by Lizzy Prince
“Try to relax,” Munro spoke in a hushed tone, and his words traveled like a command into my mind and forced my body to relax with my next exhalation.
The first prick of the needle was the only one that hurt, after that each new line that Munro drew felt like he was caressing me from the inside out. I could feel golden sparks traveling from the tattoo to the edges of my body in shimmering waves. A primal throbbing started from beneath my heart and was spreading over my body. Power surged through me, but something else was there too, more powerful than the magic itself. It was Munro. I could feel him inside my blood. His very essence. It was strength, love, determination. And it was intoxicating.
I began to draw in short breaths, my gasps coming out as little pants. I felt Munro’s steadying hand on my stomach press me down. Was it trembling?
“Still now.” His voice was low and husky.
I couldn’t seem to keep from shifting on the bed. The pleasure from his touch was coursing through me even though his hand remained still. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if he actually moved his hand over my skin. I heard a groan and then realized with embarrassment that it came from me.
But I soon realized it wasn’t just me. The mark he was putting on my skin was igniting something else inside of me. A connection that felt incomprehensible but also strangely natural, as if this was how our magic was meant to exist. Blended and linked like it was two halves coming together. The connection meant that I could feel what Munro was feeling. And his reactions to touching me were as intense as my response to being touched. His feelings were only adding to my frenzied state.
Looking up at Munro, I saw a bead of sweat trickle over his temple and down his face, and I knew then that the connection worked both ways. It must have been one of the consequences he’d spoken of and now he was getting the rush of all my feelings blasted at him.
The needle stopped buzzing, and Munro set down the machine with a shaking hand. His shoulders rose and fell rapidly with his breaths, his hair was damp with sweat, and he was trying very hard to avoid looking at me. He’d removed his hand from my stomach, and I felt its absence like a hole in my soul. I knew I shouldn’t, but my body acted without thought, and I reached out for him. My hand slid up his arm and the spark between us was so explosive that I cried out in relief at the contact.
With that one touch, that small connection, he burst out of the chair and grabbed me close. He drove his fingers into my hair and pulled my lips to his, kissing me with a fierce possessiveness that shook my senses like an earthquake. Fire roared through my body, pleasure so severe it bordered on pain. We tumbled back, and his heavy weight on top of me, covering me with his strength, making me arch my back and cry out. I’d never felt anything like this sweeping, all-encompassing need. It burned me from the inside out like a lit fuse racing toward a powder keg.
I pulled at his shirt, not even phased by my own strength as I tore it away with a loud rip down the front. I wanted his skin on my skin. The more we touched, the more the electricity grew between us, literally. A small part of me registered that a glow had started coming from our bodies where we touched. My fingertips left a trail of gold in their wake as I traced them down his chest. It faded back into his skin until I touched him again. He broke away from my lips and kissed my jaw, my neck, and then proceeded down, and I briefly wondered if his lips were leaving gold streaks as well until I couldn't think about anything but how he felt. I was lost in sensation, my own and his, overloaded with both our feelings at the same time, making the entire room pulse with energy.
A heavy banging sounded on the door, and Munro jumped away from me, looking tormented in so many different ways. I nearly wept for the loss of him and didn't understand why he had left me. Then I heard Ryan at the door, his fist pounding.
“Enough! Open the door.”
“Give me a minute!” Munro yelled back at him, his voice sharp and angry. He looked at me, chest heaving, desire flaming in his dark eyes. It took nearly all of my willpower to stay put and not launch myself at him again.
Munro went to the closet, staying as far away from me as he could, pulled a sweatshirt off a hanger and tossed it to me. I yanked it over my head, grateful to cover as much skin as possible. I didn’t think it would be a good idea for us to touch again. We’d never get out of the bedroom.
I licked my lips that were most definitely bruised from his kisses. After we had a few minutes to get our shit together on opposite sides of the room, I tried to cut the tension. “Well, I’m pretty glad I didn’t let your uncle do the tattoo.”
Munro narrowed his eyes as though the thought was unimaginable, gave a feral grunt and opened the door. Ryan had his hand poised to begin the pounding once again but backed up when Munro’s large and imposing form came stalking through the door, shoving him aside.
“Don’t say anything,” Munro tossed back at him as he headed downstairs to the living room. I would have blushed, but I was too amped up with the power practically vibrating around and inside me to be bothered about what Ryan was thinking.
I followed some distance behind him, Ryan bringing up the rear. As I moved down the steps, I noticed that all of the pictures had fallen off the walls, lamps were toppled over on the floor, and whatever dishes I hadn’t destroyed when Mari had done her binding spell, had fallen out of cabinets and were shattered on the floor.
My mouth gaped wide as I realized that we’d brought on this damage, hell we’d probably been another kiss away from blowing up the house. My face flushed bright red as I turned to glance at Ryan in shock and embarrassment. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say, Oh well we’re still here.
Once out in the living room, I started righting the lamps and picking up books that had fallen off shelves. I needed something to counter the overload of energy running through my body.
“Annie, stop," Munro said gently, and I stopped, holding a stack of books in my hand. He was right, we didn’t have time for housework. We needed to go find Hattie.
“We have to find her. The magic is strongest when first done.”
What an understatement, I thought. I dropped the books on the couch and straightened my shoulders.
“You’re right.” I took a deep breath and moved next to Munro, grabbing hold of his hand. I closed my eyes and pushed my magic out, feeling it spill from me in a golden light. Munro’s magic was there too, mixed in with mine, and it felt right, natural how easily they existed together.
As if I were talking to an old friend, I asked the magic to find Hattie. Munro must have been able to feel how the magic was moving and responding to me because he uttered a little, amazing softly next to me. And it was. It was like a limb, I only had to think of how I wanted to move it and it obeyed. The magic didn’t have far to search, and I gasped when I realized that Hattie was close.
“She’s here,” I said, more to Ryan, because I knew Munro had already sensed it.
I broke free of Munro and ran to the backdoor, throwing it open and heading down the back steps and into the grass. Their yard was at least two acres and felt private with hundred-year-old maples, oaks, and fir trees lining the perimeter and blocking all of the neighboring houses. The grass was the dull green that cold temperatures and frost creates, and the ground beneath was hard but not yet frozen completely.
Only part of the yard was visible where the porch light shined down on a strip of the land, illuminating that one swath and throwing shadows over the rest. Standing in the middle of the yard, just at the edge of where the light reached was Hattie. She stood there, simply waiting for us to catch up with her.
Chapter 19
She was still wearing the same clothes she’d had on when she’d been trapped in the den, and I wondered where she’d been for the past few days. Her hair was greasy and pulled away from her face in a tangled ponytail that wasn’t doing much to keep her hair from her face. Her skin had a sickly pallor to it as if she hadn’t eaten in weeks, even though I knew that wasn’t the case. Somehow, her outsides had starte
d matching her insides because she looked unwell.
“It looks like you’ve unbound your magic for me. Thank you for that.” Her voice was edged with hysteria, and she sounded giddy.
She started walking across the backyard, closing the space between us as she slowly approached me. I almost took a step backward, but stopped, forcing myself to stand up to her. This was the very reason I’d made Munro use blood magic, so I could free my magic and stop Hattie. As if that thought served as a reminder that I could sense Munro, I felt him behind me. His tension and fear filtered in through our bond as his worry for me nearly overwhelmed us both. Trying to push away those emotions, I kept my attention on Hattie instead.
“I have. But if you want me to give up my magic, I’m going to need some answers,” I said, with more confidence than I felt.
Hattie stopped walking and tilted her head at me, smiling with a mouthful of menace. “I’ve decided I don’t need to play nice any longer. The taint of your mother’s blood needs to be eradicated. Your line is a plague on this Earth, and I will be doing the world a favor by extinguishing it.”
My nostrils flared as I inhaled an angry breath, and the magic inside of me blazed up in a tremendous burst, demanding I make her pay for her words. Reaching out to feel my connection to Munro, I let the magic simmer between us, his essence alone providing a calming presence. Munro moved forward and came to stand on my right while Ryan moved to my left. Hattie’s eyes narrowed as she took in their protective stances.
“What about me?” Munro asked, his voice deep and steady. “Don’t I deserve some answers?” His eyes were cold as he looked at his mother, and I reached out to link my fingers with his, offering him silent support while he faced this demon.
Hattie faltered, and I was struck by her continued claim that having humanity was her downfall. Maybe she was telling the truth? Or at least what she thought of as the truth? Munro kept going since he’d gained her attention.
“Why are you doing all of this?” I heard the pain in Munro’s voice, and it broke my heart. It must have seeped into Hattie’s heart as well because she looked crestfallen.
“It’s for you, Munro. For us, as a family.” She struggled over the words, sounding broken.
“How could this be for me?”
“I needed her power to bring back your father,” she cried out the words, nearly sobbing, but there were no tears trailing down her face. It was as though her body wasn’t able to produce the physical manifestation of pain that she claimed to be feeling.
Munro’s breathing was labored beside me. “And how would you accomplish that?”
Hattie must have seen his question as approval of her actions because she looked hopeful, and a dim light shined in her eyes. If I hadn’t known she was talking about murdering me and stealing my magic, it would have seemed like a joyful moment.
“The first witch.” Hattie stumbled forward a step, holding out a hand as if hoping Munro would place his in hers. I felt him recoil beside me but squeezed his hand reassuringly.
“She has the ability to raise the dead.”
Munro stiffened next to me, and I heard Ryan’s sharp inhale on my other side.
“That’s just a myth,” Munro replied, trying to keep his voice steady.
Hattie shook her head violently, her greasy hair slipping further from her tie, falling in a messy disarray around her face. “No, I’ve researched and read everything I could find. They were opposites in every way, the sisters. One was made to rule over life, the other over death. It will work. I know it will. It has to.” Hattie looked so deranged that I almost felt sorry for her. Until she continued talking.
“With her magic.” She pointed to me without turning her face from Munro. “I’ll be able to resurrect Cailleach and bring Dermott back. We can be a family again,” she finished, and I was stunned to see she actually believed what she was saying.
Even in the midst of all of this insanity, I didn’t miss how she called him Dermott and didn’t refer to him as Munro’s dad. It only reinforced what I knew. That Hattie didn’t think about them as a family. She'd abandoned Munro and left him without both a father and a mother.
Munro was shaking his head, a small side-to-side at first before larger sweeps back and forth took over, and his face distorted in disgust. “And what of all of the harm and horrible things you did on the way to get him back? How do you right those wrongs?”
“It’s a means to an end,” Hattie shrieked, her voice cracking from emotion.
“You can’t expect to bring him back and just pretend everything else you did can be swept under the rug.” Munro’s voice was getting louder, his accent thickening, and I could feel his rage simmering through our bonded magic.
On my other side, Ryan was using the distraction to weave the spell of binding, softly mumbling the words of the spell. I knew he had the potion that Mari had created on him, and he was using this opportunity to our advantage. I felt Ryan’s magic whisper past me, but Hattie must have as well because she swung her head around violently to look at Ryan.
“I don’t think so little brother,” she said while sweeping her hand through the air.
Ryan was lifted and launched back against the house, crumbling in a limp pile on the ground. I wanted to run to him and make sure he was okay, but this had to end. Enough was enough. And yet, darkness threatened to overtake me as my stomach dropped, and panic infused every cell in my body. Why did I think I would be able to do this? Who was I kidding? I was insignificant, someone who knew next to nothing about magic. Then I felt Munro, his soul communing with mine, calming me, believing in me. I looked at him next to me, and his eyes said it all. He believed in me, he trusted me, and I saw love there as well. He hadn’t said the words to me, but I could see it shining in his eyes. He loved me.
Munro frowned as I took a step away from him. But I needed this next conversation to be between Hattie and me. Some instinctual knowledge sparked inside of me and grew like a wildfire spreading through me, giving me confidence with every step I took. I flicked my hand behind me, and roots sprung from the ground with terrifying speed, growing and twining around one another to create a barrier between Munro and Ryan, and me and Hattie. Knowing that would do nothing to keep Hattie from hurting them, I pushed out a shield around them, just like the one I’d created at the warehouse.
The shield muffled Munro’s voice, and I could hear him yelling, but it was muted. His rage roared through our magical bond, and I shivered at its intensity before shutting down that emotion. He was pissed and scared and didn’t want to be trapped behind my shield. Tough shit. I couldn’t do what I needed to do and worry about him at the same time.
Hattie laughed at me and shook her head. “Thank you. I really thought it should be just us girls anyway.”
She moved like lightning, sprinting to get to me, but my instincts kicked in, and I slowed time. It was almost like what I’d done that night at the football game, except now I didn’t stop time, I just turned the speed to super slow-motion. I side-stepped Hattie and ended up behind her. The magic coursing through my veins felt drugging, and the world charged with super vibrant colors and sounds. The chilly December air was crisper than usual, and I could smell the snowflakes that were about to fall. I heard an acorn drop to the ground hundreds of feet away and could feel Munro jerking violently at the roots I’d magicked in place, trying to pull them down and get back to me.
Hattie ground out a frustrated sound and turned to face me, but I bent, squatting with one knee on the frozen ground. Raising my hands, I plunged them with as much force as I could in order to penetrate the frozen ground. My fingers dug into the cold soil, and I felt the magic from the earth speak to me through the elemental connection. I was touching the earth, but it was connected to all of the elements. I could feel the water frozen its layers, the air caught in pockets made from rocks and loose soil, and the spark of heat flowing at its core. It was all there for me to use.
Gripping deeper into the dirt, I told my magic to sen
d fire and flames speeding across the ground, the paths starting at my hands and racing toward Hattie. It seared over the earth and engulfed her legs like an enraged orange monster trying to devour her. But Hattie just scowled and smothered the flames out with a wave of her hand.
“Is that the best you can do?” she taunted and laughed.
Feeling oddly detached, I commanded the earth to release water, and ice stretched up from the ground and encased her feet, rooting her in place. I pulled my own vial of the binding potion from my pocket and started uttering the words that Ryan had taught us. Mortem Imperium. Mortem Imperium.
Hattie shifted easily as though it was an annoying piece of gum stuck to her shoe, barely holding her in place for a few moments before she broke free from the icy bonds. I stumbled back, still reciting the words of the spell, feeling the magic build up as I focused on my intention. But Hattie didn’t attack me. She turned her back to me and threw all her magic at my shield. The one protecting Ryan and Munro. With my attention diverted it was vulnerable, and I groaned as I felt the impact like it had been a physical hit to my stomach. I didn’t let her distract me though and continued with the binding spell, putting as much power and concentration into it as possible.
She launched another blast of power to the shield and I cried out, falling to my knees with the strength of the blow. She’d created a crack in the shield. I scrambled up and ran to her as quickly as possible, tackling her legs and tumbling us both to the ground. But I was too late. She had shattered the shield. The final surge of magic creating millions of tiny fissures in my shield before it exploded.
Before I could take another breath, Hattie was back on her feet, snapping off a branch from one of the roots I’d pulled from the ground to create my wall. With a furious growl she stabbed the spear of wood through Munro’s stomach before he even had a chance to realize she was in front of him. I felt the pain of the strike as if I was the one pierced by the branch. The pain sent me to my knees and I coughed, expelling blood with the movement.
