by Kimbra Swain
“You first. That protection spell is mean,” she said.
I walked past Kota who grabbed my hand intent on going in with me. “I don’t want it to hurt you,” I said.
“It won’t,” he replied. “The only danger here is bride of Chucky.”
Rowena hissed. Like a snake. I almost laughed, but it was damn freaky. I walked into the attic first, and the circle around the trunk glowed brighter. Kota cautiously followed me in, but Rowena stayed outside the attic. I knew then it was a trap, but it wasn’t soon enough. Another circle ignited trapping Dakota and I inside it with the trunk.
“We already have the books,” she said with a smile. “How do you feel about burning alive?”
Dakota threw his hands up producing both circles. He threw one at her, but it bounced off the barrier created by their circle. I put my hand on his arm, feeling the muscles flex with tension underneath.
“Let her go,” I said.
“You should fuck her one last time for funsies,” Rowena said, as she shut the door.
Dakota pounded on the barrier.
“Stop! Dakota! Stop!” I screamed at him.
“We have to get out!” he said.
“They don’t have the books,” I said. “It wasn’t a protection spell per se.”
“What?”
“It’s a protection via illusion,” I replied.
“How did you do that?” he asked.
“I read the book. My parents always said that reading was important,” I replied.
“The book is undecipherable,” he said.
“Not through my circle.”
He grabbed my cheeks and kissed me. “Hurry.”
I opened my circle, walking toward the box. As I recited the words I’d memorized for the spell, my circle of protection around the trunk faded. Quickly, I lifted the lid, hoping that I hadn’t lied, but inside sat the two books.
“See. They are here,” I said. “Now what?”
“I need something to break this barrier. Find something in the book,” he said.
“Kota, I don’t have the skills to know what is what. I got lucky with the illusion,” I said. “You look at the book.”
“I can’t read it.”
“You can through my circle. Come here,” I said, kneeling at the trunk. He sat down next to me as I held my circle over the opened grimoire. He looked and his jaw dropped. “Don’t drool on my book.”
He flipped the pages, scanning quickly at the spells and potions. Finally, he stopped, reading the same page twice. “This is what I need,” he said. “Give me a minute to memorize the incantation.”
I looked at the page myself, but the spell didn’t make sense to me like most of the book. It seemed to have more than one layer.
“This is complicated,” I said.
“Yes. And I need your help. This part here. I need you to hold your circle up and call the electricity like you did in the elevator.”
“I did that in a panic.”
The smoke detectors suddenly erupted in shrill alarm through the house.
“That enough for you?” he asked.
“I am going to slap you for being smart.”
“After we survive, then you can hit me, baby.”
“Don’t call me baby.”
“Okay, Chantilly.”
“Dakota Ingram Fane!”
“That’s the fire I need. Now throw that spell at the barrier!” he yelled.
I growled in frustration, lifting my circle and I focused on the fire symbol. Suddenly, I felt the electricity flowing through the house humming through my veins. I pulled on it like it was a cord on a talking baby. Feeling it rush to me, I hoped I had the knowledge to direct it how he wanted. His arm wrapped around my waist from behind and leaned down to my ear.
“Let it go, Lacey.”
“Argh!” I screamed, releasing the power I held toward the barrier. Raising his free hand, I watched as the water symbol pulsed. “Oh shit!”
He grunted releasing a flood of water toward the barrier along with a short incantation. Sparks flew around the room, and he leaned down over me to block them from hitting me. When the frying noises ceased, we both looked up to see the barrier was gone.
“Get the books. Whatever you do, don’t give them to Stanwick. Not only would we lose Gil, but we would lose everything. He will destroy us all with that book,” he warned. “Here are my keys to Gil’s car. You run to it and don’t look back.”
“I’m not leaving you behind. You didn’t leave me. I’m not leaving you,” I said, refusing to take the keys.
“Stubborn woman!”
“That’s right! Don’t you forget it. And don’t call me Chantilly!”
He grabbed my hand, dragging me down the steps into a mass of smoke. The alarms in the house blared, and I could hear sirens in the distance. The pop of a gun stopped us in our tracks.
“Aunt Clara!” I screamed, breaking free of Dakota.
“Lacey, wait!”
I ignored him finishing the last flight of stairs two by two. When I got to the bottom step, I could see my aunt lying face down on the floor. Lunging for her, I was stopped as Dakota wrapped me up in his arms.
“Let me go!”
“No, it’s too late, Lacey. She would want you to run,” he said.
“NO!” I screamed, fighting him the whole way to the front door.
Two more shots rang out. A bright white shield appeared in front of us as Gil stepped out of the smoke. A red spot formed on his right shoulder.
“You’re shot!” I screamed.
“Get her out of here,” Gil said. “I’m fine. Let’s move.”
Dakota wrestled me to the front yard where we watched a car speed away. Isaac came around the side of the house with Marley over his shoulder.
“I’ll take her. Grant is getting the car,” he said.
“Ronan?” Dakota asked, holding me up as the shock settled into my body. The house began to burn brightly. Fire trucks rounded the corner.
“He took on Zuri. I’m not sure what happened,” Gil replied. “The house filled with smoke so quickly.”
“Where do we go?” Dakota asked.
“Somewhere public with a lot of people.”
“The hospital,” I muttered. “He’s shot.”
“She’s right. It’s better if you go in than sit here to explain the house burning,” Dakota said.
“You have the books,” Gil said.
“Yes,” I muttered staring at the house.
“It was an illusion spell. They disappeared from the couch, and he went nuts,” Gil explained. When I dropped the illusion, the fake books had disappeared. Stanwick went nuts and killed my aunt. I’d killed my aunt.
I didn’t hear the rest of their conversation. But Dakota eased me away from the house as Grant drove up to get Isaac and Marley. He laid her in the back seat of the sedan and jumped in behind her.
“Don’t look anymore, Lacey. Keep moving,” Dakota said, blocking my vision of the house.
“Why did they shoot her? I can’t leave her here. It was my fault,” I said.
Gil looked at me then at Dakota as if he didn’t know what to say.
“Tomorrow, Lacey. We will mourn her tomorrow. Today we live,” he said.
I didn’t remember agreeing with him, but he continued to coax me to Gil’s car. By the time we got there, the professor was barely walking on his own. He collapsed into the backseat of the car as Dakota tried to help me in the passenger seat.
“I can do it,” I huffed.
“Of course, you can,” he replied gently. Always tip-toeing around me, but I saw the grave look on his face. He was in pain just watching me. He shut the door, then rushed to the driver’s side.
Once he started the car, he made a huge U-turn in the road. In the side mirror of the car, I watched the smoke rise burning everything left of my family to the ground. Tears rolled down my cheeks landing on the books sitting in my lap. All of this over a couple of books and a girl with insignificant m
agical knowledge.
Dakota and I tip-toed into the room at the hospital hoping not to wake the patient. However, Braxton’s eyes popped open, then blinked several times.
“Oh, God. You are alive,” he said.
“I am,” I replied, walking up to his bedside. “I’m really glad you are, too.”
“Just a scratch,” he said with a cough.
“That’s not what the doctor told us,” I said. “And you pulled one of Isaac’s tricks telling them I was your fiancée.”
“I did. I had to hope that you would make it. You look sad though. What happened?” he asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I muttered. I had been pushing my aunt’s death back further in my mind. Dakota had told me while we waited on word about Professor Culpepper that they had another safehouse closer to the University. Since the explosion that rocked his other house and the fire at mine, we were left with that one option.
“How are you, Fane?” Braxton asked.
“I’m alive,” he replied.
“Kept her alive, too,” Brax said.
“She did some of that on her own, and she definitely kept me alive more than once,” Dakota replied.
“You know that I don’t have the talent that you guys do, right?” he said.
“We know,” I replied. “It’s one of the reasons I wanted to check on you. Make sure you were safe.”
“My father has always shunned me for my lack of talent. I know about the whole world of magic, but I can’t perform any of it. I had no idea that you could or that he was after you,” Brax said. “Shooting me was just a way to get in your head. It was bad enough that I caught him with Shawnna…”
“You caught them?” I asked.
He sighed. “I did. I told you she had someone else.”
“I never fathomed it was your father though,” I said, sitting on the edge of his bed. “She was with Jamarcus the other day. I just assumed it was him.”
“No. She’s with several men, but she’s bound to my father,” he said.
“Geez, that’s harsh,” Dakota said.
“It would have been worse if my feelings were involved,” Braxton said.
“Even if you didn’t love her, he’s your father, so feelings were involved. Blood was involved,” I said.
“Yes, well, I’ve been a disappointment to my father forever, and I have to admit that when I looked at you, I saw a beautiful life without the magic element. I was a fool,” he said with an uneasy laugh.
I took his hand in mine. “My aunt died today. I’m going to need my friends to lean on. That includes you. I will do the same for you.”
“We will do the same,” Dakota said. “My father sent me here to find her. They knew there was a 3rd gen here. We just weren’t sure who.”
“Did you know my father was part of the Society?” he asked.
“My parents did when I made a list of possible candidates. When your name came up, they assured me that you had no powers, but that your father was a 3rd gen.”
“Did you know it was me?” I asked Brax.
“Not until you passed out in the hospital. I’d seen my mother do it after using magic. It scared me to death because I knew my father was hunting you,” Brax admitted.
“So, you stayed with me in the hospital,” I said.
“Yeah,” he replied.
Grant slipped in the door quietly. “Hey, how is Culpepper?” Dakota asked him.
“Good. Didn’t hit anything major. He’s eager to get out of here,” Grant said.
“We can’t leave Brax,” I said.
“What?” Brax asked.
“Um,” Grant said.
“Lacey, I can’t go with you guys. I’m not one of you,” Brax said.
“Fuck that, you are family. You helped us find her. Think you could stand? We’ll break you out if we have to,” Dakota said.
“Are you serious?” Brax asked.
“He is,” I replied.
“You’ll regret it when she ends up with me,” Brax teased him. I blushed deeply.
“Don’t count on it, Stanwick,” Dakota prodded back.
“Guys,” I begged. “Please.”
“No, need to beg, Lacey. I’ll give it to you,” Braxton said, sliding to the edge of the bed.
“I take it back. He has to stay,” Dakota said, as Grant pulled the I.V. out of Braxton’s arm. The machines went wild as I removed the censors on his chest.
“Don’t hurt me, honey. I like it slow and easy,” Brax teased. I ripped one of the sensors off pulling hair with it. “Oh, damn! That fucking hurt. Do it again.”
I rolled my eyes. “Darn. There aren’t any more.”
“That’s a shame. You can kiss it and make it better later,” Brax teased.
“I’m completely regretting this now,” Dakota groaned. “Come on, Romeo.”
The nurses were rushing in the room as we turned to leave.
“You can’t take him. He’s not discharged,” one of them said.
“I discharge myself,” Brax responded.
“There are papers to sign,” the nurse insisted.
“Send them to his father, Clanton Stanwick,” I said as we passed them going into the hallway.
“Where to?” Grant asked.
“I’ll take the stairs,” I said, remembering the last time I was in an elevator.
“You will be with us,” Dakota said. “Nothing will happen.”
“Famous last words,” I said.
Two hours later, once the elevator got unstuck, we met Gil in the parking lot. We had to avoid a lot of angry hospital officials, but Brax convinced them that he was leaving on his own accord.
“Welcome, Braxton,” Gil said.
“You okay with this?” Braxton asked.
“I’m sure you can provide unique insight on your father’s motivations and business. I think you will be an asset to the group,” Gil said.
“You got the ass part right,” Dakota quipped. I elbowed him.
“To the safehouse. See you all there,” Gil said. Dakota and I helped him into the backseat of the Mercedes. Braxton sat with him.
“How’s your head?” Dakota asked after driving in silence for a few minutes.
“I’m exhausted,” I said.
“We will rest when we get there,” Gil said. “A good long rest.”
I laid in the bed curled up next to Dakota who let me cry into his chest. He brushed my hair lightly occasionally assuring me that it was okay to let it all out. The apartment safehouse was spacious with four bedrooms. Dakota and I took one while Grant and Braxton took the other. We hadn’t heard from Ronan. Isaac slept in the basement with our prisoner. Marley hadn’t stirred since we brought her back. She’d been awake, but not talking to us or responding to questions.
“I know you feel like you don’t have anything, Lacey, but I assure you that you will have a family with us. Plus, when you are feeling up to it, I’d like to take you home to meet my parents,” Dakota said.
“That sounds serious,” I said through sniffles.
“I’m only serious about two things in this world, Lacey. My family and magic,” he said.
“Oh, for a minute I thought you were going to say me,” I said, feeling disappointed.
“I did say you. You are my family.”
Enjoy 2 chapters of bonus content for Frivolous Magic in my Facebook Group Magic and Mason Jars.
Pre-order Ambitious Prodigy, Book 2 of the Chantilly Lace Series. Releases July 15, 2019.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to two wonderful women who inspire me, make me laugh, and keep me on my toes. Katy K. and Caite S., you guys are so freaking awesome and I love ya!
Thanks to everyone in Magic and Mason Jars for your constant support.
Thanks to Loraine Von Tonder for the wonderful cover and Carol Tietsworth for the editing skills.
Finally, thanks to my wonderful husband, Jeff, and my beautiful baby girl, Maleia.
From early in life Kimbra Swa
in was indoctrinated in the ways of geekdom. Raised on Star Wars, Tolkien, Superheroes and Voltron, she found herself immersed in a world of imagination. She started writing in high school and completed her English degree from the University of Alabama in 2003.
Her writing is influenced by a gamut of favorite authors including Jane Austen, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, Timothy Zahn, Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, Kevin Hearne and Jim Butcher.
Born and raised in Alabama, Kimbra still lives there with her husband and 5-year-old daughter. When she isn't reading or writing, she plays PC games, makes jewelry and builds cars.
You can view my publishing schedule on my website:
https://www.kimbraswain.com/tentative-publishing-schedule
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www.kimbraswain.com