Magical Midlife Love (Leveling Up 4)

Austin nodded and looked down at the knife. “I don’t have anywhere to put this at the moment. Maybe we should wait until Ulric is back with the sweats so I can hide it on my person?”

“Well…ye do have somewhere to put it. It just won’t be entirely comfortable.” Niamh’s eyes flicked down and then back up.

“I’m not going to make him put a knife up his keister, Niamh.” I rolled my eyes. “Okay. Sebastian, this would be a great time for you to instruct me so Austin doesn’t get hit with something ugly.”

“I want to see how you problem-solve. I don’t want to teach you spells; I want to teach you how to create spells. How to figure them out. You’ll be able to make your own, improve others’, and tear them down.”

“Give a man a trout, fill his belly for a night,” Edgar muttered, still looking at the book. “Teach a man about trout, fill him for a lifetime.”

“Something like that, sure.” Sebastian chuckled.

I dragged my teeth across my lip as I faced Austin again, his emotions expectant and patient, with a trickle of leftover heat worming through. The goal was not to hurt him, obviously. Instead of knocking away his weapons, I just wanted to see which ones he had. This was informational, that was all. And sure, I hadn’t waited for the sweats, and I could literally see what he was packing—all of it—but that shouldn’t matter.

“Here we go,” I said, breaking out in a sweat, reminding myself of the trickle of power I needed. That was it, just a trickle. Anything more would turn the spell into something dangerous.

Spell ready, I reduced the power a little more, just in case, and let fly.

The spell hit a magical wall three feet from Austin. Sparks fizzed and sputtered. Fire flared before purple smoke curled into the air.

“You were really going to let her hit you with that?” Sebastian said to Austin, awestruck. “She cannot control her power, she just made up an intricate spell, willy-nilly, and you were going to let her fry off patches of your skin?”

“Is that what it would’ve done?” I asked, aghast.

“He’s had worse,” Niamh murmured as Ulric jogged back toward us, sweats in hand.

“I thought you all were showboating. I didn’t think she’d actually do it. But clearly this is how she’s been training, huh?” Sebastian shook his head, looking down at his feet. “This would never happen in my world. Mages and shifters working side by side. The intricacy of spells and potions mixed with brute strength and iron-clad courage. What an army that would be.”

“That’s not true, about shifters and mages never working together,” I mumbled, half my brain still thinking about where that spell might’ve gone wrong. “This house was attacked by a mage and some shifters.”

“Those shifters were brought to die,” Ulric said. “They weren’t working together. That mage was offering them for slaughter.”

“Yes, that sounds more likely,” Sebastian said, still studying his shoes. “That spell had the right qualities, but you used way, way too much power.” He put his head in his hands. “You have a deep well of power within you—very, very deep—but it’s mostly below the surface, like an iceberg. It wasn’t until you opened up with spell work that I glimpsed your raw strength. You aren’t using all of it yet, but I know you will be more powerful than me when you eventually do. I could feel the currents of it when it hit my spell.”

“Can you still teach me what you know?” I asked softly.

“Yes.” He scrubbed at his hair and sat up, looking away, his eyes distant. “Why hide your magical ability? A mage’s power level scares off potential attackers half the time. Only the worthy need apply.”

“For now, her biggest strength is in being undervalued,” Edgar said, sitting back on his haunches. “It’s best if people think she isn’t anyone of consequence. But that aspect of her magic is at her discretion. When she’s ready to show what she’s made of, she can.”

“How come you never told me that?” I asked.

Edgar shrugged. “It never came up.”

“That makes sense.” Sebastian’s eyes rested on me, and for the first time I could remember, they weren’t flat and affectless. They looked almost blue in the slice of sun that cut down his face, and they shone with intelligence and cunning. “You can release the alpha. You can release everyone but the vampire and his book, actually. I won’t need their help.”

I offered him a relieved smile, thankful he was sticking around. “Austin draws out my magic, so he has to stay.” I glanced at Ulric and Jasper. “I’ll call you when it’s time to fly.”

Before I could turn to Niamh, she said, “Nah. Don’t bother. I’m not going anywhere. I want to see how ye get on. Besides, if that mage turns into a nutter and tries to bring you down, I want to be on hand to watch Ivy House deal with him.”