Night Treasures (Midnight Magic Book 5), page 1
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
A Note from the Author
Also by Richard Amos
About the Author
Copyright © 2022 Richard Amos
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Cover by Vanesa Garkova
One
Clay
Too weak to lift my head, I listened to the demon queen spar with Quentin Dawn after she’d just stopped him from skewering me with his sword.
Phew! What a close one.
“Your Majesty,” Quentin said.
“Spare your groveling, I’m in no mood for the words of a traitor,” she returned.
“With all due respect, why have you come to join us out here?” he asked.
“Because you seem to be under the notion that it is acceptable to be touching things which belong to me.”
Belong to her? Me? Oh, hell no. Mum or not, I didn’t belong to her one bit.
“He is nothing but a problem to be eradicated, Your Majesty,” Quentin said about me.
Arsewipe.
Movement, the arrival of more bodies.
“Much like you and your team,” the queen countered. “You are all extremely problematic.”
“Thanks to them.” Meaning me, again, and my button-eyed twin.
The new footsteps kept coming—marching boots—growing by the second.
“Stand down, Quentin,” the queen added.
“I can’t do that, Your Majesty.”
“But you must.”
They were both out of my line of sight, seeing as I was flat on my back in the wet grass of Barking Park, the demon gate feet away. I watched Arcana fire spread across the park from my point-of-view, devouring trees, fires started by me losing my shit big time. Again.
The rain failed to touch the magical fires, despite falling harder within the past few minutes. It battered my face, soaked me through to the bone. I shivered as the bitter air got to work on my wet body, unable to move from my soggy spot on the grass.
Floored by my magic, the tremors that’d rocked my body. Powered by Buttons, my new super Arcana battery, I’d wreaked more havoc with my magic.
Nothing but walking danger nowadays.
Damn.
Buttons and I had changed the nature of the Arcana after our spat at the Throne of Vines, tossed the rulebook to the wind. Now we depended on each other, a powerful duo when we were within twenty feet of each other. Without him, I couldn’t use my magic. Without him, I might not have caused this shit show.
How much damage had I actually done?
I was a menace to this world, not a savior like I thought I could be. I had to be stopped, this ancient magic within me needing to go.
Or die…
No. Never that. There was too much life to live, to get back to. Too much love.
Only…
Shit.
Was there a life still there for me to live? I mean, I’d lost myself to a crazy burst of power before, but this was different. The intensity of being powered by Buttons, the damage greater here than that town square from what I’d seen so far, the tremors, the nosebleeds, too much magic coursing through me. This was bad, having the potential to drag me toward a seriously grim ending.
Only if you let things go that way…
“I don’t want to stand here arguing with you, Your Majesty,” Quentin added, pulling me back into their conversation.
“Then don’t. Yield and stop this madness,” she said.
“This madness set you free.”
Arcana called to me on some distant sea, told me it would be back, to be patient.
All well and good when you’re in the thick of a demonic back and forth and had been so close to resembling a chicken kebab.
God, what was going to happen now?
You’re getting out of here…
I loved my inner voice and his determination to smack me into shape. Well, at least try to.
I’m coming back, Arcana soothed.
Did I want it back?
Yes…
No…
I tried to turn my head to face my brother. Nope. Not yet. His hand brushed mine, though, his cold skin against my cold skin, and I heard his slow breaths. I tried to speak, unable to find the energy to make a soft noise let alone a whole word.
Damn.
“Listen to me, Quentin,” the queen responded to his last comment. “I’m willing to forgive your treason, to wipe the slate clean if you submit yourself to me now. This is the only chance I will give you.”
Quentin took a moment to answer. “And lose everything I have worked for?”
“All you have is chaos.”
“It is this chaos that will set us free. You will see, Your Majesty. You will come to understand your plans for expansion on Earth will only bring suffering to demons as it always has. I can end it. I can finally move us forward.”
“Expansion is moving forward,” my mother replied.
Great, I was stuck in some crappy version of a parliamentary debate. Just how I wanted to spend my New Year’s Eve—my second of the night after seeing in the new year in Seoul hours ago.
A jolt of energy struck me, filling me up. Enough to allow me to turn my head. My eyes landed on my twin, also lying on his back, his white button eyes fixed to the sky. The fires burned beyond him, around the edges of so many nasty trenches sliced into the ground from the beams that’d burst out of me and, well, it was all me.
I’d done this.
The fire consumed the trees, spreading across the wet grass. Those flames seemed to stay away from us for the time being.
Where else did they burn?
Quentin took his next turn. “We can work together. I miss being your servant. I would be happy to hand you the reins of my mission and follow you to the end.”
“Even after you attacked me?” she said. “You set a giant river monster loose in Level 500, caused a terrible amount of destruction.”
“You took me down, did you not?” Quentin replied. “I barely escaped. Your strength is unparalleled.”
“But still, you slipped through the net to rebel against me.”
“I am eternally sorry for doing so, Your Majesty.”
Demons who went against the queen suffered emotional and physical pain, Quentin’s face covered in scars and fresh cuts, one of his demonic white eyes black with blindness, some of his bottom front teeth missing.
“I know you are,” the queen replied. “I can see it. But it doesn’t change anything. You have betrayed me, attacked me, and you stand against me in all things. I know you want to send me to the lake to become king.” A brief pause. “I must hurt your insides terribly.”
“You do, Your Majesty.”
To overthrow a demon monarch, seeing as demons only died by being hit with an Arcana arrow from yours truly, a demon had to take the king or queen to a frozen lake in Level 666 of the demon realm. Apparently, loads of former monarchs slept there, powerless and usurped. I didn’t know how it worked and didn’t want to find out.
“Where is Tasmin Vacquier?” my mum asked.
He kept quiet.
The queen snarled. “As a coward. Another traitor.”
“I am sorry, Your Majesty.”
They carried on in circles, him expressing regret, her laying on the guilt trip thick. How much longer did I have to suffer through this? They weren’t here to chat. They were here to fight, drawing this out like a cat fight. You know, when two cats face off for ages, howling at each other, ears back, tails puffed up, pupils dilated.
Fizz hadn’t really got into fights with other cats she came across on the streets. At least in the time we’d been together. Only once with some battle-worn tomcat who dared to hiss at her. No standoff fo
Gosh, I missed her so damn much. Her and Tae and my friends.
Please be okay…
I wasn’t supposed to be in London but in Seoul, fighting the good fight, trying to stop Quentin’s followers from killing the Prince Park Seo-Jun. Buttons had other ideas, dragging us here with his new teleporting power to visit the mother he loved so much.
What misplaced love that was.
With Queen Imelda and Quentin being here, it meant Prince Park Seo-Jun was dead, along with the rest of the circle of six royal witches who controlled the magic of the talismans. Demonic banishment was now lifted for all demons.
Shit, shit, all the shit. The realest shit ever.
The world was screwed.
I wanted to get back to Seoul, to my people, to wrap my arms around Tae and hold Fizz close. Run away, hide, and let the world spin out of control without me.
No.
I was better than that. This didn’t have to be messy. I didn’t have to be a walking timebomb in fear of going off in some city, killing loads of people. No. Sod that. Sod this recent blip. I wasn’t put on this Earth to hurt it, given this amazing power to be weak and afraid and lay here like some dead log.
I was so much better than that.
This is more than a blip…
Another burst of energy hit me, small yet slightly stronger than before. Enough for me to try and push myself up properly as the talking went on between queen and rebel.
In a minute.
I licked the raindrops from my lips, blinked them free. The relentless water was cold and refreshing but getting on my nerves. There was only so much rain I’d tolerate taking to the face.
More talking, more bursts of energy. Arcana sailed closer, reaching for me across imaginary waves.
I’m almost there…
At least that facet of the magic stuck around. After the town square incident, Arcana came back quickly, much to my happy surprise. Being a beefed-up version, its return this time was much improved. And I didn’t have to wait until midnight to use it, because it wasn’t midnight yet here in London.
Yep, rulebook be damned! Midnight magic was no more.
“He has to die,” Quentin said. “They both do. They are dangerous to us, and now working together, it seems.”
What an arsewipe.
“They are brothers,” the queen replied. “They should be working together.”
I sat up with an almighty push. I sagged forward, my legs stretched out before me, strong enough to stay upright.
Now I had myself the full view of the demons.
Queen Imelda stood before the non-burning tree/demon gate, twenty or so guards around her, ready to fight for their monarch. Long black hair tied into an elegant ponytail, her pale skin shimmering and flawless, my mum was full-on regal. Picture perfect. A monster wrapped in a super model casing.
The light of the Arcana fires reflected off her golden pantsuit that looked like it might be made of armor. Rubies sparkled around the edges of her collar, her onyx rings glinting with deadly intent as if they were really knuckledusters.
In her left hand, she held a silver, curved wand-like thing. Kind of looked like a tree branch with a black glass flower at its tip. Tae had mentioned it when he’d seen her with it in the demon realm when Quentin had attacked the royal level with that giant river monster.
Grindle had made it for when he’d been working for her but really conspiring against her.
By contrast, Quentin withered in the queen’s spotlight, his bronze skin so marred by betrayal there couldn’t be any inch of him without some sort of scar now. Scruffy in jeans and a long black coat. He still held onto his sword, alone in his cause. His peeps were gone—I’d taken them before losing it.
A silver lining, I guess. A really faint one.
“Look who’s decided to join us,” he said, spotting me sitting up.
Fuck off! I pushed my shoulder blades back, trying for a stretch. Nope. Not quite yet.
The Arcana fires were brighter, a wall around us, swallowing up the trees and the surrounding park. Much worse than I thought.
So much worse.
Buttons sat up on my left, mirroring me.
“My sons,” the queen said, opening her arms. “I have missed you terribly.”
Buttons released a long, deep breath. “We have missed you, Mother.”
Erm, don’t speak for me! I kept my mouth shut, watching her, my hate a separate entity within me. A special kind of hate just for her, for everything she’d done.
More energy returning, more reassurance from Arcana. Soon the tables would turn in my favor against whatever bullshit these two demons were planning.
I had this. I could be better, sort out these teething problems. I was right to think this power served a purpose other than starting fires and messing things up. I just had to buck up and get a grip on it. This world wasn’t built for those who gave up, but for those who smashed hurdles, not just jumped them. Arcana was mine, and I’d make them all see just how mine it was.
Kill them all…
“We’re done here,” the queen said.
There were ADU sirens in the air. Also a concern.
Her eyes landed on me. “My complicated child.”
Fuck. You.
She smiled at me as ten more demons filed out of the demon gate, fanning around her.
“Arrest him,” the queen’s voice came as a loud bell.
I braced myself, not quite ready to fight back. But she didn’t mean me.
Quentin backed off, dropping his sword and pulling a pistol from his coat. “Stay away from me.” His eyes narrowed, his lips drawn back in a snarl. He was terrified, and I loved it.
Alone and scared and so done.
Yeah, maybe I wouldn’t make that assumption just yet. This was Quentin Dawn, after all. Who knew what nasties lived up his sleeves?
Arcana inched closer, fingertips brushing my soul.
“I can feel it, brother,” Buttons said in a soft rasp.
Queen Imelda glanced at him but said nothing.
The demon guards pounced on Quentin, overwhelming him. The arsewipe tried to point his gun at me, getting off a shot as a demon snapped his arm upward.
It went wide.
“Unhand me!” the creep cried. “You can’t do this to me!”
“But it is done,” the queen countered. “Get him through the gate.” Her eyes swept across the fires. “We have wasted too much time.”
Quentin roared for help, desperate. “You have no idea what you’re doing! The Rift will save us! The river monsters are the key.”
Huh? I wanted to know more, but Her Majesty didn’t give a crap. She let him be dragged through the gate, no help coming for him. Where were his followers? There were more of them than those I’d killed around the gate. And where was Tasmin Vacquier? Shouldn’t she be here to help him? Had I killed her along with those other demons?
No. I would’ve known.
Right now, he was alone.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
The queen approached me, striding across the grass as if she were gracing a catwalk. “I want you to come home.”
“Yes, mother,” Buttons responded.
She crouched before me, ignoring the brother who adored her. “Here we are again with your destruction.”
“Leave me alone.” My voice was a whisper, as weak as a dead flower.
“You won’t ever be alone, my son.” She reached out and stroked my cheek. I flinched, pulling back. She gripped me by the chin. Hard. “I have missed you so much.”
I’ll kill you…
Darkness swirled to life inside me, resilient and terrifying, ready to end her the first chance I got.
I met her intimidating gaze, not blinking even when she ran her thumbnail across my skin.
“Be careful, Mother,” Buttons said. “We’re not the same. We’re changed and dangerous. Keep him twenty feet away from me, and he won’t be bright.”
