The Nightshade Guild: Half-Blood Mage, page 1
HALF BLOOD MAGE
The Nightshade Guild Series
Book Nine
By Landra Graf
Copyright © 2021 by Landra Graf
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address below.
celticheartspress@gmail.com
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, August 26th, 2021
Cover Design by B Creative
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
When the hunter becomes the hunted…
For the past five years Demi Mephisto has hunted the demons who injured her mother and forced her to take her mother’s place in the Nightshade Guild. A position of honor she expected to require minimal involvement, until now.
As one of the mages sworn to protect the Elven Princess Ameria, Demi bonds immediately with the youngster over a shared loss of parents. The only problem is the demons she tracked are now after her and her charge. To keep the princess safe, she may have to turn to the last person she should even ask, her ex.
An unwelcome surprise on her doorstep…
Adrian Thorn isn’t the most traditional vampire, but when the vampiric queen tasks him with an assignment he’s blood bound to do as she commands. Leading him straight to the one woman he swore he’d never get involved with again. Demi needs his help to protect a little girl from the very demons she’s hunted for years.
To save the world…
With enemies on all sides, Demi’s not sure she should trust Adrian completely, but the princess does. When forced proximity brings back old feelings, battling dark enemies won’t be the only things Demi and Adrian have to fight against. Especially when Adrian’s true mission endangers the princess she’s swore to protect.
Chapter One
Demi Mephisto hated three things in this world: demons, squirmy things, and vampires. So far, she’d managed to evade two of the three for the extent of this trip to the wilds of Alaska and back again to her hometown of Kansas City. She’d take the lingering smell of car exhaust with the faint hint of sewage over the snap chill of winter air and frigid temperatures any day.
She moved into another shadow where the darkness stretched and moved, enveloping them in a swirling cocoon of gray, black, and white. The rustling against her chest paired with growing grunts and squeaks of frustration.
“Hold your horses, princess. We’ll be at a resting point after one more jump.” Demi said, stroking a hand across the princess’s back, the squirmy toddler strapped to her chest. Demi couldn’t travel like some of the other mages who merely opened a portal from one location to the next.
No, Demi shadow jumped and was preparing to move to a new whorl of clouded black when a portal opened at her feet. She dove for the darkness in front of her. She visualized the parking garage of her building in downtown Kansas City, away from the bright highway lights and rush of Friday night traffic, along the part of the Westport strip they’d emerged onto instead.
She barely made it before another portal with a cyclone of bright colors opened in the middle of the shadow at her feet, and this time, she fell through.
“The hell—" Her breath whooshed out of her as she sought purchase, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around the princess.
Protecting this girl might be the death of me.
They landed in a heap in front of her loft door, which helped Demi clear away the twinge of anxiety coursing her veins. Portals typically displayed the end destination, but Demi never had a chance to look down. Still, showing up here instead of her parking garage made Demi even more eager to pay heed to what the last mage had told her about Ameria’s emerging magical powers that grew every week.
I need to read those notes from the others.
Demi pushed up onto her knees, feeling a little off balance as she got to a standing position. Her weight was thrown off by the little blonde bundle with pointy ears. The princess, for all her trouble, grinned wide as if proud of herself, and Demi refused to smile in return.
“Don’t think this stunt did us any favors, even if we did make it to my front door faster. You could have hurt me or yourself, Ameria.” Demi didn’t miss the frown that quickly overtook the princess’s face before Demi moved to her door and extracted a key from her pocket.
Before she could insert it into the keyhole, the door opened. Instinct had her taking a fighter stance, spells ready to pour from her tongue.
“Just me, Demi.”
Demi sighed, and her arms went limp at her side at the sound of her friend’s voice. “It’s been a long day.”
“I brought over those things you asked me for and decided to straighten up. Figured I’d wait until you got here.” Her best friend, Myra, had corkscrew black hair, kind eyes, and a ready smile, and she stood there shaking her head.
Guilt swamped her belly, and Demi searched for an apology, but instead an excuse came spilling out. “Old habits die hard.”
Myra stepped back and ushered them in. “Sure, but you’ve warded this place six ways to Sunday.”
Except these aren’t the old enemies.
The guild used the Magecaster app to keep everyone up to date on the protection of the princess, and it included notes involving the litany of supernatural creatures hunting her. Demi didn’t tend to engage with half of those beings and stuck to demons. Her mission was singularly focused, at least… until the Elven king and queen were killed. Then she’d been called to act, along with eleven other mages. They’d committed to guarding the princess while the Elven council hunted the people who killed the king and queen. Each mage would only keep the princess for a month before passing her off to another. Eight other mages had come before Demi, and as time passed, the attention on the missing princess grew.
Demi passed over the threshold, a sense of calm immediately washing over her, and she heard Myra shut the door. “It might not be demons that end up at my place, but hopefully since the last mage was so far away, nothing will track me here and I can give this girl an uneventful couple of weeks before my time is done.”
“I’ve never known you to be uneventful.” Myra followed Demi down the small hall and into the open room.
This was what she missed. The tall windows covering two sides of the room, the wide kitchen area with her big gas stove and fresh herb adornments of sage, rosemary, and lavender. The low couches and chairs with plushy cushions and her array of succulents in their pots were positioned throughout the main room. The only thing that had changed was the portable crib next to her coffee table, the hanging jump seat, and the large box of toys.
Demi slipped the large diaper bag off her shoulder that had been given to her by Sunny, the previous Nightshade Guild mage who’d watched Ameria. She motioned to the new additions. “Is this everything?”
Myra shook her head. “Not even close. I’ve got a few gallons of distilled water in the pantry closet, along with some baby foods. Wasn’t sure what your guest likes. Also, there’s a second crib in the bedroom, a walker, and I brought a stroller over in case you go out.”
“Is this really what having a kid is like?” Demi had only ever been an outsider looking in. Being responsible for a small being, especially one with magical powers, was a bit overwhelming.
Myra laughed and crossed the room, reaching to take Demi’s coat from her shoulders. “Not even the start of it. If this was your kid, there would also be bottles, diapers, wipes, and the clothes.” Her friend shuddered as she walked off toward Demi’s coat rack by the door. “Don’t get me started on the volume of clothes.”
The squirming against Demi’s chest had stopped, and she glanced down to see Ameria rubbing her eyes.
“Tired, little one?” Demi didn’t expect an answer and unhooked the harness from her chest. She gently lifted Ameria out and laid her down into the portable crib.
To her surprise, the actions didn’t startle Ameria like it would have with Myra’s children. Myra’s children had been the type to wake at the slightest disturbance, and those memories were coming back rapid fire.
Once upon a time…
“She’s exhausted from all that jumping, I bet. I remember you told me how much it drains you.”
Demi grinned. “Not as much anymore, I’ve built up the stamina over the years.”
“Yes, but she hasn’t.” Myra pointed to Ameria, who rubbed her eyes and snuggled up against the small pillow Myra had placed in the crib. Her best friend leaned in and covered the princess with a blanket. “She’ll sleep at least for a while. I took the liberty of getting fresh curtains hung and everything cleaned.”
Demi scoffed. “You act like I’ve been gone years and not a couple of weeks.”
While she tended to dismiss Myra’s fussing, a part of her enjoyed someone caring about her place, about her comfort. Still, she didn’t know how to react to it very well. Years of being on her own and suppressing her emotions as best she could meant her feels stayed as surface level as possible.
“How did that tip pan out?” Myra headed toward the kitchen, and Demi followed. If she knew her friend, there would be tea coming. Piping hot with some of the fresh honey Demi always kept on hand.
She needed a good drink after the events of the last few weeks. Tracking her demonic father continued to be fruitless. The man had raped then attacked her mother and ultimately caused her death. If not for her responsibility to the princess, Demi would still be out attempting to hunt him down. “Not so good. Found no trace of him. He might’ve been there a few months ago but not now. I had just enough time to wrap things up and head to Alaska.”
Sure enough, Myra put the kettle on and started to gather glasses and spoons. “You’ve been chasing your father for years. Is it really worth devoting your whole life to revenge?”
She’d met Myra back before the attack on Demi’s mother. They’d been friends since middle school, even after Demi dropped out to focus solely on mage training. She’d harnessed her magic and worked to enhance her skills so she could take revenge against her father. Myra had stuck by her side, but Myra aged like a regular human and lived a normal life.
“I’ve got the years to spend on it. It’s not a waste if I can wipe his murderous face off this Earth.” She still carried a bit of anger around like a bad ulcer of the stomach. It formed pits inside her if she let it, with the potential to boil over. Mentally, she chanted a calming meditation.
“Yeah...though ever since Tamara was born, things changed.”
Because my mother was killed. Myra’s youngest child come into the world days after Demi had to bury her mother. Then Demi fully ascended to the Nightshade Guild, shockingly selected to take her mother’s place, and she left the mercenary life behind. But her newfound appointment never diminished her determination to get her revenge against her father and battle demons like her mother had for years.
“I’m just not sure it’s a way to live.” Myra said as she continued to scuttle around Demi’s kitchen. More than twenty years had passed since her mother had died. Myra kept supporting Demi, since her children were now grown and her husband had passed from cancer. Demi had no such ties. Myra was the only person, human, she was close to anymore.
Demi cracked her knuckles and shook out her shoulders, desperate to relieve the tension building up as this conversation continued. “I can live without the lecture for the moment. Remember your friend, weary and tired after shadow jumping from the wilds of Alaska?”
Myra blew a big raspberry. “Whatever happened to ‘I have stamina’? If you don’t want to hear me worry about you, then fine. How about you tell me some more about your guest?”
Demi shook her head. “Nope, you know the rules.”
“Nightshade Guild business. Yeah, doesn’t mean I agree with them. All this secrecy mumbo jumbo. You let me come around to help you.”
“That’s different, Myra. You’re family, and you don’t push the boundaries.”
Unlike some people I know, but we don’t think about him.
“Family doesn’t make me guild though, does it?” Myra added the tea bags to the cups right as the kettle let out a whistle. “Shit, better pour quick.”
“It may not mean guild, but it does mean I trust you… with my life. Now, tell me about the exciting things happening.”
Her friend poured hot water into both of their cups. “Have I got tea to spill... pun intended.”
Demi raised an eyebrow. “Tea puns?”
“Don’t look at me like that. Gotta stay young by keeping up with the slang, Demi. Let me tell you about Rachelle’s husband. Ooh, this man is fine, but he’s about to be in the doghouse. They celebrated two years married last week, and he hasn’t even got her a gift.” Myra grinned as she steeped her bag.
“Is that a big deal?” The stories, though often lost on her, were like a warm blanket wrapping her in this cocoon of normal she didn’t get in her everyday life.
“Honey, it’s huge. Makes a woman question if her man is being faithful or not. You should know all this, since I’m pretty sure you haven’t taken a vow of celibacy. You’re a mage, not a nun.”
To capitalize on that point, Demi flicked her hand. The spoon beside her cup rose and removed her steeped tea bag before adding honey to the cup.
“You don’t have to show off, either.”
Demi laughed. “I mean, you did put the opportunity out there, and you’re right. I’m no nun, but I can’t say any of my limited relationships were super involved with celebrating anniversaries or gift giving.”
“Bull… I remember that one, he was damn good-looking. Sexy enough that I would’ve left Mitchell for him in a heartbeat. Had those long braids, the tattoos all up and down his arms, and those piercing gold eyes.” Myra waggled her eyebrows and blew steam off the top of her cup.
“I don’t talk about him.”
“Not even recalling his name?” Myra sighed. “You should have kept him.”
Demi clamped her hands around her coffee cup. The slight burn from the heat on her palms was a good way to distract from the regret, the whispering wonder of what might have been. What she didn’t deserve. “I would’ve been happy to, but they always want too much, and I—"
“Have a mission. Yep, same old story. I wish you’d get a new line. My auntie used to say, ‘a life ain’t worth living in service to a memory.’” Myra always had a good expression from her auntie at the ready. The phrases were some of the best non-paranormal, mage advice she’d received growing up. Her mother had been all work, no play, and then she was gone.
“Your auntie seems to conveniently have a saying whenever you want me to do something,” Demi replied before sipping from her glass. The tea was perfect, a nice bedtime blend she’d enjoyed many times.
“I want you to live, Demi. The one good thing about your parentage is the fact you still look thirty and don’t have a speck of gray or a single wrinkle. At least not compared to my fifty-year-old scraggly butt.”
Aging slowly meant Demi had more to lose. She gripped the cup like a lifeline, the tether to the emotions she held at bay. “You’re gorgeous, and I won’t allow you to insult my best friend that way.”
Myra set her glass on the counter a bit forcefully. “Quit dodging the important part of what I said. I. Want. You. To. Have. A. Life.”
“I do, Myra.” Demi twisted in her seat and pointed at the portable crib next to her coffee table, working hard to keep her hand steady and her tone unwavering. “I’m guarding an important person threatened by forces I can’t talk about. Who knows what the guild may need me to do next? I protect people from demons and exorcise those possessed. I live a full life.”
“And a lonely one.”
“You can’t—"
“No.” Myra held up her hand. “All that is regular day job stuff. You’re using work to stop you from having a boyfriend, a husband, a family.”
The words sank in deep, burrowing underneath her skin the same way demon lies infected ears. Taunting and teasing at the things Demi had always glimpsed from afar. Families, connection, closeness. Outside of her time spent with Myra. the last person she’d held hands with was guild members as they formed their protection bond for the princess. Before that, it was her mother on her deathbed. Before that… we don’t think about him.
Because connections could make her weak.
“And thank goodness. I already worry about involving you as much as I do. If I had anyone else, they could get hurt or require me to give up my job, one I’m damn good at. So no, I think I’ll stick with the solo act.”
“That tall, dark, and handsome could’ve handled the job.”
Demi frowned in response and also at the reminder to the tiny ache that still existed in her heart. “Maybe, but he’s long gone now.”
The knock at her front door nearly made her drop her teacup.
“Expecting anyone?” Demi asked as she slid off her stool.
