The man glanced toward his dead comrades and swallowed as his teeth chattered. “It’s called Magic Carpet Ride, and we heard it can really mess up even guys like you. We didn’t want her screaming until we got her out of the city.”
A raven cawed, as though intentionally breaking into Rowan’s interrogation. The bird was perched on the top railing of the fire escape. Rowan swore under his breath. The surviving Musketeer wouldn’t be a problem. No one would take him seriously if he claimed he witnessed a man burst into flames and move in a blur of speed that would make a comic book superhero jealous. They’d surmise the man was drunk or on drugs, especially after Detective Lyons’ interrogation. That human had a way of twisting a person’s words so that even a grocery list would sound like a conspiracy theory. Scarecrow-Guy would be sedated and in a padded cell before morning.
The raven was a different matter.
Was the raven spying for the female Water Wizards? He’d heard rumblings that they, and their allies, were launching a rebellion against the Grey Council, the governing arm of the Wizards. It was pointless, of course, and easily stamped out. But the domino effect might pit Wizards against Wizards, with the female Water Wizards taking the brunt.
Rowan gritted his teeth. Morgan, the woman he had loved and lost, was a Water Wizard. He fought the black wave ofheartache that always threatened him when he thought of her. She’d died years ago, but the pain and guilt were as raw as though it had happened yesterday. It was especially rough this time of year, right before Bealtaine, the annual Wizards’ Fertility Festival where they’d first met.
Focus. You’ve got a job to do.
If the raven was a shapeshifter, and Rowan was betting it was, it wouldn’t care about what happened to humans, so Rowan’s secret identity was safe for another day. The Grey Council and their human counterparts, the Talons, didn’t approve of him doing freelance crime-fighting gigs. But as long as he kept a low profile and the body count reasonable, they left him alone.
If the raven was a spy sent by the magical community of female Wizards, Rowan had a new set of headaches.
Chapter One
Restless waves attacked the shoreline as though they meant to drag Bealtaine Island, in the Canadian San Juan Islands, farther out to sea. The roar of the ocean’s despair was swallowed by an icy breeze. As though searching for a target, the winds wove through the hastily constructed smoke-gray, ash and charcoal colored tents erected for the Wizard’s Fertility Festival. The wind paused, then sped up the hillside toward the only permanent structure on the island: the replica of an eighteenth-century German castle, where it blew against the building’s walls as though it meant to tear it down stone by stone.
Then, as though fulfilling its intention all along, it awoke Morgan from her sleep in one of the castle’s ground floor chambers.
“I hear you,” Morgan said as she threw off the covers, eased away from the current lover she had taken to her bed and rushed to the window.
She pressed her hand against the leaded glass panes as she observed the path of the wind and sent a telepathic message of thanks to the Air Wizard who had sent the storm. He was letting her know that the Air Wizards remained secret allies of her and her sister Water Wizards. But she and her sister Wizards didn’t need gestures. They needed action.
A knock on Morgan’s bedroom door thundered over the roar of the waves and the howl of the wind. A healer, with power over water, Morgan was next in line to hold the position of priestess, a position she did not want. She did more than most already and even now had planned a small rebellion of sorts. But she knew the one who knocked demanded more.
Morgan touched her lover’s forehead, assuring he would continue in a restful sleep, and retrieved her silk robe from thebed as Caitlin, leader of the female Wizards and head priestess, entered Morgan’s chamber.
“I will not be part of your rebellion.” Morgan slipped on the robe, cinching it tight, knowing the question Caitlin would ask.
Over the years, Morgan had given all she had, and lost her heart in the process, to help save the few Wizards she could without drawing undue attention. To rescue the numbers Caitlin asked of her would expose them all and risk further deaths.
Morgan sank in front of her dressing table, crowded with lotions and bottles of lavender and rose water, while her friend stared out the open window. A floatplane, flying from the direction of Seattle, battled the storm as it circled over the harbor. Even from this distance she could sense that its occupants included a Troll and an Earth Wizard, but it was the pilot who drew her attention.
Her hand trembled as she reached for a brush and then changed her mind and set it back down. She had hoped, nay prayed, that she would never again see the Fire Wizard who had broken her heart. The shock turned to fury as the water in the bottles overflowed, as unrelenting as her memories…memories of laughter-filled days, passionate nights, and then the dawn of heartbreak and betrayal.
Her voice rising over the beat of her heart, Morgan pulled Caitlin’s gaze toward her. “How could you? You arranged for Rowan to meet with the leader of the Grey Council on the island during Bealtaine, when you knew we shared a past? A risky move! What if either one of them had realized it was you who cast a spell to bring them together?”
Caitlin’s voice remained calm. “You and I would die. High reward requires an even higher risk. If we are to succeed, we need Rowan on the island where he can be contained and controlled.”
“I have told you before, I want no part of your plan. It is madness to believe that you can kidnap the scores of young Wizards on the island. We might manage a few, but fifty?”
“We do not have a choice. Their training becomes more dangerous with each year that passes. Of the thirty Wizardlings between the ages of eight and sixteen that began training on Dragon Mountain last year, only five survived. Rowan’s duty is to the Grey Council and the Talons. If he suspects our plan, he will move heaven and earth to stop us. You are the key. You must choose him during the Bealtaine Fertility Festival and then be-spell him. With the Wizards in a spell-induced sleep, we will take a few of the young Wizards to safety each night.”
Morgan heard the moment Rowan’s plane landed. Could she separate duty from painful memories and the ever-present ache in her heart? She concentrated on her surroundings to help focus her thoughts.
Candelabras lit the room, and a milk-white glow settled over the chamber like a shroud. The oval mirror in front of her was framed in antique sterling silver and encrusted with amethysts and diamonds. The beauty only made her feel more isolated, more alone. Her vibrant features looked pale, reflecting the veil-like quality of the room as though she looked at herself through a lens coated in pearl dust.
At thirty-five, she’d lived a longer life than most female Water Wizards. She should be grateful. Instead, she felt suffocated. A building resentment, viewed as traitorous by the Talons and Grey Council, brewed beneath the surface. What if Caitlin and her conspiracy theories were right? Caitlin believed that the untimely deaths were not accidental.
Reaching for the bracelets she would wear to the opening ceremonies, Morgan swallowed down the dark foreboding that had haunted her since she’d arrived on this island in the Canadian San Juans a week ago. Choosing emeralds to matchher gown and rose quartz to enhance passion, she shoved the bracelets over her wrists. The cool stones only increased her apprehensions.
“Why don’t you wear the jewelry your mother gave you?” Caitlin said, selecting a bracelet made from green Connemara marble. “There is strong magic in these stones.”
Morgan snatched it from her friend and tossed it into a top drawer, glancing at Caitlin’s reflection. Her features were crisp and clear. Waves of dark hair crested over the sapphire-blue cape she wore and framed a confident expression. Why did Caitlin keep insisting she needed Morgan’s help? Caitlin had all the qualities necessary to lead a rebellion, not her. Morgan took a deep breath. “Why is the head of the female Wizards wasting her time with me? You should be preparing for Bealtaine.”
Caitlin motioned toward the open drawer which contained a leather-bound journal. “You must select Rowan. I’ve heard he will attend Bealtaine, and you are the only one strong enough to contain him.”
