Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years, #2; Kate Daniels, #10.6)

“Let us through, Jenny!” Mayor Gene growled.

She jumped aside. I shoved the door. Locked.

“Troy!”

The werejackal set Gene down and kicked the door. It burst open. We ran inside, into a large chamber.

“Stairs?”

“In the back!” Gene hurried forward, to a double staircase at the back of the chamber.

Troy picked Gene up again and we took the stairs two at a time. Second floor. Third.

The stairs ended in a landing that opened to a long hallway.

“Left, around the corner!” Gene yelled.

I sprinted to the left, slid a little across the polished floor, and rounded the corner. Another short hallway ended in a door marked TOWER ACCESS. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. I hit it. Locked.

I kicked the door. It held.

I didn’t have time for this shit. I kicked it again.

It splintered around the lock and swung open, revealing a spiral staircase. I pounded up the metal stairs and burst into the tower. A waist-high wall encircled a square space under a domed roof. The bell was right above me.

I leaped over the wall and landed on the roof. The town spread out below me. Good enough.

I unsheathed Sarrat and took a deep breath.

Magic stirred inside me, a heavy dense mass that had slumbered deep in my soul.

Wind fanned my hair. The sun shone bright. Everything became crystal clear, as if someone had turned a dial, bringing the world into sharper focus.

I had done this a hundred times in practice, but I’d truly meant it only once. Every cell in my body remembered how that first time felt. The power of it. The burden. The weight of life and the heady flow of magic it generated.

A distant sound split the air, like an enormous slingshot snapping. A huge, dark object shot up above the forest, an ominous darkness growing larger as it sped toward us.

“Good Lord,” Gene breathed.

“What the fuck?” Troy snarled.

It had to be now.

I raised my sword point down, locking both hands on the hilt, and the ocean of magic inside me rose with it, building into a massive wave. A tsunami cresting.

The object had reached its apex. It was a bulb the size of a house. The forest had decided to devastate Penderton.

My body shook with the strain. There would be no do-overs.

On the street someone screamed.

The bulb was flying straight at us. Its bulk blocked out the sun.

I plunged Sarrat into the roof.

The wave inside me broke. Its power jerked me off my feet. I rose into the air. The geyser of magic burst out of me, pulling my arms out wide and arching my back. Words appeared on my arms, a poem written in the language of power and etched into my skin in the womb.

I opened my mouth and spoke with all the power of my blood.

“HESAAD.” Mine.

A pulse of red shot out of me, rolling over the town. My magic drenched the land. I felt it touch the wall and roll past it, over the farms and settlements, into the woods. I let it go for another couple hundred yards and held it back. That would be enough.

In a split second, my magic had soaked into Penderton, and the land responded, its power flooding back into me like a clear mountain stream. I wrapped myself in it, soaking in its energy and strength, and focused on the bulb falling onto the courthouse.

The bulb ignited. It was a flameless burning. It glowed like a piece of charcoal, turned to ash, and melted into nothing.

I closed my eyes and reached with my power, looking for the minuscule sparks of spores embedded in my land. A moment and I found them. All of them. They lay before me like a dusting of glitter across black velvet.

I snuffed them out.





The magic dropped me like a bad habit. I landed on my butt and slid down the slope. The edge of the roof rushed at me. I dug my feet into the shingles and ground to a stop just before taking a dive onto the pavement below.

Phew.

If I claimed the land and then faceplanted to my death on the street, I’d never live it down.

Troy hopped over the rail, ran across the roof as if his feet were glued to it, and braked next to me. “I’ve got you.”

Rimush landed on my other side and locked his hand around my wrist. “Apologies, Sharratum. I must not let any harm come to you.”

“I’m good,” I growled.

I climbed back up the slope, with the two of them hovering behind me, ready to grab me if I slipped. Roofs were not my favorite. Being hovered over wasn’t either.

We made it back to the tower. Mayor Gene gaped at me.

I gave him a little wave and climbed over the rail to the safety of the tower.

“Was that—”

“No time,” I told him and took off down the stairs.

The explanations would wait. Curran was fighting prehistoric manticores, and I had a score to settle for Foster’s death.

I ran to the ground floor, across the chamber, and burst into the autumn sunshine, my two self-appointed bodyguards at my heels.

A big, gray shape sprinted toward the courthouse, coming recklessly fast down the street. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him run so fast. I had done the thing I told him over and over I’d never do, and now he raced here, worried about me.

“Wait here,” I barked and dashed toward him.

We met halfway across the square. Curran grabbed me by my shoulders, peering into my face. His eyes were on fire.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

He was actually out of breath.

“The forest had claimed Penderton. Probably years ago, during that first flare. While you were fighting, they pulled their magic back from the town and threw a massive spore bomb at us. Without their magic suppressing the spores, it would have killed hundreds. I had to claim the town.”

I hugged him, and he gripped me to him, his chest rising and falling fast. I heard his heart hammer.

“Are you okay? Do you feel okay?” he asked.

“Yes.”

I felt better than okay. The magic of Penderton splashed around me, strong and exhilarating. The urge to claim and hold land was bred into my family. We called it the Shar, and it was a possessive, overwhelming beast. But like many things, controlling it got easier with practice, and I had practiced for years, claiming and releasing a small patch of land every week. I felt it nip at me now, but its bites were shallow.

This wasn’t my land. I’d picked it up into my palm like an injured bird I had to shield until I could take it to safety, and once the danger passed, I would whisper my goodbyes and release it. The thought of it brought me no anxiety.

“It’s only temporary,” I told him. “I’m okay. Really.”

“Good.” He took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Sorry,” I told him. “There was no other way.”

I’d had no idea what I was doing when I had claimed Atlanta years ago. I didn’t know about the Shar back then, and I had no defenses against it. It had almost twisted me into a tyrant. Curran had witnessed me descend into the dark hole, and he was the one who helped me climb out.

“It’s not a problem. I mean it.” And of course, that sounded like denial. “And if it becomes a problem, I’ll tell you. I give you my word.”

“I believe you,” he said.

“I promise—”

“You don’t need to convince me, baby. I trust you. You’ve known this place was claimed from the moment we’ve arrived. You told me that on the road.”

“Yes.”

“Your aunt always said that the Shar is the strongest when there is competition. It would’ve pushed you to make the land yours, but you didn’t claim the town until you had no choice. If you had an issue with control, you would’ve grabbed Penderton as soon as we got here.”

He was right.

“I’m not worried about it,” he said.

“I love you,” I told him. I meant to tell him how much it meant to me, but I love you was what came out.

“I love you, too. I think I need a damn heart transplant.”

“Why?”

“I saw you almost fall off the fucking roof,” he growled.

Oh.

“I thought I’d have to catch you.” He looked past me at Troy and Rimush in the doorway of the courthouse. “What the fuck were you two doing?”