Page 2 of Magic Betrayed

“Looks like you’ll have to leave without her,” I announced loudly, stepping out of the storage closet and approaching the front desk, pointing silently to show Kes our little escapee’s location.

Her shoulders dropped, and the crease between her brows smoothed out. “All right, I guess I’ll head out, then. Can’t keep Niko waiting. Logan and I will just have to get hot chocolate by ourselves.”

I winced, wishing we didn’t have to resort to bribery, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. Wise or not, I was just thankful it still worked.

Sure enough, Ari popped into view right in front of Kes, her eyes huge and pleading. “No, wait, Kessie! Wait for me! You said I could go too!”

“I did, Ari-bug, but you were hiding from us again.”

“I wasbored,” she informed us sadly. “The cartoons are boring and there’s nothing tobuild.”

The tiny sprite might possess a soul of pure caprice, but she had the mind of a budding engineer, and had recently discovered Legos, thanks to a dusty bin full of bricks from a local thrift store. Now they were all she wanted to do, and she’d resorted to pouting whenever I wouldn’t allow her to take them everywhere we went. We had no instructions, but I’d looked up pictures online, and she’d somehow been able to replicate an astonishing number of the designs.

“But now we are late,” Kes said firmly. “And it’s rude to keep Niko waiting when he was nice enough to offer us a ride. He has to get to work, and so does Faris, so we need to be on time to pick up Logan.”

Ari’s chin dropped. “I want lessons, too,” she said mournfully.

“Someday, Bug,” I promised her. “But for now, I need you to go with Kes. I bet you still have homework to finish before bedtime.”

“Homework” for Ari was patterns and colors and fine motor skills and basic math, trying to get her caught up enough to hopefully attend school next year. And since most of it utilized her beloved Legos, the activities were usually more of a treat than a punishment.

She perked up. “Oh, right. K, bye!” She waved at Kira, then ran behind the counter and threw her arms around the waist of the startled gargoyle. “Thanks, Mr. Hugh. See you next time.”

And then she was gone, tugging Kes out the back door behind her before slamming it with decisive force.

I winced at the sound. “I swear we’re trying to convince her not to do that.”

But Kira was grinning evilly at Hugh. “I love her energy. And I love even more that she’s cultivated a willing accomplice.”

The gargoyle favored her with a withering glare as he stalked out from behind the desk, Chicken still clutched in his arms. “One does not betray a hatchling’s confidence. Now, if I am no longer required, I will leave you to this revolting display of sentimental festiveness. It is time for Chicken’s bath.” And with that, he retreated up the stairs, leaving Kira and me alone with our amusement in the now quiet bookstore.

“I’m so sorry for the chaos,” I said ruefully. “They needed to get out of the house, but helping with the Valentine’s decorations probably wasn’t the brightest idea I’ve ever had.”

“Pfft.” Kira waved off my apologies. “I’m glad you all came. I love doing holidays, but I’ve been distracted with wedding prep and really needed the help.”

Most older Idrians, it turned out, had yet to adopt the majority of human holidays or rituals. They had a few of their own festivals, and signified romantic attachment through mate bonds or blood binding ceremonies. But Kira had been raised as a human, and she still celebrated like one. She loved involving her family and friends in her various festive efforts, and couldn’t wait for her human-style wedding that was coming up in just a little less than two weeks.

I was thankful for her enthusiasm for all things human, as her past had given us a way to connect. It probably also contributed to her refusal to reject me once she’d learned the truth about my own origins.

“I should head out too,” I confessed, after a quick glance at the clock hanging over the door. “My shift starts in an hour.”

“I shall drive you,” Kira proclaimed, producing keys from the pocket of her hoodie with a flourish. “We have a family meeting at Faris’s place later, so I’m going to hang out at The Portal until he’s ready to go. And it’s way too cold for you to be walking that far. Help me tidy up and then we’ll go together?”

I could have walked anyway—it wasn’t that cold for January—but I liked the reminder that I wasn’t really alone anymore.

“It’s a deal,” I agreed. “And thank you.”

* * *

Kira wasn’t a terriblyexperienced driver yet, so parallel parking her Subaru involved a lot of back and forth and muttering under her breath before she was happy. But even with the delay, it was still about fifteen minutes before my shift was due to start, so I nodded a quick hello to Oliver outside the kitchen before following Kira upstairs to Faris’s office.

The sound of multiple voices coming from inside should have been sufficient warning to turn around and run for my life. But I was distracted, so I was already through the door before I realized that there was some kind of gathering in progress.

“Just what I need—more people yapping while I’m trying to work.” Behind the scarred wooden desk on the far side of the room, a glowering, bearded elemental regarded us out of glittering green eyes, his massive arms folded over his chest in a pose of disgruntled obstinacy. “Someone tell me who planned this party so I can decide who’s getting thrown out first.”

Faris Lansgrave might look and sound like a bad-tempered grizzly bear, but in reality, he had the biggest heart of anyone I’d ever met. Despite everything I’d hidden from him, he’d not only let me keep my job at his club, he’d also loaned us an apartment, was teaching Logan to control his magic, and had promised to protect us from the combined wrath of the Fae, Elemental, and Wildkin Courts.

Whether the Shapeshifter Court wasalsoafter my head was a much trickier question—one that I preferred to simply ignore.

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