Page 4 of Magic Claimed
I was all set to say something positive and encouraging, but that’s when a small group of residents began slowly converging on our position. All of them human, I was pretty sure. They were clustered tightly together—with one woman slightly out front—and their expressions suggested they weren’t feeling very friendly.
“I don’t know what you freaks did,” the woman spoke up loudly, “but we’ve had enough. You’re a danger to the rest of us, and we’ll be lodging an official complaint with management in the morning.”
I knew her—at least by sight—as her apartment was across the hall from mine. She was around forty and a little shorter than me, with weathered skin and long, heavily bleached blonde hair pulled up in a classic messy bun. No matter the time of day or the weather, she always seemed to be wearing yoga pants and mascara, though the rest of her outfit could vary. Tonight it was a flowered bathrobe and fuzzy clogs that probably cost as much as I made in a day.
I moved to put Ethan behind me, facing her with what I hoped appeared to be calm confidence. “What happened was an accident,” I told her. “And it was handled quickly. You were never in any danger.”
Okay, maybe that was true, maybe it wasn’t. Maybe I’d made a mistake thinking Ethan was ready to live this close to so many other people. I’d wanted so badly for him to feel accepted,I might have rushed it a bit. But this woman didn’t need to hear a litany of my crushing self-doubts. Nor was she likely to listen.
For the past few months, tension had been rising between Oklahoma City’s human and Idrian residents. For the most part, they’d always gotten along—mingling peacefully on the streets and in places of business, while generally not bothering each other or harboring any particular animosity.
But all that had begun to change, particularly since the events of the Symposium back in October, and I knew it was a source of grave concern to the city’s Idrian population.
For one thing, they were vastly outnumbered by humans. Yes, they had magic, and most were powerful enough to defend themselves in a fight, but that wouldn’t matter if the humans decided they no longer wanted to share territory. Either the Idrians would be wiped out, or there would be a terrible, bloody war, with heavy losses on both sides, and no one wanted that.
Well,almostno one.
“Never in any danger?” the woman echoed. “We know what you are. You could have burned us to death in our beds without even trying. I’ve never understood why our city doesn’t do more to protect us from monsters like you, but you better believe I will be telling the police everything I know.”
Which was exactly nothing. She knew literally nothing about us as her neighbors, but someone or something had been fanning the flames of prejudice for months. Posting supposed “news articles” about Idrian violence against humans, spreading misinformation about magic, along with bizarre conspiracy theories about the Idrians’ plans to take over Earth.
Okay, so therehadbeen a few Idrians with precisely thatplan in mind. But they’d been dealt with. The vast majority only wanted to live in peace here in their new home, and they’d managed it for over fifty years.
But it seemed there would always be someone with more to gain from war than from peace. And who stood to gain in this case? My bet was on Blake Masterson, who wasn’t an Idrian at all. And given his threats after he crashed the Symposium, mistrust between humans and Idrians was exactly what he was hoping for.
“We will, of course, take responsibility for whatever damage we’ve caused,” I assured my neighbor, still trying to project as much calm as possible.
The greatest danger here was not from the humans, but from Ethan, and my first priority was to prevent him from feeling threatened. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be working—I could feel his tension mounting, while Kes, too, had begun to fidget nervously at my elbow.
“I’m very sorry for the inconvenience,” I continued—with genuine remorse—“and you have my promise that this will never happen again.”
“That’s not good enough.” The woman seemed to gain confidence with every passing second, no doubt feeling protected by the mass of people at her back.
If they charged us, could I stop them? Probably. Without hurting anyone? Probably not. Unless I chose to use my siren magic against them, and I had no idea what that would do to a human. Not to mention, such an action would feel like a gross misuse of my power, possibly even justification for them calling mea monster.
But the bigger question was, if they grew violent, could we prevent Ethan from responding with deadly force? His magic had a history of lashing out when he felt threatened, and when it did, people died.
Without turning my head, I murmured to Kes, “Need you to drain his magic,” and thankfully, Ethan seemed to agree. He held out his hand—already trembling, either with nerves or with the effort of restraining himself—and Kes took it.
“Why don’t we wait for the police to arrive, and then you can share your concerns with them?” I suggested, keeping my posture open and relaxed, even as I braced inwardly. Preparing for the worst, while trying very hard not to look or sound like a threat.
“And give you a chance to disappear?” the woman scoffed. “We’re going to make sure you’re held accountable, even if we have to…”
“Have towhat?” The new voice rumbled like a spring storm, loud enough to cut through the sounds of the fire truck’s engines, the muttering of the crowd, and the anxious racing of my pulse. It held an unmistakable undercurrent of authority, along with a warning that even the humans couldn’t possibly miss.
But my shoulders sagged with relief as the tension drained from my body. Everything was going to be okay.
Faris Lansgrave had finally arrived at the party.
TWO
It quickly becameclear that the woman didn’t recognize our landlord, because she bristled and took a half step forward in response to Faris’s challenge.
A bold move, considering that my boss could best be described as a mountain with a beard. Faris was built like a grizzly bear—with broad shoulders and huge hands—and in terms of sheer destructive ability, was far more dangerous than any bear on earth.
“Are you with the police department?” she demanded. “Or management? Because I have a complaint, and I want these three arrested for reckless endangerment.”
Faris glanced over at me with one brow quirked and a question in his green eyes. They weren’tquiteglowing with annoyance, but I could tell the light show wasn’t far off.
