Magic Nights (3 page)

“San Francisco offers many supernatural wonders,” replied Sera. “Dinosaurs are not one of them.”

“Hadley tried to make me spot for her while she lifted baby elephants.”

“Oh? And how did that go?”

“It didn’t go. And then she scoffed at me when I suggested yoga instead. Apparently, flexibility is ‘overrated’.”

“I wonder if she uses that excuse on her lovers,” said Sera.

Naomi’s magic swirled with merriment.

“Oh.” Sera gaped at her friend. “You didn’t actually say that to her, did you?”

“Something of the sort.”

“And how did she react?”

Naomi shrugged. “As expected. All I have to say is it’s a good thing she’s not immune to Fairy Dust.”

Wow. “Maybe I can move up my appointment with Simmons,” Sera told her. “You’re getting into all sorts of trouble without me.”

“Yes, do that.” Naomi grinned. “It’s much more fun to get into trouble
with
you.”

“Indeed,” said Sera. “And speaking of trouble, how was your family weekend?”

Naomi turned a tad green—and it wasn’t because of her shape-changing magic.

“That bad?” Sera asked her. “Was your mom complaining about your job again?”

“Of course. She always does that. I just ignore her.” Naomi’s words were calm, but her magic was bucking like an enraged bull.

“What happened?”

Naomi went from green to snow white.

“Naomi?”

“She tried to set me up with someone.” The words scraped out with strained patience. “The owner of a magical herbs store in the city. My mom invited him to Fairy Island for the weekend. She sat him next to me at every meal. And for two days, she was not-so-subtlely leaving us alone together. ‘Oh, Naomi, could you and Cloud cut the vegetables?’ ‘It would be great if you and Cloud could collect some firewood.’ Blah, blah, blah. For two whole days.”

“His name is Cloud?” Sera asked, trying hard to keep a straight face.

Naomi sighed. “Yes. He comes from another commune down the coast. He says it’s a lot like Fairy Island. Pacifist living, natural foods, drugs.”

“Sounds peaceful.”

“It is in small doses, but after a while it gets really boring,” Naomi told her. “Cloud is also half-fairy, half-mage. Of course my mom approves. She thinks I’d become more normal if I ‘mated’ with him.”

“Her exact words?”

“Verbatim.”

“How did you like Cloud?”

“Bah. Don’t get me wrong. He’s a nice guy, and his body is…” A dreamy smile slid across her lips. “…well, nice too.”

“But?”

“But he’s
always
stoned.”

Sera snorted.

“He’s so drenched in Fairy Lily that every time he comes within three feet of me, I practically get a buzz off of his scent.”

Fairy Lily was one of the more potent magical drugs out there. It was a favorite of mages and fairies—especially the young and privileged generation of San Francisco’s elite magic dynasties. Not only did it get them high; it gave them a temporary magic boost. Which led to them doing really stupid things. Like attacking random people on the street. Or deciding it would be a splendid idea to take over the city. Sera had fought enough magic-drunk supernaturals high on substances like Fairy Lily to hate the stuff with a passion.

“Is he smoking the drugs or selling them?” she asked Naomi.

“Both.”

“Well, at least he lives in the city. You won’t even have to move after the wedding,” Sera said, smirking at her.

“Cute, Sera. Real cute.” She heaved a frustrated sigh. “Why can’t I ever meet someone exciting?” She turned to Sera, looking at her with hopeful eyes. “Does Kai by any chance have a brother?”

Sera thought back to her conversation with Kai in the restaurant. Naomi must not have heard him talk about his sister who died. It was just as well. Kai was a very private person. He didn’t let just anyone see beyond his hard and unyielding dragon exterior. But he had let Sera in. That meant something. He trusted her.

“No,” Sera said, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. “He doesn’t have a brother.”

“Shame,” said Naomi. “Cousin?”

“He has a lot of cousins, but I’ve only ever met one of them. And he tried to overthrow the Magic Council and take over San Francisco with his army of zombie mages. I suppose that qualifies as ‘exciting’.”

Naomi shook her head. “Nah, a bit too crazy for my taste.” She stopped and pointed at the large house across the street. “We’re here. The Castle.”

With its white walls and tall turrets, the building was certainly more like a castle than a house. Little was left of the former battery. When the supernaturals had moved into the Presidio, the family who owned the plot had made massive renovations. Not long after the builders had finished, the owners had all died in a bizarre accident. The next owners hadn’t survived the year. Neither had any of the owners who followed. Before long, people had decided the place was cursed. Nowadays, only ghosts would wander anywhere near the house—or linger long on Haunted Loop. Whatever had killed the mages obviously didn’t have an appetite for the Otherworldly.

And yet there was a band of delinquent vampires hiding inside the Castle now. They were either brave or mad. Probably both. From the looks of the top-of-the-line security system protecting the grounds, they weren’t short on cash or competence either. Money, madness, bravery, and skill. Add to that an impenetrable fortress and at least two dozen vampires—and those were just the ones that Sera could sense. She couldn’t sense the boy Naomi was looking for, but the castle was enormous—and there were larger sections made with iron, which bounced magic like an echo chamber. This would be…interesting.

“Where’s a dragon when you need one?” she muttered.

You called?

I was talking about Kai,
she told the dragon inside of her.
But do you think you can help here?

Does making sarcastic comments help?

No.

Then, no.

If we combine our magic, we might be able to blast a big hole in the side of the building,
her dragon told her.

Let’s just call that Plan B.

Fantastic. I’ll warm up a fire spell.

Sera didn’t comment on her dragon’s confidence that Plan A would fail. She was too busy trying to think up a Plan A.

“Do you have any ideas on how we can get inside?” she asked Naomi.

“No. I was hoping you had an idea.”

“Hmm.”

Naomi gave her an encouraging smile. “You always have ideas.”

“My ideas generally involve pulling out my sword. Somehow, I doubt that will help us here.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “We could wait until dawn.”

Demonic vampires were sensitive to sunlight. It didn’t kill them right away, but it did weaken them enough to allow others to more easily kill them with other means. Like swords.

“We can’t wait,” Naomi said. “Sooner or later, the vampires will notice that their comrade Claudine hasn’t checked back in, and they’ll figure out something is wrong. We need to attack before they’re on full alert.”

Sera pulled Naomi behind a bush with her as a vampire guard came around the side of the house. “They’re already pretty alert. Sneaking inside the Castle will be tricky. If we alert the vampires to our presence, they might kill the kidnapped boy.” She stole a glance at the vampire guard, who was decked out in enough leather and steel to make a hardcore biker get really, really excited. “If he isn’t dead already.”

“Jacob is alive. From what I could figure out, the vampires are holding him for someone else.”

“That’s an awful lot of vampires to guard one boy,” Sera commented. “Why do they want him? What’s special about him?”

“All I know is he’s a fairy-mage hybrid. And he’s only seven years old.” Her blue eyes shook. “We have to save him.”

“I might have an idea,” Sera said as a ghost passed through the gate.

The vampire was no longer in sight, so she rose out of her crouch and followed the weeping ghost. He let out a few gurgled sniffles as he floated in stuttered sways down the sidewalk.

“Hello,” she said.

The ghost kept moving, but his head twisted around backwards to scowl at her. “What do you want?”

“Are you all right?” she asked, giving him a cheery smile.

The ghost was not impressed. “Are you with
them
?” He sank enough venom into the last word to kill a woolly mammoth.

“The vampires?” she guessed. “No, most certainly not.”

He stopped, hovering in place as he looked her up and down. His gaze lingered on her sword. “You’re here to make trouble for them, I hope.”

“Yes.”

“Good.” A brief smile touched his lips—then was swallowed by a wave of pure melancholy. His magic was wobbling like a leaky rowboat in a thunder storm. “Those…
beasts
chased me away. Away from my friend. My only friend.”

Jacob most likely. Ghosts often made friends with children. Many Otherworldly couldn’t stand adults, but they adored children. So they made themselves selectively invisible: kids could see them but not adults. That’s where the ‘imaginary friend’ term had come from. Parents didn’t realize their children actually were talking to someone real—albeit a ghost.

“Where is your friend?” Sera asked the ghost.

“Inside.” He waved toward the Castle.

“Which room?”

“Who are you talking to?” Naomi asked, coming up behind Sera.

“A ghost.”

Naomi turned, scanning the area. “I don’t see a ghost.”

“He’s right there,” Sera told her, pointing at the ghost, who was trying to hold his breath. She refrained from reminding him that he didn’t have breath anymore.

“How can you see me?” He sucked in his cheeks, holding his non-existent breath until his head faded slightly. “I am invisible!”

Sera smiled at him. “I can see you.”

He parried her smile with a frown. “This has never happened before. I pride myself on my invisibility.” His hand faded out, then reappeared.
 

“You’re doing very well.”

“Don’t patronize me, girl. I’ve been turning myself invisible since long before you were born.”

Considering the modern look of his clothes, she very much doubted that. For once, though, she held her tongue.

“I’m a Magic Breaker and a Sniffer,” she told the ghost. “I can feel magic and break through it. I see things others don’t.”

“I once knew someone like that, long ago.”

“Oh?”

She couldn’t help but wonder if he meant a Dragon Born mage, one just like her. Could there be more in the world? Or was he actually older than his clothes suggested? She didn’t dare ask with Naomi listening. Death was the sentence for being Dragon Born—an abomination of magic, according to the Magic Council—and Sera happened to be pretty fond of living.

“Yes,” said the ghost. “She…was it a she?” He scratched his head. “I can’t quite remember. It was a long time ago. Back in my other life.”

Back before he’d become a ghost, he meant. Most ghosts remembered only pieces from the time before their death. Sera wished she could pump him for everything he might know about the Dragon Born, but his unreliable memory would make that basically impossible. Besides, right now she had a young boy to save.

“Tell me about your friend,” she asked him.

The ghost nodded happily. “He is a rare child. Such a marvelous imagination. Such heart. His magic is simply beautiful. He’s the best friend I’ve ever had. And then they took him.” His happiness crashed down, crunching beneath his anger. “Those dirty vampires stole him from his home.”

“You followed them here?”

“Yes. I couldn’t let him disappear. Not like the others.”

“What others?” Naomi asked. The ghost was so upset that he’d gone visible.

He shook his head, trying to rattle a memory free. It seemed ghosts didn’t have very good memories of their years after death either. Or this one was just being obstinate.

“What’s your name?” Sera asked him.

“Yarran.”

“Ok, Yarran. I’m Sera, and this is Naomi. And we’re here to save your friend.”

Hope flickered in the ghost’s eyes. It lasted only a moment before suspicion drowned it out.

Sera tried again. “His parents hired us to save him from the vampires. Is there a way into the house that’s not guarded?” The ghost must have been all around the grounds and inside.

“No, the entrances are all guarded,” he said. “Those dirty vampires don’t let anyone pass. The only way in is to be invisible.”

“Like you?”

He shot her a smug smile. “Yes.”

“Can you make us invisible too?” Sera asked.

“Of course.” He turned up his nose at them. “But why would I?”

“Because we are going to save your friend,” Naomi said, her facade of patience beginning to crack.

The ghost folded his arms across his chest and replied cooly, “How do I know I can trust you?”

“For a non-corporeal being, he sure is thick,” Naomi muttered to Sera.

Sera kept her eyes on Yarran. “I understand if it’s too difficult for you to make us invisible. It takes some powerful magic to mask two people both visually and magically.” She sighed. “Such a feat is probably impossible for you.”

“Impossible?” the ghost repeated, indignant. He stiffened as much as someone without a physical body possibly could. “I am an old and powerful ghost. Of course I can do all that and more. And I’ll prove it to you.” He looped once around her and Naomi. The magic in the air shifted and swirled, smothering them in Otherworldly power.

Sera looked at Naomi. “We’re good.”

“I don’t feel invisible.”

“We are. Our magic signature is pretty low right now too. The vampires won’t see or feel us coming.” Probably. Demonic vampires didn’t sense magic like some mages could, but their demon part hungered for it. They could taste a hint of it in the air. Hopefully, their magic was masked enough to pass by unseen. It’s not like they had much of a choice anyway. They had to get into the building, and this ghost was their best bet.

“Follow me,” Yarran called out to them as he glided along the fence.

They hurried to catch up, dampening their steps as best they could. Their bodies might have been invisible, but they were still solid. They couldn’t pass through walls or fences. And their feet still touched the ground. Sera only hoped their steps weren’t thumping as loudly as an earthquake to the vampires’ enhanced senses.