Ancient Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress #1)(22)

“Yeah, yeah. I see your point,” Nix said. “Look, take care of yourself, all right?”

“I will. I’ll be back soon. Remember—if I show up with the scroll, be ready to duplicate it real quick. Otherwise, I’m going to destroy it.” Then I would have Aidan to deal with.

“I’ll be ready.”

“Miss you.”

“Back at you,” she said.

I reached up and tapped the silver charm with my finger, dimming its magic, then followed my nose toward something delightful.

On my way, I peeked my nose into an elegant family room and an enormous library, but it wasn’t hard to find the kitchen. I’d been grateful not to see any food laid out in the elegant dining room that I’d passed before I’d reached the kitchen. Fancy dining rooms weren’t really my natural habitat.

“How do you feel about pasta?” Aidan asked as I walked into the bright kitchen. It was all gleaming white and stainless steel, and even though nice kitchens weren’t really my thing either, I couldn’t help but like it.

My gaze landed on the big bowl in the middle of the kitchen table. There was salad and bread too, but it was the noodles tangled up with veggies and sausage that really got my attention.

“Fabulous,” I said as I met his gaze. His hair was wet. “You managed to take a shower and make all this?”

He grinned—damn, I wished I could get over how good he looked when he grinned—and said, “I can’t claim credit for the pasta. There’s a housekeeper. Iona. She lives in the cottage out back. She made it but had to get back in time for her TV show.”

“Well, thank her for me next time you see her, because this looks amazing.” I sat down and reached for the pasta and piled my plate high. I didn’t even bother to look at the salad, not when all this Italian goodness needed a home.

“Pasta fan?” Aidan asked as he sat down.

“You don’t even know.” The first bite was divine. Al dente noodles, rich sausage, flavorful veggies, and the sharp bite of some kind of cheese. Gorgonzola? “Heaven.”

I plowed into the food.

“How exactly are you able to find the artifacts?” Aidan asked after a few bites.

I glanced up, my mouth full. I swallowed and got ready to deliver my spiel. “I have a bit of Seeker blood. My mom’s side.”

“That’s strange,” Aidan said. “Seekers usually don’t have other powers. And you’re a Mirror Mage, too?”

That part actually was true. I found that hiding lies with the truths helped. “Yep. A weird combo, but it works for me.”

“I’ve never met a Seeker. How do you find the artifact?”

“Yeah, Seekers are rare.” From my research, I knew that Seekers found artifacts basically the same way I did, so at least I could tell the truth. “I’ve never met another either. For me, when an artifact is far away, I get a feeling for its general location. Like I have a map inside me. It’s kinda hard to explain.”

“Try.”

“All right. Once I have a general idea—like Norway—I go there. When I’m closer to the artifact, I get a better idea. I keep narrowing it down. Eventually, it’s like I have a string tied around my waist that pulls me there.”

I shut my mouth abruptly. I’d never shared that much detail with anyone before. Glossing over was more my style. What was it about him?

“What about you?” I asked, hoping to distract him. “You turned into a freaking griffon today. But you’re more than just a shifter.”

“Just a shifter? I’m the shifter.”

I grinned. “Oh, so now you’re cocky about it.”

He grinned, not embarrassed. “It’s the truth. It’s hardly bragging if it’s true. And I want you to like me.”

“Ah…” I did not know how to deal with flirty Aidan. “So, you’re the shifter. And you have powers you’re hiding. Big powers. Even a week mage like me can feel them. What are you, exactly?”

“That’s a bit forward.” He smiled.

I shrugged. It was a slightly rude question, but I didn’t care. There wasn’t a lot of outright fighting or warfare anymore—it was the modern age, after all—but supernaturals had a long history of duking it out with their magic. In any kind of fight, you had an advantage if no one knew your gifts or weaknesses. Hence everyone’s silence on the matter, and Aidan’s interest in getting the Scroll of Truth.

“Come on, impress me,” I said. He already had, though. He was a griffon, for magic’s sake. And he’d more than proven himself in the fight today.

“Shifter and Magica,” he said.

So it was true. A hybrid. The first I’d ever met.

“And you’re the Origin,” I said.

He shrugged. “The real Origin died millennia ago. She was my great-grandmother about six hundred times back. She was the real first shifter. I have her gifts, but I’m not the actual Origin.”

“But you still go by the name.”

“It’s good for business.”

“Which is?”

“Security. Origin Enterprises guards things that people want guarded. There’s also an imports and exports division, specializing in things of value. And bodyguards.”