Page 18 of Magic Betrayed (The Shifter of Sheridan Avenue #2)

EIGHTEEN

With Ari gone, I slipped out the window once again, lurking in the shadow of the gable as the vehicle rumbled closer. It slowed, however, and the sounds died when it was perhaps two hundred yards from the house and still obscured by trees. I heard the quiet snick of doors opening and closing, then the rustling of something moving through grass and brush.

There was just enough moon that I noticed instantly when the newcomers finally stepped into the clearing around the house, emerging from the brush one by one to strike a confident pose as they regarded their target.

There were five of them, and they were clearly not concerned about being seen. Or heard. Even from this distance, my shapeshifter hearing was keen enough to pick up a murmured conversation.

“…elementals, and fae,” one of them said in a deep, growling sort of voice. “This is the right place.”

“We only need the fae,” a commanding female voice answered, and I started as its sharp, decisive tone penetrated my memory and informed me that we’d met before. “And no witnesses.”

“I can take care of that.” The words were spoken in a light tenor, and ended in a laugh that sent shivers down my spine. “That pile of sticks looks like it’ll make a beautiful bonfire.”

“Stick to the plan, Quentin. We have to make sure humans get blamed for this, so we don’t move until everything is in place.”

It was them. The mercenaries I’d nearly drowned in mud. I had no idea how they’d found us this quickly, but they hadn’t given up—in fact, now they were probably more determined than ever. And this time, they wouldn’t underestimate me.

It was clear from their conversation that they had no qualms about killing, so it would be foolish to think I could take them on again without help. But the only help available?

Five elementals with no magic, an unconscious Logan, and Kes.

Also Ethan. In truth, he terrified me even more than these mercenaries, but it wasn’t like I had a choice. I knew for sure that the mercenaries would kill me, and the people inside the house were still a question mark.

I didn’t like my options. But the only path forward was to reverse course, and hope that the old saying was actually true—that the enemy of my enemy… Honestly, there was no way they were my friends, but if I was lucky, they might choose to kill me a little less quickly.

Back through the window again. I was moving too fast and sliced my arm on the edge of the broken glass, but the pain barely registered. I was already across the room, headed for the stairs, taking them far too hastily in the dark, but not in the mood for caution.

The second floor was still deserted, so I took the stairs leading downward, thundering down them so quickly that someone had to have heard me. But there was no immediate outcry. Only the hiss of angry voices that were trying to be quiet and utterly failing.

At the bottom of the staircase, I paused for a moment. The front door was straight ahead. To the left was the dining room, lit by the flickering flames of candles. To the right was some kind of sitting room. The light there was brighter, and the voices seemed to be coming from that direction, so I moved closer, wondering how long it would take them to notice me.

“…we can’t stay here. Not unless you’re willing to force her hand.”

“No torture, Jacob. I won’t. And I won’t let you either, so stop bringing it up.”

“So you’re saying all that risk was for nothing? We finally have Raine, but you’re just going to sit here and not use her?”

“I won’t be like them!” The voice was female and fierce, and as I stepped over the threshold into the sitting room, I knew instantly who the speaker was.

It was the woman from the picture. Tall, with tawny skin, dark hair in braids, light eyes, and an air of command that was a near perfect echo of Talia.

This was Chesney.

At that point, I fully expected her to start screaming for someone to catch me. I was standing in full view of her position, and there was no way she could have missed me.

But she just kept talking.

“We’re done with the threats and the hostages. I didn’t like it then, and now I’m putting a stop to it. And I can’t believe you went behind my back to kidnap her. You took Ethan out there! In front of witnesses! Are you insane?”

This was very interesting, but they were going to have to work out their differences later. I stepped forward again, thinking that this time, for sure, someone would react…

And they did, but not the way I expected.

The man standing beside Chesney—short, solid and red-haired—suddenly flinched backward, his eyes wide and terrified.

“What… What is that?” he whispered hoarsely, pointing a shaking finger in my direction. A moment later, he went bone white and fainted, hitting the floor with a thud that made me wince.

And that’s when I realized I’d never let go of my fae magic. I was lurking in a patch of shadow, making no sound, leaving a trail of blood dripping behind me from where the glass had sliced my arm.

Guess the Haversmith House just got a little more haunted.

Somehow, I resisted the entirely inappropriate urge to laugh and released my magic.

My appearance out of nowhere had about the effect you might expect—Chesney swore, and the woman sitting near the boarded-up fireplace let out a scream that could probably be heard all the way to the Guthrie city limits.

“I’d love to chat some more about my kidnapping,” I informed them dryly, “but—and I can’t believe I’m saying this—we have a bigger problem.”

* * *

Jacob sat up—clearly embarrassed by his reaction—and three pairs of eyes stared at me in silence. I could feel the weight of their combined fear, hatred, anger, and confusion.

“Oh, and you can tell whoever is trying to sneak up behind me that I will smack the crud out of them if they don’t knock it off.”

“That’s enough Reese,” Chesney called wearily. “Just come in here. Apparently, we have more significant issues than your inability to kidnap people properly.”

I heard a frustrated sound from behind me, as a scowling man in his mid-twenties emerged from the shadows beneath the stairs. “My kidnapping was just fine,” he muttered. “It was the serum. It was supposed to knock her out for at least three more hours.”

“I suggest you shut up while you can still talk,” Chesney snapped in return. “I still don’t know whether I can forgive you for using something associated with her .”

Well, that explained a lot. They’d used one of Elayara’s serums on me.

“And where is the fifth member of your group?”

Chesney shot me a look that ought to have dropped me in my tracks. “Noah is supposed to be upstairs keeping an eye on the four of you, but he’s nineteen and brooding, so he’s probably playing phone games. Any more questions for us?” Her sarcasm could’ve peeled paint, if there was any left on the walls.

“Many,” I retorted. “But we don’t have time.”

“Then how about you stop spewing nonsense and tell us what you know.” She really was so very much like her mother.

“We’re currently being surrounded by a team of mercenaries who don’t much care about collateral damage and are only interested in collecting the bounty on Kes’s head,” I announced bluntly. “They want her alive, but are totally chill with burning this place down with the rest of us in it. So if you have some sort of defense plan, now would be a great time to pull it out, dust it off, and put it to work.”

Chesney swore again. Reese turned and punched the wall, while the other two just looked utterly defeated.

“One question.” Chesney pinned me with a glare that was only a fraction less powerful than Talia’s. “Is the child safe?”

I regarded her for a moment in silence, wondering whether my hunch magic would help me out, but in the end I had to go with my gut, and it was pretty sure her concern was genuine.

“As safe as a six-year-old who can teleport ever is,” I responded. “Safer than we are, most certainly.”

I heard a warning creak from the stairs, and turned just in time to catch Kes, who hurled herself at me in a trembling hug.

“I told you not to come,” she said fiercely when she pulled back to look me over. She flinched when she saw my bleeding arm, and despite her hug, her expression held nothing but disapproval.

“Yeah, well, they didn’t really give me a choice.” I chose not to tell her that we’d been planning to come for her and Logan anyway.

“So.” She whirled on Chesney. “Will you try to threaten me with her now? I told you. I can’t do what you’re asking. That won’t change, no matter how many people you promise to hurt.”

“Later.” The elemental princess stood tall, nostrils flaring as she surveyed the room. “It seems we are under attack, so our grievances will have to wait.”

“What?” Kes turned back to me. “Did Faris come after all? Even after I told you to leave me here?”

I shook my head. “It’s not Faris—trust me, it’s a lot worse.”

When I didn’t elaborate, she took my arms and shook me. “Who, Raine?”

“Bounty hunters,” I admitted. “I’ve faced them once already. And this is just a payday for them, so collateral damage doesn’t mean much. Basically, the only thing keeping them from frying us in our tracks is the fact that they need Kes alive. They won’t make a move until they find some way to separate her from the group.”

“How many?” Chesney demanded.

“Five. A goblin, a fae, a drus, a fire elemental, and a bear shifter.”

I watched as she thought this through, and a horrible realization struck me.

“You never had a defense plan, did you?”

Her face said “Silence, peasant,” stronger than any words, but thanks to her mother, I was nearly immune.

“You never set any traps, and you weren’t trying to lure me here using Ari.”

“The child was never a part of this,” she said harshly.

“And Ethan?”

The group exchanged troubled glances, and then…

Oh. I thought that maybe, finally, I was beginning to understand.

“You genuinely want to help him, don’t you?” I guessed quietly. “Or at least you tell yourselves you do. But you also want back what Elayara stole. And you thought that this way maybe you could have both.”

So they’d hatched this plan, counting on Kes being able to reverse the process—to undo what was done, set Ethan free, and allow them to go back to their lives.

But now? They knew it was impossible, but they’d come too far and dug the hole too deep. It left them unable to move on, unable to go back. They’d kidnapped, threatened, and betrayed, and guilt would forever taint the outcome. Even now that hope was gone, they were stuck, because they could not abandon Ethan without questioning whether their motives had always been corrupt.

But before I could follow that line of thought, Kes interrupted.

“The hunters are here for me,” she said resolutely. “If I go with them, maybe no one else needs to get hurt.”

But I could see even as she said it that she knew it wasn’t true. We needed a plan. Needed to hold out just long enough for Ari to tell everyone where I was.

“If you’re waiting for us to defend this place,” Chesney broke in bitterly, “you know perfectly well that we don’t have the ability. Any fighting to be done will have to be done by you.”

“Is Logan…”

“He’s fine,” Kes put in, “but he’s sedated. He kept setting off earthquakes, and this house… well, it’s not exactly structurally sound.”

I could tell she was furious about it, and scared for him, but there had been nothing she could do.

“And Ethan?”

Chesney stared at me incredulously. “Are you genuinely suggesting I turn him loose to fight these mercenaries? Do you have that great of a death wish?”

One glance at Kes confirmed her assessment.

“I can keep him stable,” she confessed, dropping her eyes to the floor. “Just barely. Taking all of his power might incapacitate me, so I haven’t been willing to risk it. But I’m afraid if he uses any of his magic, all of it will unravel. It’s not his fault. It’s more than anyone could handle, and he’s never had a chance to learn control.”

“Trust me,” I muttered under my breath, “I’ve never blamed Ethan for any of this.”

It was truly up to me. But the group outside had already seen me fight. They knew a large part of what I was capable of, and they would not underestimate me a second time. And with more than just Callum to protect…

My only hope was to stall for time.

Reese’s phone buzzed, and he pulled it from his pocket to glance at the screen. Inventive swearing commenced as he read the message.

“Noah says there’s headlights coming this way.”

Great. Just what we needed. More guests at this delightful kidnapping party.

“The bounty hunters didn’t use their headlights,” I mused. And my people couldn’t have gotten here this fast. It was nearly an hour's drive from downtown, unless Callum flew—assuming he was right about being able to shift again—but even so, it was too soon.

All of this left only a few possibilities, none of which I was happy about.

“Might be law enforcement,” I considered aloud. “Neighbors checking out unusual activity. Or human teens looking for a thrill.”

Chesney snuffed the lights, and we all fell silent as we moved towards the front windows—listening for movement, for voices, for clues.

The car came to a stop. The engine turned off, and I heard two doors open, then slam shut, followed by a voice I recognized from somewhere…

“Oh yeah, this place is definitely haunted.”

My eyes went wide with horror.

“Just get the camera set up. Your bellowing is going to scare off every ghost in Guthrie.”

It was the first time I’d heard the second voice, but I didn’t need to see him to visualize the quiet, gangly form of Tegan Tanner.

Because the first person to speak had definitely been Trey.

Which meant something had gone very wrong with my allies’ plans. Seamus must have forgotten to call them off after I disappeared, and now I had two clueless human ghost hunters trapped between us and a crew of determined Idrian mercenaries.

Maybe… Maybe the bounty hunters would wait for the Tanners to leave. They wanted no witnesses, and most Idrians were extremely wary of interfering with humans. Maybe they would realize the dangers of being caught on camera and hold their attack until the ghost hunters gave up.

But maybe they wouldn’t. I just couldn’t take that chance, so I was going to have to get rid of the twins.

But how? Sadly, there was no chance I could simply scare them away. They were hoping for paranormal activity, so the scarier it got, the more excited they would be. No, I would need to issue a convincing warning, but without letting the mercenaries get a good look at me. And without betraying the fact that we had no defenses.

Tonight was the gift that just kept on giving.

“I know them,” I told Chesney reluctantly. “Human ghost hunters. Or ghost debunkers, I guess. They have a thing for proving that all paranormal activity is Idrians and not ghosts.”

It seemed I had no choice but to do this the hard way. Unless…

“I don’t suppose I could borrow a phone?” I asked hopefully.

Her scorn was instant and withering. “So you can call in your allies? Forgive me if I’m not inclined to let you invite Faris Lansgrave to this little party. Frankly, I’d rather take my chances with the mercenaries.”

Yet another thing she’d apparently inherited from her mother—Talia clearly had a long-standing grudge against my boss, so it was a good bet Chesney wasn’t going to listen to reason where he was concerned.

Somehow, I managed not to employ sarcasm in return. Or to tell her that Faris was probably heading this way, whether she liked it or not. Some small voice of wisdom suggested that information was more likely to hurt than help.

“Fine. I guess I’m going out there to see if I can convince them to leave.”

Chesney hesitated. “But that will leave us at the mercy of those bounty hunters. At least with the ghost hunters here, we have some protection. There’s a chance the mercenaries will choose to postpone their attack rather than risk human attention.”

“We aren’t hiding behind innocent humans,” I said flatly. “Not when they don’t understand the risks. They were meant to be a distraction, not bait, and they didn’t sign up to be in the middle of a war.”

“But you would have us hide behind you ,” she returned scornfully. “Are you not human?”

It was a question I wasn’t sure how to answer. Was I still human? And human or not…

“Maybe I am,” I murmured. “But even if I’m still human, I don’t think you actually believe I’m innocent.”

I was pretty sure she hated me for saying it—hated that I could see the conflict raging behind her confident front. But Chesney was no coward, and like her mother, she was too proud to cower behind convenient lies. And in that moment, when it seemed she had nothing to lose, she finally chose to admit the truth.

“I’ve wanted to hurt you,” she said curtly. “For so long. It’s been the only thing I’ve lived for.”

For Chesney, this was personal. And the only reason it would be personal…

“Maybe you don’t remember,” she continued. “Maybe you’ve tried to forget. But I can never forget. I will always remember every detail of the day they took my magic and… and gave it to you .”

My heart constricted painfully. I stared back at her, with no words to offer.

No form of comfort was possible. No trite phrases, no excuses. I’d suspected for a long time. I’d hoped I was wrong. But only two water elementals had lost their magic at Elayara’s hands, and after I defeated Talia by taking her own power away…

“I wanted you to be at fault,” Chesney said, her voice gone flat and empty. “Because you are alive and you are here. Elayara is dead, but you I can still punish for everything that was taken from me.”

But…

“But since we took in Ethan, I have been forced to admit that he, and you, and the others, have suffered as well. Have lost the lives you believed you would have. Lost innocence and families and homes. And now that I know there is no going back…”

Her face was bleak. So empty of hope. Almost as if she didn’t care about the outcome of the battle we faced.

“Ruining your life will not bring back mine,” she said at last. “I will simply have to accept that there is no remaining path that will allow me to go home. It may take time to convince the others, but eventually they will understand.”

Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut, but I couldn’t see that broken expression on her face without wanting to fix it. “Chesney, there’s no reason not to go home. Your mom still believes you’re alive. She’s still out there, looking for you. She never stopped.”

Her entire body went rigid.

“She also nearly started a war trying to figure out what happened, and she cried when she realized we’d found you. What on earth makes you think you can’t go home?”

It was like a door slamming shut in my face.

“Shut up,” Chesney hissed furiously. “You know nothing, human. Never speak of my mother in front of me again.”

Shutting up.

“Okay then.” I kind of wished now that I hadn’t given in to the impulse to help. “I guess I’ll just go out there and try to save everyone from this crappy situation you created, while you pout in here and claim that no one understands.”

Fair? Only partially.

Satisfying? Very.

Chesney looked as if she would very much like to stab me, so I bared my teeth in a parody of a smile.

“If you need me,” I announced, “I’ll be on the roof. Saving your asses.”

And I marched out, with the four Idrians glaring daggers, and Kes staring at me as if she couldn’t believe I’d dared.

I might feel bad for them. I might even understand their anger.

But they had willfully endangered my family and I would never, ever be willing to forget it.