by Lori Ryan
One part of him—a very big part—knew he should do what Leeds suggested and walk away. But he had to know why Gwen had said what she had: she hadn’t been allowed to stay. What she’d said made it seem like she wanted to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her two hundred years ago. Call him a glutton for punishment, but he had to know the truth.
She opened the door, eyes sleepy and hair tousled. He bit down on a groan. He remembered that look from so many mornings waking up beside her. So many mornings with her in his arms.
She didn’t say anything, and neither did he. Gwen stood on her toes and ran her fingers through his hair. It was all the invitation he needed. He moved with her, lifting her in his arms and taking her to the bed at the same time his mouth found hers, and her kiss flared a heat so strong inside of him, he thought he’d explode.
They fell to the bed as they came together. He couldn’t get close enough, couldn’t wrap himself around her enough. None of it was enough. It never would be.
“Gwen, baby, slow down.” Gideon pulled her hands from his shirt, where she’d been doing her best to shred the fabric, and pinned them to the bed. He held his body above hers and looked at her, panting beneath him, writhing for his touch. Goddess, how he wanted to give her everything.
“Slow down, sweetheart. We have time.”
“No.” She shook her head, and he saw she was close to tears. “We don’t.”
He didn’t ask what she meant. Just captured her mouth once more, losing himself in the blinding lust she always brought out in him. He was rock hard, but he wasn’t going to rush this. As much as she said they didn’t have time, he knew they weren’t any closer to solving the mystery of the siphoned magic than they were yesterday, and they wouldn’t solve it overnight. They had at least that together. A night.
His mouth trailed over her skin, skin that always seemed made just for him. She tasted sweet, and he wasn’t surprised to hear himself growl as he fed from her. She brought out everything primal in him.
He released her hands long enough to strip her dress from her, and those wicked fingers of hers found his chest again, this time tearing the buttons of his shirt to get through. Skin to skin. That was what he needed, craved, from her. With a flick of his mind, the rest of their clothes vanished, and a moment later, he was buried deep within her as she moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Gwen, oh Goddess, Gwen.”
She looked hesitant as she watched his face, and he wanted to take that hesitancy away. This was all wrong. She should remember how much they loved each other. She should know what they were to each other. That they were mates. That they never should have been separated. That they should have been given a lifetime together.
“Please, Gideon. Just make love to me, please.” As she pleaded with him, he realized he’d become almost still within her, but he moved now, in answer to her. Slowly, deeply, loving her with everything he had.
As he felt her orgasm clamp down around him, and he came inside of her, he whispered, “I love you Gwen. I always will.”
Then he felt her tears, heard her crying, softly into his shoulder. He pulled out of her and rolled, holding her in his arms. “Did I hurt you? Are you okay?”
She shook her head.
“No I didn’t hurt you or no you’re not okay?”
“Both.” She shook now, sobs racking her body, and he was beginning to panic. She’d never reacted this way when they’d made love before. Maybe she hadn’t wanted this. But then she spoke.
“I remember, Gideon.” She placed a hand to his cheek, caressing gently as tears continued to fall down her face, gutting him. “I remember it all. I remember I loved you. It all came back.”
Gideon didn’t know what to say, but he wanted to make her pain go away. He kissed the tears on her cheeks and rocked her.
“You’ve had to deal with that pain for two hundred years,” she said, her tears slowing. “I’m so sorry, Gideon. I know now what pain you must have been in, how much it must have hurt when I came back and didn’t even recognize you. I’m so sorry.”
“Shhh. It’s not your fault.”
They lay quietly for a long time, before Gideon broke the silence again.
“What did you mean when you said you weren’t allowed to stay? Who made you leave?”
“The Goddess,” she said.
“You can talk to the Goddess?”
“No.” She laughed, but the sound was bitter. “It’s more a one-way radio. I hear her. Well, no, that’s not even it. It’s more like she puts knowledge into my head. As soon as my heart, my mind, had the thought that I wanted to stay with you, she placed the knowledge in my head that I wasn’t allowed to stay.”
He saw fresh tears falling and knew in his gut what had just happened. “Just as she’s done again now?”
“Yes, just as she’s done again now. I’m not permitted to stay.”
Chapter Ten
Mickey thought about giving up. He’d been following Leeds for hours, and the man seemed to show no inclination to get any sleep. Mighty and Moose were at the carnival camp, watching over the Komolvo for any suspicious activity, but Mickey was beginning to wonder if the Komolvo really were innocent.
Gideon would probably be angry at Mickey for following Leeds, but something about the guy just didn’t add up. Besides, everyone knew the Jersey Devil was a demon. Demons were conjured from the beliefs of foolish humans who didn’t know any better. If you believed in the power of something frightening and horrific long enough, it simply came to be. That was the source of all the demons walking the earth.
The Boogeyman should know that, but apparently his parents hadn’t taught him about those sorts of things the way Mickey’s had. Witch families could be weird like that.
Shit.
Mickey stopped short and pressed himself behind a dumpster. Leeds sure seemed to like dark alleys. They’d been skulking around town for hours now.
As Mickey watched, the glamour Leeds had been using to cover his demon form seemed to shimmer, then disappear altogether.
“Fuck.” Leeds grabbed the sides of his head as if he were in pain, and his glamour flickered back in place for a minute before vanishing again. “Fuckfuckfuck.”
Mickey watched as the beast’s body crashed against the brick wall of the alley. Leeds slid to the ground, clutching at his head and cursing. It was only a moment or two, then he seemed to shake off whatever had been plaguing him and stood, sliding his glamour back in place.
The handsome man that stepped from the alley as Mickey watched in disbelief didn’t look anything like the beast he’d been seconds before. Mickey waited until Leeds had passed out of sight before shifting to his human form and taking off at a full run in the opposite direction. He needed to tell Mighty and Moose.
The fucking demon’s power was waning. That gave him pretty good motive to be siphoning magic. And he just happened to show up here to try to stop Gideon from looking for the thief? Mickey shook his head. That kind of coincidence wasn’t one he could buy.
Chapter Eleven
Gideon held Gwen in his arms long after she’d fallen asleep. His hand trailed up and down her belly as he thought through everything that had happened in the last few days. There had to be a way around what the Goddess wanted. But he wasn’t an idiot. The Goddess was heartless. She didn’t care one whit whether he wanted Gwen to stay or not. Whether they were in love or not. She couldn’t care less about the whims of a witch and a warlock.
That much should have been evident to anyone who knew how Gwen had become the anchor. Eons ago, magic was chaotic and unbalanced, and disorder ruled the magical world. The Goddess had created the first seven families of witches, creating some semblance of order, but it wasn’t enough. When she realized magic had to be anchored—bound to something to maintain the balance of power in the world and not allow any one witch or warlock to claim more than his or her share—she’d taken the firstborn child of the first family she’d created. There were some who said
it was because that family was causing the most trouble, wreaking havoc on the balance of power. That the taking of the child had been punishment.
Either way, Gideon didn’t give a rat’s ass. Whether the family had done anything wrong or not shouldn’t matter. A child shouldn’t pay for the crimes of adults. But she had.
That child had been Gwen. With no concern for Gwen’s well-being, the Goddess anchored magic to Gwen and made her a keeper of sorts. Gwen became immortal because of it, but the tradeoff was hardly worth the price. She lost her own magic in the process and was isolated on a separate plane of existence. Her conscious self was lost. She became nothing more than a vessel, until she’d taken corporeal form on her first visit to this plane.
The Goddess had wrenched Gwen from her family, from her life. She would hardly care now that she was tearing Gwen away from the warlock she loved. At first he’d foolishly thought if they simply didn’t find out who was responsible for stealing the magic, Gwen could stay forever. He realized how stupid that idea was right away. After all, the Goddess would eventually just send Gwen back and let him and Baba Yaga continue to search.
He thought back to the year after Gwen left him the last time. He’d been so filled with anger and rage. It was that year he took his position as the Boguman. In fact, he’d held the position now longer than any other warlock before him. He was damned good at it, too. Maybe the key lay somewhere in there. Maybe he could cut a deal with the Goddess to let him keep Gwen with him if he continued to be the Boguman. If she took Gwen away, he’d leave his post. The Council would have to find someone new, which was never easy.
Sure, a lot of people wanted to be the Boguman. In fact, there was a line out the door for the job. Problem was, most of them wanted the job because they got off on scaring kids. He’d never been that way. When he took the job, he’d been angry and hurting, but he’d never wanted to scare a child more than he had to. He had known right from the get-go that the job took a certain balance and patience. That a child could be scared into behaving without being overly traumatized by the Boguman’s visit.
Maybe the Goddess would see the wisdom of keeping him on instead of risking a few years of mayhem as the Council went through applicant after applicant, looking for the right replacement.
And if they solved the problem of the siphoned magic as well, perhaps she’d be a little in their debt and see fit to make Gwen’s corporeal form permanent.
What he couldn’t quite figure out was what would happen to magic if the Goddess granted his wish. Would someone have to take Gwen’s place or could the Goddess somehow anchor magic without a replacement? There would be complications, but the Goddess was all knowing, after all. Surely she could come up with a way for Gwen to continue to have form, and also for all of magic not to collapse in the process. She was the Goddess, after all.
***
“Gideon! Gideon!”
Gideon shot up in bed, Gwen by his side. There was no mistaking the voices outside his door. The mice.
“Go away!” It was worth a shot. He pulled Gwen closer, letting his hand slide up her bare side to cup her breast. Yeah, it was definitely worth a shot.
Gwen sighed and wriggled against him just as the damned mice started pounding on the door and squeaking again. An exterminator. That was what he needed. The Three Musketeers had to go.
“Not now!” He lowered his mouth to Gwen’s neck and nipped at the soft flesh, bringing a small moan from her. Goddess, he loved the sounds she made in bed. He could do this all day.
“Gideon, we know who’s stealing the magic!”
Or not.
Gwen’s eyes met his. “We have to let them in.”
“No we don’t.” He kissed her again, cutting off her objections as he debated the dangers of hurling a fireball at the hotel room door.
Now she laughed, pushing at his chest. “We do.”
He grumbled loudly, but dressed himself and Gwen in the blink of an eye. Too bad he couldn’t conjure away the blue balls. Or the mice.
“What?” He threw the door open and glared at the mice.
More squeaking and a few bows from Mickey and Mighty, accompanied by eye rolls from Moose. Gideon appreciated the eye rolls more than the bowing.
“Okay, boys, you’ve got one minute to spit it out.”
“We know who the magic thief is.” This had come from Mickey, but Mighty was nodding frantically next to him.
“I’m not convinced,” added Moose as he crossed his arms and scowled his trademark scowl.
Gideon raised a brow and waited. This was going to be good.
“It’s Leeds,” Mighty said.
“We’re so sorry, Gideon. So, so sorry. We know he’s your friend.” Mickey shuffled his feet nervously.
Gideon laughed.
Moose shrugged and turned away. “That’s what I said. Do you guys have anything to eat around here? I don’t suppose this place has room service?”
Gwen looked concerned, but Gideon just shook his head. “It’s not Leeds, guys. I’ve known him for over eighty years. It isn’t him.”
“We followed him.”
“You did what?” Gideon roared. He managed to keep his Boguman side under wraps, but only just. What the hell were these idiots thinking?
“We heard him try to talk you into leaving. We wanted to find out why, so after we made sure Gwen was okay, we went out and found him.”
Gideon looked at Gwen, who was very carefully not meeting his eyes.
Shit. She’d heard the conversation he’d had with Leeds. Which meant she’d heard him say he wasn’t falling for her. That nothing was happening between them. Fanfuckingtastic.
He herded the mice out the door. “You three, wait right here. Don’t go anywhere, you understand me?”
When they nodded, he shut the door, threw a ward in front of it so the mice couldn’t hear the conversation, and went to Gwen.
“What I said to Leeds, Gwen,” he said as he took her hands in his and pulled her to him, “I didn’t mean it. Any of it. I just—” Goddess, he didn’t know what to say to her, but there she was, looking at him with those soft eyes of hers.
“It’s okay, Gideon.” She reached out to his chest and shook her head. “I know what you were trying to do. If you’d told me that before last night, before I remembered everything, I wouldn’t have understood, but I get it now. I know you needed to try to protect yourself. I’m glad you failed,” she said with that cheeky fiery humor her loved her for, “but I understand.”
He pulled her into his arms again. “I’m really glad I failed, too.”
He kissed her long and deep, not wanting to let her go. Not wanting to open the door and do what he knew needed to be done: to find the magic thief.
As if reading his mind, she pulled back and looked him in the eye. “We have to. We can’t hide from this forever.”
He nodded and put one finger under her chin, stroking the soft skin he’d never get enough of. “You know I love you, right?”
“And I love you. Always.” Tears brimmed in her eyes but she nodded toward the door, and in that moment, he loved her all the more for the strength he knew she was about to display. “We need to find out what they saw.”
Chapter Twelve
“So let me get this straight: Your theory is that Leeds is the magic thief and he’s stealing magic because his power is waning somehow?” Gideon looked at Mickey and Mighty. He was ignoring Moose, who kept shaking his head and moaning about idiots and being outvoted.
“Yes, yes. He couldn’t hold his glamour. He’s losing his magic. That happens to demons, you know.” Mickey was nodding like a bobblehead doll, and Gideon began to wonder if his head might pop off at any moment.
“Demons?” Gideon was losing patience.
“He’s a demon,” Mighty and Mickey said in unison, the nodding coming faster and faster. If Gideon wasn’t mistaken, their voices were getting higher and higher, almost like a tube of helium had been shoved up their little mouse asses.
&nbs
p; For the love of the Goddess, he was losing it. He let out a long, slow breath and looked at the mice. “Leeds is not a demon. And he’s not the magic thief.” Now he turned to Gwen. “But I do need to go make sure he’s okay. Can you stay here with the mice?”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Gwen held her hand out to him and he took it, squeezing.
“No, you stay here and make sure these three don’t get into any more trouble.”
He wanted to add a “stay” command for the mice. That might be a bit much, so he settled for a stare that said the same thing, then teleported, focusing his energy on finding Leeds. If his friend was in trouble, he needed to know about it.
***
“Been here awhile?” Gideon planted himself on the barstool next to Leeds and stole the beer out of Leeds’ hand.
“Yup.”
Okay, so Leeds wasn’t exactly talkative. “Any particular reason?” Gideon looked around at the bar. A few Shifters sat in groups here or there at tables, music playing on the jukebox, but it was overall pretty empty.
“Testing the theory that I can’t get drunk.” Leeds hadn’t looked Gideon’s way, and he didn’t now as he signaled to the bartender for another beer.
“How’s that working for you?” This wasn’t the guy Gideon knew, and he had a sinking feeling there was a lot more going on here than he’d initially thought.
“Solid fucking theory. So far it’s holding.” His friend clenched the glass just a little too tightly. They were seconds away from glass breaking or Leeds bubbling over into some kind of blow-up. Gideon tossed enough money on the bar to cover any tab Leeds could have run up, threw a hand on Leeds’ shoulder, and teleported them to the alley out back.
“What the fuck was that about?” Leeds shouted, wrenching free of Gideon’s grasp. That was when Gideon saw it. A tiny flicker in the glamour Leeds always kept around him. The mice had been right about that part, even if they were wrong about everything else.
“Drop the tough-guy shit and tell me what’s going on, Leeds. What’s with the flicker?”
