Magical Midlife Love (Leveling Up #4) - K.F. Breene Page 0,76
and flame.
My stomach turned over with nervousness and a little fear, that danger pulsing hot, more so than calling the gargoyles. Much more so, because now that they were here, the feeling didn’t abate. If anything, it strengthened.
On the ground, a whirlwind of oranges and reds and ambers flurried around the phoenix, reducing into a petite Asian woman fully dressed in black pants and a shirt, with black-rimmed glasses and a black bob, a light bluish sheen to her midnight hair. Her age was hard to pinpoint; she could have been twenty or fifty—while her spry body and fresh skin indicated the former, she had the canny gaze of someone much older.
The thunderbird did not change, just waited patiently as the woman stepped forward, stopping at the edge of the property.
“You dare call us?” Her high voice, like she’d just sucked down some helium, caught me off guard.
“Uhhm. Yes?” I walked forward slowly, hoping it looked like I was standing on ceremony rather than hesitating. Kingsley followed me on one side, and Sebastian stayed close on the other.
“We answer to no mere mortal,” she said. “Our allegiance must be earned.”
“Right.” I stopped about three-quarters to the sidewalk. “And how do I do that?”
Kingsley growled softly.
She tilted her hand. “Only a master may know.” She waved her hand. A rush of blistering fire swept from her like a rogue wave, building higher as it moved, surging toward us.
Kingsley snarled and moved in front of me. Sebastian threw out an arm, smacking me in the chest to keep me back. I couldn’t think beyond grabbing it, my eyes widening, watching that flame.
Using his other hand, Sebastian made circles in front of us, his fingers moving quickly. A glittering red shield arched in front of us and then around, cocooning us, a spell I could do, but not with this much power. He needn’t have bothered. The fire fizzled and sputtered five feet into Ivy House’s territory. Not even the fire of a phoenix could breach her borders for long.
Silence filled the wake, interrupted by Kingsley’s soft growl and Sebastian’s heavy breathing.
“I have to dominate them,” I said, my heart banging against my ribs. “I called them with the understanding that Austin could dominate anyone powerful enough.”
“Austin isn’t here,” Sebastian said.
“Yes, I am well aware of that. That leaves me.”
“You don’t have the power to handle them,” Sebastian said. “Maybe the thunderbird, but I don’t think I can take that phoenix.”
“What about both of us? Can we do it together?” I asked as the woman eyed the property line. I wondered if she could find a way around Ivy House’s magic. She seemed incredibly confident. And competent.
“We don’t know each other well enough for that. You have to work with another mage for longer than a few hours a day for a week in order to form a magical union with them, and even then, the mages are usually sleeping together.”
“No. Long story short, no. Got it.” I gritted my teeth. “I can do it.”
“Jacinta.” Sebastian grabbed my arm and pulled me, forcing me to look at his worried eyes, the streetlights almost turning them pale blue. “Listen to me. You do not have enough power. Neither does Austin. Not for both of those creatures. Send them back. Or turn them loose. Or…whatever you have to do to make them leave. You’re not ready.”
“Yes you are,” Ivy House said. “But only if you accept the rest of your magic. It is time to claim what is yours.”
The woman smiled, as though she could hear everyone speaking, bowed, and retreated back to the thunderbird. “Let us begin.”
“No, no, wait—” Sebastian said.
It was then that I felt Ivy House’s magic flicker and fail.
“She has accepted your challenge,” Ivy House said. “She has deadened my magic. I cannot help.”
“But I didn’t say anything,” I said.
“Send them away,” Sebastian cried.
“I don’t think I can,” I choked out.
The woman smiled. “Until the death.”
Twenty-Three
“What does she mean, ‘until the death’?” I cried, wanting to run but knowing there was nowhere to go. I didn’t have Ivy House this time. I didn’t have any other artillery. I just had my crew.
“What’s happening?” Sebastian asked, his arm still held out in front of me like he was a mother trying to keep her child from hitting the dash.
“It’s too late. It’s a challenge,” I said, swallowing hard.
He swore. “Okay, well, let’s see what we can do. We have to kill the phoenix.”
“Because they are then reborn,” I said, piecing it together.