Shadows, Maps, and Other Ancient Magic (27 page)

“Diluted,” I murmured. “The leeches.” We’d thought the shadow demons had been after the map. Then we’d thought they’d been after the braids, except … except they hadn’t tried to take the artifact from me. Not that I could remember, anyway.

‘Scouts,’ Warner had called them. I’d jumped to the conclusion that demon shadow scouts would be scouting for some other demon looking to break through into our dimension. But there had to be some connection between the way they’d leeched magic from us and the diluted magic of the fortress.

The door opened behind me. I’d already felt Audrey approaching, and knew that she’d hesitated before stepping outside. Maybe steeling herself before dealing with me. The beta werewolf’s magic was a cool white-chocolate mint. Like the iced tea I’d made from the plant I’d grown on my balcony this year. She settled down beside me and lifted her face to the sun, her eyes closed, her brunette waves cascading elegantly down her back.

“Those were the most powerful beings I’ve ever scented.” She meant Warner, Pulou, and Qiuniu.

“You’ve met Qiuniu. He brought you part of the way back on the beach in Tofino. After you sacrificed yourself to save Kandy’s life.”

Audrey laughed softly. “You have a romanticized view of the world, alchemist. I fought because my pack needed me. It’s my duty and my privilege.”

“And now you’re beta, with even more responsibility and personal peril.”

“Again, you think you hold some responsibility for that. You think that none of us would have been on that beach without you. Your ego is massive.”

“I made the knife that Sienna used —”

Audrey snorted. “Spare me. I was there. I chose to be there. Just like Kandy chose to be with you wherever you just came from.”

“Shoving that opinion down my throat seems to be the theme of the day.”

Audrey turned toward me as she opened her eyes. “Then chew it, swallow, and move on.” She regarded me through slits of gleaming green, and for the first time since we’d met, I was the one to break my gaze from hers.
 

Audrey lifted her face back up to the sun. “I don’t remember,” she murmured. “I don’t remember Desmond making me beta.” She sounded sad, and I was seriously surprised she hadn’t bothered to rub in the fact that I’d just backed down from a fight. “I remember you falling to the black witch. And the four of us trying to break through her circle to you. Desmond, Kandy, me, and the vampire. But without the protection of the witches, the sea demons were overrunning the shapeshifters on the beach and I had to turn back. I don’t remember much after that. Except waking up to find the pack tied through me to Desmond.”

I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. This was the longest civilized conversation we’d ever had, and I wondered if it was Audrey or me who’d changed and made that possible.

“You will always be a friend of the pack,” she said, abruptly changing the subject.

“Are you breaking up with me, Audrey?”

She laughed, a low, husky sound. I don’t think I’d ever heard anything resembling pure amusement without an edge from her before. “Kandy will need to stay,” she said.

“I know.”

“She won’t heal properly any other way. Six months, maybe more.”

“I know.”

“You’ll have to convince her. And … after today, I wouldn’t advise you to visit. Not right away. Christmas maybe, if Desmond goes to his parents’.”

“She’s my friend.”

“We take our friendships very seriously in the pack, alchemist. We understand loyalty. But Desmond …”

“Is angry.”

“For now. But you returned Kandy to us, so balance will eventually be restored.”

“If I stay away.”

“For now.”

Silence fell between us. Normally, that would have bothered me. Normally, I would bristle against anything that came out of Audrey’s mouth. But I knew she was right.

“Thank you, beta,” I said, acknowledging the vital role that Audrey seemed to be settling into well.

“Till next time, alchemist,” Audrey said, baring her teeth at me in an arrogant display of aggression. “And maybe you could be more careful of the furniture?”

I laughed. That was the Audrey I’d expected.

“I’d like to see Kandy before I go.”

“Then Lara will drive you to the portal.”
 

Audrey stood in one fluid movement that I could never hope to emulate, dragon training or no dragon training. So I didn’t even try as I followed her into the house. She turned right toward the guest wing. I noticed she was barefoot, and just barely managed to stop myself from remarking on the opal polish that prettified her toes and stood out against the dark walnut flooring of the hall. I was ninety-five percent sure it was OPI’s
I’m a Princess, You’re Not
, which was a go-to favorite of mine. But Audrey wasn’t a friend, and I didn’t want to risk getting my eyes gouged out over nail polish.

An hour ago, Audrey had been a seven-foot, toothy, terrifying monster, but I couldn’t see a hint of it on her now. Whereas my hair had dried in fuzzy clumps of curls. My skirt and tank top were water stained and ripped. I had no idea where my shoes were. And I still wasn’t ready to acknowledge my ruined satchel.

But even as those thoughts popped into my head to distract me, I knew none of that mattered. That was just silly busywork for my mind, so I didn’t have to anticipate the next moment more than my wrenched gut already did.

Audrey led me to one of the guest bedrooms halfway down the hall at the front of the house, but she didn’t enter after she opened the door.

“Desmond’s sleeping,” she whispered. “But you shouldn’t linger.”

“The warrior’s daughter doesn’t take orders from you, beta,” Kandy snapped from inside the bedroom.

A massive grin spread across my face as I dashed into the room. Audrey chuckled behind me and closed the door.

Kandy was lying in the center of a king-sized bed. She had the emerald-green duvet tucked up to her chin and underneath her bare arms. Her hair was mousy brown. She looked like she’d lost ten pounds that she couldn’t afford to lose.

“You look terrible,” she said. Then she offered me one of her nonsmiles.

I started to sit in the green brocade chair beside the bed, then changed my mind. I tossed my ruined satchel to the chair instead, crawling onto the bed beside her.

“Good girl,” she murmured, her words suddenly heavy with sleep.

Careful to not actually touch her, I curled up close, nestling my head on the second pillow. I closed my eyes to listen to the deep, full sound of her breath.
 

I drifted.

∞

I woke. Maybe ten minutes had passed … the filtered afternoon light in the room hadn’t changed. Yeah, I noticed things like that now.

Kandy was sleeping. I eased off the bed, pulled the strap of my satchel over my head and shoulder, and carefully placed the cuffs from Chi Wen on the side table.

“I’m going to be out of commission for a while,” Kandy murmured, though she didn’t open her eyes.

“We’ll Skype.”

She laughed quietly. “I mean the cuffs. You should take them. Keep them safe.”

“They’re yours.”

“One doesn’t accept gifts from dragons lightly.”

“No.”

“I didn’t, Jade.” Kandy opened her eyes to lock her gaze to me. She looked as exhausted as I’d felt before the nap. Weak and utterly determined.

“I know.”

Kandy nodded and closed her eyes again. Her breathing fell into that deep rhythm almost instantly.

“Sleep well, my friend,” I whispered. Then I turned to the door.

“Give him a chance,” Kandy said behind me. “The sentinel. He’s no Hudson, but he’ll do.”

“That’s high praise from you.”

“Yep.” She laughed.
 

I waited until the sound faded away before I closed the door behind me.

∞

Desmond was waiting for me in the entranceway. I could taste his magic from Kandy’s room. His citrus-finished dark chocolate was easily at half strength. Moreover, the taste didn’t comfort me as it once had, when for an ever-so-brief moment I’d thought I might find a haven in his arms.

A haven from the terror that my sister had wrought in my life.

The realization that I didn’t need that from him — from anyone but myself — hit me as his gaunt face came into view. The magic he’d expended to heal Kandy had hardened his visage further. Maybe even eaten away at him.

His eyes glittered with shifter magic and animosity, but I didn’t feel like smirking at all the cracks that had suddenly appeared in his armor. He was usually so political, so careful to protect his alliances, his investments. But now he was eager to kick my ass. Warrior’s daughter or no warrior’s daughter.

“I absolve you,” he said.

That stopped me in my tracks. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“What, are you a priest now?”

He glowered at me, clenching and unclenching his hands.

“Imagining strangling me isn’t going to help with whatever lame diplomacy you’re going for, Desmond.”

He growled. A low rumble that spread through the entranceway. I swear I could feel the granite tiles vibrating underneath my bare feet.

“You invaded my home —”

“You thought I invaded your home.”

“Who was that dragon?” He didn’t mean Pulou or Qiuniu. He’d already met or seen both of them in Tofino ten months ago.

He couldn’t figure out if he wanted to strangle me for almost getting Kandy killed, or whether he wanted to own me. He was still jealous. Jesus, shapeshifters and their freaking territory issues.

“You mean Warner,” I answered. “The guy who saved Kandy’s life.”

“The life you put in jeopardy.”

“No.”

Desmond looked as surprised as I felt at my denial.

“No?”

“No.” The second time I said it, I felt the truth of it. We all made choices. We all did our best. Warner, Audrey, and Kandy were right. It was utterly egotistical of me to take the blame for everything bad that ever happened around me. I wasn’t a god. I wasn’t the devil or some minion of evil. I was simply Jade Godfrey, half-witch, half-dragon, baker of cupcakes, treasure hunter, and warrior’s daughter. That was more than enough mantels for one person.

Desmond and I stared at each other until Audrey appeared in the hall behind her alpha, looking anxious. And not just for the furniture. All three of us knew that Desmond couldn’t take me in a fair fight — and that I wouldn’t submit to his authority, with or without one.

“So … Lara is cool to drive me to the portal?” I asked.

Desmond nodded and stepped away from the front door. I resisted the urge to punch him in the gut. You know, just to prove I didn’t need his permission to exit.

“Thank you for bringing our pack mate back to us,” Audrey said. Her tone was cool and formal as she closed the gap between her and Desmond. “We will meet again.”

“Far too soon,” Desmond snapped. Then he turned his back on me and walked away.

Well, that was that.

I could hear an SUV idling in the driveway. I locked my gaze to Audrey’s. She smiled. Yeah, there was no love lost between us, but she was even more political than Desmond. I’d just tumbled into the living room with an impossible amount of power and prestige at my back. Audrey knew gold when she smelled it.

I had a bunch of nasty things I wanted to say, childish denials of guilt and whatever. Instead, I nodded. “I thank the pack for its hospitality, and for taking care of my friend.”

Audrey nodded back, though she lost the smile.

I think my formality disappointed her somehow. Perhaps I didn’t conform to the box she’d shoved me into and labeled in her mind.

I left.

I didn’t look back. But I did text Kandy a chocolate bar emoticon on the drive to the portal from Lara’s phone, tagging it with the letter J. Sure, Kandy’s cell was probably completely fried from the portal magic and the double near-drownings — like mine was — but I already missed her. She’d get the message the first time she booted up her new phone.

Anyway, I left my best friend to heal her wounds, surrounded by the magic and care of her pack family. I was going to miss her terribly, but I tried to not be sad about it. Kandy would kick my ass if she found me moping.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

A dragon was cooking pancakes in my apartment kitchen. Badly. I could see — even before I’d fully entered the living room — that half of his first attempts were burnt and tossed to the side. He was currently undercooking the second batch.

He’d gotten past my wards somehow. Though as they folded around me, I could feel that they were intact. So he hadn’t damaged them to get into the apartment.

I stopped. Just stopped right there at the top of the stairs that led down to the bakery. The door, the exit, was still open behind me. The living room and the kitchen island were between me and Warner at the stove.

I could turn around. I could walk away. I wasn’t sure that thought had ever occurred to me before. I could leave the map and the responsibility of it to Warner. It was his job — his sworn duty — after all. I wasn’t even a full-blooded dragon. No one would question me taking a step back. No one would question that I hadn’t realized the burden I’d accepted when I’d taken the map from Pulou.

A map that led to artifacts that could be used to kill guardian dragons.

My ruined satchel was suddenly epically heavy. I pulled it off over my head, then dropped it to the worn hardwood floor beside me. I thought about taking two steps and face-planting onto my leather couch, but I didn’t feel like moving any farther.

Warner lifted his attention from the raw dough in the frying pan and turned his head to catch my gaze. “The wolf?” he asked.

“She’ll live. Thank you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t thank me, alchemist. We all do our parts. It’s been a long time since I’ve worked as part of a team. I’ll do better next time.”

I didn’t respond. Though the words ‘next time’ were literally rattling around in my empty head.

He flipped the pancake. It broke, oozing raw dough everywhere. He grumbled as he scraped the frying pan clean in the kitchen sink.

The sentinel had placed the sacrificial knife he’d ‘borrowed’ in the fortress on the granite counter of my kitchen island. Returning it to me, unasked. Returning the responsibility of my own creation.