And that right there was the new problem. “I think I’ll be able to handle that. We need to check with the others first.”
“On it.” Sami stood and planted her hands on her hips. “Where’s the guy without a shirt? I’d like to check in with him first.”
“DID YOU CAPTURE ANY OF THEM?” I asked when Kade joined us ten minutes later.
He shook his head, his eyes going to the girl, who shrank from him. “No. Is she okay?”
“She is now. Sami healed her.”
“Healed her?” Kade looked shocked. “I didn’t know that was a thing until she did it to you. I thought maybe it was because you’re magical.”
“Obviously not. I want more info on it, but we need to deal with this first.” I moved my gaze back to the girl. “Are you local?”
She didn’t respond. She’d stopped talking, a bad sign.
“What should we do?” Kade was in security mode. “Should we call the police?”
“Absolutely not.” I knew without a shadow of a doubt that was a bad idea. I shifted my eyes to Zoe as she approached. “I can modify her memory.”
Zoe nodded. “That’s probably good.”
“I can also see what she knows. It’s a little invasive, but ... .”
“But we need to know,” Zoe finished. “We didn’t capture any of them. Once they disappeared into the darkness, they literally disappeared. I think they used magic, but you were the only one hurt.”
“Whatever they hit me with wasn’t much,” I said. “They have some magic, but if that’s the best they can do we shouldn’t have a problem taking them down.”
“They weren’t expecting us,” Zoe pointed out. “They might have more in their arsenal. We can figure that out later.” She gestured toward the girl. “Do what you can do for her. Then we need to talk.”
“Hold on.” I extended my hands, my stomach clutching when the girl tried to crawl away. “I’m so sorry. You’ll feel better when this is over.” I grabbed the sides of her head and dived into a muddled mess. Picking through it proved to be more difficult than I initially thought. After several minutes, I gave up trying to sort things out and instead turned to modifying her memory.
In a soothing voice, I set things back to before life got bad for her. Then I told her she would wake in an hour feeling physically and mentally strong, but with a gap in her memory. When I finished, I pulled back and fixed Seth with an expectant look. “Take her home.”
“Will she be able to tell me where that is?”
“Yes, but that’s about all she’ll be able to tell you.”
“That’s all I need.”
“Drop her a block from her house. Watch to make sure she gets inside. And don’t let whoever she lives with see you.”
“I know the drill.” Seth offered up a salute and then helped the girl to her feet. “Do you know her name?”
“Heather Stone.”
Once they were gone, I sat on the ground and rubbed my hands over my knees. I was trying to figure things out when Raven broke into my reverie.
“Are you going to tell us what happened to her?” she demanded.
“She doesn’t know what she saw,” I replied. “Everything in her head is muddled, overlapping, and in the form of nightmares. I think she was drugged.”
“Can you sort through it?” Zoe asked.
“Not right now. I think she erected a mental block to protect herself from whatever was happening. Until she’s ready to face it herself, I can’t break through and force her to do it.”
“You can,” Raven countered, her tone accusatory. “You know you can.”
“Not without shattering her mind. I refuse to do more damage to that girl.”
“You don’t have to,” Zoe reassured me, her gaze measured as she stared down a huffy Raven. “We don’t need her. We can figure this out on our own.”
“Oh, really?” Raven was having none of it. “How many cults have you dealt with? Just for the record, that’s exactly what we have here. It’s a cult, with at least minor magic at their disposal. They’re carving runes into these girls for sport. It’s blood magic.”
“I figured that out.” Zoe’s tone never changed. “As for cults, I’ve dealt with a few. My favorite was the one that believed I was the Candyman. They thought if they said my name five times in a mirror I would appear to wipe them off the planet.”
“That is so cool,” Luke enthused, appearing out of the darkness with Sami at his side. Even though he was in the lead, her attention remained fixed on the shirtless Cole. “You’re an urban legend.”
“It wasn’t so cool at the time,” Zoe countered. “I was pregnant with that one, but I didn’t know it.” She inclined her head toward Sami. “They almost ruined my wedding.”
“No one ruined anything,” Aric said as he moved to his wife’s side. He’d shifted back into his human form and was sweating. He looked exhilarated. “If it’s a cult, we’ll deal with it.”
“What’s this ‘we’ crap?” Raven demanded. “Since when did you two join our team?”
“We’re our own team,” Zoe replied. “We’re not asking you to join us and we’re not volunteering to work by your rules.” Her gaze met with mine. “But something tells me we can figure this out faster if we work together.”
Something told me she was right. “Ignore Raven,” I said as I held out my hands and allowed Kade to help me to my feet. “She’s old and crabby. She’s also annoyed because you’re so powerful.”
“Oh, don’t act like it doesn’t bother you too,” Raven sneered.
“I don’t like feeling weak,” I admitted. “Zoe’s power makes us all feel weak. But she’s on our side and I’m not going to look a gift mage in the mouth.” I risked a glance at Kade and found he was completely entranced with Zoe. Again. “Besides, Zoe has been at this a long time. Her magic is ... a thing to behold. It’s based in the same place Kade’s magic is. I think it’s best we all work together.”
“I happen to agree,” Zoe said. “What do you think we should do?”
She was putting me on the spot. It felt like some sort of test. “I don’t know. What do you think we should do?”
“I think we should call it a night, get some sleep, and come at it fresh in the morning. I also want to place a call. I have a friend who is good with research. It might help if we knew what those runes signify.”
She was singing my song. “We can start the research ourselves.”
Her lips quirked. “I’m not great at the research end of things.”
“Not at all,” Aric intoned as he snagged the back of Sami’s shirt and dragged her from Cole. “Stop drooling over him.”
Sami’s cheeks colored. “I don’t drool.”
“Of course not,” Luke said. “Especially over him. I’m way hotter. If you’re going to drool, it should be over me.”
Cole rolled his eyes. “I’m your boyfriend,” he reminded Luke. “You should feel proud she’s drooling over me.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” Sami held up her hands. “There’s plenty of drool to go around. There’s no need to fight.” She seemed happy that Cole and Luke were squabbling over her attention.
Aric’s gaze was dark as it landed on his wife. “She gets this from you.”
Zoe shrugged. “She’ll eventually find a hot and swarthy man with a heart of gold to take her breath away.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“Suck it up. There are too many men here for you to fight.”
“I’m still in my prime.” As if to prove it, Aric shot Cole a challenging look.
Cole didn’t look bothered. “You realize I’m gay?”
“That’s the only reason you’re not dead,” Aric growled.
“Well, at least you’ve got your head on straight.” Cole focused on me. “We need to clean this mess up and get out of here. It’s likely the cops will come back tomorrow for another look.”
He was right. “Spread out,” I ordered. “Make sure we don’t leave anyth
ing behind.”
And just like that, everybody scattered. We were working on a clock and there were more girls out there who were in danger. I had no idea what was happening here, but I was determined to find out.
8
Eight
“Did you see the way she moved? She was like a dancer, but with magic.”
Kade stood in the doorway between the bathroom and our bedroom and stripped off his shirt. Normally the sight of his heavily muscled chest would have my mind wandering. Tonight that was out of the question, because he hadn’t stopped talking about Zoe since we’d left the riverbank.
“Yes, Zoe is impressive,” I agreed, dragging a hand through my hair and biting back a sigh. I told myself that he didn’t realize how annoying he was being with the Zoe worship, but that didn’t change the fact that I wanted to gag him.
“She’s more than impressive.” Kade unsnapped his pants and dropped them on the floor, leaving them there for us to trip over should one of us need to get up and use the restroom in the middle of the night. “I have so many questions for her.” He climbed onto the bed. “Do you think she’d be willing to answer them?”
“She seems pretty open,” I said as I stared at his jeans, willingly them to magically fly into the hamper. It didn’t happen, not that I really expected it to, and my agitation shot up a notch.
“She grew up with mage parents,” Kade continued, completely missing my scowl. “Aric said that she didn’t know she was a mage until she got to college. She learned everything on the fly after that.”
“She’s amazing,” I agreed.
“I’m hoping I can learn to use my magic like she does.”
And that’s when it hit me. I was acting like a jealous ninny even though Kade’s true interest was in the magic. I wanted to smack myself. “Kade, you’re doing amazingly well.” I leaned over and snagged his jeans, carrying them to the hamper. I added my own shirt and pants before turning back to the bed.
“She’s stronger,” Kade pointed out as he held up the covers and patted the spot next to him.
“She’s always going to be stronger,” I said. “Both her parents were mages. Still, I think you’ve limited your magic because you’re afraid of it. You need to get over that.”
“I don’t want to hurt anybody, especially you.”
I pressed my lips together as I crawled into bed next to him.
“I mean it,” he whispered as he tucked me in tight at his side. “If I were to ever hurt you ... .” He trailed off.
“You won’t hurt me,” I reassured him.
“How can you know that?”
“I’ve seen your heart.” I decided to take the mage by the horn, so to speak. “As long as you’re afraid of the magic you’ll never be able to master it.”
“Zoe can heal people.”
“Do you want to know if you can heal people?”
“Kind of.”
“Have you tried to heal people?”
“No, but I didn’t even really know it was possible until I saw it tonight. The kid can heal people too.”
“Yeah, but she said she didn’t always know she could do it. She made a big thing about it.”
“Maybe I should set up lessons with the kid.”
I smiled. “Well, if you conduct those lessons with your shirt off, I think she’d be more than willing to participate.”
“Yeah, she seems a little sexed up.”
I glared at him.
“I don’t mean that in whatever gross way you think I mean it,” Kade said hurriedly. “I just mean that she seems absolutely fixated on sex, like to the point she might need to be fixed with a chastity belt. Wait ... those are still a thing, right?”
“I don’t believe those have been a thing for centuries unless you’re a complete and total sicko,” I replied. “As for the kid ... I think she’s pretty normal.”
“Are you telling me you drooled over men like that when you were her age?” Kade looked horrified at the prospect.
“I’m saying that I had my share of crushes when I was fourteen years old. She likes looking at boys. She doesn’t even care who the boys are, or even if they’re gay or straight. As long as they’re hot, she’s happy.”
“Yeah. Her crush on Cole is kind of cute.”
“It is, but she’ll switch it tomorrow.”
“How can you know that?”
“She wants to drive her father insane. That’s half of the appeal of being boy crazy. She loves watching him melt down.”
“Zoe seems cool about it.” Kade stretched out on his back and rested his head on his palms as he stared at the ceiling. “She’s a pretty cool mom. Can you imagine having a mother like her?”
“No.”
“She doesn’t look old enough to be the mother of a teenager. She must’ve had her when she was really young, because she looks thirty-five tops and is really hot.”
I couldn’t believe he had the audacity to say that to me. “Her husband is the same way,” I muttered, plucking at one of the nubs on the blanket. When Kade didn’t respond for a long time, I risked a glance at him and found him watching me with unreadable eyes. “What?”
He finally cracked a smile. “You’re jealous of Zoe.”
“I am not.”
“You are so.”
“I am not!” I sounded shrill, even to myself, and I fought to gain control of my emotions.
“It’s cute,” he reassured me as he reached over to snag my hand. “Just for the record, though, you know I’m only interested in you.”
When he said it like that, I couldn’t help feeling sheepish. “I’m not jealous,” I insisted. “I’m just ... it’s a lot.”
“What’s a lot?”
“She’s powerful, Kade.”
“I know. I felt her from across town. She was the thing freaking me out. Well, her and Sami together. I think it was mostly her, though.”
“I like how you’re frightened of her and still turned on by her.”
“Oh, don’t be a pain.” He poked my side. “I’m not turned on by her. I might be a little turned on by the magic. Watching her ... it’s like seeing a glimpse of what’s possible for me. Does that sound corny?”
“No,” I sighed. “I understand. It’s just ... do you have to look at her as if she’s the prettiest woman in the world?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Hey, I look at you that way. Do you want to know why? Because you are the prettiest woman in the world. No one else holds a candle to you. It’s who she is and what she can do that intrigues me. It has nothing to do with her looks.”
“I know.”
“It’s not sexual.”
His gaze was so intense I had no choice but to meet it. “I know. I’m being an irrational beast. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“I think you’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous.” I made a face.
“It’s okay if you are a little jealous.”
“I just said I’m not jealous.”
“Fine.” He slipped his arm around my waist but didn’t tug me to him. “I think it’s hot when women are jealous.”
That did it. “Oh, really? How would you feel if I went on and on about how hot Aric is? He’s smoking hot, and he’s a good father. He’s the sort of father who makes ovaries the world over weep.”
“I didn’t realize ovaries could weep.”
“When they’re around a man like that they definitely can.”
He studied my face. “Are you done getting back at me?”
I sniffled. “I wasn’t getting back at you. I was simply stating the truth.”
“And yet it felt like you were getting back at me.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Fine.” He briefly held up the hand that wasn’t underneath me as a form of surrender and reached over to turn off the light, plunging the room into darkness. He then wrapped his arms around me and snuggled close.
“I’ll never love anything like I love you,�
�� he whispered after a few minutes.
“I feel the same way.”
“Do you need me to make your ovaries weep before we go to sleep?”
I made a face, which he obviously couldn’t see. “Is that some weird come-on line?”
“How badly do you want to find out?”
“Okay, but you have to do all the work. I’m officially exhausted.”
I could feel his grin against my forehead. “I think I can be persuaded.”
“Then bring it on.”
“Your wish is my command.”
I RECOGNIZED I WAS IN A DREAM THE second I emerged into the foggy landscape. I could hear the water rushing by but couldn’t see it, indicating I was on the banks of the Savannah River, and my subconscious was desperately trying to show me something.
“Hello?” I didn’t expect anybody to respond — this was my head, after all — but the sound of shuffling feet told me I wasn’t alone. I found Zoe standing about ten feet away, her gaze keen as she stared into the darkness. “Oh, well, of course it’s you.”
Her lips swished. “That’s not happiness to see me,” she teased.
“It’s my dream.”
“So?”
“So, that means you’re not supposed to be here. I had to hear enough about you from Kade tonight. I don’t want to see you.”
“That’s disappointing.” Zoe clucked. “I’m not a big fan of women seeing other women as enemies just because they both have vaginas.”
I worked my jaw. “That’s not what I’m doing.”
“No?”
“No. I respect you a great deal. I think you’re strong and amazing.”
“But?”
“But ... my boyfriend won’t stop talking about you as if you’re the second coming of Reese Witherspoon and it’s driving me crazy.”
Zoe made a face. “What does Reese Witherspoon have to do with anything?”
“He likes Legally Blonde. He thinks Reese is hot. You kind of look like her.”
Zoe folded her arms over her chest. “Aric’s celebrity crush is Megan Fox. I guess you always yearn for what you don’t have.”
Mystic Caravan 11 - Freaky Mage Page 8
