Oh?" I finally choked out.

  He glanced at me and grinned. "That's why Rosalind hates you."

  "Um..." Had they guessed? Did I look different before they collared Cooper? Did I smell different?

  "Because she can't be with him and you can."

  Whew, they didn't know. And now one of my new buddy's hatred for me made more sense. "So," I said, giving him a bright smile of my own. "What do people do for fun around here and can we get there without going past the training ring?"

  * * *

  The atmosphere in the Bone Clan stronghold reminded me of human history when innocent lives were lost when fear got out of control. Salem witch trials, the French Revolution, World War II...seriously grim stuff. It'd be nice to think that our paranormal brothers and sisters didn't share our weaknesses, but I'd learned over the years that the four races had more in common than they wanted to believe.

  As I followed Noah through the deserted halls of the second tier living quarters, it was hard to believe the place was teaming with families that lived full-time in the stronghold, plus those from surrounding farms that had chosen to come in when the mysterious disease started claiming more and more lives. Talk about a plan going wrong. We'd wanted to be here to avoid getting tangled up in vampire politics, instead we'd landed in the middle of a disaster that felt right out of the middle ages.

  "Turn here," Noah said pointing to a narrow hallway that looked like it led to a utility closet, at best. I tramped down the hall a
fter him, followed it around as it curved to the left and came to a dead stop.

  A cavernous room opened up in front of me, at least thirty feet high and twice as long and deep. Bookshelves lined both side walls from top to bottom with tall ladders on wheels attached to each one. At the back of the room I was surprised to see actual windows, their design matching the arches of the doors on the breezeways outside. The view through them was a spectacular sweep of pristine forest and another ridge of mountains beyond.

  Tables were scattered throughout in various nooks and alcoves, many of them cluttered with books, and something that looked like a small laboratory in the back left corner. My next surprise was the sight of Dr. Barrett bent over a microscope, a pair of round-framed glasses perched on the end of his nose. As we closed in on him, Noah called out a greeting and the doctor looked up.

  Peering over the top of his glasses, he spotted us and his expression brightened as we finished off the last few yards and stopped in front of him. "Noah, my boy! And Miss Addison. Delightful. I'll just be a moment."

  He turned and picked up a syringe, releasing a drop of what looked like blood into a petri dish. Going to the sink installed in the corner, he threw the syringe into a trashcan and then thoroughly washed his hands. "What brings you to my library?" he asked, sauntering back to us while drying them on a scrap of fabric that might have once been a towel.

  "Apparently entertainment," I said.

  Dr. Barrett's soft blue eyes twinkled. "Did you finish the stack of books I gave you already, my boy?" he asked Noah.

  "All but two," my assigned escort said. "I was wondering if you had any more?"

  Dr. Barrett directed him to a cluttered table in a corner and then turned back to me. "And what is of particular interest to you, Miss Addison?"

  "For starters, how's Agent Miller? Then after that, how do you know my name? Because the only way that's possible is if you've been doing some digging." I never had been comfortable with people wanting to know too much about me. Now more than ever.

  He laughed and tossed the towel onto the stack of papers covering one of three desks strewn around his lab. "Luke will be on his feet by tomorrow. A contusion, just as he said, and a small laceration that only needed a few stitches. We had a good time catching up." He moved past me and strolled to one of the walls of bookshelves. I followed him.

  "Now I would like to help you." He picked a ladder and climbed up it as spry as a squirrel. Pushing off with one foot, he glided down a few columns of books and stopped himself expertly when he reached whatever it was he was looking for. He skimmed his finger along the spines of the row of books next to him and pulled out one volume and then another. Tucking a book under each arm, he grabbed the smooth supports of the ladder, braced his feet on them, and slid down like an old-fashioned firefighter.

  Ambling back to me, he held out the two leather bound volumes. "These will help you find the answers you seek," he said with a smile.

  I crossed my arms. "Where History and Myth Collide," I said, reading the title of the top book. "Catchy."

  He held up the book under it.

  "Demons Between Dimensions," I read. "Seriously?"

  "I don't recommend reading this one before bedtime."

  My intuition started buzzing, but I had no idea what it was saying.

  "He's never wrong when he recommends a book," Noah said, coming up to stand beside me. His arms were loaded down with a stack of novels and what looked like a manga series.

  "What does that mean?" I asked.

  The boy shrugged. "It's always what you're looking for. Even if you don't know it yet."

  I took the books from Dr. Barrett and shook my head. "You're not only a doctor, are you?"

  "He's half practitioner," Noah piped up. "We're lucky to have him."

  Dr. Barrett bowed. "You're very kind," he said in his smooth accent. "Well, I must get back to work." He started for his lab, and then stopped. "As soon as you find your answers, you will let me know, won't you?" he said over his shoulder before continuing on.

  I stared at the books in my hand. Most practitioners had more intuition going for them than your average person. Some went beyond that into psychic abilities, though they were rare. Like Noah, most people were thrilled when they found one. As for me, psychics tended to make me squirm. What if Dr. Barrett realized what I was?

  The sooner I got all of us out of here, the better, I decided, remembering something I wanted to check into.

  "Where can I find Rosalind this time of day?" I asked Noah as we left the library.

  "She usually reports to Alpha Ryker after breakfast."

  "Then I think it's time I paid my respects."

  He swallowed and his eyes went wide. "But—"

  "With or without you, kid." Because there was a flaw in Rosalind's incarceration policy where Cooper was concerned and I was very interested in pointing it out to her. If I could do it in front of his brother, even better.

  * * *

  I found my way back to the breezeway without too much trouble, giving me hope that I might actually learn my way around this maze someday. Deg spotted me when I stepped out onto the stairs and sprinted toward me at Were speed. He blocked my progress halfway to the third tier and glowered down at me, his fists clenched.

  "Sorry Deg, no time to embarrass you in front of your friends again." I sidestepped around him, but he crossed in front of me again, his face nearly purple with fury. Behind me, I could feel Noah's fear amping up and I hoped he had the sense to turn around and make a fast getaway before things went ugly.

  "I'm going to kick your ass," Deg snarled.

  I looked him up and down and then met his gaze. A smart-ass comment tried to push past my clenched teeth, but I held it in. There was a time and a place for everything and right now I was on a mission to help Cooper. "Yeah, okay," I finally said when he kept glaring at me.

  He stared at me harder, his breath coming faster. I swear, he looked like he was about to explode.

  "And now you win?" I guessed.

  Stepping down, Deg brought himself level with me and leaned in. "If you're in the infirmary less than a week I'll be disappointed."

  "Um...okay." What the hell was this mountainous loser talking about?

  "The training ring. Five o'clock." And he stomped down the stairs.

  Noah crept up to me, rubbing his hands on his jeans. "Oh man. Oh man," he whispered.

  "Did I just get challenged?" I asked, watching Deg stalk across the grass and back to his friends.

  Noah shoved his hands in his front pockets and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. "Uh, huh."

  "What's happened to good manners? I ask you."

  "You shouldn't have kept staring at him."

  "I'm human." Kind of.

  "If you'd dropped your gaze and groveled a little, his pride would've been saved and everything would be okay."

  "Then I guess it's a fight, because I don't do groveling." I started up the stairs again. Noah hurried after me.

  "Please don't confront the Captain too," he squeaked.

  "It's my moral obligation to do exactly that. You see, I've become aware of a serious discrepancy in Rosalind's penal system of a prejudiced type nature."

  "Huh?"

  "She's not treating her prisoners fairly." I reached the top breezeway and stomped toward the extra elaborately-carved door at the end. Hauling it open, I marched into the cool interior of a long hall and continued toward the only door and the two guards posted outside of it. Looked like I'd come to the right place.

  The guards' beady Were eyes landed on me and then slid off to lock onto a point beyond my shoulder. The irritation in their expressions compressed into anger. "He had nothing to do with this," I said, keeping myself between them and Noah. "Ryker sent for me."

  Both guards raised their brows at the same time and then the closest one pulled in a breath. "She's lying," he said with satisfaction.

  Damn Were noses. "Or I'm nervous because you're, you know, so in
timidating to a wee human and all." They gave me matching scowls and I wondered if Weres could be cloned.

  "Get her out of here," the second one said to Noah, and I felt his sweaty hand grab my arm. Before I could slap the kid away with the books Dr. Barrett had given me, the door opened and there was Rosalind.

  I pulled my arm out of Noah's grip. "Discrimination!" I said, pointing at her.

  Her light green eyes narrowed on me and then her gaze landed on the nearest guard. "What is she doing here?"

  Ryker came up behind her. I remembered him as a robust, imposing guy with hair like Cooper's, the same dazzling good looks and eyes the color of polished gold. His pale, haggard face and gaze dulled with suffering shocked the hell out of me.

  Rosalind stepped in front of him, blocking my view. "Noah!"

  The kid grabbed both of my arms and tried to pull me away. I dug in. "How is Cooper more dangerous than a vampire?" I blurted out. "He's collared. At least let him stay in the apartment with Miller and me."

  "The law—"

  Ryker pushed around her and his gaze bore into mine. "My brother is here?"

  "And he's wounded. As long as the PRC's on him—"

  "The Aesei is here?" he bellowed, and I was surprised something didn't crack and fall down on us...like maybe the mountain. Rosalind and the guards cringed away from him and it felt like Noah was doing his best to be invisible against my back.

  The feral wildness of a wolf flickered in and out of Ryker's eyes and sweat beaded up on his pale face. "Bring him to me," he bit out, then he shoved Rosalind out into the hall and slammed the door.

  The bolts being thrown echoed like sledge hammers in the silence of the hall and we all stood there, stunned. Then Rosalind's hate-filled gaze locked onto me.

  I braced myself for orders that I was to be shot at dawn, but instead her mouth compressed into a hard line and she stalked down the hall, slamming the door to the breezeway behind her. The guards glanced at each other and then at me, and their looks of sympathy scared me more than all the yelling had.