Blood Debts (The Temple Chronicles Book 2) by Shayne Silvers Page A

youth. I sighed.
    “Fine. Stay out of my way, and we won’t come to blows.” His shoulders stiffened. “Easy, kid. That wasn’t me picking a fight. You can tell by the fact that there isn’t a Gavin shaped dent in the drywall over there.” I waved at the wall with a wry grin that seemed to diffuse the situation. I tried to ease the tension. “About that curse… Was he literal? If I use up my power between now and my trial date, will I become a Regular?”
    He studied me for a few moments, judging how much to say. “Jafar doesn’t joke. Or exaggerate. He’s old school. Very old school. When he says something, he means it. But he was also right when he said he’s interested in finding out what would happen. Theoretically, the effects would be permanent. It was either cast the spell or arrest you. He did give you an option, if you recall. Now he can justify his actions to his superiors on the Academy Council. He’s a thug, but an efficient and necessary one. He genuinely believes everything spouted to him from on high. And he’s in charge of the Justices, so they believe as he does. Most of them anyway…” he offered with a shrug. “Enough to matter.”
    I nodded, turning back to the door. One problem at a time. I’d figure out the magic thing later. Perhaps I wouldn’t need magic to fend off Demons and Angels while I tried to hunt down my parents’ murderer. Yeah, right. I tried the handle and got bopped in the head with the damned broom, just like Akira. I bit back a curse as I heard Gavin muffle a chuckle. I turned abruptly, casting out a hand behind him as if we were suddenly under attack. He bought it, turning with his own hand cast out defensively.
    That’s when I gathered my power around me like a cloak in a corny opera, cackling for good measure as I prepared to apparate back to the bar, using my memory of how the Justices had kidnapped me.
    “Muah-ha-ha!” I pulled the room around me like a blanket, reaching for the darkness hidden in the air at all times, and grasped it like my life depended on it, all the while firmly imagining myself back outside the bar from earlier. I hoped I had gotten it right. I heard Gavin curse as he realized my ploy. Perhaps it was my evil magician stage laugh that gave me away.
    The spell wrapped around me before I thought about how much magic it might use. What if it used up all my strength? But it was too late. I was hurtling through space at an alarming rate like a plate of Jell-O on a roller coaster.

Chapter 8

    M y feet landed firmly on the concrete just outside the alley where I had been whisked away from not too long ago. Confident that I wasn’t about to throw up again, I cheered. “Boo ya!” I fist bumped the air in triumph. It had worked!
    The chill hit me fast after the warmth of the warehouse at Temple Industries. I took a deep breath of the frigid air, trying to sober up a bit. The street was quiet. I scowled in the general direction of where Tory’s Mini Cooper had been parked. Since Gunnar and Tory had rabbited, I would just have to call her back and ask her to pick me up. Again. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any more bar fights. I dared not go back inside. Even though it was warmer. I was sure Achilles wouldn’t be pleased to see me.
    The alcohol sloshed uncomfortably in my belly as I began to walk, but I let out a deep laugh. It took me a few seconds to truly comprehend the fact that I had just teleported. How freaking cool was that? But I was too scared to try it again until I got a better grasp of the curse that had been placed on me. What if I burned myself out? I shivered, nothing to do with the cold this time. Right. Dwell later. Get home now. With the important decisions made, I reached into my pocket and whipped out my cell phone.
    And saw that it was dead.
    I blinked at it. Had I not charged it? I had been forgetting more and more of these simple tasks as my sleep deprivation increased, which probably wasn’t a good sign for my mental