Free Remnants of Magic by S. Ravynheart, S.A. Archer Page A

don’t want to get locked up in jail with a bunch of humans.” He pulled Malcolm, and this time Malcolm let him. He glared his hatred at the woman, but let Bryce turn him around and get them out of there before anyone could start asking questions or fetch the coppers.
    If only…
    If only he had a flipping brilliant magic he could have done something.

Chapter Four

    Donovan purposefully didn’t interfere as the earthborns clumsily stalked and attacked the human. Instead, he evaluated. Not surprisingly, Malcolm possessed the aggression to attack first when the others froze. His skills with the blade were close to nonexistent, slashing wildly with a great expenditure of energy and with no accuracy. Without a more combat-oriented magic, the lad would require extensive hand-to-hand and weapons training.
    How Kieran had survived the encounter with werewolves, Donovan wasn’t certain, for he played with the human rather than attacking her. Something she quickly took advantage of. He’d done nothing more aggressive than grabbing her from behind, hugging her arms down to her side. She’d broken the hold with elementary fighting moves and punched Kieran in the throat. The lad might learn a lesson about squandering advantage once he stopped rolling on the floor, struggling to breathe past the swelling.
    For the past few weeks, Bryce had practiced accuracy with his thrown fireballs. He nailed the human in the back twice as she raced from the club into the alley outside. Although his aim had been spot-on, the flames burst apart like a fistful of burning leaves, with no real force behind the blows.
    While Malcolm and Bryce raced after the human, only Trip possessed the skills and levelheadedness to teleport. Donovan hadn’t pursued the battle. The earthborns had their assignment, which should have been easy enough to accomplish given their powers.
    Dawn had no more than finished her healing ministrations over Kieran’s throat before Trip came stumbling back inside holding her head. She slumped to the floor. Blood dripped from her hand when she removed it from her scalp wound. The healer tended to her second patient as they waited for the final two to return.
    Which they did.
    Empty-handed.
    “She got away,” Bryce announced, his cheeks almost as red as his hair, either from embarrassment or excursion.
    Malcolm yelled in frustration and slashed one of the chairs. He kicked it, sending it skittering across the floor. He’d have rampaged further, but Donovan snatched him by the back of his shirt and jerked him up short. There was a time for unbounded aggression and a time for self-control. Something the bloodhound lacked in understanding. Donovan snarled into the boy’s ear, “Take it out in the workout room.” He shoved him in that direction.
    “All of you!” Donovan snapped. “Downstairs! Now!”
    The others scrambled after Malcolm. Donovan spared a glare around the room, at the fey who’d borne witness to this pitiful display by the earthborns. For centuries, the Unseelie Sidhe rightly earned their fearsome reputation. The fey submitted before the Sidhe, because it was the Sidhe who protected them and ruled with a power no other could withstand. These fey did not coddle the earthborns, tending to their mundane needs, out of some ingrained love or for the noble status of their birthright as Sidhe.
    Everything Donovan built here with the Glamour Club, everything he hoped to secure for the fey and the Sidhe in the future, hinged upon these earthborns. If they didn’t rise to a fighting force as formidable and fierce as the best of the Elite, everything was lost.

Chapter Five

    The earthborns milled near the doorway, awaiting Donovan with an excited apprehension. He’d given them leave to use his personal training room, but never yet had he taken the time to put them through their paces. The lessons were well overdue. “Have you wondered among yourselves why the floor and walls of this room are this particular shale?”