Queen Alpha (NYC Mecca #2)(31)
Definitely Kade. He was always protecting me.
Keeping a tight hold on his hand, we waded through the magic to reach the tunnel and make our way out. Violet was already gone, no doubt waiting for us on the other side. Once we were all in the library room, and the pulse of mecca shut off behind the now closed door, Kade took a seat in one of the large reading chairs. The magic born wasted no time examining his hand. The first thing Violet did was smell it, her delicate nose crinkling prettily. Then she ran her palm over the top of it, hovering about half-an-inch from the wound.
She whistled low, her head coming up so she could see me. “Nasty old magic. I can fix it though.”
She produced a bottle of liquid that resembled molten gold. Sometimes my friend was a walking apothecary; she almost always had the right elixir on hand – part of her extra-sensory, see the future thing. She focused on Kade. “You ready, King Kade? This is going to hurt like nothing you have ever experienced before…”
He looked at me. “I doubt that.”
My heart clenched and ached. His meaning was clear, and so was the sorrow between us. Duty came first, for us both, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t painful. Our moment was broken when Violet poured the molten gold onto his palm and it began to smoke and sizzle. The bellow out of Kade’s mouth had me and the magic born taking a big step backward; it had been the deepest bear roar I’d ever heard. My guards rushed into the room with weapons drawn, but upon seeing Kade, gritted teeth, rumbling chest, and bloodied hand, they lowered their weapons.
Violet looked impressed. “The last guy I did that to cried like a baby and passed out.”
Kade took a deep settling breath and turned his hand over to see both sides of it. There was a shining gold filling the hole, and after a few moments the gold faded, turning into fresh pink skin.
“I cried a little on the inside,” he said with a wink. Violet and I laughed at the same time, a nervous yet relieved sort of cackle.
“Okay, let’s never do that again,” I said.
Kade shrugged. “Not the most pleasant experience, but we might have just found our greatest weapon, and possibly a way to fix the mecca.”
His meaning hit me then. Holy crap. We had a way into the fae lands. Could we fit soldiers through that mirage portal? If an arrow came through to our end, then surely we could send things into their lands. But why would we want to? Unless he meant…
“So if we could figure out how to manipulate the mecca, we might be able to use the stones to send the energy back to their side of the veil?” I asked, not sure if that was his way to fix the mecca.
As Kade nodded, Violet clapped her hands together. “I was in the newly unsealed magic library when you called,” she said, her voice trilling with excitement. “I might have actually found some information to help with that.”
She took off. I was right behind her, and even though he was quiet and graceful, a two hundred and fifty pound male couldn’t follow without making some noise, so I knew Kade was there too. My guards fell in next to him, all of us chasing the magic born. Violet’s hair whipped around her as she ran, and more than one surprised face turned in our direction. When they saw me in the midst, most of them averted their eyes, but some couldn’t seem to turn away. Couldn’t really blame them. We were an odd bunch. Especially the blood-spattered bear king.
Violet let us up three flights of stairs, past the late queen’s private storeroom and into the small room filled with magical tomes, most of which were unreadable for all except magic born.
Jesabele and Seamus were already in the room, both of them with their heads bent over studying books, white hair reflecting off the magical light they must have all created. The room was very well lit, much brighter than the lighting originally in here. Everything was actually really clean too, which had to be their doing since this room had been sealed under the Red Queen’s reign and only just now was opened. Walking deeper in, the room was much larger than I originally expected. At least ten by ten foot, shelves lining each wall from floor to ceiling. There were thousands of books. Some small, others huge. The moment I crossed into the room I felt a heavy pulse of magic; these books had old magic hidden within their words, I could sense it dancing across my skin.
“Are all of these about the Otherworld?” I asked, my voice breathless. “All fae magic?”
Violet shook her head. “Not directly. Most of these books are the long lost magic of the witches, but many of those spells are still fae in origin.”
“Not so long lost after all,” Blaine said, staring around. He’d fallen back with my other dominants near the doorway, all of them peering in to get a better look.
Violet’s expression went dark then, shadows crossing over her. “It annoys me greatly that they have kept all of this information hidden. This is the rightful domain of magic born shifters. We’re the descendants of witches.”
The gene which triggers a magic born shifter to be born runs in a few specific family lines. They were the long-ago children of shifter and witch couples, and even though witches have not been seen since the dark war, random magic born continue to be born. Genetics are a funny thing.
“So tell me everything of importance you’ve learned.” I took control of the room; the other two magic born were on their feet now, staring at me. “I want to know absolutely everything which might help us defeat the fae in battle.”