Page 8 of Magic Betrayed (The Shifter of Sheridan Avenue #2)

EIGHT

He’d shoved his phone into my hands and disappeared into the darkness before I could even gather my courage to step out into the stairwell. After all, we were below ground, and our enemies could simply be staring down at us, waiting to pounce.

Should I go outside and risk an attack or stay inside and wait for this ramshackle construction to collapse?

Outside it was.

I’d set my foot on the first stair when an impossibly loud roar split the air. It pierced to the core of my brain, my body, my very viscera, and nearly dropped me to my knees.

Somehow, somewhere, I’d heard that sound before, just not like this…

I took the stairs two at a time, hoping Grandma Pearl hadn’t been lying about disabling her traps. Even if she had… Nope, wasn’t going to think about it. I forced myself to keep moving while calling up my fae magic and letting it hover at my fingertips. It was the one aspect of my power that I’d practiced with, so if someone tried to jump me in the dark, they would be getting a vicious surprise.

But no attack came. I reached the top of the stairs, took three steps towards the parking lot, and then skidded to a stop as I saw what awaited me.

Callum hadn’t been kidding when he said there was a change of plans.

In the faint glow of a single flickering light, a gargantuan black dragon crouched, wings held ready, tail lashing as it confronted a lone enemy. Its glittering eyes were narrowed in anger, its mouth partially open to reveal fangs as long as my arm. A pair of elegant horns curved back over a sinuous, muscular neck, strangely incongruous against the armor-plated mountain of black scales.

I heard the screech of brakes from passing traffic—human drivers realizing what was happening and stopping to gawk—but I was too busy with my own gawking to pay much attention.

Technically, I’d seen Callum’s dragon form before—on the day I’d agreed to work for him. But there had been no lights on the Assemblage rooftop that night, and I’d been too terrified for my life to notice details.

Now, my jaw tried to drop as I took in the dragon’s true size for the first time. He was bigger than Ryker by at least fifty percent, and all of it armored for battle, with wings, teeth, and claws ready to rend and tear. He was death embodied—built to take on armies and come away unscathed.

But there was no army awaiting us. Just a single slender figure dressed in simple, dark clothing, backlit by the lone light pole in the parking lot. His short white hair glowed faintly, but his face remained in shadow as power crackled from the edges of twin swords that shimmered with blue.

As the two unearthly beings confronted one another, an unnatural wind stirred the air, whipping dead leaves into a maelstrom and flattening the weeds that choked the cracked concrete. Power flared, and I caught a glimpse of our enemy’s face—dark skin marked by parallel scars running from his hairline to his chin…

Vinrath Elduvar, Crown Prince of the Fae.

All the tension drained from my body, and I almost laughed as I sagged against the concrete wall that protected the stairwell. I’d been so on edge, I’d taken Grandma Pearl’s words as sarcasm, but she hadn’t been lying when she said it was a friend.

The fae and the dragon eyed each other for a moment before Callum shook his head like a wet dog, folded his wings, and sat back, looking highly disgruntled.

How I could tell he was annoyed I had no idea.

“Prince Rath.” I jogged towards them, relieved beyond words that there would be no need for a fight. “Did someone send you to find us?”

Callum snorted and offered me a dragonish side-eye. He was pretty sure Draven must have told Rath where we were. The assassin was the only other person who might know Grandma Pearl’s location.

“But he didn’t even tell you ,” I pointed out. “If he knew, why would he make you pay extra for the information?”

Both Callum and Rath turned to look at me oddly.

“What?”

“Were you speaking to the dragon?” Rath’s expression was decidedly odd—somewhere between startled and amused.

“Obviously,” I retorted. “Callum just said…”

Actually, no. Callum hadn’t said anything. Because dragons couldn’t talk . Except for Kira, apparently, but her circumstances were unique even among dragons. Was this my hunch magic choosing to kick in at a strange place and time? It had never worked this way before, but that didn’t mean much.

“Ryker tracked Callum’s phone and informed me of your location,” the fae prince admitted, before tilting his chin up to regard Callum with a curious tilt to his eyebrows. “Have you told anyone else about this interesting development?”

The dragon glared, and a tiny waft of smoke escaped his nostrils.

“He wants you to shut up,” I translated helpfully, and then caught myself for a second time. Why on earth was my brain insisting it could tell what Callum wanted to say?

“Dragons usually do,” Rath said, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Particularly this dragon. But this time, I’m afraid you aren’t getting rid of me so easily.” The smirk vanished, taking his usual sardonic edge with it. “I want to help.”

Well, crap. Someone must have informed him that Kes and the kids were missing.

“We don’t even know exactly what we’re looking for,” I told him, a little untruthfully. “Or if anyone is actually in trouble. We’re just following all the leads we have.”

Rath’s posture shifted to confront me, and his suddenly piercing gaze sliced through my masks like a scalpel. “Do you genuinely expect me to believe that?” he said softly. “You’re going to have to practice your lies, little human, if you want to hide how terrified you are of losing them.”

A shiver shot down my spine, but I couldn’t let the fae prince see how worried I truly was. I wasn’t sure how far Kes trusted him, so how could I confide the reasons for my urgency?

“Your fear is as evident as your wounds,” he continued. “I know how deeply you care for Kestryl and the human children, so why would you reject my help when the situation calls for haste?”

Above our heads, the dragon let out a growl, and his wings flared again. His massive head lowered, bringing him nose-to-terrifying-nose with the fae prince, while his armored bulk shifted towards me. It was a clearly protective move—a threat, and a promise of retribution if Rath didn’t back off.

But I didn’t need a dragon to fight my battles. At least, not this time.

“He doesn’t scare me,” I chided, bumping the side of the dragon’s head with my shoulder. And oddly enough, it was true. Despite his occasionally menacing aura, I felt no fear of the fae prince. Was it my hunch magic trying to tell me to trust him?

Callum didn’t make any further threatening moves, but his lips peeled back in a ghastly snarl to let me know what he thought of my lack of caution. So in a moment of urgency, annoyance, and sublime idiocy, I reached out and smacked the dragon—yep, slapped a literal dragon—on the nose with my palm.

I immediately realized what I’d done, possibly because slapping a dragon hurts. And also because the dragon reared back to look at me with a comically startled expression.

Rath abruptly dropped his transparent attempt to intimidate me and let out a huff of laughter. “I can genuinely say that I’ve never seen anyone bold enough to slap a dragon before. Which is a pity. I find it wildly entertaining. Any chance of you doing it again?”

“I can slap fae princes too,” I muttered under my breath.

I was far too embarrassed to look at Callum, but suddenly I felt the warm rush of his amusement fill my mind, along with reassurance. He wasn’t mad, just startled.

Surely I was imagining things.

“As fun as this is,” I said, “Kira is waiting for us. I get that you want to help, and I’m thankful, but maybe we can discuss it later?”

But the fae prince persisted. “If you will not allow me to join you, I will simply carry on searching on my own.” His expression turned positively mulish. “You might as well take advantage of my skills and my connections to speed your own efforts.”

I could see the appeal, but how could I make this decision without knowing what Kes would want? Anyone involved in this search was eventually going to learn some uncomfortable truths. But wasn’t it reason enough to take that risk if it meant she would be found sooner?

“I’ll think about it on the way,” I finally promised. That would give me time to talk to Callum without the fae prince listening in.

But the dragon only swiveled his head on that long, sinuous neck, gestured to the SUV with his nose, and shot me a pointed look.

Oh. Oh.

I felt my face heat as I considered this fresh complication. He’d shifted so fast, he’d shredded his clothes, and now he couldn’t shift back without… Nope, not thinking about that. Definitely not picturing it.

“You don’t keep extra clothes in your car?”

He did not. There was little reason for it, since he almost never shifted in the city. As the growing traffic jam and occasional flash from phone cameras indicated, seeing dragons tended to scare the human residents, and he could get in trouble with human authorities for creating a hazard in an urban airspace.

“You can hear him, can’t you?” Rath asked me quietly.

“I…” Should I admit it? I didn’t even know precisely what I was admitting to, but at this point, it wasn’t like I could deny it. “It’s not like hearing a voice,” I hedged. “But I do feel like I know what he’s trying to tell me. I just don’t know how .”

Rath’s expression turned sharp and sly and almost wickedly amused. “Then I might have some information that would interest you.” The words were barely out of his mouth before he was nearly knocked off his feet by a sharp blow from the dragon’s tail.

It didn’t seem to faze him. “Don’t be so dramatic, Your Majesty. I’m not an idiot, and I have no intention of repeating my mother’s mistakes.”

Oh, wow. He just went there.

“But allow me to point out that you cannot drive until you can shift, so perhaps you’d be willing to consider my offer?”

He was right, and the worst of it was, he seemed to know that I shouldn’t be driving either. I knew how , of course, but I’d been imprisoned by the fae starting when I was sixteen, so I didn’t have a license. It was one thing when we were escaping the Fae Court and I’d had no choice, but these days I was trying to be a mostly law-abiding citizen. Which meant I probably shouldn’t risk getting caught driving a car registered to the Shapeshifter Court.

“I’ve already glamoured my own mode of transportation,” Rath informed us, “so I am available to drive Raine to meet Kira. You would be free to fly back home and join us once you’re more… suitably attired.”

Callum didn’t like it. He was angry that he’d shifted for battle when there was no enemy. Angry about leaving me alone with Rath. But he also knew it was the most logical course of action and couldn’t think of a reason to refuse.

Neither could I, much to my dismay.

“I will be fine ,” I insisted, arms folded across my chest as I stared up at his scaled face. “You’ll probably beat us there, anyway. And if we never show up, you can hunt us down and find out for yourself whether fae royalty tastes like chicken.”

Rath let out a suspicious sounding cough. “Considering his family history, I suspect he already knows what fae royalty tastes like.”

Yep, he went there again , and Callum was clearly just as surprised as I was. But he also seemed resigned to leaving me with Rath, and as he turned towards me, I caught the edges of another thought.

Be careful. Stay safe. Key is in the coat pocket.

I reached my hands into the pockets of Callum’s enormous coat, and sure enough… there was the smooth, cool shape of a key fob beneath my fingers.

This wasn’t just my hunch magic. This was something entirely different, and I was terrified to look at it too closely.

“Thanks,” I said, suddenly feeling reluctant for him to leave. Which was ridiculous. I was more than capable of handling this on my own. In my entire twenty-six years, I’d never had anyone to rely on, so I shouldn’t need anyone now. But something about Callum-ro-Deverin made me feel safe in a way no one and nothing else ever had, and after another taste of that safety, I didn’t want to give it up again.

Which was all the more reason for me to let him go. Learning to rely on someone who couldn’t stay was nothing but a recipe for heartache and disaster.

“Go on, then. We’ll see you at the bookstore.”

Callum backed away, molten amber eyes still resting on me, as if trying to communicate something more. Something wordless and fierce. His wings spread to their full, terrifying width, and I heard the sound of shouts and screeching brakes as the traffic from nearby Northwest Expressway reacted to the sight of a dragon preparing to take flight.

I scowled at him as fiercely as I could manage. “You’d better disappear before we have a lot more explaining to do.”

With one final growl, the dragon lifted off, his powerful wingbeats generating a sudden wind that nearly knocked me off my feet. A few moments later, he vanished into the night sky, leaving me with his coat, his keys, and a darkly amused fae prince, who sheathed his weapons and came to stand beside me.

“I confess, I am a little surprised you ended up choosing to risk your life at my hands,” he murmured. “Or perhaps I’m simply shocked to discover that Kestryl has not warned you more sternly against trusting me.”

“Should she have?” I shot him a wary glance as I pulled the key fob from my pocket, allowing it to lie in my palm as I regarded him. “Kes doesn’t actually talk about her past very much. All I’ve heard from her is that the two of you used to be friends, and that you were the only member of the Fae Court who didn’t make her life a misery. And yet, she still doesn’t want to see you.”

Rath nodded, but said nothing.

“So, how about you talk while you drive me to the bookstore? You have about ten minutes to explain why Kes wants nothing to do with you and then give me a convincing reason to let you help.”

His nod was sharp and decisive. “Agreed.”

* * *

With the dragon gone, traffic gradually began to flow normally once more, so we had only a short wait before we were able to pull out onto Northwest Expressway heading southeast. Thankfully, the streets were only lightly congested at this time on a weeknight, so I was confident we would make good time on our way to the bookstore.

“All right, talk,” I demanded. “I need to know if I’m betraying Kes just by being in the same car with you.”

“What makes you think I would answer you truthfully?” His question held no sarcasm, only curiosity.

“Magic,” I said flatly, drawing a humorless laugh from the enigmatic fae.

“Fair enough. As to what Kestryl would think”—I saw his fingers tighten on the steering wheel—“I cannot promise an accurate answer. She was not very forthcoming the last time we spoke, and the best I was able to determine was that she experiences a sense of guilt whenever she sees me.”

He was looking straight ahead, so it was difficult to gauge his mood, but what I could see of his expression looked bleak.

“If anything, it should be the opposite,” he went on. “I failed to protect her from my predatory mother. Failed to keep her safe from the more vicious members of the Fae Court. So I do not blame her for not trusting me, nor for refusing to see me. My face is a part of a million painful memories, and that is not something I can change by insisting I am guiltless, or by working to earn her favor. No matter how much of my life I commit to righting those wrongs, there are some sins I can never atone for.”

It was such a forthright and self-deprecating statement that I was forced to reassess my initial impression of the heir to the fae throne.

On each of our previous encounters, Vinrath Elduvar had struck me as observant and insightful, but with a bitter edge that made him unpredictable, sharply self-mocking, and wildly dangerous. With a heart, perhaps, but a deeply buried one. Now I began to wonder how much of that was true, and how much a carefully fabricated image.

This Rath was still observant, still insightful, still very, very dangerous. The anger and pain I’d glimpsed before was there, true, but tempered. Softened. Balanced by wisdom and possibly even… empathy?

Not something I’d ever thought to find in a fae.

“The embittered, overlooked heir is just a feint, isn’t it?” The words came out before I considered the wisdom of saying them aloud. If I was wrong, or if that was a closely held secret…

But the fae prince only glanced my way with a faint hint of surprise. “What did Callum tell you?”

“Nothing.” Though he’d hinted at it when the two of them had met right before the Symposium.

“You have siren magic, don’t you?”

It was his turn to shock me with a question, and for a moment, I was left gaping as I tried to determine the wisest answer. But a hunch finally prodded me and I went with the truth. Chose to trust. Maybe I would end up regretting it, but my magic didn’t think so.

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Before the Symposium, when you asked me whether I had anything to do with Logan’s disappearance. Your magic was trying to convince me to tell you the truth. I could feel the push. It was small enough I could have ignored it, but chose not to, because I wanted you to trust me then.”

Great. Just great. Of all the people I would have wanted knowing that I had siren magic, Vinrath Elduvar would not have been on the list. Him, or any fae, really. Even with my growing intuition that he was likely a decent and honorable person, I still needed to be careful. There was no knowing what someone with his connections would do with that information, or how he might be able to use it against me.

But there was one card I could still play that might give me a bit of leverage against him.

“Since we’re bringing up personal information, how about you tell me what you were doing in Oklahoma City two weeks before the Symposium?”

His face showed no reaction.

“I thought at first that you might have been meeting with Callum, but he didn’t seem to know you were in town. And after the way they criticized Talia for showing up early without an invitation, I realized there had to be something underhanded going on.”

“You could have just asked me to keep your secret,” Rath said coolly. “Why resort to veiled threats or blackmail?”

“If I remember correctly, you told Callum that lying and backstabbing is just an afternoon’s diversion among the fae,” I replied pointedly. “This is just me trying to speak your language. And don’t think I haven’t noticed you didn’t answer.”

The fae prince laughed softly as he took the right turn onto Classen Boulevard. “I knew you were a delight when you threw your humanity in everyone’s faces at the Symposium. But I find that I like you even more than I dared to hope.” He grinned suddenly—a sharp, wicked expression that communicated nothing so much as evil glee. “Dare I say that I cannot wait to find out what the Dragon Court will think of you.”

Talking to this fae was giving me a bad case of whiplash.

“You’d better be able to wait,” I grumbled, “because I plan to meet them exactly never.”

“Best of luck with that.”

“Still haven’t answered the question.”

My driver braked for a red light and let his head fall back against the seat with a sigh. “You must remember, little human, no matter how much I resist the stereotypes of my people, I am still fae. We don’t give away information easily, especially not when it exposes our weakness. However, in this case…” He paused, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “If this is what it will take to earn your confidence… When you saw me before the Symposium, I was in the city for a meeting with Shane Isaacson.”

Not what I’d expected him to say.

Shane hated the fae. Even more than I did. Had basically dedicated his life to screwing them over. So what could he and Prince Rath possibly have to talk about that didn’t involve bludgeoning each other to death or swearing a lifelong vendetta?

“He keeps a house here that he uses on occasion. And while he has no love for the fae in general, he and I share a common goal—ensuring that every trace of my mother’s evil is wiped from existence.”

Actually, that checked out. Which made Shane’s reaction to Kira even stranger. I was tempted to ask Rath about it, but that would have felt too much like prying, and I didn’t need that information to decide whether or not to trust him.

“At the time,” he continued, “I was attempting to chase down the location of my mother’s victims. I wanted to offer… something.” He shrugged. “I know it could never be enough, but it would also be wrong to pretend that nothing ever happened.”

“Then you weren’t tracking us.”

He shook his head emphatically. “It was as great a surprise to me as to Kestryl when I saw you all in the park that night. Though”—his lips twisted in a self-mocking expression—“the surprise was clearly a more pleasant one for me.”

I believed him. For better or for worse, he’d been honest with me, and it seemed he was sincere in his offer of help.

“All right.”

He glanced at me with evident surprise. “All right?”

“You can help. With certain conditions.”

“Name them.” The fae prince was tense as a tightly coiled spring—anticipation entirely focused on my answer.

“No pressuring Kes once we find her. If she wants to talk to you, then fine, but otherwise, you’ll stay away and leave her to this new life.” I wasn’t sure yet whether he knew about her magic, but he was likely to find out if he went down this road with us, and I wouldn’t let him take it out on her later.

“I already agreed to that,” he told me. “The reality is, my life is tied to the Fae Court, and therefore to all of her ugliest memories. She has no desire to return, and I’m not here because I believe my involvement will change her mind.”

“Then the other conditions are the same as I gave Callum. No one else gets involved without my approval. We share information and don’t hide things from each other. Also”—my voice turned harsh—“anything you find out about me or Kes or the kids cannot be used to hurt or blackmail us. Ever.”

For the next two blocks, he stared silently out the windshield.

Then… “I already know,” he said softly.

Every muscle in my body tied itself into horrified knots. Kes had been so terrified of what he would do if he knew the truth. So miserable at the thought of him finding out that her magic had been used to hurt him.

“You know…” I didn’t want to say anything out loud until he fully confirmed my fears.

“I know about her magic, Raine.”

“You can’t tell her,” I blurted out, turning to face him and clutching the door handle with whitened knuckles.

“On the contrary,” he said calmly. “I believe I must tell her. That I should have told her the full truth when I saw her before. I not only know what her magic is, but I know how my mother used it. I know how Elayara used Kestryl’s own sense of compassion to torment her.” His tone grew harsh, and his gaze out the windshield was bleak and haunted. “I even know that she used me as a part of that torment, so I do not for one moment accept that Kes does not deserve to understand that I neither blame her nor hate her for my mother’s actions.”

I was left with no words. No response that would do justice to his pain. Nor could I argue with him that he was wrong.

Because Kes did deserve to know.

“You love her, don’t you?” I blurted out suddenly, and the sigh that answered me echoed with old pain.

“Yes,” he said, with stark honesty, “but not in the way you’re thinking. In the past, you would have been right, but the Rath and Kestryl of the past no longer exist, and whatever future I once imagined for us will never come to pass. Too much has come between us, and there are too many dark memories that may never truly fade. Worst of all, I am tied to the Fae Court, and will never be free to follow the demands of my heart. But even though our paths are separate now, I still care enough to do whatever I can to ensure that she is safe and happy.”

My heart broke for him, and for Kes.

“Okay,” I agreed hoarsely. “I guess you know her better than I do. Just… Promise you’ll be careful?”

“Always.”

“Then… welcome to the team.”