Ailish shrugged off Phoenix’s leather jacket and walked to his room. She made her way to the closet and called an empty hanger to her hand. Once done hanging up the jacket, she used the bathroom, then went to her bag of stuff in the corner of the room. Bending over, she found her hairbrush tucked just where she’d left it in the bag. She combed out her hair from the ride and helmet, then put the brush back. She walked out of the bedroom, passed the sunken living room on her left and the two staircases on her right, then stopped where the hallway opened into the dining room and kitchen to figure out where everyone was.
“No problems here. It was quiet. Dee and I went grocery shopping. The woman knows her way around food.”
“Any problems with the card?” Phoenix asked.
It sounded like Phoenix and Linc were at the bar, probably sitting on the stools. What card was Phoenix asking Dee about?
“Nope,” Dee answered. “Debit card worked fine with the PIN number you gave me.”
Ailish automatically tracked Dee’s voice as coming from the kitchen side of the bar. So Phoenix had given Dee a debit card. Ailish would reimburse the cost. She walked out, bypassing the table and bar to go into the kitchen. “Can I help, Dee?”
“Everything’s pretty much done,” Dee said, then pressed a mug into her hand. “Ginger tea for the headache.”
Surprised, she said, “Thanks.” Dee must have heard when Phoenix asked her about the headache. It was already fading. She took a sip, then asked, “You just happened to have ginger tea on hand?”
Dee was moving around again. “After Phoenix told me you can’t take regular painkillers or medications, I did some research on natural remedies and stocked up.”
Unsure how to respond to Dee and Phoenix doing all this, she changed the subject. “I can set the table or something.”
“I already did it,” Linc announced, clearly proud of himself. “I grated up cheese, smashed garlic, and put the pan in the oven.”
“Now you can take the pan out of the oven,” Dee said.
The smell of sizzling lasagna filled the kitchen as Linc took out the pan. “And,” he continued, “I’m taking Dee out tonight to thank her for cooking dinner.”
“Out where?” Ailish set her half-drunk tea on the counter and put her hand on her hip. Linc was a witch hunter, Dee was a mortal woman. She walked up to him. “Exactly where are you taking Dee?”
Linc rose to his full height. “Seriously?”
She tilted her head back. “I’ve never been more serious.”
“Ailish …” Dee started.
“Do you know what this man is? He has pheromones to seduce you. And he’s dangerous.”
“Phoenix, little help here,” Linc pleaded.
“Don’t you even ask him for help,” Ailish said. “You’re talking to me.”
“Damn, woman, you are harsh.”
Ailish didn’t react. “I’m waiting.” She felt the movement when he crossed his arms over his chest. She guessed he was glaring at her.
“What are you going to do to stop me?”
She thought fast and vaguely remembered another car in the driveway. She’d been in Phoenix’s vision, and he’d just glanced at it. Plus, she’d been too interested in the house to pay much attention. But she could use it now. “I’m guessing you didn’t fly here. Try starting your car with the wiring fried from witchcraft.”
“My Viper!” Linc roared at her.
Phoenix jumped up.
Ailish whirled on him. “Not a word from you or your Mustang gets it, too. I can handle this.”
“Ailish …” Dee put her hand on her arm. “I know he’s a witch hunter. He told me. He’s taking me to a club called Axel of Evil. It’ll be fine.” Then Dee hugged her, tight. “Thank you.”
“For what?” She couldn’t quite get her bearings. The hug from Dee felt kind of good.
Breaking the hug but holding Ailish’s arms, she said, “For caring. I can’t remember the last time someone cared that much. But I’ll be fine. I’m just looking for fun. Nothing more.”
Fun? Even Ailish could feel the heat coming off Linc. If Dee went out with him, they were going to … And what was wrong with that?
He won’t hurt her. I swear, Ailish. Linc’s a charmer and a gambler, but he sincerely likes women. Dee knows what she wants. Trust me, she wants Linc. He doesn’t lie to women about sex—he always tells them there’s no relationship.
Phoenix’s voice was reassuring in her head. She wondered if she’d overreacted. Do I look like an idiot?
No. You look like a friend.
Cool. She liked that. “Fine, but if Dee comes home unhappy, say goodbye to your Viper.”
Linc said, “Deal. More women should have friends like you.”
That caught her by surprise. “You’re just saying that so I don’t zap your car.”
He laughed, clinked some glassware and splashed some liquid, then put a glass in her hand. “Maybe some wine will mellow you.”
She smiled at him. “Sure, get the witch drunk. How could that go wrong for you?”
Linc didn’t seem too worried. “Bet you’re bluffing about my Viper.”
Ailish grinned. “Ask Phoenix what happened to his R6.”
She felt Linc stiffen and turn from her. “What?”
Bad, bad witch, Phoenix teased her. Then he answered Linc, “Off a cliff and into the ocean. Second bike I’ve lost since I met her.”
“Damn,” Linc said.
Phoenix held Ailish’s hand and showed her the backyard as they walked out onto the wood deck off the kitchen and dining room. He let her see the barbecue, table, and chairs, then led her down the steps to the grassy slope that spread over a half acre or so. Lifting his gaze, he showed her the fence. Farther out in the distance were more homes.
The grass was cool and slightly damp. He wore only his jeans, and Ailish was in her sleep shorts and a tank so she could feel as much of the elements on her skin as possible. The trees dotting the grass swayed gently in the soft breeze; the moon was full and poured silvery light down on them.
Already he could feel Ailish responding, her chakras opening and reaching. Absorbing. She had needed this, probably craved it. He wanted to see her as he had the first night—deep in her magic under the night sky. Only this time he’d be with her, helping her to focus her power and protecting her.
To reassure her, he said, “There’s a half mile of clearance around my property beyond the fence, I own it all. Very secure. No one can see us.” Even with his hunter vision, the homes in the distance were just specks of scattered lights. Ailish could be free in her magic.
“Here should be good,” she said. She had chosen a spot in the middle of the yard, where the shadows of trees didn’t reach.
He spread out a blanket, took her hand, and sat across from her.
“I don’t need to see any more.” She pulled out of his vision.
He watched as she opened her eyes. The moonlight poured over her, gleaming off her dark, choppy hair and making her eyes look even more silver. She was already feeling the power; he could see it in the way her witch-shimmer glowed a brighter gold. “How many chakras are open?”
“Four. I didn’t really do anything, they just wanted to open and feel the moon and air.” She reached out and ran her hand over the blades of grass.
Her nipples puckered beneath her shirt, and he saw her squirm a little.
Oh yeah, the power was filling her. He inhaled, and her mango-and-coconut scent was rich with the warm butter of her desire.
Made him hotter than hell.
“Good. Ailish, you believe me that we’re alone?”
“Yes,” she said instantly.
Her fast answer pleased him and the bird. He was dancing all over Phoenix’s biceps, trying to reach her, trying to brush his wings over her golden shimmer in the silvery light. Feeling the same way, Phoenix reached out and grasped the edge of her tank. “Take this off and feel the moon.”
She didn’t hesitate, she lifted her arm
s for him.
He caught his breath when the top was off. She had lithe, well-defined shoulders that sloped into her soft breasts with the dark, richly colored nipples. As he watched, she arched, leaning her head back and thrusting out her breasts like an offering. The nipples were so tight, yet the mounds were soft and lined with blue veins that carried her powerful witch blood.
His heart pounded the blood through him to swell his cock. “More, Ailish. You want to feel the moonlight everywhere. Lay down for me.”
She was languid, as though every cell were sucking in all that power. “It’s filling me.”
He moved so he was at her side, then spoke into her ear. “It’s okay. Let it fill you. I’m right here, the bird’s right here.”
Her whole body shuddered. Then, in a slow, fluid movement, she stretched out her long legs and lay down on the blanket.
His mouth dried up. Balancing on his knees, he reached for her little shorts and tugged them off.
She lifted her hips, helping him. Her trust was a gift, she was a gift. Setting the shorts aside, he looked at his witch, his Ailish. Stretched out on the brown blanket, her body glowed with a brilliant witch-shimmer as she bathed in the silvery light of the moon. Raking his gaze down her, he got to her bare skin at the vee of her hips and reached up to gently spread her legs.
Her scent hit him, making his mouth water. Her folds were damp, swollen, and so damned pretty. He dragged his gaze away. For now. He had one more thing to give her. She had let him see her, this stunning beauty bathed in the lights of magic, and he could give her this. Stretched out beside her, he slipped his arm under her shoulders and held her close to his side. “Close your eyes, beauty.”
“The magic is getting too full.”
Oh yeah, he’d seen. He rubbed his palm down her arm, determined to stay in control. “I want to show you something. Close your eyes and look with me.” He gave her a second, keeping his own eyes closed. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
He opened his eyes and looked at the full, brilliant moon.
She sucked in a breath. “It’s gorgeous!” She stretched her arms over her head, her muscles elongating sensually. “I can feel it touching me, going through my skin and deeper. My power is gathering, beginning to spin.”
He kept his gaze on the moon, holding her close to him, feeling her body roll with waves of that coconut-scented witchcraft. It surrounded him, embedding Ailish in his senses for eternity. Unable to resist, he turned to look at her.
She opened her eyes, breaking off their merged vision, and said, “I can see the bird.”
The phoenix fluttered happily in the tattoo. The connection between the bird and Ailish was incredible, so strong that it surpassed her blindness and she could see him in real three-dimensionality when Phoenix could see him only in the tattoo. This was something so special, it made him struggle to get a breath. “He’s yours, Ailish.”
She smiled, and damn, it made him feel like a king to earn that from her.
There were no rules to this stuff, but every hunter who mated with his witch knew one thing—sex was its own magic.
Right now, he could feel the power in her building to an explosion, but she was holding back. Frightened. He couldn’t blame her. For eight years she’d been tortured with lust and afraid to trust her own body, her own magic. And then her mother had managed to burst open her scars and lock her in her third eye. But Phoenix wouldn’t let that happen this time. She’d trusted him up till now. He needed to teach her to trust him always.
“I’ll help you,” he said softly, then leaned down and closed his mouth over her nipple.
Her taste, her magic, hit the back of his throat, and he suckled, drawing her in deeper. His thoughts shattered so only her safety and her pleasure remained. He reached down between her smooth legs to the soft, wet skin there.
A growl of need built in his throat. His jeans were strangling his dick, but tough shit. This was for her. His witch. He couldn’t get enough and slid his fingers inside her swollen channel. Her body sucked at him, twitching with her magic, pulling on his fingers, trying to draw him in deeper. She bucked into his touch. He shifted so his palm pressed against her sensitive little clit, then put his mouth up to her ear and told her the truth: “You’re my magic, Ailish.”
She cried out, her magic cresting in a powerful eruption through his body, streaming, stoking, touching him intimately. He could feel the bird working, helping her control the magic.
Instinct had him draw her closer. Taking his hand away, he pulled her leg up over his hip and pressed his heavy thigh against her still pulsing core. “It’s okay, Ailish. I have you.”
Her witch-shimmer took on the colors of the phoenix.
Ailish felt the wings of the phoenix wrap around her as she traveled through a long tunnel. This was different, not the forced falling that had happened when her mother captured her in her third eye. This time, she and the bird flew together. Eventually, the pressure on her forehead consumed her, and then …
A window opened. It started as a white dot that spread bigger and bigger.
She saw the coven. They were at the Infernal Grounds, and the torches were burning, the smoke thick with incense. Candles flared. The witches were in their robes with long sleeves and hoods. They were circling and chanting something.
Control, she thought. She had to have control. The bird hovered next to her at the edge of her vision. As long as she saw him, she was safe. Concentrating, she moved higher over the scene.
Below her, the demon witches circled a patch of dirt and chanted, “Asmodeus, your name is power.”
She fought down her revulsion and watched, trying to understand.
The witches all dropped their robes, their bodies gleaming with oils. They swayed and cried, “Asmodeus, your name is power!
“Lord of my loins!
“Master of my soul!
“Reveal your ley lines!”
The earth began to shake and tremble. Trails of dust rose.
Ailish watched and remembered that the ley lines were created by the mass murder on the grounds decades ago. They were power sources for earth witches and for demon witches. She could see the dark lines writhing and snaking below the earth.
Were they summoning the demon? She didn’t think so; she didn’t see a mortal he could possess.
Her mother moved to the center, and the chanting dropped to a hum. Maeve lifted a knife and cut her thigh.
A cry of life.
From my loins.
A gift to my master
In the ley lines.
After gathering the blood, she sprinkled it over the ley line writhing beneath the earth.
Release it now!
Set it free!
Cry of life!
Kill the bird!
All the coven witches cut their hands and dripped more blood.
The earth shuddered, then burst open, emitting the cry of a newborn. Then she saw her mother call the cry to her own lungs.
The vision changed, and she saw Phoenix flying.… He was glorious, his dark hair streaming out behind him, the powerful, richly colored wings pumping. Then her mother released the newborn cry, and her exquisite Phoenix, both the man and the bird, exploded into flames.
Horror, thick and terrible, choked her. “No,” she cried, understanding now how her mother planned to destroy Phoenix.
Maeve heard her and jerked her head around in surprise. Then she narrowed her eyes and looked right at Ailish. “You will submit, Ailish. I am the high witch of the Deus’Donovan coven, more powerful than you ever conceived.”
The bird screeched and tried to pull her away. But Ailish was too angry. “I will never be you.”
Maeve conjured a mirror and held it up. “Look at yourself. Ugly. Blind and helpless. A creature to be pitied.”
Ailish saw herself as her mother did. Hard face, white, jagged scars around nearly colorless eyes. Doubt, insecurity, and shame spread in her like an oil slick.
“You think Phoe
nix wants to be stuck with that? He needed you to get rid of the curse, but he knows you’ll die and he’ll be free. All he has to do is keep you from assuming your rightful place as a demon witch, and he wins. Free of the curse and free of you.”
She kept staring at that image of her in the mirror, nothing like Darcy and Carla. Phoenix had showed her what they looked like, pretty and soft with an inner quality that glowed in their witch-shimmers. While she was scarred and edgy. This was how her mother saw her: ugly and lacking.
Did Phoenix?
You’re my siren, my beauty, Ailish. Come back. His voice chased out the cold nausea, while the image of her that he’d showed her in the gym right after they’d made love filled her head.
Her mother said, “Look, Ailish. Look at what you will be if you finish the bond.” The mirror shifted, showing a sighted woman with blue eyes and no scars. “You’ll have real power.…”
She didn’t want to be that woman in the mirror, she wanted to be the woman Phoenix showed her. Worthy.
She forced her third eye closed, felt the brush of wings fold around her as she traveled back to her body.
Awareness came back in pieces. Phoenix’s leather, soap, and musk scent. His arms around her, his thigh pressed between her legs.
His mouth gently kissing her scars.
That made her eyes burn. He saw her as something worthy enough to fight for. Could he be tricking her? Just keeping her from turning and taking his soul until she died? Yes. But did she think he was? No.
He lifted his head, his shadow looming over her. “I heard you. You reached right out to me and showed me that false image of yourself. Like you showed me your nightmare last night.”
She’d showed him her weakness. It was appalling, and yet … she didn’t feel weak, she felt strong and protected. Strong enough to refuse to acknowledge the insecurity her mother had pulled out in her. Instead, she told him, “I know what my mother is planning for you.” She described what she saw.
“Figures. I hate fire,” he said in an exasperated tone. “It’s always been my nightmare to fly and burn.”
Night Magic: A Wing Slayer Novel Page 29
