Page 5 of Silver (Shunned Mages #2)

Wilston

Present day.

Emma’s call had left me in a weird mood. She was moving.

I’d known she was getting serious with her boyfriend Trent, but I hadn’t realized it would mean she’d one day leave town.

Her tone had been laced with finality. She’d sold the restaurant and that included my apartment, too.

I had no idea how long I could live there, or how long I had left with a paying job either.

Markus, our cook, had been silent, too, not knowing what to say about any of the changes. Emma had worked less than usual so we knew something was changing. I just wasn’t expecting changes like these.

This day sucked.

I finished taking orders from the newest tables and returned to the kitchen.

Markus was busy grilling meat for the burgers and seemed lost in his own thoughts.

I should go look for a new job after my shift, and then a new apartment.

I’d saved up enough to pay for a one bedroom in town.

There was just the matter of finding one that was available.

Luckily, I didn’t have much stuff I needed to take with me, having lived comfortably with less ever since I’d moved into my home.

I exited the kitchen, ready to introduce myself to the new customers when I froze mid step. They were gazing around the restaurant, almost as if searching for something, but my eyes were locked firmly on the guy in the light pink hoodie.

He was gorgeous.

I shook myself mentally and went to introduce myself as Emma required.

“It’s always polite to introduce yourself to customers, Wilston.

You need to be more comfortable speaking to them.

” Emma’s words rang true in my mind, reminding me not to treat these three men any differently.

Just because one was making me weak kneed wasn’t a good enough excuse to forget my manners.

I looked at the three strangers, waiting for one of them to tell me what they wanted with me.

I’d trusted them when they’d explained they were shunned mages, too, since one of them had used the word “shunned”.

But I also knew it would be best to remain as silent as possible, not wanting to accidentally offend them.

Not these men who, like me, were from the Realm of Mages.

“So, I believe it’s best to just tell you everything and then you can ask questions after. Does that work for you?”

It worked perfectly for me. The less they made me talk the better.

I didn’t say that, though, just nodded. I had a feeling whatever they had to say was bad because they all seemed really serious.

The silver haired one kept staring intently at me, and it made me feel naked and uncomfortable.

What did he think when he looked at me? He was so bright and beautiful, with his colorful clothes and shiny hair.

I still had on my outfit for work, so I was basically in all black.

Black jeans, black button down, and black shoes.

I was the dark one, the boring one. Even the black-haired man with the piercings and tattoos seemed to brighten up the space with his personality alone.

“First off, my name is Xarius, and I’m the first shunned mage and son of Leader Leah.” I nodded, trying not to show how much I pitied him. He didn’t deserve pity, he was a survivor, and if his bright personality meant anything, then he was doing a fine job enjoying life, too.

He pointed to the man to his left. “This is Niam, he was shunned recently and is the newest shunned mage.” He took Niam’s hand in his, “And he’s also my soulmatch.” It made sense they were a couple, although I had no idea what soulmatch meant. A new hip way of saying soulmate maybe?

“And this,” he pointed to the silver haired man. “This is Silver.” I suppressed a laugh, of course he was named Silver. I really wanted to ask if his hair was natural or not, but chose not to speak. I nodded again and waited for him to go on.

“Now, I’ll start from the beginning. I was told by my mother, not Leah, but my other mother, that the leaders were shunning magicless mages because of the old legends.

In those old books mages who were born without magic finally got their magic, when they found their soulmatch.

But not only did they get magic, they were the most powerful mages that existed.

They each had a familiar, a big one, to fight and protect them.

They were all leaders. Three soulmatched pairs.

All male. And because of those legends, the leaders shunned us, afraid we would get our powers and steal their position as leaders.

” I was reeling. I had read those old books; They were one of my favorite discoveries at the school library.

I had searched for knowledge about magicless mages and after months of prowling through all the books, I’d finally found the old legends.

I’d held onto the hope that I could be one of them, however the final bit of hope had died the day I was shunned.

Unable to stop myself from asking, I said, “So you found Niam and got your powers and now you need to find the rest to get the three pairs united? And then what, return to our world and rule?” I hoped it was the latter. Just the thought excited me. To learn the legends were true…

Xarius blinked. “Um, yes. That’s pretty much it.

We are also in danger. Since we got our magic, mages have been attacking us constantly.

” I nodded. It all made sense. “I gotta say, you are taking this extremely well,” Xarius continued.

“I should know, since I can feel emotions in others and you feel calm and excited.”

I frowned. “Isn’t that an invasion of my privacy?”

He laughed. “I can tell you don’t actually feel that.

” He frowned, too. “Oh, now you do.” He waved it off.

“Not important. But what is important is that you come with us so we can protect you. You could be soulmatched to Silver or either of the last two mages, who are yet to arrive on Sutiner, by the way.”

“But wouldn’t the leaders be afraid to shun them to Sutiner knowing you somehow got your powers?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t offending them by pointing out something I found to be logical.

All three men shared a look. Then Xarius spoke for them, “We don’t really know what to do if that happens, maybe we should wait with bonding any of you until we’re all here?

Or maybe they’ll dump the others in countries far away from us?

I only knew I had to find my soulmatch and then the rest of you.

We’re sort of figuring things out as we go. ”

I shrugged, trying not to say anything else that could offend them.

Mom rarely told me exactly what I said to offend her, so it would be best to say as little as possible.

“I will go with you and try to stay alive,” I said, trying not to notice the concerned looks they sent me.

I knew it wouldn’t take long before they realized I was different.

Thought differently. Spoke differently. That was why I preferred to keep quiet.

“We appreciate it,” Xarius smiled. It was a kind smile, and I got embarrassed once I remembered he could feel my emotions.

I tried to tamp down what I felt so he wouldn’t ask questions about it.

I really didn’t want to answer why I was feeling happy about something as simple as getting a smile from someone.

“So, if me and Wilston are soulmatches, we can’t bind ourselves for up to another year?

” Silver asked. I quickly took hold of my emotions.

I didn’t want Xarius to feel my disappointment.

I knew a beautiful man like Silver would never be mine, I wasn’t the sort of man he deserved, and I could tell, even if I’d only just met him, that this man deserved the world.

“Well,” Niam shrugged. “I couldn’t keep my hands off Xari in the end, so I feel like us telling you what you can and can’t do wouldn’t be fair.”

“I agree with that,” Xarius said, smiling at Niam. “It would be cruel of us to keep you apart. We’ll figure out what to do if the other mages aren’t sent to Sutiner. Perhaps by then, we will have enough magic between us to teleport or make portals.”

Silver gave me a soft smile.

I swallowed.

I was in so much trouble here.