Page 2 of Silver (Shunned Mages #2)

Silver

Present time.

They were having sex. Again.

Now, I didn’t mind people having sex. But when I wasn’t having any, yeah, that didn’t sit well with me. Xari had been edging Niam for what felt like hours now. They were in their van, while I lay snuggled up with Snowflake in my teardrop trailer.

“Please, Xari,” I heard Niam beg for the thousandth time.

I couldn’t take it anymore. “Just let him fucking come already!” I yelled, not caring if I was acting like a bitch.

They had sex every night and I got that; I really did.

But a week of this and I was losing my mind.

I wanted my soulmatch, too, not that I dared admit that to them.

But I felt like the day I’d finally see him would be the start of my very own fairytale.

Finally, I heard Niam shout Xari’s name. I was actually impressed they’d kept going even though they knew I could hear them now. I shrugged to myself. I might’ve underestimated Niam. He looked so innocent but he seemed anything but around Xari.

Damn, I missed sex.

As soon as I’d gotten to land the day I was dumped here, I found a beach and then walked drenched in sea water into the nearest town, getting put straight into a hospital when some people found me.

Hypothermia or something like that they’d said.

All I knew was that I’d woken up with nothing to my name other than a medical bill I had no way of paying.

They’d thrown out my clothes and since I didn’t carry extra with me in my backpack—which I now regretted—I was without clothes when they tried to discharge me.

I had the ID and other stuff the leaders gave us ahead of time, but that was it.

The hospital staff had felt sorry for me when I told them I was on a ferry and was pushed into the sea.

They brought some clothes for me and when just one nurse remained, she locked the door and asked me point blank if I needed work.

I was still out of it, but I managed a nod.

It wasn’t exactly hard for them to guess I was at rock bottom.

Having been so close to dying and only having my few belongings with me, it told them everything they needed to know.

Her next words changed my life for the better.

“Come to this address and tell them Snappy Sandra sent you,” she winked and handed me a business card.

I swallowed as I stared at the strip club logo.

I’d promised my grandma I would do anything to survive.

I nodded and gave her a grateful smile. That had been the best decision I’d ever made, except the one where I chose to follow Niam and Xari.

The first thing I’d done was live my life like my grandma had lived hers. I didn’t give a fuck what other people thought of me. And it was addictive being on that stage. Finally being desired. It was a rush. No one had ever looked at me with hunger in their eyes before.

So, yeah, I’d had my fun with as many men as possible. Who knew how long I would remain this beautiful? But now that I knew I had a soulmatch, I wasn’t interested in random men any longer. Which meant I was celibate until he showed up. Was I impatient? Hell yes. But I could be strong.

Xari had said we were likely a week away from Wilston, but after driving for a week, that had proven to be wrong.

We were closing in on him, yes. But nowhere near fast enough for our liking.

We’d had two mage attacks since we left my home and not knowing if Wilston was safe or not was messing with us.

The locket continued to glow around my neck, showing us he was alive.

I was glad they trusted me enough to let me wear it.

I think Niam did it to make me feel more included and it worked.

I was secretly hoping for Wilston to be my soulmatch. Every night I fantasized about seeing him for the first time, and even though Niam said it hadn’t been love at first sight for him, it was always the case in my fantasies.

Wilston would be the most handsome man I’d ever seen, I was sure of it, and he’d take one look at me and then smile brighter than ever because my beauty affected him so much. Then he would carry me bridal style somewhere and fuck me senseless.

“Sorry!” Niam yelled from the van. I rolled my eyes.

He was so polite, apologizing for having loud sex.

I chuckled. They were both growing on me, but Niam felt like someone who could be truly important to me in the future.

They’d said our souls knew one another as friends, and if that were true, then I knew without a doubt that Niam and I had been besties.

Suddenly, Snowflake got up and I knew that meant trouble.

I sighed, taking my phone and alerting Xari.

A minute later I heard screaming. Snowflake stayed with me while they fought outside.

I knew better than to steal a peek, knowing it could be deadly to do so, so I waited and hoped they kicked ass.

“I’m so tired of fighting naked,” Xari sighed.

Niam laughed. “I’m not. Do you have any idea how hot you look fighting them without clothes?”

“Oh, so my baby likes watching me fight naked?” his tone turned sultry and I knew that meant I needed to get out of my trailer before they started round two.

“Incoming!” I warned them before emerging from my trailer, Snowflake right behind me. They hurried to cover their dicks, looking caught off guard. I sighed, “You forgot I was here, didn’t you?”

Niam gave me a sheepish grin and that was enough for me. “Fine,” I said, turning around so they could grab some clothes from their van. “But don’t you dare start touching in there! I need sleep and I can’t rest with you two fucking!”

I heard them laugh as they ran inside to change. I knew they would’ve gotten busy if I hadn’t said anything. They always got so worked up after fighting and I would then lie awake and wait for their moans to stop.

“Okay, we’re dressed!” Niam called, beginning to strip the dead mages. There seemed to be around ten this time. At least it’d gotten easier to see people get killed the longer I was on the road with them.

“We really need to figure out how they’re tracking us,” I reminded them. “And by we, I mean you, Xari. Add some kind of metal around your phone. And if they’re still tracking us through our phones or the car, then maybe you should strengthen the ward, too.”

They blinked as they looked at me. I sighed again, something I was doing way too often now.

“You haven’t thought of using wards?” They shook their heads.

“Great. Then make a fucking ward around the van and trailer!” I demanded, snapping my fingers for them to get a move on.

It was like dealing with children some days.

“Um, how?” Niam asked and I groaned loudly.

“Do neither of you know this?” They shook their heads again.

“Fiiiiine, come stand here,” I ordered, pointing to the ground in front of the van and trailer.

“Hold hands and lift the others.” They did as I ordered.

“Imagine a dome surrounding them, like five yards around the van and trailer, then think of what you want to keep out, or what you’ll allow in.

For example, only us three and your familiars can enter the ward.

Then reach your hands up in the air and let it out. ”

A shimmering ward appeared right in front of us, slowly becoming translucent as their magic fused together. “It worked!” I exclaimed. “Good job, guys!” They beamed proudly.

See? Just like children.

“So, they won’t be able to track us now?” Xari asked.

“Nope, your magic protects us from any kind of tracking, magical or technological. And no one other than us three will be able to get close to the van and trailer,” I explained.

“Cool!” Niam grinned. “I wish we’d known this sooner!”

“I thought you had a ward at first and then I just forgot about it,” I shrugged. “Didn’t you have wards at home?”

They both shook their heads.

“Oh,” I said, realizing it might’ve been less common than I thought.

It wasn’t like I had friends I’d visited.

“Well, um, you two should get rid of the bodies. I’ll keep watch.

” They didn’t mention my weird mood, and I knew Xari could see right through me with his powers, but I still appreciated he hadn’t asked any questions.

My mind was reeling now. Why had our home been warded?

And from whom? Was Gran hiding us from my parents?

But why would she have done that? I couldn’t even remember when it started, but it was before we even got the letter, meaning it wasn’t to shield us from the leaders.

“Done!” Xari’s voice reached me. “We should get going, we might be warded now, but they have this location as our last one.” I nodded and moved into my trailer, feeling safer than I had in a while.

“I’ll sleep while we drive, then at least some of us can catch some sleep,” I said, knowing they wouldn’t be able to sleep until we found someplace else to rest.

“Wait,” Niam said. “Does this mean we can place a ward around any place we visit? Like restaurants or motels?”

“Well, yes. I hadn’t even thought about that, but we could be there undiscovered, too.” I was getting desperate for a real shower.

“Let’s head to a motel then,” Xari said with a grin, looking just as excited as I was about a real shower and a better bed.

“We could all use the rest,” I agreed. “We should add wards around ourselves, too, then we can go eat somewhere and shop.”

“You can do that?” Niam asked, eyes big and curious.

“Yeah, you can ward anything, it just takes more magic the bigger the location or thing is. Like an island would take you several hours, but if there were ten or more mages it could be done faster. With the amount of power you two have? It shouldn’t take much time for you to create wards now that you know how to make them. ”

“That’s amazingly useful! I really want some waffles,” Niam said, shooting puppy dog eyes at Xari, like he even needed to do that to get his way.

“Waffles it is,” Xari declared.

I waved them goodbye and headed into the back of the van with Snowflake. When I woke up, I would be able to shower. I fell asleep almost instantly.