Faerie Magic (13 page)

I walked to the kitchen to retrieve a batch of Isabel’s cinnamon-and-awesomeness flavoured cookies and watched her reset the spell circle, muttering under her breath.

“Crap,” I said. “I forgot… is there a way to make me be able to understand the faeries’ language?”

Isabel looked at me. “What?”

“They use these glyphs,” I explained. “Not like those—different ones.” I indicated the book she’d left open on the armchair, with symbols drawn onto its yellowing pages. “In their own language.”

“No,” said Isabel. “Not that I know of. Spells involving words usually end up backfiring.”

“Not for faeries,” I said. “They can put a tongue-tying spell on to stop you speaking, or curse you to speak in riddles forever. Don’t worry, there’s nothing like that at the Trials,” I added. “They’re just duels. No permanent injuries allowed.”

“Unless a creepy bastard fey ambushes you again.” Her hands curled into fists. “I think you should sneak in an explosive spell or three. Just in case.”

“Spells get knocked loose too easily,” I said. “I lose enough of them. And daggers.” The only reason I still owned a substantial collection was because I got a significant discount from the mercenary guild’s weapons trader. And that might not last, if Larsen decided my working for the Mage Lord was a threat to his own business. Irene was the one weapon that had lasted me longer than a few months, and leaving her behind tonight would make me feel like I walked into the arena stark naked.

Isabel sighed. “I’ll think of something. What do you want your disguise to look like?”

“I called myself ‘Shadow’ when I signed up,” I said. “Guess I should have considered possible costumes first.”

“I can work with it.” Her brows pinched together in the thoughtful expression she got when she had an idea. If she hadn’t been born a witch, I could have seen her working in fashion design. She never judged me for walking around in torn-up jeans and bloodstained leather jackets, but jumped at the chance to test out her skills.

My phone buzzed from where I’d plugged it in to charge. A message from Vance.
What are you doing?

We’re setting up the disguise spell,
I messaged back.

Come to the manor. I need to talk to you.

Well. That was instructive. “Vance asked me to come to the manor.”

“Good.” Isabel paced around the circle. “Ask him if he knows a better way to catch the person selling the drug than sending you to your death.”

“Will do.” I slipped the phone into my pocket. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Saying goodbye over my shoulder, I grabbed my jacket and sword and left the flat.

CHAPTER TEN

This time, nobody waited outside the manor. I hesitated, half expecting Ralph to appear and shove me away, but the gate opened immediately. Mage magic. Shaking my head, I walked into the front garden and tried to figure out what the hell I was going to say to Vance.

Like the gate, the door opened the instant I rang the doorbell. Vance waited in the hall, dressed surprisingly casually in a plain T-shirt and slacks. It was the first time I’d seen him in anything other than a fitted suit. It threw me off, considering he’d been in uptight Mage Lord mode ever since he’d reappeared after being gone for a week.

“What is it?” I asked.

“You disappeared this morning.”

“Er, so did you,” I said. “Literally. What’s the issue?”

“Nothing,” he said.

“So you called me here for nothing?” What game was he playing this time?

“I called you here because you mentioned needing assistance preparing for your match tonight. We can talk in my office.” He led the way, pushing open the wooden door with one hand.

“Thought you said I could beat off a faerie dog in my sleep,” I said. “Your style of fighting isn’t anything like faeries’, anyway.”

“Oh, really?”

The sword appeared in his hand so fast I jumped back. “Faeries can manipulate matter and take you by surprise.” He spun the blade in one hand in a way that would be considered a safety hazard if anyone else was doing it.

“Are you challenging me to a duel?” I asked. “Because this is a long-winded way to go about it.”

“Have you ever duelled with a half-faerie?”

I considered this. “Depends what you mean by ‘duel’. I have the same kind of magic as they do, and more skill with a blade than most.”

“And modesty.”

“Hark who’s talking.” Honestly, I wasn’t confident at all. The encounter with the blasted half-Sidhe had shaken me up. Didn’t change the fact that I’d be fighting an adversary with unknown skills tonight.

“From what you said yesterday, you needed my help.”

“You’re going to hold it over my head forever, aren’t you?” I groaned. “Tell me if you’re challenging me to a duel or just being a pain in the ass. I’ve a faerie underground to infiltrate.”

His smirk disappeared. “Not without preparing.”

“Are you being a dick to give me an incentive to kick your ass? Because it’s working.”

“No.”

“So you’re just being a dick in general. Good to know where we stand.”

“You’re putting yourself in danger,” he said. “I’m considering ways to mitigate the risk.”

“Bulletproof armour? A Taser?”

“Ivy.” He gave me one of his intense mage-looks again. “I think you should wear a protective mark. It’d allow me to watch you from a distance and sense if you were in danger.”

I gaped a little. He wanted me to wear… a mark? Those spells weren’t the sort the witches handed out to everyone. He’d have bought a specially commissioned batch right from the head of the coven.

“If I can’t be there in person, it’s the next best option. Please,” he said. “I’d prefer it if you wore the mark. If you needed me, you’d just need to touch it. I doubt your phone would survive a magical battle.”

“It’s survived plenty.” The words came out automatically. I didn’t know which surprised me more—the ‘please’ or the admission that he wanted to make sure I wasn’t hurt again. I mean, what the hell was I supposed to say? “Is this… normal?” My voice came out breathier than usual. Especially considering how close he stood.

“No.”

That’s helpful.
“If the faeries saw it, they’d know I was an intruder.”

“I can mark you somewhere they won’t be able to see.”

“Er…” Whoa. Get your mind out of the gutter, Ivy.

The hint of a smirk touched the edge of his mouth. “Unless you’re planning on stripping off in front of the half-faeries, there’s no shortage of hiding places.”

“You.”

“What?” His eyes glittered with amusement. “The idea of me seeing you naked bothers you.”

“Yes.” My face heated up. Goddammit, he must have seen part of me naked when he’d bound up my injuries. The top half, at least. Oh, boy. I kept my gaze on his face. “Because it’s none of your business. You’re my boss.” I said this more for my own benefit than his. A reminder.

“Right.” He moved in closer, and I had to remind myself to keep breathing normally. “Whereabouts would you prefer me to mark you?”

I hesitated. “My left shoulder.” My right was the scarred one, but he’d probably seen my scars already while I was unconscious. I sat down in the chair he indicated.

His hands brushed against my collarbone, easing my top down. Goose bumps rose where he touched, his hands cool against my burning skin. He was so damned tall, even more so now I was sitting close. Too close.

Focus. You’ll be duelling him in a few minutes.
Could I best him in a fight? Maybe. I’d beaten bigger, more deadly opponents, but not those with the ability to manipulate space and make the world itself do as they commanded. To have such a power must feel like being a god. I shouldn’t be surprised Vance always acted above everyone else.

I definitely shouldn’t enjoy the sensation of his hand resting against the small of my back as the other drew the symbol.

“There.” His face was inches from mine, his breath warm on my cheek. My heart, traitorous thing, stuttered. “Doesn’t hurt a bit.”

“No.” I breathed out. If I moved a few inches to the left, tilted my head just so, our lips would touch. Even at this distance, shivers danced through my nerves.

Instead, I stood so rapidly, he moved out the way. “Thanks.” I tugged my top up, covering the mark.

“Don’t you want to look at it? I can fetch a mirror.”

“It doesn’t matter—” A flash of light, and he held a mirror in his left hand. “Now you’re just showing off.”

“Do you want to look?” he repeated, holding the mirror up.

The imprint of his touch remained on my skin, tingling. The mark, however, was only a faint red circle. Barely noticeable. “Okay. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” The mirror vanished with one flick of his hand. “If you really want my assistance, I have the afternoon free.”

“Wait, you do?” I squinted at him. “No top-secret meetings?”

“Apparently, the East Midlands mages managed to come to an agreement in my absence. They’ve chosen a new leader.”

“Uh… good.” I faltered on the verge of asking how he’d become leader. Then I remembered how he’d told me he killed the last one. Hmm. Now probably wasn’t the time to start digging into painful subjects. I still hadn’t told him about Calder. “So… about this training. Where—”

“Outside,” he said. “If we’re duelling with magic, the house has too many defensive spells on it.”

“Okay.” A dozen possible questions came to mind, but I was here to figure out my magic, not indulge my dangerous curiosity about the Mage Lord.

He turned and led the way down the corridor into the conservatory. At the back, a glass door led into the wide garden. Carefully mowed lawns extended into the distance, but the section of grass he approached bore the tell-tale marks of magic. The grass had mostly been burned or trampled, and remnants of spells buzzed in the air.

“Did you want to train with weapons or hand-to-hand? Not all your opponents will use magic, will they?”

“No, but it’s all
I
can use, aside from hand-to-hand,” I said. “Faeries don’t fight with metal weapons in general. Same goes for half-faeries. The two I’ve seen so far were a troll and a giant spider. It’s magic I need to practise.”

“Against what?” A blunted sword appeared in his hand. “Some of the half-faeries will probably use weapons.”

“Yeah. I guess so.” I left Irene at the arena’s side. The odds of me actually landing a hit on Vance were pretty low, but I’d rather use a fake weapon.

I considered him, this time through the eyes of an aggressor. I figured I’d pick out his weaknesses, only I wasn’t sure he had any. His body was corded muscle, strong, toned and flexible. He’d moved fast enough to astonish me even when I’d been under the influence of faerie magic and operating on superhuman speed. But I didn’t think he was superhuman—aside from the shifter blood. No, he was just unfairly perfect.

Let’s face it. I was screwed. What the hell had I got myself into?

“Okay. We’ll start with weapons.” I needed to get my focus back, and duelling Vance would snap my head back into fighting mode.

“And then you want me to use magic?” Vance looked at me expectantly.

“
Not
displacing,” I said. “I imagine you’d find it funny to teleport me to random places, but even the faeries in this realm respect the laws of physics. Most of the time.”

He chuckled. “That wasn’t the plan, but you’re giving me ideas. Remember what I said during the fight with the half-faerie spirits?”

I nodded. “You said I used magic defensively, not offensively. But I
did
use it offensively to bring down Velkas. I need to work out how to do so without access to the faerie realm. Uh, and without killing anyone. It’s not allowed.”

Since I’d killed Velkas, I’d been aware it’d take a hell of a lot of work to reprogram my old belief that Avakis’s magic was a dangerous, alien thing, not a part of me. Even more so now Calder had
humiliated
me. The shame rolling through me had nothing to do with Calder being related to the dickhead who’d ruined my life and everything to do with the fact that I’d been thoroughly schooled.

“Magical combat,” Vance said. “I’ll see what I can do. Combat seems to be the key to turning your instincts from defensive to offensive.”

“Yeah, because I’m usually fearing for my life. Or pissed off. It feeds on emotion.”

“Most magic does, to some extent,” he said. “That’s why mages need to stay in control.”

“Really?” I’d thought his shifter powers were the reason he was so uptight. Then again, carrying around the amount of power he did must have some side effects.

Maybe training with him was a mistake, but if anyone could give as good as he got in magical combat, it was Vance Colton. Problem was, if I spent too much time here, I might start getting other ideas about how to spend time with him. Dangerous, appealing ideas.