Page 17 of Magic & Secrets (Twisted Magic #1)

THE EXPLOSION DEAFENED me. I held onto Enya and Mina as the blistering whirlwind trapped us.

My Armgard magic yanked at my flesh, trying to tear me apart.

As the magic shifted outward again, I lost my grip on my sisters.

I reached for Mina with one hand and Enya with another.

We stared wide-eyed at each other as the magic’s power tore us apart.

I was sent flying into a void. My mind fought to remain intact as I dropped into the darkness.

“To a new world order!” declared a male voice.

Dropping through the void, Solme Divige gave me visions of Ivitithi’s worshippers plotting to steal power from the Murade.

“We need the blood of the most powerful creatures still walking the land!” a Necromancer called out.

I saw through the eyes of a member of the cult. Looking around, I tried to zero in on the leaders. This Necromancer was likely the one killed by Roque and his packmates. Who else led this cult?

I pushed past the Shifters, Vampyres, Elves, and Goblins crowded together and staring at the stage.

I heard another male voice declaring, “We will begin with the Bane Shifters! Their magic comes from an ancient one! The Murade will be defeated thanks to their own beasts!”

As I tried to push through the mass of bodies to see those in charge, the ground dropped out from under my feet.

The void opened to reveal that I was in a free fall above a dense wetland. In the distance, I spotted what looked like the Elven city of Elatalora. I realized the failed spell had transported me to Varema Territory.

My body crashed through the primeval trees of Pandorium Forest before I dropped onto the moist ground. The impact forced the air from my lungs. My body felt broken and limp.

A musky scent teased my nostrils. I fought to lift my head and examine my surroundings. There were no signs of my sisters or the Bane Shifters. Lowering my head, I screwed my eyes shut and fought tears.

Despair kept me lifeless on the ground. I didn’t have the will to fight anymore. My heart felt heavy. Was there any point in living without my sisters and Roque?

After an unknown amount of time, my nostrils picked up a familiar scent. My heart began to race. I felt hopeful again, even if my body remained slack on the ground.

Roque lifted me from the mud and cradled my body against his powerful build. I inhaled his familiar scent and let the horrors fade from my mind. Hope dug its way back into my thoughts. I was no longer ready to give up.

I opened my eyes to find Roque inconsolable. He howled in agony. His handsome face was clenched with rage and despair. Despite his horror, I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful sight than the creature who cradled me in his powerful arms.

When Roque looked down to find me looking back, his expression shifted to annoyance.

“You’re not dead.”

“No, I’m not,” I replied, reaching up to touch his bearded jaw. “And neither are you.”

Roque’s irritation eased, and he studied me with his icy blue eyes. “I landed here first. I saw someone drop from the sky and tracked your location. I haven’t seen anyone else. Perhaps, they will fall soon.”

Roque glanced upward, but the massive, gnarled trees hid the sky. His gaze returned to mine as his fingers brushed across my cheek.

“I don’t understand what happened,” he said, still holding me against him. “The Sorcerer must have thrown the wrong spell.”

“I think the magic we’ve been feeling acted like a protection spell. This was its reaction to the little spell thrown by the Sorcerer.”

“Little? It blew us into another Territory.”

“His spell likely would have merely injured us,” I said before remembering how I was only supposed to be an Elven half-breed. “Well, my sisters and I would have likely perished, but you would have been fine.”

My mind returned to Ivitithi’s ceremonial hall, where the various magic folk cheered for the end of the Murade. Those were the creatures behind the deaths at Haven Junction.

“I think your kind is in danger,” I said, sitting up in his lap and wiping mud from his temple. “The creatures worshipping Ivitithi want to use the Bane Shifters to overthrow the Murade.”

“You know how?”

“I dreamt it while I was falling.”

“So, you don’t really know, then, do you?”

Roque’s irritation made me consider leaving his lap. I surveyed our surroundings. Dropped into a magically dangerous forest, I was no doubt safer closer to Roque than farther away.

“The Sorcerer organized an ambush for you,” I said and stared into his eyes in the hope of forcing him to submit to my will. “Why would any creature willingly face off against the Bane Shifters?”

“Possibly, they were suicidal. Back in my day, a tribe of Elves wanted to die in battle, so they challenged the Bane Shifters. We viewed killing them as an act of charity.”

Despite his arrogance, I found myself frozen with worry over what awaited us in Pandorium Forest. What if our arrival here wasn’t an accident?

I closed my eyes and tried to sense my sisters. The forest sang to me as if I were an old friend. Startled by the strange magic here, I opened my eyes and found Roque watching me.

“Isn’t it odd how the magic dumped us together here?”

“No,” Roque insisted while staring transfixed at my face.

My tingling fingers found comfort when touching Roque’s jaw. His exasperated expression softened. My fears eased when his gaze was on me. Nothing mattered outside of us.

“You were terrible in battle,” Roque said, setting me on my feet. “Tirso would have been embarrassed to witness your behavior.”

Vexed by his refusal to acknowledge the reality of what was happening between us, I grumbled, “You become cruel when confused.”

“I’m not confused.”

“Then, pray tell, explain to me what’s happening?”

Roque glanced around and shrugged. “The Sorcerer was bad at his task. His magic transported us to Pandorium Forest.”

“What Territory?”

“I don’t know,” Roque said and sniffed the air. “Varema, maybe.”

“That’s why you’re confused.”

“I don’t need to know. The answer doesn’t matter. Let’s find a settlement where we can bunk. You shouldn’t be out after the sun goes down.”

“Why exactly can’t I be out in the dark?”

“It’s not safe.”

“I’m a warrior.”

“You’re a fledgling. It’s fortunate I’m here to protect you.”

I opened my mouth to complain. Roque was behaving like a brute. I wished I could claim this wasn’t his natural state, but I didn’t know him.

Rather than complain, I glanced down to find the mossy ground sucking at my boots. “You’re correct about our location. We’re within Pandorium Forest. Much of this land is parasitic.”

“Don’t care,” Roque insisted as he walked away.

“Why is it only you and me here?”

“Don’t care,” he called back stubbornly.

I wasn’t particularly surprised by Roque’s behavior. He barely showed any concern over his fellow Bane Shifters. I suspected the Murade trained their weapons to shirk attachments. The Bane Shifters’ quest for revenge was more out of habit than actual affection.

Or I could be completely wrong, and the Bane Shifters were simply experts at hiding their emotions. Well, except for Roque, who was very visibly distraught when he believed I had died.

Following Roque, I called out, “You care about me!”

“I care for no one.”

“Not even your pack?”

“We are weapons.”

My eyes rolled again. “You want me to be safe.”

Roque stopped in his tracks and returned to me. “You are too young to be in battle. Look at your unhinged emotions. No wonder you failed against the Sorcerer.”

“I wouldn’t throw around insults about my skills after the miserable showing you offered today.”’

“I had everything under control until the Sorcerer demonstrated his poor skills with that terrible spell.”

“I don’t smell like cinnamon,” I said, taking my time with the wet ground, unlike Roque, who shoved his way through every problem. “You know that, right? Strange magic has been circling us since we met. It’s why you and I are here together.”

Roque stopped again and walked back to me. “Spit out your meaning.”

Holding his gaze, I forced myself to say the words, “We might be mates.”

Roque threw his head back and laughed loudly. The sound echoed in the dense woods. Creatures scurried away from the rude creature before me.

“I feel something for you that I don’t feel for Koda and Delta,” I pointed out. “Do you think you would have been as upset if you believed Enya or Mina were dead?”

“I wasn’t upset. I hit my head when I dropped to the ground. I was reacting to my injury.”

I stepped away from him as he fed his denial with ridiculous lies.

“Well, I believe you’re my mate.”

Amused no longer, Roque tapped my nose. “No, no, no. The Bane Shifters don’t have mates. If we did, I certainly wouldn’t want you to be mine.”

“Why not?” I cried, stung by his cruel words. “I have many wonderful qualities. Many of them have been obvious since we met.”

“If I had a mate, I’d want a Shifter,” Roque said, waving around his large hand as he stomped across the muddy ground.

He seemed like a child telling a fib rather than a fearsome beast stating an obvious fact.

“I would require someone who could understand what it felt like to change forms. Someone who could offer me offspring that would be like me. Besides, you’ve got those pointy ears coming in soon.”

“I’m far from sixty,” I mumbled, feeling as if he’d ripped out my heart and was showing it to me now. “I think you’re treating me cruelly because I make you feel weak.”

“If I felt weak, I would agree it is your doing. A bewitching spell, perhaps. I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’ve been suspicious since you fell into my arms. That was such a dramatic damsel-in-distress tactic you pulled there, Calla.”

His comments hurt me. I wasn’t a bad warrior. I would also never entrap anyone. What did I want with a mate anyway? The magic between Roque and me put my sisters at risk. Why would I ever purposely seek out this situation?