Bound Magic Read online

  “Amy,” Tineke began in a low, sorrowful voice.

  I flashed her a quick, reassuring look. “No, this isn’t about wallowing or martyrdom or wanting to blame anyone.” Blame the Faerene, especially the Reclamation Team she was part of, was what I meant.

  “With your Migration, you did so much preparation. I’ve had time to consider it, all the stages, all your care. You didn’t have to have Piros speak to humanity via television in the beginning. You could have left us in ignorance of why you came to Earth. Not explained the Kstvm. Not given us the truth. You could have positioned yourselves purely as our saviors. But instead you explained that your arrival was linked with the huge cost of human lives to be lost in the upheaval. That wasn’t your fault, but it wasn’t something you could stop, either. You made us humans aware that you weren’t all-powerful.”

  But close. The power differential between the Faerene and humanity was huge because of magic and the technomancy the Faerene hid from humans.

  I met Nora’s gaze through the wall screen. “You’re also fallible. That’s part of being a person. You’re not gods, and that’s what you wanted humans to realize from the beginning. You didn’t want to come here and end up as beings to be worshiped.”

  Rory snorted at the very idea.

  I smiled at him, torn between nervousness and hope. “I think you did get one thing wrong. Your post-Migration schedule underestimates humanity’s ability to adapt and to accept magic. I have to go with Istvan on circuit because someone has to be the bridge between the Faerene and humanity. Or begin to be. I’m not waiting decades till the Faerene judge humanity ready for more than incidental contact.”

  I stared down at my hands. I was rubbing Rory’s between my own. I linked my fingers with his. “Human familiars are a wildcard the Faerene didn’t prepare for. I need a purpose. If I go out there with you, Istvan, I can learn about the Faerene. Humanity has done a lot of stupid and self-destructive things, but we’re also smart. Give us the information and we can rebuild in a healthy way. We can include the Faerene in our future. You and me, us.”

  Rory tugged his hand free of my desperate fidgeting and hugged me, showing support no matter what the personal cost. He wanted me with him, safe, but for my sake, he’d let me go. Here and now, he was my hero. “What are you going to do?”

  I met his gaze, then Istvan’s. “I’m going to write a book. It will be called This Is The Faerene, and I’ll do the research on circuit.”

  “Smoking wing feathers,” Nora cursed.

  Rory’s gray eyes blanked of all emotion other than determination. “Sounds interesting.”

  Unexpectedly, Tineke laughed. “The others will love it. To see ourselves as others see us is the impossible dream. And it will make a good historical reference book. The Faerene, through human eyes, just after Migration. It’ll become a classic.”

  “So you think it’s a good idea?” I asked cautiously. Nora’s opinion didn’t matter to me, but Istvan’s did.

  He bowed his head. “If you have the courage to do this, to see the world as it is, and yet, with hope, then I will support you. You may accompany me on the circuits for one year.”

  Rory’s arms tightened. He didn’t want me to go—or he didn’t want to be left behind.

  “Thank you,” I said to Istvan. Then I wriggled around to face Rory. “One year, and I’ll be back here every two months. Plus, I’m only a portal away.”

  He growled.

  “I have to do this.” It was the truth pulled from the roots of my soul. Everyone's experience of trauma varied. However, resilience, our capacity to endure and move beyond pain, drew its strength from how we framed our individual stories. If I found meaning and purpose in what I’d suffered, in the losses of the last seven months, and in how I’d survived the apocalypse, then I’d heal.

  I kissed him; a light, honest sealing of our mouths, our breaths and our hopes. I needed to know who I could be, and what humanity could be, before I said “yes” to him or to anyone else.

  “Just don’t forget to come home,” he growled.

  Home. It was no longer Apfall Hill, but here in Justice with Rory, Istvan and the others. “I’ll remember.”

  Want More?

  Bound Magic focused on Amy’s adjustment to being a human familiar in Faerene society. In Loyal Magic, she is still dealing with the Faerene, but the human experience of post-apocalyptic Earth plays a bigger part in her life. There are new characters and strange adventures. And then there’s the question of whether Rory will settle for being left behind.

  Loyal Magic is out May 27.

  I have three other complete series.

  Shamans & Shifters Space Opera series. Complete (for now):

  Her Robot Wolf

  Cosmic Catalyst

  Shattered Earth

  Jingle Stars

  The Ceph Sector

  The Old School series. Strong women saving monsters & solving mysteries.

  Phoenix Blood

  Fantastical Island

  Storm Road

  Fire Fall

  Desert Devil

  Amaranthine Kiss

  Shangri-La Spell

  The Collegium series. A secret order defends humanity from supernatural dangers.

  Demon Hunter

  Djinn Justice

  Dragon Knight

  Doctor Wolf

  Plague Cult

  Hollywood Demon

  Alchemy Shift

  Keep up with all my news and new books at my Facebook page, on Twitter @Jenny_Schwartz, or at my website.

  Jenny