Touch of Magic
Page 22
“I’ll get you up before nightfall,” she said.
“Fine. Where should I sleep?”
“There’s only one bedroom set up in the house, and you know where that is.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I should probably take a shower.”
“The bathroom’s right next door to the bedroom.”
“I know. I found it last night.”
“Well, have a nice rest. I’ll wake you up just before nightfall.”
“Yeah.”
Unable to think of anything else to say, he headed for the bedroom. When he walked in, he took one look at the bed and groaned. It was still rumpled from Shana’s drugged sleep of the night before, and just the thought of climbing into the bed where she’d been sleeping made him aroused. The sheets still probably carried her unique, and very sexy, scent. He groaned again when his mind suddenly conjured up the image of her straddling his hips, wearing nothing more than a sexy scrap of red lace.
“I am not going to make love to her. Ever.” he told himself firmly.
When an inner voice began to laugh at his claim he angrily snatched his duffel bag off the floor and stormed toward the bathroom. A few minutes later, he got his revenge. He drowned that damned voice in a very cold shower.
AFTER RYAN LEFT the kitchen, Shana walked over to the table. She laid the witch stone on the tabletop, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
As she stared at the stone, she released a sigh and muttered, “All I ever wanted out of life was a nice, mortal mate who would take me away from Sanctuary and build a wonderful, happy life with me. So what do I get? The reincarnation of the mortal enemy of the most powerful witch who ever lived. Why did this happen to me? It just isn’t fair!”
But what else is new? she thought morosely, as she propped her elbows on the table and cradled her chin in her hands. Nothing in my life has ever been fair.
The future is mine, and now yours will be mine!
Shana frowned at the Tarot card that suddenly appeared on the table. It was justice, reversed, and her face was the same blurred image that had appeared on The High Priestess card. Shana wasn’t sure what confused her the most. That Moira would portray herself as Justice, or that the card was mirroring the thoughts that she, herself, had just expressed—that all of this was unfair.
She looked around the room in search of Moira, but she wasn’t there. “So why are you portraying justice, Moira? Are you saying that you are meting out your own form of justice? Or are you telling me that all of this is happening because of some injustice done to you? Or, perhaps, this is nothing more than an ego trip?”
Of course, Moira didn’t respond to her taunt, and Shana heaved a frustrated sigh. Instinct told her that there was a significant clue in the card, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Don’t worry about it,” she mumbled, again cradling her chin in her hands. “Once Ryan uses the witch stone, everything should be clear.”
Unfortunately, that didn’t reassure her. Once Ryan used the witch stone, she knew they would have an entirely new set of problems to face. Although she had sidestepped Ryan’s question, she was sure that Aric had to have done something really horrible to Moira before her death. Other than an intense need for atonement, Shana couldn’t think of any other logical reason for him to reincarnate and risk his eternal soul. She was afraid that when Ryan learned whatever Aric had done, he was going to have a difficult time dealing with it.
“I should just throw you away,” she mumbled, picking up the ancient fossil and rubbing her thumb across its lined surface. “The sins of one lifetime are a heavy enough burden to carry. No person should be asked to lug around two lifetime’s worth.”
But as tempting as the thought was, she knew she didn’t dare get rid of the stone. By giving it to Ryan, Oran had come uncomfortably close to breaking the rules, and the spell that ruled his family was an ancient and ruthless one. If Oran had miscalculated that fine line between observance and interference, the spell would have killed him instantly.
“No, if Oran was willing to risk his life over you, I can’t throw you away,” she said, laying the stone back on the table.
She scooted back her chair and stood. Grabbing the newest Tarot card off the table, she continued, “What I can try to do is a reading with the cards Moira has already given us. Maybe it will give me a clue as to what she’s up to.”
Knowing that once she had the cards laid out, she would want to leave them in position, she decided to do the reading in the repository. When she entered the room and saw the broken balcony railing, she shuddered. So much had happened that she had forgotten the accident that almost cost her her life.
Involuntarily, her gaze moved to the bundle of spears she’d been hanging over, and she shuddered again. If Ryan hadn’t caught her . . .
“But he did catch you.” She walked over to the spears. “And I think it’s time I moved you guys to a safer place.”
Luckily, neither the spears nor the urn were very heavy, so she was able to lift the urn and carry it to the other side of the room. After she had stored them well beneath another section of balcony, she turned around and looked for any other objects that might prove deadly.
When she found herself actually considering moving some of the display cases, she gave a chastising shake of her head. “You’re looking for reasons to keep from doing what you came here to do. Stop wasting time and get to the cards.
She walked over to one of the least cluttered tables. Carefully, she removed all the objects and crowded them onto other tables. Then she retrieved the chair from between the two display cases. Pulling the cards from her pocket, she sat down and began to sort through them to make sure they were in the order she had received them.
When she reached the point where the Death card should have been, she suddenly recalled that Ryan had said he had that card. Uneasiness stirred inside her. She had already determined that it was dangerous for him to have any of the cards. Instinct was insisting that it was particularly dangerous for him to have that one. “So, I’ll go get it from him,” she said.
When she stood, however, she changed her mind. He had just gone to bed, and he needed his rest. She considered substituting a Death card from another deck, but decided it would be better to do the spread without the original card than bringing outside energy to it from another deck.
“I’ll just have to make sure I get it from him as soon as he wakes up.”
Sitting back down, she finished sorting the cards. When she was done, she closed her eyes, trying to recall exactly how she’d laid out the unfamiliar spread on Samhain. She remembered that The Fool had been in the center. Then she had positioned the next card below it and moved counterclockwise, until she’d laid out five cards that resembled an inverted pentagram. That night she had repeated the pattern until the last card, which she had placed in the center with The Fool. Opening her eyes, she knew it was time for her to begin the spread.
“Now, this has to be an objective reading,” she lectured herself. “I have to keep all emotion out of it and stick to the facts. Otherwise I’ll try to bring in interpretations that might not even apply to this deck.”
She laid The Fool on the table in the reverse position. “Well, I don’t need a full spread to know what this card means,” she said dryly. “I foolishly took an irrevocable step that turned Moira loose and put this entire mess into motion.”
Beneath that card, she placed The Chariot, also in the reverse position. “This is Ryan traveling into Sanctuary. I run him off the road, and he loses control. Moira left the card on his chest, telling me that he’s to be my downfall.
“Next came the Devil card, and this was right after Ryan turned into Aric the first time. Moira was telling me that black magic is at work here,” she went on as she placed it to the right and slightly above the, first card.
She positioned The Moon card in the top left position. “Moira delivered this card to Ryan, and she was telling me that there are psychic influences at work. That news was a little late. By this time, I already knew that. And here’s The Wheel of Fortune—reversed—a turn for the worse. This was where Ariel showed up and screwed up everything,” she said, placing that card in the lower left position.
Holding the remainder of the cards in her hand, she rested her forearms against the table edge and studied what she had so far. Since it completed the spread’s pattern, she had to assume that it was a “set” of cards, and that together they meant something.
“But how do I interpret them?” she murmured in frustration. “In a regular spread I have four sets of cards representing past, present, future, and outcome. Even if I discount The Fool, I still have five sets here.
“Maybe if I lay out the rest of the cards, I’ll figure out what’s going on,” she finally said. She tapped her index finger against The Chariot. “Okay, once I get the Death card from Ryan, it will go here. It came during my transformation and loss of powers.
“Next comes The Magician,” she said, placing it beside The Devil. I thought it was showing me that Ryan was a control freak, but what it was really alerting me to was that Moira had given him powers. That’s when he read my mind and gave me the sleeping potion.
“And here’s The High Priestess.” She put it with The Star. “She’s a woman with power and intuition and a hidden agenda, and this is the first time Moira actually represented herself in the cards.
“Now we have The Hierophant, reversed, telling me that everything that is going on is nontraditional and unconventional,” she stated wryly as she dropped it next to The Moon. “That’s when I discovered that I’d accidentally mated with Ryan.
“And here comes The Tower, showing complete change from one structure to another—complete loss of control and unforeseen catastrophe. This is where I found out that Ryan had used the wishing wand to become a warlock, and that he’s more afraid of life than death. Definitely a disaster of the first order,” she noted, placing that card with The Wheel of Fortune.
Again, she had laid out a complete set, and again, she studied them. She still couldn’t figure out a pattern to help her do a reading, so she took the next card out of her hand.
“The Lovers,” she said with a sigh, placing it with The Chariot and reminding herself that this was also where the Death card would go. “Moira delivered it to Ryan with a special preview that convinced him that if he makes love to me, he’ll kill me. But I know that it’s symbolic of a struggle between sacred and profane love. It’s also a card that means decisions, so what Moira may have been showing him was that he might make a decision that could kill me. Not a pleasant thought at all, and one I have every intention of ensuring doesn’t come true,” she said with a delicate shudder.
“Now we have Temperance in reverse. Moira delivered it after Oran gave Ryan the witch stone, and then she makes Ryan’s image on the card turn into Aric. That pretty well assures me that Ryan is Aric’s reincarnation, which puts everything out of balance.”
She placed that card with The Devil and The Magician, and then she looked at the final card in her hand. Justice. And Moira was portraying her in the reverse position, letting Shana know that things are unfair.
“As if I didn’t already know it’s unfair,” she muttered, depositing it with The Star and The High Priestess. “I don’t have any power. My mate is probably some tortured, reincarnated soul with a death wish, and the most powerful witch who ever lived has eternal revenge on her mind. Yes, I’ve definitely had better days.”
As she spoke, she again surveyed the cards. Suddenly, what she was seeing registered, and she shook her head in disbelief that she hadn’t realized it before.
“All of the cards are from The Major Arcana, which I should have figured out on Samhain. There were only twenty-two cards in the enchanted Tarot deck, which is the exact number of cards in The Major Arcana. But what does it mean? Why does the deck only consist of these cards?”
She quickly took a tally of the cards she had. Counting the Death card, Moira had delivered thirteen. That left eight to go.
“So, which cards are missing?” she mused, running the list of cards through her mind. “We haven’t received The Empress or The Emperor. Strength and The Hermit are also missing. There’s The Sun and The Hanged Man. And finally, judgment and The World. Now, if I can just figure out how to read this spread, I might be able to figure out her next move. If we can stay one step ahead of her, we might have a good chance of beating her.”
But no matter how many times she looked at the cards, she couldn’t get a fix on them. If there had been the traditional four sets of cards, she could have played with different combinations until she found a pattern that fit their circumstances, but the fifth set of cards completely baffled her.
“All I’m doing is going around the pentagram; going around in a circle,” she mumbled, slumping back in the chair and raking a hand through her hair in defeat. “Just round, and round, and . . .
“That’s it!” she gasped bolting upright and staring down at the cards in excitement. “I’m going around in a circle, so each set of cards is a cycle. If I can figure out how the cycle works, then I’ll have the key.”
Unfortunately, that wasn’t as easy as it sounded. After she’d gone through each cycle for what seemed like the hundredth time, she wasn’t any closer to a solution than she had been before.
“Maybe if I had the Death card, it would help me see things more clearly,” she said with a discouraged sigh. “But I can’t get it until Ryan wakes up.”
You could sneak into the bedroom and get it.
The thought had come from out of nowhere, and she shifted uncomfortably. It was the word “sneak” that made her uneasy. It sounded so . . . wrong.
It would only be wrong if you were trying to hurt Ryan. You’re trying to help him, and if you can figure out how to read the spread, you may be able to save the day. Go get the card.
She was still uncomfortable with the idea. When she looked back down at the cards, however, she frowned in frustration at her inability to read them.
“So, I won’t sneak in,” she said, pushing back her chair and standing. “I’ll go in quietly and get the card. As soon as Ryan wakes up, I’ll tell him what I did, and he’ll agree that it was the right thing to do. After all, figuring out how to interpret these cards could save his soul and my life.”
She headed for the bedroom. The door was closed. Before her conscience could get another chance to wrangle with her, she quickly opened the door and slipped into the room.
She blinked in surprise at the darkness that greeted her, and she glanced toward the window in confusion. When she did, her heart skipped a beat. She’d been so involved with the Tarot cards that she’d lost track of time. It was . . .
“Nightfall,” Ryan suddenly murmured huskily from the bed. “And you were supposed to get me up before nightfall so I could get far away from you. But you didn’t get me up, so now you’ll have to pay the price.”
At the unexpected sound of his voice, Shana let out a startled gasp. She jerked her head in his direction just in time to see spell-lightning zipping toward her. It circled around her, and she let out another gasp as unseen hands began to peel her clothes off her. It took place so quickly that she was stripped down to her panties before she even truly realized what was happening.
“Come to me, Shana,” Ryan rasped. Though she could see he was sitting up in bed, his body was no more than a shadow in the waning light. But his eyes were glowing so brightly that she could see his face. His expression was taut with lust, and she felt a reverberati
ng chord of sensual longing come to life deep within herself.
She couldn’t have denied his summons if she’d wanted to, and she didn’t want to. Desire was suddenly coiling inside her with such force, that she was sure that all he’d have to do was touch her and she’d explode.
With an awed shake of her head, she started toward the bed. She had been waiting for this moment all her life. In just a few minutes, she’d find out if her mating night would be everything that she had dreamed it would be.
Chapter Fourteen
The Sun Card
Rebirth
UNCONTROLLABLE lust. Ryan had scoffed at Shana’s theory, but as he watched her walk toward the bed, he knew it was true. How else could he explain what had been happening to him during the last few minutes?
As his gaze took in her high, firm breasts and her lithe body, he recalled that he’d been lying here, hovering somewhere in that netherworld between wakefulness and sleep. Then, abruptly, he’d been fully awake. It hadn’t been a noise that had awakened him. It had been Shana’s scent, so faint but so heady it was intoxicating.
When he opened his eyes, his gaze had homed in on her as quickly and as accurately as a heat-seeking missile. At the sight of her creeping stealthily into the room, every nerve, every muscle in his body had come alive. He’d recognized that nightfall was here, and it was time to make Shana his.
The undressing spell had been instinctive. He’d cast it without thinking, just as he now instinctively threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. He had summoned her to him, and she was responding to his bidding. But he knew she wouldn’t succumb to him until they had engaged in the mating rite that witches and warlocks had been performing since the beginning of time.
As he continued to watch her walk toward him, his breathing became fast and shallow. He was so in tune with her body that he could feel her pulse racing and her nipples tightening into sensitive peaks. But what held him spellbound was the passion he could feel mushrooming low in her abdomen. It was hot and tight and urgent, and his penis swelled in direct proportion to the lustful demands of her body.