Chapter 10
Dae-Jung
Ancient Magicks smelled like sage, old books, and secrets. I'd been here before. Plenty of times, actually, since Killian mated Lizzy and our two covens started playing nice together. But tonight the air felt heavier, charged with the kind of tension that made my fangs itch.
Or maybe that was just because Alice Moss was sitting three feet away from me, looking brighter than a star trapped in human form despite the seriousness of the situation.
I leaned against the wall near the back of the shop's secret room, arms crossed, trying to look casual.
Bored, even. The last thing I needed was for anyone to notice the way my gaze kept drifting to her honey-blonde hair, the gentle curve of her neck, or the way her flowing rainbow dress moved around her legs when she shifted in her seat.
???. Focus.
Killian stood at the front of the room, Lizzy at his side.
Judy Moss occupied the chair in the back, her expression and bright blue eyes giving her the appearance of someone who'd seen everything and wasn't impressed by any of it.
The rest of the witches—Angel, Esme, and my Alice—filled the other seats, while we vampires held up the walls, since we could stand here all night without getting tired.
My Alice? Where the hell had that come from?
I gave myself a mental shake.
Elias stood near the door, looking more put-together than he had in days, though I'd bet my favorite leather pants that was all for show. Talin sat close to him, her shoulder nearly touching his hip, and even from across the room I could feel the electricity between them. The bond. The inevitable.
Which left me and Alice as the only two un-bonded souls in a room full of mated pairs and family ties.
??. Fuck.
"Marcus showed up at The Purple Fang last night," Killian was saying, his slight Irish lilt more pronounced than usual.
Judy's expression didn't change, but her fingers tightened on the armrest of her chair. "What did he want?"
Elias cleared his throat, and I fought the urge to grin. Watching my usually composed brother squirm was entertaining, even under the circumstances.
"To threaten me mostly," he told her.
"But why you specifically?" she asked.
Elias and Killian exchanged a look, then Killian gave him a nod, and he turned back to Judy. "Because he thought he could get to Talin through me."
Judy held up her hand and closed her eyes. "Wait. Talin?"
I should have been paying attention. Should have been listening as the room erupted into multiple conversations going on at once.
Instead, I was watching Alice.
She sat perfectly still in her chair, hands folded in her lap, the picture of serenity. But I could see the tension in her shoulders, the way her fingers twisted together. And her brown eyes had that faraway quality that said her mind was somewhere else entirely.
But she must've felt me staring at her, because those pretty eyes suddenly cut to mine across the room, and I felt it like a physical impact right in the center of my chest.
??, ??, ??. No, no, no.
I looked away first, jaw tight, forcing my attention back to the chaos unfolding at the front of the room.
"—can't just make decisions that affect the entire coven without consulting—" Judy was saying.
"With all due respect," Elias cut in, and his voice had an edge to it I recognized well. "She's her own person capable of making her own choices."
"She's a Moss," Angel snapped. "That makes her our responsibility."
"She's my mate." Elias's fangs flashed. "That makes her mine."
The room fell silent.
Well, that got everyone's attention, didn't it?
"What?" Judy finally spoke, her eyes going back and forth between her niece and the vampire, like she'd only just noticed how buddy-buddy they'd suddenly become.
Talin reached up and squeezed his hand, and I watched him visibly fight for control. "It's true," she told her aunt.
"Let's all calm down," Killian said, his power rolling through the room like a wave.
A subtle reminder that the witches didn't have all the authority here.
"We're not here to debate the bond. It's done.
And there's nothing to do about it. We're here to figure out what Marcus's game was by coming here, and how we should react to it. If at all."
Judy stood, her aura pulsing with barely contained frustration. "What Marcus wants is obvious. He has Alex. And now he wants Alice as well, since they're both descendants of his brother and carry djinn blood. It's what he's wanted all along."
"Then why hasn't he just taken her?"
Everyone looked at Lizzy.
She gave them a little shrug. "He took Alex. Why not just take Alice, too?"
Finally, Alice spoke, her voice soft but clear. "That's a great question. And, honestly, I don't know why I'm still here."
"Maybe because you haven't tapped into the dark side of your magic like Alex has," Angel offered. Then she tilted her head, narrowing her eyes as she stared at Alice.
"What?" Alice asked with a frown, staring back. Suddenly, she brushed at her arms like something was crawling on her. "Stop it," she ordered Angel.
Angel leaned back in her chair. "Yeah, you're still pure as snow." She crossed her arms. "Guess that means you're a good witch, and useless to help us get your brother back."
"Leeloo." Jamal's tone held a warning. "Be nice."
"What?" she asked him. "I'm just stating the obvious."
"I can find Alex."
All heads turned to Talin. Under the visible scrutiny of her High Priestess, she took a bracing breath and rose slowly from her chair to stand tall beside Elias. "I know where he is." She gave a small shrug. "Well, kind of. But I can get to him."
"We don't know that yet," Elias insisted.
"I can do it," she insisted.
Judy glanced at the other witches before she directed her attention back to Talin. "How?"
"I told you about the dreams and visions I was having."
Judy nodded. "You miss him," she said. "That's to be expected. I'm sure we're all having dreams about him. Isn't that right?" she asked the others. When they nodded, she continued. "Honey, I know you want to contribute, to help, but dreams are just dreams."
Kenya rose from her chair and stepped forward, her hand reaching for Jamal, who steadied her. She'd been getting rapidly weaker in the last few days. Always soft-spoken, her voice was barely audible when she said, "Judy, please just listen to her."
The matriarch had always had a soft spot for Kenya, and I was sure seeing her so weak pulled at her heartstrings like it did all of us. She wasn't going to survive much longer on the donor blood she forced down her throat.
The thought sobered me.
Kenya's eyes pleaded with Judy to do as she asked, and after a moment, she gave her a nod and leaned back in her chair.
"I've been trying to reach Alex through the threads," Talin explained.
"I can see him, but Marcus is also aware of my presence.
And he's trying to turn my magic against me.
But I think he's also afraid of it somehow, and that's why he went after Elias instead of me.
Killing Elias, knowing what he is to me, would.
.." She glanced up at Elias, who was staring at her hard, waiting with the rest of us to hear what she would say.
"Well, it would devastate me if someone—anyone—got hurt because of me.
But when I showed up at the club, he seemed…
" she glanced down as she tried to think of the words, "not afraid of me, exactly, but he didn't want to mess with me, either. "
I felt rather than saw Alice's reaction, a subtle shift in her energy that made my skin prickle. When I looked at her again, she was staring at Talin with something like recognition in her eyes.
"You can see the threads," Alice murmured. "The connections between people."
Talin nodded. "I'm still learning, but yes.
And with Elias's help, I can follow them without things getting out of control.
" She turned back to Judy. "I saw Alex. And it wasn't just a dream.
He's alive, barely, but he's trapped in some kind of pocket dimension, in…
binding circles? I guess? Marcus is draining his magic—"
"And using it to strengthen his own web," Alice finished, like she'd known this all along. "The dark magic in Alex is the key. The djinn magic. Marcus needs it to anchor himself to this realm permanently."
Everyone turned to stare at her.
"How do you know that?" Judy asked carefully.
Alice's aura flickered, the usual white shot through with shadows and smoke and the kind of power that didn't come from gentle earth magic.
"Because I can feel it," she said. "The same power that's in the djinn. It's inside me too." She turned to look at Angel. "It's just waiting."
"For what?" Angel asked her.
Alice shrugged. "I don't know."
The room went silent.
I should have stayed put. Should have kept my distance and my mouth shut and let the others handle this.
But before I thought through my actions, I was pushing off the wall and crossing the room to stand behind Alice's chair.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I stood there like some fucked up kind of bodyguard and gave her my support.
Not touching. Just... there.
Her shoulders relaxed slightly, and I wondered if she could feel the same draw I did. The same inexplicable need to just be close that felt like it was getting stronger every day.
?? ?? ???. This is insane.
Judy watched me cross the room, as did Killian and everyone else.
No one said anything.
After a moment, Killian cleared his throat. "The djinn power doesn't make ye dangerous," Killian said, addressing Alice directly. "Alex saved Kenya's life with that magic. And he's been learning to control it. Ye can, too."
"What if she can't?" Angel demanded. "We don't have anyone here who understands djinn magic."
"Neither did Alex, and he could teach her," Talin said. "If we can get him back."
"Which brings us back to the original problem," Judy said. "How do we reach Alex when he's trapped in a—what did you call it? a pocket dimension?—that only djinn magic or a young witch can access? A witch, I might add, who's only recently discovered these powers and has no idea how to use them."
"Perhaps she would by now if you'd helped her instead of dismissing her when she tried to tell you what was going on with her," Elias growled.
"Elias." Talin scolded.
"It's true," he told her. "Don't try to protect her."
Judy clenched her jaw and didn't respond.
I felt, more than saw, Alice tense in front of me. Felt the decision forming before she spoke it aloud.
"I could try to help Talin," she said. "If the djinn power is in me too, maybe I can use it to find him. To reach him where witch magic can't."
"Absolutely not." Judy's voice cracked like a whip. "Nothing has manifested in you yet. And you have no training with that kind of power if it did. It could consume you, twist you into something you wouldn't be able to find your way back from."
"Or it could save my brother." Alice stood, and I had to step back to give her room. Her white aura was pulsing now, bright and fierce, blinding me. Was I the only one who saw it?
"I'm not going to sit here doing nothing while Alex suffers and Talin risks her life to save him."
"You won't be doing nothing," Judy said. "You'll be staying safe while we find another way."
"There is no other way!" Alice's magic flared, and I felt the temperature in the room spike. "Talin can see the threads but can't travel them safely. Regular magic can't pierce Marcus's realm. The only thing that can reach Alex is djinn power, and I'm the only one here who has it."
"Except you don't know how to access it," Angel pointed out.
Alice's jaw set, reminding me that she might look soft, but she was pure steel underneath. "Then I'll learn."
"I can follow the threads," Talin said loudly. "When I have Elias there to anchor me to this world, I can follow them. And I can bring Alex home."
Judy opened her mouth to argue, but Killian held up a hand. "Ye need to let her try. I've watched her travel the threads. Every day she gets stronger."
"No. There has to be another solution that doesn't risk losing another member of the Moss family to that monster," Judy snapped.
"There isn't time for another solution." Talin moved to stand beside Alice in a show of solidarity that made my chest tight.
"Every day Alex is trapped there, Marcus gets stronger.
Every day we wait, we lose ground. We need to act now.
" She turned to her cousin. "I will get your brother back, Alice. I swear it to you."
I watched Alice's face, saw the gratitude and determination warring with her fear. She was terrified. Of course, she was. And she wanted to argue with her. I could see it in her eyes.
Beautiful and brave and completely insane.
In the end, she wrapped her arms around Talin and pulled her in tight. "Please get my brother back."
"I will," Talin whispered. "I swear it."
The room erupted again, but I didn't hear any of it. Just felt Alice's eyes on me over Talin's shoulder, and felt the first fragile threads of a bond that I never thought was possible.
??. Please.
I didn't even know what I was praying for anymore.