Den of Thieves - Shannon Mayer Page 0,5

gone and found another and drank it already? Damn it. I mean, they couldn’t all be poisoned with magical spells, but then, what did I know?

“No, no, I didn’t! I swear I didn’t!” She whipped around our heads, frantic. “I . . . I walked to the end of the market strip and when I got to the end, I thought I’d shift and come back and . . . take you for a flight.”

I doubted that. More likely she’d have tried to scare us for breaking her țuică, but whatever. That wasn’t the point. “Okay, show us where you were. Maybe there is something you tripped, like a spell? Maybe it’s something Maks can fix.”

Balder and Batman followed the three of us down the length of the Blackened Market strip. Lila zipped in loops in front of us. “I was just walking down here, talking to myself and thinking maybe I could scare you two,” I glanced at Maks and he gave a subtle nod, “and I was feeling kind of excited, right, like right before a hunt. And then I got to the end of the strip and turned around and tried to shift and there was nothing.” She shot to my shoulder, knocking me back a half-step. Her tiny claws dug into me as she gripped harder than normal.

“Easy, Lila. We will figure this out.” I slowed as we approached the end of the market strip.

Maks lifted one hand, palm down, and did a slow circle. I scanned the area with my eyes, waiting on him to find something first. We both had Jinn magic, but he was far more trained in the use of it. I’d only just discovered the magic running through my veins, and mine was wilder, unpredictable and powerful, as per being a female Jinn. Training didn’t seem to want to work with me when it came to my magic; it mostly seemed to run on need for me.

“I’m not picking anything up.” His blue eyes narrowed as he looked over the rubble, clenching his hand into a fist. “You?”

“I’m terrible at this,” I said.

“No time like the present to try,” he pointed out. “Use both hands, slow your breathing, let the magic come to the surface instead of trying to force it.”

With a grimace, I held both hands out, palms facing the road.

I did as he said, slowing my breathing, and tried to let the magic rise on its own. Almost leisurely, it flowed to my fingertips, like a snobby horse, feigning interest to see if I had anything worth working for.

Fingertips tingling, heat exploded down my arms. From leisurely to violent intensity, the Jinn magic was suddenly fire in my blood, coursing through me, waiting in my hands like an eager horse at the start of race. Testing me. So much for wondering if I had anything worth working for.

I curled my fingers ever so slightly as if I were holding reins. “Easy,” I whispered.

The magic settled a little, apparently satisfied.

With my eyes still closed, I swept my hands out, waiting for something to set off the magic.

There was nothing specific, but a tug on my feet, like a rope around my ankles urging me to move, calling me. I stepped forward, following it. Another tug, and another, like a gentle whisper that was just outside of reach.

“You feel that?” I asked. “Lila, did you feel anything before you realized you couldn’t shift?”

She shook her head fiercely. “No, I was busy talking to myself. I was working on my next Shakespeare quote that I was going to use when I scared you.”

My lips curled upward. Of course, she was.

The tug forward was gentle, soft, welcoming and so subtle that if I hadn’t been looking for it, I might not have noticed it. I opened my eyes and watched the ground as I walked, looking for a symbol, something that would indicate a spell. “Maks?”

“Yes, I feel it now too. It’s very . . . tender is the only word I have for it.”

We reached the end of the market strip and I turned to face the way we’d come. Balder was right behind me, and I’d barely noticed him there, so focused on the magic that I was picking up on. He bumped me with his nose and gave a soft whinny. I flicked my fingers to disperse the magic, then ran a hand down the side of his face. “No idea what this is, buddy, no idea at all.”

He bumped