Wilder Mage (16 page)

He groaned, but gave in to her. Ego was the least of their problems right now. He couldn’t help but glance furtively at people on the streets as she powered up the cycle and pulled into traffic. In Macy’s present mood, Dayne figured he shouldn’t argue, but he couldn’t help but feel a prick to his masculinity. As they passed two gang kids, with their low-slung, sloppy trousers, one of the boys pointed at him and snickered something to the other. They laughed.

Dayne ignored them, but then he felt Macy gather her Air element and, as they passed the two kids, throw her energy into them in the form of a gale of wind. One kid tumbled, and the other lost the bag he was holding. Dayne laughed and snuggled closer to his savior, glad she was on his side.

“Stupid kids,” he heard her say.

She maneuvered into the space in front of their little house, and he felt her release her elements too soon. The motorcycle began to tip as she struggled with it. But with a swirl and rumble of Air and Earth, she righted it.

Macy followed him into their home and stood still by their sofa, absently fingering the maroon chenille throw. Dayne steeled himself for her blame and questions. Her words surprised him.

“Can she feel us now?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Dayne said.

Macy turned, and he was shocked when she slipped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest. He felt a tweak of remembered pain from Tiarra’s punishment.

“I am so sorry,” she said into his chest.

He nuzzled the top of her head and ignored the bruise to pull her even closer.

“I tried to resist her, but it was like I was in slow motion, everything surreal. I couldn’t stop.”

“I know, I know. Look, don’t beat yourself up over this. She has control over the element of Spirit, and when she says move, you can do nothing else.” He shivered, and she pulled away to look into his face. “I’ve been there, love, and there is nothing you can do.”

She snuggled close again, and his soft groan caught her attention. Macy pushed away. “Oh, oh, I’m sorry. Stupid me. Here I am apologizing, and...” Her face crumpled as she led him to an easy chair in the living room, one that was deeply cushioned. He didn’t try to hide the sound of relief as he sank into it, but his eyes were on Macy. She sat near him, his hand in hers, her face still creased with worry, and it made him smile.

Relief from physical pain was one thing. But it was nowhere near the relief he felt as she looked at him with love. She wasn’t going to leave him; she wasn’t blaming him. She loved him still.

His sigh mingled with a groan as his sore ribs popped. She made an anxious sound, but he shook his head. He smiled. “I’m recovering. Just gotta remember not to breathe is all.”

She smiled a little in return and her eyes grew warm.

Time to rip the Band-Aid off and get it over with,
he decided.

“You haven’t asked me about the other thing,” Dayne said quietly.

For a brief moment, Macy’s eyes were confused, but they cleared and she nodded. “Um, yes, that. Well, I suppose we should get that cleared up,” she said briskly. “I figured she sent Volker to nudge me into my full magic, so that wasn’t any revelation. And unless you tell me differently, I always assumed you weren’t a part of the plan. Or at least you didn’t know about that angle.”

She searched his face, nodded, and seemed happy with what she found there.

“No, love, I was privy to the guard detail only. Her subplots weren’t for my ears.” He thought for a moment, then breathed a soft laugh. “Just as well she kept her intentions to herself. I think I could have resisted your charm if I had only known…”

She laughed. “Oh, really, do you think?”

They laughed together, and the sound was a balm to his senses. He reached out and laid his hand on her cheek. She leaned into it and closed her eyes.

“Whatever her machinations, it doesn’t matter now. The result might be what she wanted, but it is mutual,” Dayne said.

Her eyes opened and Macy pulled herself closer, gently touching her mouth to his. “Very mutual,” she whispered against his lips.

She was careful not to press his chest, but his arms were insistent. With a squawk, she landed in his lap. It left his chest free of her weight, and he stroked the honey-blond hair from her face as he looked down at her. Her fingers traced his cheekbone and brow, and he started to lean down to kiss her again, but the sudden faraway expression on her face stopped him.

“What?” he said.

Macy grimaced. “Tiarra,” she said.

With an oath, Dayne started to lean in again. “Forget about her,” he said viciously.

“No, no, wait, it’s not that. It’s…” And she hesitated as Dayne leaned away again to look into her face. She licked her lips and shivered. “You know she is quite insane, don’t you?”

The biking trail through the park was not as crowded as usual. That pleased the gray-haired man. Witnesses were always a problem, especially when dealing with unknowns.

This case was interesting—and supremely providential to their operation. How lucky can a person get? If he believed in miracles, he would say it was meant to be.

But he didn’t believe in miracles or deities. His faith in religious myths had ended many years ago. Now coincidence played the part. Or serendipity, perhaps.

Destiny had nothing to do with it.

He heard trotting footsteps and glanced at his watch. Right on time. A woman with honey-blond hair jogged down the path, giving him no more than a glance as she started to pass him. He held out his hand, and she slowed. The gray-haired man smiled at the young woman as she stopped beside him.

“Excuse me,” he said.

She looked pointedly at his hand on her arm. “Yes. Can I help you?” Her voice was cautious, but he heard the threat in it.

“You are Macy Mathon? Married to Dayne Mathon, the Imperator of the Imperium?”

She gaped at him.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

He didn’t answer, but dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a black chain necklace with a muddy-colored pendant swinging from the end.

“This is for you.” He handed it to her. “Now, I have some things to tell you.”

After nearly an hour and many questions, she left with the black chain secure around her neck, her expression still dazed with the new knowledge.

The gray-haired man’s mouth quirked. Maybe there was something to the God-thing. Then he snorted. Well, for others, maybe.

Chapter Twelve

J
ustus slammed his fist on the counter, and a flare of sparks showered his hand when he released a mote of fire. The packs of chewing gum tumbled, joining the overturned cup of pens. Good thing the shop was empty of people.

“Dammit! I’m telling you, she kicked out a flare, something the Imperium will see,” Justus stormed.

Bert didn’t flinch when the golden sparks shimmered like fireworks. “That is so cool,” he said and grinned.

Justus glared and the teenager adjusted his expression.

“When are you going to figure it out? Magic is not cool. It isn’t neat. It isn’t awesome. It is like holding a wild cat in your hand and wondering how you’re going to let go, and knowing, no matter what, it is going to hurt. Really bad. Magic isn’t a game.”

The diatribe would have been better if Justus hadn’t slashed his hand through the magic in agitation, causing the magic to spiral.

“Dude, ‘awesome’ isn’t a word in my world.”

For the first time, Justus felt real anger toward Bert and his obstinacy. Until the boy saw the side of magic that wasn’t just pretty colors or met a mage who used the elements to hurt people, Justus decided to let it alone. Bert’s imagined world was better than Justus’s reality.

“This isn’t going to be ignored. She set off a flare that any adept with a sliver of talent could see. It was like a…” Justus gestured wildly with one hand. “Fireworks, Fourth of July. And if they were looking for her or, hell, even if they
weren’t
looking for her, Sable sent up the kind of signal no one could ignore. The magic will find a way to escape, become a part of a mage’s psyche, like an animal trying to escape a cage. This was its response to an emotional event.”

Fear still roiled his stomach from the memory of the gathered magic around her in the clearing. He could have followed her through a dark night and used the comet-trail of her ethereal phantasms to guide his way through a midday sun. It had flowed around her, swirled into forms, and re-formed again into an aura that had only begun to fade as they reached the McIntyres’ backyard. He had clenched his teeth and followed Emmett into the house, knowing his days with her and the life he had made for himself would end soon.

“Wow.” Bert said. “Why do they want her so bad? And how do they know she’s here?”

Justus scrubbed one hand over his face and eyes. He tried to plan, sort through his feelings and regrets, especially the big one, allowing the effects of a
tener unus
to overcome his magical talents. He still didn’t know how it happened. Sable had stood there in the clearing, her eyes came up to his, and then her cheek was so warm under his hand.

Justus growled. She wasn’t anywhere near, and still the pheromone affected him. He cleared his throat. “The hunters were onto her from the first moment she showed up here, so they must be keeping track of her location. And I think they want her because she has the potential to be a strong adept.”

“Whoa.”

For a smart kid, Bert had a limited vocabulary. Justus gathered the scattered pens, replaced the chewing gum, and swept the top of the counter with his hand. “Hey, there’s something else I need to tell you about.” He artfully arranged the gum, each to its own kind and flavor while he picked his next words carefully. “These young ones, uh, they do something other than bits of magic.”

Justus kept his eyes on the gum. Bert’s tapping foot caught his attention.

“Yeah? And?” Bert said.

Justus sighed and looked at him. “You need to know this, so listen up.”

Bert rolled his eyes. “Drama queen,” he muttered and waited, pantomimed looking at his watch.

“Sex,” Justus said and, with grim satisfaction, saw he had Bert’s full attention. “The
tener unus
gives off a pheromone or something that attracts the opposite sex. Or hell, the same sex, I suppose. It, the magic, calls to people of a certain age, like a honey bee to a flower.”

Bert stared hard at Justus. “So. She becomes a sex object that makes men want to be with her. Geez, how original. I mean, who would have thought a young, good-looking hottie was able to do that? Good thing you told me. I mean, if you hadn’t, I might have, I don’t know, like drooled over her. Or any chick, for that matter.”

He rolled his eyes.

Justus growled. “Lookit, she’s got…more of it.”

“Whatever ‘it’ is,” Bert muttered. “Okay, I get it, Merlin. Just because she’s a cutie, built, and just the right age, I will resist the urge to ogle. She is safe around me.”

Bert smirked, his mouth pulled to one side. “So that’s why you cut in on me when I was dancing with her. You didn’t want to dance, but thought I was succumbing to the magic. Is that right?”

He nodded when the scowl Justus gave him was the answer. But in the next moment, the teen’s face sobered and he looked away.

“So you gotta leave, just take off without your mom or anything,” Bert said to the counter top.

Justus wanted to ask what the definition of “anything” was, but resisted. “Look, Bert, ever since you found out about me and my world…” Justus felt relieved by the return of Bert’s smug grin. “You’ve known I would have to move on someday. And that day is here.”

Bert shrugged and turned away. “Yeah, well, I didn’t think it would be so soon.”

“Well, I have to go. Soon. Bottom line,” Justus said.

“So like, forever?”

“No. I just need to get out for a while, until she turns or…leaves. Either way, she doesn’t know about me, so I won’t have to hide after it happens.”

“So what about Sable? Why can’t you take her with you?”

Justus shook his head without speaking.

“But won’t they take her off somewhere? Like jail or something?” Bert asked.

“No, they’ll probably give her a guard, though, someone who will eventually trigger her potential.”

Bert thought about that for a while, playing with a small figurine on a display shelf. With a start, Justus realized the small statue was a dragon that Sable liked. The colors of vivid blue and green had made her exclaim in delight. Maybe he could ensure she got that little dragon, a reminder of him after he was gone. He growled softly and turned away.

“Whatever happens, I can’t be here, and that’s a fact. If they find her, they’ll find me. And that little six point something quake we had last month will be nothing compared to
that
little meeting if the head of the Imperium finds me. We won’t be shaking hands and playing nice.” He stopped, his clenched teeth grinding together. “And no one will ever use me. No one.”

For a moment, memory pulled him back and the spot on his throat burned.
Never again
, he thought fiercely.

“Cool,” the boy said.

Bert was wide-eyed and his grin split his face. Justus looked around him, feeling the expenditure of magic. Surrounding him was a shimmering cloud of energy, all the elements mixed into one aura. With a harsh sound, he cut one hand through it and the show vanished. Sourly, he glared at Bert, who was clapping and beaming with pleasure.