The Witch's Quest

by Michele Hauf

  “Dean Maverick’s wife?”

  “Right. Dean was promoted to principal of the Northern pack because Ridge Addison has retired. But I’m not sure I should ask Sunday to do such a thing for me. The familiar needs to lead us through the portal into Faery. Could be risky. And I don’t want to endanger Sunday.”

  “You don’t have to. I think I have something better than a familiar.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Matilda.”

  “Should I ask?”

  “Matilda is my kestrel falcon. Well, I don’t own her, but she is my friend and we’ve been together since I was little. I don’t keep her in a mews, though. She lives free in the Darkwood. Whenever I visit the woods she finds me. She can cross over to Faery.”

  “Really? Wow.”

  “She’s gone into Faery many times. Likes to bring me back things. Like these.” He held up the mouse alicorn and the tourmaline cipher. “She could guide us through the portal. And it would mean a lot to me to finally get to Faery accompanied by the one friend I’ve had for so long.”

  “I think that’ll work. It’s only nine. We could head there tonight, if you want to.”

  A huge red drip from the Popsicle splattered Kelyn’s abs, and Valor bowed to clean it with a lash of her tongue.

  “That,” he said on a low growl. “Or we could have sex again?”

  “I vote for the sex. The spell didn’t specify a time of day, only during the waning moon, which it is, so I think we can do night or day. And if I have to return to that place, I’d prefer day.”

  “Are you okay with going back into the Darkwood?”

  “Honestly?” She curled up against his chest and met his gaze. “I’m a little scared. Hell, I’m freaked. What if that tree comes after me again?”

  “I’ll protect you.”

  “You will. But you’ve nothing left to sacrifice this time.”

  “I would give everything I have for you, Valor.”

  “You already have.” She caught a breath in her throat, feeling it tickle and threaten at tears. “We make a good team, yes?”

  “That we do.”

  She kissed him and he made a grab for her breast while he was still holding the melting Popsicle. Valor jumped at the cold touch against her nipple. The soft treat crushed into her skin, and the stick fell to the floor. “You going to take care of this mess?” she asked her lover.

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  * * *

  After sex, and a shower to wash off the faery dust and Popsicle juice, Kelyn suggested they head out on the town for a little celebration. He wanted to take Valor out, treat her special.

  “You could wear the dress you had on before our wild table sex,” he said. “Never thought I’d see you in a dress.”

  “I do dresses. When I feel like it.” She was still naked and combing her fingers through her hair at the end of the bed. “But you know, I’m not actually a real girl, Kelyn. In case you hadn’t noticed.”

  “What in the world does that mean?” He pulled up his pants but didn’t zip and leaned over her to kiss the crown of her head. “You’re real.”

  “Yeah, but not in the girlie sense. I don’t do pink or ruffles or makeup. It’s just not me. So if we go out...”

  “You can wear whatever you like. It doesn’t have to be a dress. And I think you’re a girl no matter what you say. A girl who rocks combat boots.”

  She smirked, but he sensed her reluctance. So she was a tomboy. Didn’t bother him. Valor was the first woman he actually felt comfortable around. No need to worry what the chick would think of him if getting on his horny exploded dust all over her skin. And, seriously, what man liked sorting through ruffles and tons of makeup to get to the real woman beneath?

  “Where did you plan to take me?”

  He figured someplace too upscale might freak her out. Much as he wanted to treat her and show her a good time, they could do that anywhere, really. Didn’t have to be a four-star restaurant or a fancy ballroom. Of which Minneapolis didn’t have a lot to offer.

  “How about the Blue Room?”

  “The nightclub in St. Paul?” She shrugged, indifferent. “That’s cool. Maybe I could manage a little makeup for that place.”

  “The whole place is blue, including the lights. Makeup will make you look weird. Go natural, the way I like you.”

  She nodded. “Okay, but let me find something to wear. I can be ready in ten.”

  “I’m going to head down to the car and give Blade a call. Ask him about entering the Darkwood by his place tomorrow. I’ll wait for you outside?”

  “Yep.”

  Chapter 21

  She was stunning. But Kelyn didn’t tell her that. The first time he’d given her a compliment, she punched him in the biceps and sneered. So he kept it to himself as he admired Valor wandering to the bar to get a drink. She wore a silky number. Violet. It was cut high to expose one thigh. And her combat boots were like her trademark. He loved the look so much he wanted to shout it for everyone to hear. He loved the tomboy with the purple hair and an affinity for invoking television doctors’ names when she was pissed—or well sexed—and who could kiss him so silly he forgot about his woes.

  She tossed back a shot of vodka at the bar, then turned and gestured with a kink of her finger for him to join her on the dance floor. Some kind of erratic, bouncy tech music rocked the blue-lit bar. It shimmied through his veins. Always one for some let-loose dancing, Kelyn joined his lover in the middle of the dance floor.

  Having a mom and dad who loved to dance to any music that was on the radio when he was growing up had encouraged Kelyn to dance right along. And he had some moves, if he did say so himself. Hands above his head, he bounced to the beat along with the dance floor crowd. This was freedom. This was also connection.

  “I love that you love to dance!” Valor shouted above the music.

  He pulled her against his body and licked the sparkling skin below her earlobe. “I could dance with you all night.”

  “Then let’s do it!”

  And so they did. Basked in the blue glow, their teeth and the whites of their eyes glowed under the black lights, revealing laughter, smiles and a sexy wink every now and then. They closed down the bar, dancing nearly every dance, save for a few drink breaks.

  At two in the morning, the pair wandered down the tree-shaded sidewalk toward the parking lot, hands clasped and Valor’s head tilted onto Kelyn’s shoulder.

  “I’ve never known a man who likes dancing so much,” she said and hugged him tightly. “You rock in so many ways I can’t even begin!”

  “Makes me feel alive.” He kissed the crown of her head as they arrived at the Firebird. “It’s like flying.”

  “Oh.” She sobered quickly, and only then did Kelyn realize what he’d said.

  “Well, it is. I can’t deny it.” He leaned against the car door, crossing his arms. “So the wings made me...me. And I’m eager to get them back. Is that what you need to hear?”

  “Yes. And we’re going to make that happen tomorrow. Then you can fly all day and never touch down.”

  “I’ll have to if I want a kiss from you. I could take you flying over the treetops.”

  “Would you? That would rock.” She pumped a fist. “Is what I’ve heard about faeries and their wings and, uh...sex, for real?”

  That when someone stroked a faery’s wings it was a sexual touch and produced the same sensations as if more intimate parts of them were being touched? Hell, yes. And with sigils activated? Beyond words. But he’d not had an opportunity to experience such. He’d actually never slept with another faery. And wings out with a human woman? Wasn’t going to happen.

  “You’ll have to wait to find out.” He winked at her and she plunged into his arms and kissed him. “F
irst thing I’m going to do after I get my wings is make love to you.”

  “That could be awkward if we’re still in Faery and, I don’t know, there’s a defeated and pouting demon standing nearby.”

  “You have a point. I’ll save it for when we get back home. I expect I may have to do some demon fighting to get back my wings. But I can take the guy. This time he won’t have a helpless witch to hold over me.”

  “I’m so—”

  He kissed her quickly so she couldn’t apologize again. “Let’s go to my place.”

  “Your place?”

  “What?”

  “I’ve never been there. Yes! I finally get to see my man’s place.”

  “Nothing to get excited about. It’s a place out in the country. Pretty simple.”

  * * *

  It was simple, and gorgeously stark. Kelyn lived about five miles west of his parents’ home in Forest Lake. The road to his home wound through thick spruce trees and white paper birch. Even when they’d arrived, Valor wasn’t sure they had because she didn’t see the house until they stood on the doorstep and he invited her in.

  The small, one-level house sat over a stream. Yes, a narrow stream actually flowed beneath the framework and parallel to the footings. Inside, it was decorated with what Valor decided was a Japanese aesthetic. Simple rice paper walls slid noiselessly aside to reveal the tiny kitchen done in unvarnished blond pine. The living room offered low gray seating cushions set on a long bamboo mat. No other furniture beyond a small wood altar placed before a window that made up an entire wall.

  She bowed to study the altar and found a piece of quartz, tourmaline, a raven’s feather and a small copper bowl on it. Understated and, apparently, the man was not a collector of things. She could dig it.

  “Please tell me you have a bed?”

  His kiss to her neck sent shivers directly to her nipples, which tightened in anticipation. Clasping her hand, he tugged her toward another rice paper wall, which he pushed open to reveal a mattress set on a low pine base. The white sheets were pulled taut, making her want to jump on it and mess it up. Again, another wall was completely a window, and it revealed the dark woods outside.

  “I’m in love,” she said as she bowed and landed on the bed, stretching her arms across the sheets that smelled like cedar. “I wasn’t sure what to expect of your place, but this is you. Simple and spare.”

  “Are you calling me simple?” He landed on the bed, on top of her, and nuzzled a snuffling kiss between her breasts.

  “No!” She laughed and kicked her feet. “Kelyn! No tickling! Please?”

  “Fine.” He rolled off her and splayed out his arms. Tilting his head backward, he managed to reach a little remote at the head of the bed and push the button.

  Faint white light illuminated the forest outside the window, and Valor turned in time to see a doe dart away. Another pair of eyes glowed from within a grassy crop at the base of a tree. “A possum! Wow, it’s so beautiful out here. You must hate going into town.”

  “I do spend a lot of time out here by myself. I could spend all day flying through the trees.”

  She clasped his hand and kissed it, but it didn’t feel right to bring up the wing thing again. Tomorrow was the day. “Is this woods a thin place?”

  “Parts of it are, but it’s not like the Darkwood. You are welcome in this forest whenever you wish to roam. And you can pick mushrooms to your heart’s content and collect whatever it is you witches use in your spells.”

  “So why even go to the Darkwood?”

  “Because it feels different there. I sense the connection to that place I want to touch.”

  “I get that. It’s sacred to you.”

  “It is.”

  “Then why not live there?”

  “No one lives in the Darkwood. Blade lives as close as any would dare.”

  “I was a fool to go in the Darkwood. I knew the warnings.”

  Valor sighed and felt the emotions that had preceded her stupid venture well up in her heart and threaten tears. She’d thought she’d gotten over that. But really? She was a woman who had needs. She’d never get over it.

  “Why did you go in there?” he asked. “You said it was for a spell, but you never told me what spell you were casting. Was it as dark and dangerous as I’ve teased at?”

  She rolled onto her stomach and he did, too, so they both looked toward the window. A squirrel crept close to the cabin, digging in the soil on a quest for nuts. Kelyn brushed the hair from the side of her face and kissed her cheek softly.

  The idea of confessing to him both encouraged and frightened her. The weird gulping feeling in her throat, which could result in tears, cautioned her. And yet her heart leaped. She needed him to know her completely. For good or for ill.

  “It was a personal spell,” she said, eyes straight forward, peering through the window. Her heartbeat thundered and she tucked her fingers over the edge of the mattress to hide that they were shaking. “I had recently broken it off with a man I really thought I loved.”

  Kelyn rolled to his side and looked up at her. Yeah, so she had had a boyfriend and, believe it or not, that did sometimes happen in her world.

  “Actually, he was the breaker upper. I didn’t want to break it off. But it was the classic reason.”

  “The classic reason?”

  “Yes. None of my boyfriends or lovers over the years ever said it so plainly as he did. But...he did.”

  She bowed her head against the sheet for a moment. Not crying, but trying to summon the courage to spill. The room was so still. She thought perhaps even the creatures outside had suddenly paused to listen to what she had to say.

  “So, he told me,” she said, lifting her head, “I wasn’t the kind of girl men considered for marriage and having babies and happily-ever-afters. Because, you know, I know I’m not a real girl. And apparently all men do, too. But no one had ever said it to me like that. Just straight-out calling a fish a fish. He actually shrugged, kissed me on the head and said goodbye. Then he calmly stated that he’d been dating another woman at the same time and he intended to ask her to marry him. Can you believe that?”

  Kelyn shook his head. “Asshole.”

  “Right? So, anyway, I think I’d finally had enough. I mean, I’ve lived a long time. I’m heading toward my eighth decade. And I’ve had a great life. I love my life. But you know? I felt like he could have been the one. That maybe we could have had something. Together.”

  “I’m sorry,” Kelyn offered. “Breakups are tough. But what he said to you? It wasn’t true.”

  Valor smirked. “Yes, it was. I know that. I like being one of the boys. Except when I don’t want to be.” She tilted her head to look into his violet irises, feeling as if he would never be so cruel to her. And she knew that with a certainty that made her smile.

  “So, did you intend to cast a love spell in the Darkwood that night? Bring your true love to you?”

  “Love spells can be messy, and you’ve got to really want the intended one because you could be stuck with him for-freaking-ever. Actually, I was going to cast a spell on myself to make me more lovable.”

  “Valor, you are so lovable. Combat boots and all.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re Mr. Nice Guy. You have to say stuff like that.”

  “I think the spell worked.” He teased at the ends of her hair. “But not the spell you wanted to cast.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He kissed her then and pulled her into a hug. “Just think about it for a while. I’m not going to point out the obvious. In fact, I have something more interesting in mind.”

  “Such as?”

  “I’ve never had sex with a woman on this bed.”

  “What? I don’t believe that.”

  “I’ve told you, I have to pic
k up club girls who are all sparkly and then go home with them. I wake in the mornings amid pink frills and so much freaking glitter it’s like I landed in a fun house. The only advantage was that the woman was never the wiser that I put off faery dust while we were getting it on.”

  “That is...quite the problem to have. So...” She spread her hand across the white sheets. “Virgin sheets?”

  He nodded. His grin teased at her like no tickle ever could.

  “But first.” She pressed a hand to his chest to stop his approach for a kiss. “Tell me what worked when I was supposed to speak the spell in the Darkwood. I don’t get it.”

  “Valor.” He tugged her against his chest and pushed the hair from her face, staring into her eyes as if to seek her soul. “I’m not telling!”

  And with that, he landed a tickle right at her waist that had her flinching out of his grasp and squirming across the sheets.

  “Cheater!” she managed. Snagging the end of his shirt, she pushed it up over his head and forced him back onto the bed, his head landing on the pillow. His hands and lower arms were still tangled in the shirt, so she had him in an effective pin. “My turn to tease you.”

  Kelyn tossed aside his shirt but then put his arms up above his head and clasped his hands together. “Okay.” He rocked his hips under her. “Go for it.”

  Valor waggled her brows at him. Time to tease the faery.

  Bowing to his chest, she kissed him at the base of his neck, then lashed out her tongue to taste his skin. He didn’t have the salty taste she would expect, but rather something a person could not describe with taste words, so she settled on wild green forest freshness. It had become her favorite flavor.

  Dragging her tongue down the defined indent between his rock-hard abs, she twirled it around his belly button, then ventured lower to explore the angled cut muscles that V’d into his jeans.

  “You men are so interesting,” she said. “What do you call these muscles here? I mean, they’re like the sexiest thing ever.”

  “I’m not—oh, yeah.” A nip of her teeth to the skin above his jeans’ fly dissuaded any discussion.

  She unbuttoned and unzipped him, being careful because the guy did not wear underwear. His soft blond curls sprang out behind the unzipped metal teeth and then his erection rose like the mighty totem it was, demanding worship.