Eternal Magic (Magic for Hire #3)

Chapter 23

Despite her limited view through the water drain, Maya could clearly hear the conversation between Ravyr and Batu. Or at least, what was left of Batu. The bastard confessed everything, from the reason he’d been in Cambodia to why he’d sucked the magic from her and Tia, and how he’d sacrificed endless demons in an attempt to cheat death. His words answered her question of why she’d been plagued with nightmares for the past forty years, and why he’d traveled to New York City.

No doubt it would take months—if not years—to process everything she’d discovered, but at the moment she didn’t give a shit why Batu had held her prisoner or how he’d survived. Or even why he’d tracked her to New York City. Her entire being was focused on a stark fear that clenched her muscles and twisted her stomach into a painful knot. There’d been a risk that they were walking into a trap from the moment they’d entered the abandoned building, but she’d assumed she would be the one in danger. Now she was forced to watch from a distance as the green glow slammed into Ravyr, clearly causing him an intense agony as he fell to his knees, his head bowed as if he was fighting to re main conscious.

“Ravyr!” His name was wrenched from her lips as she straightened and prepared to rush toward the nearest exit.

She didn’t know where the opening to the sewage tunnel might be, but she assumed it was outside the main building. The sooner she found it, the sooner she could destroy Batu on ce and for all.

Of course, it couldn’t be that easy. Nothing had been easy for the past year. It had honestly been like a terrifying roller-coaster ride that she couldn’t get off. Before she could take a step, a firm hand was clamped onto her upper arm, spinning her ba ck to face Joe.

“Let go of me,” she snapped, her magic churning through her veins. “I need to get to Ravyr.”

“That’s not the way.” He lifted his free hand to weave it in a compli cated gesture.

Maya tried to jerk her arm free. She didn’t have time for this male’s mysterious stunts. It was a wasted effort, of course. His fingers were wrapped around her arm like a steel manacle. Soon after, her attempts to escape were forgotten as she caught sight of the shimmering strands of magic that float ed in the air.

They weren’t the same as hers. The strands looked like pure gold as they twirled faster and faster, stretching and thinning until they at last settled into a large oval. Maya frowned, not sure what the magic was going to do. Then, there was an unexpected pulse that shook the entire building, rattling the windows that still held glass, and sending flakes of dirt from the ceiling. At the same time, a crimson fog began to fill the insi de of the oval.

“What is that?” she rasped, widening her stance as the floor continu ed to vibrate.

“An opening to the afterlife. That’s where we need to go.”

Maya sucked in a shocked breath. No wonder the building was still shaking. She couldn’t imagine the amount of power it would take to rip a hole betwe en dimensions.

She sent Joe an angry glare. “Ar e you insane?”

He shrugged. “It depends on who you’re asking.”

Maya snorted. Was there anyone who’d encountered this male who didn’t assume he was...eccentric, to put it nicely?

“Why would we go to the afterlife?”

He released his iron grip on her arm to tap his fingers against the center of her chest. “To snip the connection between you and Batu’s demon.”

Maya grimaced. “Can’t you just snip it here?”

Joe sent her a chastising scowl. “Don’t ask fool ish questions.”

Maya met his scowl with one of her own. “I’m not leaving Ravyr.”

“No? Then he’ll die.” The blunt word echoed through the vast space. “The only way to destroy the medallion is by closin g the opening.”

Maya continued to scowl . “Convenient.”

“Actually, nothing could be less convenient,” Jo e informed her.

“I can’t leave Ravyr,” Maya stubbornly insisted, even as a part of her knew she was fighting a losing battle. Joe might annoy the hell out of her, but if he said the only way to cut Batu’s connection to the world was to go into the afterlife, then what choice did she have? She was going to have to go.

“I’ll keep your leech safe on this side,” Tia interjected, the older mage still standing next to the drainage hole. “You go with...” She waved a hand toward Joe, who puckered his lips and blew a kiss in her direction. “W hatever he is.”

Maya regarded her friend with a suspicion she couldn’t disguise. Tia hated vampires. Why would she protec t Ravyr? “You?”

A smile that would cause the most rabid goblin to flee in fear curled Tia’s lips. “Batu and I have unfini shed business.”

Maya hesitated. She wasn’t surprised that Tia wanted to confront her former master, but she hadn’t expected the stab of fear that pierced her heart. The two of them might not be besties, but she wasn’t prepared for her to die. They had baggage to sort through and old wounds to heal.

“He’s dangerou s,” she warned.

The smile widened. “Not as da ngerous as me.”

“She’s not wrong,” Joe muttered, something that might have been admiratio n in his voice.

Maya whirled back toward the opening. As much as she wanted to be the one rushing to rescue Ravyr, the only way she could help him and Tia was to put an end to Batu. On ce and for all.

“Are we going or not? ” she demanded.

Joe arched a shaggy brow. “Now you’r e in a hurry?”

“Yes.”

“Fin e. Stay close.”

She didn’t need Joe’s warning as he pressed a hand against her back and gave her a slight shove toward the crimson fog, which churned and boiled inside the magical oval. She intended to stick to him like glue.

Stumbling forward, Maya felt a heaviness press against her, as if there was a barrier attempting to keep her from passing through the gateway. A second later she was through the mist and standing in the middle of a desolate desert. The land around her was flat and barren, as if it’d been sucked of any life. And overhead the sky was a weird greenish shade with two moons that circled a black hole. Worst of all was the stench of sulfur. It was so thick i t made her gag.

This wasn’t a place for the living.

It was hushed and predatory and smoldering with greed y anticipation.

There was a shudder of power, and Joe was stepping through the mist to join her. Just for a second his image as a scruffy human with a messy beard and worn fishing hat flickered, and she could see the gloriously handsome creature who lurked beneath the grungy facade.

“ What are you?”

He headed across the barren ground, as if he had a destination in mind. “ I’m a Watcher.”

Maya kept her gaze trained on his profile as she scurried to keep pace. She didn’t want to think about the spooky landscape or the fact that they were in a place she couldn’t escape without this male’s assistance. It was better to concentrate on her companion and why he w as helping her.

“What does Watcher mean?”

“We are...” His words trailed away as if he was searching for the words. “The beginnin g and the end.”

“End of what?”

“Existence.”

Maya’s brows snapped together. He was babbling without making any sense. “Can’t you give me a st raight answer?”

Joe slowed his pace, heaving a deep sigh. As if she was unbearably stupid. “I’ll try to explain in a way your mind c an understand.”

“So kind, ” she muttered.

“Yes, I am.” He held up his hand as her lips parted in protest. This male was many things, including aggravating and occasionally scary, but he’d never been kind. “The only way I can describe my species is to say we truly are eternal,” he said. “We were here long before the first demon crawled from their primordial sludge and even before the first dragon hatched from its egg.”

“Are you claimin g to be a god?”

His deep laugh rolled through the emptiness, momentarily battling back the ominous atmosphere that threatene d to choke her.

“No, I can say with absolute confidence that I have no godly ambitions.” He turned his head to wink at her. “Although I can sympathize with your urge to worship me; I am, after all, amazing.”

Maya rolled h er eyes. “Ugh.”

“But I’m merely a referee to try to keep the demon world as peaceful as possible,” he continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “A task that I might add is one headache after another wit h few rewards.”

Ignoring his arrogance, Maya considered what her companion had revealed. The explanation was deliberately vague, but it sti rred a memory.

“You’re like Lynx,” she breathed, referring to the strange male in Skye’s vision a few months ago. “The creature who negotiated the treaty between the vampires an d the dragons.”

Sorrow darkened Joe’s face. “He was a brother.”

“And he’s dead now?”

Joe shook his head, his expression easing. “He sacrificed himself to keep the peace, but none of us are ev er truly gone.”

“Was he related to the fairy who called himself Lynx?” she pressed, an edge of anger in her voice. She would never forgive the bastard who’d kidnapped Skye and done his best to sta rt a demon war.

Joe shrugged. “A distan t grandfather.”

Maya arched a brow. So it was true that the strange creatures formed intimate relationships with demons. At least intimate enough to cr eate children.

“And Peri?”

Joe paused, ostensibly to scan their empty surroundings. An obvious delay tactic since nothing had changed despite the fact that it felt like they’d been walking for miles. Well, unless you counted the dry, sulfur-tainted breeze that stirred her hair and rippled over the sand.

“She has our blood in her veins,” he eventu ally admitted.

Maya felt something close to smug satisfaction. His words just confirmed her own certainty that there was something special about her young friend. She’d sensed it from the moment their pat hs had crossed.

“Is that why she can tap into her wild mag ic?” she asked.

“It doesn’t hurt, but her talent is u tterly unique.”

“Just like Peri.” Maya smiled; then another question that had been nagging at her for months bubbled to the surface. “Wait. That picture of you that Peri discovered in her m other’s cabin.”

“ What about it?”

“Brenda Sanguis was obviously in a relationship with one of your kind,” she pointed out, referring to Peri’s mother.

Joe held up a hand, as if offended by her words. “Not really one of my kind. He had a very distant connection to the original Lynx, but the blood had been diluted through years of mixing with demons an d even humans.”

Maya refused to react to his implication that the mixed blood made Peri inferior.

“Did Brenda r ecognize you?”

Joe shook his head. “Why would she? She might have been a witch, but she never realized that Peri’s father was anything but another human.”

Maya wasn’t convinced. “Then why would she have your pictures hidden in her p rivate papers?”

“I assume Brenda hired someone to keep a watch on Peri since she’d told her coven that she’d killed her daughter. It might have been a little uncomfortable if Peri had made an unexpect ed appearance.”

“The images were focused on you,” Maya stubb ornly insisted.

Joe slowed his pace, his nostrils flaring as if he’d caught a new scent. Maya hadn’t. The sulfur had scalded her nose until she couldn’t smell anything else.

“It always happens if I’m in the vicinity,” Joe said in di stracted tones.

“Why?”

“What can I say?” He lifted a shoulder. “I’m ve ry photogenic.”

Maya made a sound of imp atience. “Why?”

“It has something to do with my powers,” he retorted, clearly uninterested in the conversation. “I can encourage people not to consciously notice me, but technology is always drawn in my direction.”

That made a weird sort of sense. Magic and technology were always battling agai nst each other.

“What are your powers?”

“A discussion for another time.”

The words were clipped, warning her that she’d crossed a line. Maya shrugged. That was fair enough. Every species—including mages—closely guarded their secrets.

She readily shifted the direction of the conversation. “How many Watchers are there in the world?”

Surprisingly, Joe answered her question. And it wasn’t even drenched in his usual sarcasm. “It depends on the need. When things are quiet, there are only a couple of us. During times of war or upheaval, there are dozens r oaming around.”

Maya wasn’t sure whether to be reassured or frightened by his revelation. She didn’t completely trust the myster ious creatures.

“Where do you go when you aren’t r oaming around?”

“We have our own afterlife.” He sniffed, waving a hand toward their bleak surroundings. “Only it’s a lot nicer. And it doesn’t stink.”

She studied his profile, wondering how he’d decided on his scruffy disguise. Was it to blend into the background of the streets? Or because he’d realized she had a soft spot for those in need? No matter how aggravating he might be, he had known that she was never going to run him off. In fact, she fed him on a daily basis....

Suddenly her brows arched. “And it just happens to be your turn to b e the Watcher?”

“Someth ing like that.”

“So why be a Watcher in front of the Witch’s Brew?”

She sensed his jerk of surprise, as if he hadn’t been expecting the question. “I have to be somewhere. Your coffee sucks, but you make a decent blu eberry muffin.”

The casually sarcastic tone didn’t fool her. Not t his time. “No.”

“Your muffins aren’t decent?” His expression was too innocent to be real. “Harsh.”

“You’re there because of me,” she said, absolutely convinced she was right.

He tsked her words. “That’s a little vain, isn’t it? Not everything is about yo u, Maya Rosen.”

She narrowed her gaze, using the tip of her finger to jab his upper arm. “You’re my Benefactor.” She jabbed again and then once again for good measure. Perhaps she should be afraid of this male, but he’d been a part of her life for years. It was hard to conjure the proper respect. “You’re the one who’s been protect ing me, right?”

“Perhaps,” he grudg ingly admitted.

“Why?”

“I could sense a disruption in the world, but I couldn’t pinpoint the source.” He glanced at her with a wry expression. “Not until I at last tra cked you down.”

Maya blinked. “I’m a disruption?”

“Not you personally. Although you do have a temper.” His gaze lowered to the center of her chest, but not in a creeper sort of way. It was purely professional. “I was referring to the link from Batu’s demon to you.”

Maya’s breath hissed between her clenched teeth. He’d known about the connection and didn’t warn her? The jerk.

“Why didn’t you just get rid of it ?” she snapped.

“Because I didn’t know the source or what would happen if I did....” He wiggled his fingers in a gesture she assumed was supposed to be air quotes. “‘Get rid of it.’” He sniffed, clearly offended. “It’s possible I could have opened a rift that would have spilled death into your world. Is that what you want?”

She huffed in annoyance. “In your words...” She did her own air quotes. “‘Don’t ask fooli sh questions.’”

“Touché.” He nodded his head, acknowledging her direct hit. “I decided to offer you my protection while I waited to see what happened.” His attention returned to their surroundings, his pace slow and cautious. Did he think there was something nearby? The thought sent a shiver through Maya. Leeches were scary enough when they were hidden in a human body. She wasn’t sure she was ready to see one in its primordial form. “I assumed that eventually whoever had created the link would try to do some thing with it.”

“And that’s all you wanted? Just to protect me?”

“What else?”

“I recall you demanding my help on more than one occasion in return for your protection,” sh e reminded him.

He shrugged. “Would you have trusted me if I’d offered my assistance without asking someth ing in return?”

Okay. He had a point. “No. I suppose not.”

“Besides, I’m not just here to take care of you. I have other duties. It only made sense to utilize your talents to take care of the more mundane problems th at cropped up.”

“Mundane?” Maya growled in disbelief. “Just in the past few months I was thrown through a mezzanine window, shoved into a magical mirror, and nearly exploded to smithereens.” She paused for dramatic e ffect. “Twice.”

Joe pursed his lips, appearing sublimely indifferent to her various brushes with death. “What is smithereens? I’ve never underst ood that term.”

“You—” She bit off her angry words. This male had his own priorities, and her pain or discomfort wasn’t going to change them. “Never mind. Does this mean that once we’ve found Batu’s demon and killed it, then our partnership will be over?”

“Eager to get rid of me?”

She wrinkled her nose. Honestly, she hadn’t really thought about the future. Right now it was enough to survive from one minu te to the next.

“I just w ant this over.”

Joe came to a sudden stop, his expression grim. “You’re about to get your wish.”