Fates Magic
Brenna Lyons
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Phaze
www.phaze.com
Copyright ©2008 by Brenna Lyons
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NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.
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CONTENTS
Fates Magic
About the Author
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Published by Phaze Books
Also by Brenna Lyons
Black Sail
Conquest
Mama's Tales
The Last of Fion's Daughters
The Color of Love
We Shall Live Again
Phaze in Verse
Last Chance for Love
"The Fire God's Woman"
From Coming Together Under Fire
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This is an explicit and erotic novel
intended for the enjoyment
of adult readers. Please keep
out of the hands of children.
www.Phaze.com
Fates Magic
A Phaze Obsession HeatSheet by
BRENNA LYONS
[Back to Table of Contents]
Fate's Magic copyright 2008 by Brenna Lyons
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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A Phaze Production
Phaze Books
6470A Glenway Avenue, #109
Cincinnati, OH 45211-5222
Phaze is an imprint of Mundania Press, LLC.
To order additional copies of this book, contact:
[email protected]
www.Phaze.com
Cover art © 2008 Debi Lewis
Edited by Kathryn Lively
eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-60659-067-6
First Phaze Edition—August, 2008
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Ondrea O'Ken stared at the invitation, her heart skipping with excitement. She'd been invited to a choosing event.
A magic user wasn't invited until the matchmaking elders saw the need, and most weren't invited until they'd reached their thirtieth years. At twenty-four, Ondrea would be one of the youngest admitted.
Her head spun with plans.
What should she wear? Since Ondrea would be meeting her destined mate, the urge to impress him beat at her. Only her finest would do.
But, he was her destined mate. He would love her for herself. Ondrea shouldn't seek to put on airs.
How would she know him? There would be dozens of magic users invited.
Ondrea shook that thought free. The elders would see to that, with their fate magic and choosing tools. She'd lay wagers it would be impossible to latch onto the wrong man at such a function.
At least ... she hoped that was true.
* * * *
Kieran Medici staggered from the Fates Room, pressing a hand to the wall to steady himself. He'd heard of the power of the room, but he hadn't believed it.
"You've found her, then?” one of the red elders—one of the most revered and strongest of her kind—asked, her weathered face pulled up in a smile.
"Is the room always right?” he replied. Spirits and spells, but he hoped it was ... and he hoped it wasn't.
"Always,” she confirmed.
"Then I've always known,” he breathed. Ondrea O'Ken.
She chuckled, then laughed outright. “A blessing in itself."
Or a curse. He'd been so rude to her.
I was a child. But that didn't excuse him. The spirits only knew if Ondrea would forgive past offenses.
The Fates Room says she will.
But not outright and immediately, he cautioned himself. Knowing one's destiny didn't preclude working for it.
The elder's voice shook him from his internal argument. “The welcoming ceremony is about to begin. You should hurry.” She turned to go as her sister elders had no doubt done while he was in the Fates Room.
"Wait,” he called out.
She turned and nodded permission to question her.
"Why was I granted this? Why before the event began?"
"Anything worth having is worth fighting for,” she answered cryptically.
And winning Ondrea will be an uphill battle. He winced at the term. Who knew, after all the horrid things he'd said to her, that the fighting would fall to himself?
Kieran bowed to the elder. “My thanks."
She walked one direction, at a speed surprising for one of her advanced age. Kieran set off in the other, smoothing his clothing and finger-combing his hair.
He slipped into the back of the ceremony room, joining the ranks of men waiting to be blessed by the elders. Kieran paid little heed to their descriptions of the many tools for finding a match. Instead, he sought out Ondrea in the crowd of women.
She'd developed since he'd seen her last, of course, her waist slimmer over her woman's hips and her breasts fuller and matured. Her light oak-colored hair shimmered in the candlelight, falling in loose curls to her waist, and her dark eyes reflected points of the same luminous flickers.
Ondrea's eyes strayed from the elders to the invited men often, and she fairly vibrated in anticipation.
She's been sanctioned so many times for fidgeting.
Kieran's attention snapped back to the elders as the invited moved forward for the blessings. They filed up, and the elders alternated ... first a man then a woman...
His turn came and passed in a blur. If Fate blessed him with Ondrea, it was more than he'd dared hope for.
His gaze locked on Ondrea, Kieran barely noted the rest of the blessings ... save one thing. They ended on a man. Beginning on a man and ending on a man meant there was one more male than female present.
That fact set his mind working. Only those invited would be admitted. Surely no one had refused the invitation. The healer in him hoped it wasn't some accident in transit.
Kieran smiled at the truth that such a thing wouldn't be fatal ... or even likely serious, just a delay in arrival time. After all, were the woman in question fated to die, the elders would have seen no need to invite her mate.
His mind at ease, he headed for the meeting room to mend past hurts.
* * * *
Ondrea forced her feet to the floor, reminding herself that a lady didn't fidget. Still, her nerves jumped and her mind rioted. She had no clue how to proceed.
She replayed the tools for confirming a mate she could recall, but they required both man and woman touching them at the same time ... or at least one partner with the other firmly in mind. True, simple palmistry and crystals would give a picture, but they were wildly inaccurate, and Ondrea wanted an effective tool
.
"Ondrea,” a deep voice greeted her.
Her smile of greeting dipped somewhat at the sight of him. That simply, her fidgeting fled, and she stiffened. A hundred unkind words paraded through her mind, all from those deceptively-lush lips.
"Kieran.” She offered a slight tip of her head, just enough to be considered polite, not enough to invite his company.
As if invited, he raised her hand and pressed his lips to the back. Her heart skittered at the contact. Kieran didn't release her; he held her hand, stroking soothing paths over the lines in her palm.
"I've heard you're a healer,” she managed. He knew calming touches from his training. It was nothing more.
His smile made her stomach do a little flip, and the stroking moved to her wrist. He must be a very good healer to affect her so with a touch.
"A small practice with my father and grandfather,” he confirmed. “And you?"
Ondrea bristled at the fact that he hadn't cared to follow it. He's always assumed I'm like my father. “Life studies,” she informed him. “I'm a plant healer."
"There aren't enough. You'll be in high demand.” Kieran hesitated only a moment, moving from her left hand to her right. “Perhaps you'd see fit to examine my healing herbs ... at the usual healer's fee, of course."
"But, I've yet to qualify.” Surely he knew that. She'd been two years behind him in school, after all.
Kieran raised her hand and laid another kiss. “You have always been an adept student,” he complimented her.
Ondrea fought for clarity. That wasn't what he'd said ten years ago. He'd claimed her difficulty in mastering a defensive spell was due to the fact that finesse was beyond an O'Ken butcher. Even now, it stung.
She pushed away the memory, then forced her gaze from his. “If only I knew where to begin unraveling this problem."
* * * *
Kieran swallowed down his disappointment. She hadn't agreed to the work he'd offered. His compliment had gone awry somehow, and now she was looking to find a man other than himself to spend time with.
She's worth fighting for.
"There are many tools,” he began.
"But they require the couple in unison,” she dismissed him.
We are. We could use any of them. But, she would balk at that, at laying her hand alongside his to test it. “Not all of them.” Perhaps this is why I was given the gift of the Fates Room before the event. Perhaps Ondrea will believe nothing less than that.
"Crystals and palmistry,” she complained. “Hardly worth the magic to fire them."
"There is another, a powerful tool that requires only one mate."
She turned her cool, brown eyes to him. “Which?"
"The Fates Room.” His heart skipped at the possibilities. “It is never wrong, you know.” But, would she believe that, when it was Kieran she saw in the reflections?
Her eyes lit in excitement. “Yes. I've heard that.” She looked around frantically. “An elder could direct me."
"I know where the room is.” He offered his arm.
Ondrea hesitated, then took it, seemingly stunned. Kieran took a calming breath and guided her toward the corridor they needed.
"Ondrea!"
She jolted then turned, releasing Kieran's arm to clasp both hands offered by Gabriel Sarke. “Gabriel, how nice to see you."
Jealousy ate at Kieran that quickly. Ondrea's smile was wider for Gabriel, her pleasure at seeing the other man genuine and not faked as it was for Kieran.
They were raised together, he reminded himself. Their fathers are in business together.
But, the way Gabriel looked at her was anything but brotherly. It had never been, as far back as Kieran could remember.
"How ... telling that we got the invitation together,” Gabriel suggested.
Ondrea blushed.
Gabriel looked around, feigning a sudden awareness that Kieran was there. “Medici, I hear you are busy living up to your name."
Putting together what you tear apart. But, he dared not say it in front of Ondrea. Instead, he forced a smile to his face. “Trade is brisker than a healer wishes,” he admitted.
"It's all coin, healer,” he chuckled.
"Were it simple comfort potions, I would agree. I cannot see lives as coin, I'm afraid."
Ondrea stared at Kieran, her expression unreadable.
Gabriel drew her attention back to him. “It's been months. I hope you'll pass some time with me.” His eyes shifted to Kieran in challenge. “If you don't mind, Medici?"
Though it galled Kieran, there was only one reply to give to that. “That would be Ondrea's choice, of course."
She looked from one to the other, offering a tip of her head to Kieran before she turned away and accepted Gabriel's arm.
Kieran stared after them, fisting his hand in frustration. He forced himself to calm with one fact. No matter how well they knew each other or how polished Gabriel Sarke was, he couldn't fire the tools with Ondrea, and Kieran could. In the end, Kieran knew who Fate intended for her.
* * * *
Ondrea gasped in the aftermath of Gabriel's kiss. It had been so unexpected, she hardly knew how to respond to it.
Gabriel stroked her cheek. “I hope you don't mind."
She shook her head. Stars, but the kiss had been good.
His smile was wide and heartfelt. “I always knew it would be you."
"You—you have?” How could he? True, she'd had a few daydreams of Gabriel, but not as many as she'd had about others.
"Oh, yes.” He turned and ambled toward the gardens.
Ondrea hurried along with him, feeling like the tag-along she'd been when she'd been four and he a schooling six. “But how?"
His laugh was rich, vibrating his broad back. “Love is familiarity, Ondrea. We've known each other since the cradle. We share interests and sensibilities."
Some sensibilities. “But what proof do you have that we're destined for each other?” He seemed so certain, she had to know.
Not that she'd balk at the idea of life with Gabriel. Their differences aside, they'd always gotten on well. He was a handsome man, and that kiss had been toe-curling at worst.
"We make our own destiny,” he decreed.
Ondrea furrowed her brow in confusion. “That's not what we were taught."
"The love arts lobby,” he teased. “May I show you?"
She nodded her agreement. Gabriel took her arm and led her further into the castle. He stopped at a brass globe. Ondrea looked at him, questioning silently.
"The Ellix Spinner,” he explained.
Ondrea dried her sweating palm on her skirt and placed it on the globe. After a moment, Gabriel's hand joined hers. She held her breath, but there was no response from the tool.
Her heart sank. He'd been wrong.
She knew very well what to expect of the Ellix Spinner. Her own parents had proven matched by it. But there was no golden glow and music for herself and Gabriel. They weren't destined.
He lifted her hand to his arm. “Don't frown, Ondrea."
"But you were—"
"Fate magic doesn't work on my family,” he confided. “It hasn't for three generations, at least."
Her head spun lightly. “How did they find their destined mates? If the magic works in neither direction..."
"What happens when all the matches have been made?” he countered.
Ondrea worked at that. “A woman would be unmatched, still searching for her mate."
"A woman for whom the magic does not work. Yet, the elders see a match. Thus, she is invited."
"Then I should be searching out a mate. If they all match without me—"
Gabriel sighed, as if she'd disappointed him.
"The Fates Room only requires the magic of one,” she continued.
His brow rose, and he nodded. “A fine suggestion. If you see nothing there, will you consider the possibility that we are destined?"
Though the thought of such a dark union chilled her, Ondrea nodded her a
greement.
* * * *
Ondrea stepped inside the Fates Room, looking around at the many mirrors in awe. Each was a different size, framed in a unique way. Most were startlingly clear; a few were cloudy or cracked. Magic beat at her from all sides, not a single flow but overlapping fields emanating from each mirror.
"Your parents felt nothing here?” How could someone miss this power?
"Oh, they felt magic,” Gabriel confirmed. “But the mirrors remained dark. Still, the elders confirmed they were meant for each other."
Ondrea considered it, biting back a wince at the bleak reality they'd faced. She'd always basked in magic. Finding a mate without the glory of the magic she'd hoped for was unconscionable.
"Close the door, Gabriel."
He crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly confused by the request. “What?"
"If there is no reaction, perhaps—"
"You still believe there will be?"
Ondrea took a calming breath. “We both wield magic. We shouldn't scoff at it. Your line may well not experience fate magic, but mine does ... or has until this point. My mother and father tested on the Ellix Spinner."
"But it didn't—"
"For you. The Ellix Spinner requires both mates. The Fates Room requires only one."
He seemed to consider that. “Sensible. Though I still believe there will be no images, you may well see us in the mirrors, when I cannot."
And if I cannot see with him present, I will come back alone. Perhaps Gabriel himself is a damper for fate magic. But, he would think such a suggestion less than sensible.
Gabriel reached for the door, and Ondrea closed her eyes. She waited, and nothing happened. She opened her eyes to the dimmed room, but it was still and silent.
His expression clearly announced that Gabriel believed himself vindicated. Ondrea looked at the far wall ... and it struck.
The room went dark, save slats of light that raced overhead, front to back. Vertigo assaulted her, and she stumbled, catching herself on a gilded frame inset with roses.
The vision burst into view in the mirror, the colors blinding in the near darkness. Ondrea lay on a lush bed, her legs wrapped around the man's...
