Magic of Worlds (The Guardians Series Book 3)

by Lexi Ostrow

  Kellie was getting slightly tired of the doom and gloom of Seattle. Sure, it rained in New Orleans nearly as much, but it wasn’t a twenty-four hour a day rain and misty shroud that Seattle had. She sighed as she looked out the car window at the cascading drops.

  “I assume your powers won’t let you create some nifty force field around us to stop us from getting wet?” she asked Dale hopefully as he parked the car.

  “Sorry, no such luck, considering people can see us.” He winked and pushed the button to turn his Mustang off.

  She groaned. “So what you’re telling me is if we were alone, you could do it?”

  Dale pushed the door open and gave her a quirky grin. “But of course.”

  Grumbling she undid her seatbelt and pushed the door open, doing her best to ignore the rain the wind swept against her. It had been nearly three weeks and she was beyond ready to hear the jazz bands of the Quarter and walk in the cool fall air.

  Quickly opening the umbrella, she leaped out of the car and jogged to catch up to Dale as he walked toward the Starbucks. “Do you realize that staying in versus coming and getting an overpriced cup of coffee would have kept us dry, left money in our pockets and given us the ability to speak freely?”

  Dale opened the door and gestured for her to head in. “One, we both know money isn’t an issue. Two, we needed to get away for a bit, and three, do you not like my company?”

  Laughing, she collapsed the umbrella as she walked past him. If there was one thing she had enjoyed about being trapped in Seattle, it had been getting to know another Word Speaker. Dale had helped her learn to focus Alcott’s magic in better ways than Alcott had — likely because it was natural for her Guardian, and Dale had needed to learn it as well.

  “I’ve actually enjoyed your company a little too much. I think whenever the all-powerful man in the trench coat returns to tell me I can head home, I’ll miss you.”

  “That is exactly the sort of thing a guy likes to hear.” He winked. “I’ll grab us two mochas. Same as last time?”

  She nodded. “What I wouldn’t kill for a fucking beignet right about now.” Her stomach growled in agreement, and she frowned playfully as Dale walked to the line.

  Sooner or later, she would return home, return to a life where she was going to be keeping secrets from everyone she knew. Hayley had called a few times, as had her aunt and uncle. Lying to them had felt wrong, and she knew they were just the tip of the iceberg of people she would be telling lies to until the day she died.

  Being with Dale had meant no secrets. She and Alcott didn’t even need to keep their desire for each other terribly hidden because Dale and Breena understood. Not that they’d screwed anywhere but the bedroom and the shower, but they didn’t worry about offending their hosts either. Lana was likely going to think she was a nut with how many-closed door she would be living behind once she got back to the Quarter.

  For all their talks, she’d never actually had the nerve to ask Dale what he thought of being a Word Speaker, of being the most powerful Word Speaker. Better now than never, for all you know, the world could freeze any second, and he could create a doorway home for you.

  Dale had perfect timing as he walked behind her and set the tall mocha in front of her before sitting on the stool opposite her. She placed her hands on the cup, relishing the heat and trying to remind herself that, if she were home, she’d be complaining about August weather.

  “So, did you have anything in mind for today? Or was it more of a ‘give the Guardians a break day?’”

  Dale grinned and took a sip of his coffee. “A little of both. I figured, with no further attacks occurring on Breena and me, and no check-ins from the head honcho, we’d likely be saying goodbye any time. And I’ve become somewhat of a guru at initiating Word Speakers that need help.” He leaned back and shrugged, looking every bit the coffee shop hipster she’d learned he was. “So I figured I’d see if there was anything you wanted to ask me without your Guardian around. Ya know, the sensitive stuff.”

  Kellie blew out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “You realize you’re some sort of psychic genius right?”

  “I don’t think I can do the mind reading shit unless it’s energy stealing, but I’ll take the genius compliment any day.”

  Laughing, she shook her head and swallowed a large sip of raspberry mocha, loving the warmth that blossomed in her chest as she drank. “I do have a few though. Things that I don’t think I could ask Alcott . . . about Ciara for one.”

  Some of the lightheartedness left Dale’s eyes and a somber expression crossed his lips. For the past weeks, there had been sort of an accepted no-Ciara rule as if Alcott had already told Dale that they subject made her uncomfortable.

  “I’m not certain what I can answer because I didn’t know her when she was with Alcott.” Unease dripped from each word.

  She felt slightly bad for putting him in such a position. “I guess I’m just curious about her and what might have made her so special.”

  “She had power, but not just as a Word Speaker. She had a way about her. An innocence despite all she had gone through. It lit up a room, even when it made you want to strangle her for not knowing so many things. I think losing Alcott and gaining Stryder changed her, made her a little darker. She realized the world wasn’t always going to be on her side, but it never changed the faith she placed in people. The faith she placed in me.”

  Kellie tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She’d heard pieces of what Dale and Ciara were to one another, but never the full story. “Why did she place her faith in you?”

  Dale barked harshly. “I ask myself that a fucking lot. Less as the years have gone by, but a fucking lot prior. She had no business trusting me. I was snarky, self-centered and not terribly interested in anything that had to do with being a Word Speaker besides the power it brought. Power that made me feel like I wasn’t insignificant.” He looked at her with sad eyes. “I didn’t amount to much before. All the money on the planet hadn’t gotten me friends, but Ciara offered that without question. I used to want to think she gave me her powers simply so she could say ‘fuck the war’ and run off with Stryder.”

  “She didn’t?”

  “Nope. She honest to god thought I had what it took, and believed that, by giving me such a gift, I would be able to look inside myself and make the right choices.” He smiled ruefully. “She was correct.”

  Kellie nodded, realizing that there wasn’t anything to dislike about Ciara, except that she held a place in Alcott’s heart. She hated that she was that childish, but she was.

  “Other than that, there’s not a whole lot I can tell you. She’s healthy and happy where she’s at. We’ve discussed what will happen when the war breaks out because she’s immortal now. She’s ready to fight if we can get her a way out.”

  “She is special, isn’t she?” Kellie said without a trace of bitterness in her voice.

  “She is, don’t get yourself down though. If there’s something I’ve learned, it’s that we are all special. Doesn’t matter which side we fight for. We’re something more than everyone else, something most people would be jealous of really.”

  “I just can’t help but wonder, what would happen if she were suddenly available.”

  “Oh trust me, I’ve seen her and Stryder plenty. Even if she came back as a Word Speaker somehow, she’d never be available. Stryder is just as nervous about Alcott as you are of her, foolishly so, but he is.”

  Letting the information soak in, she just sat there for a moment, drinking her coffee. It was nice to hear that the bonds created insanity in everyone. “What about you and Breena?”

  “In terms of . . .?” Dale raised a copper colored brow.

  “What were you like before?”

  “Oh, that’s easy. We hated each other. Downright couldn’t stand each other.” He grinned wide. “Which, of course, led to the hottest sex either of us has ever had.”

  She choked on her coffee, stunned that Dal
e would have shared such a tidbit. “How come?”

  “Well because hate sex and bonded sex is amazing.”

  Laughing, she put her coffee down, afraid to take another sip should she snort it out her nose. “I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun with a straight man before.”

  “I don’t know whether to be offended or think it’s a compliment. I stumbled into Oz on Bourbon once, they do know how to party.”

  Laughing so hard she felt tears roll down her cheeks, she forced herself to breathe deeply, sucking in as much air as she could between her fits of laughter. “Dale, I hope when this is all over you two will come for a visit!” Finally calming, she wiped at her eyes. “I meant what was it like when you first met? Was it immediate? You both seem to dodge the topic anytime it’s brought up.”

  Dale’s laughter stopped, practically cut to the quick. “Alcott is aware, but I wasn’t certain how you would take it. You seem to like Breena.”

  “I do like Breena. Where is this going?” Suddenly, she was worried — a feeling she hadn’t experienced since meeting the pair.

  “She wasn’t on the side we are on, not in the beginning. I’m not sure if you’ve met Demus, but he recruited her. He was intent on stealing me and all the power I had.” Dale twirled the cup in his hand and looked down. “He almost succeeded at one point. But to answer what you actually asked, I was terrified of her. I tried to kill her at least twice.”

  “Why?”

  “I was afraid of what she would bring out in me.” He moved the coffee cup from side to side across the table, looking at it intently. “I’d had a lot of Guardians, and I knew that each pairing was because of something in our souls. I thought being paired with someone I considered dangerous and potentially evil spoke volumes about me.” His words were low but still audible amongst the coffee shop clatter.

  Kellie wasn’t certain what to say. She’d spent enough time with Dale to understand that he was not the usual hero, but she couldn’t think of a moment when evil could be applied to either of them, especially. But you didn’t know her prior.

  “Dale, what happens should I want to read the book of a character that has been released?”

  He looked up at her, bright eyes widening in disbelief or shock. “I have no idea. I mean, I would assume a story is still a story, but when Ciara left to be with Stryder in the books, the author of the series died. Ciara being in the world messed up something so fundamental it caused that to happen.” He took a sip of the drink. “Or maybe it was completely unlinked. You haven’t had a chance to meet our all-powerful benefactor too often. He doesn’t speak unless he feels like it. He doesn’t help unless it’s a risk for the greater good of his side.”

  She nodded slowly. “So what you’re saying is we’ll never know the answer unless we try it.”

  “And I’d much rather prefer not to lose my Guardian. We’re not engaged yet, but we’re getting there, and I’d prefer she didn’t magically change her mind because I kept reading like a moron.”

  Kellie couldn’t help the snorted laugh. Though the idea that someone could magically change simply from reading a few words was sobering, to say the least. Forcing the thought back, she took a giant sip of the coffee. “Now, I do believe you’d mentioned this would be a sightseeing day.” She rubbed her hands together greedily. “Show me the sights!”

  Alcott raised a brow skeptically at Breena as she changed the channel. “I’m shocked a Sprite would like shopping networks.”

  She quirked her brow in response. “I’ve learned Sprites aren’t exactly the same from world to world.” She took a sip from her coke can. “For instance, most aren’t nearly as deadly as my kind.”

  Laughing, Alcott put his hands up in mock surrender. “I apologize.”

  “Apology accepted. Especially if you don’t tell Dale when these new products arrive that I bought them. Sometimes I make him think they’ve been here for years,” she winked playfully at him. “So, how does it feel, getting a sort of second chance?”

  The question took him off guard. He and Breena had bonded fairly quickly, being as they were the only two Guardians to ever meet, but they hadn’t talked about anything too deep. He sighed and dreaded the words that would come out.

  “It’s the hardest thing I think I’ve ever dealt with,” he said on an exhale.

  That got Breena’s attention, and she turned away from the television to give him her complete attention. “How so? Wouldn’t it just be pretty kick ass that you’ve gotten the chance at freedom and even love again?”

  He ran a hand over the back of his neck and rubbed it, feeling immediately uncomfortable. “It’s hard because all I can do is worry that I won’t be able to save her. That something could come for her that’s more powerful than I am, like with Ciara. I didn’t fail to save her, but I did fail to be what she needed. Same thing.”

  “I can’t relate, what with Dale being all powerful now. But, I can tell you that I didn’t trust this at first. Not one iota of me wanted to give two shits about Dale, this battle that wasn’t my own or leaving my book. But, however these matches are truly made, I believe that they are for the best. Maybe you couldn’t be what you needed to be last time, but your Word Speaker was practically a child. You protected her for many years, and you were what she needed when she required it. There’s nothing wrong with letting someone else be what is needed and finding the person you can help again.”

  Alcott blinked twice, shocked at the level of insight Breena had just shared. Not because she’d ever seemed anything less than intelligent, simply because Ryce had told him the same things thousands of times as they’d trained to make him better, stronger.

  “Besides, isn’t it a gift to be given the chance to find out what you are and then have a way to change it?” She pulled her legs up onto the couch and crossed them underneath her. “I can’t imagine what it would have been like to find out you were nothing, and then wham, you’re something only to have it ripped away. Getting a shot with Kellie, it’s a second chance at freedom and pretty damn awesome.”

  The condo floor shook as rage quickly washed over him at the implication he’d only been using Kellie the past weeks. He felt his eyes narrow as his words came out, deadly sharp. “I am not in this to use my Word Speaker.”

  Breena leaned closer, a smile on her lips and a daring tone in her voice. “Oh, really then? Tell me, Alcott, why then did you accept the ability to guard another? To get to live a life and be more than just words on a page?”

  “I am not using the woman I’m falling in love with!” He was upright with fire ignited across his body before he’d even realized how angry she’d made him. His chest heaved with exertion from shouting the words, and his hands twitched, knowing that attacking Breena would be the stupidest thing he could do.

  She was utterly nonplussed by his theatrics. In fact, she waved him off with a smirk. “Flame off, witch boy. I was merely seeing what you thought about your Guardian. Ya know, beyond the overwhelming lust that leads to the best sex you’ve probably ever had.”

  His jaw dropped open, his fury shifting to mild annoyance as he realized his character wasn’t being called into question, just his feelings. With a thought, he killed the witch fire and sat back down. “Did it ever occur to you that you could simply have asked?” he grumbled in annoyance.

  “Did it ever occur to you that, at one point, I was drafted to play for the other side?” She said in a chipper tone. “Besides, you could’ve lied or told me it was none of my business.”

  “Well, it isn’t.”

  “No, it probably isn’t. But since you’re staying here under our protection, I wanted to know. I like Kellie. She’s smart and a whole lot of fun to hang out with. I don’t like seeing people I’ve grown to care about hurt, and I know that I was pretty damn jealous of the way Dale spoke about Ciara, and he is just a passing friend. Well, was.”

  “Kellie and I have spoken on it. At length.” He didn’t mean to sound aggravated, but after nearly destroying what
had been forming between him and Kellie a few weeks back, he’d hoped to never have to answer such questions again.

  “Fair enough. Like I said, I don’t like seeing those I care about hurt. I like you, but I like her more. Call it girl power or whatever, but I felt like I owe her my loyalty.”

  It bristled Alcott a bit that a Guardian would choose a Word Speaker over another Guardian, and then he thought about it. It made sense. “I get it. We’re basically genetically programmed to help them. I promise you. What is happening between Kellie and I is about so much more than my freedom.”

  Seeming satisfied, Breena nodded. “So back to that ‘falling in love’ part. Care to expand?”

  “Not particularly. Kellie and I have spoken about it. We are trying to take things slowly and not let the bond influence us. She’s an amazing woman, and when I do finally realize I’ve fallen completely in love with her, I want it to be my choice. Not some screwed up destiny that came by way of a prophecy.”

  “That might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard a man say. Including when Dale admitted he loved me the first time.” She let out a low whistle. “Be grateful you and Kellie want the same things. Dale and I moved at a much slower pace and almost lost each other along the way.”

  Sympathy for the woman bubbled up. “I can’t imagine what that must have been like.”

  “Hard. Amazing sex still, but we each had such a long way to go before we were ready to accept our feelings. Especially me. It’s hard growing up thinking you’re doing the noble thing, only to realize that the world sees you as some kind of monster.”

  The pain in her voice was as raw as if it hadn’t been years since she’d discovered the path she was meant to walk on. He’d never been the monster in his books, it was impossible to be with a murderous power-seeking brother running loose. However, he could understand what it must feel like to believe you were doing what was right, only to find out it was horribly wrong.

  He touched her shoulder gently and offered her a small smile. “I’m truly sorry, Breena. I’m not sure our Word Speakers can ever understand what happens to us the day we learn our personal truth, just as we cannot know what they experience. But, I see how Dale looks at you. I’ve watched you help Kellie, too. Whoever you were written to be is not who you are now. You’ve broken free from any limitations placed on you, and I would be happy to stand by your side should the war come in our lifetime.”