Dark Heart of Magic Read Online Free PDF Page B

goodbye to Devon and me, and moved off into the crowd.
    Devon and I waited until she was gone before we both looked at Felix.
    â€œWhat’s your girlfriend going to think about Katia?” Devon asked in an amused voice.
    â€œShut up,” Felix growled and stomped away.
    â€œWhat was that all about?” I asked.
    Devon grinned. “Felix and Katia spent a lot of time together during the tournament last year.”
    â€œAh. Summer love?”
    His grin widened. “More like summer lust. Felix said that it was fun while it lasted. But now with his new mystery girl, I don’t know what he’ll do.”
    â€œProbably just talk faster so he can juggle both of them at once,” I said, knowing full well that Deah Draconi would never, ever let herself be juggled any more than I would.
    Devon laughed, and we went after Felix.
    Â 
    We left the Midway behind, cut through an alley, and entered a parking lot reserved for Family vehicles. Each one of the expensive SUVs and sports cars boasted some sort of crest on its doors, and for the Sinclairs, it was that hand holding a sword, done in white against the SUV’s black paint.
    Felix was leaning against the side of the vehicle, his arms crossed over his chest. “Took you long enough,” he muttered.
    I made a big show of scanning the parking lot. “Why? Because there weren’t any pretty girls around to keep you company? However did you make it five whole minutes standing here by yourself?”
    â€œShut up,” Felix growled again.
    â€œSo,” I drawled. “Let’s talk about you and Katia. She seems . . . nice.”
    Devon snickered. “Felix certainly thought so last summer. Or at least he thought her lips were nice, since he spent a fair amount of time studying them up close and personal.”
    I waggled my eyebrows. “And it looks like Katia wants to pick up right where they left off.”
    Devon laughed. Felix gave us both a sour look, but his lips slowly twitched up in a sheepish smile.
    â€œI doubt Katia will have time for me,” Felix said. “She was really upset she lost the tournament to Deah last year. She’s probably going to spend all her time training.”
    â€œAnd being with you would, what, sap her strength?” I snarked.
    Felix glared at me again, so I decided to be merciful and quit teasing him—for now.
    â€œTell me about her. What’s her Talent?”
    â€œKatia is fast,” Felix said. “Like, superfast. She has a major Talent for speed. That’s one of the reasons she got to the final round of the tournament last year.”
    Speed was a hard magic to defend against because by the time you realized what was happening, your opponent had already gutted you. In my experience, the best way to deal with someone with a speed Talent was to knock them on their ass. Hard to be superquick when you were scrambling around, trying to get back up onto your feet.
    â€œJust speed?” I asked. “Nothing else? No other magic?”
    Felix shook his head. “Nothing like Devon’s compulsion or your transference power, if that’s what you’re asking. But she’s a good fighter, one of the best in all the Families. She always wins the tournament up in New York every year, but she’s come up short against Deah twice now.”
    â€œWell, maybe this will be her year.”
    â€œI doubt that,” Devon chimed in. “Not with Deah’s mimic magic. It makes her almost impossible to beat. She’s won the tournament two years in a row, and she beat Katia in the finals both times.”
    I frowned. “Deah’s a mimic? What does that mean?”
    â€œDeah has the ability to mimic anybody she meets,” Devon said. “The way they walk, talk, move. So when she’s battling someone, she can mimic their fighting style, whatever it is, and use it against the other person. And that’s not all. It’s almost like her