Magic Burn: an Urban Fantasy Novel (Shifting Magic Book 2) Read online

  “If he were anyone else, I wouldn’t leave you here,” Zayne told me softly, nodding in Darius’s direction. “But I know, he’ll take good care of you.”

  “And I’ll take care of him,” I countered with a cheeky grin. My brother’s hand fell to my elbow as I swayed, and he gave it a quick squeeze when I steadied out.

  “Let me know if things go south,” he insisted. I noticed the somewhat worried look he shot to the castle behind me, wherein my father—like I needed any more of life’s curveballs—sat on a throne, lording over the mighty Brisbane clan. “James seems like a good man, a competent alpha, but you never know what happens behind closed doors. Keep your wits about you.”

  “Of course.”

  I couldn’t help but wonder, if my brother’s concerns stemmed from the fact that this man had an affair with our mother, rather than an outright concern for my safety. I had only seen my father—James Holloway, alpha dragon of the Brisbane clan, and my rescuer—the first day I awoke after the battle, but Catriona told me he struck her as kind and thoughtful, a true king among shifters. He and the ruling family had been working hard to tend to those wounded in battle, to feed all the armies, and to send everyone off in better condition than they arrived in.

  As I looked around the mountainside, watching as shifter clans hiked off in different directions and supernaturals engaged in whatever magical transport they saw fit, I had to admit that the man ran a tight ship. Everyone looked great, even my brother, who had visited me on my second day of recovery with an enormous wound jetting across his entire face about an inch thick. Today, I could hardly see it.

  “Stay in touch,” Zayne insisted, kissing both of my cheeks, then my forehead. “We’ll see each other soon.”

  “Very soon,” I agreed. “Don’t be a stranger again, or I’ll be forced to kick your ass. Remember, you taught me how.”

  We hugged one last time before he jogged off to join Quell, Galen, and all his other captains. Having already said my goodbyes to the fae duo, I waved them off, standing on shaky legs, alone, in front of the castle.

  As the large groups moved on, one lone figure walked towards me. I held a hand out to Darius as he approached, and he quickened his pace, taking it in both of his and bringing it to his lips to kiss.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Tired,” I admitted. “When did the sun get so bright?”

  “Do you want to meet with James tomorrow instead?” He studied me with concern, eyes sweeping along my arms—looking for the black poison that had once raced through my veins like ice. He’d find nothing today, but I understood his fears. I dreamed about that same blackness every night.

  “No,” I told him. “I don’t want to wait. I need answers. I need… to know…”

  Answers such as whether my father had known about my existence and if he had just abandoned me. My family waited beyond the open metal gates; there was no way I was waiting another day to finally meet them.

  “I’ll be right beside you the entire time,” Darius promised, an arm hooked around my waist as we slowly made our way back to the castle. “You say the word, and we bail.”

  “Pinky promise?” We locked pinkies as a nervous giggle slipped through my lips.

  “Forever promise, Kaye.”

  I squared my shoulders, steeling myself for whatever news might await me, and picked up my pace, as much as my weakened body would allow.

  Time for answers—for better or for worse.

  We hadn’t made it more than a couple of steps beyond the front gates, before Cedric zipped to our sides. The burly dragon was almost taller than Darius, and from what I was told, he was one of the best guards that Brisbane had to offer. He’d been my silent watcher while I healed, standing outside my door and ensuring only approved guests saw me in my weakened state. We hadn’t talked much, but the guy, bald as a bowling ball, seemed to take his job very seriously.

  And in that moment, his job involved escorting us directly to alpha James Holloway’s throne room. He gave a curt nod when Darius issued the order, and we followed him through the unfamiliar castle. While the Sanctius village and their halls had made me think of the Vikings, this one was a straight-up medieval castle – from the little red and white flags fluttering at the top of the towers, to the old cobblestone floors. It descended deep into the mountain, enhanced with magic—I could feel it just about everywhere I went.

  As we walked through winding halls and enormous wings on our way to the throne room, we passed Quinn and Catriona. I tried to flag her down, but she was engaged in a game that looked like a blend of hide-and-seek and tag with a bunch of shifter children in a courtyard. Sunlight streamed down onto them. A fountain with a large dragon-shaped spout added soothing background noise to the chorus of childish squeals and giggles. Quinn hovered nearby, watching, not engaging, but I knew a man in love when I saw it. If I hadn’t been off to meet my father, I might have stopped to watch the love blossom.

  Instead, I had to concentrate on the here and now. No matter how the conversation went, I could fill Catriona in on it later—that is, if I even wanted to stay here after all was said and done. This man hadn’t been a part of my life at all until he rescued me from the djinn. If I learned that he had known about me all along and just didn’t care to meet me, I couldn’t imagine I’d want much to do with him.

  “We can still make a run for it,” Darius offered as we approached a set of double doors—dark metal, though thankfully not wrought iron this time. I glanced up at him, wishing he wouldn’t make such a tempting offer, and he grinned. “Just kidding. I’ll hold tight if you’re feeling cagey.”

  “Thanks.” And I meant it. As much as I wanted to confront my father here, I felt as though I’d endured enough conflict, war, and strife in the last few months to last a lifetime. I wasn’t sure I could stomach something that threatened to break me again. But, suddenly the doors opened, Cedric the guard gestured for us to enter, and Darius steered me right along. There was no turning back now.

  Given the overall look and feel of the Brisbane castle, I’d expected to stumble into a huge, long hall with a throne at the far end. Maybe an enormous fireplace, a couple of dogs napping in the corner, along with banners of all the clan families hanging from the walls. What I found instead was a garden paradise right in the middle of a mountain range. Ivy covered every square inch of wall space, of which there were only three. The fourth side opened into a crystal-clear pool, into which flowed a gentle waterfall from the mountain itself. Fat green lily pads lay scattered on the water’s surface, and a lone beam of sunshine filtered in from above.

  “Holy… shit.” It slipped out before I could stop it. The rest of the hall was one big, wild garden—literally. There were no commercial floral arrangements. No tulips in full bloom. If we weren’t in the middle of the mountains, this could very well have been something Mother Nature herself landscaped during some downtime. Long grass reached mid-calf. Pussy willows grew near the pool. Dandelions dotted throughout—weeds to the urban gardener, yet a welcome splash of an uplifting color in this mystic place. Bunches of lavender, that I just wanted to bury my face in, grew everywhere. One would think the smell, the feel of so much lush flora, would be overwhelming, but all I felt here was pure, sweet magic.

  A magic that made me feel at home. Just like James’s face, it was as if this magic had been with me my whole life, always waiting in the wings, there to comfort me in times of stress and cherish me in moments of victory.

  “Your mother created the garden on her last visit here,” came a deep voice from across the hall. “I’ve maintained it ever since… in her memory.”

  I lifted my gaze, searching him out, and when our eyes met, I clutched Darius for support. James stood tall and proud over the sea of greenery. With emerald green eyes like mine, he wore his auburn, red hair back in a ponytail. I’d never looked like Zayne’s father, and I’d always wondered why. While my brother and I both had red hair, they weren’t the same shade. James’s was a near perf
ect match to mine.

  Swallowing hard, I did one last sweep of our surroundings, though this time I didn’t take much of it in. Heart pounding, I made my way through the garden, careful not to crush anything underfoot, and stopped a few feet from him. Darius’s presence lingered behind me, close enough for support, but far enough back to let me stand on my own two feet.

  I loved that about him.

  “Hi,” I managed, my voice mousier than I would have liked.

  “Hi.” James’s gentle response quieted my racing heart, but only somewhat. I stiffened when he reached out for me, his hand hanging in the tense air between us. Had I honed into my second sight, I imagined I’d see the space pulsating, vibrating, quivering with all the emotions that swirled around this ambiguous relationship with the stranger I suddenly found myself standing before.

  Then, with a furrowed brow, he reached out and tenderly lifted a lock of my hair. Darius cleared his throat behind me, a guttural warning for James to go easy, but the Brisbane alpha paid him no mind. Instead, he rubbed my hair between his fingers, the crinkling sound thunderous in the silence. I stood there, stiff and still, letting him touch me, only releasing the breath I’d been holding when his hand dropped to his side.

  I swallowed hard again, unsure what to do, where to start—what to say. James breached that barrier first when he grabbed my shoulder, seemingly out of nowhere, and pulled me into his arms. Staring wide-eyed over his shoulder, I didn’t react at first, arms limp at my side, back arched as he pulled me against him. Slowly, however, my eyes began to water, and I buried my face against the nape of his neck, against warm skin that smelled like a childhood I’d never truly known, and wrapped my arms around his firm, thick torso.

  “Shhh, I know. I know,” he murmured, and I felt his hand on the back of my head, holding me as I shook with emotion I hadn’t even realized was there. I’d gone my whole life thinking my father, Zayne’s father, had abandoned me because I was the reason my mother was dead. That pill had been hard enough to swallow as it was, but I’d done it. I’d tucked it away, never allowing it to hurt me again. And now here, even though James hadn’t said more than a few words to me, his presence ripped open all those old wounds, and suddenly I was that confused, shattered little girl again, wishing her daddy would just love her.

  On the verge of a breakdown, I eased out of his arms, turned and hastily wiped away the tears streaming down my face. Darius moved toward me, his expression hard, worried, but a slight shake of my head stopped him.

  “I didn’t mean to… make you cry,” James said softly, and I faced him again with a weak laugh.

  “I didn’t expect to, honestly.” Sniffling, I finished cleaning myself up, then extended my hand for him to shake. “Hi. My name’s Kaye. I’m… your daughter.”

  He accepted the gesture with an easy sort of smile, the kind that had never come naturally to Zayne’s father when we were alone, and squeezed firmly as we shook hands. “Hello. My name’s James, and I’m your father.”

  “Should we sit?” I looked around for a bench, a high-backed chair, something, amidst the flourishing wild garden, only finding the alpha’s throne and nothing else.

  “By the pool, maybe?”

  “Sure.”

  We walked side-by-side after James briefly acknowledged Darius, the pair also shaking hands, though saying very little to one another. Settling at the edge of the clear blue water, I tugged off my shoes and dipped my feet in.

  “No iron,” James said offhandedly, and I nodded.

  “I could tell.” I dragged my legs through the cool water for a moment, then sighed, knowing it was best to just get right into this. “Can I ask—”

  “I need to—” We both laughed, my cheeks flushing when we spoke over each other. With James a few feet to my left, Darius sat to my right, our bodies almost flush against one another. He set a hand on my lower back, studying the lily pads in silence. Clearly, he knew this was something I needed to do for myself, but I certainly couldn’t have done it without him being there.

  “I’ll be glad to answer all of your questions,” James told me, hands threaded together and resting on his lap. “But I need you to know something first.”

  I braced myself, but schooled my features as best I could. “Shoot.”

  “I didn’t know your mother was pregnant when we parted ways,” he insisted, and the pain of that knowledge read plainly across his darkening features. “I didn’t know she had you. It wasn’t until we met on the battlefield… I was flying over you, and I sensed that you were mine. I felt it in my heart, my soul, the same way I connected with my children on the days they were born.” He chuckled softly, the darkness lifting as I grappled with the fact that he had other children—more half-siblings for me. “It was like seeing the sunrise after an eternity of night. You took me right out of the battle.”

  “Sorry,” I muttered, fighting back a smile. I didn’t know this man. Could I really take him at his word?

  “Don’t be,” James said, his emerald greens searching out mine. “It’s one of the greatest feelings a shifter will ever experience, besides connecting with his mate. You gave me life out there, a piece of my heart I hadn’t realized was missing. When I saw those vile creatures swarming in on you, I… I reacted. Whether you want a relationship with me or not, you’re my blood, and I will defend you until my dying day.”

  And cue the waterworks again. I sniffed as subtly as I could, turning away to blink back the latest onslaught of tears. Physically, my body was still weak from the battle and recovering after the djinn attack. Emotionally, I was sure I’d crash hard when this conversation finished, no matter the outcome, and sleep well into tomorrow.

  “And I’m not saying any of this because, I expect something from you,” James told me. I exchanged a quick glance with Darius. His slight eyebrow twitch read as a do we need to run for the hills? kind of thing, to which I shook my head.

  “I don’t know what I’d have to give, even if you did expect something, honestly,” I told my father, my wiggling toes, poking into the water’s surface. “I’m a psychologist from New York City, when I’m not, you know, helping my half-brother lead a revolt against some genocidal fascist. I live in a one-bedroom apartment. I make a decent salary. I…” I looked to Darius. “I’m involved with a kind of super protective, shifter.”

  “Very protective,” Darius murmured, taking my hand and grinning. Warmth trickled through me, and I was sure I positively glowed in the bastion of his support. I couldn’t imagine an outsider looking at us and finding a chink in the armor for them to stab a knife through.

  “I’ll defend you and protect you because, you’re my kin.” James shifted on the spot, lips twitching into a gentle smile as he studied his clasped hands. “You’re my blood. It’s a shifter thing, to be so protective of our mates, our children, our family. It’s instinct. We can’t help it.”

  “I’m beginning to understand that,” I admitted. Darius squeezed my hand gently a few seconds later, as if only then realizing that the comment was directed at him. Never in my life had I feared, adored, and fought so fiercely for one person before. The thought of harm coming to him in battle—it had driven me crazy. I had gone full on Mama Bear and Darius wasn’t even close to being my cub. I couldn’t imagine the bond between a shifter parent and child. If that innate pull was slowly taking hold of me as I embraced my other half, I couldn’t imagine the powerful instinct to eviscerate anyone that threatened my lover or child. It must be overwhelming.

  “I want you to know that I don’t want anything from you,” James told me. His expression shifted from soft to mildly panicked when my eyes widened, and he quickly backpedaled. “Not that I don’t want a relationship, it’s that I don’t expect one right away, if you aren’t willing to give it. I didn’t come here anticipating you’d call me Dad and we’d have a beer together rehashing the good times. I…” He ran his fingers through his hair, clearly spiraling. “Don’t feel pressured here. We can go at whatever pace you want…
If you want a pace at all.”

  I bit my lip. I did want a relationship with him, but I needed all my concerns addressed first. None of my psychologist alarms were blaring so far, but I was a bit too jaded to simply usher him into my life. This would need work. It would take time.

  “Did you love my mother?” My voice cracked. “She died giving birth to me.”

  Color flooded his cheeks, and he looked away, the bulge in his throat bobbing noticeably. Did he know I’d been responsible for her death? Would he send me packing?

  “I loved your mother very much,” he told me in a quiet, almost hoarse tone—like he was trying to keep it all together. “Our affair was brief and passionate. I didn’t care that she was married… I thought she was my mate, the one I was destined for. My parents disapproved of my dating a supernatural being, and since I was preparing to step into the role of alpha, they forced me to choose between duty and love. In the end, I chose duty.” James looked to me with shimmering eyes. “I’ve always regretted it, choosing as I did. I met my wife two years later. We wed. Had children. She died quite a few years ago. We never knew what happened…she was here one day, gone the next.” His voice caught, and he cleared his throat. “I never forgot your mother.”

  Given the care he had put into the garden supposedly created by her, I could see that he kept her close. I reached back behind me and plucked a sprig of lavender, trailing the purple flowers at its head under my nose.

  I’d always thought of lavender when I thought of my mother.

  “Catelyn was an extraordinary person,” James continued thoughtfully, and when I glanced up, he’d let a few tears fall and seemed to be in no hurry to wipe them away. “She was compassionate, witty, beautiful, intelligent… Which is very much my impression of you, Kaye.”