Stolen Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress Book 3) (7 page)

“Ready to volunteer again?”

“Born ready.” She waggled her eyebrows.

I laughed at the awful joke, punch-drunk from exhaustion. I’d been in how many fights or run-for-my-life situations today? I was going to need to sleep for a week when this was over.

“So what do you need?” Del asked as she sat in the chair by the window.

The memory of our task sent Dr. Garriso’s face into my mind’s eye. Worry followed. I paced in tight little lines as I told her about the investigators and the portal. “So I need you to take me through. Tonight. The Magica are too slow. We can’t leave Dr. Garriso there for another day.”

“Agreed. Shall we get Nix?”

“Yes. More help, the better.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Del stood. “Lead the way.”

“Thanks.” I’d never doubted she would do it. “Now we need a plan to get past the Magica.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Getting past the Magica turned out to be easier than I’d expected. Connor had just enough ingredients left to make invisibility potion for the four of us, and Del transported us straight to the portal entrance. It was a short distance from Factory Row, so it wasn’t a big drain on her transportation magic. She’d still be able to get us through the portal and back out, thank magic. I really hadn’t wanted to sneak through the museum again.
 

Once had been enough for me, thanks.

When we appeared in front of the portal, all of my muscles tensed. The two guards leaned against the wall, their gazes on the portal, and one of the Magica investigators stood by the entrance, a phone pressed to his ear.

The air felt strange, as if it were thicker. I shook it off. Probably getting paranoid. Being invisible wasn’t as fun as I’d expected.

None of them looked our way. My shoulders relaxed slightly. Thank magic for Connor’s skill with a cauldron. I turned back to Del. The portal glowed purple on her face as she reached out to touch it. Her hand stopped just before passing through.

Still closed.

She nodded and reached out for our hands. I clasped hers and Nix gripped her other. Aidan’s hand folded around mine. A second later, I felt the familiar pull of the ether.

Within the space of a breath, we appeared on the other side. The air was hot and humid, then dry and cold, flashing back and forth. We stood in a desert, golden sand stretching out around us. Then the vision wavered.
 

Suddenly, we were standing in a jungle, green foliage spread out around us and animals screeched in the distance. Enormous leaves rustled overhead and the jungle air felt like hot soup. The ground was spongy beneath my feet. But none of it looked quite solid or real. At times I thought I heard laughter or voices, as if there were people nearby. Then it was gone.
 

A second later, we were standing in an abandoned city. Cold wind whipped through the empty streets. Skyscrapers soared toward a sunless sky, and eerie quiet descended. Paper blew across the street in front of us, and an old brown sedan sat forsaken. It looked like a movie about the apocalypse.

But worse, the feel of dark magic washed over me, a horrible prickly sensation. My stomach turned.

“The Monster,” I whispered.

Del’s hand tightened in mine. “I feel it.”

“This is his place,” Nix said as the scenery around us wavered, turning back to desert and then to an icy hellscape. The snow glittered white under the light of a non-existent sun.
 

Where the hell was the light even coming from?

“What is it?” Aidan asked.

“I have no idea.” I shuddered, the cold streaking through me. “It’s not real and it’s not anywhere on Earth. This magic is too strange. Too strong.”

“I think it’s a waypoint between Earth and the heavens and hells,” Del said. “I’ve read about these places. Nothing is stable or solid.”

“Oh, great. So we’re not on Earth.” That had never been on my travel itinerary before. For good reason. “Let’s find Dr. Garriso and get the hell out of here.”

My skin still prickled with unease, an undeniable sense that the Monster was near. Whispers teased at my ears, snippets of conversation I couldn’t quite grasp. As if there were people in a room just next door.

I tried to force my heartbeat to calm and closed my eyes, focusing on Dr. Garriso. I called forth my dragon sense to find him, filling my mind with images of his face and everything I held dear about him.
 

His support, his conversation, his knowledge.

The familiar sense of direction tugged at my middle, pulling me left. Relief filled me, a balm that drove away some of the horrible prickly feeling of this place. I wouldn’t be able to find him if he weren’t alive.

I pointed. “That way.”

My boots crunched in the ice as we set off. My leather jacket did me no good. My skin was so cold it almost burned.
 

“Fake Antarctica was not where I expected to end up,” Nix said.

We’d dragged Nix away from a Netflix marathon, but as always, she’d come willingly.

“That’s the truth.” Our surroundings wavered. I squinted, trying to make out what world we’d be walking into next.

Noise and heat crashed around me. Blazing sun beat down, nearly blinding. I blinked, desperately trying to regain my vision. We were in an enormous stadium.
 

No, a coliseum. People dressed in Roman togas screamed and waved their fists at the gladiators below. Dust billowed beneath the fighters’ feet as they danced around each other, swords clashing.

Did this waypoint take us between times as well as worlds?

Toga-clad people turned to point and shout at us.
 

“We need to get out of here,” Aidan said.
 

“Agreed,” Del said. “I don’t want to be burned as a witch for appearing out of the blue.”

I nodded vehemently, though I wasn’t sure if the Romans burned people as witches. It didn’t really matter, though. Anyone capable of appearing out of thin air probably looked dangerous and in need of serious questioning.
 

“Come on!” Aidan said, then turned and pushed his way through the crowd toward the nearby stairs. We followed him, single file, taking advantage of the path he’d created and sprinting down the stone steps.

More and more people turned to look at us instead of the battle below. Our clothes were so strange. Pants in ancient Rome? Talk about weird. I couldn’t sense any magic, which meant we were likely among mortals. A few mortals were no problem. But this many mortals?

A
big
problem. I didn’t want us getting caught in some sticky situation that necessitated Del transporting us out of here. She needed to save her power for the return journey to Magic’s Bend.
 

Heavily armed men blocked our exit at the bottom of the stairs, their swords raised and glinting in the light.
 

“No magic!” I hissed at my companions. “They’re human!”

I reached for my daggers, hesitating when the scene began to waver. The gladiators and sunlight disappeared, replaced by darkness, strobe lights, and pulsing music.
 

“What the hell!” Nix shouted from beside me.

All around us, hundreds of bodies danced to the techno music that blared from enormous speakers set upon a raised stage. Rainbow-colored strobe lights lit the scene. Magic flowed from the inhabitants, a cacophonous blend of scents, tastes, feelings.

We were in some kind of supernatural dance club, likely in an all-magic city somewhere in Europe.

“I take it back!” Nix said. “I think I prefer fake Antarctica!”

So did I. It was damned hard to follow my dragon sense with so much going on around me. I had to close my eyes to focus on it. But it was elusive, the feel of Dr. Garriso’s location only a weak tug about my middle. Left? Forward?
 

Finally, I picked up the thread of it and followed the tug, turning around and pointing toward the main part of the club. The dance floor was huge, an endless sea of supernaturals of all shapes and sizes. Even demons danced, their weird shapes and colors standing out amongst the more human-looking supernaturals.

“There!” I pointed. “The exit past the dance floor.”

I stepped aside to let Aidan lead, figuring his bulk was better to part the crowd. It worked, and we followed him through the writhing bodies. I slapped a hand that reached for my ass, but by the second one, I was pissed. That guy got a punch straight to the nose.

“Bitch!” he cried, then grunted.

I turned to see him doubled over and Nix shaking her fist.
 

“Moron!” she yelled, then turned and winked at me.
 

We pushed our way through the crowd to catch up to Aidan, who’d stopped in the middle of the crowd to wait for us. A trio of Barbie dolls had turned to stare appreciatively at him. They were approaching when I reached him. I hissed—honest to god,
hissed
—which was really embarrassing, but they backed off.

Apparently I was territorial around Aidan. That was new for me, but now was hardly the time to examine it.

Actually,
never
was the time to examine it.

We set off through the crowd again, following in Aidan’s wake. The exit light beckoned. What city would we step out into?

The ground fell out from under me. A scream strangled in my throat as I clawed at the air. I crashed into icy cold saltwater. It blinded me, filling my mouth and cutting off my scream. I kicked for the surface, praying it was near.

When my head broke through, I searched for Aidan and my
deirfiúr
. Nix broke the surface first, followed by Aidan, and finally Del.

“What the hell!” Del sputtered.

I choked on salt water as I spun in a circle, searching for land. Great cliffs soared in the distance, red stone dully reflecting the light of a sun I couldn’t see.

“Hang on,” Nix said. She raised her hands above the water. Blue light glowed around them, and her brow scrunched in concentration. A moment later, a small rowboat appeared.

Thank magic for her ability to conjure.

We swam for the boat, scrambling in and collapsing against the sides. I panted, exhausted, my eyes burning from the seawater. Everyone looked like drowned rats, their hair plastered to their heads. I looked no better, I was sure.

“Damn, this sucks,” I said.

“I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting the ocean,” Aidan said.

“Does this mean there could be lava?” Nix asked.

“For magic’s sake, I hope not.” I focused on my dragon sense again, grateful to find that it pulled us towards land. “Dr. Garriso is on that piece of land.”

 
“Thank God he’s not in the water,” Nix said. “I can’t imagine he’s a strong swimmer.”

 
“You’d be surprised,” I said. “Dr. Garriso looks fragile, but he’s tough.”

Nix conjured two oars and passed them over to Aidan. “Here you go, big guy. Put those muscles to use. Assuming we don’t end up in a volcano with the next world shift, I’ll take over in a bit.”

Aidan nodded and took the oars, then slotted them into the oarlocks and began to row. Waves crashed against the boat, sending us rocking. Cold water splashed. I shivered and huddled deeper into my now-soaked jacket. I debated using magic to dry myself, but decided to save it.

“Only a few hundred more yards!” Del called from her place at the bow. Land beckoned.
 

The water around us turned to sand.

The boat stopped dead.

Dry heat filled my lungs.

Desert again.

“At least our clothes will dry quick,” Nix said.

We climbed out of the boat and set off, used to the crazy changes by now.

“How far did Dr. Garriso go?” As soon as I asked the question, I caught sight of a collapsed figure a hundred yards away. The dark clothes stood out starkly against the golden sand.

My heart pounded. I ran ahead, pushing myself as the sand dragged at my boots. It was Dr. Garriso. It had to be. When I neared, I could make out his white hair and tweed coat.

The tightness in my chest loosened. He was going to be all right.

Suddenly, stone walls crashed down around me, cutting out the light. A torch crackled in its wall sconce, throwing a small amount of light into the room. I stumbled on the stone ground that was suddenly beneath my feet. Dr. Garriso lay ahead, but when I whirled, all I saw were stone walls. Not even a door.

Nix, Del, and Aidan were gone.

And I was in a cell.
 

My heart beat frantically, and sweat broke out on my skin. “What the hell.”

Dr. Garriso didn’t answer. I fell to my knees beside him, wincing at the hard stone.

Gently, I shook his shoulder. “Dr. Garriso. Wake up. We have to get out of here.”
 

How, I had no idea.

Dr. Garriso’s face was slack, his breathing slow. Passed out. Or magically subdued? I couldn’t tell which.

Panic beat its fists against my ribs as I climbed to my feet and went to a wall. I pounded against the stone. All it did was make my hands sore.

I swallowed hard, shaking. This wasn’t like the rest of the world changes. It felt more deliberate.