“It’s okay. I got it all,” he said, and eased her back down with a firm hand.
“You did?” she asked, clearly surprised that he’d been able to find it. To find her.
“I did. And not a moment too soon. A storm hit not long after I got you into the car. It’s been raging for hours.”
She heard the wind whipping through the trees, the rain beating at the ground washing away all evidence that she’d ever been there. That the beast and strange cat had ever been there.
“Did you see anything?” she asked, hoping she hadn’t imagined it all. Praying that she wasn’t losing her mind. Though obviously she was.
“No, just you, lying on the ground, your stuff in shambles. I’m afraid you’re going to have to get a rabies shot. We can’t take any chances. Not with raccoons,” he pushed.
“It wasn’t a raccoon,” she said softly.
“No?” He looked at her expectantly waiting for her to explain what had happened. But how could she tell the truth without taking the chance that he’d drive her straight to the nearest mental institution? “No.”
He brought another berry to her lips. She took all of it in her mouth, the sweet flavor bursting on her tongue.
“Dinner will be ready soon, if you feel up to it,” he said, his voice sounding strained as he leaned forward and wiped the excess juice off her lips with the tips of his fingers. She stilled as his skin touched hers, completely aware of how close he was and how nice he smelled. Strong. Spicy. Male.
“How did you find me?” she asked, and had trouble swallowing as her breath hitched. “Why were you even here? Were you checking up on me?”
“No. I—” He brought another berry to her mouth. She took a smaller bite this time, though she had to fight the urge to let her lips slip over his fingers. To taste his skin.
“I felt bad about the way we left things this morning.” His eyes locked onto her hers. Her chest tightened. “When I saw your car parked along the road, I thought I would make sure you were all right and talk you into letting me take you out to dinner to make up for…everything.”
She smiled, feeling slightly embarrassed. “There is nothing to make up for, but I am glad you found me.”
“Me, too.” He gave her another berry, his gaze focusing on her lips.
She knew she shouldn’t. Knew it would muddy their relationship but when his fingertips brushed her lips once more, she opened her mouth around them, flicking her tongue across his warm skin.
An energy of expectation swirled around them. Desire curled in her stomach. “Oh, hell,” she muttered and brought her good arm up around his neck and pulled him down to her. She tasted his lips, opening her mouth to him. He groaned and covered her mouth with his, pushing his tongue inside. Sweeping, tasting, kissing her with a passion that surprised and excited her.
She had imagined this moment, dreamed of this moment since the first time she had met Kaydin and yet, her thoughts, her expectations had never compared to this. Kissing him felt like she’d found a piece of herself that had been lost. His touch filled her with a rush of warmth, with a feeling of rightness. She wanted to burrow into him. To feel his arms wrapped around her, to feel his strength, his heat.
She tried to pull him closer, to lift herself higher. But as she did, pain shot through her and she let out a soft cry.
Kaydin pulled back, alarm on his face. “Did I hurt you?”
“No,” she assured him, feeling slightly surprised and embarrassed by her ardor, though she didn’t want him to stop.
But he did. He stood, stepping stiffly away from the bed. “I should check on dinner. I’ll be right back,” he said and hurried out the door.
What had just happened? Kaydin couldn’t remember the last time he’d desired a woman. He’d spent the last few centuries keeping witches out of the portals, never quite understanding how they could fall victim to the seduction of a demon. And yet, he wanted Rena. Wanted to kiss her. Wanted…. It was just so…human.
Which he definitely wasn’t. And hadn’t been since his descent through the portal and into the pit where his transformation from mere man to shapeshifter and portal guardian had taken place. It had been an honor and one he welcomed. It had given him purpose.
And yet, he had once been a man. He remembered what it had felt like to want…and need…and desire.
But he couldn’t let those baser emotions affect him now. Not at this critical point. Something about this witch and her mother was different. Somehow they were able to open that portal and keep it open. Why couldn’t he close it? What was so different about this witch?
And why was she so closely connected to this demon? So many questions, and yet, he sensed Rena had no idea of what was happening. And if he spooked her, she’d run. He couldn’t take that chance. He had to help her remember what happened that night. What had been different? The demon had her mother as a vessel. Why hadn’t it come back out? Why was it still trapped?
The answers were locked inside Rena’s head. Somehow he had to discover what they were. Together they had to finish what her mother started. They had to close that portal.
He only hoped he could do it without losing Rena, too.
But that shouldn’t be a factor.
Why was he so drawn to this woman? What was it about her that made him forget everything but the touch of her skin, her delicate smell, her intoxicating taste?
His body pulled at him even now, even as he tasted her sweetness on his tongue. He couldn’t let himself be distracted by it. Whatever it was. Whatever she was—a witch, a temptress, a demon—he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that if she called the demon’s name, if she invited it into her before they could get the portal closed, then he would have to kill her.
He would have no choice.
His only hope was to convince her of what was happening, what was at stake and hope she believed him.
He thought he’d have more time.
He was wrong.
Dead wrong.
Chapter Four
Rena kicked herself two ways from Sunday. What was she doing kissing Kaydin? What was she doing here? She looked around the well-kept room at the pine walls and rustic furniture. The rust colored curtains perfectly matched the bedspread and the pillows on the bed. But what drew her eye were the pictures on the walls, and the cast iron sculpture on the dresser all with the same motif—wolves.
Dread skittered up her spine.
“Where are we?” she asked, as Kaydin came back into the room.
“My house. Here, I found an extra pair of sweats.” He held up an oversize black sweatshirt and sweatpants.
“Your house? You live out here in the woods?”
“Most of the time, though I do have a loft in the city. This place has been in my family for generations.”
She took the sweats from him as her sense of foreboding grew. “What are the odds that you live in the same forest where I was painting?”
Where she saw the lights?
His eyes held hers. “I’m just glad I saw your car parked along the road.”
What could she say to that? If he hadn’t found her, would she still be lying out in the dark and the rain, miserable and lost deep in the forest?
“Kaydin,” she called, stopping him as he turned to leave. “Would you mind helping me up?”
He hesitated. He was reluctant to come near her again. Why, because she kissed him? Or because he wanted to kiss her again? Her skin flushed with heat as she remembered the feel of his touch.
“Of course,” he said and walked back to her. He helped her sit up. And even though her head was swimming, she gingerly lifted her arm and let him slide the oversize sweatshirt over her head. He helped her stand, holding her steady for a moment until the room stopped swaying and she found her footing. After a moment, she leaned against him and stepped into the sweatpants.
The feel of his warm touch around her waist along with his distinctive spicy scent and suddenly she was against him, unable to stop herself from puttin
g her arm around him, from leaning her head against his shoulder, from inhaling his scent and nuzzling his neck.
She felt him stiffen. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know why I’m so weak. Every time I stand, I get dizzy.”
“Let’s get you something to eat. That should help.”
He helped her out of the bedroom and into the great room. A fire was roaring in the stone fireplace and the delicious scent of garlic and onions filled her nose. Her stomach growled. “Smells wonderful.”
“I figured you’d need a little more sustenance than strawberries.”
“Very perceptive.” A large painting of a wolf hanging above the fireplace caught her eye. She shivered as she stared at it. “You like wolves, don’t you?”
He followed her gaze. “My grandfather had that painting commissioned. He rescued that wolf as an orphaned pup in Canada and raised her. They were inseparable.”
Nice story. Heartwarming even, so why did it leave her so cold? For years after her mother’s disappearance, she’d been told she’d imagined the beast. But she had seen it again today. She hadn’t imagined it. She wasn’t crazy. And yet, she also thought she saw her mother looking exactly as she had fifteen years ago. If that wasn’t crazy, she didn’t know what was.
“After you get some food in your stomach and a good night’s rest you’ll feel better,” Kaydin said, as if he could read her thoughts.
He helped her to a seat at the table then walked into the open kitchen. He came back carrying a large casserole dish. “I hope you like Italian.”
“Love it,” she said, and inhaled deeply as he filled her plate with a large serving of lasagna. “Looks great.” She took a bite. “Tastes great, too.” She marveled at the deep rich flavor of the sauce.
Attractive, sexy and a great cook. This man seemed too good to be true.
But one thing she learned today, nothing around here was as it seemed. As they ate in silence, she realized she wanted to trust him, to confide in him about what she’d seen. But would he believe her? Would he help her or would he look at her like her grandmother had.
“Kaydin, I know I said I would be able to finish the painting—”
“We’re not going to worry about that right now.”
She stilled, staring at him as she thought about how adamant he’d been earlier at Vindecare. “No?”
“No, but tomorrow I would like you to take me back to the clearing where you were painting.”
If it were up to her, she’d never go near that place again. “Why?”
“I need you to remember everything that happened there. If there is a dangerous animal in these woods, I want to know about it.”
“Can’t we just call the wildlife department?”
“We could, but they’d take one look at your arm and tell you what I told you earlier.
She lifted her eyebrows.
“That you tangled with a raccoon and you’re going to need a rabies shot.”
She grimaced. “It wasn’t a raccoon.”
He waited for her to continue, to explain what she meant though she wasn’t sure she wanted to. She wanted to go back to Vindecare and leave the forest, the lights and the beast behind her. If she could. But somehow she knew that running away wasn’t the answer.
Her gaze swung to the painting above the fireplace. “It was a lot bigger than a raccoon. In fact, it looked like a wolf.”
Kaydin stiffened. She thought he’d hurt her? He’d been waiting for her to open up to him, prompting her to tell him the truth. But this? Did she not even remember the demon’s cat? How was he going to get her to understand what was happening if he couldn’t get her to remember the truth?
“I know it sounds crazy,” she said in a rush.
“No, it’s just…well, those marks were made by sharp thin claws. And there haven’t been wolves in New York in many years. What about a cat?”
“A cat?” Doubt crossed her face as she looked at her wounds once more.
What was she hiding? He could feel uncertainty and vulnerability rolling off her in waves. A part of him wanted to stop pushing. But he couldn’t. Too much was at stake. He was going to have to try a different tactic. “Do you really see the lights you paint in your pictures?”
She looked up at him, indecision warring across her face.
“I only ask, because I’ve seen a painting a lot like yours before.”
Disbelief widened her eyes. “You have?”
He nodded. “That’s why I was so interested in contracting a series from you in the first place.” Finished with his dinner, he stood and held his hand out to her. She took it, her soft small hand dwarfed within his.
He led her into his room. Above the bed was a large painting portraying a kaleidoscope of colors and within the colors, in the center of the geometric patterns was the subtle outline of a dark doorway. Beyond the rectangular darkness was a cluster of twinkling white lights.
Rena gasped as she stared at the painting.
And then he knew. She hadn’t just seen the lights. She’d seen the gateway to hell.
Rena stared at the painting on the wall, her heart skipping and thumping in her chest. The lights in the painting were exactly as she’d seen them. How was that possible? She stepped as close to the painting as she could without climbing up on the bed and stared at the dark shadow in the middle. She hadn’t seen it in the other places where she’d seen the lights. This one was different. This one looked like a doorway.
It was a doorway. Suddenly she was certain. She turned to Kaydin at once suspicious. “This isn’t about a gallery exhibit, is it?”
“No,” he admitted.
Wariness had her on edge. She was sore and scared and tired of feeling ambushed. “Then what is this about? Why am I here?”
“I need your help to close the portal,” he said, stepping closer. The warm timbre of his voice echoed through her.
Portal? “What’s a portal?” She didn’t know where he was going with this, but she was beginning to feel itchy inside. “The lights are a doorway to the demon realm. And one your mother left wide-open when she walked through to the other side.”
Demon realm? She shook her head. “No. That’s crazy.” But was it?
“You don’t believe me?” he asked, surprise filling his voice.
“Would you?”
“You hear voices,” He stated matter-of-factly. As if it were common knowledge. As if it were no big deal.
“No,” she said, the denial automatically coming out of her mouth before she even had a chance to wonder—how did he know?
“Your mother brought you here as a child. She opened the gateway. She walked through. You were saved, but the gate was left open.”
Rena shook her head. “No, not saved. Attacked.”
“Attacked?”
“By the beast. It’s all I can remember. It’s what I dream about.”
“You don’t remember the demon’s cat?”
He knew about the cat? But how? Was he there today? Did he see? “You said it was a raccoon?” she challenged.
“It was a cat from the other side. See, look.” He pointed to a shadow in the lights. At first glance, the faint outline wasn’t noticeable. But she’d seen that shape, that shadow. The panther.
Her stomach turned. Had the panther been there that night, too? Her head spun. She needed to sit down.
“Think of it like a doorway to the other side.” He pointed to the darkness buried within the lights. “The lights you see are portal sites. Gateways. There are several of them around, but only a very few, very special people can see them. And only a witch calling upon a demon can open one.”
This wasn’t real. None of it was real. But she remembered golden eyes set deep into black fur. And she heard the name whispered through her mind…Ubasti.
“What happens if a witch calls the demon’s name?”
“She becomes a vessel for a demon.”
“A vessel,” she repeated, her stomach turning sour. “Why would anyone do
that?”
“Why does anyone do anything? For power.”
“Are you saying that’s what happened to my mother?”
“No. That’s what almost happened to your mother. Except instead of the demon coming out and entering her, your mother went over to the other side.”
“To the demon dimension,” she said, trying to understand, but not really able to make sense of it all. It was crazy. He was crazy. But she’d seen her mother standing there…waiting.
“What about the beast?” she asked.
“He’s a portal guardian.”
“You mean he guards the gateway? From what?”
“From witches who let demons loose into the world.”
“And my mother?”
“He saved you. He lost her.”
She shook her head. “No. That’s not how it was.”
He rocked back on his heels, his jaw hardening. “Then how was it?”
“I wasn’t saved.”
“You are here today. Your mother isn’t. Your mother opened the gateway. It’s still open and calling to you. You know it’s true. You dream about it every night. Your paintings prove that much. You are responsible for fixing what your mother broke.”
“My mother,” she whispered. “I think I saw her today.” Panic squeezed her heart as she tried to make sense of it all, tried to understand. “So you’re saying my mother has been here all this time, trapped in some demon dimension?”
Antsy, she started pacing the room, rubbing her hands across the top of her head.
“Yes.”
Sick dread filled her. It was too horrible to imagine. Too horrible to grasp. So many years. She thought about what that must have been like for her, how unbelievably mind-numbingly terrible. She tried to reject it, but as incredible as it sounded, she knew it was true. Every crazy thing he said.
“I have to help her,” she whispered over the lump in her throat.
“The demon is inside her, but for some reason it can’t get out of the portal. I think you were supposed to go in, too. I think she took some piece of you in there with her. That’s why she can’t come out and the doorway can’t close. It’s why you hear her so strongly, and why you were compelled to come back here.”
Wolf Magick Page 3
