Hoarded by the Dragon (Monstrous Matches, #4)(83)

“One does feel more empowering than the other,” I mutter.

Maggie gets a faraway look in her eyes. “You’re not wrong. Our society has suffered for this reliance on what will be, will be, but when you receive nudges from the universe toward paths that don’t seem to be alterable… you work with what you’ve been given.” She clears her throat. “The intuition is not to avert the future we travel, but to act as a warning.”

So all the fae have moments of paranoia like mine? My paranoia isn’t actually paranoia, but an early warning system? That’s an easier truth from me to swallow than that I’m marching to fate’s drum. Perhaps I am too human to give myself over to this ambiguous power, but I can listen to the warning sirens in my head and trust that where there is smoke, there is fire.

Maggie continues, “The nudges that you’re sensitive to are not comfortable, but place you where you are required to be. You may regret going down to the caverns because it caused Kalos to leave, but it’s what needed to happen. Kalos would have avoided his other half out of fear for you until it produced a truly dangerous situation if you hadn’t done what you did.”

I scoff. “I thought that situation was plenty dangerous. Thank you very much.”

Maggie raises a brow and I sigh, because yeah, it could have all been much worse. It doesn’t make me feel any better that some compulsion is what instigated the fight we had.

Kalos has to deal with his dragon, and I have to deal with being a conduit of fate.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

Maggie presses her shoulder to mine in affection. “But you can handle it. You were always meant to be the one to push Kalos from his comfort zone.”

“He doesn’t want to be pushed,” I say before pressing my lips together. Dark emotions gather like storm clouds when I think about Kalos. Thankfully my intuition is taking up most of my contemplation because the quagmire of my emotions around Kalos feels like it has the power to break me.

Maggie’s smile is rueful. “No one wants to be pushed, but it’s not a decision for us to make.”

What will be, will be. The sentiment is sour on my tongue. I don’t like it, but I can make it useful. I can be ready to act when whatever bad thing my nerves are trying to warn me is on the horizon comes for us.



WHEN THE FIRST EXPLOSION HAPPENS, it’s cathartic.

Which is not what I’d expect from the experience, but the encroaching intuition has drawn my muscles to the point of pain over the day. Having a name for what I’m experiencing helps some… but it mostly makes me impatient.

So the boom that rattles the house nearly has me collapsing in relief. The relief is gone in a flash. Something is happening. Is someone attacking the manor? A gas leak? That one is unlikely. Whatever it is, it’s time to leave.

I pick up my bag from its spot under my easel and look around.

“Griffin?” I call out. He was just here! My eyes start to water, and I run down the hall to Kalos’s room. It’s his favorite place to spend the day. Each step makes my heartbeat thunder faster and harder in my chest.

I need to leave… but I can’t leave my cat.

My throat tightens at the idea of leaving everyone else, but Maggie said that she wasn’t experiencing the same type of intuition. I’m the one who can’t be here if the wards fail.

Or fate is sending me somewhere else… let’s not think about that right now.

But that thought has my stride slowing. If I’m supposed to go somewhere else because of that bitch, Fate, wouldn’t it be better for Griffin to stay?

I can’t give up on him that easily. I finally get to Kalos’s room and burst in. I can barely breathe through the constriction of panic in my chest.

“Griffin? Where are you? Here kitty kitty!” There’s no croaky meow, and I forcibly cut off my sob. The room is empty.

I have to go.

I glance to the ceiling in time to see a giant ball of fiery orange hit the artistic dome. The house rattles, and I almost lose my footing. The wards hold, but this is their weakest point. Whoever is attacking the mansion must know that, because another ball of fire lights the room from the outside.

This time the crash is deafening. Static runs over my skin as the wards above snap and the glass shatters. I scream, covering my head from the glass shards raining down.

There’s a distant howling sound, but I ignore it to clutch my necklace. I’ve run out of time. My fingers find the small metal charm and it crumbles when I press down, setting an intention and releasing the magic that resides there.

It’s time to rely on all my skills.

It’s time for me to disappear.





37





KATARINA





THE FALLING EMBERS BLUR, and everything shifts around me at nauseating speed. The lush colors of Kalos’s bedroom morph into the familiar laminate lines of my apartment kitchen. I tremble and hold in my sob as I brush shards of glass from my hair. The air doesn’t smell like smoke here.

I’m safe.

Maggie. I bite my lip to keep the tears at bay. Ben. Jensen. My vision blurs. Griffin.

They will be alright. They have to. I can’t be distracted. I won’t be safe here for long. I need to head to the real sanctuary I have in mind once I pick up my supplies. I’ll have to use a ride-sharing service to keep from burning through my last portal charm.