Missing Magic by Karen Whiddon Read Free Book Online Page A

what it takes to do so.”
    “What of you?” Eyes glowing from within the
shadows of her hood, the Oracle watched Dee.
    Her inner struggle showed on her face. On the
one hand, she’d sworn to protect and serve. On the other, this was
Mick. They might to go up against her best friend and childhood
companion.
    “You say this is some sort of illness?” she
asked. “Something that could be transmitted unknowingly?”
    “That is one possibility. But only one
scenario.”
    Dee’s expression went blank. Cenrick guessed
she was puzzling out some of the others.
    Finally she lifted her chin.
    “ We will stop this.” Moving to stand
beside him, Dee looked from him to the poor, empty Fae, her
expression resolute. “I can promise you that.”
    “How?” By her one word, the Oracle seemed to
be throwing down a gauntlet.
    Dee stepped forward and accepted it. “Because
I’m a cop. Protect and serve. That’s what I do.”
    Cenrick didn’t bother pointing out Mick was
also a cop and, if he truly was behind this, he’d not only broken
his own vow, but condemned his soul to a thousand hells.
    “Look!” Suddenly, Dee let out an awful gasp.
“That looks like Peter. No way, it can’t be him.” She hurried
across the room.
    Cenrick followed, keeping close on her
heels.
    Skirting the murky pool of water, she
threaded her way through unseeing, motionless Fae. When she reached
a tall, blond-haired man who stared, like many others, unseeingly
into the distance, she staggered and gave a low-voiced cry.
“Peter.” She grabbed his arm. “Peter, what’s happened to you?”
    Of course, the one she named Peter gave no
response.
    “How do you know him?” Cenrick studied the
man, not recognizing him.
    Dee looked up, meeting his gaze. Shocked,
Cenrick saw her lovely eyes glistened with tears. “He is the man I
was to marry, until he broke off our engagement. This means he’s
Fae also, which means everyone I know has been lying. And now
this.” Her voice shook. “If Mick did this to him, I’ll…” Overcome,
she turned away.
    Peter, meanwhile, shuffled away,
unknowing.
    “I can’t believe this has been done to him.”
She sounded furious, and looked tortured. “To any of them.”
    Respectfully, he waited while she composed
herself.
    She turned, immediately looking for Peter,
finding him standing on the other side of the cave, facing the
stone wall. “Poor, poor Peter.”
    Cenrick took her arm. “I’m sorry.”
    “Yeah.” She bit her lip. “Me too.”
    “Do you still love him?”
    “Not in that way,” she sighed. “But I still
care about him.”
    “You didn’t know the man you planned to marry
was Fae?”
    “I didn’t even know there was such a
thing until you came along.”
    Another question for Mick. Why had so many
found it necessary to lie to her? Cenrick knew many Fae who had
relationships with humans, always with full disclosure.
    He didn’t understand why Dee should be any
different.
    "Why am I suddenly learning that I've been
surrounded by Fae?" she asked.
    Good question. Cenrick watched the Oracle,
waiting to see if she would answer.
    Instead, the Sorceress walked off, lost in
her own thoughts.
    “We will stop whoever or whatever is doing
this.” Touching his arm, Dee sounded fierce.
    “Yes, we will. And once we have, maybe Peter
will become himself once more.”
    She nodded, no doubt hearing the words he
didn’t speak. She probably hoped once Peter had been restored to
his former self, he’d want her once more.
    He wondered why the thought made his chest
feel so tight.
    “Now, can we go?” Looking up at him, Dee
looked like a slender warrior ready to do battle.
    “Now, we can go.” He took her hand. When she
leaned into his touch, even if ever so slightly, he knew she too
felt the need for comfort.
    He couldn’t blame her. What had been done to
his people was the stuff of nightmares.
    “Are you ready?”
    “Yes,” she answered, gripping his fingers
hard. “I want my gun back. It’d better