Ignite: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Spelldrift: Coven of Fire Book 2)

by Sierra Cross

  My lover’s reclined form lay stretched out before me, so beautiful. The bedsheet half-draped over him exposed his hard, masculine chest. Firelight danced on his chiseled muscles, licking the sharp curves like I wanted my tongue to do. I was an explosion of lust just waiting to happen, barely contained in my own skin. Blind with need, want my only driving force. My feet carried me forward. I had to touch him. To feel the hardness of him pressed against me. Heat radiated from my core; if I couldn’t have him I’d incinerate from the inside out.

  My fingertips grazed his bicep…and that was all it took. So much heat in that small touch. Like a flame burst between us. His eyes opened, drinking me in, seeing through the thin T-shirt I wore to the center of my ache for him. Instantly his need rose to meet mine, his body rolling open—an invitation. My limbs moved swiftly, climbing on top of him, tangling up with him. His lips crushed against mine and a groan of pleasure escaped me. His tongue found its way into my mouth. Unspeakable pleasure, but it was not enough.

  His hips rocked up to meet mine. “Yes,” I moaned. As my brain reverberated, yes, yes, yes, his name formed on my tongue, waiting for me to claim him, Tenebris.

  I gasped. Horror filled me as I caught the word before it came out of my mouth.

  “Alexandra?” Startled, Matt looked up at me. Eyes hooded in need, big hands grasping my waist, pressing me down onto him.

  Scrambling off of him, I tumbled to the floor. “I’m sorry.” I managed to form the words as I flailed backward in retreat. “I’m…sorry.”

  “Alexandra, wait,” Matt said, reaching for me. “We at least need to talk about this.”

  “No. It was a mistake.” I slipped into the bedroom and closed the door between us.

  It was just a dream, I told myself. I’d been sleepwalking.

  But I’d never sleepwalked before. And I’d almost done a whole lot more than walk.

  Tenebris?

  What was going on with me? Shouldn’t the green magic be dissipating by now? Asher had hypothesized that once it was gone, my connection to Tenebris would fade—dreams and all.

  Be patient. This gets better.

  But my heart was still pounding so hard I couldn’t get back to sleep for hours. I lay there staring at the cheap clock radio’s digital numbers change from three to four and four to five.

  Matt wanted me to open up to him and the coven. To share important information. No, he required it.

  But how could I ever open up about what just happened?

  God, make the pounding stop. I pulled the pillow over my head, but still I heard the commotion in the living room. I’d finally fallen asleep and now my body refused to wake up. My body, the living room. The dream. The sleep…seducing. Shit, this was bad, really bad. I had to tell Matt what happened. But how would that not make it worse? There was a quick rap on my bedroom door, then it opened.

  “Alexandra, we need to get out of here.” Behind Matt I could see Asher and Liv.

  What the hell was going on? Sun wasn’t even up.

  I tugged on a pair of jeans and my only clean T-shirt and joined them. Asher looked tense, Liv beyond freaked.

  “The Fidei,” Liv’s voice came out too high and fast. “They’ve issued warrants for our arrest.”

  “I’ve wiped the hard drives.” Asher held up his tablet, his movements stiff, face uncharacteristically blank. “Destroyed any evidence that leads to the blood magic—”

  “What is going on?” I cut him off. Without caffeine, there was no way I could pick up this conversation midstream.

  “Daria called. A request for a five-million-dollar bounty on us came across her desk. The Fidei techs have resurrected the video from Marley’s—all of it. It shows all the Neqs and shifters attacking…and they’re being led by you.”

  “That’s impossible.” My shout came out a whisper. I didn’t do that. But the dream came back to me, vivid and burning. I crossed the apartment and climbed on top of Matt. But I couldn’t have murdered those acolytes, could I? “No, it wasn’t me. I…”

  “We know it wasn’t you.” Liv patted my arm. “You were with us that day. The Omni must have used your likeness so it would look like you murdered those acolytes and Marley.”

  “But why?” Matt seemed genuinely perplexed. “Why would Tenebris’s followers try to frame Alix?”

  Asher and Liv looked like they were puzzling over the question too. I found it comforting, in a way, that none of my friends were capable of understanding the mind of a monster like Tenebris.

  Unfortunately, I now could.

  “To isolate me. Take away my options. Make me vulnerable. And maybe to make you all turn on me.” So I’d be ripe for him to pluck.

  Matt clenched his fists. “Never going to happen.”

  “We have proof that she’s innocent,” Liv reminded everyone.

  “Unfortunately, no one’s going to believe that proof.” Asher said.” We were each other’s alibis, which means that—”

  “We’re screwed.” I covered my bleary eyes with my hands.

  “No, that we need to find that fucking Omni,” Asher said.

  “First, we need to make sure they don’t take us down,” Matt says.

  My pockets were filled with spellbeads. I wasn’t in my wardsuit, but my dagger harnesses were strapped to me. We’d be fighting humans and Matt had impressed upon us the imperative not to kill or maim any of them. I promised not to use my blades, but I needed them close, like a kid needs a security blanket.

  Asher dug through a worn duffle bag, divvying up the last of his spellbeads between Liv and Matt.

  The front door of the apartment exploded into kindling. Six black clad Fidei soldiers flooded in through the gaping wound of a doorway, weapons drawn.

  “By order of the Fidei Federation,” the first soldier through the door shouted, “dictum number 5.0.3 you are hereby under arrest. You are on notice that your statements may be used as evidence against you.”

  Witch’s magic burned on Liv’s, Asher’s, and my fingertips. As my power flowed through me, the pit in my abdomen buzzed just as I’d feared it would. I stared at the gold magic forming on my fingertips. It was definitely tinged with green. But I’d be damned if I’d let that stop me from helping my coven.

  Matt held a throwing star. We were in a stunned standoff.

  The cluster of Fidei soldiers parted and Agent Larch walked to the front while her assistant Jason—deferring to her as always—remained where he was.

  “I knew you were guilty when I had you brought into our offices.” Larch’s satisfaction was written all over her face. “Coincidences don’t just pile up without a reason, and your excuses weren’t flying with me.”

  “We’re not guilty of anything,” I said.

  “You’re being played,” Asher added.

  “I’ve seen the evidence,” she said, calmly with no trace of tension. “Come with us easy, and you’ll all live to face trial.”

  “You know we can’t do that.” Matt seemed to need to reason with her. Some part of him had respect for the law even if it was unfair. Would they really shoot us? I prayed those weren’t bullets, but blanks or tranquilizer darts or something. The Fidei couldn’t be that cold blooded, could they?

  “Fine, doesn’t make any difference to me.” She shrugged. “We take you down here. It’ll save a lot of hassle for what’s going to happen anyway.”

  “We’re not going with you,” Liv said.

  “So be it,” Larch said. “Fire.”

  The two soldiers next to her pulled the trigger, just as Asher threw a flurry of deflection bursts.

  Matt flung a throwing star, winging one of the gunmen.

  Liv dropped to a knee, threw a pair of small bolts low. With a gymnast’s grace, Larch leapt out of the way. Both bolts singed the couch.

  At least it stalled Larch’s fire. From Asher’s frenzied moves, I was pretty sure the bullets were the real thing.

  Cacophony rang all around me. As I watched the battle move as if in slow motion, I re
alized my hands were entirely encased in fire. No way I could throw a blast this big without killing someone.

  “Alexandra, fire or fall back!” Matt shouted. He’d winged the other shooter too, but two more had already taken their place.

  Bits of plaster bit my cheeks from the deflected bullets as they tore into the wall.

  “You’re gonna run out of magic before all of them run out of bullets!” Matt shouted to Asher.

  The Fidei were going to kill us all. I couldn’t see a way out of this.

  Or could I?

  “You have the dominion gene.”

  Once more, I called my magic to me. I could do this, for my coven.

  Through my coven.

  “A dangerous and powerful gift. It offers a way to borrow powers from others...”

  I reached out through the web of our coven connection, feeling the different strands of magic. Like a giant sponge, I soaked up Liv’s golden magic, then Asher’s, then the thinner strand that was Matt’s. I pulled it in so deeply that it filled me and seeped from my pores, thick and golden as it covered every inch of me. Gold usurping every bit of green. I must have glowed from head to toe as I pushed past Asher, knowing it didn’t matter if a bullet struck me now. I needed to get my coven out of here.

  Liv groaned as the firebolts poised on her fingertips were snuffed out like birthday candles.

  “Stop, you’re taking too much,” Asher cried. “I won’t be able to stop the bullets!”

  I was a tornado of power, a swirling mass of energy. The sound of the power that encompassed me was like a freight train. I knotted one hand into a fist and stretched the other out in front of me, palm up. Fidei soldiers screamed. Someone yelled, “Fall back!” Too late.

  I slammed my fist into the palm of my hand and the concussive blast rocked the world in front of me. Larch sailed back and slammed into a wall. The soldiers’ bodies flew upward, limbs flailing, before tumbling back to the ground. I saw Jason’s body thrown back, but before it fell his features shifted for an instant. He morphed from short to tall, light to dark, orange eyes burning through the schism.

  A moment later he re-solidified as Jason and collapsed.

  My vision dimmed and the last ounce of strength was leaving my body. I grabbed Matt and pulled him down to the ground with me. “Jason…is…the Omni…”

  My vision went black.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  M y muscles twitched at the invading cold. Where was I? The light assaulted my eyes and I blinked to combat the pain. Suddenly fear landed like an elephant on my chest. My heart raced, all my other body parts mired in molasses. My brain was too fuzzy to process thoughts. Shapes were moving around me but I couldn’t see who it was. Had I been captured? Where was my coven? “Matt,” I croaked, barely loud enough for me to hear.

  Big, warm hands tenderly touched my shoulder. “She’s coming to.” I heard Matt’s voice, but couldn’t focus to see him. My breath matched the pace of my heart. Words refused to form but not for lack of trying.

  “You’re safe,” Asher whispered in my ear. “We’re all safe.” The rare tenderness in his voice surprised me. “That was some powerful magic you pulled off.” His fingers brushed my cheeks. “She’s not ready yet. I’m going to put her back under.” I felt the tingle of his magic as he recited ancient words. A sleep spell. No! I need to know…

  I came to on the floor of an empty garage. Ratty blankets swathed my body but didn’t stave off the cold. I swallowed with a sandpaper throat and sat up, an action I quickly regretted as it made spots float before my eyes. But eventually blood made it to my brain and my vision focused. Tidy shelves of green plastic storage boxes and stacks of paint cans lined the walls and a peg board with every tool in place. No one was talking. Was I alone? Panic was a beast that invaded my gut.

  They wouldn’t leave me.

  The garage door rattled open and Liv walked in. Behind her on the drive sat a gleaming chocolate brown BMW sedan with Asher behind the wheel.

  “I was just getting the backseat ready for you.” Liv reached out a hand to help me off the floor.

  “I got her.” Matt rushed in and scooped me into his arms. What was it with guys picking me up lately?

  “Dude, I can walk,” I said. Not convincingly.

  He just grunted and easily slid me along the leather back seat. He pushed in next to me.

  “Asher, you’ve been holding out on us.” I breathed in the scent of its butter-soft leather seats. “This is your car?”

  Asher hesitated. “Not exactly.”

  “Asher said he had a friend we could borrow a car from,” Matt said, chuckling. “Who knew he had a thing for older women? Like, much older.” His laugh bubbled up again.

  Had Matt and Asher worked together on something, unsupervised? Questions formed on my lips. Did I want to know?

  “It’s not what you think,” Asher said with a bemused smile on his face. “Actually, it’s exactly what you think. Just not how you’re thinking of it.” There was a story behind that. I’d have to get it out of him one day. “At any rate, we won’t be tracked.”

  “How long have I been out?” I asked. The sun was already getting low in the sky. “Do we have a plan?”

  “It’s after four,” Asher showed me his watch face. “Plan is a bit of an overstatement.”

  “It’s a plan,” Matt said. “Thanks to Alexandra, we know the Omni is impersonating Larch’s assistant. Asher put in a call to Daria and asked her to let us know when Larch’s team is back onsite.”

  “Thank God for Daria,” Liv said, grudgingly.

  As we wended our way downtown on surface streets, it struck me—not for the first time—that Asher must be something special in the sack to have all these women willing to take risks to help him.

  My body leaned up against my guardian, fitting perfectly. There was no space between us. His hands rubbed my shoulder as if he instinctively knew I needed to be warmed. As the heat of his body seeped into me, my muscles relaxed.

  “Wait a minute,” I gasped. “You didn’t let Daria know it was the Omni?” That knowledge would put her life in jeopardy. I didn’t want to risk another innocent.

  “No,” Asher said. “She just thinks we have questions for ‘Jason.’”

  “Speaking of Larch's overeager assistant,” Liv asked, furrowing her brow. “What do you suppose happened to the real Jason?”

  “Three guesses, luv. I doubt he's on vacation in the Seychelles.”

  “We're dealing with a deviant here.” Matt’s hands stopped their rhythmic massaging of my shoulder. “I don't need to tell you all to stay sharp.”

  “Okay, we find the Omni, then what?” I asked, suddenly feeling naked without my blades. My coven must have unclipped my harness when I passed out. “I’ll need my daggers.”

  “No you won’t.” Matt’s tone was stern, but he put his hand on my knee gently. “After a major display of magic like that, a spellcaster needs rest. You’re staying in the car.”

  Before I could tell Matt how very wrong he was, Asher met my gaze in the rearview. “They’re in the trunk.”

  One dull hour of stakeout later, we were hurtling down Washington State Highway 522. Following “Jason.”

  “Where the hell is he going?” Liv sounded like she was at the end of her rope.

  Highway 522 had a steady stream of traffic, which was good for us. Plenty of cars for Asher to hide behind, since an invisibility spell seemed rather unwise at these speeds. Surrounded by dense evergreen forest, the long stretches between street lights gave our journey a wild aura. With my head resting on the window, I could feel the air outside growing colder as we exited onto US Route 2 and the elevation increased. This highway was blasted from solid mountain by chain gangs in the ’20s. Headlights showed the jagged boulders stretching up to the sky and iced waterfalls reaching down into the earth.

  “Seriously, where the hell are we going?” Liv asked again.

  “You think I have mind reading abilities, luv?” Asher snapped.
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  We were all on short fuses. An uncertain future did that to you. Would capturing the Omni and taking him in—assuming we could without getting him or ourselves killed—solve our problems? Would he still be wearing the amulet? Had he worn it as Jason (in which case he would have had to hide its glow under multiple layers of clothing), or did he have it hidden somewhere...or had he, like Leonard before him, sold it to the highest black market bidder days ago?

  “Looks like he’s stopping for dinner,” I said. The shifter swung his SUV into the Mountain View Diner lot, and Asher pulled into the parking lot next door. Dang, what I would do for a piece of the diner’s mudslide pie from their rotating pie case. Memories of college ski trips flooded me, times when life was simple. I had no idea how easy things were back then.

  Five minutes later the shifter came out with four bags stuffed with takeout. “Guess being an Omni makes you hungry,” Asher observed.

  Winding through narrow roads that climbed the mountain, Asher kept his distance with the headlights off and pulled over when the shifter turned into the driveway of a house alone at the end of a deserted road.

  “Crack house?” Liv guessed. “Shifter bikers?”

  “Demon den,” Matt said decisively. “Rural areas have more of them than you might expect. They’ll let allies like him crash there, but no guarantees your hosts won’t tear you apart if they get bored. Or hungry.”

  We let that sink in as we waited for him to go into the house. Then we looked at each other and all got out of the car.

  “Whoah,” Matt said. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Following the Omni. With my coven.” I headed to the trunk to get my blades.

  “No, you need rest,” Asher concurred. “You are not combat ready.”

  “Sorry,” Liv added. “This time, they’re right.”

  Matt stood blocking my path.