Page 3 of Shadowed Spirits (Haunted Magic #2)
CHAPTER 3
IZZY
I ’m surprised to step out into the hallway outside the councilors’ offices. Gold-veined marble, gaudy crystal chandeliers, and larger-than-life portraits of pompous old guys give the corridor a garish vibe, which is perfect for the council. Tacky is absolutely their style.
After Levi walks through, he lets the rift disappear and heads straight for the dark wood door at the end of the hallway. It’s decorated with gold leaf and has Doyle’s name in curving wrought iron across the middle.
The clacking of our shoes on the polished marble is the only sound in the eerily silent hallway, until Archer asks, “So, what’s our plan, demon eyes?”
“I vote for killing him,” I answer before Levi gets the chance to. “Satisfying, quick, and complication free.” Other than the whole needing to cover up the murder of the head of the council and dispose of his body thing.
Levi lets out a long-suffering sigh at Archer and me as he reaches the door. “I am not a demon, pup. Trust me, you would know if I were. And killing him won’t solve anything, little raven. Once you’re safe, I will happily torture him for the rest of eternity if that’s what you desire. The plan is to ask him for information. If that doesn’t work, I’ll look through his memories.”
Offering to make Doyle suffer for the rest of time is weirdly sweet of Levi and makes my too-sappy-for-its-own-good heart flip in my chest. I don’t get a chance to respond, because Levi shoves open Doyle’s door hard. It bangs into the opposite wall, announcing our entrance.
Doyle looks up from his grand mahogany desk, his weaselly face already twisted in a sneer. I snort when I see a massive portrait of Doyle hanging on the deep burgundy wall behind his desk. The man is obsessed with himself.
At my snort, Doyle turns his bottle-green eyes, swimming with pure malice, on me. Sheesh. By the soul-deep hatred in his gaze, you’d think I was planning to blow up the guy’s entire life, destroy everything he cares about, and then kill him.
Oh, wait. I am.
Carry on with your loathing, not-so-good sir.
Doyle shoves himself to his feet, his face turning almost purple with the intensity of his anger. “What are doing here, vilis ? How did you and the mutts even get in here?”
I give him a bright smile, enjoying riling him up. “With magic.” I do jazz hands to punctuate my statement and get to watch a vein throb so hard in his temple, it looks like it’s going to burst. Giving Doyle an aneurism would be in the top ten best moments of my life.
Instead of responding, Doyle starts to mutter something under his breath, likely casting a spell. Before I can react, red magic explodes from Levi to cover Doyle from the neck down. The councilor’s bright green eyes widen as he thrashes around, trying to escape Levi’s otherworldly magic, to no avail.
“Do you know who I am? Using magic on me is against the law! I’ll have you arrested and executed for this. Release me this instant!” Doyle’s voice becomes higher pitched the longer he screams at Levi, making him sound like a petulant child instead of the head of all North American mages.
At Doyle’s threats, the lights in the room start flickering. Levi seems to grow as shadows surround him, giving him an almost alien appearance. A sinister skull flashes over his hard features as he stares Doyle down. “It is only out of respect for my mate that I have not razed this plane and all of its pathetic inhabitants like you with it. Do not provoke me, mage. Now, tell me how you discovered Izzy’s magic.”
Doyle pales at Levi’s transformation and threat, but he rallies somewhat once my name is mentioned. “You can’t intimidate me, and you will never drag the answer out of me. I am far more powerful than any other mage out there!” His eyes light with a feverish gleam that makes me wonder if he’s a few light bulbs short of a full crayon box.
Levi’s menacing chuckle raises the hair on the back of my neck, and it’s not even directed at me. “Your knowledge of this realm is pitiful. Isabel has more magic at only twenty-one than you could ever hope to have in your lifetime. While your cooperation is unnecessary, it would’ve made this easier. For you, at least.”
Before Doyle can respond, the black mist crawls up his face. The office is silent for a heartbeat before he starts screaming and writhing.
“Jesus fuck. What the hell is happening?” Archer hisses from behind me.
Levi’s eyes are glazed over, and he doesn’t appear to hear the question. I turn to Archer and meet his horrified yet intrigued gaze. “He’s looking through Doyle’s memories to find out how he knew about me.”
Archer’s eyebrows jump almost to his hairline. “Can all mages do that?”
“Memory readers can, supposedly, but it’s usually a fast and painless process.” I’ve never met a memory reader in person, but they can look through all of your memories without you ever knowing it. Luckily for me, they’re fairly rare, but they’re high on my list of people I never want to meet, along with Hades, the Grim Reaper, and Pennywise. “And Levi’s very much not a mage, sunny boy.”
Tearing his ocean gaze away from Levi, Archer looks at me with wonder and apprehension. “What is he?”
I shrug. “I dunno. Since he’s not from our realm, I have zero clue what he is.”
Archer’s jaw drops. “What do you mean, he’s not from our realm? Where is he from?”
“Fuck!” Levi shouts, startling all of us. Archer jumps almost a foot in the air, and I have to smother my laugh at the giant wolf acting like a scared little kitten. Stomping over to Doyle’s desk, rather than explaining, Levi roughly pulls open one of the drawers. After rifling in it for a moment, Levi lifts up a long, glowing black crystal. “Goddamn it! How in the hell did this even get here?”
I’ve never seen Levi this upset. He’s usually so even-tempered and calm. I glance between the crystal and Levi, trying to figure out why he’s so distraught. “Um. What is that?”
Levi closes his eyes for a moment to gather himself. Blinking open his red and black eyes, he focuses his intense gaze on me. “The obrussa is a tool from my realm. It’s used to detect species and magic ability, without the need for active magic. It’s keyed to the user and will tell them in real time what abilities everyone they encounter has. When we saw Doyle on Friday, he had the obrussa on him, which is how he figured out you’re part spirit mage.”
“So, it wasn’t my fault he found out?” My voice comes out small but tinged with hope. I haven’t had time to stop and wallow in my guilt for, yet again, putting my family and mates in danger, but it’s still there, waiting.
“No, little raven. None of it was your fault.” Levi’s face softens as he puts the crystal back in the drawer and walks around the desk to stand in front of me. He strokes my cheek with his free hand before pulling back. “But the question is how he got it. They are exceedingly rare in my realm, and they require magic from there to activate it. Someone had to give it to him.”
Luca steps up behind me and molds his front to my back, providing what comfort he can right now. His dark, woodsy scent envelops me as he asks, “Do you know who did?”
“I don’t.” Levi shoves an agitated hand through his hair as he starts pacing in front of the large mahogany desk. “There’s are multiple blocks in Doyle’s memory that even I can’t get past. But I know someone who should know.”
Archer tilts his head curiously. “Who?”
Levi blows out a harsh breath. “My brother.”
“You have a brother?” My eyebrows are probably at my hairline with how surprised I am.
His lips quirk up in a half smile. “I do. You and he will get along great. He loves mischief, chaos, and starting all manner of trouble. I’ll just have to explain to him why I waited almost a year to tell him about finding my mate.”
“Why did you wait?” I can’t help but wonder if it’s because he is embarrassed of me. Not that I blame him. I’m the human embodiment of a trainwreck and absolutely should not be allowed out in polite society. It still hurts, though, even if I get it.
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop.” Levi comes to stand in front of me and pushes my chin up with his thumb and forefinger, forcing me to look at him. “I didn’t tell him because he would’ve meddled. I wanted us to get to know each other without my older brother interfering. That’s the only reason, little raven. Now, I need to erase Doyle’s memories, then we can leave and make a plan.”
I duck my head in embarrassment at Levi knowing exactly where my thoughts went.
The black mist creeps up his head again as Levi erases Doyle’s memories of today and me being a spirit mage. Unfortunately, there’s little screaming this time. When Levi is done, he lets Doyle fall to the ground, unconscious, smacking his head into the desk, much to my delight, as he goes. Unfortunately, we can’t leave him like that, or he’ll know something is up. With a grunt, Bishop heaves Doyle and his beer belly back into his desk chair.
Levi tidies up Doyle’s desk, putting it back like we found it. Then he opens a portal, probably back to the Nightshade keep. Or it could be to another dimension. Who really knows at this point?
Levi makes no move to retrieve the tool from his realm from Doyle’s desk. “Aren’t we taking the crystal thingy with us?” I ask. It seems like a spectacularly bad idea to leave a super powerful tool like that with Doyle.
He shakes his head. “No. Doyle will know we were here if we take it from him. Since we don’t know how he got it, that could cause more harm than good.”
I consider what he said for a moment before giving him a reluctant nod.
Archer is the first one to head to the portal. At the last moment, he stops and looks at Levi. “Where exactly is your realm, demon eyes?”
Levi rolls his neck back and forth as he tries to figure out what to say. “Probably the closest human idea of my realm is Hell.”