Bonds and Broken Dreams (Amplifier 2) Read online

  For a brief moment, I had to shove away the impulse to race inside the diner and force Lani and Jenni out through the back door, so that the sorcerers about to arrive wouldn’t get a read on either’s magic.

  Protective instincts.

  That was an annoying side effect of choosing to settle, to build a life.

  “Shall we go in?” Aiden murmured as he stepped up on the curb beside me.

  I scanned the block, taking in the darkened interiors of the nearby stores and the empty sidewalks. If Isa Azar and Ruwa were in the vicinity, I couldn’t feel their magic. But it seemed likely that sorcerers of their power would be able to block themselves from my senses easily enough, even if only at a distance.

  The sound of a male voice, raised in anger, pulled my attention in the other direction. Peter Grant was peering into the window of Hannah Stewart’s thrift shop, about a half block over on the north side of the street.

  Aiden twisted to follow my gaze.

  Grant, his jacket unzipped over an untucked shirt and worn jeans, raised his fist to bang on the window. He slipped in the snow, barely catching his balance. His pudgy face flushed an even deeper shade of red as he let out a series of nasty curses.

  Drunk.

  And seemingly fixated on Hannah.

  I glanced up at the windows of the second-floor apartment above the shop. The lights were on, so Hannah was home. She’d presumably ignored her ex-boyfriend’s father when he banged on the door of her apartment. It would have made sense for Peter Grant to try to accost her at home, rather than at the obviously closed store.

  Of course, he might just have been so inebriated that he was functioning without actual intention. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t attack Hannah the moment he laid eyes on her.

  A deep hum of magic pulled my attention in the other direction. Isa Azar and Ruwa stepped around the corner of the street, leaving footprints in the falling snow.

  Isa was swathed in a pristinely pressed charcoal suit, including a silver-striped tie and cufflinks that glinted with magic as he raised his hand, greeting his brother from afar. Ruwa was wearing layers of golden-brown silk, fully covered from neck to toe — yet the dress writhed around her as she walked. Seductively. By intention. She was wearing heels, open toed and high enough to make her taller than Isa.

  Neither of them had a flake of snow on them. It was a ridiculous display of magical prowess, especially in a small town filled with mundanes.

  Aiden clenched his fists, his magic shifting across his rune-scribed copper rings.

  Isa’s step hitched. Then he smiled tightly and continued to close the space between us. Ruwa’s gaze remained glued to Aiden.

  The sorcerer at my side deliberately turned his back on his approaching family members, leaning in to speak to me while carefully not blocking my sight of the magically laden newcomers. A look filled with incredulity flitted over Isa’s face at his brother’s slight. Ruwa frowned.

  “Do you need to check on Hannah?” Aiden asked, pitching his voice low. “I can get a booth. And we’ll wait to order.”

  I glanced up at him, completely surprised at the offer. Surprised that a sorcerer would even think about a mundane, especially one he’d only heard about. Snowflakes were caught in his dark hair.

  Following an impulse I didn’t bother assessing or countering, I tilted my head back, leaning just close enough to brush a kiss across his lips.

  He smiled, huffing softly and leaning closer —

  “You!” Peter Grant shouted, words slurred. “You! Red!”

  I glanced to the right, confirming that the inebriated idiot had indeed keyed in on me and was now stumbling across the street. The snow that had built up at the edges of the curb impeded his progress.

  Aiden started to shift himself in front of me, then hesitated. I wasn’t certain whether his caution was due to not wanting to intercede in a confrontation I was overqualified to deal with, or because he’d just remembered the sorcerers approaching from the opposite direction.

  I glanced over at Isa and Ruwa, who had paused one storefront over. Ruwa was watching Peter Grant with contemptuous disdain as he slipped on the nearer curb and fell back against Aiden’s SUV.

  The door of the diner opened. Jenni Raymond stepped out, pulling on her winter jacket. Lani was at her heels. Both of their gazes were trained on Peter Grant as he regained his balance and made it onto the sidewalk.

  “Grant,” Jenni said mildly, tugging gloves from her pockets and pulling them on. “Odd timing for a stroll, isn’t it?”

  “I can speak to whoever I like,” Grant screeched, jabbing his finger in my direction. “It’s a free country. And I got a bone to pick.”

  “Well,” Aiden said quietly, glancing over at Isa and Ruwa. “At least you distracted him from Hannah.”

  “He’s got a hard-on all right,” Lani muttered, presumably thinking only Jenni could hear her. “But for all the wrong reasons.”

  Jenni grunted, casting her gaze over Aiden, then briefly eyed the two other sorcerers. She held her hands out to the sides and stepped toward Grant, in the same fashion that she might have approached a rabid dog. “Come on, Grant. I’ll drive you home.”

  Peter Grant, legs spread wide in order to hold his balance, lowered his head, glaring at me balefully. But he didn’t try to close the space between us. “Hurt my boy, she did,” he muttered, swaying.

  Lani snorted, exchanging a look with Jenni. The shifter glanced my way, but seemed unsurprised by the accusation. I had broken Tyler Grant’s wrist and ankle. Then I’d let the RCMP officer believe that the damage had been done by Christopher, while protecting Hannah Stewart from her abusive ex.

  Jenni stepped between Grant and me. “How about some coffee at the station? You know I can’t let you drive.”

  The inebriated man muttered under his breath, but he shuffled back a few steps.

  “Shall we get out of the cold?” Aiden asked, gazing over at Isa and Ruwa, then sweeping his hand toward the diner.

  Isa nodded, stepping toward the glass front door.

  Ruwa laughed huskily, following Isa. The unnatural swirl of her silken clothing had died down to a normal undulation around her ankles. “Anything and everything you want, Aiden. Whenever and however you want it.”

  Aiden ignored her.

  Tugging on a knit hat, Lani smiled at Isa politely as they crossed paths. Her smile widened as she stepped across the sidewalk with her hand held out to Aiden. “You’re back. For good?”

  He took her hand, shaking it firmly. “Lani. I hope so.”

  She stepped closer, lowering her voice and including me in the conversation. “Everything okay with … ?” She nodded back toward the diner.

  Inside, Isa and Ruwa were in the process of crossing by the red-vinyl booths along the windows, intent on selecting the one in the far corner. Getting there first, they would select the seats that put their backs to the wall. But I could cede the perceived advantage to them. I had no need of it myself.

  “It will be,” Aiden said. “When they leave town.”

  Lani snorted. “Family, eh?” Then she eyed Aiden’s SUV. “Mercedes G550. She’s a beauty. Custom color? Did you order from Vancouver?”

  “Victoria. It was easier to fly through Seattle than Vancouver.” He met my gaze with a slight smile, presumably making a reference to the witch coven who claimed the mainland as their territory. The Godfreys. The coven actually claimed more than the city, but Aiden might not know that yet.

  “Your brother’s driving the same model. About a year old. Not custom.”

  “Is he?” Aiden laughed quietly. “And that’s where the similarities between us stop.”

  Lani hummed thoughtfully, her latent magic shifting. Perking up.

  Which made me realize that she and Aiden weren’t simply standing in the snow and talking about cars, hands still clasped. But what the deeper meaning behind their conversation was, I had no idea. Was Lani testing the sorcerer somehow? Feeling out his motivations?


  “Lani,” Jenni called. “You want a ride?”

  The hazel-eyed mechanic dropped Aiden’s hand, glancing over at Jenni where she’d managed to load Grant into a red Jeep parked on the other corner of the street. “With that in your back seat? No way. I’ll walk.”

  Jenni waved, her gaze falling on Aiden, then flicking to me as she jogged around to the driver’s-side door. She nodded toward the diner, then looked at me again. Pointedly.

  Asking if I needed her help, maybe?

  The idea was ridiculous.

  But I shook my head, smiling slightly.

  She climbed into the Jeep, pulling quickly away from the curb. Her tires slipped in the snow as she sped past us, heading in the direction of the RCMP station.

  “Call me if you need to, Emma,” Lani said, stepping away in the opposite direction with her gaze still on Aiden. “I’m going to check on Hannah before I head home.”

  I never called. I didn’t even carry a phone. Any plans I made with Lani were always discussed in person. “I will.”

  She nodded, then walked away.

  Aiden was watching me, a slight smile on his face.

  I resisted the impulse to make skin-to-skin contact and read his emotions. Normal people communicated with words. And other gestures. “Everything okay?” I asked.

  His smile widened. “I’m standing in the snow at your side. What could possibly be wrong?”

  A warmth curled in my stomach, and I found myself answering his grin with one of my own. “The brother you tried to kill, an act that led to your banishment from the Azar cabal, and your former lover, who you thought was dead, are waiting in the diner.”

  “Well, when you put it like that …” He tilted his head thoughtfully, then shook it. “Nope. Still can’t think of anything that wouldn’t be okay here with you.”

  “Word games, Aiden,” I said, as gruffly as I could. I needed to ignore all the weird visceral reactions his words stirred up within me.

  “That isn’t my intention. Not in the least. But the only way for you to know that about me is to spend even more time with me. So let’s get this sure-to-be-ridiculous conversation over with, then go back to what I hope will be our regular lives.”

  I glanced over at the diner. Ruwa, seated by the window, was watching us. Watching Aiden, specifically. Isa, seated next to her on the aisle, was reading the menu.

  Aiden held his elbow out to me, and for a moment, I had no idea what he was doing. Then, remembering the gesture from multiple episodes of Downton Abbey, I reached up and curled my hand around his arm, allowing him to lead me to the entrance and through into the diner.

  “Emma.” Brian’s voice was warm, as if he was actually pleased that I’d given him a reason to stay open on a snowy evening. The slightly balding, affable co-owner of the Home Cafe stepped toward us. He wiped his large hands on a tea towel, then offered one to Aiden. “Good to see you again, Aiden.”

  “I’m pleased to be back.”

  Brian nodded as if there was no possibility that anyone wouldn’t want to return to Lake Cowichan. Then he winked at me.

  So … was he inferring that it was impossible to think Aiden wouldn’t want to return to see me?

  Ruwa sighed, heavily and deliberately. Though it was only my heightened hearing that made it possible to pick up the expression of disdainful boredom from the other side of the empty diner.

  “Melissa set aside the last four pieces of brownie for you,” Brian said, stepping around the counter. “I suggest having it warm with fudge sauce, instead of with ice cream.”

  “Thank you. We won’t be long.”

  Brian cut his gaze toward the sorcerers in the corner booth. “No. I suspect you won’t.” He exited back into the kitchen without another word.

  Aiden snorted quietly. “Even the mundanes know Isa is bad news.”

  “Actually, it’s Ruwa that really puts them on edge. Judging by Lani’s reaction to her.”

  He frowned. “Ruwa is inconsequential.”

  I glanced at him.

  “What?” he asked, clearly confused.

  I shrugged. “You might change your mind after we sit down.” I stepped forward.

  Aiden’s hand shot out as if to stop me. Then he visibly reined himself in, muttering, “I keep having to stop myself from doing that.”

  I turned my back on Ruwa and Isa in case either read lips. “It’s always better if I lead and keep my hands free, unless you’re actively shielding me as we approach.”

  Aiden nodded but didn’t sound convinced. “I saw.”

  He was referring to how Daniel, aka Fish, and I worked together. “Don’t worry,” I teased, speaking at a normal volume as I stepped toward the booth and the sorcerers again. “I didn’t bring my blades this time.”

  Aiden laughed. “I’m a bit sorry about that, actually. You wield them so well.” Then he grinned as if the thought was … beguiling?

  I pulled my attention from him — and doing so was more of an effort than was reasonable, especially since I was about to dine with two unknown sorcerers. One of whom — Ruwa — I really didn’t have a solid read on yet. Neither her powers nor her motivations. And that made her the most dangerous person in the room.

  A distinction that I usually held.

  Isa glanced up from the menu as I approached the table, then he looked back down. “I imagine the clam chowder is good? Given the location?”

  Aiden slid into the booth, placing himself by the window across from Ruwa. A pinned position, making him more vulnerable to sudden assault. But having me on the aisle was the strategically sound choice in this particular situation, since I could neutralize either or both sorcerers just by reaching across the table.

  Neither of them knew that, of course. Not unless Silver Pine had been whispering in Isa Azar’s ear. Unless he knew more about the Collective than he’d let on.

  But Christopher hadn’t been triggered by the sorcerers’ visit the previous day. If the Collective was behind this brotherly reunion, I had no doubt that the clairvoyant would have seen it.

  Isa looked up from his menu a second time, questioningly.

  Aiden hadn’t bothered filling the silence. He was currently staring at Ruwa with that carefully neutral expression he opted for when considering a situation.

  “The clam chowder is very good,” I said to Isa. “Cream based. No bacon.”

  A smile slowly spread over Ruwa’s face. It was most likely meant to be seductive, but all I could feel was the chaotic tenor of her magic.

  “Served with garlic bread?” Isa asked, his gaze settling on Aiden.

  “Fresh baked,” I said.

  The sorcerer set down his menu. “Sounds delightful. And the brownie for dessert, of course,” he added, pointedly letting me know that he’d overheard the conversation with Brian at the door.

  It was odd when sorcerers thought that displays of magical prowess made them intimidating. When the opposite was almost always true. I smiled at him.

  His expression turned wary, but he hid it, glancing over at Aiden. “Brother.”

  “Isa.”

  “You look well.”

  Aiden inclined his head. Then, maintaining the same pleasant tone, he shoved aside the niceties. “The rings around your neck belong to me.”

  Isa chuckled, settling his gaze on me. There was something demeaning in his expression. “Women have always been your weakness, Aiden. Starting with your mother.”

  Aiden didn’t respond, so I did. “How so?”

  A frown flickered over Isa’s face. “Aren’t women every man’s weakness?”

  “No. A person’s weakness is usually exceedingly personal, often born from some childhood trauma or neglect. So by referencing Aiden’s mother, I assume you’re alluding to how she was held against her will, raped, and forced to bear your father’s child.”

  Ruwa stiffened. All the undulating magic she’d been giving free rein to tightened around her. She slowly turned her head to look at Isa.

  He hadn’t look
ed away from me. Tension ran through his jaw. Then he reached up, loosening his tie. “My apologies, amplifier. It was an insensitive and ill-conceived attack, born out of sibling rivalry.”

  “Meant to denigrate my mother’s magic, and therefore my impure blood,” Aiden said, his tone still completely neutral.

  Isa opened the top two buttons of his dress shirt. Then he unclasped the chain that held Aiden’s missing rings around his neck. Rings that had been stripped from Aiden, along with most of his magic, by Silver Pine.

  “It’s true, then?” Ruwa asked, sounding disturbed. “Your father magically coerced Cerise Myers?”

  No one answered her.

  Isa slid the rings from the chain, holding them in his palm for a moment. Then he offered his hand to Aiden. “Held with every intention of return, brother.”

  Aiden tilted his head as if assessing the words, though I had no doubt that he’d already decided how the entire conversation, the entire dinner, would go — likely even before he’d gotten up from his nap. “A gesture of good faith?”

  Magic shifted across the table, between the brothers. Ruwa leaned away from it, idiotically letting me know the level of her sensitivity. She caught me looking at her, curling her lip in a sneer.

  “If you will,” Isa said.

  The magic settled, benign and unbinding.

  Aiden placed his hand under his brother’s, palm up.

  Isa tipped the rings into Aiden’s hand. A mix of gold and platinum bands, all rune carved. But as far as I could feel, the rings were drained of whatever magic they’d once stored.

  Brian hustled over to the table, carrying four glasses of water, one milkshake, and four sets of cutlery rolled in napkins on a tray. “Ready to order?” he asked, setting paper cocktail napkins, then the drinks on the table.

  The milkshake was for Ruwa. That was oddly surprising.

  “Yes, please, Brian,” Aiden said, tucking the rings in his suit jacket pocket, then gathering the menus. “I believe we’ve all settled on the clam chowder, and the aforementioned brownies, of course.”

  Brian nodded, taking the menus from Aiden. “I’ll bring extra garlic bread.”

  “Thank you,” I said.