Read Birthright - Book 2 of the Legacy Series (An Urban Fantasy Novel) for Free Online

feel so bad?
    “Oh, now I’m not ready,” she said, no longer caring if she arched her neck. “Is that how it is? I screw up and I’m out?”
    “You know that’s not true. I just don’t want to have to attend your funeral,” I shot back.
    “Well, if I’m such a damn liability, why’d you take me on in the first place?” she yelled. In her tirade she had shifted her body so much I was almost sure she would break the spell.
    She nearly knocked a candle over before Amaymon jumped on her lap.
    “Hold still!”
    Abi stopped her squirming abruptly. Her face contorted with effort as if she had trouble doing the simplest things like breathing. Amaymon was not a heavy cat - he was a magical cat.
    “You’re gonna suffocate her,” I said, realizing what was going on. Using whatever power he had, the familiar had increased the gravitational pull on Abi, holding her in one place.
    “It’s for her own good. Now, stop moving and just listen.” He hopped back on his perch. “Both of you nimrods, listen up.” He looked at Abi, who had shifted back to her original position and was in the process of throwing me a dirty look.
    “You,” he told Abi, “need to pull your head out of your ass. You screwed up twice in a row. Any other wizard would be dead and digested by now. You got lucky. You’re not powerful enough, yet. But you could be.”
    He turned to me. “You,” he said, “need to grow a pair. Stop being afraid of your own power. It’s a part of you. So what if we don’t understand it yet? Here’s an idea, Einstein, why don’t you actually try tapping into it instead of taking the cautious road?”
    “I might blow up someone by accident,” I said. “Or go all super villain.”
    “Man, you constantly blow stuff up. And you always claim it’s an accident. And if you were a villain, you would have gone down that road when you first started. Your old man would have been a good role model.” He waited for me to say something. I remained silent, not entirely sure of what to say. Amaymon had a point. But his view of the world was not the same as a human’s. Demons were born with full power capacity. They were incapable of evolution. None of the hardcore creatures I’ve met so far were. That’s what makes humans so volatile – we can grow. Amaymon never understood the concept of a change of heart.
    “What Abigale needs is to get stronger, and fast.” Amaymon never used Abi’s full name unless he was going to reveal something life-changingly important. “You guys can wait another couple of years and let her develop her natural powers. No doubt they would be somewhat impressive. But I doubt whoever was behind Lilith is going to give you guys a time out. So, she needs a game changer — a crutch, so to speak. She needs a boost so powerful that, with it, she would be able to hold her own against mediocre creatures easily.”
    “Yeah, that would be impressive. Unfortunately magic steroids don’t exist,” I said. “Unless you live in a video game, power boosts aren’t an option. And the ones that do exist aren’t so convenient.”
    “Of course they are, if you know where to look,” replied Amaymon. His tone of voice had that edge to it, which usually meant he was going to drive me up a wall. Curling his tail around himself, he turned and looked at the window where he and I had watched Abi’s bout with the vamps. I followed his gaze.
    There was nothing there. A plain sheet of glass, dust and a plant - mandrake, I think. Resting against the wall below the window was Djinn. The small sword remained where I had placed it after I rushed out to help Abi inside. What the hell was the damn cat referring to?
    It took me two more seconds to realize. Crutch, power up, game changer.
    Djinn.
    “No, no, no, no, no,” I said, each ‘no’ louder than the last.
    Amaymon let out a cute mew and turned to the apprentice. “Abi. How would you like a magic wand?”

7
    I did not like the idea. Which was probably an