Magick (Immortals and Magick Book 2)

by Teresa Federici

  “And the other people?” My dad prompted when I didn’t answer his first question.

  “Well Damien, the tall green-eyed guy with the dark hair and aristocratic features? Yeah, he’s a werewolf.” I nodded at their shocked expressions. “He’s Harley’s…boyfriend. I guess. Not sure about that one.”

  “And the other man? With the older woman? Are they fairies? Or something else?” My mom asked sarcastically, getting back some of her gumption. I was much like my mother in some ways.

  “The woman is Amity Jacobs. She lost her husband tonight in the fight. She’s a very powerful sorcerer, from a long line of them. The man is her son Noah. He’s also my fiancé.” I said, then flung out my hand with Noah’s ring resting on the ring finger. There was an audible gasp.

  “You’re engaged! And you’re just telling us now? I wondered what that woman was talking about when she walked away.” My mom exclaimed, grabbing my hand and looking at the ring. My dad and I exchanged knowing looks. She had just spent part of the evening tied up at the mercy of a creature she never knew existed but she was freaking out about me being engaged. Typical.

  “Why is the first time we’re hearing about him? Were you going to get married and not tell us?” Her voice was climbing and I tried to quiet her.

  “Mom, please. I don’t want Noah and Amity to wake up. Yes, I was going to tell you. We were planning on having you and his parents meet next week, but, well, tonight happened.”

  She quieted down, and my father looked around the room we were in. I knew what he was thinking before he even asked.

  “This Noah. He a sorcerer too?”

  “Yes he is and no he worked for the house. He didn’t weave a spell.”

  He had the good graces to look a little ashamed, but recovered quickly.

  “Then he can provide for you. That’s good.”

  I gave him a wry look. “I can actually provide for myself, Dad, but yes, Noah is an architect and general contractor. He makes a good living. Now, I am very tired as I’m sure you are too. I’ll walk you up to your room. The house is protected, so don’t worry about that. Tomorrow we’ll bring you back home and set up wards to protect you there.”

  They peppered me with more questions, quietly, as we went upstairs and I got them settled. Then I came back down to check on Noah and Amity. Noah was sitting up, awake, looking down at his mom.

  “She ok?” I whispered as I sat on the arm of the sofa next to him. He nodded and drew the blanket up around her shoulders. Then he turned wordlessly and laid his head in my lap. I ran my hand through his hair, offering comfort and strength as he let out his grief. I cried with him, silently, until I felt his shoulders relax.

  He sat up then, and looked at me, ran his hand up to cup my cheek. I leaned into it, closing my eyes at the feel of his skin against mine. It seemed like forever ago that we had touched.

  “Noah, I’m so sorry.”

  He shook his head, and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse from tears and yelling. “No, don’t be sorry. This wasn’t your fault. My father was there to help, he knew the possible danger. We just weren’t counting on the threat being from within. I think the shock of seeing her there is what got him killed.” He choked a little on the word, but then he cleared his throat and straightened up.

  “Mom wants to do the stasis spell on Harley tomorrow.”

  I stared at him in shock. I had let go of any hope of that happening and I told him so.

  “She’ll be ok. My mom is real strong. She’s grieving, but she’s wants to help. Let her Teagan. It’ll keep her mind occupied.” Noah said, and I nodded. Then frowned.

  “She needed your father to help her. Wait. Noah, you can’t.” I jumped to the correct conclusion.

  “I can. And I’m going to. I’m not going to argue Teagan.” His voice held a note of resolution. I was shaking my head before his sentence was finished.

  “I’m not going to lose you too. I can’t lose you Noah. Your father said it was dangerous, that’s why they didn’t want us to do it, because we have a life together to build still. Please don’t put that in jeopardy.” I begged. Amity stirred at the sound of my voice.

  She sat up and ran a hand through her hair. Her eyes held the same pain that Noah’s did, but I could see the strength there, the resolution. Just like her son. She looked at me and smiled. I couldn’t believe she could smile at a time like this.

  “Teagan, Ben would’ve wanted this. I understand how you feel, but Noah is adamant. Let him do this. He’s at least as powerful as his father, and I have faith in those powers. You should too.”

  I felt a little chastised but the panic I felt for Noah almost consumed me.

  “Amity, I’m sorry about Ben, but I don’t want to lose Noah too.” I implored. She smiled gently and stood up from the couch and moved to stand in front of me. She stared down at me, taking my cheeks in her hands. She leaned down and kissed my forehead, and I started to cry again.

  “Thank you for protecting my son. I know that you’ll spend the rest of your life with him and you’ll protect each other. I’ve seen this. You’re the perfect partner for him Teagan, and I couldn’t ask for a better daughter-in-law. It was Ben’s time to go. Sadly, being betrayed by family wasn’t the way it should have been, but we’ll move on. Now, I’m going up to get some rest before someone comes in and steals the last bedroom. Noah, in the morning.” She said as she moved toward the stairs, and he nodded.

  I stared at Noah, speechless.

  “She’s good like that, my mom. She’ll be ok. We’ll all be ok. C’mere.” He motioned to me, and I slid off the arm and landed with a thump next to him on the couch.

  “I want to be like your mom when I grow up.” I mumbled, still totally gob smacked by her grace and acceptance. Noah gave a tired laugh and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me up against him. I wrapped myself around him.

  “I think we all do.” He replied. We sat that way for a little, watching the fire as it dwindled down. Anna came in at one point and stoked it, then slipped back out and still we sat, wrapped in each other, watching the fire.

  “We should get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be busy. Mom and I are doing the spell in the morning, then we have to figure out what the next step is.”

  “What is the next step? Where do we go from here?” I asked, my voice plaintive.

  “We take care of Harley. Then we kick Padraigan’s ass once and for all.” He replied fiercely.

  “This ends soon. It needs to.”

  “Yes. We have a plan, remember?” Noah reminded me, then tipped my chin up and kissed away all my fears. The plan. We had something to look forward to, and that was killing Padraigan for good.

  Epilogue

  I paced in the hallway, chewing on my thumbnail. Anna leaned against the wall, Gareth next to her. Damien was halfway down the stairs, sitting with his back to the room that Harley was in.

  “Is it taking too long?” Anna asked, worry and doubt in her voice.

  “None of us know how long it’s supposed to take.” I shot back irritably, earning a disgruntled look from Gareth.

  “Sorry. I’m just as nervous as you all. I hate being out here.” I grumbled. As I walked past the door for what seemed like the thousandth time, a bright flash of light shot out from under the door. I jumped back, not sure if it had weight or not.

  “What the hell was that?” Damien asked as he whipped around to look at the door.

  I pressed myself up against the door, as quietly as I could. I didn’t want to break their concentration inside the room, but the suspense was killing me and bright flashes of light were not helping. My parents were nowhere to be found. They had enough supernatural woowoo the night before and had made themselves scarce after Anna had brought back a change of clothes for them.

  “Maybe you should get away from the door.” Anna urged, her hands reaching out to me.

  “I’m trying to listen. Shhh.” I shushed her, putting a finger to my lips.

  I listened hard, b
ut couldn’t hear a damn thing. They had been in there an hour, ever since breakfast and I was getting very antsy. I was surprised that Noah and Amity had the energy to do such a difficult spell, but they were both committed and resolved. They had left us all downstairs with an admonishment to not come upstairs. They obviously didn’t know us very well.

  With a sigh, I pushed away from the door and resumed pacing. Noah and I had fallen asleep wrapped up together, to where I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began. We held on like it was our first night together or our last, neither one of us dwelling on what had transpired earlier or what could happen in the morning. I held on to that memory as another bright flash lit up the doorway.

  “Any brighter and I’d need my sunglasses.” Gareth observed as he winced from the light. Anna made a noise of agreement. We all went back to our silent vigil.

  What seemed like another hour had gone by before I heard the lock click and the bedroom door opened. Amity came out first, followed by Noah, who sent a smile my way.

  “It’s done. She’ll be fine until we can get her back.” Amity announced, giving us all a smile. Damien made it into the room first, followed quickly by Gareth and Anna.

  “She’ll be ok now. We’ll get her back Teagan, don’t worry.” Amity rubbed a hand down my arm as she passed me to go downstairs.

  I looked up at Noah, and he smiled down at me.

  “Lots of smiles today after such a horrid night.” I remarked and he just smiled wider.

  “What are you smiling about?”

  “I heard her.” He whispered, and my knees almost gave way. He caught me by the elbows and held me up.

  “What? How? What did she say? Is she ok?” I babbled out questions, but I was smiling now too, and could feel more tears gathering. Gah, I was so tired of crying but they were happy tears.

  “She said she’s ok. She’s lost, but she’s out there, fighting to come back. We need to set up a schedule, keep talking to her so she can follow our words home.” He picked me up and swung me around and I was laughing and crying and finally feeling hopeful.

  “We’ll get her back Teagan. I know it now.” Noah said then kissed me with all the hope he felt. It joined with my hope and filled us both with light.

  The End

  Follow me on Amazon for updates about Solstice: Immortals and Magick Book 3, Harley and Damien’s story, and the exciting conclusion to the series! Keep reading for an excerpt

  Prologue

  My mother, a full blooded Native American, was a curious woman. While she embraced her ancestry, she was also thoroughly modern. We had the latest in every comfort and convenience, and the faculty parties she threw for my father were always hailed as civilized and cosmopolitan.

  I remember many a night when I would sit in my room, banished for the evening due to the glittering affair downstairs, and close my eyes but still see the people dressed in their faculty-party best. My mother was well aware of my talents from an early age. My father took some convincing.

  My father was a professor of Literature at the University of New Hampshire in Manchester, and eventually the head of the department. I remember him as a quick-to-smile gentle man, who loved the dusty, leather-bound books that graced his study as much as he loved my mother and I. No stuffy tweed-draped professor facade for my father; to watch him teach was to watch someone completely enraptured of literature, awestruck by the creation of fiction, and he taught his eager young students with fervor and a bit of hilarity.

  From him I was gifted with the love of the written word and his green eyes. From my mother, I received the gift of incredible fashion sense and her ability to read minds and converse with the spirit world.