by Marie Castle
Carlisle shivered again…but not from the pleasure the words should have evoked. He questioned, not for the first time, making this deal with the devil.
Chapter Six
“If you play with fire, you’re gonna get burned. And if you play with Hellfire, you’ll keep on burning. But oh the pleasure of the fall.”
—Author Unknown
Day Five
I was in the kitchen cooking up suppression amulets while listening to the sounds of battle coming from the backyard. After yesterday’s search for Isabella, my magic had been too low for even such a simple spell. I didn’t want Jacq to know about my new weakness to the phers, so Mynx was again distracting our guest while I worked. Their sparring would also allow Mynx to evaluate Jacq’s skills. Which would be important when we fought together…or if she ever turned on us. Something in me said the latter would never happen, but my more logical side was in control this morning.
Jacq and I were meeting Kyle at The Blue Moon tonight. Run by the Weres’ leader, Grey Gryphon, it was a favorite hangout for anything that turned furry. With only a few nights to the next full moon, the place would be full of aggressive Weres looking for sex. The phers at Mag’s were nothing compared to what would be circulating at Grey’s. Without these amulets, I’d be a puddle of shivering, aching, gotta-fuck-someone’s-brains-out need before I even made it in the door.
This spell didn’t require a circle, so as I stirred it, I watched Mynx and Jacq spar. They were both dressed in dark workout clothes presumably from Mynx’s closet. I’d never seen Jacq with luggage, and nothing of mine or my even more petite aunt would’ve fit our much taller guest. The black jeans and tank fit Jacq like they’d been made for her. The two moved in a synchronized ballet of swordplay so stunningly beautiful that I almost forgot to add the last ingredient: a drop of liquid Were pheromone. Even after I had set the spell into small wooden discs, I continued to watch.
The women appeared well-matched, but I sensed that one or both were holding back. The aggressive show, helped along by the phers, made my blood surge, but I also found it disheartening. The years of study necessary for this level of expertise would find me merely dust in my grave. While witches were long-lived, we weren’t immortal.
Even now I was probably breathing more heavily than those two, though both were covered with a heavy sheen of sweat. Jacq’s ivory skin glowed softly. I couldn’t help but notice the strong arms that so masterfully parried Mynx’s blade. Those arms had kept me standing yesterday while I’d conducted my searching spell. If she had let me fall…That thought stopped as something caught my attention. I narrowed my eyes, frowning as silver runes flashed in the sunlight, glinting off Jacq’s sword. That wasn’t one of ours, practice or otherwise. She hadn’t brought spare clothes, but she’d brought a weapon? I grinned. At least she had her priorities straight.
I tucked the amulets away, taking a moment to think of our guest. Last night after the movie, I’d lingered. I’d been tired. Jacq had been tired. But it’s good to get to know a person if they may someday be fighting at your back. Or at least that was the excuse I gave myself. So, we talked. Jacq was intelligent, charming, and had also been disillusioned with the Council’s machinations for decades. No matter how many hints I dropped, she’d never disclosed her age or species. So it startled me when she shared her motives for leaving the Council.
Originally, she’d been undercover with the PD, working for the Council. After the Genesis, she’d seen an opportunity for the police to learn and had left to help start the first SCU. If she didn’t turn out to be a spy, we might end up friends.
I was about to call a halt to the sparring when I felt the house’s wards shudder. That happens sometimes when the military base’s flyboys create a sonic boom. Sometimes the wards even drop for a millisecond. But the expected boom didn’t follow.
There was a second shudder then a discordant sound like a bow pulled across an untuned fiddle. Shit. I wiped my dirty hands on a tea towel. That was the alarm, which meant someone was attacking the shield. At that moment Jacq glanced in my direction. Seeing me framed in the window, she mouthed, “Stay there.” Then she and Mynx took off, running toward the disturbance.
Like hell I would. Did I look like a dog? If evil knocks on my door, I meet it—pink pajamas, bunny slippers, and all!
Of course, weapons would help. I looked around. I had none. I’d have to lose some time and head to the training room, which was in the wrong direction. I was almost to the kitchen door when a flash of metal caught my eye.
Yes!
For once, being absentminded worked in my favor. My practice sword still leaned against the doorjamb where I’d left it two nights ago. The sword’s blade was dull, but it didn’t have to be sharp to smack someone over the head.
The only question was who to hit first: Our uninvited guest trying to breach the wards or the high-handed guest about to defend them?
As I ran toward the front door, another longer louder shudder hit. Jacq and Mynx had to go around, giving me a chance to get there first. Though it would’ve been better if I weren’t wearing slippers. Floppy ears and soft, no-traction bottoms were not sprinter-friendly. But of course if my aunt were to ask later, I’d state that I walked through the house with ladylike decorum. I’d claim I did not run with a sword (which, though dull for practice, is probably deemed more dangerous than scissors). I did not step on Hex’s tail. And there was no need for me to curse a blue streak as my slippers did not slide on the hardwood floor. This did not cause me to bump into the buffet table holding Aunt Helen’s favorite (now broken…possibly by the cat? At least, that’s my story.) vase.
My ladylike stroll ended with me reaching the wards seconds before the others. Jacq scowled when she saw me, but perhaps her sense of self-preservation had finally kicked in because she didn’t comment. We stood on the grass directly in front of our drive. As the alarm’s cause became apparent, I was very glad to have parked Susie on this side of the swirling blue and green barrier. Three hellhounds were separated from us only by the magical wall. Two were hurling themselves against the wards like kamikaze battering rams. A much larger, third hound was sniffing around my old Silverado.
My jaw dropped, metaphorically. In reality, my teeth were clenched tightly together. Hellhounds were rare, usually staying in, well, Hell. Or rather they lived in the Otherworld, but Hell was much easier to say. A hound there served the same purpose as a hound here. The Demon Elite bred them for hunting. Only the Otherworld’s game usually looked like prehistoric horrors. Consider the type of dogs necessary to take on something from the Mesozoic Era, and you would have a picture of Hell’s hounds. Larger than the largest Great Dane with a pit bull’s locking jaws and the magical ability to track their prey through any plane of existence, they would never be mistaken for anything from Earth. Did I mention their eyes glow an eerie, cliché red? Well, they did. No matter the hound or the location, one thing was always the same: Blood sport wasn’t much fun when it was your blood they aimed to spill.
“Bad puppy!” I yelled as the hound sniffing my Chevy lifted a leg. It was nearly the size of a small pony. Knowing my luck, the flood of demonic pee about to erupt would do something weird—like melt rubber. This was a serious matter. I couldn’t afford new tires right now, but Mynx and Jacq, both laughing loudly behind my back, obviously didn’t see it that way.
I hopped on one foot then the other, removing my slippers. Noticing my footwear, the two laughed louder. I spared Mynx, who knew better, one glare. Then I gave her a wicked smile, immediately strangling her glee. Jacq, unsuspecting, continued to chuckle, the rich sound flowing free. If I had been in a better mood, I might’ve enjoyed how it made her eyes sparkle.
I again faced the hounds, hearing Mynx’s, “Uh-oh,” just as my magic whipped out. Sesame. One of the larger ley-line areas dropped, and I hurled one bunny slipper after another at the urinating mutt. It’s a scientific fact: Bunny slippers make excellent distractions. Plus, the slippers would have to be thr
own out anyway. For some unimaginable reason, they had little vase bits embedded in their bottoms.
“A little warning next time,” Jacq complained as she and Mynx stepped forward to face the two hounds now barreling toward my opened door. Auburn hair glowing in the sunshine, Jacq eyed my sword then moved to stand between me and the wards. I didn’t know if it was her natural protective instincts, if she saw my dull blade as insufficient, or if she simply doubted my battle skills. Whatever her reasoning, it only served to further piss me off.
“Certainly. The next time the big bad comes a knockin’ and I decide to let them in, I’ll be sure and send out a memo first.”
I grew up in a house with four mother figures. My innocent act was flawless, but with sarcasm, there was always room for improvement.
Mynx only gave a Cheshire grin, happy to have the legendary Delacy temper directed at someone other than herself. But my glare must’ve needed work, because the harder I scowled, the more amused Jacq became.
I watched as each woman took a hound. Mine was still happily chewing Mr. Bunny’s ears, so I raised the wards. It could stay on that side until we were ready for it. Although my dull sword might’ve been more effective at tripping the hounds than cutting them, I joined the fight.
The battle was a bloody thing of beauty. Time slowed. Our breathing evened, and the adrenaline flowed. I was oblivious to the sting of rocks cutting my bare feet or the warm sweat trickling down my back. There was only us three, floating across a sea of grass, determined to kill these nightmarish things.
Slash. Cut. Dodge. Thrust. The hounds were built for tracking, speed, and stamina. But they couldn’t turn quickly. Within moments, both were seriously wounded. However, every wound healed, and they kept coming. As if by unspoken consensus, magic began to simultaneously run down our swords.
Mynx’s magic glowed greenish-gold. Jacq’s shimmered silver, like the runes now blazing from her sword. I used my weaker, green earth-magic. As I watched, every cut Jacq made glowed with the silver runes. Then those glowing glyphs slid into the hounds’ bodies. Not only did those wounds not heal, they continued to grow as time progressed. The spell seemed familiar, but I couldn’t remember from where. And there was no time to consider the missing memory.
One hound went down. Jacq stepped aside to finish it. Mynx had the other cornered. It fell, and she prepared to take its head. I turned my attention to locating the third.
Fighting in the daytime was always surreal. Blood and gore were meant for the dark of night. But that’s not always how it goes. The grass beneath my feet was warm. The sky was bright with only a few nimbus clouds hanging against a blue horizon. The smell of May’s early roses was in the air. Oh, and there was Death, Magic and Evil-Intent lurking. See? It doesn’t sound right. And it didn’t feel right.
Everything had ended too easily, but I couldn’t pinpoint the cause of my unease. It was simply a bad feeling—a sudden heavy weight in my gut, a painful clutch at my heart.
I approached the wards, tracking the other women from the corner of my eye. The last hound was nowhere to be seen, which might explain my unrest, but the wooded area our drive cut through was quiet. Still. No giant monster creeping in the shadows. I turned back to the others.
At some point, Mynx had moved between me and her downed hound. I moved to keep them both in sight. Sunlight glinted off steel as she swung for its head. As the sword arced downward, the hound lunged. Maybe it had been playing possum. Maybe it had been truly dead and had reanimated.
Whatever its previous condition, it was now very much alive. The hound swerved her death stroke, its bulk ramming Mynx’s side, knocking her off-balance. She fell, but I didn’t have time to worry for anyone but myself as the hound headed directly for me. Hoping escape was its goal, I lunged sideways, opening a ward door with a thought. But the hound stopped only feet away, looking from me to the wards. It turned, rearing. Razor-sharp claws tore toward my breast. Eyes widening, I instinctively swung my sword to block but knew I was too slow.
This was so gonna hurt.
Suddenly I was pushed aside. Jacq cried out as she took my place. Momentarily dazed, I lay on my face then rolled about. My unmoving rescuer lay a length away. Dark red blood flowed onto the green grass from a slash in Jacq’s side. Something inside me broke.
NO! I wasn’t sure if my scream was in my head or aloud. I tore my eyes from the gruesome tableau to the more grim sight of a hound straddling Jacq, jaws ready to sink into a pale throat.
In my periphery, I saw an unarmed Mynx regain her feet. No time. By some miracle, my sword had landed only inches from my hand. But it would take too long to stand and stop the descending jaws. Acting on instinct, I grasped the familiar leather hilt and called my fire, picturing the form I needed. For once, my magic obeyed without hesitation, running down the blade. For a millisecond, my body and mind were frozen. I’d only ever thrown magic from my hands, never my blade. But this was the fastest way. No choice. It had to work. My blue eyes fixed on the hound’s glowing red ones, and I let go.
Like a javelin, a spear of dancing red flames shot through the air, straight into the hound’s gaping jaws. I’d aimed square between its eyes, but that would work. The hellhound’s legs locked in death then began to collapse. Dropping my sword, I lunged to my feet and half-dragged, half-carried an unconscious Jacq away.
We collapsed in a heap near the crumbling corpse. Like my anger at the hound’s actions, my fire raged on, consuming the dead beast. I breathed through my mouth, ignoring the nauseating scent of burning flesh. Holding Jacq between my spread legs, I cradled her to my chest, quickly beginning a healing chant.
I distantly saw Mynx sever the hound’s smoldering head, ensuring it stayed dead this time. Though this healing wouldn’t require my consciousness to leave my body, I was still vulnerable. Bloody sword in hand, Mynx took up a guard position, joining me in the chant. But she kept her distance, knowing the dangers of disrupting a healing.
Jacq. I ran my hand down her cool cheek. “Stupid, chivalrous woman.” I had a moment to realize I’d said that aloud then I dropped into myself, seeking the healer within. My mind’s eye rose, extending to where my body touched Jacq’s, then further, scanning her. I released a mental sigh of relief. There were no internal injuries, only four bone-deep slashes. Beginning beside her left breast, they curved downward over her ribs and inward across her abdomen, stopping right above her navel.
The bleeding slowed as I poured magic in, knitting muscles, repairing cells. The wounds healed quickly—more so than my skills warranted. The list of Sups that healed this fast was short. But at this moment, I wasn’t interested in another clue to Jacq’s species but simply glad that no matter what she eventually revealed herself to be, our detective was obviously on that list. As the gushing blood slowed to a near trickle, her pulse steadied, then sped, her heart soon beating strongly against my palm where it lay just below her breast. I relaxed, taking my first deep breath since seeing Jacq’s still form.
She would live.
Nearly finished, I took a moment to look past the bones and sinew and truly see my patient. If possible, Jacq was even more beautiful when viewed this way. As her magic flowed below and over her skin, she glowed softly with a silver so pure it was nearly white, its shine slowly intensifying as she recovered. And it wasn’t alone. Currents of green earth and red fire magic whispered around us. Unbidden, the latter had risen, and I was too distracted to push it down again. My hands never strayed from Jacq’s side, but as I watched, my fire— without my consent or control—made its own, less-noble intentions known.
A haze of green covered my hands, healing, while red ribbons of flame explored Jacq’s body. Tracing a smooth collarbone. Twining around long limbs. Mapping strong planes of face and form. Sliding through silky hair. New and definitely not part of the healing process, I felt every fiery burst of power like an extension of my own hands…touching her…learning her…lov…No, I wouldn’t even think it.
This was way beyond che
cking for harm. It went against my healer’s oath, but I couldn’t rein myself in. My head knew she was okay, but it was as if my magic needed its own reassurance.
Jacq’s magic responded in kind, the silver glow rippling, sparking where our magic touched, as if she had her own fire burning deep. I held her in my arms and watched as our fires touched. Instead of raging against each other, consuming themselves in a blazing oblivion, they melted together, forming one whole. The nearly golden glow was so bright I averted my eyes. But sparing my sight did nothing for the rest of me.
I dimly heard Mynx shouting my name but couldn’t respond. She stood near, unable to touch us for fear of making things worse. I wanted to reassure her, but the sensation of merging magic left me speechless. A hundred times stronger than yesterday’s fleeting joining, it was an all-consuming rush beyond passion, beyond pleasure. Although there was plenty of that, as well.
The physical reaction was unimaginable. My breathing hitched. My heart pounded. Warmth streaked from my breasts to my groin, electricity flashing through me to Jacq and back again—a live wire arcing between us. As another powerful burst hit, my back arched, arms tightening convulsively. But even as my body drew Jacq closer, a small part of me tried to push her away.
It saw the magic. It felt the flames. And it knew a fear like no other.
And with good reason. Because stronger than the magic, more powerful than my body’s reaction, was the sense of rightness. A frighteningly familiar feeling. That part of me that could still think, still feel, screamed, No! No! No! This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not with her.
And yet, it was.
An unconscious Jacq moaned. From pleasure? From pain? I wasn’t sure. But if she was experiencing a tenth of what I was, then it was the former. I gasped, jerking my magic and consciousness back just as she awoke.
My eyes locked with ones gone completely silver with something unrecognizable. I blushed, understanding how our position appeared. At some point, we’d reclined on the warm lawn, my legs wrapping around hers. My head was tilted forward, hers back, cushioned between my achingly sensitive breasts. I took a deep breath, watching her pupils dilate. I could smell the copper of blood mixed with her unique sage-sandalwood scent, and it was disturbingly arousing.
