by Cynthia Eden
No? Sabrina shook her head. “Adam?”
“Won’t…be prisoner…”
“No, no, you won’t be. I’ll make sure of it.” She kissed his lips. They were already cold. “You’ll be with me. We’ll be together. We’ll never let anyone control you again. We’ll—”
“I don’t know how to work the binding spell!” Kevin cried. “Listen, man, I keep trying to tell you. This is over my head. I can…I can maybe make him into a zombie or um, I can—”
“You can get the hell out of our way.” Another voice joined the mix. Luke’s booming voice. She wasn’t particularly surprised that he’d joined their group on the beach. “This isn’t amateur hour,” Luke snapped. “Let a professional work.”
A professional? Sabrina pulled her gaze from Adam’s face…and she saw that Luke had come to the beach with his own witch. A tall, beautiful, African American woman stood at his side. And the woman’s gaze was on Sabrina.
“Cordelia?” Sabrina barely breathed the witch’s name. The witch…her best friend. The most powerful witch that Sabrina had ever known. Relief had her shaking. If anyone could help…if any witch could cast that spell…“Cordelia, I need you to give Adam more time.”
Cordelia approached Sabrina slowly, and magic seemed to crackle in the very air around the witch.
“Oh, sweet hell,” Kevin muttered. He immediately backed away. “Out of my league…out of my…”
Cordelia put her hand on Sabrina’s shoulder. “I can’t make him into a stone beast again. Even I’m not on Meredith’s level.”
“H-he can be a vampire. Or a—”
“Or he can be a man.”
Sabrina’s breath caught.
“I can let him just be a man, Sabrina.” Cordelia’s voice was soft as the waves crashed. “He can be human, with the right magic. He can be a man who walks away from this beach and he leads a normal life.”
“Yes!” She could feel hope exploding within her. “Let him—”
“A human life, Sabrina. One that will eventually end.”
I can solve that problem. Give me enough time. I’ll find a way. He just has to keep living now.
“You’re a very strong being, Sabrina.” Cordelia stared at her with eyes that gleamed with power. “Others have tried to steal your magic, but they weren’t successful. Because that isn’t the way the transfer works, is it? No one can take your magic. You have to give it to them.”
“Y-yes…” Just as she gave inspiration. She had to choose. It could never be taken from her.
“You have nothing but time,” Cordelia continued. “After your two sisters died, Fate was kind to you. She granted you endless time on this earth.”
No, she’s not kind. People always get that wrong. Not kind or cruel. She just…is.
Cordelia squeezed her shoulder. “You can give some of your time to Adam. You can give him your power. I’ll help you channel it…and it will buy him life.”
Adam was gasping beside her. Dying beside her. “He can have it all,” Sabrina said without any hesitation. “Give him everything he needs.” If he would survive, if he would live…
Cordelia opened her left hand, offering her palm to Sabrina.
Sabrina’s fingers curled around hers.
“Now lock your other hand around his,” Cordelia ordered her.
Sabrina wrapped her hand around Adam’s. “Please hurry,” she begged her friend. “Hurry.”
Luke came forward then. He took Cordelia’s free hand in his. She nodded and began to chant.
The waves crashed. The wind blew.
“There’s a price,” Luke said.
Sabrina was staring at Adam. “I don’t care.”
If he would just live…she’d pay any price…
“That’s what they always say,” Luke told her quietly. “But then it’s time to collect and all you hear is bitching and moaning…”
“Any price,” Sabrina vowed. Adam was dying right before her eyes. Just…withering away. “Please…”
Leo put his hand on her back. Sabrina felt raw power rip through her. Leo’s power? Luke’s? Cordelia’s magic?
It hit her all at once, like an electric shock and she screamed. She screamed and screamed because the terrible power was burning right through her…no, no, it was being drained from her.
It’s not their power. It’s mine.
Her power was being drained…and when she looked at her and Adam’s joined hands, she could see the sparks—the power—dancing in the air as it pumped into him.
She tried to smile. He was going to be all right.
But then the whole world around her went black.
***
Sabrina’s eyes flashed open. “Adam!” Sabrina screamed his name even as she lurched into a sitting position. She was on the beach. The waves were soaking her legs and Adam…
“Sorry, Sabrina.” Luke stood a short distance away. “But Leo took him away.”
Sabrina shook her head. “What?” Then she scrambled to her feet. “No, no, that wasn’t part of the deal—”
“Bitching and moaning,” Luke muttered as he cast a quick gaze toward Cordelia. “Didn’t I tell you that would happen?”
Sabrina lifted her hand and shoved her palm against her chest. Her heart hurt. “Is Adam alive?”
Cordelia crept toward her with slumped shoulders. Her friend appeared tired. Way beyond tired—more like exhausted. “Very much alive. And…very much human. A normal human. Not one who is about to be ripped apart by time.”
Relief burst inside of Sabrina and she grabbed Cordelia, holding her friend tight. “Thank you!” She squeezed the witch even tighter. “You are the best friend ever!”
Cordelia was tense in her embrace. Not a good sign.
Sabrina slowly let her go. “Cordelia?”
Cordelia glanced away, turning her stare to the waves. “He’s human now. Totally human. And to be totally human…he had to lose the life he’d had.”
“Okay. I hate riddles. Mostly because I suck at them.” She whirled away and started to scamper up the beach. “I’ll go find Adam and I’ll make this all—”
“He doesn’t know you.” Cordelia’s soft voice seemed incredibly, terribly loud.
Sabrina froze.
“He doesn’t remember being a gargoyle. He doesn’t remember being a knight. Because none of that could exist in a normal human’s life. That was what your magic gave him, you see. Life…years.”
Sabrina turned back slowly. “I don’t understand.” But now her gaze slid to a watchful Luke. “Tell me what’s happening.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s for the best. You have a very bad track record with humans. You wouldn’t want to…inspire him…but you would. He’d become obsessed. It wouldn’t be love, not anymore. He’d be lost to the madness that is…you.”
Her spine straightened. “I’m not madness.”
Luke just lifted a brow.
“I’m not madness!”
“No, you’re inspiration. Only madness and that genius inspiration often get twisted, don’t they?”
“I—”
Luke dropped his hands and walked toward her. “Do you want that for him? Do you want him to get lost in you? Or do you want Adam—a man who has suffered and been a prisoner for centuries—do you want him to finally have that normal life?”
A life that doesn’t include me. “He…he doesn’t remember anything about me?”
Luke shook his head. “And now you get to decide…will it stay that way? Will you let him go? Let him live…or will you go after him? Go find the man you loved and make him remember you? Because I’m sure it would be so easy for you. You’d walk up to him, touch him…and bam, just like every other human, he’d fall under your spell. Be it for good or bad.”
The wind was cold against her. “This is the price, isn’t it?”
Luke just looked at her.
She wanted to punch him. She wanted to scream. She wanted Adam. “He gets to live, but he has to live witho
ut me. That’s the price. Only you didn’t tell me before I agreed—”
“You said you’d pay any price,” Luke cut in. “You promised. Or were you lying?”
She looked at the water. She could feel Cordelia’s gaze on her. The waves were rough. A storm was coming.
The storm is already here.
“I wasn’t lying,” she whispered.
“No, I didn’t think so.” His voice was quiet. Luke cleared his throat. “And, by the way, I think this concludes the original deal that we made, too.”
She couldn’t look away from the waves.
“You wanted protection. I provided it. Eric has been taken care of…”
“I’m the one who shot him. I don’t see how you get to take credit for that.”
The sky darkened. “I set a chain of events into motion.” His voice had deepened. “Without me, you wouldn’t be where you are now.”
“Stuck on a beach, with my lover long gone? Right, I wouldn’t be. Thanks so much.”
He growled.
Her hands fisted. “Don’t worry, Luke. I keep my deals. You want inspiration. You got it. Just tell me where and when.”
He moved to stand in front of her, forcing Sabrina to meet his stare. She was so cold on the inside. Icy. Her heart seemed to be freezing in her chest.
Not freezing. I think it’s turning to stone.
“I will…” Luke smiled. She didn’t like his smile. “When the time comes.”
Then he turned away and began to walk down the beach. She didn’t speak, not until he was long gone. “I think I may hate him.”
Cordelia’s hand curled around her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Adam’s alive.”
“Yes.”
The pain in her chest was growing worse. Spreading…“If he’s alive, then I’m okay.” Lie. Her heart was changing. She could feel it.
I have to think. I have to figure this out.
“I’m sorry…” Cordelia’s voice was halting. “I wish I could have done more for you.”
She looked at her friend. “You saved Adam. You did everything.”
***
Leo found her that night. Maybe finding her wasn’t exactly hard since Sabrina had just gone back to the penthouse she’d shared with Adam. She’d memorized the security codes so getting inside wasn’t hard. And she’d even found a keycard for the elevator waiting for her in the lobby.
Luke’s doing? Probably. Bastard.
Being in that penthouse…it made her feel close to Adam.
And it was a safe place, right? A paranormal haven…
She wasn’t particularly surprised when Leo appeared on the balcony. No, not surprised. She’d been waiting for him.
“Fate is in Nevada,” she said curtly. “The last time I spoke to her, she was working in a bar on the outskirts of Vegas.”
There. She’d done it. Kept her deal with him…and betrayed the last family member that she had.
If anything, his face turned harder as he ordered, “Tell me the name of the bar.”
She stepped toward him. The moon was overhead, shining down on them. “Tell me where Adam is.”
“Why? So you can go and work your magic on him? He’s human…he’d be putty in your hands.” He paused. “Is that what you want? A mindless lover? Or…with Adam’s past…maybe you’ll get another guy like Eric. Someone who steps into the darkness because you get beneath his skin and you don’t—”
“Maybe Eric was just bad to begin with. Maybe I reached out to him too late. Maybe you need to stop blaming shit on me. Maybe you need to own the fact that you screw up, too.” She lifted one hand and put it on his chest. She stared into his eyes and she called up every bit of power that she had. “Maybe you need to finally see yourself for who you really are.”
He blinked. His gaze…shuttered.
That’s right, Leo. You’re not made of stone. I can get to you. I can and I will.
“Your aura has always been so interesting to me. You and Luke. To be twins, your auras are so completely different.” She paused. “Want to know what I see?”
His fingers curled around her wrist. “What game are you playing?”
“Where. Is. Adam?”
“Right here in Miami,” he gritted out. “I gave him back his nightclub. I gave him a whole life…he thinks he’s Adam Cross, a twenty-nine year old entrepreneur. He doesn’t have a care in the freaking world. He’s normal, and he will be happy.”
She sucked in a breath. “You’ll find Fate in a bar called Resurrection. She’s living as a waitress, as a human. She thinks you won’t ever find her. She’s living a normal life, and I think she is as happy as it is possible for her to be.”
They glared at each other.
“Do we leave them to those lives?” Sabrina asked him. “Or do we fucking fight for what we want?”
His face was as hard…as stone.
“We used to be more alike than we were different,” Sabrina whispered. “Remember?”
“Sabrina…”
“Why don’t you reach your full potential again?” she pressed softly.
“You…aren’t going to get beneath my skin.”
Oh, Leo, I’m already there.
“Is there another way I can get Adam back?” Sabrina asked him carefully. “Something you didn’t share with me before…because I do know how you like your secrets.” She knew better than most.
He licked his lips. “Luke said…he said you could have broken the spell without smashing the stone. That he was hoping you’d be able to reach Adam. He’d thought that you would make Adam break free on his own. But…that didn’t happen.” Now his eyes had gone hard. Cold. “If he’d done that, things would have been different.”
Very different.
“But I guess you can’t change Fate,” he murmured.
Her eyes turned to slits. “Don’t bet on it. I’m not giving up on Adam. I will fight for him.”
“You mean you’ll destroy him. Another miscalculation on my brother’s part. Luke didn’t realize…you weren’t ready to pay any price after all. At your core, you are as bad as the other dark paranormals.”
Her teeth clenched.
“You won’t sacrifice your own happiness. See…Adam? He’s not grieving. He’s not hurting. He’s happy. You’re the one in hell, and you’re going to drag a human down with you.” Leo backed away from her. “And for the record, your magic does not work on me.” He leapt off the balcony.
She didn’t move. “Don’t be too sure of that…”
Chapter Twenty
Three weeks, two days…and way too many hours later…
“Holy hell. She should not be here,” the bartender muttered. “This is bad. Very, very bad.”
From where Adam Cross was standing…things looked very, very good. “Who is she?” Adam asked as he stared across the crowded club. His club. His place. He’d busted ass to make this grand opening happen, and from the size of that packed crowd…he’d succeeded.
But his gaze was drawn helplessly to the beautiful blonde. The woman who wore a tight, black dress like a second skin. The woman who slipped through the crowd without touching another person but who still seemed to draw every gaze in the room.
She’d certainly drawn his attention He’d been standing near the bar when she’d walked into the club. As crazy as it seemed, her scent had hit him first.
Sweet. Light.
Seductive.
From all the way across the room, he’d smelled her. Impossible.
She hadn’t looked up at him. She hadn’t even glanced his way. The woman moved around the club as if she’d been there hundreds of times before.
This is the first time I’ve ever opened it to the public.
She paused near the big mirror that he’d hung at the bottom of his stairs. For just a moment, her back pressed to that mirror as she turned to look at the crowd. And her eyes…the most gorgeous shade of blue that he’d ever seen swept toward him.
Adam was pretty sure he stop
ped breathing. “Who is she?” he rasped again. Because from the way his bartender was talking, the guy knew her.
“How the hell am I supposed to know that?” Raymond asked.
Adam dragged his gaze off the woman and glared at Raymond. Raymond Bannon had shown up on the club’s doorstep a week ago, asking for work. He’d been moving a bit slowly, as if the guy was recovering from some kind of injury, but he’d sworn he could handle any kind of work. Adam had felt a connection with the other man—there had just been too much grim determination in Raymond’s gaze for Adam to turn him away.
So he’d hired himself a new bartender.
“Raymond…” Adam sighed out the other man’s name as his fingers tapped on the bar top. “You just told me that she shouldn’t be here. That her being here was, and I quote, ‘bad, very bad.’ Now you’re going to act as if you’ve never seen her before in your life?”
“Have…you seen her before?” Raymond asked carefully. He was sweating.
Adam laughed. “No, and I doubt I’d forget a woman like her.”
Raymond gulped down a drink. “Don’t be too sure,” he mumbled.
Adam frowned at him. “You know her. And you’re going to hold out on me? Man, that’s not what friends do.” He gave the guy a little salute. “Don’t worry, though, I’ll just go over and introduce myself.”
Before he could swing away from the bar, Raymond’s hand flew out and curled around his arm. “Is that what we are?” he asked quietly. “Friends?”
Adam nodded. “Yeah, we are.” His head tilted. “You okay?” Because the guy was acting weird. Even weirder than normal.
Raymond let him go. He offered Adam a weak smile. “Busy night, you know. Guess I’m a little stressed.” He raked his hand over his face. “Her name’s Sabrina. She’s…not the kind of woman you want to fall for, got me? She…she was involved with, uh, my former boss.” His gaze had turned somber. “It didn’t end well.”
“Broke the bastard’s heart, huh?” Sure, he could buy that.
“She put him straight in the grave.”
That was a new slang expression for him. But, obviously, Raymond meant the guy had been so devastated that the break-up had been like death for him. “That’s too bad.”
Raymond grunted.
