Intoxicating Magic by Deanna Chase Page A

He went to a rival school. He was a cocky son of a bitch then too. Believe me, Wil. He wasn’t going to give us anything. Besides, he didn’t really believe we’d dust him.”
    “You don’t think so?”
    Tal shook his head. “I know so. Now let’s get going before any more of Asher’s goons show up.”
    I glanced down at Link. “How is he? Will he be okay?”
    “Better than okay.” Tal filled a backpack full of snack bars. “Good as new.”
    Link trotted across the room to stand next to Tal, staring up at him adoringly.
    “You fixed him.”
    Tal nodded and handed me a small tranq gun he’d found in the supply cabinet.
    I stuffed the gun into the back of my jeans and then closed the distance between us and hugged him with the remaining strength I had. After the plane ride and the attack on Hunter the day before, my energy was already depleted. The vamp drain had left me swaying on my feet.
    “Wil, you’re exhausted,” Tal said after touching me. His magic meant he could sense the well-being of any living creature. And with me, he’d always been extra sensitive. To say he’d been watching over me for more than a decade wasn’t an exaggeration.
    I shrugged. “It was the vampire attack. I’ll recover.”
    “I could help.”
    I pulled back and gazed up at him, noticing the indecision. He’d helped Link without consent, but for the first time ever, he wouldn’t take it upon himself to infuse me with some of his fae magic. I could see how much he wanted me to ask him to do it. And I wanted to, but I shook my head and stepped back anyway. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him. I did. It had to do with me and how much I was already depending on Tal just to survive. If I was going to battle vampires, I needed to learn how to survive after I unleashed my magic on them.
    “Thank you, but no. I need to deal with this.”
    He stiffened and then his gaze hardened as he pulled the door open. “Then let’s go. We have a long day ahead of us.”

Chapter 11

    Link trotted by my side through the thick blanket of snow. With the appearance of Macinson, Tal had said it was too dangerous to wait for Hunter to send someone. Asher’s crew would be looking for him soon and we couldn’t be anywhere near the cabin.
    Talisen was well ahead of us under the guise of scouting the area. It wasn’t a blatant lie. We did need to keep a diligent eye out, but normally he’d have demanded I stay as close to him as possible.
    This was him purposely distancing himself from me. Frankly it just pissed me off. All because I hadn’t let him help me. Couldn’t he see I was just trying to learn to be strong? Being surrounded by the forest was helping a little, but not enough. The worst part was that after the first twenty minutes, my legs had become heavy and my lungs ached from lack of oxygen. I was sorely regretting using today as my day to stand on my own two feet.
    My steps slowed and after a few minutes the distance between Tal and me widened until I couldn’t see him anymore. I shook my head in exasperation. Was it really going to be this way? All the men in my life demanding I lean on them for everything. I sighed in exasperation and fluttered my wings until I was floating above the snow.
    Link stopped dead in his tracks and growled at the exact same time Talisen came into view. He had that crossbow positioned on his shoulder and was aiming directly at a woman wearing black thermal pants and a pale blue fleece jacket. Her dark hair was piled into a messy bun on her head and she wore thick plastic glasses. I frowned. I knew her from somewhere. But where?
    I glanced at Link and jerked my head, signaling for him to back up Tal. He leaped, bounding to Talisen in no time. I trailed behind, taking care to not wear myself out too much. By the time I landed softly just behind Tal, she was glaring at me. That look triggered my memory. The fae from his lab at the university.
    “I told them you’d be with her,” she said. “You’re