Last year he had been tasked with protecting her after she had foolishly allowed Demetrius, the Master of the Northern Seethe, to feed from her, giving him the ability to call her thereafter. It was for her protection, but also Sebastian’s less-than-subtle way of punishing her. For nearly a week I watched their comically torrential battle of wills. By day two, Gavin was frustrated and had threatened Kelly numerous times, which she simply responded to by spritzing him with a spray bottle and calling him a “bad kitty.” On day four, he quit, saying that whatever the vampires did to her she probably deserved. “She is an overindulged brat, you deal with her,” he said. His meltdown provided Sebastian with a well-deserved amusement as he pointed out that Kelly had bested him, but that he had lasted longer than he expected. Jeremy teased that since she had made him submit, maybe she should have his position.
Gavin refused to quit afterward, and for the remainder of the week, the battle continued and was too comical to ignore.
Now they found a common ground and pleasure in just riling each other, although Kelly had seemed better at it.
“Aw, how sweet, you’re concerned about me.” Her bright, cloying response just added fuel to the fire that was starting to ignite. It was odd how most of the were-animals, especially the higher-ranked ones, didn’t respond well to being ignored. From them, a suggestion was simply a pleasantly worded command with an expectation of compliance.
Kelly’s only advantage was being wholly human. It seemed barbaric to threaten her with violence because she wouldn’t stand a chance against any one of us. No one prided themselves in subjugating someone that was defenseless. It lacked dignity, which was something Kelly seemed to exploit quite often. Mouthy and obstinate far more often than was acceptable, she quickly found restraint and humility the moment she crossed the acceptable line of defiance, but she came too close to the line too often for Gavin’s liking.
“I am quite concerned. Concerned that you were given more curiosity and tenacity than common sense,” he responded before turning on his heels and leaving.
Multiple times Kelly had professed that underneath Gavin’s tough exterior was a sweet person. I wasn’t buying it. I believed that behind his coarse overcoat, that he displayed, was an even crueler acerbic person that was going to be a little pissed off that people kept tampering with his top layer. “He’s so darling, you just want to pinch his cheeks,” she said, loud enough for him to hear.
“You’ll probably pull back stumps if you do,” I murmured just loud enough for us to hear. I didn’t gain joy from irritating him. In fact, I made it a mission to stay as far away from him as much as possible.
When she laughed, it was a distinctive ebullient sound that resonated through the room.
Dr. Jeremy popped his head out of the clinic “What are you doing here so soon? I thought you had a date.”
She reached into her purse and pulled out a bejeweled pink phone showing the text he had sent her. “You texted: ‘an elf is here.’”
“There wasn’t a hurry.”
“You call, I come. That’s how it works, remember?” It was hard to decipher if her loyalty and availability was a result of her dedication to Dr. Jeremy or her avid curiosity about the otherworld. She had a sordid interest in all the dark things that occurred in this world.
“You ended your date for me?”
She shook her head. “That date was so over. Please tell your wife not to fix me up with any more of her clients’ children. It never works out, and it’s starting to make me feel like she’s pimping for real estate sales. Tell her my dignity is worth more than a four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath Colonial with walk-in closets and an unfinished basement.”
Dr. Jeremy frowned. “He is a single physician, with a condo in the city, a lodge in the country, and a stellar military record. And he’s a Rhodes Scholar!” he said, washing his hands over his face. While Dr. Jeremy vetting her date to such an extent appalled me, she didn’t seem either surprised or upset that he had. It was something she probably had gotten used to. The level of screening they did often struck me as unnecessary and evasive.
She shrugged. “Wow, he sounds great. Maybe you should date him,” she said and once again, big dimples and a wide smile tempered her words. She dismissed the guy with a wave of her hand. “I could never love him more than he loved himself.”
The frown lines deepened.
She simply smiled. The soft, whimsical voice and infectious smile was her strength, but one that seemed to only work on Dr. Jeremy. She shrugged off his curiosity. “I prefer to hang out with the old physician with the God complex than a young one with an unwarranted one.”
“What you call a God complex is rightful confidence, don’t confuse the two.”
For a few seconds he just looked at her, his mouth twisted to the side. “Okay? No more fix-ups.”
“A promise I am sure you and wife will keep like the one you made four weeks ago, three months ago, and again last year,” she said.
The grin widened. “We will attempt to keep this one.”
“I will accept your well-intended lie in the spirit it was given,” she said before she ducked into one of the rooms and reappeared looking like a life-size Skittle, dressed in lime green scrubs, loose and comfortable.
CHAPTER 6
Waiting with Winter and Abigail to hear about Gideon made me feel uncomfortable. Although their affections extended to nothing more than Winter stroking Abigail’s hair as Abigail leaned against her. I felt like I was intruding on a private conversation, gawking at two people at their most intimate moment. And waiting in the living room wasn’t any better. Gavin anxiously walked through the house like a caged animal.
With more pressing things to tend to, like finding the Aufero, I had locked myself in a room and pulled out my paper with the pictures of the items that would help guide me to the right place. Scrolling through the Internet in an effort to look at the inside of the shops through their web pages, I realized it was too limited of a scope. I needed to go. Since Marcia had it, I knew it was somewhere in the city. But how close? Would she keep it in her home? Or were they like the were-animals with a common home where she stored it? Josh was a witch, but because of his alliance with the were-animals, so many things about the witches were kept from him. He was a better resource about the magic than about the ins and outs of the Creed.
As I started out the house to check out another shop, the sound of Josh’s voice coming from the library caused me to make a U-turn towards it. He was sitting at the large walnut table across from his brother. Each time I saw them together the similarities and differences were always apparent. Both had the stunning blue eyes: Josh’s were clear like a deep tropical ocean, Ethan’s a hint of gunmetal gray, a constant reminder of the wolf that he shared his body with. They were both slim, Ethan a more muscular build, the benefits of not being wholly human and his love affair with the gym. Josh’s frame was a result of good genes and his daily runs with his brother. Modesty was an attribute that neither of them possessed and I had seen both of them nude or partially naked more times than I could remember. Josh was usually in his boxers when I came to practice magic, and only after some encouragement would he get dressed. Ethan, like most were-animals, wore clothing because it was dictated by society and laws. If it were socially acceptable to be naked in public, nearly all of them would not have a problem with it. And it didn’t hurt that most of them had bodies that were worth seeing in the nude.
“Just the person I wanted to see. I was just about to come get you,” Josh said as he pulled out a chair. I sat across from Ethan. Well, at least one of them was glad to see me. Josh plopped the Clostras in front of me, opening them both to the first page. “Please start reading.”
“Read what?”
“All of it. We need to translate it,” he said.
Each book that had to be at least two hundred pages. Then add the complexity of having to read one line from one book and then the next from the other. This was going to take days.
“It’s Latin; I understand most of it, but the rest we will figure out later.”
Who was the “we,” I wondered, because I couldn’t help. Occasionally I thought I knew a word, but only because it was similar to an Italian word. As I continued to read, I tried to ignore Ethan, whose eyes remained with me. Each time I finished a spell, I asked Josh what it was for. Each explanation was a guess, because each line just held the minuscule amount of information. Whoever created these books was as cryptic as possible.
As I read one line, Ethan leaned forward, listening attentively. I knew bestia meant beast. Another word caught my attention.
“What is ripiso?” I asked.
“Rest,” they responded in unison.
“The beast will lay to rest,” I whispered. But we didn’t know what the other part was. It could very well say that “when it awoke, it lived happily ever after.”
Several pages later, another line seemed to capture Josh’s attention: “Magia rescet.”
Magic will wither. Josh paled as I read the line. Afterward, he wanted to take a break and left for a while, returning with three cups of coffee. It was going to be a long night, and I realized they weren’t going to rest until we had gone through the entire book.
Two hours later, my eyes were tired and dry. I needed a break from reading. I rested back in the chair as Ethan’s gunmetal gaze followed my every movement. An intense gaze as though he was peering through a sniper scope. I leaned back in my chair watching him as he watched me. His words “I don’t trust you either” replayed repeatedly in my head. Did he in fact see me as an enemy? Was he waiting for me to answer for my crimes of betrayal against the pack? I guess at face value I didn’t seem like a strong asset to the pack. Being able to read the Clostra probably wasn’t of as much value as I believed. I was one of the few people in this world that could read the spells that could ultimately kill the were-animals.
“Do you know who can do these spells?” I asked, turning to Josh, but I could still feel his brother’s eyes on me.
“There seem to be numerous safeguards for the spells. Not only do you have to be able to get past the ward, but strong enough to perform them.” He looked down at his notepad. “These seem to be very strong spells. I wonder if even I could perform one,” he said, running his fingers thoughtfully over the arcane books.
Well, that was encouraging.
We read through nearly thirty pages in an hour when fatigue started and I kept fumbling over the words so much that Josh couldn’t understand me. If he came anywhere near the book to help me out, the words disappeared from the pages. Ethan was quietly sipping a cup of coffee. Each time I looked up, I was met with his deep inquisitive gaze. It was different from before, apprehensive and suspicious. I was glad when he stepped out to get another cup. I read a couple of lines and then took a break, resting my forehead on one of the books. It smelled funny: sage, metal, and sulfur. At some point, blood had been spilled near it and the sulfur was probably from a spell. I wondered how many spells had been cast over them in an effort to unveil the words.
The battered midnight blue cover with simple gold script to distinguish book one from two didn’t necessarily scream, “hey, I am a kickass spell book.” The most bizarre thing about it was the odd picture on it, similar to the Rod of Asclepius’ orb. The books were powerful, but without all three, they were useless. And without someone that could read the books and had the power to perform the spells, they were useless.
Josh laid his head next to mine; the little devious spark brightened his eyes, his finger twirling around strands of my hair, as he grinned. “Want to go downstairs and practice?”
Practice what? His brother had stolen my magic. I could feel the anger coloring my cheeks. There was a change in his look. Guilt by association was molded across his face. I am sure he knew what his brother had done, but I wondered if he knew before or after it had happened. His hand was gentle as it stroked my hair, then he planted a kiss on my cheek. Guilt. It was as though he was asking for forgiveness for his hand in things.
I am not sure why I needed to hear him admit it, but I did. It was as if the question was scrawled across my face in bold letters because he said, “Don’t. Let’s not talk about it.”
I nodded. The stretch of silence was galling. The seams of our friendship felt strained at that moment. “Let’s practice,” he said.
The gym was empty. I hated the way it smelled. Blood and sweat overwhelmed the air, and the matted floors felt odd under my feet with shoes on, so I slipped them off. Personal space meant nothing to Josh. “What do you want to work on?” he asked.
“Protective fields?”
“You’re a pro at those. Offensive magic,” he suggested, taking out a small knife from his pocket. It had been a long time since I had borrowed magic from him. I had forgotten what it felt like to possess it. He quickly ran the knife over our hands, then clasped mine and he stepped closer. The warmth of his breath feathered against my lips as he recited the spell.
“I need to be able to do a bigger one and cover someone else,” I said.
He nodded. “Try one now.” When I attempted to step back, his arm slipped around my waist. “If you can do one with the two of us, then you make a larger one. Try it.”
I did, and with ease the translucent oval covered us, and then Josh started to step back. The wall expanded, widening and keeping us covered. He returned to his position next to me, and the wall slid in with him. “Am I doing this?” I had to ask because it came with such ease, I couldn’t believe it.
“It’s all you,” he said. “What else do want to try?” He was annoyingly close, his lips brushing mine as he spoke. Personal space, learn about it.
“How is London?” I asked, dropping the field and moving a few feet away.
London was his friend and sometimes lover. But he seemed to value the friendship more than anything. Last year when he had involved her with finding Ethos, it seemed to have caused an irreparable rift in their friendship.
“She blocked my number,” he said softly. He turned his back to me so that I couldn’t see his expression, but I could hear the sorrow in his words. “What do you want to try next?”
“A field that covers you while you are there,” I said.
“Those are hard. You are talking master level. Plus, I don’t know if you have enough magic to do that.” Loaned magic was weaker. I held it, but unlike anyone who was innately magical, I didn’t have a limitless supply of it. The ineluctable problem with borrowed magic was that it was easily depleted. There wasn’t an indicator that showed a “low on magic” signal. It just stopped.
“I need you to be able to use offensive magic. Not the small things like making your clothes dance across the room,” he said.
Did everyone know I did that?
He clasped my hand, the one he used to bind us. “Feel what I’m doing,”
It was a small pulse that snowballed into strong thumps of power coming off him, off us. I felt it race through me in jolts and I needed to get rid of it. When he let go of my hand, I did. With a wave of my hand, he went back, too hard, slamming back against the matted wall. “Sorry!” I said.
He grunted, but remained pinned against the wall. “Release me,” he instructed gently.
I tried to pull it back slowly, but it was a jerk and he went forward fast onto his hands and knees.
Kneeling down next to him, I couldn’t stop apologizing. “Try another protective field,” he said.
I did. The shadowy wall formed over me, but it lacked power, just a glamour. “Offensive magic requires a lot of power. You will have to use it sparingly.”
I missed it. And longed for ability to have magic at my fingertips once again. The strong immu
table desire was a constant reminder of magic’s enthralling affect and how easily it could become an addiction. It drifted off him as a heavy mist, incessantly present. Now I was the one invading his personal space. My undeniable affinity for it was just short of destructive. I leaned into him, my head resting against his chest. He pulled me closer.
The emptiness was there. For months I had full access to it. Yes, it was dark magic. And I probably wouldn’t have been able to control it. But it didn’t make the void any less. If anyone could understand, it would be Josh.
“I would too,” he admitted, as perceptive as usual. I didn’t have to express my feelings.
I was just about to ask to borrow more when Ethan spoke; his gaze jumped from me and then his brother. Then he glowered. “Play time is over, we need to go back to work.”
Josh glanced over his shoulder, then quickly dismissed his brother. “Okay.”
“Now,” Ethan insisted.
Josh sighed, but he didn’t move for a few moments and when he did it was to shoot his brother a glare.
This battle for control between them could go on for hours. In the end they would find out they were equally stubborn and they had just wasted time. I moved and started up the stairs past Ethan. When Josh didn’t move, Ethan jerked his head toward the door. “Come on.”
Josh grinned, there was a slight move of hand, and Ethan went back against the rails. It wasn’t hard, just enough to be annoying. I rolled my eyes, and couldn’t help but imagine them with their fingers in each other’s face, childishly saying, “I’m not touching you.” I laughed loudly at the image and they both looked confused. Ethan was the Beta of the pack, but Josh continued to have to remind him that he wasn’t in command of their pack.
Another hour and twenty more pages read, I had started to hate Latin. Indecipherable riddles filled Josh’s notebook, spells that meant nothing without the third book.
Midnight Falls (Sky Brooks Series Book 3) Page 9
