Pushing aside a branch, Fox revealed a tiny house, camouflaged by wood and bark and leaves. The entire thing was shaped from a still-living tree, its branches bent at the angles to make the house.
“We live in harmony with our surroundings,” he said. “Come in. You can test us first.”
Sagely sat down at a table made from a branch. She liked how light and airy the house was, the opposite of the coven’s heavy earthen burrow. The blonde volunteered to go first, leering at Sagely as she sat. Fox sat off in a corner while Quill hovered behind Sagely.
“If anything happens to her,” he said to Fox with an ominous glower in his direction.
Sagely concentrated and opened up her magic, reminding herself that faeries couldn’t even use it, so there was no reason for her to steal it. Unlike Willow, the faery had no magic of her own to search through, so the connection was more one-sided. She sifted around and felt a sharp tug, something dark and empty. Her eyes snapped open. “You have it.”
“How do I give it to you?”
Quill was searching through a book the Wise One had given them before they left. In it, she’d found a single page on void magic. Sagely listened as Quill read it aloud.
“Void magic can be fought with all other elements, and no other elements. Creation is the opposing force of destruction, and yet, void magic is neither creation nor destruction. It is nothingness.”
“But how do I retrieve it?”
“Like all magic, void magic attracts its like. Therefore, it can only be transferred to a witch already in possession of it.”
“Then how did the faeries get it?”
“Some kind of powerful sorcery,” he said, frowning at the book. “And since they are not witches, maybe it didn’t need like magic.”
“Great. So I’m the only one who has it, which means I’m the only one who can accept it?”
“It seems like it,” he muttered. “But that can’t be true. We’ll have to find out more. This book doesn’t tell us anything.” In frustration, he slammed it closed. “We need the Book of Void Magic.”
“What’s that?”
“It was a book on void magic, but it was locked up in a museum of sorts, in Paris, so no witch could access it and unlock it.”
“It’s a little late for that.”
“A lot, actually,” Quill said. “It disappeared from its magic-proof secure holding about twenty years ago. Coincidentally, about the same time Viziri appeared on the scene and started attacking faeries and stealing witch children.”
More determined than ever, Sagely turned back to the faery and took her hands. She could feel the magic in her, that it wanted to be released. Opening the channel between them again, she started to pull at it. Quill murmured an incantation for transferring magic, and she repeated it.
Suddenly, she was thrown back in her chair. Though their hands slipped apart, the lines of energy between them stayed alive, pulsing for a moment. And then blackness knocked a hole in her middle.
Thirty-Six
Gasping, Sagely struggled to sit upright, clutching her chest.
“Are you all right?” Quill asked, rushing to her and cradling her in his arms. “Did she hurt you?”
“No,” she gasped. After a minute, when her breathing had slowed, she grinned. “I got it!”
“Oh, thank the spirits,” the blonde said, hopping to her feet. “I swear my allegiance to the Winslow Witch Coven for the duration of your war with the dark warlock Viziri,” she said, locking her hands behind her back and bowing deeply to Quill.
“I’m not declaring war for our coven,” he said. “I’m no leader.”
“You’re the strongest in the coven, and therefore, in our eyes, you fill that role. Thank you for removing me from personal danger, Sagely.” She bowed again, this time to Sagely.
Quill frowned as she ducked out into the trees, and another faery entered the tiny house. With Fox, the faery doing the transfer, Quill, and Sagely, it was crowded inside, but the openness of the walls made easy to simply step out into the forest.
“I don’t know if I like this,” Quill muttered. “Viziri is going to find out that you’re gathering power to fight him. If you take on all the magic from this troupe, and we can’t figure out how to get the magic to the other witches in the coven, you’ll be the only one who can fight him.”
“At least someone will be able to,” she pointed out. “And it said all magic can be used against void magic.”
He didn’t look happy, but she’d already taken the hands of the faery with the long fuchsia braid. She smiled and opened herself to him. Within seconds, she could tell he didn’t have any void magic.
One at a time, the rest of the troupe came to be tested. Each time, she opened herelf to them, and searching drained more and more of her energy. Most didn’t have anything, but it was exhausting even when they didn’t.
When they did, it was both exhilarating and almost painful. As she did the incantation, and the magic dropped into place inside her, joining her own void magic, she felt a surge of energy. But her breath was knocked out of her, and she wanted to curl up and take a nap.
After a half-dozen fae had transferred their bound magic to her, Quill held up a hand. “That’s enough,” he said firmly. “Sagely, you’re about to pass out. You can’t keep doing this. They’ll have to wait. You can come back.”
“No,” she said. “We don’t know when Viziri might attack again, and we have to be as ready as we’re able. It’s not that bad.”
“You’re lying,” he accused. “I can feel your exhaustion. You’re going to break down. You need some time to rest and recover. If you don’t have strength to fight, what good is all this magic?”
“He’s right,” Fox said, standing for the first time since they arrived. “Sagely, we don’t want to put you in danger. You are a savior to me and my people. I would never want any ill to come to you when doing a favor for us.”
“I’m fine,” she said, glancing at Quill.
Obviously taking this as a sign that she didn’t want to admit weakness in front of Quill, Fox turned to the warlock. “Why don’t you go home and take care of your coven, Quill. Sagely can stay here and rest, and when she’s feeling better, she can complete the transfer of magic and come back to you. If she wants.”
“Not a chance,” Quill growled, holding out an arm to knock Fox back when he tried to touch Sagely’s shoulder.
“I’m okay,” she said, lying her palms flat on the table to hold herself upright. “I need to keep going.”
“No,” Quill said, crouching beside her and taking her hand. “You don’t need to do this all today. It’s okay to rest. It doesn’t mean you’re weak.”
“I need to finish,” she insisted. “He killed my father, Quill. My mother and her unborn baby. And he will kill me the moment he gets wind of what I’m doing here. If I don’t get it now, I may never have another chance.”
“I can’t watch you do this to yourself.”
“Then don’t look. Quill, please. I’ve come too far to stop now.”
Sagely could see the hurt cross his face as her words hit him like a slap. “If that’s what you want,” he said, standing and stalking out.
Fox gave her a wicked grin but she held up a hand. “Don’t.”
He hesitated and the smile dropped from his face. “As you wish,” he said, bowing to her before returning to his seat.
After a few more transfers, she was about to burst with all the magic that had been forced into her. She was gasping, trying to breathe and not spew it all up again. She remembered measuring her capacity when she arrived that first day, and she knew she couldn’t take it from the last few faeries.
Looking over at Fox, she shook her head miserably. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she didn’t know when she’d started cryng. Fox sprang to her side. “Are you hurt?”
“I can’t do it,” she whispered. His small hand slipped into hers, and she was surprised by its strength. Though she was bursting with mag
ic, she’d never felt so weak.
Quill burst in through the door. “What happened?” he demanded, rushing to her, their spat forgotten. “Sagely, I’m here. Tell me what you need.”
She shook her head again. “I can’t do it. I can’t take any more of it. And it’s not enough. It’s not going to be enough.”
“What if I take some of what you already have,” Fox asked quietly. “And then you can get it out of the others. I’ll take whatever you can’t hold, and I’ll keep it for you.”
“What?” Quill asked, turning to him with a murderous frown. His familiar hissed at Fox from her perch on Quill’s shoulder.
“She can’t transfer it to a witch,” Fox said coolly. “But she can give it to a faery. I already have some, so it should be willing to slide over to me.”
“What do you mean, you have some?”
“I’m one of the faeries with void magic,” Fox said.
“Then why didn’t you already give it to her?”
“Because a leader looks out for his people first,” Fox said. “I’m the fae king now. I have to see every single faery out of danger before I’ll get rid of my own curse.”
Quill looked like he was ready to punch someone, but he raised his eyebrows to Sagely in a question.
She shrugged. What else could they do?
“Fine,” Quill grumbled. “But I’m staying right here with her. Don’t even try to do anything funny.”
He sat behind her on the bench, so she was held between his thighs, and held her up as she reached across the table. Fox sat opposite and took her hands into his. Like those of all the fae, his hands were small but strong as steel. She tried to ignore his fine features and alluring eyes, and focused instead on opening that channel of energy. Forcing herself to go on, she pressed into his inner space.
He had the magic, like he said, but her body, her energy field, refused to release its overabundance. “I don’t know how to give it back,” she whispered. Quill said it took powerful sorcery. She didn’t have that.
“Damn it,” Quill cursed, pounding a fist on the table. “I told you to stop. You’ve taken on too much.”
“What do I do?” she whispered, feeling sick and dizzy, as if she might pass out at any moment.
“I don’t know,” he growled in frustration. “I don’t know of any witches who have it except you and Viziri.”
“So I have to be like this until he finds me and kills me?” Her voice rose as she tried to stagger to her feet. She was drained, physically, mentally and spiritually. And yet, her body was buzzing with some sick energy that refused to let her relax, as if she’d just swallowed packages of cocaine instead of magic.
“We’ll find some way to help you,” Quill said. “Maybe, since we’re intended, we can share it through our bond, like we did our magic.”
She grabbed his hands and pressed them to her belly. “Try. I have to get some of this out. It’s getting stronger. It’s all joining together in there, and it’s too big for me.”
“Can’t you just use it?” Fox asked.
“She can’t, because it was bound,” Quill said urgently.
Sagely rested her head back against his shoulder and let their magic join. But the parcels of void sat heavy inside her, weighing her down like a thousand tons of ebony.
“Try it with me,” Fox said softly, reaching across the table. She checked him for trickery, but his eyes were sympathetic and earnest. “Make me your intended.”
“No way in hell,” Quill said, jumping to his feet.
Sagely looked up at him miserably. “I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”
His nostrils flared, and the muscle in his jaw twitched and twitched. Finally he sat down behind her again. His voice was deadly calm. “Try it.”
“I’m sorry. It won’t mean anything.” Tears streamed from her eyes again as she took Fox’s hands. Quickly, she recited the incantation. Why were her engagements always born of dire emergency instead of romance?
Oh, right, because she’d been a dumbass and not listened, and she’d stretched herself too far. If Quill was a lesser man, he would have pointed that out. He would have told her it was her fault she had to add a faery to her collective.
Instead, he held her steadily, his even breathing calming her as she wondered if taking Fox into her collective was an even bigger mistake than taking the void magic.
“Though I understand his animosity, I want the same for you as your warlock,” Fox said. “I would die to protect you just as he would. You are an irreplaceable treasure to the fae. I may be a king, but it would be an honor to spend my life serving you.”
Sagely swallowed, and the world swam before her eyes. “I invite you to be the second in my collective,” she whispered, her fingers clinging to his for dear life. If this didn’t work, she might die. All she could do now was trust him.
“I accept,” Fox said, his face serene and without malice.
Sagely pressed the bond again, though it was enough to almost knock her out. Fox’s fingers tightened, and she felt him pulling at her magic. An instinct inside her clutched at it for a moment, not wanting to relinquish the power that weakened her as it grew stronger.
Suddenly, something lifted inside her, ripping from within her chest. She screamed, and the world went black.
Thirty-Seven
Sagely woke in a strange bed, with the wind sighing through the trees and across her face. She sat up with a start, sucking in a huge breath.
“Whoa, you okay?”
She turn to find her man and his familiar beside her, and everything in her settled just a bit. Quill was propped on the pillows, holding a battered copy of Mrs. Dalloway in one hand. When she stirred, he set it on the bedside table and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him.
“What happened?” she asked.
“You mean after you asked a faery to marry you?”
She pulled back and studied his face, but she couldn’t tell if he was angry. “Yes, after that.”
“Nothing. I guess he took some of the magic back and relieved the pressure of it. And then you blacked out.”
She glanced around at the warm evening sunlight filtering through the leaves around their little room in the trees. “When?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
“I slept all that time? Why didn’t you wake me?”
He gave her a look. “You needed it.”
“Fine, you’re right,” she said, sighing and leaning back against his strong, warm chest. She ran her fingers across his defined pecs.
“I just want you to know,” he said, his hand closing over hers. “I’m not my father. Your connection with Fox, it’s not something I’m going to be super stoked about, but I’m not going to snap and murder the bastard, either. It’s your private business with him.”
“I didn’t mean to get engaged to him,” she protested, sitting up.
“But you are.”
“I can break it off,” she said. “You said I could with you.”
“Don’t do it for me,” he said, shaking his head. The sadness in his green eyes almost destroyed her. “You might need to channel that magic, if it comes to a battle with Viziri. You can get it back from Fox faster this way, and if there’s even a chance that could save your life, then you have to take it. And he’s the fae king. He might break a pact with our Majori, but he’ll honor a marriage vow. Fae may be a lot of things, but like he said, they honor their word. A marriage is an extremely strong alliance.”
She looked at him doubtfully. “Really?”
“Really.”
“So how does this work?” she asked, lying back against him. She couldn’t imagine loving Fox the way she loved Quill. But she couldn’t deny she was attracted to the faery, either. Kings had been marrying to form alliances longer than they’d been marrying for love. And Fox didn’t seem to have any qualms about it.
“However you want it to work,” Quill said. “You call the shots.”
“Do we all live together? D
o I tell you both everything?”
“Hell, no,” Quill said, halfway laughing. “Unless you want to kill me.”
“Okay, that’s good,” she said. “I’d rather live with you.”
“When I’m done with my training, I’ll move out of the school like all the adults in the coven, and we’ll have our own place. And you can come over here, or whatever your arrangement is with Fox. I don’t want to know any of the particulars of your arrangement with him, unless it affects our relationship, or later on, our kids.”
“That’s fair.” She stroked his chest for a while, lost in thought, in the warmth and safety of his arms. She couldn’t believe she had all this. She feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
But after a while, she had to get up and face Fox. To her surprise, he was completely normal. No gloating about their betrothal, just the usual flirting. She checked the rest of the faeries, and received a few more bound magic packages. She could feel the weight of it inside her, but it was not enough to make her sick.
Fox pulled her aside before they left.
“We should talk about what happened with us,” he said, his eyes shifting around the forest. “I’ve never been promised to a witch before. But I know it worked for plenty in the past.”
“What, witches and fae?”
“Yes,” he said. “That’s part of why our blood was diluted. Witches and faeries were allies. You gave us your magic to keep, and I’m assuming many did it the same way you did yesterday. Through the bond of intention or marriage. I can feel it on me, this spell you cast.”
She didn’t think of it that way, when she was saying the words, but she guessed that’s what it was. A spell to tie them together.
“Look,” she said. “I was overloaded with magic, I thought I was going to die…I wasn’t in my right mind. If you want out…”
“I don’t.” His heart-shaped face with its pointy chin was serious for once. “But I don’t know how it works any better than you do.”
Magic of the Void: A Reverse Harem Witch Series (Winslow Witch Chronicles Book 1) Page 19