by Linsey Hall
“Thank you,” I whispered.
She led us to a broken wall that we could hide behind.
“If you peek around this wall, you’ll see them just ahead, to the left a bit,” she said. Her voice was so quiet it was nearly soundless. “You’ll be able to get yourself out of here when you’re done?”
I nodded.
“Then fair fortune. I must return to the party.”
Along with Nix and Del, I waved a quick goodbye as she drifted away. The three of us glanced at each other and nodded, then crept to the vertical edge of the wall. We fell into position easily, each poking our head a tiny bit out. Del at the bottom because she was the shortest, me in the middle, and the taller Nix at the top. We’d done a lot of spying in our early days, trying to determine if places were safe enough to crash. This positioning was muscle memory by now, and we were silent as the grave.
A courtyard opened up in front of us. Directly across from our hiding spot, a set of stairs led up to a soaring stone edifice. Two stories tall, with intricate carving and many columns. The library. The rest had long since fallen away. Tumbled stones and columns littered the ground around us. To the right was a series of archways with a roof, just where Augusta had said the Shifters would be.
The two Shifter women stalked beneath it, clearly agitated. I could barely make out their voices if I strained.
“You mean you haven’t told him we’re late?” the Shifter on the left asked.
Him. Fear struck me like lightning.
“No! He’s going to be so pissed. I’m not bringing him down on our heads any sooner than necessary,” the other Shifter said. “We’re not that late and he’s busy. We’ll get the girl, then we’ll go to him. No before. Not empty-handed.”
Oh, fates. Him. Him. Him.
Del gripped my calf and Nix grabbed my shoulder. I could feel the fear in their touch. My knees weakened slightly, the sickness from the collar and my own fear overwhelming me.
My foot nudged a small rock. It tumbled down the stairs, the sound freakishly loud in the quiet night.
“What was that?” one of the Shifters hissed.
They turned, then started walking toward us. We jerked back behind the wall. Del shoved her hand into her pocket for the Transport charm. Her eyes widened.
She couldn’t find it?
Shit!
I peeked around the side of the building. A swirl of light enveloped the Shifters and they changed, charging us as wolves. Using my lightning would alert the demons that we were here. I had to keep them off us until Del found the charm or decided to transport us out of here.
I tried to keep myself hidden behind the wall so the wolf couldn’t see my collar as I grabbed Righty and flung it at the wolf on the left.
Direct hit, straight into her thigh. She stumbled. I nicked my thumb with Lefty to call Righty back to me. Righty pulled itself from the wolf and flew through the air. The healthy wolf charged closer, snarling and ready to draw blood. I didn’t think she could see me, but she could definitely smell the threat if she was in her wolf form.
I caught Righty and flung it again just as Del grabbed my arm.
She must have found the charm!
I called Righty back to me and caught it just as the ether dragged us away.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
We appeared in the living room at Aidan’s family home a moment later. I staggered, adrenaline and the surging sickness from the collar making me feel like I’d just stepped off a Tilt-A-Whirl.
“Whew, really waited until the last minute, eh Del?” Nix asked.
Del huffed a freaked out laugh. “Yeah. I really hate to burn my transport power right before a battle. And since we weren’t going to throw down there, I thought it best to find the transport charm.”
“I had it under control,” I said as Aidan stepped in through the front door. His hair was windswept, and his body dwarfed the small entry.
His gaze landed on me. “Glad you’re back.”
“Me too. Where’s Mathias?”
“Sleeping in the gym. He said he likes his space.”
Good, ‘cause I liked keeping space between him and me. Especially after that filthy Firesoul comment. The memory of where Aidan had been made my stomach pitch.
“What did you find out about the FireSoul they have in the dungeon?” I asked.
“That he likely has killed for power, though I can’t be sure. He was a good liar. But the Alpha Council was confident enough to consult the Order of the Magica tonight. Both governments have agreed it’s best to send him to the Prison for Magical Miscreants tomorrow.”
“That sucks.” Del’s voice was bitter.
“Damn. Okay.” My heart twisted for the guy. Maybe he was actually evil, but it was disgusting he didn’t get a fair trial. Just an agreement behind closed doors that it was best to imprison him for life.
“Are you feeling okay?” he asked.
“Physically, yeah.” My stomach grumbled. “Beat, but manageable. Just hungry. This collar is really sapping me.”
He nodded, then strode to the old fridge and grabbed one of the sandwiches left over from our dinner. He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Have a seat.”
The old couch in the living room caught my eye. Way more comfortable than the table. I headed toward it, sighing as I sank down onto the plush surface. It sagged in the middle and smelled a bit dusty, but it felt like heaven to just sink in.
“I’m headed to bed,” Nix said.
“Me too,” Del said.
“Not hungry?” I had a feeling they were clearing the room for me and Aidan.
“Nah. Good to go.” Del waved and retreated to the room I wasn’t using. Nix followed.
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. My heart was still racing from the encounter with the wolves and what we’d learned, but I couldn’t help but appreciate my deirfiúr who thought they were my wingwomen.
Hell, maybe they were.
Aidan walked toward me, a six pack of beer and a sandwich in his hands. “Mind if I join you?”
I shook my head. He handed me the sandwich.
As he sat, I realized that we hadn’t been alone in a non-deadly environment since that kiss in his makeshift gym.
Now it was just him and me and a six pack of Scottish beer called Tennent’s. Like it was a normal night. Or, magic forbid, a date night. Like the kind he’d been angling for but that I’d refused.
Why had I done that exactly?
When he grinned at me, smelling like fresh air and soap and Aidan, I had a hard time remembering the sense of self-preservation that had told me to keep my distance. Now that I was wearing this collar and staring down my mortality in a real way, I wanted to trust him. To open up to him and maybe even lean on him a little.
To be with him.
I started eating quickly. I was being stupid, mooning over Aidan when the Monster hunted me.
But that just made me want to have one normal night with him even more. Just hanging out.
Aidan waited while I finished my sandwich. Which, in fairness, was only about a minute and a half.
“Good?” he asked, a grin tugging up at the corner of his ridiculously beautiful lips.
“Yeah.” I cracked open a beer and took a sip. Not bad.
Aidan reached one long, well-muscled arm behind me and gently tugged me against his side. He moved more slowly than usual, as if he were aware of his great strength in comparison to my lack. When I was well, he treated me like I could handle myself. But it seemed he followed different rules when I was sick.
As soon as his heat and strength pressed against my side, I melted into him, resting my head on his shoulder.
“That feels good,” I murmured.
“Yeah, that’s the truth. But how’re you feeling, really?”
“Okay.” The lie rolled easily off my tongue. But I didn’t want to be coddled and I didn’t want sympathy. Whenever I got either of those two things, I broke down. I’d found it was better to ignore the bad and just
pretend everything was fine. A person could go a long way running on fumes. And I had a long way yet to go.
“I need to practice shifting,” I said. “You heard what Mathias said about a Shifter’s animal form. Using it to repel some of the Magica charm on this collar could do me a world of good. And I do think the Monster is behind this, for whatever reason. I need to be as strong as possible.”
“Mathias is right. It’s a good idea.” Aidan rubbed my shoulder idly.
“And I’ve got to admit, the idea of sinking my claws into the bitch who put this on Amara—a little girl, for magic’s sake!—is really appealing right about now.”
“I’d like a piece of that myself. And you know I’ve always liked the idea of you learning to shift. That would give you incredible opportunities to take enemies by surprise. Or you could shift into a bird and escape.”
“I like to fight my battles not run from them, thanks.”
Aidan jerked and turned toward me, cupping my chin in his hand. I shivered at the intensity of his gray gaze. I hadn’t seen him look so fierce outside of battle.
“I know that,” he said. “You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met. But I want you to be safe. For magic’s sake, Cass, that’s my priority above all else. And there’s no shame in fleeing to fight another day.”
I sighed, my heart thudding a bit harder at his words. “I know that. You’re right. There are a lot of good reasons for me to learn to shift. I was thinking, why don’t we try starting out small? Sense of smell, that kind of thing. Maybe I’ve been biting off more than I can chew with just trying to shift outright. It feels so different than borrowing Magica powers.”
He nodded, then settled back onto the couch. “That’s a good idea. But you think you can do that? Pick and choose?”
“I won’t know unless I try. And those heightened senses are part of a Shifter’s magic. Borrowing magic is what I do.”
“Smart. But aren’t you tired?”
“Yeah, but we’re running out of time. We need to go after those Shifters as soon as possible. Tomorrow, even. So I have to try.”
“All right. Give it a go.” He glanced at the window, outside of which the sun was setting, and cocked his head to the left. “I hear a grouse in the distance. See if you can catch it.”
“Can you always hear that well?” Could he hear me talking to my deirfiúr?
“Only when I try. Otherwise, the heightened senses are dormant. I’d go insane if I heard and smelled every little thing.”
I relaxed into him, trying to ignore how good he felt so that I could focus my mind on my magic. “Okay. I’m going to try.”
I was damned glad this part of my training involved sitting on my butt. This collar was weighing me down in a big way.
A sigh escaped me as I closed my eyes and reached deep for my magic. Though my instinct was to perk my ears and listen hard, that would just give me access to my own hearing, which was pretty average.
No, I had to first access Aidan’s powers. My magic unfurled inside of me, a stretching and awakening that temporarily subdued the misery of the collar. My magic reached out for Aidan’s power, drawn by the immense strength and ability.
His magic vibrated against my own, heightening my awareness of just how strong he was. His power hit my senses in so many different ways. Not only could I smell the predominant evergreen scent of his magic and hear the roar of waves, but I could also pick up the unique signatures of the various gifts he possessed. I was used to seeking out his Magica gifts, but this was different.
When I found the Shifter side of his power, it felt like warm fur under my fingertips. But that wasn’t all. I hadn’t realized until now that each of his heightened senses had its own magical signature. Perhaps this was why I hadn’t had any luck shifting yet. I didn’t fully comprehend the type of magic that I was trying to perform.
I’d gotten cocky.
No surprise.
I took a moment to sort through his Shifter senses until I found his gift of enhanced hearing. It sounded like a very dull thud, like my heartbeat in my ears. Maybe it was my heartbeat, I didn’t know. But I followed my instinct and sank into it, eventually trying to focus on the sounds around me.
First came Aidan’s breathing, deep and slow. His heartbeat, which was faster. Because I was lying against him? That’s why my heartbeat was fast. Or maybe Shifters just had faster than normal heartbeats.
Eventually, I picked up the sound of the grouse, its loud, low call echoing through the night.
“I hear it,” I whispered.
“Good.” Aidan bent his head and pressed a kiss to my hair. “Now try smell.”
I nodded and repeated the process of sorting through his magic. It was faster to find his sense of smell, but when I did, I was both delighted and disgusted. Delighted because I could smell Aidan better—soap and shampoo and the forest—but disgusted by the garbage in the trash can and the dust in the couch.
I shuddered. “Ugh.”
“Yeah, the smell thing isn’t always great,” Aidan said. “Maybe we should have practiced that outside.”
“Maybe.” I let go of the enhanced sense of smell and sagged against Aidan, exhausted from that small use of power.
“Are you all right?” Aidan asked. “You seem really beat.”
“Yeah. Maybe I’m still recovering from using so much at the Dawn Temple, but I don’t know. I’ve got a bad feeling that it’s an effect of the collar.”
“Shit,” he breathed. “But what about Aaron, the lightning mage? He wore a collar and could throw a hell of a lightning bolt.”
“Good point. Maybe it takes practice to get over the feeling of having my insides coated in tar.”
“You don’t have a lot of time.”
“One reason to practice shifting. But no more tonight. I’m beat.”
“You’re worse off than you said, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, maybe.” I didn’t have the strength to hide it anymore. And I didn’t want to. Not from him.
“You need to learn to trust me.”
Before this week, I would have laughed. What did anyone else know about my life or why I might be a bit skeptical of others?
But after everything Aidan and I had been through, after everything he’d trusted me with…
“I’m going to try,” I said.
“Then let me see if my healing can take away some of the collar’s effects.”
I glanced up at him, then nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”
Aidan had a bit of healing gift, enough that he’d managed to mend some of my scrapes and cuts in the past. If it worked for the collar, even temporarily, I’d be all for it.
He shifted a bit so that he faced me, but kept his arm mostly around my shoulders. “Where does it feel worse?”
“Everywhere?”
“Okay. Let’s start with the middle then.” He laid his big palm across my stomach. The heat immediately seeped through my thin cotton T-shirt. I shivered, amazed at my ability to want him at a time like this.
His hand looked so strong and capable. Broad palm and long fingers. There were a few scars, no doubt from battles won. But it was so gentle on me.
When the healing warmth soaked into my belly, it banished the sickening darkness that the collar cast upon my soul and spread outward, reaching toward my chest and hips. I moaned, feeling as if a weight had been lifted.
“It’s working?” Aidan asked.
“Mmm hmm.”
Aidan slowly ran his hand up to my shoulder and then down to my hip, until most of the misery had faded away. In its place, I was left with the most overwhelming sense of Aidan. Of his powerful hands on me and his handsome face near mine.
His lips were so close that I could just lean up and taste them.
So I did, pressing my mouth to his beautiful lips. They parted in surprise, and I took advantage, slipping my tongue inside and tasting him.
Aidan groaned, a low, masculine sound that was almost a growl. His hands tightened on my hip and sh
oulder, pulling me close until I was pressed against his muscular chest.
Heat zinged through me, from my lips down through my entire body. I reached up and sank my fingers into his hair, holding tight so he couldn’t escape.
I almost moaned my disappointment when his mouth pulled away from mine, but then his breath ghosted my neck.
“You can tell me to stop,” he breathed.
“Don’t stop.”
His lips pressed against my neck and burned a blazing trail down to the curve where it met my shoulder. The heat of his tongue burned.
“You taste so damned good,” he muttered.
His hand traced from my hip to my back, slipping under my T-shirt and tracing over the sensitive skin. I shivered, wanting him to move faster, harder. I ached for him.
“Please, Aidan,” I gasped.
“Please what?” His voice was wicked and I loved it.
“More,” I moaned.
“I can’t tell you how much I want to give you more.” His voice was a low rasp at my ear that sent a shiver through me. A hundred dirty images of the two of us flashed in front of my mind, each more intense than the last.
Rustling sounded from the bedroom.
“Damn.” Aidan lifted his head from my neck and glanced to the door. “As much as I want to do many dirty things to you, I think one of your sisters is getting up. And I think you need to sleep tonight. I’d be taking advantage otherwise.”
“Advantage? I want you to take advantage!” I whispered. But he was right. My sisters were one room over. “Fine. You’re right. This is a small place.”
A wry smile pulled at Aidan’s lips. He scooped me up and stood. “Come on. I’ll put you to bed.”
“Where will you sleep?”
“You’re sitting on it.”
“You’re too tall.”
“I’ll make do.” He picked me up.
I wrapped my arms around his neck.
In the room, Aidan flipped on the light then set me on my feet near the double bed. As soon as he removed his hands from my body, the sickening feeling of the collar came back. I pressed a hand to my chest and moaned, a pathetic sound.
Aidan grasped my shoulders to steady me. “Are you all right?”
“With your hands on me, I am. And I don’t mean that in a dirty way.” Healing energy radiated from him. “Whatever your healing touch is doing makes me feel a lot better.”
