Magical Midlife Love (Leveling Up 4)

“What is it?” Sebastian asked, turning to look up.

We waited in silence, the danger pulsing in my chest.

“The answer to my summons.”

Twenty-Two

A big, dark blot on the night sky ate the starlight as it passed. Another peal of thunder, closer this time, boomed through the air, chased by zips of electricity around what I realized were huge wings, beating in a steady drum. A different beast trailed the first, its wings leaving curls of flame in their wake.

“There are two,” I said, moving without meaning to, walking toward the porch of Ivy House.

“Prepare,” Ivy House said, as if I needed the warning.

“Blend into the shrubbery, basajaun,” I commanded. “I’m not sure how this is going to go. Edgar…keep to the shadows for now. Let’s see what happens.”

Even the wolves had stopped snarling, now all looking up at the sky.

“Shall I…create some sound and visibility barriers so the non-magical residents in town don’t call the police?” Sebastian asked.

“Yes, please, though I think Austin has someone on the police force.” I watched those enormous wings beat at the sky. They had to be twenty or thirty feet wide, the wingspan incredible. Closer still, and I realized the beast actually had two sets of wings, the second and smaller set at the back of its almost serpentine body. I couldn’t make out the coloring, but the body was lighter than the wings, which appeared to have a pattern, different areas catching and throwing the light.

It beat at the air, overhead now, before it opened its great beak and blistered more thunder across the sky. Lightning zipped around its wings and snaked out. The power concussed the air as the beast lowered to the ground, lightning still rolling across its feathers.

“Thunderbird,” Sebastian said, in awe. “I’ve never seen one. They are incredibly rare. Your magic called this?”

“Yes. I feel the danger of it.”

A phoenix soared above it, wings and tail dripping fire, doing lazy circles as the other landed.

“It called that, too?” Sebastian asked.

“Yes,” I said, keeping the “Mr. Obvious” to myself.

The thunderbird pulled in its mighty wings, standing on a pair of legs equipped with three vicious talons each. Lightning climbed from its head like hair before settling down.

The phoenix flapped its wings, and fire blew out in all directions. It lowered, landing next to the thunderbird in swirls of heated air 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.