Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
REID
I slipped the obsidian pendant beneath my shirt so that Warlock Nathaniel Birch wouldn’t be able to see it. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need to protect myself against him during our training session today, but if it came down to it, I wanted to have all the advantages I could.
“Are you sure you want to go with him?” Hamish asked, his brow furrowed with concern as he leaned against the wall in the living room, sipping from a cup of coffee.
“I want to learn how to use my magic better.” I rubbed at the red skin that still encircled my wrists. It didn’t hurt as much as it had, but it still wasn’t pleasant. I had no desire to accidentally harm myself—or someone else, especially my baby—again just because my magic was out of control.
“But do we trust this guy?” he persisted.
I patted the spot where my shirt covered the obsidian pendant. “Zander does.”
“And that’s enough for you?”
I considered that. I doubted there was anyone I fully trusted, but between the hours sitting together inside his car—alone and vulnerable but safe all the same—and the nights he’d spent parked outside to protect me, I believed he wouldn’t endanger me.
“For now.”
It wasn’t as if I planned to let my guard down around Warlock Birch.
I’d keep a close eye on him and I expected he’d be doing the same with me.
I doubted that I could out-fight him if the necessity arose, but I could certainly outrun him, even pregnant.
I’d seen how he’d had to use a cane to support himself.
There was a knock on the door and I rose from the sofa, grabbed my jacket, and pulled it on. I’d packed a woolen hat and gloves into one of the pockets in case I needed them, as well as a small packet of dill pickle chips and my anti-nausea medication.
It wasn’t raining or snowing outside, but I’d poked my head out for long enough to realize that it was bitterly cold.
“If you’re gone for longer than a few hours, I’m sending the police after you,” Hamish said, watching me go. “Will you message me every hour so I know you’re okay?”
I paused, struck by the urge to hug him. I wasn’t sure how much he actually liked me, but he was trying to keep me safe nonetheless and I appreciated that. I hesitated too long and it became awkward so I just nodded and hurried to the door, pretending the whole pause hadn’t happened.
When I opened the front door, Warlock Birch stood there, resting his weight on his cane. A shaggy black and white dog sat at his feet, one ear cocked and the other floppy. She was alert but calm, and I didn’t get any threatening vibes from her.
“Is she your support animal?” I asked, referring to the pet some warlocks kept to help ground them while they were using magic. I glanced at his cane. “Or perhaps a service animal?”
“She’s a support animal,” he said, taking the question in stride. Some warlocks were secretive when it came to their pets because they made an easy target if someone wanted to weaken an enemy. “Her name is Jilly. You can pat her, if you like.”
I bent just a little and extended my hand toward Jilly.
She sniffed my fingers and then, when I met with her approval, I scratched behind her ear.
She didn’t seem jumpy, which indicated that Warlock Birch probably didn’t mistreat her.
If he was kind to dogs, perhaps I had nothing to fear from him either, but I’d reserve judgment.
“I’ve scoped out an area near the woods where we can practice without being disturbed,” he said, gesturing over his shoulder toward the National Park.
I stiffened. “Can’t we just practice on the road?”
I didn’t want to go far with a man I didn’t yet trust.
He grimaced. “We can if that makes you more comfortable, but it would limit your ability to concentrate because you’d be on the lookout for traffic. And if something were to go wrong, there would be more people around who might get hurt.”
I raised my hand toward the pendant again but stopped and dropped it to my side when I noticed how closely he was paying attention to the movement. “How far away is the area you found?”
He shrugged. “Perhaps a mile or so.”
I could run that, if need be, and with shifters’ enhanced senses, if I screamed, someone would probably hear. “Okay, but you’ll need to give me directions so I can walk there.”
Like hell would I get in the car with a warlock I didn’t know. Even if my ward hadn’t prevented him from entering—which indicated that he didn’t mean me any harm—there were ways around that for skilled warlocks. It didn’t necessarily mean his intentions were good.
Warlock Birch nodded as if this was totally understandable and he reeled off directions then added, “I’ll drive there and get prepared while I wait for you.”
“Sounds good.” I stepped out of the house, closing the distance between us, and studied him discreetly for any indication that he might try to abduct me or use a draining spell on me.
As if sensing my unease, he limped back to his Jeep with Jilly on his heels. There was an enclosed kennel of some type on the back and he opened it. She jumped in and he secured the latch and rounded the vehicle.
I moved out from the shelter of the house and the wind whipped at me, stirring my hair and chilling the back of my neck. I shivered and unzipped my pocket to retrieve the gloves and hat.
I followed Birch’s directions, cursing the dull ache in my hips but grateful that I wasn’t carrying too much extra weight yet.
When I arrived I found him sitting on a park bench near the edge of the trees in an area of grass with a few picnic tables and a children’s playground. The playground was bare since the kids were all in school. Even if they hadn’t been it was too cold for little ones to spend much time outside.
Warlock Birch used his cane to lever himself up. “Has anyone taught you to shield yourself from the elements?”
“Um, no.”
“Then I’ll do that soon. I’ve been told that you’ve demonstrated the ability to do basic wards, to use electricity to attack, and to mask sounds and smells.
” He gestured toward a piece of cardboard that hung in the air midway between us and the trees.
“I’d like to see where your skills are currently at so I know where to start from. Make sense?”
“Yeah.”
He smiled and it softened his harsh features. “Aim your sparks at the center of the cardboard. We’re going for finesse, not power. How’s your eyesight?”
“Not fantastic, but I get by.”
“If you look closely, there’s an X in the center of the target. Aim for that.”
I let out a breath and eyed the target, spotting a mark in the center.
I checked to make sure both he and Jilly were out of the way and then sent a stream of sparks toward the target.
When it stopped, we both stared at the result and I cringed.
There was a scorch mark on the edge of the target but none where the X was.
“It’s a start,” Birch said, otherwise not commenting on my poor control. “Now I’d like you to send everything you’ve got at the target. I want the whole thing to go up in smoke.”
That was easier. Less finesse required. I pointed at the target and it was engulfed by sparks and quickly caught fire. As the ashes started to fall, Birch did something to make them disappear before they hit the ground.
He came to stand in front of me. “So, your power is good, which isn’t a surprise considering how inherently magical you are.
Your accuracy leaves something to be desired.
Next, let’s test your ability to mask sound and scent.
I’m going to stay here and I want you to use the spell you usually would and walk from here to the trees and back. ”
I mumbled the words of the dead language that started the spell and did as he said. When I returned, he was nodding approvingly. “I didn’t hear a single thing. Will you hold out your hand to Jilly?”
I did and she sniffed me once again.
“Jilly, seek,” Birch ordered.
Jilly trotted away, sniffing the ground. She stalled a few yards in front of us and wandered idly for a moment, then seemed to pick the trail up again and followed it perhaps fifty yards before becoming confused.
“Hmm.” Birch called her back. When she came he rewarded her with a treat from his pocket. “Your scent-masking could use improvement but considering how little training you’ve had, you’ve done well.”
My chest wanted to swell with pride, but I forced myself not to react. I wasn’t going to fall into a trap just because someone fed my ego.
He sat on the bench again and rubbed his knee, as if it was bothering him. I couldn’t help but wonder what had injured him so badly that he hadn’t been able to heal himself. I wasn’t well-versed in healing magic, but I knew that many warlocks could self-heal.
He patted the bench, indicating for me to join him. “Tell me what you know about wards.”
I padded closer but before I reached him, the obsidian pendant warmed against my skin and the itch of foreign magic swept over me. Nausea coiled in my gut and I dropped to my knees and emptied my guts.
“Do you feel that?” I asked, panting for breath.