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“Gavin,” he said faintly. He’d never met a mage in his life. No one he’d ever met had, and now he was in the car with two of them, apparently. He’d known they existed, of course, but mages weren’t something that came up in everyday conversation unless someone was bad-mouthing paranormals. Charlotte frowned on that. Afterall, paranormals were also people…or people-ish. Some had been completely human at some point in their lives. Like vampires. Vamps were made not born.
He didn’t know how mages came to be. As far as he knew, no one did. Maybe that’s why people didn’t like them.
The darkness of the tunnel retreated as they entered an underground parking structure. Overhead fluorescent lights lit the space in intervals, reflecting off a small fleet of shiny black vehicles. Pike pulled the car smoothly into an empty space, shot them a wink through the rearview, and hopped out of the vehicle.
“Why did you bring me here?”
Atlas met his gaze, brows drawn together. “To protect you. Those men weren’t there just to attack the coffee shop. They were after you, Gavin.”
“But—”
Atlas cut him off. “Let’s go meet the seer. She’ll explain everything. I promise.” Gently, Atlas took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’re in no danger here, Gavin.”
He knew that. Somehow. It didn’t make the questions building up in his mind like a house of cards feel any less precarious.
Atlas opened the door and stepped out. When Gavin didn’t immediately follow, he leaned down, looking into the car and holding out his hand.
Gavin looked from that outstretched hand up into Atlas’s green eyes. Taking a breath, he slid his hand into Atlas’s and let himself be pulled from the car. Once his feet were on the ground, he expected Atlas to let him go. He didn’t.
“The elevator is over here.” Moving toward the front of the garage, Atlas kept his pace slow enough that Gavin didn’t have to struggle to keep up with him. The top of his head only came up to Atlas’s shoulders. The difference in their sizes was extra apparent without the coffee counter between them.
When they reached the wall, Atlas poked the up button.
“Did Pike take the elevator?”
Atlas looked down at him. “No, he usually takes the stairs.”
That must be what the large door farther down the wall was. The garage didn’t seem as big as a standard parking garage. The dark concrete walls were actually comprised of individual stones making the building seem a lot older than the cars and sleek silver elevator suggested.
The doors slid open. Atlas led him inside and pressed the top button on the panel. There were five of them, but they weren’t labeled.
Gavin frowned. Atlas’s hand was warm and encompassing. As the elevator started to rise, he stepped a little closer to his protector. How many times had Atlas sat in the coffee shop, sipping his drink and sending little smiles Gavin’s way? It’d never felt creepy. Never felt threatening. He supposed if Atlas had wanted to hurt him, he could have done it a hundred times over by now.
The elevator came to a smooth stop. There were no floor numbers displayed. No electronic voice to tell them what destination they’d reached. Gavin held his breath as the doors slid open.
White marble floor with gray swirls greeted them. The walls were lighter, too, an off-white that made the narrow hallway they entered seem less cramped. There was only one door. Atlas pushed it open.
Inside, the room was large and circular, and there must have been more than ten doors fighting for space along the curving wall. In the center, a round fire pit made up of light-colored stones filled the space with crackling warmth. Gavin wondered where the smoke went until his eyes landed on the woman standing on the far side of the fire. She wore simple clothes—white leggings, an oversized sweatshirt, and cloth, warm-looking house shoes. Her hair was violet, a shade he’d only ever seen in the sky during truly spectacular sunsets, and long enough the ends dragged the ground as she moved toward them.
“Gavin,” she said, voice like velvet. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
As she got close, Gavin realized she was older than he’d originally thought. Deep lines surrounded her eyes when she smiled. They didn’t take away from her ethereal beauty, though. He knew deep within himself that this was a creature of magic the likes of which he’d never come into contact with before.
With a soft smile, she held out her hands to him. “Will you come sit with me, Gavin? I can see that you have many questions.”
“Can Atlas stay?”
Her eyes, the same color as her hair, glanced over at Atlas before coming back to Gavin. “Of course.”
He took the hand she offered. Her skin was like ice. Atlas gave his other hand a squeeze and let him go, but followed right behind them. Gavin wondered where they’d sit as he hadn’t seen any furniture in the room when they’d entered, but as they approached the fire pit, he saw two couches sitting around it now. He blinked. Those couches hadn’t been there even a second ago. And they hadn’t just appeared. He’d been looking at that space, and surely he would have seen couches materialize out of thin air! But he hadn’t. They hadn’t been there, and now they were.
He swallowed hard, his heart rate picking up speed again.
The woman sat in the corner of one of the couches, tucking one leg up underneath herself, and motioned at the seat beside her.
Sitting, he half expected to fall right through the mystery cushions and end up on the floor, but the couch was plush, comfortable, and warm like it had been sitting there long enough to absorb the fire’s warmth.
“I’m sorry this is all so overwhelming. Typically, we try not to throw everything at a carrier at once, but I’m afraid the Humans Against Paranormals group—the men who attacked you—have made easing you into this impossible.” She smiled again, apologetic.
