by Linsey Hall
“You’re the only one who could. And they aligned with the demons for the same reason most people do anything. They wanted power. If the demons succeeded, they stood to play an important role in the new world order.”
“But they didn’t get it. They’re dead.” The memory of the abandoned castles in Wales sank my heart. “How?”
“They were playing a game they weren’t equipped for. After they gave you to the man you call the Monster, the Shadows and their demon minions were enraged. They thought your parents were trying to hide you from them.”
My heart leapt. “Were they?”
Draka’s face turned sad. “No. I’m sorry. Your parents gave you to the Monster because they truly thought he could help you fulfill your part in the Shadow’s plans. But the Shadows didn’t believe them.”
“So they killed them.”
“There is no happy ending to the story of your parents. They were cold, hard people. They died the way they deserved to.” The hardness in her voice made me blink back tears. She was able to be collected about it. I wasn’t. They were still my family, and I’d long harbored fantasies of them being alive and wonderful.
Draka’s hand touched my shoulder, warming my skin. I could feel her love through her touch. A smile tugged at my lips. I did have her though.
“Why are you my guardian?” I asked.
“Because I wanted to be. My kind has lived on your family’s ancestral land for millennia. For a long time, we didn’t like your family much.”
“Considering my parents, it’s hard not to see why.”
She smiled. “But I saw you in your tower one day while I was flying. I saw how hard you tried and how sad you were. Our numbers were dwindling at that time. We were down to four Phantom dragons, myself included, so I understood your struggle. I connected with you. Very rarely, a Phantom dragon bonds with a Phantom.”
“And we bonded? Is that why you were able to send me a message with the blue light?”
“Yes. It is not easy, but with someone I truly care about, I can manage it. And thank you for saving me, though you did not follow my directions.” She smiled.
“Of course. I’m glad I found you.”
“Me, too.” She squeezed my shoulder. “You have the strength for what is coming. You know that, don’t you?”
“I hope you’re right.”
“But you’re going to need more power.”
“I know. I don’t have the power my parents hoped I would, do I?” My magic was being revealed talent by talent, but there was that last big question.
She shook her head. “Not yet. You are strong and rare, but there is more for you still. Both the power you will take and the power that will grow.”
Taking must mean stealing it from demons. As for the power that would grow… “Do you know what it is?”
“I do not. But it is dangerous, I am sure of that. Or so many demons wouldn’t want you.”
“Yeah, I figured.” My grip tightened on my cup. “What about my home? I don’t think of it as mine, not really, but I want those damned demons out of there.”
“You can reclaim it. But you’ll have to seal off the portal to the Underworld if you want to keep the demons out. It’s been like that for centuries, ever since your line made a pact with the Underworld.”
“So it’s more than just dusting and fixing the windows, huh?” I laughed. “I was hoping to sell it as a ski resort.”
Draka smiled. “I am not very good with humor, but I doubt that.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what I would do with it. But I don’t want the damned demons to have it.”
“Then you must fight them, or they will overrun the earth.”
“Do you mean they are trying to escape the Underworld?”
She shrugged. “It’s my current theory, but I have no proof.”
Damn. That was bad.
“Dinner’s up!” Roarke called.
Draka turned to me and smiled. “That is my signal to leave.”
“You won’t stay for dinner?”
“No. I do not eat your type of food. I only wanted an opportunity to say goodbye to you. Hopefully, I will see you again.”
“You’d better count on it.”
She smiled and we embraced. I watched her walk out onto the patio and transform into a dragon, and then take off. When I turned back to the table, my friends were waiting.
I joined Nix and Cass, taking the seat between them. They each reached for one of my hands and squeezed. I smiled at them both, grateful to fate that they were at my side.
Later that night, after everyone had left, Roarke and I sat in front of the fire drinking mugs of red wine. I played with the lucky talismans around my neck as the fire crackled, sending a welcoming glow over the rug and onto the gleaming wooden table.
“Draka said I have a lovely life.” I looked up at him and took his hand. “I think she was right.”
“She was right.” His gaze met mine, and he squeezed my hand. “You make my life better.”
“We’ve only known each other a few weeks.”
“Best few weeks of my life.”
I grinned, then leaned up and kissed him.
When I pulled away, he said, “I knew you were special, Del. You’re just proving how special.”
“I hope I can keep proving it. Because there’s a lot at stake.” My mind flashed back to the moment in the fortress when I’d seen Roarke’s brother. Between recovering and sleeping, we hadn’t had a chance to talk about it. “Do you think that really was your brother?”
Roarke’s gaze turned weary. Hope and despair flickered on his face. “It was. He disappeared before I could get to him. I don’t know how he escaped the Order. They were supposed to be able to contain him.”
“And now he’s teamed up with the Shadows. Who want me for some kind of terrible plot.”
“Yes. But I’m going to find him. I have to.”
I nodded, staring into the flames. “Of course.”
“And whatever they have planned, we’ll stop it.” Roarke tugged me closer to his side, and I snuggled against him. “Don’t worry.”
“Hard not to.” I sucked in a deep breath. “But you’re right. We’ve got this. I’m prepared to do what it takes. Whatever it takes.”
“You’re talking about your powers, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. If I have to steal demon powers to have what I need to fight this, I’ll do it.” I’d been scared before, and hell, I was still scared, but I was willing to face what was coming. To stand up and fight.
And whatever my other power was that hadn’t come into fruition yet? Well, I’d deal with it when it came.
“You can do it, Del. I believe in you.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my head.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed, enjoying every second of being with him. Of being with my friends tonight, all around a dinner table like the family we were. My parents might have turned out to be monsters, and there was no going back. But I didn’t want to go back to an imaginary past. I wanted to go forward, into the life I’d created.
And I believed him—I could do this. I had to do this.
Because I sure as hell didn’t want to find out what would happen if I failed.
Thank you for reading!
Want to find out how Del died? Dragon’s Gift: The Huntress, which stars Cass, is the series to read. Her series starts with a free novella called Hidden Magic. You can get the novella by signing up for my mailing list here. There’s an excerpt of Hidden Magic on the next page.
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Turn the page for an excerpt of Hidden Magic.
Excerpt Of Hidden Magic
Jungle, Southeast Asia
Five years before the events in Demon Magic
“How much are we being paid for this job again?” I asked as I glanced at the inhabitants filling the ba
r. It was a motley crowd of supernaturals, many of whom looked shifty as hell.
“Not nearly enough.” Del frowned at the man across the bar, who was giving her his best sexy face. There was a lot of eyebrow movement happening. “Is he having a seizure?”
“Looks like it.” Nix grinned. “Though I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting this. We’re basically in a tree, for magic’s sake. In the middle of the jungle! Where are all these dudes coming from?”
“According to my info, there’s a mining operation near here. Though I’d say we’re more under a tree than in a tree.”
“I’m with Cass,” Del said. “Under, not in.”
“Fair enough.” Nix’s green eyes traveled around the room.
We were deep in Southeast Asia, in a bar that had long ago been reclaimed by the jungle. A massive fig tree had grown over and around the ancient building, its huge roots encapsulating the stone walls. It was straight out of a fairy tale. Monks had once lived here, but a few supernaturals of indeterminate species had gotten ahold of it and turned it into a watering hole for the local supernaturals. We were meeting our local contact here, but he was late.
“Hey, pretty lady.” A smarmy voice sounded from my left. “What are you?”
I turned to face the guy who was giving me the up and down, his gaze roving from my tank top to my shorts. He wasn’t Clarence, our local contact. And if he meant “what kind of supernatural are you?” I sure as hell wouldn’t be answering.
“Not interested is what I am,” I said.
“Aww, that’s no way to treat a guy.” He grasped my hip, rubbing his thumb up and down.
I gagged, then smacked his hand away, tempted to throat-punch him. It was a favorite move of mine, but I didn’t want to start a fight before Clarence got here. Didn’t want to piss off the boss and all. He liked it when jobs went smoothly.
The man raised his hands. “Hey, hey. No need to get feisty. You three sisters?”
I glanced doubtfully at Nix and Del, with their dark hair that was so different from my red. We might call ourselves sisters—deirfiúr in our native Irish—but this idiot didn’t know that. We were all about twenty years old, but we looked nothing alike.
“Go away,” I said. I had no patience for dudes who touched me within a second of saying hello. “Run along and flirt with your hand, because that’s all the action you’ll be getting tonight.”
His face turned a mottled red, and he raised a fist. His magic welled, the scent of rotten fruit overwhelming.
He thought he was going to smack me? Or use his magic against me?
I lashed out, punching him in the throat as I’d wanted to earlier. His eyes bulged and he gagged. I kneed him in the crotch, grinning when he keeled over.
“Hey!” A burly man with a beard lunged for us, his buddy beside him following. “That’s no way—”
“To treat a guy?” I finished for him as I kicked out at him. My tall, heavy boots collided with his chest, sending him flying backward. I might not use my magic, but I sure as hell could fight.
His friend raised his hand and sent a blast of wind at us. It threw me backward, sending me skidding across the floor.
By the time I’d scrambled to my feet, a brawl had broken out in the bar. Fists flew left and right, with a bit of magic thrown in. Nothing bad enough to ruin the bar, like jets of flame, because no one wanted to destroy the only watering hole for a hundred miles, but enough that it lit up the air with varying magical signatures.
Nix conjured a baseball bat and swung it at a guy who charged her, while Del teleported behind a man and smashed a chair over his head. I’d always been jealous of Del’s ability to sneak up on people like that.
All in all, it was turning into a good evening. Watching a fight between supernaturals was fun.
“Enough!” the bartender bellowed, right before I could throw myself back into the fray. “Or no more beer!”
The bar settled down immediately. I glared at the jerk who’d started it. There was no way I’d take the blame, even though I’d thrown the first punch. He should have known better.
The bartender gave me a look and I shrugged, hiking a thumb at the jerk who’d touched me. “He shoulda kept his hands to himself.”
“Fair enough,” the bartender said.
I nodded and turned to find Nix and Del. They’d grabbed our beers and were putting them on a table in the corner. I went to join them.
We were a team. Sisters by choice, ever since we’d woken in a field at fifteen with no memories other than those that said we were FireSouls on the run from someone who had hurt us. Who was hunting us.
Our biggest goal, even bigger than getting out from under our current boss’s thumb, was to save enough money to buy concealment charms that would hide us from the monster who hunted us. He was just a shadowy memory, but it was enough to keep us running.
“Where is Clarence, anyway?” I pulled my damp tank top away from my sweaty skin. The jungle was damned hot. We couldn’t break into the temple until Clarence gave us the information we needed to get past the guard at the front. And we didn’t need to spend too much longer in this bar.
Del glanced at her watch, her blue eyes flashing with annoyance. “He’s twenty minutes late. Old Man Bastard said he should be here at eight.”
Old Man Bastard—OMB for short—was our boss. His name said it all. Del, Nix, and I were FireSouls, the most despised species of supernatural because we could steal other magical being’s powers if we killed them. We’d never done that, of course, but OMB didn’t care. He’d figured out our secret when we were too young to hide it effectively and had been blackmailing us to work for him ever since.
It’d been four years of finding and stealing treasure on his behalf. Treasure hunting was our other talent, a gift from the dragon with whom legend said we shared a soul. No one had seen a dragon in centuries, so I wasn’t sure if the legend was even true, but dragons were covetous, so it made sense they had a knack for finding treasure.
“What are we after again?” Nix asked.
“A pair of obsidian daggers,” Del said. “Nice ones.”
“And how much is this job worth?” Nix repeated my earlier question. Money was always on our minds. It was our only chance at buying our freedom, but OMB didn’t pay us enough for it to be feasible anytime soon. We kept meticulous track of our earnings and saved like misers anyway.
“A thousand each.”
“Damn, that’s pathetic.” I slouched back in my chair and stared up at the ceiling, too bummed about our crappy pay to even be impressed by the stonework and vines above my head.
“Hey, pretty ladies.” The oily voice made my skin crawl. We could just not get a break in here. I looked up to see Clarence, our contact.
Clarence was a tall man, slender as a vine, and had the slicked back hair and pencil-thin mustache of a 1940s movie star. Unfortunately, it didn’t work on him. Probably because his stare was like a lizard’s. He was more Gomez Addams than Clark Gable. I’d bet anything that he liked working for OMB.
“Hey, Clarence,” I said. “Pull up a seat and tell us how to get into the temple.”
Clarence slid into a chair, his movement eerily snakelike. I shivered and scooted my chair away, bumping into Del. The scent of her magic flared, a clean hit of fresh laundry, as she no doubt suppressed her instinct to transport away from Clarence. If I had her gift of teleportation, I’d have to repress it as well.
“How about a drink first?” Clarence said.
Del growled, but Nix interjected, her voice almost nice. She had the most self control out of the three of us. “No can do, Clarence. You know… Mr. Oribis”—her voice tripped on the name, probably because she wanted to call him OMB—“wants the daggers soon. Maybe next time, though.”
“Next time.” Clarence shook his head like he didn’t believe her. He might be a snake, but he was a clever one. His chest puffed up a bit. “You know I’m the only one who knows how to get into the temple. How to get into any of the places in
this jungle.”
“And we’re so grateful you’re meeting with us. Mr. Oribis is so grateful.” Nix dug into her pocket and pulled out the crumpled envelope that contained Clarence’s pay. We’d counted it and found—unsurprisingly—that it was more than ours combined, even though all he had to do was chat with us for two minutes. I’d wanted to scream when I’d seen it.
Clarence’s gaze snapped to the money. “All right, all right.”
Apparently his need to be flattered went out the window when cash was in front of his face. Couldn’t blame him, though. I was the same way.
“So, what are we up against?” I asked.
The temple containing the daggers had been built by supernaturals over a thousand years ago. Like other temples of its kind, it was magically protected. Clarence’s intel would save us a ton of time and damage to the temple if we could get around the enchantments rather than breaking through them.
“Dvarapala. A big one.”
“A gatekeeper?” I’d seen one of the giant, stone monster statues at another temple before.
“Yep.” He nodded slowly. “Impossible to get through. The temple’s as big as the Titanic—hidden from humans, of course—but no one’s been inside in centuries, they say.”
Hidden from humans was a given. They had no idea supernaturals existed, and we wanted to keep it that way.
“So how’d you figure out the way in?” Del asked. “And why haven’t you gone in? Bet there’s lots of stuff you could fence in there. Temples are usually full of treasure.”
“A bit of pertinent research told me how to get in. And I’d rather sell the entrance information and save my hide. It won’t be easy to get past the booby traps in there.”
Hide? Snakeskin, more like. Though he had a point. I didn’t think he’d last long trying to get through a temple on his own.
“So? Spill it,” I said, anxious to get going.
He leaned in, and the overpowering scent of cologne and sweat hit me. I grimaced, held my breath, then leaned forward to hear his whispers.
***
As soon as Clarence walked away, the communications charms around my neck vibrated. I jumped, then groaned. Only one person had access to this charm.