by Ioana Visan
A louder cry came from the room across the hall, and Rafe rushed out before she could blink.
Holding the bleeding wrist with her other hand, Alise ran after him. She arrived in time to hear the last part of Vale’s explanation. “The necklace was choking her. She was struggling to take it off, but I couldn’t cut it without killing her. It was too risky.”
There was one extra person in the corridor listening in. Given the shocked expression on Mark’s face, he had heard, possibly even seen, more than he needed to. Alise wished he hadn’t. She winced when Rafe punched him, knocking him to the floor, but it was necessary. They needed time to think and come up with a plan.
“What the hell happened?” Rafe asked. “Where did she go?”
“I … I think he took her,” Vale said.
“Gorem.” Rafe’s face darkened.
Vale nodded. “He must have a powerful Wizard on his side.”
“And we have none. Damn.”
Not good at all. Alise gulped. We’re doomed.
Chapter Twelve
Rafe and Alise were alone in the Guardians’ safe house. In order to save resources, only one room had been created—Rafe’s. He tossed Alise the healing stone, saying, “Catch!” Then he paced the floor, aggravated.
Was he worried about Cassie or Vale? Though there was little hope they could get her back easily, Vale had gone to try and find details about what happened to her. Not knowing for sure what Rafe was thinking—more than anything else, Alise suspected he was pissed because someone had gotten through his precious protective seals—she shook her head and pressed the healing stone to her wrist.
Nothing happened. The stone refused to react as if she were a mere human. It couldn’t tell the difference between her and an inanimate object. Alise held back a sigh. Ever since she had crossed over, she had known this time would come, the moment when she would run out of magic, and it pained her to acknowledge it. Once it did happen, it meant her life was over. She couldn’t be a Fairy without magic, and she couldn’t store the magic without her wings.
“It’s not working,” she said quietly.
“What?” Rafe spun towards her, and his eyes locked onto her bloody hands. “Oh…”
He stepped closer and took the healing stone from her. When he ran it over her wrist, the familiar warmth and vibrations signaled the stone was doing its job. Only days ago, she had been able to do such things by herself without the aid of a stone. Now she could only watch as the bleeding stopped, the flesh healing from within, and the skin was pulled tightly together, forming scars that quickly disappeared.
She felt funny in the close proximity of the Guardian. His touch on her skin allowed her to steal a spark of magic from him. If he knew, he didn’t show any sign that he was bothered by it. Faded golden vines glided over her skin, wrapping around her wrist, erasing any trace left by foreign magic and evil spells. It happened so fast that if you blinked, you missed it, but Rafe hadn’t. He stared at her wrist, pondering, then he brushed his thumb over the brand new skin covering the spot. With all his fighting and weapon handling, his hands somehow managed to remain as smooth as hers.
Alise fought against the tingle that spread over her skin. Her body craved that touch with a ferocity that would only get stronger in time, but whether it needed the touch or the magic that seeped from it, she couldn’t tell. She couldn’t think straight. When those quicksilver eyes bore into hers, she glanced away, feeling weak and inadequate. This was a different world with different rules, and even they, as people, were different. It didn’t change the fact that she was his prisoner.
As if reading into her discomfort and seeing right through it, Rafe casually released her and slipped the stone into his pocket. He moved away while she kept her eyes on the window, looking outside. It wasn’t a fake screen or a shot of the city, but a real view of the garden in the back of the house.
Under the moonlight, a dark silhouette staggered on the concrete path—Mark. He stopped near a hibiscus bush and started to mechanically pluck flowers off it. The Guardians had not been gentle when they erased the memories of the night from his mind. It had left him confused and a little lost, but with the dogs roaming around him, calm and alert, he was as safe as he could be.
The pain of the tortured hibiscus resonated through her, and she turned away from the sore sight, murmuring, “I should go clean up a little…” Her wrist felt fine, but the blood had trickled down her arm and dripped on her shirt and pants, drying in sticky patches. She needed a shower and a new set of clothes.
When she started to leave, Rafe gently pressed his hand on the back of her shirt. It was the second time he had done that. Couldn’t he just ask if he wanted something? She stood frozen on the spot, waiting. He leaned over her shoulder, one hand turning her to face him and tilting her chin up, and his mouth landed hard on hers, crushing her small gasp of surprise.
Confronted with the skilled assault of his mouth, she had no other choice but to surrender. Her mouth opened, welcoming his invasion, vaguely aware of his arm circling her waist, supporting her, and the hand fisted in her hair that kept her neck at a perfect angle for the kiss. And what a kiss it was. Colors danced behind her eyelids, and the entire structure of her world slipped and shifted a little. Magic flew freely between them, making her body sing with contentment.
This was wrong on so many levels. The Fairies were famous for their outrageous flirting, but only because they were so beautiful and everyone wanted them. Hooking up with a Guardian was out of the question. They didn’t even belong to the same species.
She didn’t know why she felt the need to wrap her arms around Rafe’s neck and run her fingers through his short, blond hair, but she did it anyway. His body stood tense and hard in her arms, like a pillar of strength and undefeated force hidden in leather gear. Her skin tingled all over, and that sudden whimper of need couldn’t have been hers…
A possessive growl emerged from somewhere deep inside Rafe’s chest, and the nature of the kiss changed. He was done imposing his dominance on her, and he continued their gentle and elaborate kiss for his own enjoyment.
* * *
The click of the lock on the door prompted Rafe to let Alise go. He stepped back, leaving her wide-eyed and startled, surrounded by a cloud of sparks that faded fast. Alise’s vision came back into focus, settling on Vale, who was still holding onto the doorknob. The Guardian shook his head, letting them know he hadn’t been able to find Cassie. She lowered her head and, mumbling something about a shower, disappeared inside the bathroom.
“That was risky and unnecessary,” Vale said once he and Rafe were alone.
“No, it was necessary,” Rafe said. “She was running out of steam, and we need her to be able to defend herself. It’s not ideal, but it will hold her for a while. It’s like jump-starting a car.”
“And now she’ll consume even those resources she didn’t know she had. It will weaken her more in the long run,” Vale said. “You’ll have to do something more drastic than that next time.”
Not a muscle moved on Rafe’s face, and when he spoke, his voice remained blank. “I’m aware of that.”
Vale shrugged and walked farther into the room. A corridor formed behind him, the lights from the blue room glittering at its end. “Okay. I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into…”
Rafe didn’t answer. They might share a safe house and watch each other’s backs, but the implications of his actions were for him to consider. Besides, he had wanted to kiss her from the first time he had laid eyes on her.
They moved to the blue room where Vale splayed on the couch and let out a tired sigh. He looked up at Rafe. “So, how was it?” he asked with a smile.
Rafe pressed his fingers to his lips as if pondering the answer. “You know that rumor about Fairies’ kisses being poisonous?” He grinned. “It’s not true.”
* * *
No news wasn’t always good news so, in this particular case, Alise expected the worst whe
n she returned to the room. Unlike the Guardians, she knew firsthand what they were dealing with.
“I’ve looked everywhere,” Vale said. “Wherever I turned, I ran into the same repelling force that prevented me from getting any closer. Whoever is ensuring his security knows what he’s doing.”
“We need a Wizard,” Rafe concluded with a wave of his hand.
“I don’t see how we’ll find any in this place. If we do, I don’t see how we’ll convince him to cooperate.”
“Unless you know someone?” Rafe looked at Alise.
She shook her head. Water dripped from her hair onto the white shirt covering her shoulders—another one of Rafe’s. She hadn’t kept in touch with anyone after crossing over. For all she knew, they all thought she was dead. In a way, it was a blessing.
“At least we know she’s not dead,” Rafe said, focused on the bright side. “They wouldn’t have bothered to kidnap her if they only intended to kill her.”
Only? Alise threw him a glare.
“Torturing her is highly unlikely,” he quickly said. “She doesn’t know anything, so there’s no information he could get from her. Cassie is safe.”
Alise didn’t share his optimism.
“Of course, we wouldn’t have to worry about her safety if you weren’t so eager to accept presents from strangers,” Rafe said.
“Excuse me?”
“The necklaces…,” Vale said. “They had a spell on them. The monster traps didn’t go off because, technically, we let them in. It allowed the monsters—or monster—to pass and used them as decoys to distract us so it could get to you.”
“You should have seen that monster,” Rafe said, gesticulating with both hands. “I swear it could multitask.”
“Yes, I would have liked to have seen it,” Vale said, sounding as if he was disappointed Rafe hadn’t called for his help.
“No worries. There will be more…,” Rafe replied.
They weren’t going to make any progress tonight. The sofa looked inviting to Alise. She was exhausted. The lack of magic and the kiss had taken their toll on her. For the time being, she needed to put Cassie out of her mind and focus on sleep.
“Okay. We’ll spend the night here,” Rafe said, giving her an odd look. “Tomorrow, we try again. We will get Cassie back.”
Chapter Thirteen
Cassie woke up feeling tired and scared after the excitement from the previous night. To top it all off, she had a headache. Alise wasn’t there to make her one of those special herb teas. She spent the first hours of the morning alone, locked inside a long room with marble pillars and faded murals on the walls.
It took her some time to figure out why the place looked familiar. Cracked floor, dusty ceiling, chipped paint on the doors and windows… Everything had to be at least a hundred years old. She wrinkled her nose at the layer of dust covering most of the surfaces, and she narrowed her eyes. It looked close enough to a regular building for her to assume she was still in her world. She hadn’t crossed over, but where exactly was she?
Struggling to solve the mystery of her location, Cassie paced the whole length of the room several times. The doors refused to open, and the windows turned opaque each time she tried to glance outside. By the time foggy silhouettes materialized inside the room, she was convinced she was losing her mind.
Every few minutes, she scratched at her neck. The necklace was gone, and so were the deep marks left by the turquoise beads that had nearly choked her, but she still felt like she was suffocating.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” An irritated voice echoed inside the room, and someone walked through the door without opening it, just like those silhouettes did. The man, dressed in a bluish-purple tunic, with sandy hair and a plain look scowled at her. “How many times do I have to heal you?”
Startled, Cassie dropped her hand from her neck and took a step back. Being alone was preferable to this, even if she had to put up with those ghost-like figures.
“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you,” the man said. He stopped a few steps away from her. “You’re the Fairy’s pet.”
Like that explained everything. Maybe it did for him. But Cassie didn’t feel like a pet. She felt trapped. While she had overcome her natural fear and shyness after being introduced to the Guardians, she was far from feeling brave. This … This was the enemy.
“Are you … Gorem?” she asked hesitantly.
The man gave her a half-amused, half-insulted look. “So, you know about him. They could never keep their mouths shut.” He shook his head. “What do you know?”
“I know he took Alise’s wings.” It sounded too much like an accusation, but Cassie couldn’t help it. Such cruelty revolted her, and Alise was her friend.
“Yeah, that…” The man waved a hand like it was ancient history. “Anything else?”
Cassie bit her lower lip. What did she really know? “If you’re not Gorem … you must be his Wizard.”
“Oh, you know about that, too?”
Cassie couldn’t tell if he was impressed by her logic, or if he was making fun of her.
“You’re not entirely wrong, only I am not his Wizard.”
Was there a touch of pride in his voice?
“And Wizard is such a generic term… The name is Fabian,” he said.
Did all people from the other realm only go by their first name? Alise hardly ever used her last name, and Cassie still didn’t know Rafe’s and Vale’s.
With a gesture of his hand, Fabian turned off the light coming from outside. In the darkened room, the phantoms walking around became brighter, but Fabian didn’t seem to notice.
“Enough with the pleasantries,” he said. “I need you to do something for me.”
“W–what?” Cassie stammered, recalling some freaky pagan rituals seen on The Discovery Channel.
“I want you to call Alise.”
“I…” She reached into her pocket. Thank God they had kidnapped her before she changed into her pajamas. “I don’t have a cell phone.” She had left it on the nightstand to charge while arguing with Vale about who was going to sleep where. The Guardians liked their sleep, so he had refused to let her have the bed all to herself. Damn Rafe and his boyfriend idea.
“You don’t need a cell phone to call her. Not when you have me around.” Fabian gave her a thin smile.
He stepped in front of her and raised his hands up to her shoulder level. A new source of light, coming from the ring of fire circling her neck, lit up the room.
Cassie screamed.
Chapter Fourteen
“But you haven’t had breakfast yet,” Sarah said.
As predicted, she had arrived during the night in response to Mark’s booty call, and she had been the first one to wake up. Blonde, tall, and skinny, wearing an expensive designer suit, she leaned against the counter with a cup of coffee in her perfectly manicured hand. Except for when she visited Mark, Sarah didn’t do kitchens. She only did restaurants. Breakfast was bound to be a disaster, but at least she had tried.
“No, thank you. We’re in a bit of a hurry,” Alise said. “We promised Cassie we’d pick her up after she finishes her exam. She wasn’t feeling that well.” She feigned a look at her watch. “She should be done by now.”
“Yes. Mark isn’t feeling well, either. He’s still in bed. Some dinner that must have been,” Sarah said with a glance around the place. “Just look at this mess.”
The monster blood had dried, looking like cocoa powder that had gathered in small piles on the floor. Sarah would have been shocked to see the kitchen right after the attack and likely never would have set foot in there again, but now the kitchen looked somewhat decent, and the smell of mud could easily be blamed on the dogs.
“We would help with the cleaning, but we have to go,” Rafe said, clearly with no intention of helping.
“Maybe when we return,” Vale said.
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Sarah waved a hand. “I’ve already called Maria. It’s her job. Are y
ou sure you don’t want some coffee at least?”
Rafe opened his mouth, but Alise was already pulling him away, saying, “We’ll get one in town.”
“Don’t wait for us with lunch. We’re taking her out to celebrate!” He grinned from the doorway and waved at Sarah. The grin didn’t stay on his face for long. He pouted the moment they left the house. “I wanted some of that coffee.”
“No, you don’t,” Alise said. “It tastes worse than monster blood.”
“Actually, she’s right.” Vale nodded and made a face. “I’ve tried it.”
“How do you two know what monster blood tastes like?” Rafe asked.
“I can tell by the smell,” she replied.
They climbed into Cassie’s black Toyota and drove downtown, concentrating on finding any sign of its owner. The Guardians used their tracking spells, unhappy with the results. All roads headed to the same place at the bottom of the hill. Out of the two massive buildings dominating the site, one was the library, and the other was the old university with the statue of an ancient ruler in front.
“I couldn’t get this close last night,” Vale said, “and we haven’t reached the barrier yet.”
“Are they losing power?” Rafe wondered.
Vale shrugged. “Could be. It takes a lot of magic to keep up this kind of protection, and there’s no source to refill it.”
No one asked for Alise’s opinion, so she kept her mouth shut, but she was tempted to agree.
They parked the car in a back alley and returned to the square. The traffic going up the hill was heavy, and to make matters worse, the place was crowded with students. Some were sitting on the terraces of the two cafés across the street while the rest swarmed like bees around the university building.
Alise yelled to make herself heard, “She really wanted to take this exam!”
“Well, that is the problem with wanting something so bad. It usually happens!” Rafe said. “She’s somewhere around here.”
