Bound by Faerie: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Stolen Magic Book 1) (16 page)

My swords were strapped to my back. I was good to go. I hopped out the window and got a move on. A few seconds later Siobhan fell in beside me, her bare feet slapping the ground. Her anger was palpable.

I don't know why I opened my mouth, but I did. "There were probably any number of reasons he would have taken the necklace," I told her. "Maybe the lure was stronger than you thought. He's also been around the necklace for quite a while. It probably already had its claws in him." I shook my head. Or maybe he was just a bastard like most dragons. Why was I defending him? "It doesn't matter. He's headed into danger. And he's running away with my paycheck," I quickly added.

"Here, you'll need this when you catch him," she said, slipping a lacquered piece of wood about the width of my finger into my hand.

"A magic wand? What am I supposed to do with this against a dragon?" We stepped into the clearing and his scent faded drastically. My eyes turned to the sky. He was winging away so fast he'd be out of sight soon. "It's not like
Expelliarmus
will do anything."

Siobhan rolled her eyes. "Ugh. No wonder he likes you. You're into books like he is." She pointed at the stick. "Real wands are enchanted with a single use in mind. This one is used to release the necklace."

I ignored the comment about him liking me because it was patently ridiculous and I didn't have time to argue. He didn't know a thing about me. "Thank you," I said, before I could catch myself.
The truth was, I owed her for getting me out of that necklace. I was racking up debts left and right.

The anger melted away from the woman's face and was replaced by a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I expect that back when this is said and done." She left it unsaid that she would be extracting a favor.

"I'll bring it back if you'll hold onto my clothes," I said, stripping down as fast as I could. I made sure my weapons were strapped tightly and shifted to my crow form. The wand was clutched safely in my talons. "Caw," I said, meaning, "Bye."

I pushed into the air, my wings pulling hard to make up the time I'd already lost. As a dragon, Owen was fast, but I was much faster than a normal crow when I needed to be. He drew nearer in my vision.

What the hell was I going to do when I caught up to him? The necklace wasn't visible when I wore it in my crow form, so I'd bet that was the same for a dragon. I'd have to wait until he shifted back.

I continued to close the distance between us and wondered if a dragon would notice a crow fluttering around him. A gout of searing flame roaring over my head was my answer. I soared higher to get out of easy flame throwing range. "Caw," I shouted back at him, not caring if he could hear or understand.
Bastard
. Definitely just an asshole dragon.

Keeping pace with Owen wasn't a problem, and honestly, it was good to stretch my wings. With nothing else to focus on until he landed, I took in the scenery below. The forest was one of the more Earth-like areas I could see.
To my left was an ocean of lava, which by itself wasn't that strange. Enormous creatures breached the surface and splashed down like the most terrifying whales in existence. Yeah, well, that was new for me. I was too far away to make out details, but I was sure I wouldn't want to see those beasts up close. They did not seem crow-friendly.

To my right was a land covered in swirling green mist. I couldn't see the ground, or much else, but I felt like there was something there... waiting. I watched it for several minutes and caught a couple glimpses of large masses floating in the air. For a moment, I saw a couple of them clearly. They were floating islands, each one of them as large as a mountain. There were people sized dots flying in the air around a large castle on one. That was all I saw before the mist closed in again.

I decided there wasn't anything to fear from a people doing their best to stay hidden, so I turned my gaze back to the hypnotic sway of Owen's tail as he soared through the air. If I paid too much attention to the strange land around me, the crow inside might fly off in search of something shiny. While I was always myself in any form, my impulse control was a little fuzzier when I wore feathers. That sort of thing could easily get me killed in Faerie.

After what felt like hours, the land below turned into rolling green hills and Owen began to descend. I tucked my wings in close, rocketing down to a spot just under his belly before popping my wings out like a parachute. I wanted to get the necklace as soon as he shifted back to a man.

At least that was the plan, un
til something flew out of nowhere and wrapped around the both of us. I slammed into his scaly underside and lost consciousness.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Men's voices surrounded me.

"I didn't mean to injure the crow. I didn't see it," said one of them, his voice throaty and hoarse. "What kind of bird flies that close to a dragon, anyway?"

"She won't be happy with you if it dies," replied another, his voice gruff. "She'll eat you whole."

"It would be an honor to be devoured by The Goddess Of Battle," said Throaty.

I let my eyes crack open. I wasn't sure I wanted them to know I was awake. They seemed concerned about my well-being, but they'd also done whatever it was that pulled Owen and I out of the air. There were only the two of them nearby, though their constant chatter made it sound like more.

"I saw the crow," said Gruff, ignoring Throaty. "You should have let me operate the net."

"You didn't see it until the net was already away," said Throaty with a growl. "What good did that do? It's not like I could steer it once it was in the air. And anyway, I did what I needed to do. I got the dragon, and he was wearing the necklace."

Necklace? Dragon?
My dragon? I mean my Owen—Owen. They have Owen.
These guys knew about the necklace. This was where the necklace had lured him.

We'd arrived.

Of course, the landing had been rough. I hadn't seen any net. It must have been magic. It wounded my pride to be caught by a couple of nattering idiots. I consoled myself with the fact that they probably hadn't worked the magic themselves. Even an idiot could buy good magic and do a lot of damage. That's why I had a job retrieving dangerous magical objects. While they kept chattering at one another I risked opening my eyes all the way.

Thick, unruly beards smothered their faces, obscuring their features. Black feathers were neatly knotted in their long hair. Crow feathers. As the rest of their conversation filtered through my foggy brain, I put together that these fools worshiped The Morrigan. Not a people I'd ever planned to meet. In fact, getting out of there before introductions became necessary sounded like the best possible plan. I had to find Owen and the necklace and get the hell out. I pulled myself unsteadily to my feet, balancing with my outstretched wings. The only thing I had going for me was that they thought I was an ordinary crow, so I wasn't about to shift in front of them. Besides, who knew if these two had buddies.

Throaty let out a shout of joy. Apparently he wasn't as keen on becoming a meal for The Goddess of Battle as he let on. Good for him.
Live another day, buddy. Hopefully far, far away from me...

No sign of Owen. Best to check myself over before I went flying in search of him, so I preened my feathers and took inventory. Nothing seemed broken. A few feathers were bent and a couple more missing. I was pretty sure I recognized a couple of the ones stuck in Gruff's hair. He'd pay for plucking those one day.

Once certain I was in flying order, I studied my surroundings. I was inside a round, stone room. There were several large windows open to the outside, exposing only sky from my position on the floor. Along the walls were rows of boxes filled with straw. The beams above were covered in bird shit. I was in a roost. Judging by the rounded stone walls, it was in a turret in a freaking castle.

Throaty and Gruff stared at me with goofy grins on their faces. Throaty mimed flapping wings with his arms.
What. Goofballs.
I'd had enough of them. If I flew off, maybe they'd leave and give me a moment's peace to do some thinking. I cawed at them, hoping it sounded like "Fuck off," and flew out the window. I don't know if it was my vocalization, or something about my movements, but Gruff and Throaty looked offended.

Good.

I glided on the wind currents outside the window, observing the castle below me. Much like the one I'd seen in the rich neighborhood in Volarus, this one looked like it had been pulled right out of medieval Europe. Something about this one seemed more authentic though. It was hard to define. After floating around for a while to absorb the layout, it hit me. The place felt old in a way that couldn't be faked. This place really was hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. I could feel its age pressing down on me like a weight. No, that wasn't the age. That was
magic
. It was so thick it felt like a blanket. This place had been bathed in magic, even more so than the other parts of Faerie I'd seen. Strangely, there didn't appear to be any glamour. The magic floated in the air, wild and untamed.

I landed back in the roost and was glad to see that Tweedledee and Tweedledum were gone. They'd left a bowl of raw meat for me, apparently aware I'd come back.
Ugh
. I'd eat it if I had to, but Siobhan's dinner was still holding me over for now. The rest of the castle had windows that closed, so it was time to explore it from the inside.

When I noticed the wand lying on the table, I let out a sigh of relief. Or the crow version of one anyway. The dopey clansmen must have brought it with me. Those two couldn't be the brains of the operation, not if they couldn't tell a magic wa
nd from a stick a crow might tote around.

I grabbed it in my talons and flew down the twisting stairs. It was a tight fit, and I was glad when I came out in a wide room with a tall ceiling. It looked like it may have been a library a thousand years ago. The remnants of shelving were crumbled into piles at the base of the walls.

The outside surveillance work I'd done gave me an idea of the layout. The area I was most eager to explore was separated from the main body of the castle by a long hallway and didn't have any windows. I was betting on it being a jail.

I searched through unused room after unused room until I swooped into a space lit by torches. Seriously, real pitch torches. It made the air reek, but the ambience couldn't be beat. Several dozen men gathered at heavy wooden tables, stuffing their faces with meats I couldn't easily identify. The savory aroma was almost covered by the tangy smell of dark beer sloshed in glasses and spilled down beards. Every man in the room could have been described the same way as Throaty and Gruff, with only slight variations in build and hair color. Dozens of weapons lined racks along the walls, crude pieces of metal with leather wrapped around their handles. While they weren't anything to write home about, they'd still rip you open and introduce you to your own guts. I was very glad I hadn't shifted back to my human form.

A few gazes turned my way, but for the most part I was ignored. Crows flying around the dining hall must have been a common occurrence, as evidenced again by the bird droppings on the wooden beams. Gross. I made mental note of the room's location in case I needed to search for edible food later and continued on my quest toward the jail.

A few rooms later I found the hallway I'd seen from the sky. The ends of the hall were capped with metal bars too close together for a human or dragon to squeeze through, but were easily navigated by a crow.

Judging the layouts of buildings was a big part of breaking into them. Retrieving items for MOD was all about the smooth break-in. Never let it be said that I didn't know my job inside and out. The windowless room was definitely the jail.

When I squeezed through the bars at the far end, I looked up at the face of a guard clutching a crude sword.

"Hello there, little crow. I think you're lost. Nothing in here for you." He pulled a lever that raised the metal bars into a narrow gap in the ceiling. He made a shooing motion. "Out you go."

I ignored him and flew down the hall.

"Suit yourself," said the guard. "Just don't peck out the eyes of the prisoners when you get hungry. We need them whole."

Well, at least there was that. They weren't into beating on their prisoners. That's when I realized this had turned into a rescue mission in my mind. I couldn't just take the necklace and leave Owen twisting in the wind. He had helped me with the necklace for selfish reasons, apparently to steal it from me, but he'd still helped me. I at least owed him one small jailbreak.

A couple of turns later I came upon my first row of cells, all empty. At the end of the hall were a set of stairs. The next floor was empty as well. I thought the third floor was empty too, but a grunt sounded from what I'd mistaken for a pile of rags. I cawed until the shape stirred and peered out at me. Dirty and gaunt, like he'd been there for a long time, the necklace around his neck glinted torchlight as if it was freshly polished. Magic. It was nearly identical to the one that ensnared me, the one I was hunting the jail for. Once I found Owen, we would have to come back for this man.
This dragon
, I noted. The crow in me registered it upon meeting his gaze when my human form might not have. I couldn't sense his magic. He only regarded me for a moment before slumping back onto his straw pallet, the small effort exhausting him.
I was horrible at guessing the ages of other fae, but this dragon felt old. I hoped he hadn't been in that cell for as long as I suspected.