: Chapter 13

Savannah

My aunt waved her hand, and the room changed again. “Magic is very strong in our family. It rarely comes naturally—though sorcery can be an exception to that rule. Still, it requires practice. And struggle.”

She leaned forward and took my hands. “Would you like to learn?”

My breath caught. What could I say to that? No? Of course not. A day and a half ago, I’d nearly been killed by werewolves.

“Can I learn to throw fireballs?”

She smiled. “Let’s find out.”

My aunt turned to Casey, who’d just returned from washing his face. “Casey! Bring the Sphere of Devouring!”

I jumped from my seat. “The what?”

“Don’t worry. It’s well contained.”

None of those words made me feel any more confident. Quite the opposite. I wrung my hands. “Whatever happens next, I think I’m going to need an explanation first.”

“Magic takes a long time to emerge in children and cultivate. I’m assuming you don’t want to spend years. In adults, it often manifests in response to a traumatic event.”

I started shaking my head. Time to run.

She laughed. “Oh, don’t worry. We’re not going to do anything traumatic to you. But we’re going to speed up the process of you getting acquainted with your magic by sucking it out of you. As I always say, why take the long way, when you can get there faster?”

Maybe because the shortcut involves a thing called a Sphere of Devouring?

I didn’t have the strength to make a quip. My fight or flight response was, at this point, just a petrified flight response.

“Got it!” Casey chirped. Aunt Laurel used her magic to rapidly clear the coffee table, and he set down a heavy wooden platter inscribed with a nine-pointed star and a ring of runes. Some sort of object sat in the middle under a velvet cloth—the Sphere of Devouring, I presumed.

This wasn’t ominous at all.

She pulled the velvet cloth away, revealing a floating black sphere. “This little monster,” my aunt said affectionately, “sucks in magical energy and devours it.”

Casey crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall—notably, on the far opposite side of the room, practically out the door. “We use it mainly when spells go haywire.”

Aunt Laurel waved her hand at him dismissively. “We’re going to use it to draw your magic out. I’ll turn it on real low, though this little beastie could eat a pretty big hole in this part of Magic Side if I cranked it all the way up.”

I shook my head.

She gave me a warm smile that did nothing to ease my nerves. “I know this seems scary, but you can do it.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

My aunt straightened her back and raised her hand in front of the orb. “Put your hand out. Let the sphere draw your magic from you. Memorize every sensation. Learn how your magic feels when it’s flowing from you.”

Casey leaned in. “Also, don’t touch the ball. It’s like a portable black hole and will drain you dry.”

Laurel nodded calmly.

This was insanity. I didn’t trust these people. I sure as hell didn’t trust the werewolves. But I trusted my instincts, and they said I wasn’t going to survive long in this world unless I mastered my magic—whatever that meant—and learned who I really was.

I stuck my hand out and prepared to die.

Only I didn’t. “Nothing’s happening.”

“It’s not on yet.” Laurel traced her fingers along the runes, and a few started to glow blue.

Suddenly, a vortex of power surrounded me, a whirlpool drawing me toward the sphere. I felt vertigo, like I was falling through the limitless sky.

“What’s going on?” I stammered.

“The Sphere wants your magic. Let it have it. Relax. Concentrate on what you’re feeling.”

Pain.

No, not pain, cold. Like ice water trickling over my skin and through my veins. Cold that burned. I gritted my teeth as they began to chatter, and the skin of my arm turned pale. I tried to focus on the other sensations around me, but I could only think about the pain, because that’s what everything had become.

Beads of sweat stung my eye, but I blinked back the tears that pooled in the corners and stared down at the black orb, willing my magic to come.

Then like a dam breaking somewhere deep inside, cold water poured though my body. Tendrils of bluish-black smoke streamed off my arm, spiraling down into the orb. I gasped with fear and relief. Was that my magic?

It wasn’t fiery like Casey’s, but shadowy and sinister. Black magic. The dark arts. Maybe I didn’t want to find out what I was. Everything about this felt wrong. Dangerous.

Fear took root in my chest, and I tried to pull my hand back, but it wouldn’t budge. “That’s enough!”

The swirling sensations of cold and burning only intensified as my magic spiraled down into the ravenous orb. Panic gripped me, and my eyes flew to Aunt Laurel and Casey. What I saw on their faces chilled me to my core—disbelief and terror. Laurel started messing with the device, and Casey was shouting something I couldn’t hear.

A heart-crushing tightness grew in my chest, and I pressed my eyelids together, feeling tears wetting my cheeks. “Stop!”

Suddenly, a stinging pain exploded through my palm, and my body jerked backward. The couch I was sitting on screeched across the floor, colliding with the bookshelf behind us.

My body trembled from shock, and I heaved in a lungful of air. Apart from my gasps and the sound of a book dropping to the floor, the space was eerily silent. “What the hell was that?”

“Yeah. What the fuck, mom?” Casey snapped.

Laurel covered the orb. “That wasn’t supposed to happen like that. I’m sorry. You’re new to this and haven’t used your magic before. It was foolish of me to think this might work.”

She darted out of the room with the floating black orb and its platform, leaving Casey and me staring blankly at each other.

“It didn’t work? What would have happened if it had?” I shivered at the thought.

“No, it worked, all right.” Casey grinned. “You’ve just got a shit ton of crazy magic.”

“Is that supposed to be reassuring? Because it isn’t, you ass.” I shot to my feet and hugged my chest. “Did I just use my magic?”

Casey drew a hand through his hair. “Technically, you had it vacuumed out of you. But yeah.”

“What did it feel like?” Laurel asked. I hadn’t seen her return.

“Unpleasant. Like ice water flowing over my body.”

“Hmm.” Her brows knit, and she seemed lost in thought. I couldn’t decide if it was worry or perplexity on her face. “When you call your magic, you’re going to focus on that sensation.”

I choked back a laugh. “On the pain? Great. Is it like that for everyone?”

“No. Everyone is different, and the sensation would depend on their magic.”

“And what is my magic? Because it sure felt dark and freaky.”

Laurel took my hand and smiled. Her signature wrapped around me, calming my nerves. “You’ve got a lot of raw power, my dear. But it’s not dark, I promise you that. It will be a long time before you can control your magic and create things, but for now, it might just manifest in little uncontrolled bursts, like electric shocks.”

I gaped, not sure how to feel.

Remnants of my magic still prickled my skin like water dripping from an icicle. Having it ripped from my hand felt unnatural and was frankly terrifying. But suddenly, I felt alert to the world around me in a way I had never been before.

My skin was sensitive, and I could feel Casey and Laurel’s signatures permeating the room. It was like a part of me I didn’t know existed was awake and staring at the world for the first time.

Fireballs and floating brooms.

My stomach knotted. Why had my parents hidden this from me? Was there something wrong with my magic?

Jaxson had called sorcery the dark arts, black magic.

Was that what was inside of me?

Over the next hour, Laurel peppered me with questions about my childhood and my parents. I think she was trying to get my mind off of what had happened with the freaky orb that had probably nearly killed me. Luckily, reminiscing about the happy times in my life did clear my mind and raise my spirits.

Finally, Laurel gave me a coy glance out of the corner of her eye. “With all this excitement, you haven’t mentioned what brought you to us so suddenly, after all these years.”

There it was. The bombshell, ready to detonate. She’d left the question lying in wait, like a crocodile on the riverbank, and I didn’t really have a plan to get out of its jaws.

How would they feel about me if they knew I had trouble on my heels?

I pushed that thought down. I was here for answers. About myself, about my parents, and about why someone might be after me. If it had something to do with the LaSalles, then they would be the ones to ask.

“I was attacked by werewolves. My father gave my godmother the note I brought to you, saying that if anyone ever came looking for me, I should seek you out.”

Casey jumped to his feet. “Werewolves? Are you kidding me? Where?”

He’d been remarkably quiet this whole time, and now he looked like he wanted to step into a fighting ring.

Laurel motioned for Casey to sit, but her eyes blazed. No one had ever looked that intensely at me, ever. It was like she was trying to bore into my mind, kind of like Jaxson did. “Explain. Everything.”

Somewhat shakily, I laid out the facts for them. Laurel’s eyes dilated when I said that I’d been targeted, and both of them stiffened when I mentioned Jaxson. She folded her hands and leaned forward. “Jaxson Laurent was investigating your attack? Don’t be fooled by his handsome appearance. He’s lethal. Are you aware that—”

“He’s a werewolf?” I interrupted. “The alpha—whatever that means. I found out this morning. After we went out to dinner at Eclipse.” I blushed, suddenly embarrassed.

Casey’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “You went on a date with the Dockside alpha? Are you crazy?”

I slapped my hands on the table. “I didn’t know what he was or that werewolves even existed! That any of this existed!”

Casey wandered over to the sidebar and poured himself a whiskey. “Yeah, okay. Well, hopefully you didn’t tell him who you were or that you’re related to us.”

“I did. My car broke down on the bridge. He had it towed to a shop and bought me dinner at some place called Eclipse. Then he told me about werewolves.”

Casey’s eyes ballooned. “Holy shit. Do you realize that Eclipse is one of the pack’s main headquarters? A third of the crowd was probably werewolves. I’m surprised they didn’t eat you alive.”

My voice spiked an octave. “They eat people?”

Laurel put a hand on my arm. “Casey means metaphorically. They hate our family.”

“I gathered. Why? He said you were dangerous and told me not to contact you.”

They’re criminals. They deal in illegal arms and materials.

Laurel pressed her lips together. “Of course, we’re dangerous. Casey can throw fireballs. I’m one of the most lethal people in Magic Side. It doesn’t mean that I’m going to dump my long-lost niece in the lake the moment she shows up. He was using your ignorance about this place to manipulate you.”

I had suspected as much, but for some reason, Jaxson’s warning wouldn’t quite go away.

“Considering Jaxson owns Eclipse, I hope he didn’t make you pick up the tab,” said Casey, snickering. I sat back against the couch and put my head in my hands, and Casey passed me a whiskey. “Welcome to Magic Side. Be prepared to get dicked over by wolves.”

It was a little early to be drinking, but I took a sip anyway and let the cool liquid heat my throat, while Laurel stared across the room, lines of fury fixed on her face.

Had Jaxson been laughing at me the whole time? Of course he had.

And of course the cop would recommend his restaurant. He’d played with my obvious ignorance of magic and werewolves.

“He was toying with me,” I muttered.

Casey swirled his whiskey, then clinked his glass against mine. “Yep. They like to do that shit. I’m betting he neglected to explain why your car stalled out.”

“I’ve got transmission problems. I’m just lucky it got me as far as it did.”

“Nah. He let you believe that. The bridge is enchanted with a spell that knocks out the engine and electrical systems of any car that drives over it unless it’s got a thing called a magic regulator installed. It’s supposed to help keep normal people out, though since they can’t even see the island, I don’t know what the big deal is. The wolves run the bridges and give a cut to the mages who maintain the spells. It’s a total racket.”

I set my glass on the table so I wasn’t tempted to throw it across the room. “So my car didn’t break down?”

Casey shook his head. “It just needs a doohickey installed. But that’s wolves for you. They like to shake your hand with their right while they dig their claws in with the left.”

“He had it towed to Savage Body, which—”

Casey rapped his knuckles on the chair. “Belongs to the pack. He’s got your car hostage.”

I rocketed to my feet. That bastard.

He’d paid off Randy at the auto body shop to trap me in Belmont. I’d stolen his keys, and now he’d stolen my car right from under my nose.

“You’re leaving?” Aunt Laurel rose in surprise. “You just got here!’

I tightened my fists and headed toward the door. “I’m going back to Dockside to skin me a werewolf king.”