Page 1 of Magic Betrayed (The Shifter of Sheridan Avenue #2)

ONE

“Put. Down. The cat.”

I froze, up to my elbows in a box full of tangled string lights, a giant Halloween spider, three broken Easter baskets stuffed with faded paper grass, and a dingy, lopsided snowman.

“I’m warning you…”

I couldn’t see her from inside the tiny storage closet, but I could hear my new friend Kira’s voice shaking with some suppressed emotion. Rage? Terror? Laughter? I locked eyes with the snowman, returning its blank, dead-eyed stare as I considered whether or not to intervene.

On the one hand, Kira Everleigh was a dragon shifter, and therefore more than capable of defending herself, her bookstore, and her horrifying hairless pet.

On the other hand, the Valentine’s decor she was looking for was definitely not in this box, and the snowman looked like it was contemplating murder. Probably mine.

Pushing to my feet, I brushed a few clinging bits of fake grass off my arms and poked my head cautiously through the doorway.

Kira and the bookstore’s resident gargoyle, Hugh, were facing off across the front counter. Hugh clutched something green and fluffy to his chest, his gray face contorted in an expression of offended outrage, while Kira was very clearly trying not to laugh.

“It is humiliating,” Hugh insisted, stroking the green bundle in his arms protectively.

“It’s adorable,” Kira countered decisively. “And it’s still cold outside. He needs the extra warmth to protect him from drafts.”

“I have knitted him three comfortable and stylish sweaters,” Hugh pointed out, before holding the green thing up where I could see it more clearly. “This… This is an insult to his dignity!”

I took another look at the ball of green fluff and realized it was actually Chicken—Kira’s sphinx cat. His mouth was turned down in a perpetual expression of disapproval as he hung limp in Hugh’s grasp, and his pink, wrinkled body was almost completely hidden by a grinch-green sweater emblazoned with the words… “Cuddly as a Cactus.”

Kira promptly lost the battle with amusement and erupted in irrepressible laughter, hand clasped firmly over her mouth as Hugh and the cat looked on with baleful expressions.

“I’m sorry,” she finally managed to say, between chuckles. “It was his Christmas gift from Ryker, and I just couldn’t resist.”

Hugh let out an aggrieved sigh just as Kes appeared at the foot of the stairs, her dark hair in a low ponytail and a worried crease between her brows.

“Has anyone seen Ari? Our ride is here, I’m late to pick up Logan from lessons, and she’s disappeared again.”

It had been three months since the explosive conclusion to the Symposium. None of us were what I would call recovered—the wounds of the past were still too fresh and painful for that—but we had settled into a new routine and begun to cautiously accept the realities of our new life here. Even Kes had relaxed significantly. She still struggled with anxiety and nightmares, as we all did, but knowing that Faris and the Shadow Court were not going to abandon us had made a world of difference.

These days, she would occasionally come with me when I helped out at the bookstore or took the kids on walks through Myriad Gardens. She’d even popped in at The Portal once or twice.

I knew a part of her still feared retribution for her role in Elayara’s schemes—for what she’d been forced to do, and the ways her magic had been used. But her whole mood seemed lighter, even as she spent most of her time in our apartment in the West Village, trying to help the kids with remedial schoolwork and worrying about whether the neighbors were watching us.

To be fair, they probably were. That was pretty much Neighboring 101 among humans.

“I haven’t seen her,” Kira said apologetically. “Last I knew, she was watching cartoons upstairs.”

Last known location really didn’t mean much with Ari. Her sprite magic allowed her to teleport across increasingly large distances, and at six, she still found it hilariously funny to disappear at random times. I’d tried to explain the dangers, but I could tell she didn’t understand. And really, how could I possibly stop her?

Someday, I needed to find another sprite to ask about her powers, but that was for a future when we weren’t wanted fugitives in every court except this one.

“Hugh?” Kes turned to the gargoyle, whose face had gone strangely blank. “Have you sensed anything? Can you tell whether she’s left the house?”

Since meeting Hugh, I’d learned that gargoyles developed a symbiotic relationship with their homes, and Hugh had been living at the bookstore long enough to have a strong sense of anything magical occurring within its boundaries.

“I have not sensed the small hatchling leaving the premises,” Hugh replied stiffly. “If she were unsafe, I would have informed her caretakers at once.” Then the usually stoic gargoyle twitched violently, and my shapeshifter hearing caught the sound of a tiny giggle… coming from somewhere under the front counter.

Kira must have heard it too, because her eyes widened as they darted to meet mine.

I could only shrug. It was anyone’s guess how my capricious and irrepressible six-year-old had managed to co-opt the gargoyle’s loyalty to the point that he would cover for her. But she’d also managed to win over Angelica—icy and exacting gryphon assistant to the king of the shapeshifters—so…

… No. Absolutely not. I’d promised myself I wasn’t going to think about Callum. Which meant no thinking about Angelica either.

“Looks like you’ll have to leave without her,” I announced loudly, stepping out of the storage closet and approaching the front desk, pointing silently to show Kes our little escapee’s location.

Her shoulders dropped, and the crease between her brows smoothed out. “All right, I guess I’ll head out, then. Can’t keep Niko waiting. Logan and I will just have to get hot chocolate by ourselves.”

I winced, wishing we didn’t have to resort to bribery, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. Wise or not, I was just thankful it still worked.

Sure enough, Ari popped into view right in front of Kes, her eyes huge and pleading. “No, wait, Kessie! Wait for me! You said I could go too!”

“I did, Ari-bug, but you were hiding from us again.”

“I was bored ,” she informed us sadly. “The cartoons are boring and there’s nothing to build .”

The tiny sprite might possess a soul of pure caprice, but she had the mind of a budding engineer, and had recently discovered Legos, thanks to a dusty bin full of bricks from a local thrift store. Now they were all she wanted to do, and she’d resorted to pouting whenever I wouldn’t allow her to take them everywhere we went. We had no instructions, but I’d looked up pictures online, and she’d somehow been able to replicate an astonishing number of the designs.

“But now we are late,” Kes said firmly. “And it’s rude to keep Niko waiting when he was nice enough to offer us a ride. He has to get to work, and so does Faris, so we need to be on time to pick up Logan.”

Ari’s chin dropped. “I want lessons, too,” she said mournfully.

“Someday, Bug,” I promised her. “But for now, I need you to go with Kes. I bet you still have homework to finish before bedtime.”

“Homework” for Ari was patterns and colors and fine motor skills and basic math, trying to get her caught up enough to hopefully attend school next year. And since most of it utilized her beloved Legos, the activities were usually more of a treat than a punishment.

She perked up. “Oh, right. K, bye!” She waved at Kira, then ran behind the counter and threw her arms around the waist of the startled gargoyle. “Thanks, Mr. Hugh. See you next time.”

And then she was gone, tugging Kes out the back door behind her before slamming it with decisive force.

I winced at the sound. “I swear we’re trying to convince her not to do that.”

But Kira was grinning evilly at Hugh. “I love her energy. And I love even more that she’s cultivated a willing accomplice.”

The gargoyle favored her with a withering glare as he stalked out from behind the desk, Chicken still clutched in his arms. “One does not betray a hatchling’s confidence. Now, if I am no longer required, I will leave you to this revolting display of sentimental festiveness. It is time for Chicken’s bath.” And with that, he retreated up the stairs, leaving Kira and me alone with our amusement in the now quiet bookstore.

“I’m so sorry for the chaos,” I said ruefully. “They needed to get out of the house, but helping with the Valentine’s decorations probably wasn’t the brightest idea I’ve ever had.”

“Pfft.” Kira waved off my apologies. “I’m glad you all came. I love doing holidays, but I’ve been distracted with wedding prep and really needed the help.”

Most older Idrians, it turned out, had yet to adopt the majority of human holidays or rituals. They had a few of their own festivals, and signified romantic attachment through mate bonds or blood binding ceremonies. But Kira had been raised as a human, and she still celebrated like one. She loved involving her family and friends in her various festive efforts, and couldn’t wait for her human-style wedding that was coming up in just a little less than two weeks.

I was thankful for her enthusiasm for all things human, as her past had given us a way to connect. It probably also contributed to her refusal to reject me once she’d learned the truth about my own origins.

“I should head out too,” I confessed, after a quick glance at the clock hanging over the door. “My shift starts in an hour.”

“I shall drive you,” Kira proclaimed, producing keys from the pocket of her hoodie with a flourish. “We have a family meeting at Faris’s place later, so I’m going to hang out at The Portal until he’s ready to go. And it’s way too cold for you to be walking that far. Help me tidy up and then we’ll go together?”

I could have walked anyway—it wasn’t that cold for January—but I liked the reminder that I wasn’t really alone anymore.

“It’s a deal,” I agreed. “And thank you.”

* * *

Kira wasn’t a terribly experienced driver yet, so parallel parking her Subaru involved a lot of back and forth and muttering under her breath before she was happy. But even with the delay, it was still about fifteen minutes before my shift was due to start, so I nodded a quick hello to Oliver outside the kitchen before following Kira upstairs to Faris’s office.

The sound of multiple voices coming from inside should have been sufficient warning to turn around and run for my life. But I was distracted, so I was already through the door before I realized that there was some kind of gathering in progress.

“Just what I need—more people yapping while I’m trying to work.” Behind the scarred wooden desk on the far side of the room, a glowering, bearded elemental regarded us out of glittering green eyes, his massive arms folded over his chest in a pose of disgruntled obstinacy. “Someone tell me who planned this party so I can decide who’s getting thrown out first.”

Faris Lansgrave might look and sound like a bad-tempered grizzly bear, but in reality, he had the biggest heart of anyone I’d ever met. Despite everything I’d hidden from him, he’d not only let me keep my job at his club, he’d also loaned us an apartment, was teaching Logan to control his magic, and had promised to protect us from the combined wrath of the Fae, Elemental, and Wildkin Courts.

Whether the Shapeshifter Court was also after my head was a much trickier question—one that I preferred to simply ignore.

“You’re on your own,” I muttered to Kira with a grin. “I think I’ll go wait in the kitchen for my shift to start.”

“Running away so soon?” a cheerful voice inquired from behind my left shoulder. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

I looked up and back, and for a moment, my heart almost stopped at the sight of brilliant amber eyes and tousled auburn hair.

Dragon.

But it wasn’t him . Wasn’t the one dragon I wanted most to see. Wasn’t the dragon who haunted my memories and caused me to question every decision I’d made since coming to Oklahoma City.

I still didn’t know how badly Callum-ro-Deverin hated me. Or whether he ever thought about me at all. I only knew that I had neither seen nor heard from the shapeshifter king since I walked away from the ruins of the Symposium. He’d apparently decided to end all contact, and honestly, it was probably for the best.

“Surely you can’t have decided to ignore me already,” Kira’s middle brother murmured out of the corner of his mouth. “You barely even know me. I haven’t had a chance yet to prove how annoying I can be.”

Ryker, at least, seemed prepared to be friendly, even though he had to have learned by now about the source of my magic. Had to have heard the truth I’d confessed during the final battle at the Symposium.

That I wasn’t an Idrian at all. I’d been born human—granted magic only by the cruelty of the former fae queen’s experiments.

And yet, from the grin lurking on Ryker’s face, the rumors of my humanity didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest. Did that mean Callum didn’t hate me either? Or was I reading too much into it?

A tiny surge of hope made me want to grin back at the smirking shapeshifter beside me, but thankfully, I knew better than to encourage this particular dragon.

“Someone call the exterminator,” I responded, swatting at the air with an exaggerated frown. “This building seems to be infested with large, flying pests.”

Ryker only grinned wider before offering me a deliberate wink, and my heart ached in response. His voice was similar to Callum’s, and his smile too, but with a roguish edge that made it impossible to mistake him for his older brother.

“Good to see you, Raine. How’s life been treating you?”

I shrugged. “Can’t complain.” Or at least, I shouldn’t . “I stay busy.”

The twinkle in Ryker’s amber eyes faded as he gazed at me thoughtfully. “Anyone tested Faris’s ultimatum yet?”

I shot him a sharp glance. I honestly hadn’t expected him to ask that bluntly, but I probably should have. There was more to the playful, irreverent red dragon than he typically let on.

“Not that I know of.” Though I wasn’t about to lower my guard.

According to the new regulations laid down at the Symposium three months ago, I was technically in violation of several laws against the use and possession of stolen Idrian magic. And not only me—Ari and Logan were now criminals, too. But as the leader of the Shadow Court, Faris had declared that we were under his protection and not subject to the laws of the other courts.

Not everyone agreed with his willingness to overlook our past—including some residents of the Shadow Court—but most of them were too afraid to test his power. Faris was the only reason the four of us were now free to live life on our own terms, and I considered myself permanently in debt to him.

Which was why I’d agreed not only to stay on staff at The Portal, but to help with the special brand of torture that was likely to be Kira’s wedding.

Not that I hated weddings. Or disliked Kira. She was the closest thing I had to a friend after Kes, and I even had a cautious respect for her fiancé, Draven.

But, as evidenced by Ryker’s unexpected appearance, Kira’s wedding meant dragons. Eventually, it would mean seeing Callum again, and I didn’t know if I was ready. If I would ever be ready.

The floor outside creaked slightly in warning, and only a quick sidestep saved me from being smacked by the door as two new people walked in and took a seat on the couch against the wall—Draven, Kira’s dark-haired, gray-eyed fiancé, and his half brother, Rath. The two surviving sons of Dathair, High King of the Fae.

Rath’s eyes immediately found mine, and he nodded in a deceptively casual greeting. Acknowledging our connection, despite the fact that we’d barely spoken directly.

In addition to his childhood history with Kes, our ties had deepened during the desperate battle that had concluded the Symposium. I’d wondered ever since how he’d managed to escape the poison that had incapacitated all but one of the other delegates. I’d also wondered what he’d been doing in Oklahoma City nearly two weeks before the Symposium began, but my plan to lie low and avoid attention did not include questioning the Crown Prince of the Fae about his travel habits.

Nor could I encourage any friendship between us without feeling like I was betraying Kes. For whatever reason, she still viewed their shared history as a painful thing best forgotten, so keeping my distance seemed the best way to respect her choices. Though I did continue to keep a careful eye on the fae heir whenever he ended up lurking in my vicinity.

“ More of you?” Faris rumbled. “Did you change the meeting place without telling me, or is this a conspiracy to keep me from working today?”

Kira laughed and rounded the desk to offer a hug that looked only slightly penitent. “Okay, okay, we’ll get out of your hair. Everyone downstairs for a drink!”

They all moved towards the door, but just as I was about to follow Ryker into the hallway, Faris said, “Hold up a second, Raine.”

I froze with my hand still on the door handle.

“Shut the door.”

Drat. The last time he’d called me into his office for a private chat, my life had been turned upside down. Stuffed full of dragons and shaken up for good measure. I still hadn’t recovered fully, so I definitely wasn’t ready for that to happen again. But I also didn’t want him to know how nervous I was, so I kept my tone casual as the door clicked shut.

“Everything okay with Logan?”

My thirteen-year-old elemental ward had been taking magic lessons from Faris several times a week, and though he hadn’t mentioned any issues, Logan didn’t talk much in general. He was also nearly as stubborn as Faris, and I could easily imagine the two of them butting heads.

“He’s good,” Faris assured me. “Learns fast. Motivated. Strong, too. I don’t think he’ll have any problem protecting himself once we’ve caught up on his training.”

Which was a huge relief. My biggest fear for Logan and Ari was their safety. Too many would hate them for circumstances beyond their control, and I wanted to know they would be able to defend themselves if needed.

“Thank you again for helping him,” I said. “It might seem like a small thing, but I don’t know how much longer he could have held on.”

Faris’s green eyes must have seen a little more than I intended to reveal. “You don’t owe me anything, Raine. Especially not for Logan. No child deserves to endure what he has, and I would have helped him no matter what.”

I knew that now. But it didn’t stop me from feeling uncomfortably like I was in debt. I had nothing to offer these people who had given me so much, and I didn’t care for the imbalance.

“This is about the wedding.”

Oh. “I promised I would help. Are you worried about the out-of-town guests?”

As the daughter of the former dragon queen, Kira was a well-known—and possibly somewhat notorious—figure among Idrians. Considering that she would be marrying the son of the fae king, there would be a lot of important guests in attendance, and many of them would have still-fresh memories of my confession at the Symposium.

“Not exactly.” Faris leaned back in his chair. “They know better than to mess with my people. And sentiment about your situation is somewhat mixed. I don’t think there’s any consensus yet about how to handle it.”

I wasn’t sure if I should find that encouraging or terrifying.

“I just wanted to ask you whether you think you’re ready.” His gaze held mine steadily. “I’ll understand if you’d prefer to stay out of sight.”

Faris was offering me an out.

“I have to face it eventually,” I told him, trying my best to keep my expression neutral and my tone positive.

But we both knew I wasn’t talking about any nebulous “it.”

I was talking about him .

Callum would definitely be at his sister’s wedding, and I was going to have to face him. Face the man I’d blindsided with the ugly truth about my past. I’d saved his Symposium, yes, but only by creating a mess and then running away, leaving him to deal with it.

Without any conscious permission on my part, my mind replayed those final moments. Even after I’d confessed, he’d apologized for hurting me. For withholding the truth about his motivations. The last time he’d said my name… I could still hear it. At the time, I’d thought he sounded afraid for me, but weeks of silence had made me second guess that over and over again.

“Let me know if you change your mind.” Faris interrupted my over-thinking in his usual gruff tone. “I can make sure you stay behind the scenes. Less likely to run into anyone you know.”

It was kind, but I was through running from my past.

“Thanks,” I said, and meant it. My boss was a good man, and I was truly thankful we’d somehow become part of his “people.”

“Oh, and in case Seamus forgot to tell you, we’re closing early tonight.”

My eyebrows shot up a fraction. “Nope, he didn’t tell me.” The Portal was rarely closed, and I was currently scheduled to work until three in the morning.

“The glamour on the front door is fading, so I’m having an expert come in to renew it overnight. We’ll be shutting down around eleven.”

That would mean fewer work hours, but more sleep, so I wasn’t about to complain. “Understood. Anything else?”

“Just be on the lookout for a pair of out-of-town goblins. Last night they got drunk and one of them let it slip that they’re after a mark. I’m not certain they aren’t stupid enough to try for a bounty in my bar.”

If they did, it would be the last dumb decision they ever made.

“Got it. Then I’ll be heading out, unless…”

From somewhere downstairs, I heard a crash. Then a concussive thud that shook the entire building, followed by silence.

Sounded like someone had just made their last dumb decision.