Spellbound (Immortal Love Series Book 3)

by Anna Santos

  “If you didn’t tell your mate, how did he find out?”

  Jessica looked at her best friend. “It’s a really long story, and we don’t have time for this now. I need to go out and buy the herb. I’ll go inside and check on Liam, first.” Jessica got up and smoothed her shirt down. “Has Valentina been fed today?”

  “Yes, she’s fine. But you shouldn’t bother Liam. He’s kind of busy.”

  “Have you tested the tracking device he’s working on?”

  “Yes, we are testing it on Shane and Sebastien. We’ll know more about it later when they come back.”

  “We really need it to work or we’ll never find the location of Alaric’s lair if we don’t have a signal to lock on to.”

  Anna got up and walked around the sofa, only to grab the back of it. “We are also placing tracking devices on us.”

  “Myra and her mate are low-level soldiers. Using an illusion spell to assume Myra and Jake’s appearance will be useless if we lose sight of Valentina.”

  “Yes, I know. But Liam is the best in what he does. And he is positive about the validity of the device. Plus, I have good news, Liam has found the perfect isolated location to make the exchange,” Anna announced, cheerful.

  Jessica folded her arms with a serious face. “That’s all excellent, but Vincent might not accept it.”

  “You have to make sure he will. We are outnumbered and we can’t afford to get ambushed.”

  “Yes, I know,” she said as she paced across the room. Then, she looked down the corridor with a hardened glare. “Where is everybody?”

  “Shane is with Sebastien studying the maps that Liam sent them while testing the tracking device. Shane also wants to place extra men on the top of the roofs around where the meeting will take place to prevent rogue shooters.”

  “Where are they going to find the men?”

  “Sebastien is an Alpha, he has a lot of experienced fighters in his pack. He called Jerome, his beta, he is arriving tonight with six other men.”

  “That’s good. And where are Dulce and Giovanna?”

  “They went to get lunch. That brings me to another issue here. Are you sure we can trust Giovanna?”

  Jessica shrugged. She wasn't’ sure of anything anymore.

  Anna pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “What is wrong with you? Are you having second thoughts about following through with the plan?”

  “No, I’m just tired since I barely slept. I better go to the kitchen and get things prepped and ready so when I receive the final ingredient, I can make the potion. Could you go out and buy the herb I need? It’s a complicated potion and it will take a lot of time.”

  “Sure, no problem. How much do you need?”

  “Whatever you can find,” she declared.

  “Okay. I’ll just go and check on Liam before I leave.”

  Jessica nodded while Annabel entered one of the several rooms of the apartment.

  Passing by to go to the kitchen, Jessica glimpsed Liam sitting at his computer desk, coding.

  It was crucial to prepare the potions she was going to need. Everybody else was doing their part. She trusted them, and she believed they knew what they needed to do to make their plan work. Therefore, she needed to get her head back in the game. But, while she stirred the potion, her mind was far away, and remembering her dream.

  Sighing deeply, she looked at her phone over the counter. She couldn’t restore her mind link without Marcus invading her mind and figuring out all her plans and where she was. But she could send him a text message...or call him. Just to listen to his voice. Yet, listening to his voice would break her, cause her to cry, and she knew it would.

  Against her best judgment, she turned on her phone, witnessing the amount of missed calls and text messages that piled up. Marcus had left voice messages. She didn’t have the heart to listen to his pleading and worried messages because she wouldn’t be able to resist his request of her coming back home to him.

  She also had an important call to make that day, she would strike a deal with Vincent--using the excuse of saving her own skin--and deliver the one guilty of Alaric’s curse to them. In exchange for a lot of money, of course.

  The money was for Myra, so she could run away and hide with her soul-mate, far away from that mess and sick spy games she had been forced to participate in. It had been the only way that Myra would help her. The girl wanted money and Alaric was going to pay generously if he wanted his former witch lover to undo what she had done to him.

  Jessica’s fingers moved as if they had a mind of their own. When she noticed, her phone was already ringing. Before she could tap stop, a voice was heard on the other side of the line.

  “Jessie?” a relieved and sexy voice called as Jessica’s heart stopped beating and her eyes watered. “Honey, are you alright?” Marcus’ voice was emotional and tender. “I’m not mad at you, Jessie. I swear I’m not. Just talk to me. Please tell me that you are okay.”

  Jessica felt a lump in her throat which prevented her from speaking. Swallowing hard, she finally got up the courage to reply. “I’m okay.”

  “Tell me where you are.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Let me help you, Jessie. Tell me what you are planning to do.”

  “You have already helped me.”

  “I’m reading spell books after spell books to try to understand why you need that herb. I’m going crazy over here. I would rather know what you plan to do, so I could help you.”

  “Did we actually talk last night while we were sleeping?”

  “Yes, it seems we did. I was hoping it would be real,” he said. “Jessie, please, let me help you.”

  She sighed despondently as she bit her lower lip. Then, she said, “I’ve just called to thank you.”

  “Anna and Shane are missing. Sebastien and Dulce disappeared mysteriously. I know they are helping you with your crazy plan. I’m your mate, Jessica. Why don’t you let me help you?”

  He seemed sad and really disappointed with her. Her heart shrunk inside her chest as her eyes stung with unshed tears. It had been a mistake to call him.

  Marcus spoke again, “I know you are scared. You think I don’t love you and I just want your old memories back so I can have Isobel. But you are wrong, I love you even if you won’t remember any of our past memories.”

  “You don’t mean that,” Jessica despaired as she walked to a chair and sat down, leaning against the kitchen’s table.

  “I mean it. Come back home.”

  “No.”

  He let out a sigh filled with anguish before asking, “Why do you hurt me like this?”

  Tears fell down Jessica’s cheeks as she felt her soul shattering. She sobbed, “I don’t want to hurt you. And I don’t want to die. I want to live and have babies with you. And I can’t do that if you turn me into a vampire. You know that if I’m a vampire, children won’t be possible anymore. I will lose myself and my body will be occupied by your former wife and not by me. I know it will. And I know you want me to change. I know that you’d rather have Isobel’s memories inside my body and that it will only be possible if I become a vampire. But I don’t want to be a vampire, not yet. I won’t live forever if I stay a witch. I’m not immortal like you. But I want to have my own family, my own memories. I want us to make new memories together. I want you to love me, just me,” she blurted out all the agonizing thoughts and feelings that were heavy on her heart.

  “You want to have babies,” he whispered. It seemed that he wasn’t expecting that revelation, or maybe he believed it was a silly idea. Why would he want any more kids when he had already had them with Isobel in a former life?

  “Why is that so strange? I want to have babies and I want to have a family but you have already had–“

  “Jessie, Jessie,” he called her name. “Please don’t cry.”

  Jessica sobbed even more with his request.

  “Listen to me.”

  “I want to have a life with you, too. I don’t wan
t my life to be defined by things that happened in the past. I want to make my own decisions and live everything again as something new and special…with you. But you’d rather linger on your past…” She wiped the tears from her eyes as she tried to calm herself and speak coherently.

  “That’s not true,” he said. “You need to listen to me. Don’t cry. It breaks my heart because I’m not there to comfort you, and I really don’t want you to be alone right now. Just listen to me, okay?”

  “I promise I’ll go back home after I do this,” she wept. “I miss you. Did you think, I don’t? I’ll go home, even if you love her more than me, okay?”

  “Do you mind listening to me?” He asked, speaking louder.

  “Don’t use your king’s voice on me. I’m not afraid of you,” she said, sulking.

  “This is not my king’s voice, this is a ‘my-mate-is-stubborn’ voice!”

  Jessica hissed, upset by his words.

  She heard him chuckling on the other end, when he said, “You are always adorable when you pout. Now stop being a hard-headed, little witch and listen to me.”

  “I am listening.”

  “No, you are just babbling nonsense after nonsense.”

  “It’s not nonsense.”

  “Jessica, I love you with or without Isobel’s memories. I want you by my side. I will be heartbroken if something bad happens to you. And if you want babies, I want babies too. I have no problem in starting a life with you and wait until you’re ready before I turn you. Do you want a little witch girl for a start? You can stay a witch as long as you wish. I really don’t mind, honey. I just want you to be happy. And I’ll do anything to make you happy. I promise you that. So stop crying, please, because there is no point in crying when I love you and I want you more than anything in the world. And we can have as many children as you wish.”

  Jessica breathed deeply, trying to understand if she had really heard what he had said. Or was she just imagining it? “You aren’t just saying that to trick me, are you?”

  “Jessie, I know you don’t know me well. We don’t really have a history together, have we? Besides some past life dreams and some hot sex dreams when we are asleep. But honey, you are my mate, with Isobel’s memories or without. You are perfect, sexy, witty, and really smart. And I can’t see myself living without you. And you need to know that I don’t lie and I don’t trick people, especially you.”

  Jessica squared her shoulder as she mulled over his words. “I know you have a kind heart, I also know that I’m your mate, you are not willing to let me do what I want, and you don’t believe in my abilities. I’m not a helpless fragile woman. I’m a strong and powerful witch. I have the goddess’ blood in my veins and I have survived until now and you need to stop underestimating me and start trusting my abilities and treating me as your equal.”

  “Okay,” he agreed as she caught her breath.

  Her voice trembled with the emotion. “Promise?”

  “I promise, Jessica. Now, let me help you.”

  “Marcus,” she whispered, dwelling about a thought that was tormenting her mind, “if I restore our mind link, would you know where I am?”

  “If I really try hard, yes.”

  She reclined on the chair as she twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “But how does it work?”

  “I can see glimpses of what you see.”

  “But...is there any possibility of sensing my location, as if you can follow a scent or an intuition?”

  “I can see what you see, but if I don’t know where you are, if I have never been there, then it will be harder to track you quickly. Why Jessie?”

  “I just wanted to make sure that if everything else fails, you could find me.”

  “It would be a lot easier if I knew where to start. Where are you?”

  “In a big city.”

  “Don’t be vague on purpose, Jessie, or I swear to the gods that I’ll punish you when I find you.”

  “I would like to see you try” she muttered upset by his words. “I’m not a kid anymore.”

  “Well, I was not planning to give you the same punishment that I would give to a kid.”

  Jessica arched an eyebrow, unsure of what he was implying. Then, she giggled. “You damn perv!”

  “Watch the language, Jessie,” he sighed, but she knew he was grinning. He spoke really sweet after, “Tell me where you are.”

  Straightening up and walking to the stove, she said, “Tomorrow. I need to do something today, something really important. And I need to call someone else for that. So I need to hang up now.”

  “Jessie,” he pleaded, making her blood race and her stomach drop.

  “Marcus, you said that you trusted me. So you will have to prove it.”

  “Okay,” he agreed.

  She bit her lip, feeling all warm and fuzzy with his words. “We will need a lot of men. Alaric probably has a lot of fighters at his hideout. So we will need warriors. Can you assemble a small army?”

  “Yes, I can do that.”

  “Good. Then I’ll send you the coordinates tomorrow night so that you can go from there to find me and rescue me. Shane and Sebastien will be here to help you with that.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Get myself into trouble and I’ll need a knight in shining armor to save me or, at least, to help me escape.” She tried to joke about it but she knew he wouldn’t find it funny.

  “Okay. But Jessie, could you call me before you do that?”

  “Why?”

  “So I can tell you again how much I love you and so I can hear your voice.”

  “Okay,” she agreed, smiling. “But I have to go now. I love you too. And I promise I’ll be careful.”

  “Okay, baby. And please, reestablish our mind link the moment you let yourself get caught. Leave your mind open so I see what you see.”

  “I can do that,” she said, turning off the phone, before she wasn’t able to go on with her plan.

  She had a witch to scare and a psychotic vampire to catch. She didn’t need any more distractions that day.

  Chapter Seven—VARIABLES

  JESSICA

  Jessica was pacing around her bedroom with her hands behind her back and her mind running through possible scenarios, trying to figure out how she was going to save her awesome plan. Plans are great, but there are variables that can ruin even the most carefully planned ones. She was trying to adjust and minimize the risks that those variables caused, so they didn’t ruin everything she had so meticulously thought out.

  The door to her bedroom opened, and Dulce came in.

  Frowning, the werewolf female asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you pacing around?”

  The bedroom she was sharing with Dulce had two single beds. Jessica sat on the bed closer to the window before asking, “Where’s Giovanna?”

  Dulce combed her black hair as she sat on her own bed. “She’s in the kitchen preparing lunch. Why do you look so worried?”

  Jessica clasped her hands together and placed them between her knees as she bit her lower lip. “You will never guess what happened when I phoned Vincent.”

  Dulce leaned forward with a worried expression. “Did he refuse? Did he do something to Myra?”

  “No. He never picked up because he’s dead!”

  Dulce’s eyes widened. “How do you know he’s dead? Who killed him? What is going to happen now?”

  Jessica motioned for her to slow down with the questions. “I know this because Alaric was the one who answered the phone. Imagine my surprise! I choked and, for a moment, I just stuttered like a crazy person.”

  “Who killed him?”

  “Alaric didn’t share that information. Whoever it was did the world a favor, but also messed with our plan. I tried to call Myra. I know that I shouldn’t. But I don’t know if I can deal with the Devil himself on the phone.”

  “So, you are still planning to go forward with the plan?”

  Jessica nodded. “I told him that I would c
all him later.”

  “Why do you think he’ll pick up?”

  “Well, I told him who I was and what I could offer him in return for leaving me alone.”

  “You told him that you had the original witch who cursed him?”

  “Yes.” Jessica bit her nail. “I didn’t make any demands, though. I wanted to talk to someone else to know what I should do. Should we proceed with the original plan or come up with something completely different?”

  “You should be asking Anna and the rest of the team, not just me,” Dulce said as she leaned back and placed the palms of her hands on the bed. “What did the big bad vampire tell you when you said who you were, and what you had to offer him?”

  “He seemed amused. Yet, I don’t know if I can call him again and try to sound friendly.” Jessica sighed as she flipped her hair away from her shoulders and crossed her legs. “I just hope that Vincent’s death is something recent and Myra is still alive.”

  “And Alaric might not use them on the team to make the exchange.”

  “That too.”

  “Relying solely on the tracker… I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

  Jessica nodded. “That’s also my fear. If the tracker doesn’t work, we will lose the opportunity to find Alaric’s hideout. We’ll also lose Valentina. And everything will be much worse if she undoes the binding spell, and he wins another powerful ally. She’s crazy in love with that psycho vampire.”

  “She’s not in love. She just wants to hurt her mate. She’s deranged and needs help.”

  “Speaking of which, do you have news about the video you sent?” Jessica asked as she got up.

  “I haven’t checked my email since.” Dulce got up and smoothed her clothes down. “I’ll ask Liam to use his computer before we eat. Meanwhile, we should talk with everybody about what happened.”

  “Yes, I’m going to text Anna. She went out to buy an important herb. Sebastien and Shane are still scouting the industrial area for a perfect spot for the meeting.”

  * * *