Wild Magic

  Poppy Dennison

  Macy Blake

  Copyright © 2019 by Poppy Dennison

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Macy Blake

  Author’s Note

  Wild Magic was originally published in 2012 under a different name. I have revised and edited that edition and decided to consolidate to a single pen name, so am releasing it as Macy. I hope you all enjoy exploring the Triad of Magic as much as I enjoyed going back and experiencing it again. This series was the first thing I’d ever written, and I never imagined being a published author. It’s hard to believe so much has changed in just a few short years.

  1

  The scream rent the air with a startling burst of sound. Birds scattered, squawking their disapproval as they darted from their perches to escape the threat the noise presented. Joseph, on the other hand, froze. Mountain lion. The animal’s distinctive wail couldn’t be mistaken for any other. Joseph turned on his heel, determined to head back home and notify the wildlife service. The second scream, however, changed his mind.

  “Mommy!”

  The child’s cry sent a chill down Joseph’s spine. He slipped his daypack from his shoulders and knelt on the damp leaves lining the wooded path. His grandfather had pounded the importance of wilderness safety into him from his earliest years. Unzipping one of the side pouches revealed a small supply of waterproof matches and a sealed bottle of lighter fluid. Joseph grabbed a thick branch from just off the trail and slipped his flannel shirt off his body. After tying the shirt in a haphazard knot around the end of the branch, Joseph squirted the fire starter onto the cloth and prepared a match.

  He didn’t normally hike with weapons, but the large cat’s aversion to fire was all he had that might deter the animal if it had scented prey in the form of a frightened child. With the match ready to strike, Joseph put his pack on his shoulders and began jogging toward the sound.

  “Hello,” he called out, “is anyone there?”

  “Help” came the yelled reply.

  “Keep talking, buddy, so I can find you.”

  The child’s voice rambled for a moment, not making sense. Joseph didn’t need to hear the words anyway; the sound was enough for him to slip from the path and through the trees in the correct direction. With one ear straining to hear any sound that might be from the mountain lion, Joseph rushed through the woods, hoping he’d get there in time. He came into a small clearing, wielding the branch before him like a sword. Two small boys crouched on the ground near the emaciated body of a mountain lion. The animal gasped for breath, clearly injured.

  “Come on, guys,” Joseph whispered, hoping not to startle the animal. “Step away. She might hurt you.”

  The youngest scowled at him while the oldest snarled. Taken aback, Joseph paused. Both boys were dressed in shorts and T-shirts, as if out for a simple hike in the woods. One was slightly bigger than the other, but they both hovered over the animal. Neither seemed concerned about the danger they faced.

  Joseph turned his attention back to the wounded animal. The mountain lion lifted its head and stared. A look passed over the creature’s face, one Joseph didn’t understand. It was almost a look of recognition, but that didn’t make sense. The animal began to convulse. Joseph reached for the boys, but they pulled away from him and moved closer to the lion.

  In the moment it took for him to turn to the boys and back, the animal had transformed. The naked body of a woman lay on the ground. She reached one hand out toward the boys. Although she looked relatively young, she seemed somehow aged. Joseph had never seen anything like it. Then she blinked open her eyes and groaned.

  “Krista?” Joseph dropped to his knees next to her, unsure where to touch. Her skin was gray and withered in places, but he’d know her honey-blonde hair and tawny-brown eyes anywhere. They’d spent hours together as children and teens, playing in these very woods. She’d mostly been the tagalong little sister, following Joseph and her older brother Dominick. That had all changed in high school when Dominick told Joseph they couldn’t be friends anymore. Joseph hadn’t seen either sibling since.

  “Joey,” she whispered, her voice cracking. She gasped in pain, her hand moving to her stomach as she convulsed again. She looked up at him, her eyes swimming with tears. “Please, take my boys. Find Dominick. He’ll know what to do.”

  “What? No, Krista. I’m not leaving you here. We’ll get you back to my place and—”

  “No, Joey. Please.” She trembled again, and her skin turned even grayer. “The boys are in danger. You have to help them. It’s too late for me.”

  He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to deny her request, but she gave one last gasping breath and went still. The boys began to wail, and the youngest laid his head on her chest. Her eyes didn’t close. Joseph could tell there wasn’t any life left in them.

  “Okay,” he mumbled. “We can do this. I can do this.”

  He reached for the little one, who still sobbed against his mother’s body. The other boy stood solemnly by their side. With the little one in his arms, Joseph held out a hand for the older boy and led them out of the clearing and back to the trail.

  Even as familiar as Joseph was with the woods he’d grown up in, they had a more ominous feeling now. His long legs eating up the distance, he walked as fast as he dared with a little boy at his side. The boy didn’t complain or seem out of breath. The one in his arms had laid his head against Joseph’s shoulder. He whimpered every few minutes. Joseph had been less than an hour into the hike that normally took him all afternoon, so at his hurried pace, it only took forty-five minutes to make it back to the faded white farmhouse where he’d spent his summers.

  Krista’s voice echoed in his head. They’re in danger. He didn’t understand anything that had happened in the past hour. He doubted his sanity, in fact. How could she be a mountain lion one moment and a human the next? The implications both horrified and confused him. The warm weight of the child in his arms assured him that this wasn’t a dream, or worse, a nightmare.

  Joseph rarely felt so out of his element. Normally cool and in control, he tended to assess every situation as it happened and make logical choices. The rational part of his mind kept him focused now. Contact Dominick. That he could do. Although he no longer had phone service at his grandparents’ home, Joseph could use his cell to begin tracking Dominick down. Last he’d heard, Nicky had become a US Marshal.

  The news hadn’t surprised Joseph at the time. Nicky had always been fascinated with law enforcement. That had been years ago, before Joseph’s grandparents had passed away, and he hadn’t had any news of Nicky or Krista in years. Now though, as he held his cell in his hand, he doubted the wisdom of staying at the house. The farmhouse was isolated and surrounded by forest, about an hour from town. Without knowing what danger the boys were in, Joseph had no idea what he’d have to do to keep them safe until he could find their uncle. He did know that he had limited resources available at the house versus at his home back in town.

  Decision made, Joseph sat the little guy down in the kitchen and pulled the cooler he’d brought from home out of the pantry. He’d only brought a few food items with him, and he threw them haphazardly back into the cooler. The boys both blinked up at him in confusion.

  “Okay, guys, we’re going to… actually, what are your names? I’m Joseph. Uh, Joey, but everyone calls me Joseph now.”

  The oldest boy brushed his hair out of his face and glared. “I’m Avery. My brother is Blake.” His voice held an air of defiance. He stood protectively beside his brother. Joseph couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling. Loss, he understood. But seeing your mother die in front of you? And being handed over to a total stranger? He shook his head and wondered what comfort he would be able to offer.

  “Avery and Blake. Okay, that’s good. Well, I’m going to get you guys back to my place in the city, okay? And then I’m going to try to find Dominick. Er, your uncle. Um, Nicky?”

  “Uncle Dom,” Avery said. “No one calls him Nicky anymore. Momma says he doesn’t like it.”

  “Good to know. Well, let’s go, then. Sound like a plan?”

  They nodded, and Joseph led them outside to where he’d parked his SUV. Next to the faded gray siding on the house, the SUV looked strangely out of place, its gleaming black paint a sharp contrast to the house’s worn exterior. Joseph tossed the cooler in the back and helped the boys get buckled in. As he began the drive back to his place, reality set in. He had no idea how long it was going to take to get in touch with Dominick, and he had no clue how to take care of two little boys who’d just had their entire world torn apart.

  Time to call in reinforcements, even if he had to use the pact to do i t.

  Once he’d made it back to the highway, Joseph hooked his hands-free headset onto his ear and speed-dialed his best friend. She answered a moment later with a low growl.

  “You better be injured. I’m talking blood-level of injury here, Joseph.”

  He could hear the ambient sounds of a restaurant in the background and closed his eyes for a moment. “Shit, Vic. I’m so sorry. I need to invoke the pact.”

  It wasn’t something Joseph thought he’d ever do. One night in college, Vicky had gotten drunk at an extremely wild party. Somehow—she’d kept the details intentionally vague—Vicky had ended up naked and stranded. Joseph had brought her clothes and gotten her out of there. They’d sworn to never speak of it but had made a pact that if they ever needed help, with no questions asked, all either of them had to do was invoke the pact.

  A long moment of silence followed Joseph’s statement. “Are you serious?” She managed to choke the words out, but her disbelief was clear.

  “Please.”

  The call became muffled, and he heard Vicky quietly speaking in the background. A minute later, she was back on the line. “I’m not even kidding. This better be serious.”

  “It is. Were you out with Melanie?”

  “Yes, you fucker. I finally convinced her to have coffee with me, and I’m walking out—I hate you right now.”

  “You know I wouldn’t use the pact if it wasn’t an emergency.”

  “I know, fucker. I still hate you. What’s wrong?”

  Joseph groaned, not even sure where to start. “Okay, grab a pen. I need you to go to the store for me.”

  “The store? Are you kidding me?”

  “No, Vic. Okay, I need clothes for kids, little kids. Uh, not babies. About, um, four or five. I don’t know. Hold on.” Joseph adjusted the rearview mirror so he could see Avery in its reflection. “Avery, how old are you, buddy?”

  “I’m six. Blake is four.”

  “Cool. Okay, Vic. They are six and four. Oh, and boys. I don’t know what size, so just get different sizes for about those ages, and we’ll figure it out.”

  Silence.

  “Vic?”

  “Clothes for kids? What the hell are you doing?”

  “I can’t—I can’t even explain right now. They’re my friend’s kids, and they’re in danger. Shit. I can’t even—will you just get some clothes for them? Please? Oh, and underwear too. Shit. I don’t even know what all they need.”

  “Don’t worry, babe. I got this. Where are you?” Her voice had changed from annoyed to concerned. Her supportive tone was enough to let Joseph breathe a sigh of relief.

  “On I-40, on my way back to my place. I should be there in an hour or so.”

  “Okay, I’ll meet you there.”

  The rest of the drive passed in silence. Every few minutes, Joseph checked the rearview mirror. The boys both stared at him with solemn, confused faces. Part of him waited for one or the other to break down. He also kept an eye on the road behind them. He didn’t notice any suspicious cars following, but he wasn’t exactly a professional secret agent or anything.

  Joseph had never been so glad to see the giant gold ball by the side of the highway that signified he was within fifteen minutes of home. A remnant of the 1982 World’s Fair, the Sunsphere sat in downtown Knoxville, and Joseph’s house was only a few miles from the structure. He navigated the downtown area with practiced ease and headed out to the suburbs. They finally pulled into his driveway. With another glance in the mirror, he smiled at the kids huddled in the back. “Okay, guys. We’re here.”

  They stared at him, two sets of unblinking brown eyes.

  Joseph climbed out of the Jeep and opened the back door. “Come on. Let’s get inside.”

  The little one, Blake, sniffled and his lower lip began to tremble. “I need to go potty,” he whispered.

  “Oh God. Of course you do.” Joseph reached into the backseat and unbuckled their seatbelts. He hesitated for a moment before holding out his arms. Blake reached out in return, and Joseph lifted him up. Avery climbed out and looked skeptically at his brother before shooting a distrusting glare at Joseph.

  Joseph led the boys into his house. He hustled them into the bathroom and paced in the hall until they came out. Before he could panic over what to do next, he heard a thumping knock on his front door and scurried to answer it. Vicky stood outside, her hands filled with plastic bags.

  He opened the door wider and grabbed the set of bags from her. The boys stood in the hallway looking terrified and bedraggled.

  Vicky took one look at them, and her eyes filled with tears. “You’re forgiven for invoking the pact.”

  Joseph laid an arm across her shoulders. “I wouldn’t have if it wasn’t an emergency. You know that.”

  “Yes, well, you making me swear that I would pay you back one day for saving my ass like you did, with no questions asked… man, I never thought it would be something like this.” She wiped away a stray tear, turned, and wrapped her arm around his waist. “I still owe you. This doesn’t count.”

  He gave her a quick hug and started digging through the bags. “Hey guys, you want to see what my friend Vicky brought you? Maybe we can take a bath or something? Get you guys cleaned up a bit?”

  Vicky began to unload the bags, placing clothes in piles on Joseph’s couch. It was odd seeing the bright colors against the tan suede, the dinosaurs and race cars on their tiny T-shirts where his neutrals normally rested. The older boy crept over to Joseph’s side.

  “Those are for us?” he asked.

  “They are. We can try stuff on, see what fits. Sound good?”

  He nodded.

  “So,” Vicky said as she turned and held up a bright-green T-shirt with an orange dinosaur plastered across the front, “who likes this one?”

  The little one’s eyes perked up. “Me,” he mumbled and took a small step closer.

  “And what’s your name, little bit?”

  “Blake,” he answered. “I’m not little. I’m four.”

  Vicky grinned and handed him the shirt. He gave her a half smile in return before turning to look at his brother for approval. Avery eyed one of the other shirts, one with baseballs and other sporting gear. It looked a little bigger than the one she’d given to Blake. Vicky passed him the clothes, and Avery nodded.

  “Okay, guys. Now, you’re a dirty mess, so how about we go take a swim in Joseph’s gigantic bathtub and get cleaned up.”

  She scooped up another bag that contained bottles of—Joseph wasn’t entirely sure what, but he was thankful she seemed to know what to do. He started to follow, then paused.

  “I need to make some phone calls,” he whispered.

  “Go ahead. I’ve got this. And then you’ve got some explaining to do.”

  Dominick had finally dozed off after hours of working on reports when his cell phone began to chirp annoyingly. Tempted to just throw it across the room, he grabbed it and squeezed it threateningly for a moment before answering.

  “What?”

  “Nice to talk to you too.”

  Knowing he couldn’t escape the call since it was his work partner, Dominick slowly sat up and rubbed his hand over his face. “Sorry, Morgan. I just got to sleep.”

  “Must be nice. I’m still doing reports.”

  “Shit, man. I thought you were done. When I came out of my debriefing, you weren’t there.”

  Morgan laughed. “Yeah, well, I got cornered by one of the locals.”

  “Ah, shit. No wonder. You need me to come back down?” He glanced at his watch and groaned. It was midmorning, but he’d been up for almost twenty-four hours already. The paperwork was always the worst part of finishing up a witness relocation. It had taken their task force of five marshals and a supervisor almost two weeks to track down their missing witness from where he’d hidden himself away in the Dominican Republic. Thankfully, extradition from the country was a less complicated process than in some of the other countries they’d worked.

 

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