Grey Magic
Grey Magic
Bonds of Magic
Book Three
by
Jeffe Kennedy
The epic story of Nic and Gabriel concludes…
His Darkness, Her Brightness… Together They Defy the World
Lord Gabriel Phel at last holds his dream in his grasp—and faces losing everything. He’s finally won the love of his wife, familiar, and mother of his child, and she offers him a heartfelt commitment he can truly believe in. Together they’re building a true house, one with a growing family of friends and allies that can help them stand against their enemies. And he’s learning to master his magic, to use it as the powerful tool and weapon it should be. But old and new enemies array themselves to take it all away.
Lady Veronica, now fully of House Phel, is doing her best to embrace happiness. After all, she has her hands full managing her mercurial and powerful wizard as he navigates taking his place as the head of their house, and with learning her own extraordinary ability. But she fears whatever peace they win won’t last long. When their enemies inevitably strike—including, perhaps, her own father—they must be ready to defend all they hold precious. It doesn’t help that her idealistic husband insists on making foolishly noble decisions that put them at even greater risk, nor that she loves him all the more for it.
As Nic and Gabriel struggle to put their household in order, giving ill-advised safe harbor to Nic’s runaway sister and risking their lives to save Gabriel’s sister’s sanity, their enemies draw the noose tighter on their well laid plans. When the unthinkable occurs, it’s up to both of them to trust in the nascent, unknown magic they’ve woven together.
Dedication
To David,
because it’s been a while since I dedicated one to you,
and because you know me better than I know myself
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Carien Ubink and Marcella Burnard for that last-minute critical read. Thanks to Darynda Jones and Kelly Robson, too, who never doubted that I’d finish on time.
And love to Grace Draven, because, because, because…
A round of coffee to the Writer Coffee peeps—Emily Mah, Jim Sorenson, and J. Barton Mitchell—for weekly doses of peopling. You all are awesome.
Shoutout to the staff, board, and key volunteers of SFWA. It’s amazing to work with all of you who make my job so easy. Special thanks to Terra LeMay, for asking about the book and rooting for me to break the curse.
Copyright © 2022 by Jennifer M. Kennedy
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or business establishments, organizations or locales is completely coincidental.
Thank you for reading!
Credits
Proofreading: Pikko’s House (www.pikkoshouse.com)
Cover: Ravven (www.ravven.com)
Table of Contents
Title Page
About the Book
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Copyright Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Titles by Jeffe Kennedy
About Jeffe Kennedy
~ 1 ~
“Are you sure we can’t stay in the arcanium forever?” Lying on her back on the tiled floor, Nic gazed up at the curved struts of the dome still flickering with silver moon magic, the circular lens of the topmost window illuminated with a softer glow. Beyond the thick glass, the shifting water of the lake rippled with deep blues.
“You were the one who painted dire fate of starvation and desiccated bones if we locked ourselves in here and never emerged,” Gabriel observed lazily, stroking a hand down her naked flank and snuggling her more tightly against his side.
Explosive sex following taking her alternate form for the first time—a large silver bird that might be a phoenix, which was a strange development—had left her mind considerably muddled. “Maybe we’re just not thinking creatively enough. You’re a wizard. Can’t you magic us food?”
He chuckled and, to her great dismay, shifted to a sitting position, bringing her upright with him. “All the creative thinking in the world won’t save our people if we abandon them to hide away in here,” he pointed out.
“There is that,” she replied glumly, unwillingly contemplating the host of problems that awaited them outside this idyllic bubble.
“And,” he said, patting her back encouragingly, “recall that you wanted to practice taking your alternate form while clothed before we confront the Convocation proctor, which means you need to get dressed.”
“Since when are you the practical one in this relationship?” she grumbled, pushing to her feet and stretching.
“I’ve been learning from the best.” He muttered a curse, and she turned to see him wrestling with his leather pants, which had tangled around his knee-high boots when she’d yanked them down. Above them, he was naked, silvery hairs bright against his darker skin, his moon-pale hair wildly tousled from her fervid hands. Though she’d thought herself sated a moment ago, the sight of him so thoroughly ravaged had her blood heating. Gabriel caught her looking and cocked a brow, lifting his hips to yank his pants up the rest of the way, then firmly laced them. “No,” he told her, “or we will emerge to a barren landscape scoured clean by your Convocation and all our people taken prisoner.”
“It’s not my Convocation,” she reminded him, tempted to try his resolve anyway. Not that she was dreading facing exactly the scenario he predicted or anything.
“Even so, we know what they’re capable of, and I’m not excited to stage a rescue at this point in time.”
“We are going to have to retrieve Selly before facing the proctor,” she observed. Gabriel’s sister was a familiar—at least half mad from having untapped magic build up in her all her life with no release—but her family hadn’t had the knowledge to identify what corroded Selly’s physical and mental health. When Nic arrived at House Phel, she’d known immediately what the problem was, and that Selly couldn’t go on that way. Unfortunately, Selly had a propensity for running wild in the Meresin marshes, and she’d eluded their attempts to help her. Even worse, the tracker Gabriel sent after her, Rat, had brought Selly back just as the Convocation proctor arrived to challenge whether Gabriel had properly bonded Nic. The proctor had also seen what Selly was: a rogue, unbonded, untapped familiar. Before the proctor could take possession of Selly, intending to convey both Nic and Selly back to Convocation Center, Selly had escaped again.
Seizing the opportunity, Gabriel promised they’d retrieve Selly, but then dragged Nic off to the arcanium instead, hoping to provide conclusive proof of their bonding by demonstrating he could put her in her alternate form.
“We’re not risking bringing Selly around that proctor,” Gabriel countered. “I want that odious woman off Meresin land. We’ll just say Selly gave us the slip, which is the truth.”
“Because we didn’t actually go look for her.”
“Nevertheless true. Besides, Rat will have gone after Selly. He won’t like that he lost her again, and if anyone can find her, he can. Now, get dressed so we can finish this.”
“All right, all right.” She paused to mess with her hair in one of the reflective silver surfaces. Her short, dark hair curled wildly, in such disarray that only a grooming imp could fix it.
“Nic,” he said, a warning in his tone, “if I have to haul you out there naked to prove to that proctor that you’re properly bonded and can take your alternate form, I will.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” she retorted.
“Don’t test me on this, Nic,” he ground out. “I value your life over your dignity.”
“Fine.” She found her lingerie and gown in a heap by the arcanium door, where they’d fallen when he’d practically ripped them off of her. If not for the Ophiel magic that made the bindings loosen, he might have torn them. Good thing they’d survived intact, as she didn’t have many decent gowns. “You know,” she said as she dressed, “it’s overly dramatic to say that my life is at stake. I’m too valuable to be killed. The Convocation would only discipline and retrain me so that—” She ended on an undignified squeak, as Gabriel was on her in a flash of movement, seizing her in a ruthless grip and kissing the words from her lips. His mouth was hard and the fire in her leapt to his demand.
He ended the kiss as suddenly as he’d begun it, but without releasing her. He’d leaned his forehead against hers, his breathing ragged. “Nic,” he ground out, “if you love me at all, please don’t ever again speak so casually of those monsters punishing you and breaking your mind to make you obedient to me.”
Her soft-hearted wizard. Easing back enough to frame his face in her hands, she caught and held that wizard-black gaze with hers. “No one is taking me away from you, Gabriel. And I do love you, with everything in me.”
He let out a breath, softening under her hands. “I love you, too—and it makes me crazy.”
Laughing, she stepped back, triggering the magic toggles to seal her gown, the fabric tingling as it adjusted to fit her figure perfectly. She hopped a bit, tugging on one boot, then the other. “I refuse to take the blame for that. There’s considerable evidence that you were crazy long before you met me. Like the moment you decided to decimate House Phel’s coffers to pay the application fee for me.”
“I should’ve known you’d have made your way through all the house ledgers by now,” he said wryly.
“To be fair, there wasn’t all that much to get through.”
He winced. “Sorry about that.”
“No need to be. I intend to make your investment in me well worth it. But first things first. Let’s test the alternate form change. That proctor will find nothing to justify questioning our bond.”
“All right.” Gabriel’s magic braided around her. “Ready?”
“Yes, wizard,” she purred, deliberately using the name that indicated they were drawing lines of power.
His magic tightened on her in response, a silver web that he’d laid into her with deft and devastating thoroughness as he sensually tormented her. It was as if all his cool water and shimmering moon magic had become part of her body, underlying her skin with an intimacy unprecedented in her life. She didn’t know how it felt to other wizard–familiar pairs, but this went far deeper than the bonding, as if Gabriel had wrapped his mental fingers around her very soul instead of simply taking her by the hand.
She shivered at this final loss of autonomy. Not that she’d go back and change anything. Gabriel had already muddied the waters with the Convocation by insisting on a reciprocal wizard–familiar bonding that had confused the proctor’s oracle head. Demonstrating that Gabriel could push her into alternate form would be the incontrovertible proof they needed. Despite her brave words, Nic had no desire to be returned to Convocation Center for punishment and retraining.
“Something wrong?” Gabriel asked with a frown of concern.
“No. It’s just… a disconcerting feeling. I’ll become accustomed to it with practice.” She hoped. And if she didn’t, she certainly wasn’t going to tell Gabriel. The last thing he needed was something else in their wizard–familiar relationship to obsessively fret over. “Do it,” she told him.
The silver net flexed, strumming her nerves with a sensation very like orgasmic agony. The first time he’d shifted her into alternate form, she’d been out of her mind with frustrated desire, so she’d attributed the sensation—what little of it she’d been cognizant enough to track—to their erotic play. This… this was something else entirely. Sensual in nature, but with visceral intensity. Her body convulsed with it, then dissolved.
Once again, she was in her alternate form. A creature Gabriel had described as a silver phoenix, which wasn’t something she’d ever heard of. She’d really like to get a look at herself in a mirror and compare the image to the book he’d mentioned seeing it in. Convocation knew the House Phel library had all sorts of oddities secreted away, as did the house itself, along with its lone wizard.
But that would have to wait. All she knew was her vision was very different—more acute and also disconcertingly… globular. Sounds came through vividly and smells did not. She shifted, feeling the thousands of pinpricks where her feathers protruded from her skin, each exquisitely sensitive. That would take getting used to.
Gabriel, sharply delineated in grayscale with a magical aura that radiated well beyond the confines of the arcanium, gazed on her with a smile so satisfied she’d call it smug on anyone else. For him, however, she knew the bland expression covered a wealth of relief. She’d love to find a way to prevent him from worrying about her so much. It simply wasn’t natural for a wizard. The typical Convocation wizard took their familiar for granted for a good reason: so they could focus on more pressing concerns. If Gabriel faltered in the defense of House Phel because he was distracted thinking about her safety… well, it didn’t bear considering because she’d make sure that didn’t happen.
Somehow.
Gabriel laid a hand on her feathered breast, the silver net of magic tightened on her again, inexorable and impossible to resist. The contraction of pleasure-pain wrenched through her, and she returned to human form. Naked.
Planting her hands on her hips, she glared at Gabriel. “Forget something?”
He gaped at her in dismay—and the beginnings of debilitating guilt. “What happened?”
Though he wasn’t asking her, she answered before he could go into a spiral of doubt and defeatism. Wizards shaped magic with their minds, so belief in themselves was critical to successful incantations. There was a reason the most arrogant wizards were the most powerful. “If you want to get me naked, all you have to do is ask, wizard,” she murmured, deliberately striking a seductive pose.
His jaw firmed, wizard-black eyes sparking with indignation. A much better emotion for him to work with. “I wasn’t trying to—”
“What were you trying to do?” she interrupted. “What did you picture when you summoned me back to human form?”
Puzzled, he knitted his brows. Then his face cleared. “I was thinking of how it worked before.”
“All right, then. So, put me back in alternate form, and this time when you summon me, be careful with the details.”
“Wait a moment.” He held up a hand, his frown deepening. “If I have this much control over how you return to your natural form, then I must have similar influence over sending you into your alternate form. What if I do something wrong and harm you?”
She tried to swallow her heavy sigh, she really did. But it escaped anyway. “Do we need to have another conversation about you having confidence in what you’re doing? Because, as you’ve repeatedly pointed out, people are waiting on us. They could be in trouble even now while you dither.”