The figure nodded again and reached out to run her hand down Thorn’s face. Thorn started crying.
“I love you, mamó.”
Muirin nodded again and held her hands to her own heart.
“I want to ask for your powers. Caleb is trying to kill me and I need your help. Will you give them to me?”
Muirin nodded vigorously.
“Thank you, Uncle says he loves you and misses you.”
The figure held her hands to her heart again. Thorn was shaking at this point. She took her athame and touched the point to her hand and pierced her finger. She let three drops fall into the blessed water. Muirin stirred the water with her hands, transferring her spirit to Thorn’s blood. Then Thorn picked up the bowl and drank it down.
Thorn began to shake violently. She could see Sé get up and move towards her circle and Muirin stand in between them to stop him. He backed down. Gérard stood guard over her body, conversing with the spirits in his way. She felt like her body was being torn in two. Her soul was ripping and being united with Muirin’s. A searing pain cut through her, like someone had sliced her with a red hot knife and then sewn her back together. Slowly, the wracking jolts subsided and she was filled with an energy recognized from long ago, it felt like her mamó’s. She was soothed and comforted. She sat up and wiped away the tears she had shed. Her body was covered in sweat. Sé watched her with concern in his eyes. He relaxed when she smiled at him.
Muirin came to her and embraced her. It felt clammy and cold but welcome.
“I’m sorry I took all your power.”
Muirin just smiled at her and held her hands to her heart again.
“Thank you, mamó.”
Muirin waved to her and disappeared. Thorn let out a wrenching sob and then she got up and traced her circle backwards and scraped a toe across the salt, effectively breaking her circle. Sé rushed in and scooped her up and held her while she sobbed.
Gérard finished chanting and slowly stroked his snake.
“She wanted this and gave it freely, Thorn. She loved you.”
“I know. I just miss her so much. I can feel her inside of me now. The power is incredible. It makes me miss her more, though. It’s like a constant reminder of her.”
“I’m sorry, Leannán.”
“I’m not. I deserve the grief for the great gift she gave me. I feel like I can take him on now, Sé. I’m ready.” Sé brushed her hair back from her face and wiped the last of her tears away.
“Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll clean this up?”
“Okay, I love you.”
“As I love you,” he said, as he kissed her gently.
“Thank you, Gérard. Your help kept everything flowing smoothly,” Thorn said.
“That was awe-inspiring magick, Thorn. You are a great witch. I’m glad I’m on your side.” Gérard was busy trying to convince Maria she needed to go back into her box. “Maria and I will leave you now, as I can see you need to recover. We will talk tomorrow,” Gérard said, as he walked to the door. Thorn nodded, she had nothing left.
She was depleted, having used all the reserves. She made her way to the shower. Thorn heard Sé hunt around for his broom before she turned the water on as hot as she could stand it. She hurt everywhere from the convulsions caused by the spell, both physical and emotional. She let the hot water wash over her as the room filled up with steam. Eventually she used the lavender soap she’d bought to wash away the sweat and tears of the night. When she climbed out, she found Sé with a big fluffy towel. He gently dried her off. He already had pajamas for her and led her to bed. He tucked her in and climbed in after her, molding his body next to hers.
Thorn didn’t remember anything after that, as sleep took her over.
They woke up late the next afternoon. Sé was leaning on his elbow, watching her. She was full of emotions after the heavy-duty spell work from the previous night. One of them being she wanted Sé. They came together with tenderness and a deep need for intimacy. Afterwards, they crawled into the huge round tub together, for a nice soak. Thorn enjoyed washing Sé’s body.
“You have a beautiful body, Sé,” Thorn whispered in his ear.
Sé swung Thorn up and onto his lap, splashing water everywhere.
“Your body is delicate,” Sé traced water down her arms, “yet strong, powerful and gentle.” With each word he traced circles on her skin. “You’re also the sexiest woman I’ve ever met. I’m a very lucky man, Leannán.” He kissed her slowly. “Come on, beautiful. Let’s get dressed and I’ll take you and Raven out for dinner.”
“Mmmm… sounds good. Let me call Uncle, first.”
“Good, we can stop by, if you want.”
“Let me see how he’s feeling.”
Sé dressed in washed-out, form-fitting jeans and a blue sweater that matched his eyes. He watched appreciatively as Thorn put on a pair of leather pants and a long Irish wool sweater dyed carnelian red, with earrings to match. She put her hair up, showing her long graceful neck. Sé pulled her in to kiss it. Thorn knew he had a soft spot for necks.
She called Uncle and was told he was resting so she left a message for him. They walked arm in arm to the elevator where they necked like teenagers all the way down to the parking garage.
They took Sé’s bike to a little Italian restaurant nestled away in the new good strip on Center below the University. The restaurant was nothing fancy but offered some of the best Italian cuisine in the area. They relaxed over rich food and wine and were back home by eleven, reeking of garlic and tomato sauce.
Someone was waiting for them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Bless my eyes that I might have clarity of vision. Bless my mouth that I may speak the truth. Bless my ears that I may hear all that is spoken, and all that is not.
“The council?”
“It’s a governing council for vampires. This one handles the western half of the United States. They visited me after Richard died and they were not happy. They’re going to be really pissed now that Sean died too. And rightly so.”
The council — Elizabeth, Julian and James — stood at the end of the hall and could hear everything she and Sé said.
“I’m staying,” Sé said.
“I don’t think you’ll have much choice, they see you already and they know this is your house,” Thorn said, as she nodded to the door. She unlocked the door and released the wards, letting the three unhappy vampires in.
“Welcome,” Thorn said, as the three came into Sé’s apartment.
“James, Julian, Elizabeth, let me introduce Detective Sé O’Bradigen. He was the lead detective on the serial murder case, including Richard’s death.”
“No humans,” James growled. The hair on the back of Thorn’s neck prickled.
“Hush James. This is unorthodox but he may have some insight,” Elizabeth said, appraising Sé like a cat with a new toy. Thorn was getting more and more uncomfortable with this situation and she moved herself in front of Sé protectively. Elizabeth laughed.
“Thorn, we have a very serious situation here. First Richard Tews and now Sean O’Hara,” Julian said. “What are you doing about this, and more importantly why do you allow our kind to continue to put themselves at risk?” Julian was always the level-headed, even-tempered one, but now he showed signs of agitation. Thorn’s stomach was in knots and a thin sweat had broken out down her back. Her hands were clammy. If Sé noticed, he didn’t act like it.
“If I might address the council?” Thorn asked. She knew she couldn’t be nonchalant anymore with them. They expected respect tonight. Elizabeth nodded at her. Thorn wiped her hands on her pants. The vampires would know she was nervous, having been able to smell it on her.
“I did not know that Richard was in any danger before he was murdered. Since then, I have been hunting the killer and he has been hunting me. I’ve found out it is my half-brother, a very powerful witch. I had no way of contacting Sean before he showed up for his appointment. I warned him about the si
tuation and he felt he could handle himself. As you know, he was quite old…”
“And more the loss! You stupid witch! There are very few of us to attain such an age. Do you have any idea what you have wasted with this little game of sibling rivalry?” James yelled, at Thorn. Thorn flinched and Sé stepped up and wrapped his arm around her. Quietly backing her up.
“James,” Elizabeth sighed. She watched Thorn closely. Like a raven watches a shiny object. Raven saw this and cawed softly. He was apprehensive. “Maybe we should take a trade?” she said, softly. “Your human for our two kin. What do you think, Thorn?”
Thorn could feel the blood drain from her face. Sé had a death grip on her and she could feel his anger building.
“Over my dead body,” Thorn whispered.
“That could be arranged,” James hissed.
“End this, Thorn,” Elizabeth said. Her eyes were cold and Thorn knew that they were never going to be friendly again. “No new vamp tats for a year. Or we will take your toy for a year as a blood slave, if he lasts that long.” It was predator-prey when it came down to it. They had threatened Sé and the way they saw it, she had let two of their own be murdered.
They left without taking their eyes off her. The minute they were gone, Thorn rushed to the door and bolted it and brought up the wards. Then she raced back to Sé and flung herself into his arms.
“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for dragging you into this and for letting them see you and for everything,” Thorn said desperately, as she clung to him.
“Sshh… it’s all right. You didn’t drag me into this and neither of us knew what was going on in the beginning. We’ll stop him.”
“I will not let the Council take you, don’t worry about them.”
“I’m not,” Sé said simply. “I know you won’t let it happen.” Thorn suspected he had as much confidence in himself and his gun as he did in her, but he did respect her power and she liked the way he put it.
“Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow I have to cancel my vamp appointments,” she said unhappily. Caleb’s debts were piling ever higher.
“I wasn’t planning on getting much sleep.” Sé grinned. He led Thorn through the darkened room and into the back. Raven flew to them and settled on his shoulder.
“Much noise tonight?” Raven asked.
“If I’m lucky, old bird,” Sé leered.
“I thought you were in favor of love magick?” Thorn asked Raven.
“Yesth, but hard to sleep,” he said.
Thorn giggled and scratched him behind the eyes. Raven leaned into it. He flew to his perch and Thorn went to the fridge to get him some meat and then she changed his water.
“Thank you, my little witchling.”
“You’re welcome, Raven, goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
“Come here, Leannán,” Sé whispered hoarsely. Thorn moved into his arms. He held her and breathed in the smell of her hair and her scent of citrus and lavender. “You smell so great.”
“Mmm, so do you.”
“Let’s go to bed, Thorn.”
“That sounds so good, follow me.” Thorn took Sé’s hand and led him to the bedroom and slowly took off his clothes. Then she took hers off. She turned back the blankets and pulled him into bed.
Sé stroked her hair and they lay there letting the fire start to burn between them. Thorn ran her hands back and forth along Sé’s arms, relishing his strength.
“Why don’t you have any tattoos?” Sé asked her.
“I’ve never found another witch to give them to me.”
“You wouldn’t let Gwynn or Reese do it?”
“It’s a blood sacrifice, especially for me. I need it to be another witch. I could do one on myself but I’d rather have someone else do it.”
“Makes sense. I always thought you were scared of the pain,” he teased. He was smiling at her in the dark.
“Thanks a lot!” Thorn pushed at him softly and their play turned tender. Even though they should have fallen to sleep, both of them tossed and turned through the night, concerned with what tomorrow would bring.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Let the tongue of Kate Simms be numb and powerless to speak the evil, to speak the untrue. Let her voice fail and throat close on her harmful words.
Thorn woke up before Sé at four the next afternoon. She took a shower and started coffee brewing. The rich smell roused Sé. He slipped on some boxers and stumbled out to the kitchen with tousled hair, a scruffy face and his dimples showing.
“You look gorgeous,” he said.
“Funny, I was going to say the same thing,” Thorn said, as she cozied up to him. His arms went around her as if he had been doing it for years. He nipped her neck.
“How long have you been up?” he mumbled into her hair.
“Not long. Here let me get you some coffee.”
“No, let me grab a shower first, Leannán. I’ll just be a minute.” He gave her a scratchy kiss and jogged back to the bedroom to grab his clothes before getting in the shower.
Just after he started the water, Thorn heard a loud pounding on the door. It startled her. It had to be an emergency. Maybe something with Uncle Charles? She rushed to the door and flung it open without thinking and was knocked on her ass before she could register what was happening.
Agent Simms sat on her, her eyes fierce, her expression furious, Raven cawed loudly, lifted off his perch and arrowed toward the FBI woman. He lunged at the agent with claws extended. Simms pulled Thorn off the floor and Raven grazed her back. Simms was too angry to notice. Thorn’s anger boiled over. She got to her feet before Simms could get another hit in. Thorn cocked her fist back and nailed her in the gut. Simms didn’t expect that, but she recovered quickly. She’d had lots of training and was ready for the fight. She wasn’t restrained by the honorable tradition Thorn had trained in and she wasn’t using a sword. Simms lifted her leg and thrust it towards Thorn’s hip. Thorn fell to the floor where Simms stomped on Thorn’s hand. Thorn screamed out and kicked up, landing a shot to Simms’s knee. Simms backed up and then Thorn had a chance to roll out of the way of another stomp.
Thorn got to her feet and dodged a fist. Stay away, Raven, she’s got a gun and I can handle this. Simms landed a fist to her face. Thorn came back with a roundhouse to Simms’s side and followed it up with a punch to the solar plexus. Simms backed up. Thorn eased up, thinking the woman must have come to her senses. Then Agent Simms kicked her in the ribs. Somewhere in the background Thorn heard the water turn off and then saw a flash of Sé coming out of nowhere. When she looked up, she saw he had Simms pinned against the wall with his fist cocked.
“Sé, no!” Thorn croaked. Sé looked down with fury in his eyes.
“I thought you were unconscious!”
“Stupid Bitch, you’re staying here?” Simms said. Sé looked like he was thinking about punching her after all.
“No, Sé, call the police instead.”
“You wouldn’t.” Simms looked disgusted. Sé just grinned.
“Yeah, I would. Kate, you’ve fucked up this time. She’s got you hands down for assault and battery. This will cause all kinds of hell for you. Thorn, are you able to get my cell phone, honey?”
“Honey,” Kate spit the word back at Thorn, and Sé tightened his grip on her until she cried out.
“Yeah, I think so.” Thorn got up tenderly and went to the other room. She fumbled through Sé’s jean pockets until she found his phone. She brought it back out to the entryway.
“Call 911, Leannán. It will be better coming from you. Tell them you are in my apartment and that the person who assaulted you is being contained by an off-duty cop.”
“Okay.” Thorn was having an increasingly hard time talking as the side of her face was swelling. She repeated everything Sé said and it wasn’t long before she heard the sirens.
Soon there were more people in the apartment. Thorn was shaking. The adrenaline had hit her hard. Sé let the patrol officers take custody of a violentl
y cursing Kate and got a bag of frozen peas out of his freezer. He made a compress and brought it to Thorn, gently applying it to her face. She shut her eyes and thanked the Goddess for him.
“Um, Detective O’Bradigen? This is Special Agent Kate Simms,” the young officer said, as if O’Bradigen hadn’t known. Kate had a gleam in her eye and was looking haughty.
“So?”
“Well, can we arrest an FBI agent?”
“Yes, when they break the law. Cuff her, take her to the station and book her. Let the FBI sort it out. Thorn’s pressing charges.”
“We’ll see if they stick,” Kate said, a sneer twisting her handsome features.
“Don’t talk to the victim, ma’am,” the young officer said, with a bit more courage.
The other officer started taking pictures of Thorn’s numerous injuries. Her hand, ribs and face were bruised and swollen. Blood was smeared along her jaw from a split lip. Sé’s eyes got colder with each picture.
When the officers were gone and they had taken Kate with them, Sé got more bags of frozen vegetables and put them on Thorn’s hand and ribs.
“Thanks, sorry I’m such a wimp,” she mumbled.
“Thorn, I don’t think you’re a wimp. She’s trained to kill. You were amazing standing up to her the way you did.” He ignored the skepticism on her face. “Why didn’t you use your magick?”
“She’s a mundane. I couldn’t give myself away like that. I knew she wouldn’t kill me. If I had thought that, I would have used it,” she said carefully, around her tender jaw. “I’m so sick of people bursting in on us.”
“I’ve brought you a lot of grief, haven’t I?”
“No, Sé, Caleb has. He started all of this in motion and I can’t be completely mad because he brought me you too,” she said, doing her best to smile at him. It was a lopsided smile because she was smiling around a bag of peas and with a swollen face, but it was heartfelt.
Sé bent down and kissed her swollen lip tenderly. “I know you just had a shower but you need a long soak in a hot bath. You probably have some herbs that will help with the healing. Do you have anything left?”
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