Page 8 of Magpies & Mayhem
Thefactwas,we’dall needed to ride along with the Enforcement crew. They needed to bring the magical emitters at least as far as the Gate and Elara wasn’t willing to let her prototypes out of her sight yet. Both the woman who wasn’t in uniform—apparently part of the Boundlands’ wildlife welfare—and Jordan’s team lead had peppered Elara with questions about her creation and had been disappointed to learn they were still a way off from being something rescue crews could have on hand. She’d submitted them for review but was still bogged down in the approval process.
Every government has red tape.
Elara was now at my apartment with every piece of gold she could possibly spare, helping me cram it into the incubator. I hoped the wildlife welfare office had friends with pockets as deep as Elara’s for the sake of those other eggs.
“I never knew that dragons used gold as a magical conduit to brood their eggs,” she said, fascination clear in her voice.
“Mm, yeah, I figure that’s where the legends of them hoarding treasure comes from. How’s the little guy doing?” I asked, closing the incubator and peering in through the glass.
“Much better, I think,” Elara answered thoughtfully. “It didn’t like it when you went into your bedroom to get your ear cuff,”—I’d finally caved and decided to grab the enchantment ward she’d created for me so that I could ignore Levi’s magic more easily—“but between the heat Jordan provided and your magic, its magic level is much higher and more stable.”
It felt healthier to me too, but her reassurance made me feel better. “I guess I’m going to be living in my kitchen until this thing hatches,” I grumbled.
“Do they make portable incubators?” Levi asked from where he stood at the sink, looking out my kitchen window at the street below.
“Probably, but I don’t have one, and something big enough for a dragon egg would be hard to come by. This thing will probably pip any day now based on the sounds it was making.”
Elara wrinkled her delicate little nose. “Maybe we should have Jordan come over and carry it around for you,” she said lightly.
“I’m good.” I lowered myself to the kitchen floor and laid down on my back, making a show of getting comfortable. The last thing I wanted was that guy in my house making me more obsessed with his pretty brown eyes and arrogant-looking cheekbones. “I’ll just hang out in here for a few days until it hatches, make sure it takes a meal or two, and then return it to the wildlife refuge so they can release it back into the wild.”
She eyed me doubtfully. “You’re going to live in your kitchen?”
“I might have to take a bathroom break every now and then. Josh will be home soon; we can take turns.” All my brothers had some animal magic, though mine was the strongest. They’d egg-sit in shifts if I asked.
“What’s the deal with you and Jordan?” she asked for the third time. I was rubbing off on her, which meant she was getting bolder with her questions. No more dancing around the edges of things like a proper elvish socialite. I’d be proud of her if it wasn’t me that she was needling.
“What deal? What makes you think there’s a deal?” I bit my tongue. I was as bad as Josh at deflecting attention.
The look she gave me told me she wasn’t impressed. “You both act so weird around each other. You basically ignore him, and you never ignore anyone unless they’re flirting with you and you don’t like it. But he’s not flirting with you.” She thought for a moment. “And he’s normally so playful and friendly, but he doesn’t act like that around you.”
Thatgot my attention because that’s the Jordan I remembered. So, he was still playful and friendly, but not around me? I scowled at the ceiling.What the hell? Totally not a slap in the face or anything.
“I dunno. I was kinda busy with the eggs,” I lied. “It’s not like he talked to me. He said maybe two sentences the whole time he was there. And what’s the weird uniform about?”
“Sunlight,” Levi said, his attention still glued to something on the street. I guess that made sense, if it were true that vampires couldn’t be out in the sunlight.
“Wait, were they all vampires?” I asked.
“The ones in the leather and helmets were,” he answered distractedly. “He got hired on to some special Enforcement team that’s just vampires. He was probably just sleepy, Elara—it was broad daylight and he’s normally dead asleep at that time.”
I thought about it for a moment from my place on the kitchen tile before I decided it didn’t matter. So what if the hot vampire didn’t like me?Nobody likes vampires anyway. They’re as volatile as the fae, and his weird behavior proves it.As soon as it entered my mind, I felt guilty, remembering the happy, fierce teenager I’d known, who was probably struggling with being a vampire now. I couldn’t help it if he didn’t like me though. I brushed the thought away as Elara gathered her things to head home.
“Levi, are you ready?” she asked.
“Hold on. There are two boys out here having a peeing contest, and a little old lady spotted them through her window. She’s sneaking up on them with a broom.” That would be Delores. Those boys were gonna get it; that old woman had some dryad bloodlines or something and she wouldnevertolerate anyone peeing in her rose bushes.
“A peeing contest?” Elara’s voice was completely baffled.
“Yeah, you know, trying to see who can pee the furthest distance away,” Levi said. No, Elara would not know. Shouts erupted from outside and Levi burst out laughing. Even with my ward against enchantments, it was hard to ignore the strength of his magic as his throaty laughter echoed. “Oh man, I’ve never seen an old lady swing a broom so fast.” He was still chuckling as I bade them farewell from my spot on the kitchen floor.
I was still laying there pondering my lot in life when my brother came home. He approached the kitchen to peer at me with raised eyebrows after noticing my legs sticking out from behind the cabinets.
“Hey, you’re home,” I said without moving. “I’m going to need a favor.”
Thiswasn’tgoingtowork.
I’d been so excited when, after two days of camping out next to the incubator, the biggest egg I’d ever known had finally pipped. After slicing open a flap in its shell with its little egg tooth, the baby hadn’t been in a hurry to come out, content to sit and soak up what was left of its yolk and peek out through the slit in its shell. Eventually, after some coaxing from me in the form of calling to it with the little squeaky chirp it used, it tried to force its way out of the hole. There hadn’t been enough room for it to hatch in the incubator, so I’d hauled the egg out, and watched in awe as a babydragonhad hatched on my kitchen table.My magic had echoed oddly again as he climbed out of his shell, and my skin prickled as he stared at me and peered around the room with his big dark eyes.
