armor of magic 02 - rising light Read Free

to see Asher glimmer away from me.
    “I’ll be back soon,” Ezra said. “We might have a lead on the other Scroll.”
    I lifted my hand out from under the covers and flipped him off.
    Ezra laughed in his patronizing manner reserved only for me. “That attitude won’t win you any favors with the Monarchy,” he said.
    “Just bring him home soon, Ezra. Okay?”
    And just like that my gorgeous rogue-angel ex-bounty hunter boyfriend was gone. Not the homecoming I was expecting—at all.

four
    With Asher gone and Charlotte and my parents still missing, it was time to throw myself a little pity party. Perhaps melodramatic and petulant, but it just seemed right. Being alone in the house was causing waves of paranoia that I would always be alone. Like forever. But nothing a little Netflix and napping couldn’t fix. I made sure to replenish my food supply, and by food I mean Doritos, Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream and red wine. So those were my days for the next few weeks, and at night I went on demon safari. A good way to vent pent-up shit, by the way.
     
    Though I was kicking ass all over town and had binge watched a British melodrama about aristocrats and their servants in a manor, I was still restless. Something was missing. I mean, besides everyone I’ve ever cared about.
    So I dialed up Somer Barrett, my former editor-in-chief at Lifting the Fog , to see if she had any writing assignments … and I wasn’t above a fluff piece. I just needed something, anything really, to occupy my mind.
    “Hi, Somer, it’s Fiona Farrow. I used to work for you,” I said into her voicemail. “I’m back from my trip and wondering if you have any freelance gigs you’d like to toss my way. Text or call. Thanks.”
    Before I had gone to supernatural cross-training in Glimmer City with Ezra and Julian, I had made a secret agreement with Somer that I’d call her upon returning. She loved my piece that exposed Emmett Stone’s human trafficking operation. As a matter of fact, most people in San Francisco and throughout the country lauded the story: it woke up many people who had been clueless about the level and nature of corruption going on in the city, and the world, for that matter. Rather than the “politicians are corrupt” generality we hear all the time, my story put a specific name to the exact crime and nailed his ass. My story told the world: here is one messed up dude, and you bet guys like him are everywhere. If little ol’ Fiona Farrow could shine the light on some of these jerks, perhaps some others might be inspired to do so as well. Help with the fight—at least on the human level. Especially since the Shadow Order never ceased its quest for supernatural domination and complete control of the minds, bodies and souls of all humans. Darkness was their game. But mine was protecting the Light.
    Speaking of the Shadow Order, during my stint in Glimmer City I had an image of Cagliostro pinned up on the wall of my mind and I trained like a prize fighter looking at it. Yes, Julian’s “think-about-stuff-you-dig” technique helped with my general outlook, but motivation to go up against the most powerful demon mage within the Shadow Order was fueled by righteous hatred. Cagliostro was a real son-of-a-bitch, and because of him my parents were missing and my best friend was in hiding. Apparently, Cagliostro had also been keeping a low profile after the big attack at the Palace Hotel over the summer. Recuperating from Lilith’s dagger in the back, no doubt. Planning something diabolical, no doubt about that, either.
    My buzzing phone shook me back into the present moment. “Hi, Somer,” I said in my most cheerful voice.
    “Fiona! So great to hear from you. How was your time away? Feeling rested and ready to expose some criminals?”
    If she only knew the truth of that statement. I was ready to take down every bad guy in both worlds.
    “I sure am,” I told her.
    “At the moment, I have something a bit obscure,