Chapter 3
Maya limped her way from the train station to the Witch’s Brew. She should have called an Uber. Her impulsive dive over the edge of the building had left her with a twisted ankle and magic so depleted she might as well have been a human. It made her vulnerable. Never a good thing. And especially not on a night when she’d been lured into a trap, nearly blasted into oblivion, and confronted by a ghost from her past.
Only Ravyr isn’t a ghost, a voice whispered in the back of her mind. He was as solid and as gorgeous and epically irritating as ever. And sexy...had she listed the sexy part?
Maya muttered her opinion of leeches who refused to stay dead, forcing herself to concentrate on the reason she was wandering through the dark streets instead of being whisked to her front do or in comfort.
Joe.
The strange male who skulked around the neighborhood, pretending to be a vagrant who enjoyed calling out rude insults whenever she passed him on the street and stealing pastries out of her shop with a complete l ack of remorse.
Only he wasn’t just a vagrant. Or even a man.
Over the past year, Maya had become increasingly convinced that Joe had a deeper purpose for hanging around the Witch’s Brew. And she assumed it was connected to her, since both Peri and Skye had recen tly moved away.
Unfortunately, her efforts to follow him when he left the area had been a waste of time. He either disappeared or deliberately led her into some sleazy joint where she’d stood out like a sore thumb. She’d even tried to place a location charm on him, only to discover her spell had been transferred to a stray dog and that she’d been following it a round all day.
She didn’t have any idea how he’d done it. She’d never heard of anyone able to transfer a spell. All she was sure of was that Joe was playing with her. And enjoying every second of h er frustration.
Grimly hobbling around the corner, Maya headed down the narrow street toward her shop, which was squished between a tanning salon and a falafel restaurant. Although the inside lights had been switched off when Joyce had closed for the day, the neon sign with a witch’s hat and coffee cup in the center blinked wit h a happy glow.
A small smile curved her lips. She’d opened the shop almost twelve years ago, but that sign brought a burst of pleasure every time she caught sight of it. The Witch’s Brew was her creation. Her busi ness. Her home.
Most importantly, it was he r independence.
A rare gif t for any mage.
Nearing the front entrance to the coffee shop, Maya was prepared as a dark form detached itself from the ne arby lamppost.
Joe.
As always, the strange male was wearing a velour tracksuit with a battered fishing hat tugged down to hide his hair and shadow his eyes. A bushy beard obscured the lower half of his face, making it impossible to determine the male’s age and ethnicity. Maya assumed it was a deliberate disguise to allow him to roam the neighborhood without attrac ting attention.
Most pedestrians scurried past homeless people without looking at them. They were an uncomfortable prick to their conscience. And as long as Joe didn’t cause trouble, no one was willing to try to run him off.
“There you are,” Maya muttered, halting in fro nt of the male.
Joe made a sound of disgust. “You smell like a possum that—”
Maya interrupted his insu lt. “Not now.”
“Rude,” Joe groused before he jerked in surprise, his gaze sweeping over her disheveled appearance. “Why are you c overed in ash?”
“You tell me.”
“Oh sweet. Are we playing a guessing game?”
“No. I’m sick of games,” Maya snapped. “You’ve been leading me from one false trail to another. I assume you thi nk it’s funny?”
He tilted his head, as if considering his response. “M ildly amusing.”
Maya would have stomped her foot if her ankle wasn’t throbbing. Instead she glared at the massive p ain in her ass.
“But tonight wasn’t a joke. You tri ed to kill me.”
Joe’s eyes suddenly burned with an emerald fire, and the air thickened with an oppressive sense of warning that pressed heavily against Maya. It wasn’t the same as standing next to Ravyr. The vampire’s power was a raw, almost feral energy that pulsed around him. Like a li on on the hunt.
This was an ancient, terrifyingly vast sense of dominion. As if she was gazing into a void her brain could n’t comprehend.
“If I desired you dead, you wouldn’t be standing here to complain about what almost happene d, Maya Rosen.”
Maya struggled to breathe as the air was squeezed from her lungs. With a desperate effort, she jerked her head to the side, breaking contact with the emerald fi re in his eyes.
“I was lured into a trap that I barely escaped before the building explode d,” she rasped.
“Who lured you...ah.” He slowly nodd ed. “Courtney.”
Maya glanced back, relieved to discover that Joe was once again the har mless vagrant.
“I knew it,” she ground out. “Courtney is one of your minions.”
Joe snorted. “I wouldn’t mind having a few minions, but they wouldn’t be immature mages with anger mana gement issues.”
Maya planted her fists on her hips, determinedly dismissing the glimpse of infinite power she’d witnessed just seconds before. She was afraid. Not just because of Courtney’s treachery or the building exploding or even the resurrection of Ravyr in her life. She’d been plagued by a strange unea se for months.
She’d tried to dismiss it as the upheavals in her life. First Peri discovering her wild magic and mating with Valen. And then Skye leaving Jersey to be with Micha. It was an unsettling time. But now she was certain there was something more than constant changes causi ng her anxiety.
And she wanted answers.
“If she doesn’t work for you, how did you know she’s a mage?” she demanded in accusing tones. Although humans were familiar with witches who could use rituals and incantations to perform small spells, they had no idea there were women who possessed magic in their very blood. Just as they had no idea there were demons and vampires walking among them. And dragons sleeping beneath their feet. “Or that she has anger issues?” she added fo r good measure.
Joe shrugged. “She’s been leaking all ov er the place.”
“Leaking m agic or anger?”
“Both,” he said, confirming Maya’s suspicion he wasn’t just another human. Not that it got her any closer to figuring out his true identity.
A worry for later, she reluctantly accepted. If Courtney hadn’t been working for Joe, then Maya needed to find out who’d hired her. The soo ner the better.
“What else did you not ice about her?”
“Nothing really.” He reached up to scratch at his chin through the bushy beard. “Unless you count the fact that she was sneaking around the neighborhood for a week before you hired her.”
It took a full minute for Maya to battle back her burst of anger at his offhand revelation. Thankfully her magic was too depleted for her to do something sh e might regret.
“She’s been sneaking around the neighborhood and you didn’t think to mention it to me?” she ground out.
“Y ou didn’t ask.”
“Anything else that I might have forg otten to ask?”
There was more chin scratching. “She didn’t come into town on the train.”
Maya’s anger was forgotten at the unexpected words. “ Did she drive?”
“Nop e. She walked.”
“In those heels?” Maya blinked. “She can’t have gone very far.”
“Don’t kn ow about that.”
“What direction did she come from?”
“That way.” Joe waved a hand in a vaguely nort hern direction.
“Did you see her anywhere else in the neighborhood?”
“Like where?”
Maya heaved a frustrated sigh. “A restaurant. A grocery store. T he laundromat.”
“Nope,” Joe murmured, his tone distracted as he leaned forward to smell her hair. “What’s that?”
“Stop sniffing me,” Maya protested. “It’s vulgar.”
Joe ignored her protest. “Who were you with?”
“You know who I was w ith. Courtney.”
He was shaking his head before the name left Maya’s lips. “Courtney smells like bitter lemons.” He sniffed again, barely avoiding the slap that Maya aimed at his face. “This is power. A ru thless hunter.”
Maya hissed, taking a painful step backward. It was Ravyr’s scent. It had to be. “You’re ima gining things.”
“It’s later than I thought.” Joe’s eyes glowed with that emerald fire as he regarded her with an unnerving intensity. “The past is here, Maya Rosen. F or both of us.”
Maya shivered. The words sounded l ike a warning.
“What past?”
In typical Joe fashion, the male turned to scurry down the sidewalk, quickly disappearing into the shadows. Maya didn’t bother to follow him. It would be a waste of time. Instead she limped to the front door of th e Witch’s Brew.
Once inside, she whispered words of protection, laying a web of magic over the door. She was still unsettled, and she needed the comfort of knowing that nothing could enter her home while sh e was sleeping.
Making her way upstairs, Maya headed into the bathroom, standing in the shower until the hot water was gone and her skin was wrinkled. Then, pulling on her most comfy nightgown, she cr awled into bed.
She expected to spend the night tossing and turning. Her days were rarely boring, but it wasn’t often that she was nearly decimated by a bomb and rescued by a vampire she thought was dead. Instead, she fell into a deep sleep the second h er eyes closed.
For a few precious moments she simply drifted in a soothing darkness, her tense muscles relaxing as she burrowed into the mattress. This was exactly w hat she needed.
The peace, however, couldn’t last. Not when the tumultuous events of the evening continued to nag at her. Plus, there was a new, bone-deep fear that was burrowing into the cente r of her heart.
It’d started the moment she’d caught sight of Ravyr and realized he’d survived the collapse of Batu’s lair. The knowledge had sparked a disturbing sense of relief along with an equally disturbing s ense of dread.
If Ravyr had survived, the n who else had?
The question whispered over and over as she moved through the dreamscape, the shadows parting to reveal that she was walking along a pathway. It was paved with smooth stones worn by endless centuries of worshippers and buried in the moist jungle soil. A shiver of horror trickled down Maya’s spine as she recognized where she was, but she made no effort to shake herself awake.
She ha d to make sure.
Continuing past the round, ornately carved temples coated in mold and occasionally fractured by the trees reclaiming the land, Maya kept her gaze locked on the pyramid towering above the thick vegetation. Inside, a voice was screaming for her to flee. She’d sacrificed everything to escape this hellhole. She would rather be burned ali ve than return.
Step by painful step she forced herself forward, ignoring the distant cries of pain and even the silvery swirl of magic that hung thick in the air. Nothing could touch her. Not when she was safely tuc ked in her bed.
At last reaching the main temple, Maya angled away from the staircase that led toward the top of the pyramid. She wasn’t here to worship the bastard who’d done his best to destroy her life. Her route took her to the side of the temple where a door was set in the stone. Predictably the years of abandonment had covered the opening with a layer of invasive foliage, and with a muttered profanity, she grabbed the largest vine, intending to tug it away. Instead, she gasped as she felt a sharp stab of pai n from a thorn.
Jerking back, Maya glanced down at the thin ribbon of blood dripping from her wounded hand. Da mn. That hurt.
Another shiver raced through her. A dream. That’s all. Nothing more than a dream, she sternly re minded herself.
Refusing to give into her pounding sense of dread, Maya clenched her hand and muttered words of magic. A minute later the plant was neatly cut in two, dropping from the opening to lie in a tangled mess on the ground. Without hesitation, Maya stepped through the narrow doorway and headed down the tunnel that led to the vast chambers dug de ep underground.
An inky blackness shrouded her, but Maya’s steps never faltered. She’d walked this passage a thousand times. She could find her way blindfolded. A few minutes later, there was a stir of musty air as she entered the lower cavern that was filled with a soft glow. Maya had never known where the orangish light came from, or why the power that hummed beneath her feet felt different from the other Gyres she’d entered, but there was no questioning the magic in the air. It was so thick it made it h ard to breathe.
It was, no doubt, the reason that Batu had cho sen this place.
He was an ambitious vampire who believed he was destined to rule the Cabal.
As if the mere thought of her former master had conjured his evil soul, the orange glow flickered. Maya froze, her breath lodged in her lungs as she watched the vision appear in front of her. Swallowing her scream, she stumbled back, her hand outstretched as she prepared a hasty spell.
“Don’t you dare,” a female voice snapped, the murky vision coming into focus to reveal a starkly beautiful woman with silvery hair pulled into a bun and large dark eyes that regarded Maya with icy arrogance.
“Ti a,” she rasped.
The powerful mage was older than Maya, although she wasn’t sure how much older. It was extremel y rude to ask.
Long ago Tia had been Maya’s friend and mentor, but that had all changed forty-five years ago in this precise location. Now they were bitter enemies who coexisted by staying far away from each other. Maya in Jersey, and Tia at her isolated esta te in Colorado.
“Do you have to be so noisy?” Tia groused, tightening the belt around her sa tin nightgown.
Maya furrowed her brow. “Are you real?”
Tia smiled. Or at least she curved her lips into what passed as a smile. This woman was as cold as a snake. A second later Maya felt a stinging slap hit her cheek.
“Does that settle the issue?” Tia asked in over ly sweet tones.
Maya ground her teeth together. Tia hadn’t physically smacked her, but the result had been the same.
“Bitch,” Maya ground out. “Why are yo u in my dream?”
Tia sniffed. “Because you keep di sturbing mine.”
“You’re the dream teller, not me,” M aya protested.
Tia wasn’t a clairvoyant. Not like Maya’s protégée, Skye, who’d recently used her visions to save the world. But Tia’s dreams gave her glimpses of the future and how she could manipulate it to feed her insatiable ambition. And long ago, it’d allowed the two of them to speak in this dreamworld. The only place they could be assured co mplete privacy.
“No, but our past bond obviously keeps us tied together.” Tia pointed out the obvious, slowly turning until she was facing the side of the cavern that had collapsed into a pile of rubble. Maya had done her best to avoid looking at the destruction. Now she allowed her gaze to trace the scorch marks that blackened the floor along with the lavish collection of furniture and rare objects that had been melted into globs of rubbish. Slowly, Tia turned back to face her. “Why are you in this place?”
Maya shivered. “You don’t ha ve nightmares?”
Tia’s smug confidence slid away, revealing the woman who’d been molded in a crucible of ruthless torture. A woman who would destroy the world before she was ever a victim again.
“Often, but this isn’t a nightmare,” she retorted, dark eyes narrowing as she studied Maya. “You’re searching for somethin g. Or someone.”
Maya hesitated. She didn’t trust Tia as far as she could throw her. The mage had proved that she would sacrifice anything and anyone to achieve her selfish goals. Still, no one else would understand the fear that bubbled inside her like a potion in a hot cauldron.
Plus, there was always the chance that this woma n was involved.
Tia bitterly blamed her for destroying the partnership that had allowed them to survive endless d ecades of hell.
“ Ravyr’s alive.”
Tia sucked in a sharp breath, genuine shock widening her eyes. “You’re sure?”
“P ainfully sure.”
The scent of scorched cloves filled the cavern. “Did he attack you?”
Maya grimaced. “Just the opposite. He saved me from a messy death.”
Tia sucked in a deep breath before she grimly replaced her shocked expression with the familiar mocking sneer.
“You allowed yourself to be a damsel in distress?” Tia clicked her tongue. “Did I teac h you nothing?”
The older mage was deliberately trying to provoke Maya. Unfortunately, it worked like a charm. No one could piss her off quicker than Tia. Well, maybe Ravyr, she sile ntly conceded.
“I will never be a damsel in distress,” Maya snappe d. “Not again.”
Tia sniffed. “Then why would you need to be rescu ed by a leech?”
“I was lured into a snare by a mage named Courtney Tate.”
“Courtney Tate?” Tia shrugged. “Never heard of her.”
“Me either, but she claims to b e an assassin.”
Tia arched a brow. “If she were an assassin I would recog nize her name.”
Maya believed her. Tia possessed an impressive network of spies spread around the world. Only the Cabal could match her in the sheer amount of information she managed to acquire. If Courtney was a professional assassin, Tia would know.
“She told me that she gets her jobs through an a pp,” Maya said.
“An assassin app? Is that a joke?”
“Not accordin g to Courtney.”
Tia rolled her eyes. “This generation. They make me tired. T hey really do.”
Maya pursed her lips. Time to ask the obvious question. “I don’t suppose you hired her, did you?”
Tia narrowed her gaze. “I assume you’re trying to offend me. If I wa nted you dead—”
“Okay, okay.” Maya waved her hand. She really didn’t suspect Tia. The woman was many things, but she wa s never sloppy.
“Why are you here?”
Maya flinched at the abrupt question. “I don’t know.”
Tia stepped toward her, her dark gaze watchful . “Yes you do.”
Did she? Maya glanced around the desolate cavern, her head tilting back to study the high balconies that were carved into the stone. Many had crumbled away, but the one that she’d used remained. As if to taunt her with the endless nights she’d been forced to sit in full public view while her master had entertained his guests. She lowered her gaze, swiveling until she was staring at the lump of melted gold in the center of th e tiled floor.
Once it’d been a throne encrusted with precious gems and velvet cushions. A throne fi t for a king...
“Is he dea d?” she rasped.
“Ravyr?” Tia demanded in confusion. “You just said he was alive . The bastard.”
“Not Ravyr.” Maya ground her teeth until she thought they might shatter. This place was scraping her nerves raw. Or maybe they were already raw and this place was pouring salt on the wounds. Whatever the cause, she desperately wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere else, including th e pits of hell.
“Batu,” she at last managed to mutter. “Coul d he be alive?”
Tia’s face paled, her eyes revealing a fear that came from the very depths of her being.
“Why would you as k that? Maya?”
Tia reached out, as if she was going to grab Maya’s arm, but even as her fingers brushed over Maya’s bare skin, she was fading into a gray mist. No, wait. It wasn’t Tia.
She was the one who was fading, Maya abru ptly realized.
Suddenly she was caught between relief to be out of the cavern with its smothering sense of tragedy and a sharp apprehension as the gloom was replaced with a blindingly bright light. Lifting her hand, Maya shielded her eyes. She was either being sucked into the center of a star, or surrounded by a power so vast it threatene d to drown her.
Wild magic, a voice whispered in the back of her mind. The primitive source of power that mages tapped into when they created spells and potions and curses. For most it seared through their veins as they matured, transforming them from human witches into mages, before it retreated. Only Peri Sanguis had managed to tap back into the seemingly infinite power.
Maya trembled, bracing herself as the outrageous power churned and pulsed around her. Was it alive? It felt like it was trying to delve deep inside her, seeking ou t her secrets.
Struggling to stay upright, Maya didn’t notice the silvery form that was moving toward her. Not until the magic slowly settled to flow past her at a steady pace, like a river of power rather than a raging storm. Finally able to catch her breath, Maya belatedly realized that there was a man standing directly i n front of her.
No, not a man. A vision from a dream. He was shockingly beautiful, with skin that shimmered like bronze and eyes that burned with an emerald fire. His features were chiseled and too perfect to be real. Wearing a green robe that draped over his large body, he towered above her with an u nspoken threat.
Maya grimly refused to kneel. She’d seen this male before. He’d been a glimpse in the distance, but he wasn’t the sort of ma le you forgot.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
He stared down at her with an aloof arrogan ce. “You know.”
Maya licked her dry lips. She had so many suspicions. “The Watcher?” she demanded, referring to the mysterious creature who was responsible for keeping the dragons from wakening from their hibernation. He remained silent. “Are you my Benefactor?” she pressed. “Are you Joe?”
“I have many names,” he murmured, refusing to answer. “I’m here to of fer a warning.”
Maya didn’t press him. She wasn’t sure she truly w anted to know.
“What warning?”
“The past will never be forgotten, but don’t become so lost in your memories that you allow it to blind you to the danger that is rising,” h e informed her.
Maya frowned. “A rising danger? What’s that sup posed to mean?”
“You’ve e ncountered it.”
Maya tried to hold the smoldering emerald gaze. It was one of the most difficult things she’d ever done. His mere presence slammed against her with brutal force, but she was determined to st and her ground.
“Ravyr?” she demanded, not surprised when the creature waved an impatient hand of dismissal. If Ravyr was the threat, she would never have seen him coming. He could have destroyed her before she realized he was still alive. “Courtney?” she guessed again.
The male dipped his head in agreement. “A pawn, but one who can lead you to the truth.”
Maya made a sound of annoyance. “She’s not leading me anywhere if I c an’t find her.”
“You are Maya Rosen,” the male reminded her, as if she’d forgotten. And maybe she had. “Do wha t you do best.”
The words whispered through her mind even as the light faded and she was once again snuggled in the soft warm th of her bed.
Do what you do best....