Magic and Mayhem: How To Date A Dragon (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Baba Yaga Saga Book 2) (8 page)

Carol didn’t look back at the dragon as she headed to the dorm. Her headache was gone and her mind was clear. The sense of dread she felt fluttering in her stomach was probably an equally bad omen, but she would deal with it later.

Hildy had upset the dragon. She, on the other hand, with her outright “no” had most likely made a lifelong enemy.

Wondering where her usual bossiness had gone, she stopped obediently behind Nathaniel when her head warlock stopped in the middle of the woods. They were still on the Witchery U grounds, but the school’s buildings were out of sight.

“We need only a bit of privacy to cast the containment circle. This will do,” Nathaniel said.

Listening to him chant, Jezibaba watched as her most trusted warlock gathered and built several towers of stones until he’d created a small altar to honor the earth. On top of the tallest stack of the cairn, Nathaniel placed a tree agate stone which was unpolished and still in its raw state. The stone alone was nothing important but something activated when Nathaniel put it on the top of the tallest stone tower. Now the power of the tree agate called to her. Her fingers itched to hold the stone in her hand, which was an extremely odd reaction for her. All she could think was that part of her essence was in it… a thought which made no sense whatsoever. She’d never seen the stone until today even though Nathaniel had said he’d kept it in the pocket of his cloak.

Jezibaba studied her longest-lived advisor and wondered what else she didn’t know about him. Nathaniel’s two predecessors hadn’t even been memorable to her. She knew she would mourn this particular warlock’s passing. The emotional turmoil she saw coming was almost enough reason to hate him. And lately she’d had the oddest urges to take care of him the way humans did their aging parents.

“Are you sure about this, Nathaniel? A powerful mage could offer you many things to make your life better. Goddess knows, you’ve had little ease during your service to me.”

Jezibaba swallowed when Nathaniel raised his head. His gaze was as direct as Morgana’s at times. The way he was looking now nearly unnerved her… not that she’d ever let him know that.

“Not long after saving the mage, I found the only other thing I ever cared about in this life, M’lady. My wife died having our son, and I later lost him too. My magic was why the Goddess refused to take my life when I begged. I gladly accepted her suggestion that I serve you because I was sure death would find me quickly. Surviving this long is the only disappointment I’ve had with you.”

Jezibaba snorted. “You have served me and Morgana well, Nathaniel. But that’s not an answer that explains your lack of self-preservation.”

“Yet it’s the only answer I have for you. One day your heart may understand those things no words can convey. Are you ready for me to call him? Zenos will not be pleasant, but that fact will not change with any amount of hesitation.”

Jezibaba nodded. “I am as ready as I can make myself. I will not allow the mage to harm you. Know that when you proceed.”

“My personal safety is the least of my concerns. Death would be welcome at my age.”

“When the children are no longer children, then you can die, Nathaniel. Not one minute before, do you hear me? Carol and Hildy are not ready yet. You’re not getting out of helping me finish this torture.”

His quiet snicker lifted the corner of her mouth. Goddess, they both had nearly lost their sense of humor in the last eight years. Life had been so much easier when all they did was track down magical bad guys for a living.

Raising magical children? They had proved she was not cut out for motherhood.

Nathaniel took a long stick and drew a wide casting circle round the cairn. It was wide enough to let a large human land within it. He marked the four corners of the circle with direction symbols then handed her the limb when he was finished with his casting.

Eyebrows up at his absentmindedness, and his audacity, Jezibaba tossed the limb aside as Nathaniel started a second chant. Latin of course. Warlocks preferred the tongue of the would be conquerors of the English. The ultimate joke though was on the Roman warmongers. Only their language lived on… and it only fell from the tongues of human priests and ancient warlocks. No right-minded person gave it a thought.

“Dico autem spiritu

ut honoris causam mea.

Venit Zenos. Veni ad me.

Ego pracipio tibi.”

Jezibaba let out her breath the moment she realized she had been holding it. Nathaniel had called to Zenos and mentioned honor twice. She bit her lip when she noted Nathaniel stood just outside the circle.

He offered up the chant seven more times before the winds finally answered him. They whipped around and around until the circle began to glow and move with a small tornado in the center of it.

A larger male, even larger than Damien, appeared inside the rushing wind. The man chanted something himself until the tornado receded enough for him to finish materializing. His bow was habitual. It figured Zenos would be as old school as Nathaniel was. But the smirk twisting his mouth betrayed his true character.

His hair was flame colored, and at the moment, so was his face. The handsome mage was obviously not pleased to find himself constrained by Nathaniel’s magic. And this was why she’d never given anyone a promise of power over her.

Zenos had absolutely nothing he could fight with in this circumstance. The mage would either concede with an honest heart to Nathaniel’s request… or the winds would carry off his soul to whatever god or goddess owned the promise locked in the tree agate.

She watched the legendary mage study his hands, his body, and the circle drawn crudely on the ground. When his gaze lifted, it went immediately to Nathaniel. She doubted he even saw her.

“Ya saved me when we met, Druid, but I always knew ya would call me back for my death one day. It is the way of things to come full circle, but damn ya for doing so right now. Ya should have seen the two lasses ya pulled me away from. I’d had my sights on them for weeks. Yer a cock blocker… yer are. It’s been a long time, Nathaniel… and I wish it had been longer.”

Jezibaba narrowed her eyes. Zenos was not at all what she’d expected him to be. He had yet to set off a single one of her inner alarms. Hell, Damien could do it when he frowned at her. She checked inside herself and found no worry at all. Great. Now her instincts were broken—one more failing thing in her arsenal.

The mage squinted his eyes as he walked to the absolute edge of the circle going toe to toe with her warlock. Nathaniel stood directly in front of him now, unmoving and seemingly unaffected by Zenos’s powerful presence.

Behind Nathaniel, Jezibaba stiffened instinctively, waiting for the real show to begin. She didn’t have to wait long.

“Ya look like shriveled up troll shite, Nathaniel. Are ya on the edge of death and expecting me to drag yer ugly arse back from it?” Zenos demanded. “Well, I won’t do it, boy. I won’t. Trust me, ya don’t want the torment that comes from too long a life.”

When Nathaniel pushed back his cowl and dropped it, Jezibaba winced and had to will herself not to look away. Her lead warlock had been covering his face with the hood of his cloak for the last thirty years. Nathaniel was mortal, and had lived long even for a magical. Now she knew he’d been doing everyone a favor by hiding his face.

“I know precisely the damage time has done to me, but I did not call you to learn your secrets about remaining young. What I want is for you to honor your favor to me by training two young witches to work with their innate magic. You must agree to my request before I will release you from the honoris circle you allowed between us.”

“And what if I don’t agree to train them, boy? Do ya think to kill me with my own magic after all these years? Ya missed yer chance long ago if that’s the case.”

Nathaniel shook his head. “No. It rather pleases me to see you well because saving you is something I’m proud of having done in my life. But I will not hesitate to leave your fate in the hands of those on whom you swore when you gifted me the stone, Zenos. So I need your word that you will do as I ask.”

Zenos snorted. “It figures ya would be the one to hold me to my single moment of weakness. Ya know how I felt about what ya did then and I guess I haven’t changed my bloody mind about it. So who are these fecking witches I’m to fecking train? Are they the pathetic offspring of the female cowering behind yer foolish ass?”

“No,” Jezibaba said, stepping to Nathaniel’s side. “And I’m not cowering. I was waiting patiently, which isn’t one of my better traits, so you’d best mind your tongue around me, Mage. The two young witches have been chosen by the Goddess Morgana to eventually replace me in my service to her. They are not your average magicals. They require a unique teacher.”

“
Morgana?
They belong to
Morgana
? I wouldn’t spit on her if she was on fire. That Goddess steals and lies.”

She and Nathaniel both flinched as the Mage turned his head and spat in the dirt beside him. They knew he risked death by violating a sacred circle. If not Morgana, what deity did the mage use to swear on the stone? Nathaniel said Zenos hated all the gods and goddesses.

“Carol and Hildy just recently dedicated themselves to following her. To teach them, you will have to accept the one they serve… at least enough not to lead them astray.”

After at least thirty seconds of silence while he considered her order, Zenos grunted. She wanted to laugh, but didn’t think it was a good idea, at least until he was locked into an agreement with them.

“Yer giving my instincts a real workout. Do I know ya, witch? Ya look very familiar. Have ya shared my bed in the last century or so? I think I would have remembered a wench with hair nearly the color of my own, but I can’t bring ya to mind.”

Jezibaba snorted. “No. We’ve never met… nor shared anything. You kept refusing to meet me in person.”

Zenos made a face and nodded sadly. “Well, ya look like someone I know.”

“Would that someone be the Jezibaba perhaps?” Jezibaba asked dryly, crossing her arms.

Zenos laughed. “No… not her. I know that crazy, egotistical witch chooses to serve Morgana The Red. Such a foolish woman. I tried to help her once, but she was too far gone by the time I heard about her. Damn shame.”

“Or she had too much pride to abandon the people she’d sworn to protect. Some people have real honor… and a lot more than can be stored in a small stone.”

“
Honor?
What does a hot tempered lass like ya know about honor? My honor is what landed me in this mess, didn’t it?” Zenos smacked his head. “Oh now I’m hearing the truth in yer tone. Can’t believe I’m listening to that same old song and dance about loyalty to the Goddess, as if Morgana wasn’t the manipulating bitch she is. Yer her favorite lackey in the flesh, aren’t ya?”

“Watch your tongue, Mage. I have killed men for far less disrespect to the Goddess.”

“My tongue is fine and yer mighty deity can kiss my ancient ass. Power is leaking out of ya worse than yer monthly menses. Haven’t ya been wondering why yer feeling so peckish lately? Why hasn’t the mighty Morgana fixed that?”

“Because nothing is wrong with me.”

“See? Another lying, foolish witch. An even more foolish woman for bedding a dragon when ya knew better. Now yer losing what was never yers to begin with and ya have no one to blame but yerself.”

“I sincerely doubt the circle will hold for the duration of your argument, M’lady, so could we cut this debate short? I would hate Zenos to die without delivering on his promise,” Nathaniel interjected. He turned to Zenos. “Will you swear to train Carol and Hildy, or do you choose to face the one who backed your promise?”

Zenos rubbed his beard and scratched his chin. “Why aren’t ya asking me to train all three of them witches?”

“Because there are only two—you stubborn old goat,” Jezibaba declared.

“See? Yer a foolish woman and a witch who believes lies. All lies. The very idea of getting involved with this shite churns my insides.”

“You’re stalling. I do not believe lies,” Jezibaba argued, stomping her foot. Her face flushed with embarrassment when she realized what she’d done.

Zenos lifted a hand. “Morgana lies to ya every day, but I learned long ago that I could not change the world. But I guess I can’t go back on my fecking word either. So fine… I will train yer Carol and Hildy witches. It’s best I not train the third anyway. She’s a devil in disguise, that one. Someone’s doing a bang up job warping her foolish head.”

Jezibaba turned to Nathaniel. “Is he mad? You didn’t say anything about him having a history of mental illness.”

Nathaniel shrugged. “He’s always been a bit eccentric… but his magic is as strong as ever.”

“But can he be trusted not to cause problems for Carol and Hildy?” Jezibaba asked.

Zenos’s laughter had their gazes swinging to him again. “I follow the old ways, lass. Ya bring enough trouble to yer own door with all the lies ya keep believing. I just don’t want to get tangled up in yer damn drama.”

“Done then,” Jezibaba promised, nodding tightly. “You don’t have to participate in our drama.”

“Unless it affects their magic… then you must do whatever necessary. You have given your word, Zenos. We will expect you in a week. For now, I release you from the circle. Our deal is concluded.
Constat Igitur
,” Nathaniel said roughly.

He held out a hand and the circle he’d drawn lifted from the ground. Dust moved upwards spiraling over the trapped mage’s head before settling back down.

Zenos’s laughter faded only as his presence faded from view. When the silence of nature fell in the woods again, Jezibaba turned her attention back to her warlock. Nathaniel was lying on the ground, passed out from the effort of closing down the powerful magic it had taken to call Zenos.

She stooped to place a hand on Nathaniel, intending to take him back to Witchery U to recover, then remembered the tree agate was still among the cairn. She rose swiftly and checked the sacred circle. When no magical residue reached out in rebellion, she knew it was safe enough for her to collect Nathaniel’s charm.