The Mage's Curse by Bethany Adams

Author:Bethany Adams [Adams, Bethany]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bethany Adams

Holly’s heart pounded a frantic beat even as her focus sharpened on a single point.

He’d brought a gun. An actual gun. Not a knife, like in Gavin’s dream. Dylan had somehow bought or stolen a gun, and he’d brought it here to threaten her. Or kill her. She never would have expected… A gun. The word repeated in her head to the beat of her pulse. Dammit, she needed to think.

Dylan wasn’t moving. He didn’t lift the weapon or make more demands. He simply remained in place, his body tilted slightly as though he’d frozen mid-sway. What kind of drug was he on? She searched her memory for any mention of such strange side effects, but her knowledge of illegal substances seemed a bit too limited.

What should she do? If she pressed the call button, Dylan would shoot her before the police could arrive. And Violet…she was hiding in the hallway, out of sight of the living room window where Holly stood but far too close for safety. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill their daughter, or… She shuddered at the thought of the horrors a desperate addict could inflict upon a helpless child. Not going there.

“Fine, I’ll give you the money,” Holly forced through numb lips. “Every month. No need for violence.”

She could get the police involved once the danger was past, right? Maybe. Possibly. Except…there were too many stories about women shot by exes despite restraining orders and arrest warrants. And the local police force was already overextended, so it wasn’t like they had time to give her additional protection. A security system might help. But one slip in vigilance, and boom. Dead.

Oh God, Oh God. She couldn’t go up to Max’s house, not now. Dylan might not be able to afford a flight, but if he was desperate enough to pull a gun on her, who knew what he might do? A wild road trip wasn’t out of the question. He probably didn’t know where her brother lived, but how could she be sure? He shouldn’t have known about Violet’s school schedule, either.

And why wasn’t he answering her?

“Dylan, I’m not lying,” she said. “Put the gun away, okay? I can’t give you money every month if I’m dead.”

Holly shivered at the word “dead,” and the baseball bat wobbled in her hand. Not that it would do much. Bringing a bat to a gun fight was even worse than bringing a knife. Well, probably. Neither one was going to stop a bullet, was it?

Ping, ping, ping.

She jumped at the little tinkle of sound, fear spinning through her head in a dizzying spiral. Until she processed the source. Chalmys. He was near. Had the protections he’d mentioned been activated?

At the now-familiar nudge against her mind, Holly opened her thoughts to the mage at once. “Oh thank god Chalmys,” she sent his way in a rush.

“I have him paralyzed with my magic,” the mage whispered into her head, his voice soothing like a balm. “Aside from bodily functions, he will be unable to move until I release him.

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