Clash of Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Amazon Book 3) Read online

  I pushed my way through the crowd, moving quickly toward the building that looked like it was a center of international finance or something equally boring.

  Seriously, what the hell were the Amazons doing here?

  Maximus kept pace behind me since the crowd was flowing too thick and strong for us to walk side by side. When we finally spilled out into the stone courtyard in front of the building, I sucked in air, grateful for the space.

  Huge glass doors beckoned, each of them two stories tall and etched with an image of ancient warrior women.

  “Not subtle, are they?” I asked.

  “I wouldn’t be, if I were them,” Maximus said. “And even if they’re trying to blend with humans, no one would guess they’re the real thing.”

  I stepped into the echoing foyer of the building. It was huge, seeming to take up the whole bottom floor, and nearly empty. The floor was a gleaming lake of black marble that shined under the modern steel chandeliers. A big granite desk occupied the middle of the space, and two women sat behind it, contemplating a chessboard between them.

  As soon as my foot hit the marble floor on the interior side of the doorway, they stood, quickly going to attention, their gazes fixed on me and Maximus.

  Well, they certainly weren’t dressed like secretaries. Instead of skirts and blouses, they wore black tactical gear. Each wore a strange golden crystal around her neck.

  Their stance was casually deadly, shoulders relaxed but hands close to the daggers sheathed at their thighs. It was hard to determine either woman’s age, but there was something ancient about them. Powerful. The warriors might look like they were in their twenties, but they sure didn’t feel like it.

  I began to approach, closing the twenty-yard distance between us with Maximus at my side. My skin prickled with awareness. Familiarity, almost. The women raked their gazes up and down my form, clearly forming their first opinions about me.

  Both were over six feet tall. The one on the left had straight dark hair and even features. Her brow was set in a firm line over dark eyes that missed no details. The one on the right wore her red hair up in a high ponytail that trailed down her back. Her face was softer, with rounded cheeks and fuller lips. But no one would mistake her for the weaker one. No one would mistake either of them for weak.

  Real-life Amazons.

  “How can we help you?” The redhead had a deeper voice than I’d expected, but it wasn’t unfriendly.

  “I’m, ah—looking for the Amazons. Hermes sent me.”

  Their brows flew up, and they glanced at each other. When they looked back at me, interest gleamed in their eyes.

  “The new girl?” the brunette asked.

  “Maybe?” I honestly had no idea.

  The brunette’s hand went for the dagger at her thigh. Quickly, she drew it from the sheath. As the metal slipped free of the leather, it grew and lengthened into a wickedly long sword.

  Nice. The inane thought cut through my shock.

  She lunged, and there was no more time for shock. Her sword swiped out for my neck, and very briefly, my life flashed before my eyes.

  Chapter Five

  As the dark-haired Amazon went for me, the redhead went for Maximus.

  My attacker was fast, her blade zipping toward my neck. At the last moment, I ducked, going low to avoid her blade. The steel whistled overhead, so close that it might have severed a few hairs.

  Heart pounding, I lunged away, catching sight of the redhead and Maximus fighting fast and hard.

  Dang. This is not what I expected.

  I reached into the ether and drew a sword, spinning to face the brunette who had followed me. She was fast and strong, swinging her blade like a pro as she bore down on me.

  I dodged the steel once, twice, then got in a strike of my own, forcing her to dodge backward. I pressed my advantage, lunging with another swipe. This one made her duck, and I swung again, determined not to lose my lead.

  But what should I do with it?

  I didn’t want to kill them. I needed to be here. I could feel it. These were my people, and information was within these tall glass walls. But if I didn’t decide soon, I’d lose this advantage. The Amazon and I were too evenly matched.

  Beside me, Maximus fought the other Amazon. She was strong and fast, but he had the advantage of height and strength. Their steel clashed as they parried, each taking the lead in turns.

  I looked back at the dark-haired Amazon, since she was the one with the power to take off my head. I lunged for her again, but she grinned and leapt backward, lowering her sword.

  I was still in strike mode and was barely able to pull back in time. I stopped right before my steel cut into her arm.

  She grinned as if she’d known I’d stop. “Not bad.”

  The redhead darted away from Maximus, clearly taking a cue from her colleague that the fight was over. “Her man isn’t bad, either.”

  My mouth opened. I almost said that he wasn’t my man.

  But then, was that even true? And I wanted him to be, if I were honest about it. Either way, that wasn’t what I’d come here to discuss.

  “What the hell is going on?” I asked.

  “Just seeing if you measure up.” The brunette stepped forward and stuck out her hand. “I’m Antimache.”

  I shook her hand, appreciating her strong grip but confused all the same. “Rowan. This is Maximus.”

  He just nodded his greeting, his eyes wary.

  The redhead thrust her hand out. “I’m Melousa. We’re glad you’re here.”

  I shook her hand, my gaze taking in the entire space. “Were you expecting me?”

  “Hoping,” Antimache said.

  “What is this place?” I asked.

  Maximus was being oddly silent, but I appreciated it. This was kind of my show, and he wasn’t the sort of man to need to be loud to make his presence known.

  Melousa gestured for us to follow her. “Come, we’ll introduce you to the queens.”

  “Queens? Plural?” Hermes had given two names, but I hadn’t focused on it at the time. I followed them across the gleaming stone floor toward a bank of elevators on the far wall.

  “Yes, plural,” Melousa said. “Cooperation and teamwork have kept us alive this long. No point in stopping now.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. It was how my sisters and I lived. Stronger together than apart.

  The elevator dinged as the doors opened, and we stepped inside. The far wall was made of glass that looked out onto the street. A harried businessman walked by, his tie flapping in the wind as he shouted into a cell phone. It was a strangely human, normal scene, considering that I was standing with the ancient Amazons.

  “Why did you move to a human city?” I asked.

  “It was closest to our homeland by the Black Sea,” Melousa said. “And it was time to get away from the countryside. We’re not like some of the ancients, clinging to the past. We’ve moved into the modern world.”

  As the elevator zipped upward, revealing an amazing view of the city below, I couldn’t help but agree. The Amazons had adapted, and they’d adapted well.

  In the distance, I caught sight of a massive body of water. The Black Sea that she’d mentioned? I really needed to brush up on my geography. I glanced at Maximus, who looked impressed but wary.

  Yep, just about how I feel.

  The elevator doors dinged, and I turned as they opened, revealing a massive office where every wall was made of glass. There were two large desks in the room, as well as furniture and one of those archery targets. The whole place was decorated with a modern flair, everything showing sleek, simple lines. Except for a few ornate statues that looked to be thousands of years old. Definitely originals, heirlooms of their past.

  No matter how far they’d moved into the future, they couldn’t let go of what had come before.

  I couldn’t blame them. Neither could I.

  Two women stood in the middle of the room, staring at the elevator doors as if they’d expec
ted us.

  Magic fairly rolled off of them, smelling like a fresh sea wind and sounding like battle—the clash of metal, the sound of footsteps pounding on the battle field, the cry of the fallen. It felt like the cut of a blade and tasted slightly metallic.

  Whew. I would not want to mess with these ladies.

  They were taller than the guards, a few inches over six feet, and they were dressed in a similar tactical gear with identical golden crystals around their necks. Dark and practical, an outfit made for war. They looked to be in their mid-forties, each with a long mane of dark hair and clever eyes that seemed to see right into my soul.

  Without question, these were the queens.

  On instinct, I bowed.

  Maximus followed, his gaze assessing.

  The one on the right stepped forward. “Finally, you are here.”

  I just nodded, not quite sure what to say.

  “I am Queen Hippolyta,” she said.

  “And I am Queen Penthesilea.”

  Both of them had strong voices that echoed with command. They’d been queens for thousands of years, so I supposed it made sense.

  “I’m Rowan Blackthorn, and this is Maximus Valerius. Why did you call me here?”

  “You’re one of us,” Queen Hippolyta said. “We knew to expect you, but not quite when. Then you began inheriting your powers, and our seer could find your magical signature.”

  So it was timed with me becoming a DragonGod. Made sense.

  “You’re the only one of us born in the modern day.” Queen Penthesilea walked toward me and pressed her hand to the side of my arm, as if she wanted to test that I was real. “Original, unique.”

  “It’s been thousands of years since one of us was born,” Queen Hippolyta said.

  “But why me?”

  Both queens shrugged.

  “You must be worthy,” Penthesilea said.

  “I hope so,” I said.

  “It won’t be easy.” Queen Hippolyta’s eyes turned serious. “Your magic is not resting easily inside you. The powers of the gods are not settling in well because you have too much. And you are missing the power that the Rebel Gods took from you.”

  “I can’t change that.” The words snapped out of me as the memory of the stone sitting in my apartment flared in my mind. That stone contained the magic the Rebel Gods had stolen from me. My sisters had gotten the magic back for me and stored it in a hunk of rock. It was the only place it could stay now. Useless. “It’s tainted with their darkness. I don’t want that inside me.”

  I already had enough. I might not know how to get rid of the darkness the Rebel Gods had left within my soul, but I’d shoved it so far down inside me that it couldn’t come to the surface anymore. No way I’d add anything to it. That might upset the balance within me, turning me forever toward the dark.

  No way.

  “We know,” Queen Penthesilea said. “That magic is too dark. Without all of your birth magic, it will make it harder for you to learn to harness the magic of the gods, but you will manage.”

  “You must,” Queen Hippolyta said.

  I nodded. “But how?”

  “Prove yourself. Help us.”

  “Help you with what? What do you do, exactly?” From the look of their office, they were businesswomen. Yet they were dressed for war.

  “We run Amazonian Security and Defense,” Queen Hippolyta said. “We’ve decided to use our powers for good. After living for so long, seeing the suffering in the world, we decided to leave our settlement and help.”

  “But you’re in an office building?” I asked. It seemed like such a weird place.

  “Come, you’ll see.” Queen Penthesilea gestured for us to follow her to the elevator, and I did.

  At some point, the guards who’d greeted us had disappeared, silently melting away. I shot Maximus a look, but couldn’t read his expression.

  This was a bit like meeting his in-laws, though we weren’t really that far along in our relationship. But this was where I had come from, in a way.

  Anxiety made my blood race as I stepped into a different elevator than before. There were two on the same wall.

  Honestly, I was nervous about what I would find.

  Probably wouldn’t matter, actually. I didn’t have much choice. I was an Amazon, and if I didn’t get my act together, my magic would devour me.

  No magic. No soul. Simple as that.

  This elevator contained glass doors instead of a glass wall so we could see into the building rather than out. At first, we passed by a few boring floors showing nothing but hallways. When we reached the first massive, hollowed-out section of the skyscraper, I gaped.

  It was a war room. Or a training room, at least. It had to be an area about six stories high. The ceiling loomed overhead. Women stood along one wall, firing arrows toward the targets on the other side.

  “You can see that we’ve modified the space,” Queen Hippolyta said.

  “You sure have.”

  The elevator descended to another large, open space. This one was even taller. Twelve stories, perhaps. There were balconies lining the exterior of the walls, and women jumped off them, attached to ropes as they fired their weapons while they fell. Beyond them, the glass walls revealed the city in the distance.

  It took everything I had to keep my jaw from dropping.

  “The windows are tinted, of course,” Queen Hippolyta said. “The humans don’t know quite what we do here, though we often fight on their behalf.”

  “They don’t know that, either,” Queen Penthesilea said.

  “What do you do for them?” I asked.

  “Turn the tides of petty wars, primarily,” Queen Hippolyta said. “In remote places where our interference can go unnoticed.”

  “Impressive.” Maximus’s brow was set, and it was hard to figure out exactly what he was thinking. But he clearly liked what he saw, from the tone of his voice. It looked a bit like the Colosseum, really, a massive arena where warriors fought. But here, they fought because they wanted to. They fought for a cause they believed in.

  I could get behind that.

  The elevator stopped at the next large, open space. A few Amazons were practicing hand-to-hand in the middle of the room, their moves so fast and their technique so skilled that I couldn’t help but be impressed.

  I wanted to train with them. I could learn so much here.

  The doors dinged and opened. Queen Hippolyta stepped forward. “We’ll stop here. There are more levels, but you get the point.”

  “Yeah, you’re good at what you do,” I said.

  “Very.” Queen Penthesilea’s voice lacked any modesty, and I liked it. The modesty would sound weird anyway. She was an ancient queen who oversaw a massive, modern-day team of warriors who worked to save the world.

  Badass.

  Maximus and I followed them to a collection of firm-looking couches. We sat, facing the warriors who fought on the mats in the middle of the room.

  “What role do I play in this?” I asked.

  “First, you must prove yourself worthy,” Queen Penthesilea said. “As all great heroes do.”

  I liked the sound of that.

  Who wouldn’t?

  A hero.

  I’d stood in my sisters’ shadow—a shadow they rightfully cast, and I was proud as hell of them—but I wouldn’t mind stepping out of it. Joining them.

  “What do I need to do? Fight a monster?” Heracles had fought a ton of monsters. Jason too. All the Greek heroes had.

  A wry smile tugged at the corner of Queen Hippolyta’s mouth. “You already are.”

  “The Stryx.” Of course it was the Stryx. They were my trial.

  “Precisely.”

  “That’s one reason I’m here,” I said. “Not just because you called and I need answers about what I am. But because the Stryx are blowing holes in the earth near a village. They’re going to destroy it.”

  “That’s not all the damage they’ll do.” Queen Penthesilea shook her head. “And
no, before you ask, I don’t know what they are after. Only that they have been a great evil, since long before you were born. They lay dormant for millennia, but they have risen now. Whatever they want, it is not good for anyone except them.”

  “And I have to stop them.”

  “Yes, but first you must fix the magic inside you.” Queen Hippolyta’s face turned serious. I’d thought it was serious before, but the lines that now creased the sides of her mouth and the heaviness in her green eyes made it clear that something was about to be said that I might not like. “But first, we need your help.”

  My brow wrinkled in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  Queen Hippolyta reached for the crystal that hung around her neck. The one that I’d noticed earlier. She removed it, and the air shimmered around her.

  Suddenly, she didn’t look quite so strong and whole anymore. Her muscles seemed to deflate in front of my eyes, her neck turning skinny and her collarbones jutting out way too far. Her cheekbones became prominent and her eyes sank into their hollows. Even her hair looked lank and dull.

  Queen Penthesilea removed her necklace as well, undergoing the same transformation, aging before my eyes.

  I stifled a gasp. No way in hell I’d want people gasping at me if I were in their shoes, so I kept my yap shut. “What’s wrong?”

  I got the words out in a mostly normal tone of voice, but my insides trembled. These women were so powerful, so strong. They did so much good in the world and held the answers to what I was.

  But they were dying.

  No question about it. The crystal contained a glamour that hid the truth. And I did not like the truth. Grief twisted through me at the idea of their loss. An ancient race dedicated to protecting others, and they might all be wiped out.

  “Whatever is happening with the Stryx is making us ill,” Queen Hippolyta said.

  “We think,” Queen Penthesilea said.

  Queen Hippolyta shot her a wry look. “My sister has always been the skeptic. But this began just recently. Very recently. About the time that the Stryx began carving into the earth. Whatever it is progresses quickly. We think it is related to the Stryx. So does our most powerful seer.”