by Dani Harper
“Or the ninth sign of a problem? To hold the Gift is not to hold it alone, m’ija. Mi madre would have had such words for you about this. As for me, even as your teacher and your friend, I cannot be angry.” Olivia sighed and patted Brooke’s hand. “I am sorry for you that you did not reveal this sooner. You are the one who has had to bear the stress and the worry over it all alone, and that is punishment enough. Plus, Aidan says you fainted when he drew his cards.”
Brooke shot a look at him. His expression was totally unrepentant. “It was a shock, that’s all,” she said.
The older woman regarded the cards on the table, which hadn’t moved since they’d been turned over earlier that day. Brooke had taken care of her next three clients at other booths. “Nine identical readings before Aidan arrived,” recounted Olivia, shaking her head. “And this morning, from two completely different decks, we get two readings, for two people, at the same time, and both readings are the same. You two are connected in a way I have never even heard of before.”
Aidan frowned. “What do the cards tell you?” he asked Olivia.
“I explained that already,” said Brooke.
“I want to know what our friend thinks they say. Sometimes two pairs of eyes are better than one, are they not?”
She sighed. It was probably the Fool card that was bothering him—what man wanted to see that? And the Death card often frightened people—no, scratch that. Of all the clients she’d ever had, Aidan was probably more comfortable with that card than any of them ever could be. She nodded at Olivia. “He’s right. We can’t take the chance that I may have missed something.”
“The reading came to both of you. I think we have to interpret it for both of you. What it says to one must also be intended for the other.” Her friend crossed herself. “Dios, I hope I am right in this, but this is one of the few things the Gift has given to me, and it is usually very strong.
“The Fool is an old name for this card, meaning only that he is innocent. I call this card the Traveler, because he is at the start of a journey and does not know what lies ahead of him. It is a good card, a card of new beginnings.” She folded her hands and leaned forward. “This card very often means that new love is coming your way, a love that is out of the ordinary.”
Aidan narrowed his eyes at Brooke. “You did not say that.”
“I didn’t think it applied!” defended Brooke. “The card can also mean you’re getting a fresh start, or it can be literal, and mean you’re actually going to go on a trip. One of my clients won a vacation cruise after a reading that featured this card.”
“And I am saying what I feel about this reading,” reminded Olivia. “And I said exactly what I meant. Also, you must notice that the Traveler does not go alone. The dog at his side stands for faithful friends who will guard and guide him, and I am very glad for that.”
She paused and took a deep breath before she continued. “I am glad for that because the second card is the Moon. This is a very frightening card to me. Powerful magic is involved here, dangerous magic, deception, and hidden enemies.”
“Um—that’s enemies, plural?” asked Brooke. “I didn’t think I had even one. You must mean Aidan’s enemies.”
Olivia held up her finger. “As I said, this reading is for both of you. You must be on your guard. We all must. I feel we are all involved, every one of us, family and friends alike.” She shook her head as if to clear it and continued. “The Moon shows a dimly lit path where ordinary rules won’t apply. A different world—”
“The faery realm,” Aidan said at once.
“Possibly. You must trust your intuition and reach inside yourself for the courage to move forward.” Olivia pointed at the Moon card in Brooke’s reading and in Aidan’s reading. “These cards were not designed by the same artist. But in both, you see a pair of dogs barking at the moon—once again, you are being guarded. You have friends and you will need them.”
Aidan pointed to the Ten of Pentacles. “What about this card?”
“It’s a much happier card,” said Brooke, glad for the distraction. Everything that Olivia had said about the Moon card had resonated inside her, to the point that she was finally able to put her finger on what had frightened her into saying nothing to anyone about the multiple readings.
Most people were frightened by the Death card, but to a witch, the lunar card was scarier by far. Like the real moon whose strange light leeched the familiar colors of the day into pale, unrecognizable shades, the Moon card almost always meant that something was not as it appeared to be. No clear pathway was visible, and yet above all, the card indicated that a great darkness must be faced. The Moon was an upsetting card before Brooke had met Aidan or learned of his literal experiences with another world and its inhabitants. In light of his vow to confront his enemy, she could now officially declare herself creeped out.
“The Ten of Pentacles is a card of great potential,” agreed Olivia. “But also great change. It is the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Sometimes this card signifies great and lasting wealth, but it’s not about money at all in this case. Here the reward is in permanent relationships. It could be lasting love, and also strong ties with friends and family.”
“That sounds pretty good,” said Brooke.
“But,” added Olivia. “And it is a very big but—you can only have this great reward if you take an equally great risk.”
“It sounds like many things in life.” Aidan pointed to the card in question. “There are dogs in this picture, too. Why? I see no enemies here.”
“In the other cards, the dogs represent the friends that guard and guide you. This card represents a place that is already protected, and permanent. The dogs symbolize loyalty and ties that cannot be broken.”
“What about the last card, Olivia?” asked Brooke. “What do you think it means?”
“Death is always the card of change. I am concerned with the card’s position—it’s at the bottom with the other three above it. That means it influences all three of them.”
“That’s exactly what George said about it,” murmured Brooke.
“In this case, the Death card is in perfect harmony with the Ten of Pentacles—something must end in order for something new to begin…But I do not know what.”
SEVENTEEN
It was late by the time Olivia left, and Aidan suggested that Brooke close her shop. Usually she would have been open another hour, but she looked worn. The strange events of the day were weighing heavily on her mind.
Brooke searched the back room and came up with some odd little bowls of dry crispy things she called noodles. “These are supposed to be microwaved,” she said. “But I need to test something out first.” She placed the bowls on the counter and filled each with water, causing the noodles to float on top like corks. Closing her eyes and holding a hand above each bowl, she murmured a few words.
The air suddenly filled with the sharp tang of savory herbs as steam rose from the bowls. Brooke yanked her hands away but bounced on her feet in an odd little dance. “Yes!” she shouted. “I’m back!”
Aidan was puzzled. “You haven’t left.”
She laughed as she used a small towel to carry the hot dishes to the table one at a time. “Maybe I didn’t go anywhere, but my magic did. It hasn’t worked worth a nickel lately—not since I started getting those weird card readings.”
“From the tarot? Olivia was very concerned about the message the cards gave us. And for you, the readings have continued without interruption, so why would your powers suddenly be restored now?”
“Good question.” She sat across from him and handed him a fork and spoon. “Olivia and I both noticed a big change in the chi, the vitality and life force that flows through this place, when you arrived. You’re the only new factor in the equation, and my magic is working again now that you’re here. So maybe it’s like Olivia told me: your energy is balancing mine.”
Having seen her considerable power at work, Aidan didn’t think it was p
ossible for him to balance it in the least, but he wasn’t about to argue the point. He wasn’t about to complain about the meal either—although he secretly thought the strange salty food was much worse than the bagels he’d eaten yesterday. Brooke was happy—even relieved—and all the more so as she continued to experiment as they ate. A dozen books from the office desk on the other side of the room were levitated, then rearranged midair before resuming their places. Cupboard doors opened and closed, papers whirled about then stacked themselves neatly. She sighed in obvious satisfaction. “I can’t begin to tell you how good that feels.”
“I’m accustomed to magic in the faery realm—almost everything there is accomplished by a word or a gesture. Even as a grim, I required the use of magic to carry out my task.” He shook his head. “It’s very rare for a mortal to possess so much power, and to control it so well,” he said. “Your talent is astounding to me.”
“Ha! You wouldn’t say that if you’d seen me a week ago. Do you have any idea how many spells and potions I’ve got on my order shelf, waiting to be prepared and delivered?” she asked, pointing her spoon in his direction. “I can finally get caught up with my work now. So many people are waiting for help. First on my list, though, is going to be a spell of well-being for Rina Carter. She’s pregnant with twins, and very anxious about it. She needs to relax and feel some peace.”
“That’s the difference between you and the fae,” said Aidan. “You use your power to help and to serve. They use theirs to amuse themselves—and they care not for the cost, even if harms the innocent.”
“That’s horrible. That’s against everything the Code stands for.”
“You abide by a law?”
“A set of laws. Absolutely.”
She recited it for him, and he nodded solemnly. “Those are worthy ideals. It’s honorable that you regard your powers as a gift and act accordingly. Most of the fae view theirs as a right, without responsibility.” He thought of the Lord of the Wild Hunt and wondered if he was an exception. If ever there was a fae with honor, it was Lurien. If there were others, however, Aidan had not met them.
“Thinking of the Code reminds me that I have work to do,” she sighed. “Maybe I should work a few spells before I go to bed.”
He shook his head. “You’ve had much to concern you this day, and you will perform your work better if you are rested. The morning will be here soon enough.” Aidan encouraged Brooke to go upstairs to her apartment and rest. “I’ll be your guard dog down here by the door,” he teased. “Instead of biting, I’ll be so rude that no one will dare disturb you.”
It won a small laugh from her. “Well, then, I’m going to feel very safe.”
She led the way back into the shop, and he watched her pull out pillow and quilts from under the bench and arrange them carefully. Brooke was ever concerned about the comfort and well-being of others. Of him. Before he’d fully formed the thought, he had his arms around her. “My mam used to say that worry was heavier to carry than stones,” he said. “Put the stones down for the night, Brooke.”
She hugged him tight, and he was content to hold her for as long as she would let him. He was supposed to be comforting her, but something in him eased as well. Brooke laid her head on his shoulder, and he couldn’t help but rest his cheek on her silky hair. He breathed deeply, trying to discern the hints of plants and flowers that enhanced rather than overpowered her own natural scent. It was like trying to pull apart a spring morning.
She sighed. “There it is again.”
“What?”
“When I touch you, I can feel power. A lot of it. It’s like magic is running through your veins or something.”
“Perhaps a leftover from my time as a grim,” he said. “I told you that I had powers sufficient to aid me in my task.”
“That’s what I thought it was at first. But I’m wondering if there’s something more to it. Maybe your magic is like mine. It’s part of you, something you were born with.”
He was about to deny it when a memory stopped him. The blacksmith he’d been apprenticed to had often said he’d never seen a lad so gifted. And it was true that Aidan had never struggled to learn to shape the metal—it was as if the element wanted to become what he saw in his mind. Had there been more to his ability than talent alone? “Gofannon is the god of both metalworking and magic. Perhaps it is no accident that magic has found me—it may have claimed me for its own before the metal did.”
Perhaps it was no accident that Celynnen had found and claimed him either. He recalled his alarm when the little girl at the bus stop was able to hear Lurien’s words. The child’s unusual ability had unknowingly brought her to the attention of the Lord of the Wild Hunt. Celynnen had spoken of watching Aidan as a little boy. Had she noticed him, even sensed him at a distance, because of some natural wellspring of magic within him? A flower’s nectar attracted a bee. It stood to reason that a human with magic might attract a fae.
“I feel it in you, too,” he admitted, and Brooke turned her head to look up at his face. “It’s like a pulse beneath my touch, even in the air when we’re near each other.”
It was here now, throbbing between them, the energies reaching for each other, seeking to entwine. He thought—
And suddenly there was no more thought. Instead, Aidan bent his head and pressed his lips to hers. Some faraway part of him, the civilized part, urged him to be cautious, to go gently, but it was drowned out by the sudden roaring of the emptiness within him. The aching void of a thousand years abruptly reared up and demanded to be filled.
He clamped her to himself with one powerful arm and devoured her mouth. His other hand rubbed her in hard circles from the back of her slender neck to the tops of her thighs, grasping, gripping, kneading. Memorizing her shape by touch and pressing her soft curves into his hard planes. He was starved, and his hunger was a live thing. He wanted, needed, everything, all at once. And there was nothing he could do to rein it in.
Nothing, until Brooke responded with wants and needs of her own. Rather than be frightened by him, she reached one hand around his head and knotted her fingers in his hair, holding his commanding mouth in place as her tongue coaxed his into a rhythmic, if forceful, dance.
Meanwhile, her other hand was busy—and so was her magic. He was holding her so tightly against him, she couldn’t manipulate her fingers to do more than brush the buttons of his shirt. But as she did so, each sprang open. By the time she unfastened the button of his jeans, he could no longer bear his clothes. Aidan wrenched himself back from her, the separation almost physically painful, and yanked away the entrapping fabric as quickly as possible. She stood perfectly still and put up a hand, as if to keep him at bay.
By Gofannon, he fought to control himself, to hold back the wildness that had overtaken him. If she wanted him to stop, then he must find a way, he must. The air in the shop was cool, but he could swear his skin was steaming like a lathered horse. His breath was harsh, as if he’d been running, and his newly freed cock strained towards her.
Brooke spoke a single word—and all of her clothing puddled at her feet. Her sudden lush nakedness was like a hard punch to his belly, driving the breath from his lungs. The glow from the amber streetlights outside filtered through the blinds and softly gilded her rounded curves. She smiled then and took a step towards him, but he had her in his arms before her foot touched the floor.
The hunger of a millennium drove him, and he feasted on her. His mouth was on her throat, her breasts, her navel. With an arm, he swept most of the quilts and the three cats lounging on them from the broad tufted bench. The felines stalked away but he was blind to their indignation. He had eyes only for Brooke as he guided her down with his heavily muscled body. Her arms slid around him and pulled him the rest of the way, and she moaned with deep satisfaction as he lay atop her, skin to skin at last. Yet he couldn’t stay still, couldn’t linger more than a few breaths. He slid down the length of her, kissing, licking, even biting, until his face was level with her ve
e. For a moment he laid his face on the soft mound of curls there—then he spread her legs wide, revealing her luscious core. She curved her hips upward, seeking his mouth, and he tasted her greedily even as he reveled in her scent. It was a banquet, and he indulged himself fully, even as she seized handfuls of his hair and pulled his face into her.
The monstrous craving that drove him was far from sated, however. It growled for more, for all. Aidan rose over her until the head of his questing cock found her hot, slick center. The first thrust made him drunk and dizzy at the same time, sending a delicious shiver through him from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. More. He had to have more. He pounded fiercely into her as Brooke urged him on. With feral cries, they moved as one, climbing together until the jarring, pulsing release rocked them both—and erupted in a blinding burst of pure magic.
There was nothing to do but cling to each other. The power flowed through them, back and forth, as they lay panting together, blending them into one being, fusing them, encircling them, and shining from them. The darkened shop was brighter than day as the air itself seemed alight. Colors danced and spun, as Aidan and Brooke rode out a storm of purest energy that rattled the jars on the shop shelves.
Finally, the brilliant light softened and faded, and the energies eased and released them.
“What in the seven hells was that?” he whispered. Aidan eased his weight to one side but didn’t let go of her.
“I think it’s the Universe telling us that we get along pretty well.”
Chuckling, he brushed a kiss over her forehead and both eyes, tucked her close to him, and pulled the remaining quilt over them both.
Brooke was soon asleep, but Aidan lay awake for a long time. The broad, padded bench was more comfortable than any bed he’d ever slept in. Bouncer, Jade, and even Rory eventually found their way back to it, too, curling up in purring mounds by his feet—apparently he was forgiven for interrupting their rest so abruptly earlier.
