Magic's Touch

by Terri Pray

  Fluffy, pale peach towels wrapped about her body, a smaller one gathering up her hair. Odd, these were the sort of things she had expected a woman to buy, not a man. Didn’t they tend to prefer those big sports towel things? A gift from a woman? Cali Star, perhaps?

  Clean clothes waited for her on the stool in the corner of the well lit bathroom, called by the very spell that had sent her dirty clothes back to her room.

  Chapter Seven

  “Are you feeling any better?” Darrel asked once she had settled back into the room, pressing a hot drink into her hands. He’d taken the time to wash and change himself, though where he had done that she couldn’t be certain. Still, she found herself looking over the couch for any signs of the pleasure they’d shared twice over.

  It would have been so easy to curl up in his arms and try for round three but there were more important things to think about right now.

  “Yes, though I’m still trying to figure out how to deal with Brian.” She took a sip from the mug and smiled. Hot chocolate, just what she’d needed. With a soft sigh she curled her still bare feet up onto the couch. “His damn ego has reached a point where he thinks he can do anything at all, regardless of how hurtful it may be. He has no thought of being caught, and even if he did I think he honestly would expect Karol to defend him, deny his actions and refuse to report him if the police were called in.”

  “It sounds as though, in all honesty, Brian needs to be taken down a peg or two. He needs to be taught a good lesson in humility. Killing him, or just forcing him to divorce Karol wouldn’t do any good.” Darrel turned, leaning back against the couch. “Anything else won’t work with him. You could get Karol to leave, you could tell the whole world about what he is doing but he’ll still go on doing what he is now. It won’t be with Karol but it will be with someone else. There’ll always be another woman out there willing to fall for his lies.”

  “There has to be a way. I’m not going to let him get away with it.” Hailey tried to keep calm. She couldn’t just sit back and do nothing, not now that she knew just what he had been putting Karol through.

  Dammit. It just wasn’t fair.

  All that power at her fingertips and she wasn’t allowed to do something for Karol. What good was this magic that flowed through her body if she had to sit back and watch her friend be destroyed an inch at a time?

  “How far are you willing to go for a friend? I mean really go?”

  “As far as it takes. I’ve already broken the law and risked my place in the eyes of the community in order to protect her; I’ll go all the way if I have to.” She looked over the rim of the large mug, meeting his dark gaze. “If I had to step over into the realms of dark magic to bring him down then that’s what I’ll do. Goddess help me, I’d do it.”

  “Then give me a few days to figure something out, then we can deal with him. I don’t think it will take us making a pact with the blood-robed Goddess…”

  “Dark magic.” She shook her head, looking into the swirling surface of the milky hot chocolate. Was that the only way? And why was she even considering it?

  Because there was no other way?

  “Only for Karol would I ever even think of going this far. Mom would think I’ve lost what little sense I have left.”

  Darrel reached out, brushing one finger along the line of her jaw, a shiver following the gentle touch. “Your mother once told me it was not magic that was black or white, dark or light, but the will behind that magic. A spell that others might see as evil might well save a life. Think about it; even spells in the name of she who walks in eternal night can be used for good.”

  An argument Gem and her mother had indulged in on countless occasions. Not because they sat on opposite sides of the fence, but because they differed on how it should be explained to the world. “The council would disagree with you.”

  “The council of mages has become so wrapped up in keeping the mundanes happy that they wouldn’t know how to cope with that type of idea. Yet it stems from long before the council ever existed. Take the creator of the anti-AIDS spell. We all know that the magic she used is seen as dark magic because it involved the use of blood, but look at the good she did. Yet our own council decrees she is outcast.” Darrel spoke calmly, but the look in his eyes held the passion for his beliefs. “You can’t tell me that was the right decision.”

  A decree that had led to the fear that now plagued the mundanes and the laws they were trying to pass. And those laws would be the death of freedom for every mage user, vampire, spirit talker and shifter on the face of the planet. “Politics seldom makes sense, regardless of our council, or their house of congress.”

  “It goes beyond that. We’ve let their beliefs, their religions, fears, nightmares and anything else they want to add to the list now dictate our path through this world.” His jaw clenched, hands tightening into fists. “I don’t know why we let them push us this far. But in many respects we’re as much to blame as they are. We could have put a stop to this last year, or even before then, but we were content as a people just to let things run their natural course.”

  “We never thought it would go this far.”

  “We never thought at all.”

  “You should stop by and talk to Aunt Gem one day.”

  He nodded towards one of the candles that sat on an end table. “Who do you think gave me that?”

  Hailey looked from the candle to Darrel and back again. “I thought that looked familiar somehow, and I’m beginning to get the distinct impression that I was set up somehow.”

  “Not by me, you weren’t, though I won’t vouch for Gem ‑‑ she can be a devious one.” He smiled, pulling his hand back from her face. “And as I understand it your mom was just as bad when she was younger.”

  “It’s just annoying. The least she could have done was give me your real phone number and saved me some searching.” Gem had just smiled, not mentioning she knew just what Darrel was doing now. “It took me an hour just to find your old number. She just sat back watching me jump through hoops trying to find out where your lived.”

  “But she recommended that you talk to me?” Darrel smiled, a light dancing within his dark eyes.

  “Yes.”

  “So why didn’t you just ask her for the phone number?”

  Chapter Eight

  She could feel him, his touch still played over her skin, the soft nips of his tender lips against her nipples. Her thighs clenched before she had even had the chance to sit down at the kitchen table. What was it about that man?

  It had to be more than the fact he was an empath.

  She’d met empaths before, and not one of them had left her feeling like this.

  All right, so she’d not had sex with an empath either, but still…

  They’d talked for hours before she’d finally stumbled home ‑‑ too tired to even cast a simple travel spell, she’d had to resort to calling a cab. At least Gem had already been asleep by the time she’d walked in through the door ‑‑ that had been one small mercy.

  Goddess, her clit throbbed at the slightest thought of him, and she could have sworn that she smelled cinnamon from the moment she had crawled out of her bed. Now, still blinking away the night, she’d moved with sleep-heavy legs to the kitchen in the hope of finding some tea, or perhaps a little breakfast.

  Fate had another plan.

  Or perhaps it was her Venus form that had taken hold of Hailey?

  “So how did it go last night?” Gem’s voice brought Hailey out of her daydreams. “You were gone some time, longer than I expected. It had to be well after midnight before you came home. I was a little worried. But I reminded myself that if you had run into any trouble you’d have triggered the family ward stone.”

  “And here I was assuming that I had long since outgrown the need for a curfew.”

  “Now who said anything about a curfew, love?” Gem squeezed her shoulder. “I’m just curious as to what went on. How things went between you and Darrel last night.”
<
br />   “Sure you are. Why didn’t you tell me you’d been meeting him for political discussions?”

  “Tea, conversation, and yes, the occasional rambling discussion on politics, but for the most part I’ve been doing what I can to help him learn to shield and control his gifts. Not really something I can help him out with that much. He’s a wild card. No amount of training will ever be able to give him more than limited control, which is what makes him so sought after.” Gem snagged the newspaper from the table, settling down into her chair with it.

  “And that stopped you from giving me his number?” Injured pride threatened to choke off her words. “I spent hours tracking him down last night. That time could have been put to better use.”

  “You never asked me for it.” Gem turned down the corner of the page in order to answer. “Honestly, how many times were you told by your mom to open your mouth and learn to ask? If you’d been able to do that with Karol you wouldn’t have had to go looking for Darrel’s help in the first place. Besides, it kept you distracted and that stopped you from worrying too much.”

  Hailey nearly swallowed her tongue in the coughing fit that followed. Had Gem really assumed she needed the distraction?

  “Take a good slow breath, have a cup of tea, and calm down. Everything I do is for a reason though I admit you getting laid seems to have done you a world of good. I’ve never seen you glow so much. It looks far better on you than your normal ‘I’m on top of the world and don’t need anything’ look that you practice on a daily basis.” Gem folded the paper onto her lap, smiling.

  “What?”

  “You’re planning on denying it?”

  “I…” She barely got that word out before Gem continued.

  “Why else would you come home in a different set of clothes than you left in and have used magic to send the dirty set back? Not to mention having taken a shower using a soap that I didn’t make. Cinnamon, isn’t it? Darrel’s preference there. It suits him.” Gem smiled calmly as she spoke. “Now think about this: you’re a grown woman, he’s a good looking man, an empath, he’s linked to you and willing to do what it takes to help Karol. You’ve not had a boyfriend in how long now? You’re human, not made of ice. Goddess, if I was a few years younger I’d have made a play for him myself.”

  “You set me up. Gem how could you?”

  “Yes, and your point is?”

  “I went for help and you set me up on a date!”

  “We’ve already established that fact, or was he so good that you’ve developed a short term memory problem?” Gem inquired calmly, a teasing twinkle dancing within bright green eyes.

  “Aunt!” Heat flushed across her cheeks.

  “Yes, I set you up. Yes, I’ve kept in contact with Darrel over the years and yes, he’s turned into a buff young man that I would be hard pressed to turn out of my own bed if I woke up and found him there buck naked.” Gem didn’t miss a beat as she spoke. “Now we’ve established that set of information, can we move onto more important things?”

  Buff? Her aunt had used the word buff? Did people even say that anymore?

  “So what are you going to do about Brian, or were you and Darrel so busy with a more intimate discussion that you forgot about the reason you went to see him?” Gem’s eyes twinkled. “Yes, I know I’m terrible.”

  That was one word for it. “He said he might be able to come up with a way that we can work to get Brian dealt with, but we needed to do something that would give him a lesson to remember instead of a one-time thing he could shrug off.”

  “Makes sense. It’s something that has to be dealt with carefully or else he will just move on to the next willing victim and she might not be as lucky as Karol has been.”

  Gem frowned, leaning back in her chair. “I can see where he is going with this. Magic, a spell that will have long term effects…you do know the price of that, don’t you?”

  Yes, she did. Caught, it could mean her powers stripped from her, the very thread of magic torn from her core. “Yes. I’ll admit it’s not the best idea but what other choice is there? We can’t leave Karol to live like that. He’ll kill her if this keeps spiraling the way it has been.”

  “We could hire a vampire to take care of the problem. There are still a few around who will do that, but then it might backfire and turn Brian into one. We’d have the same problem if we asked one of the Were-creatures to do it. Though I could always talk to the master of the city. He might be willing to make sure it went down without a hitch. However, the problem we’d then be left facing is Karol’s grief and the self blame that might follow.” Gem tossed out options only to rule them out just as quickly.

  Hailey hadn’t even thought about that possibility. With the way Karol had been emotionally beaten down over the past few years it wouldn’t have taken much for her friend to turn even an accidental death into something Karol had caused. How many years of therapy would her old friend then have to face just so she could stop blaming herself?

  No, that was one route they needed to avoid.

  “Reporting him won’t do any good. Even if he has resorted to violence then Karol would have to be willing to speak against him and I don’t think she’s reached that point. Besides, once you have a vamp or shifter in your pay then you’re open to being caught out if a hunter catches them.” Gem continued her line of thought.

  Hunters. That was another aspect of the mundanes she didn’t get. They overlooked the hunters, those nonmagical humans who so hated those with the gift, or the paranormal species that now openly shared the world. It gnawed at her. How often did a hunter get arrested?

  Even when they were, they were released within a day or so. Found not guilty. Some minor detail about how you couldn’t truly murder someone who was dead, and how shifters didn’t hold full human status anyway so the courts would end up arguing that it wasn’t homicide but rather an animal cruelty charge.

  With the change in laws, the situation would only deteriorate. How many new hunter’s would try to take advantage?

  The entire situation bordered on insane.

  Dangerous, just like Brian.

  Waiting for Karol to consider going to the police offered the all too real chance of leaving it too long. Just one more set of raised voices could do it. The last thing she wanted to do was end up being the one identifying Karol’s body.

  “Darrel said he would call as soon as he had a possible answer. He was going to do some looking into the situation.” Darrel Indigo…who’d have thought she would have ever relied on him for answers? How things changed if you lost contact with people over the years. He certainly wasn’t what she’d thought he would turn out to be.

  “He’s quite the surprise, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, an empath. I always thought he was blocked or nongifted. I never expected to find out that he’d changed so dramatically.” She could still feel his presence at the back of her mind. A lingering warmth, almost a strength that offered her a way to look for aid. From the moment she had awoken, he had been there with his silent support.

  “I’m guessing the link stayed in place when you two were…”

  “Yes,” she answered before Gem could finish the sentence, heat blossoming across her cheeks. “Yes, it did.”

  “I’ve heard that can be quite intense, feeling everything your partner is experiencing.” Gem flashed a wicked smile. “Perhaps you could tell me about it a little later?”

  “Aunt!” Bad enough that her nipples tingled at the slightest mention of him without Gem making matters worse.

  “Well I am something of a scholar, as you are well aware and it would be an interesting learning opportunity.”

  “I’m not…”

  “Willing to share so that I can broaden my knowledge? How very disappointing; I suppose I shall just have to ask him myself when I get the chance.”

  “Aunt Gem,” she growled.

  “It’s all in the name of my research. You do understand this, don’t you? I have no interest in prying into your priva
te life. I should add your experience to the journals; don’t you want others to have a better understanding of what it’s like to be bonded with an empath? You’d have loved the information before going to see Darrel, wouldn’t you?”

  “I’m not willing to discuss it.”

  Gem sighed. “I’m not trying to pry into your personal life; it’s just for the records. You do understand don’t you, dear?”

  Of course she did, and the man in the moon was a really a PVC-wearing transvestite with spiked pink hair.

  “I’m just not willing to discuss this with you, Gem.” Her mind raced as she tried to find another topic, something that would distract her aunt. Her gaze fell on the newspaper, the headline. Okay, that would work. “Besides there are more interesting things to talk about ‑‑ like the news about the vote and just what we are all supposed to do about the change in situation?”

  “Don’t get me started on that. I don’t suppose you heard what they pushed through last night? The breeding permit and the registration program are to be voted on together. The newest argument doesn’t even try to make sense. With one breath they’re trying to say there are far too many magic users in the world, and in the next claiming they need the registration program to determine our true numbers and locations.”

  Hailey stared at her aunt. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. Pushed through without giving the magic touched a chance to fight back? Or even make a loud enough protest?

  “Don’t try to make sense of it. I nearly gave myself a headache reading through their arguments. But if you truly want to indulge in a waste of time then it’s all in this morning’s paper.” Gem shoved it across the table towards her.

  “What are they trying to do?”

  “Control us, the same thing they’ve always wanted. Before now, it was through torture and witch hunts. But modern times and new technology offer other ways of keeping track of us now.”

  Hailey let her gaze move back over the newspaper, down past the headlines into the small print, the details. Her jaw clenched instantly, fury building within the pit of her stomach. Just what in the name of Hecate did they think they were up to?