by Jade White
Once they finished he wanted to collapse on her, but instead, rolled off and lay on the floor. One of his arms stretched out under the coffee table that held a few more of the plants that surrounded him in this house. “That was…” He couldn’t even find the words to finish his statement.
“Amazing, intense, I don’t know what to call it.” Her response was as confused as his original statement. She stretched onto the couch.
Gregor propped himself up on his elbow, peeking over the edge of the couch where she was laying. He reached his other hand up, laying it gently on her shoulder. “Are you alright? Did I hurt you?”
“No, I don’t think I got hurt.” She turned toward him, just her head at first, but quickly followed it with her entire body, a tiny, happy smile forming on her face. He loved the look that was on her face. It was a content face, one that was completely absorbed in the afterglow associated with their actions.
His face held the same expression, one of supreme, yet quiet happiness. It didn’t take him long to notice the hum radiating from Dominique. It wasn’t something he had only encountered once before, when she had healed him. “Is everything alright?”
Her eyes were partially closed as she looked at him. “Why do you keep asking that?”
“Something doesn’t feel right. It seems like you’re casting a spell again.”
Her eyes popped open and her eyes unfocused for a moment. It looked like she was using senses that he had never seen used before. “Something is wrong.” She declared, sitting up immediately afterward. “I have to find out what’s wrong.” She stood up, her legs still a little wobbly from the intense love making that the pair had engaged in. Slowly she made her way to the room she had healed him in, impatient with her body for not wanting to obey. He picked himself up and went to help her, feeling the electricity flow between them when he touched her.
She went into the bedroom and he could finally see it was unaffected by the attack that had occurred. It was a lovely little room with a circle painted on the floor. The smell in this room was intense and he noticed that entire room hummed with the same energy that she could call upon. It was obvious that this room was regularly used for ritual work.
She pulled away from him and stepped to the closet, opening the doors. He could see the grandness of her gesture, and stood in awe of the power exuding from her. Reaching onto a shelf pulled out a small package wrapped in black cloth. He could see the faded backs of cards as she removed it from the black velvet that was covering it. He tried to see what she was doing, but she was shielding his view with her naked body. It didn’t help that his eyes kept being drawn to parts of her body that he couldn’t see with her clothes on. She walked to the table that was pushed against the wall next to the bed. She sat in the chair, maintaining silence and flipped over a single card. He didn’t know what it meant, but the picture was dark on the bottom, with a bright flower growing out of the gloom below. She stared at the card for a moment, taking it in, making judgments about what it meant. Her mouth pursed in curiosity as she turned over several more cards. It didn’t take very long at all before she was wrapping the deck back up and putting it where it belongs.
“What did you find out?” Gregor asked her, unable to contain his excitement much longer.
“It’s hard to explain, how much do you know about magic?”
“Not much, I’m afraid.” He was honest, hoping that she would take the time to explain what was happening.
“Well the spell I used was for a human, I couldn’t find one specifically linked to shifters. I don’t know what’s happening, but something strange is happening. Every time we’re alone together we can’t keep our hands off of each other.” Her explanation was slightly disjointed. “I don’t understand it very well myself yet, my experience with shifters has been limited.”
“Does magic work differently on my people?” He asked.
“Your nature is magical, I believe, so yes, it does work differently.” She explained trying to put it into words he could understand. “Maybe it was one of the herbs I used, or one of the chants I uttered. I don’t know how to explain it, but when you cast magic on someone it is a very intimate act, it creates a bond between the caster and the recipient of the spell. This bond is temporary, most of the time, but it must have been strengthened because you weren’t the proper target for my healing.”
“So this attraction, this is just a fake effect of the spell?”
“Yes, it is just a product of the spell.” She didn’t like how disappointed he looked. They dressed in silence and sat in the living room, thinking over their situation.
Chapter8
After waiting several tense hours, surrounded by silence, neither party found anything to say. They nearly jumped out their respective skins when Dominique’s phone rang. She rushed to the phone, scrambling to maintain a firm grip as it threatened to slip through her fingers. She juggled it for a moment before finally being able to answer the call. “Hello.” Her answer was slightly breathless. Once she determined who was on the other end of phone she stepped out of the room to hold the conversation, leaving Gregor alone to explore his surroundings.
It was the first time that he noticed that the entire house buzzed just like she did. Her power had become a part of this house, touching every corner of this place. He saw pictures of her family; smiling faces that looked similar to the woman he had just made love. It was obvious that a part of her was in this home and a part of the home was in her. The energy was trapped in the walls, and he wondered if it was just the fact that several generations of witches had lived here, or if it was something in the very land.
He was trying to remain patient, even though Dom was taking forever with her personal phone call. He paced through the room, examining every picture, every plant and every inanimate witness to their earlier indiscretion that seemed to have been placed in the room to silently judge him for his loss of control with the owner of this house. To avoid the gazes he removed his clothes and shifted form, his animal nature prevailed and he didn’t feel quite as exposed to the judgment of the pictures on the mantel and the walls. He continued to pace, this time with a tail swishing behind him, carefully curling his body around any furniture.
Dom returned and stood in the doorway in shock. There was a large white tiger in her living room where a man had been. Her eyes were trapped on the creature and her mouth opened wide in a soundless scream. She was paralyzed with fear as the great feline started to purr and move toward her. The creature sauntered straight up to her then circled her in a way only cats can. Even though it was a great wild animal, it acted tame and didn’t seem to be interested in eating her. She stood in the entrance to the kitchen, watching the animal for long minutes until she realized who it was: the cat had Gregor’s eyes; it had to be him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you at first.” She had the urge to pet him, but thought that it might offend the great beast that was sniffing around her. “We need to get showered and go see Anna, she’s supposed to check out what happened with the spell and see if she can help us.
The cat moved behind the couch and started the transformation back to his human form. From the noises that he made, it was obviously a painful few moments as the fur started to recede and he rose to a bipedal form. “What makes you think there’s something wrong?” He asked her.
“I don’t act this way, it’s not normal.”
“Could it be that you actually like me? Would that be so terrible?” He was dressing in front of her, in embarrassment she looked away.
She didn’t really respond to his accusation. “I’m going to go take a shower.” Her cheeks grew slightly darker as she started to blush.
It took the two of them almost an hour to get ready. They dressed in separate rooms, avoiding each other, before going out to the car and taking a long silent drive to the place that they were just a few hours before. He recognized the entrance on the lowest level of the parking garage, and led the way, triggering the door to open from the tiny broom
closet.
When they got into the building it, didn’t show a single clue that a melee had broken out in the office earlier. Dom glanced around nervously; it felt like everyone was staring at them, like she was walking through a gauntlet of people who knew what was happening. She knew that it wasn’t the truth, but she couldn’t escape the feeling of it. She swiftly led the way to the other side of the room, past the conference room that had been the start of the fight, past the private offices of the high ranked administrators.
They entered into a door at the very back of the place. The second Dom put her hand on the door several sets of eyes swiveled toward her. The room that they were going into was only used when mistakes had been made. The two let themselves in and immediately saw Anna’s frowning face. “Who gave you permission to take him on that job anyway?” Her words were harsh, demanding answers.
Dom gulped as she looked at the woman that her bosses reported to. The witch had just started to phrase her answer when Gregor cut into the conversation. “It’s my fault. I called to get permission to see her working, and I pressed until I got permission. She didn’t want to do it, but I used my influence to make her do it.”
Dom hung her head as he defended her. She really didn’t know what to say about any of it. She wasn’t exactly in a good situation. She waited until Anna’s face softened. “I should have done something about it.” The words didn’t come easily. “I shouldn’t have let him come with me, no matter who he called.”
“You’re absolutely right; you should never have let him go with you there. Who gave you permission?” The question was framed to Gregor, the district leader’s voice was firm and commanding and her eyes flashed with a fierce anger. It was a scary thought. Gregor noticed that while the power hummed around Dominique, it flowed off of Anna in waves. He could see her form fade into fuzziness on the edges. He thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him. Anna waited a few moments for them to respond, but it didn’t seem like either of her subordinates could find anything to say to her. “Get on the table. Gregor, you need to be on this one.” She pointed to the one on her left and then motioned to the right. “Dom, you need to be on this one. Position is important.”
Both parties climbed onto their prospective pedestals. No words were exchanged but both Dom and Gregor could see the lights in the room dim just a bit as they stared at the ceiling. A buzzing noise filled the air, invading their heads and making it impossible to concentrate on anything at all.
Dom tried to help, to focus her energy on the magical working, but she found her mind was growing fuzzy as time passed. It didn’t take long for the two of them to enter into some kind of trance. They awoke in a field, everything was fuzzy around the edges here and details were impossible to determine.
Trees surrounded the clearing and there was a large flat stone in the center of the space. It was the same size as the tables that their bodies were laying on in the real world.
“Where are we?” Gregor asked, his eyes darting around and his head snapping in near panic.
“It’s hard to explain. You don’t know a lot about the worlds that exist around and within our own, do you?” Dom tried to control her smile. “You are in a trance, similar to a temporary controllable coma. This will allow Anna to do the work that she needs to do without our energy interfering. I’ve been able to come here by myself, but I didn’t know that it was possible to send other people here.” She walked over to a tree and examined a leaf. She touched it, felt the smooth top and rough underside in her hand. She focused on that. “We’ll be pulled out of here as soon as she’s finished. Be patient, we’re in a safe place right now until she’s done.”
“How long is it going to be?” Gregor paced around the clearing, his animal instincts made him feel caged in an unfamiliar situation.
“I don’t know. She does things differently than I do, and she is much more powerful. I can’t judge how long she will take.”
“Is she a witch, too?”
“I think so, but I think that she’s something else as well. Something in me doesn’t believe that she is just a human, or human at all for that matter.” She told him.
“I’ll believe that, she doesn’t have any scent.” He almost growled the words. “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it, but that’s who she is.”
He paced in silence for a while. “Can I leave the clearing?”
“That won’t be a problem, but be sure that you can find your way back, this is going to be the place we leave from.”
He didn’t leave the clearing; instead, he paced in silence for what seemed like hours. She stayed silent, examining leaves, stones, blades of grass and wildflowers. She seemed serene while she waited and he was fascinated by the peaceful attitude. It was the only thing that kept him from losing his mind in their magical confinement.
Some more time passed and then they were pulled out of the clearing. It was a sensation like flying, but it didn’t feel like a bird, more like a kite. They were being controlled, pulled by invisible strings back into their bodies. Gregor began to resist until he saw Dominique calmly allowing the invisible current to carry her away.
They opened their eyes at the same time, eyelashes fluttering on their cheeks, before the realization hit them. Anna was standing between them. “It looks like it should fade with time.” Her words were encouraging. “In time, the infatuation with each other will pass.”
They stood and stretched. Gregor walked out before Dom. Anna stopped Dom. “We need to talk.”
Dom closed the door. “Look, I’m really sorry about what happened.” She tried to apologize, but Anna cut her off with the wave of a hand.
“That’s not important. We have something else to talk about.” The boss touched Dom’s hand. “It’s important.” Dom lifted herself onto one of the pedestals and waited for the conversation to happen. Anna perched opposite of the younger woman. “I don’t know how to say this and I know that it’s going to be uncomfortable, but I need to know if you’ve slept with him yet.”
“Um, well, yes I did.” Her face flushed and Dom couldn’t meet Anna’s eye. “I shouldn’t have, but something came over me. I couldn’t help myself.” The witch knew that she was making excuses again, but didn’t know how else to respond to this line of questioning.
“I’m glad you’re being honest with me, but this isn’t about anything you did. You handled the situation as well as you could have, but there’s something else going on.”
“What’s going on?” Dom was starting to get worried.
“You will bear his child.”
The news hit Dominique like a mix of a splash of cold water and a bag full of bricks. She sat there in silence for several long moments before she could make herself respond. “Are you sure?” It was an inane question, but the only one that could be asked in that moment.
“I’m positive. My spell told me that you would have his child. You have a choice to make. Will you carry it or not?”
“I don’t know. I need some time to make a decision.” Dom just needed to get out of the room. She felt like she was suffocating and clutched her chest for a moment. “What do you think I should do?”
“For one, be patient, precognition isn’t an exact science. I may be wrong about this, but I want you to know that no matter what happens, we’ll be here to take care of you. If you would like me to, I can talk to Gregor for you.” Anna’s offer was sincere and behind the matter of fact manner in which she was speaking, there was an undercurrent of concern. She seemed almost motherly.
“I don’t know. Let me figure out what I’m going to do before we talk to him about it. He needs to focus on these talks and not worry about me.” Dom was sure about that. She knew that whatever she decided to do, she needed to figure out on her own, and if Gregor couldn’t concentrate on his duty, it could destroy the peace they were attempting to maintain.
“That’s surprisingly sound reasoning coming from someone in such a difficult situation. I’m proud
of you.” Anna nodded at her subordinate. “I’m going to have someone else take him off your hands. We need to reschedule the peace talks. I believe I have them ready to start talking again. If you are carrying his baby we can’t risk you being in the room. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you until you make a decision one way or the other. We’re going to give you a few days off so that you can decide unimpeded, just remember that you have our support, no matter what you do.” The words were true, honest and gave no indication as to what Anna wanted the younger woman to do. “For now I’m going to tell Gregor that it’s best to keep the two of you separated, until some of the attraction dies down. I’m going to schedule you to be the one to take him to the airport so that you can talk to him if you choose. I’m sure he’s going to insist on that anyway, but I’ll make him work for it.” Anna’s laugh reminded Dominique of the tinkling of little silver bells.
Chapter9
Dom rested in her home, pacing with a troubled heart. She knew that she would keep the child. It had always been in her nature to maintain life whenever possible, it was what brought her into her line of work to start with, but everything else was yet to be decided when she received another call from Anna.
“We’ve established some basic compromises on both sides. There is a calm between the shifters for the time being.”
Dom couldn’t help but smile a little. “That should make our jobs a little easier. How much longer will they be talking?”
Anna’s voice grew serious. From the tone it was clear that Dominique wasn’t going to be happy with what she was about to say. “Gregor is heading back up north for a few weeks. He needs to handle some things in order to come back and finish the talks.”
