Magic Undying (Dragon's Gift: The Seeker #1)(10)

“Yeah,” I muttered.

It thrummed against my skin, a strangely soothing feeling. At least, it’d be soothing if it weren’t so unusual.

Then the power hit me. The signature of a supernatural who was so strong it made my breath come short and my ears hum with a low buzz. The scent of sandalwood filled my nose, and the taste of a fine red wine exploded on my tongue.

“Ohhh shit,” I breathed as I turned toward the door.

The man who walked into the shop made my heart pound like I’d run a marathon.

This was the Warden. No question. His power was so immense I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.

I just couldn’t get a break. First the Ubilaz demon, now this guy.

Worse, he was everything I’d feared and nothing I’d expected.

For one, he was too damned handsome. Probably the best looking guy I’d ever seen, which would normally make me say something stupid. Particularly since his was the strong, dark type of handsome. Like a freaking fallen angel.

But I couldn’t focus on his looks when his power was sucker punching me. His magical signature was so strong that all five of my senses registered it.

The scent of sandalwood and the taste of wine were familiar, but the feel of his magic—a caress that made me shiver—was entirely unexpected. And the sound—a low growl that was as seductive as it was threatening—was a signature I’d never heard before. His aura was bright blue, a rare cobalt that I suspected was unique to him. Few supernaturals had auras—those who did were one some of the most extreme magical signatures.

With it, this guy hit up all five of my senses. No, six, I realized. He was lighting up my dragon sense, which only picked up things of value.

My heart raced as my dragon sense pulled me toward him.

No, no, no. This guy was not valuable to me. He couldn’t be. I didn’t even know him.

But my dragon sense did. And it didn’t seem to care that he was the Warden, come to drag me back to hell.





Chapter Three





Quickly, I dug into my pocket and pulled out a freeze bomb, then chucked it at his feet. The golden vial crashed to the ground and exploded in a flurry of glittery gold dust.

The Warden froze in his tracks, his foot partially lifted to continue his walk toward us.

“Freeze bomb?” Cass asked.

“Yeah.” Didn’t take me long to break into Connor’s stash.

“Quick thinking,” Nix said.

My gaze raced over the Warden’s features. It made my breath come short just to look at him. Though maybe that was a bit of fear as well.

“Why is he holding your sword?” Cass asked.

“And why does he have a magical arsenal like the entire Order of the Magica combined?” Nix asked.

He gripped my beloved sword loosely in his fist. My heart leapt, and I started forward to snatch it back.

“Stop!” Cass cried. “Don’t approach. You could be frozen too.”

I halted in my tracks. She was right. The golden freeze dust still glittered in the air around the Warden. I just wanted my sword back so dang much.

I dragged my gaze from my sword back up to the Warden’s dark eyes.

Nix wolf whistled. “He’s hot.”

“Yep.” And I didn’t like it.

I didn’t like his perfect face or the black hair that waved back from his forehead or his blazing dark eyes. I certainly didn’t like that he was well over six feet, nor the muscle that lurked beneath his dark shirt and jeans. It’d be pretty much impossible to resist him at a bar if he tried to pick me up, because hello, handsome.

“Powerful, too,” Cass said.

“Yep.” I was eloquent, as usual.

Even without his magic, I’d have a tough time beating him in a fight. If he got ahold of me, he could tear me apart.

Would he, though?

The fact that he could was unusual since I could hold my own against just about anyone in hand-to-hand combat. It was a point of pride.

“Who is he?” Nix asked.

“I think he’s the Warden,” I said.

Nix met my gaze. “Of what?”

“I don’t know. He’s some kind of badass from whatever hell I was in.”

“He’s come for you?” Cass asked. “First the demon, then this guy?”

“Yeah. My luck hasn’t been so hot lately. Don’t know how he tracked me, but he’s definitely here for me.”

“His magic doesn’t feel evil,” Cass said.

I reached out for his magical signatures, trying to get a better feel for them. The aura had faded, as I’d heard they did after a first encounter, but the rest were still evident.

Cass was right—he didn’t feel evil. And I’d felt evil before. Plenty of it. This wasn’t it. True evil made your heart race and your skin chill. You could feel it, like an animal sensed danger. But his power was so strong that I did sense danger. He might not be outright evil, but he was big trouble for me.

“Just because he manages an Underworld doesn’t mean he’s necessarily evil,” Nix said. “It’s probably better if someone with that kind of power is fair minded.”

“I guess so.” I wished I knew more about the power structure of the Underworlds. Death was as mysterious to supernaturals as it was to humans. I was probably the only supernatural to ever see one of the hells and come back.