Ancient Magic: a New Adult Urban Fantasy (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

nicknames for each other. I was called Huntress because I hunted down the sparkles. Del was Seeker because she sought the artifacts we wanted in ancient texts and told me what to look for. And Nix was called Protector for damn good reason.
    Quick as a blur, Nix jumped up and planted her feet on the chest of the thief to her right. She used his chest for leverage, kicking off and breaking his hold, then spun and kneed the other man in the chin so hard that he dropped to the floor, unconscious. She had to jump to do it, but she got good height.  
    I grinned as I watched her lay out the second guy with two kicks and a mean punch. He collapsed to the ground like a sack of boulders. I was grateful he didn’t crush the table full of shiny things behind him.
    But then, Nix was good at choosing where they landed.
    She was taller than me, and though she didn’t look any stronger, she was a heck of a lot better in a fistfight. Weapons were my game. My hand-to-hand skills were slightly better than good—enough to get me by on most jobs, which almost always involved sending a demon or two back to where they came from—but hers were almost preternatural.  
    She didn’t look like she could kick someone’s ass, though. She was dark haired and pretty, with warm green eyes and a big smile. Funky t-shirts and ripped jeans with motorcycle boots completed the picture.
    “Nice job,” I said.
    Nix brushed her hands off and grinned at me. “All in a day’s work. You get the chalice?”
    I held it up. “Not my favorite job, but it’s done. Let me help you with those guys.”  
    Our shop was small. A narrow wooden counter stretched along one wall, shelves and tables on all the rest. Enchanted objects took up most of the space—everything from tiaras that would make a person beautiful to sleeping potions strong enough to rival the one that had knocked out Briar Rose.
    Nix grabbed the enchanted cuffs off the counter and tossed me a pair.
    I snagged them, then nodded at the counter where she’d had the cuffs waiting. We didn’t usually keep handcuffs next to the register. Looked weird to customers. “Expecting these guys?”
    “They weren’t exactly subtle. I saw them crossing the street. No masks on yet, but all bulk and a walk like they kick puppies. Two and two equals robbery.”
    I nodded as I set the chalice on the counter, then bent to cuff the guy sprawled at my feet. I wasn’t the only one who liked shiny objects, though these thieves were likely after the magic. Because of the value of the enchanted artifacts in our shop, there was a robbery attempt every few weeks.  
    After waking in the field ten years ago, we’d scrounged around for a living until we’d figured out how to profit from our skills. And thus Ancient Magic had been born.   We found treasure imbued with ancient magic and sold it.
    Ancient Magic was located on Factory Row in Magic’s Bend, Oregon, but it was no Fifth Avenue. We provided our own security.  
    Magic’s Bend was one of three all-magic cites in America that humans had no idea existed thanks to some powerful spells. Supernaturals lived in human cities as well, but this was one of the few places we could be ourselves. It made it the perfect place to set up a shop selling ancient magic.
    While I was out hunting down enchanted artifacts, Nix manned the home front. It should have been an easy job—chat with customers, sell the goods, drink coffee from Potions & Pastilles next door. But of the three of us, she was the best at kicking ass and taking names, among other things. So she protected what I hunted. In addition to being   Seeker, Del was a demon hunter the rest of the time, something that endeared us to the Order of the Magica, the government that ruled the Magica, and kept our shop on the good side of magical law. She was on a job right now, somewhere in South America.
    I nudged the unconscious thief with my foot, then rolled him over so I could get at his back. It took some tugging, but