Page 24 of Ignited Spirits (Haunted Magic #3)

IZZY

“ W e must have different definitions of ‘well’ because that was a shit show,” Rhys fires back, missing the obvious sarcasm in my words. Although, I can’t blame him for not being on his game after that clusterfuck of a rescue attempt.

Dad looks around the room before focusing on me. “We need to go back for your mother. They’ll go after her so they can use her to lure us back.”

“She’s already here, Dad. We got her out before we even tried to break into the council. She grabbed some of your stuff before we left.”

That reminds me that I should probably check on my mom and make sure Hades has been a good host. Although, I doubt he’d do anything to piss off Seph, so Mom should be good.

Dad sags in relief at the news that Mom is safe. “And where is here?” His voice is weary, and he looks like he could use a nap and some food.

I try not to drown in the guilt that my actions blew back on him because there’s nothing I can do about it now. All I can do is keep him safer going forward.

Walking over to Levi’s comfortable-looking gray sectional, I plop down on a center cushion and give myself a moment to decompress. “You know where Gran’s from? I opened a rift to get us there. It’s called Infernus , and we’re in the castle that belongs to the king of the realm.”

Once I sit down, everyone else but Legion collapses on the various surfaces, worn out from the fight for our lives we really didn’t expect to get into. Or, at least, I didn’t expect to. I had hoped we could just sneak in and out without anyone noticing.

So much for that plan.

“Who is the king now?” Legion asks me from where he stands. He’s directly in front of me, peering down at me with his glowing purple eyes that have slitted pupils.

“Hades,” I answer, only somewhat surprised he’s familiar with this realm. It makes sense that he’s from here if the waters of the Styx allowed him to hitch a ride in Archer’s body.

His eyebrows raise in surprise. “He is grown now?”

I gape at him, wondering how old he is to remember Hades as a child. “Um, yep. He’s, like, billions of years old. He’s been grown up for a long time.”

Legion makes a humming noise as he processes the information. “A couple billion years here or there is nothing to my kind, mate. All the years blur together after a while.”

“And what are you?” I ask carefully, not wanting to piss off the older-than-dirt snake-dragon hybrid who could eat me for breakfast.

“A Lernaean Hydra.”

I nod like I have any idea what that is. I’ll have to ask Levi or Hades when I have a moment. “How did you end up in Archer’s body?”

He shrugs. “I do not know. My kind is not tied to a physical form. Instead, we are called forth to inhabit those who need us the most.”

While I still have a million questions, I don’t have the energy to ask any of them. Instead, all I want is Archer.

“Can I have Archer back?” I ask in a small voice, really needing to know he’s okay.

Later, when I didn’t almost watch everyone I care about die or get captured by the council, I can deal with Legion and the fact that I’m pretty sure he’s my mate too. But, right now, I just need to be surrounded by the people I love.

Legion’s eyes soften a fraction at whatever he sees on my face. “Of course. Anything to make you happy, mate. If you need me, I am here.”

Archer’s eyes fade from the glowing purple of Legion back to his normal teal color. Instead of confusion, like the previous times Legion has taken control, Archer just looks shell-shocked. “That was the weirdest fucking thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Hopping up from the sofa, I rush over to him. When I slam into his hard chest, I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him as tight to me as I can.

He hugs me close and buries his face in my hair, inhaling my scent.

Reluctantly pulling back, I process what Archer said. “You remember turning into a hydra?”

I’ve definitely heard of hydras before, but I can’t really remember anything about them.

“Yep. I remember Legion yanking control from me and turning into whatever the fuck that was. I was watching the whole thing but unable to do anything the entire time. I’m so damn glad you’re okay, sunshine. And I never want to watch you hand yourself over again.”

I snort. “I, too, would like to avoid a repeat of that, sunny boy.” My mirth fades when I remember that I’m responsible for everything that happened to him. “I’m sorry.”

He tilts his head in confusion. “For what?”

“For injecting you with a many billions of years old snake monster dude who can steal control of your body.”

I had worried so much about his wolf being gone that I didn’t give much thought to the possibility that I would give him new magic. Having another entity that can hijack his body seems almost as bad as losing his wolf. And we still don’t know if he has his wolf or not.

Archer tilts my chin up so I’m forced to look into his swirling blue-green eyes.

Instead of anger or blame, all I see is concern for me and understanding in his gaze.

“It’s okay, sunshine. None of this is your fault.

You did the best you could with the options you had available.

And, anyway, it’s not so bad turning into a two-story-tall serpent thingy.

It certainly has its advantages in battle. ”

My lips tip up into a half smile at his attempts to make me feel better, but I should be the one reassuring him. Not the other way around.

Levi pushes to his feet when I don’t say anything. “Now that the wolf is back, we should go find Hades and your mother. We need to come up with a new attack plan to deal with the council. They’re almost as big of a problem as Lua Mater. ”

“You’re telling me,” I grumble.

If the council can pin draining young mages on me, I don’t think there will be any winning over the people of Hawthorne Grove. And as much as I despise most of them, I think we’ll need public opinion in our favor to have a chance of effecting lasting change.

Simply installing a new council doesn’t fix all of the systemic problems the old one has. All it does is change who is abusing their power and how.

I know it’s probably too idealistic, but I have to hope there’s a way to help mages come out of this better than they have ever been.

As everyone else stands up, I make a beeline for the door. Not that I can lead anyone anywhere in this castle, but that’s really not the point.

When my hand brushes the door, I realize I forgot someone. “Fuck. I need to go back for Joseph.”

“Who is Joseph?” Dad asks hesitantly, like he’s not sure he wants to know.

“A mage we rescued from the prison. I sent him to South America, and I need to help him get into an underground city run by jaguar shifters.”

“Isabel…” Dad trails off. “Are you sure you should be pulling people out of prison? As much as you don’t like the council, there’s usually a reason people are locked up.”

I raise my eyebrows at my dad, not believing that he’s really spouting the same bullshit that the council does.

“Yeah, and most of the time the reason is they pissed off the council. There are a ton of morally corrupt people in Hawthorne Grove that they leave alone while they waste their resources chasing people with ‘forbidden’ magic like Joseph and me. Look at you. There was literally no reason to lock you up.”

“My daughter killed a council member,” he counters. “There was plenty of reason to arrest me.”

I’m shaking my head before he even finishes. “But you didn’t kill a council member. That’s not how justice should work. Family and friends shouldn’t be punished for the actions of someone else.”

His shoulders slump. “You’re right. I just don’t want to see you hurt, Izzy.”

“I know, Dad. But Joseph won’t hurt me.” At least I don’t think so, but I refrain from saying that part out loud. “He’s just a scared twenty-something with magic he didn’t ask to have who made a mistake. I wish I had someone to help me when I was in his position, and I want to be that for him.”

Dad shoves a hand through his hair, that is so dark brown it’s almost black, before sighing. “You’ve convinced me. Go on. Your brothers and I will be waiting here for you when you get back.”

I open my mouth to say that I can go alone so that my mates can help him find Mom, but I know them well enough to understand that won’t go over well. “We’ll be right back.” Turning to Cerberus, I arch a brow. “Are you coming with?”

All three heads shake. Russ shakes a little too enthusiastically and bumps into Cer, which earns him a disgruntled growl. Cer tells me, “You should be safe with the jaguars. We need time to rest, so we won’t be accompanying you.”

“That’s good with me. Thanks for leading Lua away and helping with the council. I know it was dangerous, so I really appreciate it.”

Russ chuffs. “Of course we helped you. You’re our sagana . It’s our job! See you later!”

With Russ’s enthusiastic goodbye, Cerberus disappears in a flash of swirling black magic.

Creating a rift to where I hope is La Esperanza , I don’t bother asking my mates if they’re coming.

I wait for Levi to walk through first before following.

When I see the familiar rough gray walls of the cave outside the jaguar city, I resist the urge to fist pump.

I’m totally getting the hang of this whole interdimensional travel thing.

My triumph doesn’t last long as ten grim-faced jaguars seem to melt out of the walls. “Mateo is waiting for you with a mage who claims you sent him here. Follow us.”

I resist the urge to groan. I told Joseph to wait for me, but he clearly had other plans.

The whole point was to avoid pissing off Mateo and his prowl by dumping a random mage here. They hate mages as a whole, and I need to do some serious sweet-talking to get him to allow Joseph to stay.