by Linsey Hall
The Devil’s goon—Tommy, I thought his name was—shrunk back the tiniest bit and turned to me.
“What are you doing back here?” he hissed. “You got the stuff? Because you better have the stuff.”
“Not yet. But I will.”
“What do you mean, you will? The agreement was that you’d leave and get the potion. I’m here to make sure you don’t try to sneak back in.”
“Sneak back in?” I looked around. “I’m going through one of the main gates. This isn’t sneaking.”
“I don’t know, you looked shifty.”
That was a fair point. I often looked shifty since I was often up to no good. Connor, though…. I pointed to my companion. “Does he look shifty?”
The guard flicked him a glance, and the slightest bit of fear crept into his eyes.
A lot of the Devil's goons weren’t so bad, but he did have some losers in the bunch. Tommy was definitely one of them.
Tommy turned back to me. “Why are you here?”
“Keep a civil tone in your mouth,” Connor said, his voice icy.
Tommy paled slightly.
“Now try again,” Connor said.
I preened. I could handle myself and was proud of it. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like having someone to stick up for me. Two was always more powerful than one, and as someone with wonky magic who lived at the outskirts of magical society because of said wonky magic, I quite liked having some power. And someone at my back.
“Why are you here?” Tommy asked again, much more politely this time.
“We need to get a potion ingredient from the witches so that we can make more of the Expulsio potion for the Devil.”
He grumbled.
Connor gave him another cold look, and he backed up slightly. “Fine, fine. But I’m watching you.”
“Whatever, Tommy.” I gestured to the big gate. “Now let us in.”
He sighed and turned. “Follow me.”
We followed him to the small door, which led to a narrow, arched tunnel through the gatehouse. It was dark and cold inside, but Guild City beckoned at the other end, bathed in cool gray light.
Connor stayed close behind me, as if to guard my back, and we stepped out into the city.
The Devil of Darkvale didn’t run the city—the Council of Guilds did that—but he did control some of the gates in the same way that the mob controlled certain neighborhoods back in the human world.
The Devil’s goon melted into the shadows at the base of the wall that surrounded the city. In front of us, one of the small town squares opened up. Each of the gates had a courtyard in front of it, with shops surrounding the open space. The guild towers were like that as well, and they formed tiny neighborhoods within Guild City.
I tried to see it through Connor’s eyes and thought it held up quite nicely. A lot of the architecture was medieval, two-story buildings of dark wood and white plaster. A few were painted colorful shades that added some cheer through the fog, and flowers tumbled from window boxes despite the cold. Mullioned windows gleamed dully under the pale light. The fog was particularly thick this morning, adding a really moody feel to the place. Gas lamps flickered, making it feel slightly haunted.
Despite the old style of the architecture, the shop windows were full of modern magical items. You could buy anything you wanted in Guild City. There was no end to the magic in this place.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“Charming.” Connor looked around, his gaze moving from shop window to shop window. “Lots of stores.”
“Guild City is known for its shopping, both the normal kind and the sort where you can go to a guild and make an expensive—and possibly dangerous—deal to hire their services.”
“What do you mean?”
“Each guild specializes in something. Witches sell potions, sorcerers sell spells, seers sell visions, shifters provide protections services.”
“Like bodyguards?”
“Or mercenaries. There are more guilds, too, each specializing in something different. They’re the real draw to Guild City. But don’t ignore the stores. They’re pretty great.” I pointed to a clothing shop. “Everything in there is enchanted. Want to be hotter? Buy from them. Or stronger?” I eyed him up and down. “Well, maybe you don’t need that. But if you did, you could get a jacket that would let you lift a truck. Pants that would make you run like an Olympian, or a pair of fake wings that will take you to the clouds.”
Something flickered in his eyes, but it was gone in a flash as he raised his brows and said, “Impressive.”
I pointed to another store. The window was full of random stuff like brooms and pens and notebooks and toys. “That place sells weapons.”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
I grinned at him. “It’s sneaky like that. You can get boring old swords and knives at a place on the other side of town. That place turns everything normal into a weapon.”
“Like James Bond, with his exploding pens.”
“Yeah, but magical.” I grabbed his hand for the hell of it and pulled him along. “Come on. I’ll give you a better tour later.”
He squeezed my hand tightly and didn’t let go, and a frisson of delight traveled up my arm. This kind of flirting was unusual for me, but what could I say?
He inspired me.
And maybe it was also the fact that the Devil had my name on his Shit List. It made me feel like I had limited time left, and I was determined to live it up.
We passed one of the weirder bars in town, a vampire club that specialized in blood cocktails. As I preferred the normal stuff—bourbon, especially—it wasn’t for me. Anyone could drink a blood cocktail, but only vampires really liked them.
The streets grew narrower as we cut deeper into the city, the buildings looming overhead. They were only two stories tall—three stories, in rare cases—but this street was so narrow that they seemed taller. The bottom levels were dedicated to more shops and bars, with apartments over the top.
“I live on a street just like this,” I said, finding myself wanting to share something of my life with him.
“Do you like it?”
“Yeah.” Something in his tone made me really think about it. Did I like it? Really and truly? “Mostly.”
“What do you mean, mostly?”
“This is my home.” I gestured around. “A totally magical city. What’s not to love?”
“Magic’s Bend is totally magic as well.”
“Fair enough.”
“You have to like more than the magic to really like it.”
“I do.” Except, if I really thought about it, it was a bit lonely. My wonky magic separated me from people. Everyone here knew that I had no control and could get them into the kind of trouble I’d been in earlier. Namely, naked by my own hand and unconscious.
It was hard to make friends like that.
But when the Devil of Darkvale had threatened to take this place away from me, I’d freaked.
Why?
Because it was the only home I’d ever known. Of course I didn’t want to be booted out. But if given a choice…
Maybe this place wasn’t the be-all end-all. I shook the thought away.
Nah. This place was amazing.
“We’re headed to the other side of town,” I said. “Each of the guilds owns a tower that is built into the city wall. Most of them aren’t gates like the one we just passed through, but they are responsible for the defense of the city.”
“Defense?”
“It was more important back in the day, when this place was built.” I shrugged. “Now, the guilds form the government and make the rules. If we were ever attacked by a crazy person, they would mount the defense.”
“Who lives in the towers?”
“The most important members of the guilds, but everyone needs to be a member of a guild. Because I’m a Void Mage, I belong to the Mages’ Guild.”
“But you don’t live there.”
I laughed. With
my wonky magic? “Hell, no.”
“Don’t want to?”
“Once, I wanted nothing more. Now? No. Not for me.”
“Why? Not a joiner?”
I had a feeling that I might actually be a joiner, if I could make some friends. That choice had been taken from me when my control over my magic had been stolen. But I decided to go with a lie. “Pretty much.”
He shot me a skeptical look.
He totally didn’t believe me.
But we’d arrived at the Witches’ Guild. I withdrew my hand from his and pointed across the small clearing to the tower that was set into the huge wall surrounding the city. This clearing was grassier than the others, and the shops were more derelict.
I blamed it on the witches. They were so loud—and occasionally, destructive—that shops didn’t want to open up near them. Little things would happen, like spells shooting from the chimneys and magical fires blazing across the lawn, that made it hazardous to be too close to their guild tower. The Council of Guilds was supposed to control them, but no one had quite managed it.
“Creepy,” Connor said.
“Very.” The witches’ tower looked exactly like it should: a pale brown square building that leaned slightly to the left, topped with a dark, pointed roof that was vaguely reminiscent of a witch’s hat. A wooden staircase wrapped around the sides, leading upward, and the windows were shadowed and eerily empty. Like a sociopath’s eyes.
Pale blue smoke wafted from one of the chimneys, but it was the green smoke curling around the base of the tower that caught my eye. I took a tentative step toward the path that led up to the front door. The smoke curled away from the house and drifted toward us.
“Shit.” I scowled at it.
“Not very inviting,” Connor said.
“No kidding.” The smoke was curling toward us along the ground, creeping like an ephemeral snake with murder in its eyes.
“Is it normally there?”
“Not if you’re invited.”
“We don’t have an invitation?”
“We should.” Coraline was fucking with me. Damn it. “We’ll be fine. Just be alert.”
Carefully, I strode down the path, being sure to stick to the stone walkway. No way would I step on their grass. Connor kept close to my side, his stance once again alert. A faint mist smoked in the air, filling my head and making my thoughts slightly woozy.
“It’s a hallucinogen,” I said. “Sort of. It’s meant to raise your anxiety level. Get you to think about things you’re afraid of.”
“Like Phantoms.”
“I think it’s distilled from their essence, yes. Try to ignore it.” But it was hard. I could already feel my mind starting to twist, digging for the things that scared me.
I’m all alone.
I’ll always be alone.
Guild City was my home, but there was no one here for me. And there never would be.
It isn’t really my home.
Tears pricked my eyes, and I desperately wanted to suck in a bracing breath. Anything to clear my head. But I couldn’t. That would just draw more of the horrible stuff into my lungs.
Connor reached for my hand and gripped it tight. I looked at him, wondering what was going through his mind. His brow was creased and his eyes shadowed, but it was impossible to get a hint of what was happening inside his head.
“What’s the thicker stuff near the ground?” He pointed to one of the thick green curls of smoke that crept toward us.
“More dangerous.” As soon as I said it, the plume lurched off the ground and struck out for us, lunging like a massive snake.
Connor grabbed my waist and swung me around, diving to the side to avoid the thick smoke. He twisted in the air and landed hard on the grass, protecting me from the ground. I slammed onto him, his muscular body breaking my fall.
Quickly, he rolled over, pinning me beneath him and shielding me from whatever might attack from above.
Nothing more struck at us, the smoke having dissipated when it didn’t hit us. The threat was gone.
Suddenly, all I could feel was Connor’s strong form surrounding me. He leaned over me, both elbows propped on the ground near my head. He was so big, seeming to block out the light, and his evergreen scent wrapped around me.
All of the sad thoughts flew from my head, and there was only Connor. My gaze caught his. Tension tightened the air between us, and our surroundings disappeared.
Every breath he drew in made his chest swell, pressing it closer to mine. From here, I could see all the shades of green in his eyes. The heat in their depths mimicked the inferno that was blazing through me.
Somehow, I managed to force some reasonable words through my throat. “This is probably just an illusion. Magic.”
“How I feel for you isn’t an illusion.” Connor’s voice was rough. “And the mist causes anxiety. Not…this.”
He was right. And the horrible thoughts that had been racing through my head had been replaced with thoughts of Connor. How much I wanted to spend time with him. Talk to him. Kiss him.
My gaze moved to his lips, which looked full and soft. Impossibly perfect. Perfectly kissable.
“Sora.” His voice was soft. “If you look at me like that…”
Unable to help myself, I leaned up and kissed him, pressing my lips to his. He groaned low in his throat, his mouth moving on mine like this was the last kiss he’d ever have. I gripped the back of his neck as my head spun.
A cheer sounded in the distance, and I jerked back, tearing my lips from his.
He stiffened, his posture immediately returning to protectiveness. Quickly, he rolled to his feet and pulled me up. My lips were still vibrating as I rose, my senses on high alert.
The cheer had come from one of the upper windows of the tower, where I spotted a twitching curtain.
“Those bitches,” I muttered.
“What’s going on?”
“They were spying.”
“Spying?”
“You’ll see.” I gripped his hand and pulled him forward. “Come on.”
We walked toward the tower. Now that the witches were aware of our arrival, the protective mist had dissipated. The memory of it lingered, however, along with visions of Connor skillfully maneuvering me away from the threat.
“You’re good at protecting people,” I said.
“Not everyone,” he replied, the slightest hint of bitterness to his voice. So minor I almost didn’t hear it. He seemed to shake himself, as if realizing what he’d said. Smoothly, he turned to me. “Good enough at protecting you, though.”
There was something genuine to his voice—satisfaction or something—that I liked. But I couldn’t help but wonder who he hadn’t protected in the past.
Another girl?
I hoped he didn’t have some tragic history. I wanted whatever this was to work between us, and the ghost of a lost love was one quick way to screw that up.
5
Connor
As we walked up to the door, I counted my lucky stars that she hadn’t asked who I’d failed to protect. It seemed to hang in the air between us, but I was glad we weren’t discussing it now.
Guilt tugged at me, though.
She might think it was another girl.
And it was a girl, but…
Not how she was thinking. I’d failed to protect my sister. Our Fae court had evicted her, and I could do nothing to stop them.
I shook away the dark thoughts. That had been in a distant past, and Claire was fine now. I was fine now. And I’d be even better if I could help Sora get this Devil guy off her back.
Sora stopped in front of the narrow wooden staircase built along the side of the building. It started on one side and wound around to the other. She looked at me. “Ready?”
“Yeah. They’re just some witches, right?”
“Sure.” She winked at me.
I gestured to the building. “This place is pretty small, though. How many can there be?”
“It’s bigg
er on the inside. And there are probably thirty, but we won’t meet all of them.”
I felt my brows rise. “Thirty?”
“Imagine a magical sorority house, but they can kill you.” She grinned. “In fact, they’d be delighted to.”
“Gotcha.”
Together, we climbed the stairs. I could feel the prickle of magic that indicated a protection charm, but it wasn’t active.
As if she could read my thoughts, Sora said, “They protect the front yard, but once you’ve made it this far, they aren’t keen to stop people from approaching. They sell their spells and small charms, after all. It’s their main source of income, so they don’t want to drive off customers.”
“And that green misty snake thing wasn’t meant to drive off customers?”
“That was specially made for me, I think. They knew I’d power through.”
“Friends of yours?”
She hesitated. “Undetermined.”
“Normally, you know when people are your friends.”
“Yeah, well….” She stopped in front of the small wooden door. “We’re here.”
She raised a hand and knocked, and we waited in silence. A few moments later, the door swung open, and a ghostly butler stood in front of us. His form flickered an ephemeral blue, and he was able to hold on to the door, which was unusual for ghosts.
He was dressed like an old-timey butler, with a starched black suit and high pointed collar. His brow seemed permanently raised halfway up his forehead, as if he were perpetually surprised or disapproving.
From the wrinkle of his nose, I had to guess it was disapproval.
“Jeeves,” Sora said, her tone pleasant.
The butler nodded and stepped back to allow us to enter.
I leaned down and murmured into her ear. “Jeeves? You aren’t serious, are you?”
“As the grave.” She cracked a grin. “Where do you think the name originally came from, anyway?”
“Fair enough.” I followed her into the dark foyer.
The space was small and covered with black velvet wallpaper. Underfoot, the wooden floor creaked ominously, like the floorboards would give away any minute and drop us down into a dungeon cellar. The scent of herbs and candles lingered in the air, along with something strangely sweet, but not unpleasant. It reminded me of the Apothecary’s Jungle, a creepy shop-slash-house owned by my friends, Blood Sorceresses Aerdeca and Mordaca.