Like hell I am. I thought I’d only said it in my head.
He exhaled an exacerbated breath. “I will have to take over your mind and control your actions and make sure that you don’t. I’d rather you stay and follow of your volition, but I will do it if necessary. I am stronger than you are. You may challenge, but you will fail.”
“Like you did with the vamps and shifters?”
“The shifters only. Jonathan took care of the vampires, although he was reluctant to practice the darker arts. I guess the reward of more power and status was worth the risk.”
He started to walk, knowing my curiosity would force me to follow. And I did, flowers bloomed from the tree he’d just created. He pulled off one and handed it to me. I stared at it. He frowned at my refusal and let the flower fall. It disappeared before it hit the ground.
His tone was soft and wistful. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Jonathan thought you were a witch, and when he found he couldn’t take your magic, he called me.”
“And you just left me there to take the fall for three murders?”
“Yes,” he said in an even voice, as though he wasn’t telling me that he set me up to be exposed and possibly murdered. “I did not believe you would have been found innocent.” He frowned. “When I find a slither of hope and respect for them, they always disappoint.”
“I’m happy they disappointed you and I actually got out of the place alive. But don’t let that concern you.”
Conner stopped and turned to me. “I wouldn’t have let you stay in there. But your allegiance would have been to me. Loyalty is earned. If I would have saved you from uncertain death, I would have earned that from you. You would be more acquiescing than you are now. The three who I have now are loyal to me because I’ve earned it. I will earn yours as well.”
“There are three more, where?”
“Two have been sent out to recruit more.”
“Can I meet the other one?” I needed to see their faces at least and know who I was dealing with.
“In time you will meet them all.”
Tucking his arms behind him in a grasp, he started to walk. He slowed as he realized I hadn’t followed. I looked back at the entrance; I was nearly twenty yards away. I didn’t want to go any farther. My thirst for knowledge outweighed my caution. I followed, walking slowly, forcing him to ease his steps to stay close. I got the impression he wanted to talk as much as I wanted the information.
“Why should we be relegated to hiding in fear and forced to live behind veils? I want to live as we did before.”
“Legacy and Vertu lived behind veils before,” I countered.
“Because we wanted to, not because we had to. I will not live like this.”
“We live in hiding because of the horrible shit we did before. Our kind killed people. Have you not learned from their mistakes?” I tried to stay calm, but I couldn’t and found that I was yelling at him. That wasn’t going to work. Diplomacy was needed. Mastering my anger, when I spoke again, my tone was soft and level. “If you go through with this you will make things worse, not better. Learn from your descendants’ mistakes.”
“But I have learned from their mistakes. They were foolish to try something so global—it used too much of their power and made them weak when it was time to fight. Many escaped, and for years we’ve procreated, in hiding, producing more than have been killed. People like Jonathan and his ilk will help us. Small Cleanses, until the supernatural world is weaker and then we strike it. It is not a short-term plan that I’m looking at. Things will be better than ever before. We will be stronger, something that exceeds everything they ever created or dreamed of.”
What type of demagogue shit is this?
I made another attempt at reason. “I’m … we are forced to hide what we are, change our hair, have shields tattooed on us so that we can live a somewhat safe life so we aren’t hunted by Trackers or discovered by the Supernatural Guild, and your answer is to do that very thing that made us pariahs among the supernaturals and our kind.”
His stern look of obstinacy made me realize there wasn’t anything I could say that would persuade him otherwise.
“I’ll stop you.”
“My warrior mate. I believe it is wise that I waited for a good pairing. We will make a good couple, and we will rule well together because people will respect us. Our children will have an impressive lineage. A Vertu and Legacy.”
“I’m sorry? What?” I had missed something. “What do you mean ‘we will have an impressive lineage’? Because it sounds like you consider me a broodmare, and that isn’t going to happen.”
“I consider you no such thing! But you are a thoroughbred who will make beautiful, powerful children. I’m glad I waited. You will be an adequate consort.”
I scoffed, “I’m not letting you anywhere near me.”
Humor and intrigue asserted themselves in his smile. Thin supple lips lifted into a charming half-smile. “I find it odd that you reject me when so few women are unable to do so.”
“Try telling them you plan on killing off half the world, that sure will knock the shine off your luster.”
He dismissed it with a wave. “We have two impressive Legacy women whom I could have chosen. I’m glad I waited, because I feel a connection with you.”
“It’s called disdain, not a connection,” I offered. “One, you and I aren’t going to happen because you desire it. Two, there is no way in hell I’m letting this happen. I will stop you.”
“I’m quite sure you will try. I hope you choose to be at my side, willingly as my consort, my better half. I would rather have a partner and a confidante who will be with me as I accomplish my lofty goals. If I must control your mind the entire time, I fear that I will break you. I don’t desire to have a broken woman at my side.”
“Then you’ll break me, because that is the only way you will have me.”
“Anya, don’t fight this. I’ve broken stronger and persuaded those far more stubborn than you.”
“There is no power in your persuasion, just flaws in the plan. The ones you’ve so-called broken or persuaded have sold their souls for power. And just as they have betrayed their own, they will do the same to you.”
Frustrated, he blew out another breath. “I loathe that you consider me stupid and my intentions cruel. There is civility in what is being constructed. Humans First and I have the same goal. Separation of the two.”
“I’m sorry but I loathe that I can wade through your BS and see the truth. You don’t want separate but equal. Those supernaturals who betray their own to help you will have a place. The others will be dead. Meaning if you ever decide to pull any crap, you can hide behind a ward and be untouchable by the humans. They will not be living in harmony; if they have any sense, they will be living in fear. There is no way in hell I’m letting that happen.”
Talking to him wasn’t going to help. I had to put the fire out at the base. I had to stop him. He was the leader, the head of the movement. Stop him and I would be given time to stop the others while they mobilized and regrouped. I could do this.
I snatched out the sai and plunged one in his gut, invoking a spell as I tried to block him from healing. I needed him weak enough to fade the veil. He was right, magic to magic, he’d kick my butt. We’d established that. I jabbed him in his throat with the other. He gasped out for air. And did it again. He started to choke. I wasn’t going to lose any sleep if I killed him. I pulled out the sai and kicked him back. He didn’t go as far as I’d like, but I’d take what I could get. I ran toward the veil, the magic welling inside of me. It was strong, rising in me in waves. A tsunami of magic ready to be expelled. I planned to force it all into the veil. As I got closer I could feel the strength of Conner’s magic. He may have been injured, but the veil was still strong. I got this. I hope I had it. With sai in hand, I hoped Conner’s blood on them would help. My confidence that it would wasn’t very high. I was winging the hell out of this, but I shoved them where I thought the bar
rier started, forced magic into them, and ripped it open. A wave of magic, Conner’s magic, hit my back as I fell through the opening, crashing face-first into ground. I didn’t care. I was outside the veil. Home. Okay, not home, but on someone’s land eating dirt. And I was happy to do it.
Get up, I commanded myself. But I couldn’t. I’d drained everything out of me. I had to rest, but I was too close to the veil. Once Conner had healed he could come for me again. I forced myself to stand and stumble forward and had only made it a few more feet before I collapsed again. I closed my eyes for just a few seconds. That’s all that I needed.
“Levy.” The deep voice was off at a distance. Not Anya. Yes, Levy. I pried my eyes open. “Hey,” I whispered to Gareth, who was just inches from me.
“Are you okay?”
“Of course, I always rest facedown in the dirt. It’s my thing,” I said in a muffled voice.
He sighed lightly. “Yes, that wit, I’m sure someone finds it appealing.”
He scooped me up.
“Oh god, don’t damsel me. Please let me walk.”
“Sure.” He lowered me closer to the ground, and when I was a few inches away he let me drop.
I grunted. “You’re an ass.”
“I’m too much of a gentleman to call you one back. Are you ready to be damseled? Or should I reposition you so that your face is in the dirt the way I found you?”
Feeling his eyes on me, I tried to find the resolve to get up. Couldn’t muster even a tendril of it. I was exhausted. My eyes fluttered, trying to stay open.
“You are too damn stubborn for your own good,” he said, lifting me. “Say something smart and I will drop you, again.”
I worked my lips to say just that, something smart, before I stopped myself. I had worse battles to fight. I kept my mouth shut and pressed my head into his chest as he carried me across the woods to his car. The moment my head hit the leather seats, I feel asleep.
Each time I opened my eyes he peppered me with questions. Fatigue made it hard to edit the way I wanted to, and I’m sure that was the point.
“His name is Conner and you are sure he’s a Legacy?” he asked.
“No, I’m not sure of anything. I’m just telling you what he said.” I needed Gareth to have a seed of doubt in my story until I figured out what I was going to do. I was telling him that a Legacy existed. Well a Vertu. Would it be long before he connected the information?
“Why did he want you?”
“I don’t know?” I lied. I closed my eyes, and when he asked more questions I feigned sleep. The many thoughts were giving me a headache and I was too tired to make any rational decision.
CHAPTER 17
Savannah sat on the bed, one leg bouncing impatiently over the other. Her arms were crossed and she shook her head at another outfit I pulled out of my closet and showed her. I knew she was waiting for me to pull out something similar to her teal single-strap dress that caressed her curves. Her hair was down and cascaded over her shoulders, and her makeup enhanced the glow of a person always hopped-up on endorphins. She looked gorgeous. I almost considered joining her cult.
“I can’t believe you thought it was okay to wear that. It’s fine for going to a community yard sale, but not to have dinner with the Master of the city.”
I looked down at my outfit: a pair of chino burgundy pants and a white top. “I would never wear something this nice to a yard sale.” Then I grinned and gave her attire a once-over. “And you think it’s okay to show so much neck going to dinner with a vampire.”
“He’s hundreds of years old, I’m sure he’s been around hundreds of exposed necks and can control himself.”
She leaned over and snatched the plain blue dress I was about to put on out of my hand and tossed it on the bed. Then she went to the closet and pulled out a black pencil dress with double halter straps and pushed it to my chest. “Now get dressed, he’s sending someone to pick us up in less than an hour.”
As I undressed and started putting on the dress, I shot her my meanest of glares while she ignored it. “Do you think this is a good idea?” I asked.
“Yes. He saved my life. If he wants to have dinner with us every day of the week we will do it.” I slipped on the dress and a pair of shoes I knew she would approve of. Strappy silver heels. I just didn’t want to debate about it, but my comfortable flats really looked more appealing.
“I know, but I have so many things I need to do. I can’t pretend what Conner told me didn’t happen. I need to do something about it.” And I did. But I wasn’t going to do anything about it at ten o’clock at night.
It took her a long time to answer. I’d given her little pieces of it after Gareth brought me home. And I slept for over twelve hours, getting up once to get food and then crawling back in the bed to get more sleep. I’d only been out of bed for four hours when I found out she had agreed for us to have dinner with Lucas.
“I know,” she said softly. “We have a lot of work to do. But tonight, let me not have to relive yesterday, and Jonathan nearly killing me. Or how bad you looked when Gareth brought you home yesterday. Or the horrible things you told me today. We’ll deal with whatever it is. We will find the Necro-spears if there are any more and locate every Legacy left to warn them or at least figure out whose team they are playing on. I’ll even learn to fight with your damn sticks.”
“Sai.”
She dismissed my offering with an eye roll and a wave of her hand. “Oh, whatever. The sharp stabbing sticks. Tonight let’s have a great dinner and expensive wine and enjoy Lucas’s amazing tales—he’s been alive forever, they have to be interesting. Okay?”
I nodded. “How do you know he’s not going to serve us McDonald’s and give us a bottle of Two Buck Chuck? Just because he’s old doesn’t mean he has amazing tales. Maybe he’s lived this long because he’s dull, and the most exciting thing about him is that he’s a vampire.”
Sighing in exacerbation, she perked her lips into a half-smile. “Whatever will I do with you?” She left me to finish getting dressed. Just as she made it out of the door, she ducked her head back in, “And you better not wrap a scarf around your neck, you’ll insult him.”
We knew each other too well, because several moments were dedicated to picking out the best scarf for the outfit.
She was gone before I could point out the number of times I had caught him looking at my neck like it was an option on the menu.
When the doorbell rang, I expected Lucas’s Suits to be at the door, not Gareth. He took one look at me and smiled. “Is this for me?”
“I didn’t know you were coming, how could this be for you?”
He shrugged, peeked past me at Savannah, and back at me. “I don’t know, perhaps you saw me walking up to your door and decided to change. If you did, I appreciate it.”
“You are arrogant, aren’t you?”
He chuckled. “‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks.’”
Leave it to Gareth to quote Shakespeare in an insult.
“I can hear your heart rate. Either I really piss you off so much that you can’t control yourself, or—well, I guess I don’t need to finish the rest.” His half-grin was just as gloating as his tone. “And the breathing”—he made a sound with his teeth—“I really get you going, don’t I?”
“I don’t think any woman will ever think you are as hot as you think you are. Why are you here?”
“I was in the neighborhood and wanted to see how you were doing.”
“You were in this neighborhood? Why?”
We didn’t live in a bad neighborhood, but it was boring and not a lot went on near us. People like Gareth didn’t just hang out on this side of town.
He shrugged. “Why not? How are you?”
“Fine.”
Silence pushed from seconds to minutes. “I should go,” he said. But he didn’t move; instead he stood there for a moment. “Thank you for your help with the case.”
“You’re welcome.”
Then he
stepped closer. Face to face. And when he leaned forward, I closed my eyes expecting to feel his lips against mine. Instead they brushed against my ear as he spoke. In a breathy whisper, he said, “I enjoyed working with you, Anya Kismet.”
He turned and walked away before I could exhale the breath that I held on to the moment he said my real name. Thoughts flooded my mind as I tried to figure out how he had found out and what he was going to do with the information. Sensing the change in my mood, Savannah was next to me in seconds. “What’s the matter?”
“He knows who I am,” I gasped in a strained whisper.
“Did he say if he’s going to say anything or do something about it?” she asked concerned, her voice just as tight and wispy as mine.
We were both staring at him as he made his way to the car. I considered running after him trying to figure out what else he knew. But if he knew my real name, he probably knew for sure what I was. And maybe so much more.
Before he got into his car, he smiled. Then pressed his finger to his lips.
“I don’t think he will.”
MESSAGE TO THE READER
Thank you for choosing Double-Sided Magic from the many titles available to you. My goal is to create an engaging world, compelling characters, and an interesting experience for you. I hope I’ve accomplished that. Reviews are very important to authors and help other readers discover our books. Please take a moment to leave a review. I’d love to know your thoughts about the book.
For notifications about cover reveals, promotions, updates, and new releases, please sign up for my mailing list.
You can also follow me: Website Facebook Twitter
Happy Reading!
MckenzieHunter.author
www.McKenzieHunter.com
[email protected]
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
With each book I am always humbled by the number of people who take the time out of their schedule to make this possible. First, I would like to thank my mother and friends: Sheryl Cox-Weber, Stacy McCright, April Franklin, Marcia Snyder and Tiffany Dix who are always supportive and find time to help me whenever I ask. Hugs and a million thanks to my wonderful beta readers: Angie “Nana” Hatcher, Kathy Beard, Kylie Kniese, Marla Maslan, Misty Chancellor, Vanessa Jorgensen, Ryan Sundy.
Double-Sided Magic (Legacy Series Book 1) Page 21