by Amy Boyles
We flew through the quiet night, and I landed softly outside the station.
Mattie jumped off. “You wait here.”
I leaned the skillet into a knot of bushes. “What’re you going to do?”
“I’m going to jump on the desk and grab something that’ll really tick off the officer who’s on duty. Maybe his keys. Then I’m going to run out the front door and keep him busy for about ten minutes.”
“How’re you going to get in and out of the door?”
Mattie blinked at me. “Why magic, of course. I can open a door if I need to.”
I nodded appreciatively. “Wow. I’m impressed. I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Sugarbear, I’m not just a pretty face. There’s lots I can do.”
I hid a laugh behind my hand. “As you’ve proven.”
“Okay, now get ready.”
I waited across the street while Mattie wiggled her way inside the station. I held my breath as she stayed out of sight for several seconds.
Suddenly the glass door flew open. Out ran Mattie, keys dangling from her mouth. An officer rushed out behind her.
“Get back here,” he yelled as he ran down the street.
This was it. My big opportunity to talk to Rufus. I exhaled a deep cleansing breath, clenched my fists and crossed the road, ready to face my enemy.
EIGHT
I didn’t have a watch to keep up with the ten minutes Mattie had promised me, and I also didn’t know what to expect from Rufus.
The one thing I can say for sure is that I walked in and found Rufus standing alone in the cell with his arms outstretched and fingers wrapped tightly around the bars.
He smiled when he laid eyes on me.
“Nice distraction.”
I shrugged. I needed to look strong, not like the wiggly wimp I felt inside.
Wait. Why the heck did I feel like a wimp? That isn’t how I was supposed to feel. There was supposed to be an undercurrent of anger residing beneath my anxiety and fear.
I tested out my gut, probing around. Yes. In the midst of my trepidation, a smidgen of fear resided.
Y’all, I needed that fear to face down the man who currently smiled at me as if he ran the world. I had to yank every bit of confidence and anger I had from the depths of my core and use them just to look him in the eyes.
I sauntered in, thrusting my shoulders back and raising my chin as if, come heck or high water, I would win at this little game of cat and cat. I refused to be a mouse.
“You like the distraction? All my idea.”
But any advantage I could use, I would.
His dark eyes danced with amusement. “Clever.”
I stopped in front of the cell. Rufus’s gaze dragged from my feet to my crown. “To what great pleasure do I owe your clandestine visit?”
“Quit it with the big words. Just talk to me like a regular person.”
He released the bars and rose to full height. “Fair enough.” The amusement in his face extinguished. “What do you want?”
“Whatever it is you hope to achieve by tying me to you, it won’t work.”
“Oh? Isn’t it already?”
“No. There’s someone working on breaking the spell. By tomorrow, your link to me will be severed, and you’ll be on your way back to whatever hole you crawled out of.”
He quirked a brow. “Can you be so certain?”
I crossed my arms. “Yes. I can be so certain.”
He smirked. “Really? Because as I see it, the first person you would’ve run to would’ve been Argus Amulet.” He clicked his tongue. “And what a shame, but I hear he’s dead. Quite dead. In fact, so dead that I don’t think anyone will be able to bring him back.”
“Not even you?”
He chuckled. It was a deep, rich, velvety sound that sent a wave of shivers racing down my spine. “So you’ve heard the rumors about me.”
“Rumors? From what I hear, they’re fact.”
“Fact can be misconstrued.”
“Playing vampire on someone can be misconstrued? Not sure how that works.”
He turned away and glanced around his cell. “You think this is it for me? You think what I do, I do for my own selfish needs?”
“Seems like it.”
“Tsk, tsk, Pepper Dunn. What I do isn’t for me. It’s for the rest of the world. I am a pioneer.”
“You’re not wearing a hat and riding a wagon. Those were pioneers. This isn’t the Wild West, and you’re not a cowboy. So no, I’m pretty sure the last thing you are is a pioneer.”
“Not that sort of pioneer,” he sneered. “What I do is for witches and wizards everywhere.”
“So you’re misunderstood. Is that it?”
“The work I perform may not be understood for a very, very long time. But believe me, it’s cutting edge.”
There was something about his dark eyes—how they speared me. A flame of intensity and even sensuality wafted off Rufus. Probably it was only the connection between us and not something more. But if Rufus approached a young woman and asked if he could suck her blood, I could see where it would be very easy to say yes.
Something truly mesmerizing lay in his eyes. That simple knowledge sent a sliver of ice straight to my heart.
“Did you kill Argus? You know about his death.”
Rufus laughed. “No. Why would I kill him?”
“So that he couldn’t break the connection between us. If one even exists.”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “So you don’t think it’s true.”
“No,” I said, bluffing.
Rufus held up his palm and blew into it. Tendrils of magic floated in the air toward me.
“Of course most of my magic has been neutralized. Everything except what’s between us.”
Magic curled toward me.
“Push it back to me,” he said.
I twitched my head. Surely such a small use of magic wouldn’t do much for him. But would I be able to control it? The only times that I’d ever really used my magic effectively—other than being scared to death, that is—was when Hugo had been around.
What the heck? Might as well try.
I pressed my fingers to my throbbing temples and shoved the magic back to him.
I felt a snap, like a rib cracking in my chest. It didn’t hurt. It was like popping a very large knuckle.
He smiled. “You felt it. Oh my dear, that connection is very real. Incredibly real. What I could do with your power if you just surrendered it to me. Let me warp and use you.”
“Use me how?”
Rufus balked. “In ways. Ways I can’t tell you about because they’re top secret.”
I crossed my arms. “You don’t know what you’re going to do, do you?”
His face reddened. “Of course I know what I’m going to do. I just don’t want to tell you because, well…things. Reasons. I have them. That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay. Well, I see this isn’t going anywhere.”
I turned to go.
“The labradorite.”
I stopped dead. I looked over my shoulder. “What did you say?”
He smiled again—part snake, part seducer, and all sorcerer. “I said the labradorite.”
I frown. “What about it?”
“It’s gone missing, hasn’t it?”
I lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “I’m not sure.”
He smiled wickedly. “Of course it has. Otherwise you’d already be free of me. Or would at least be partway there.”
“So that’s the key?”
“Is it?”
I slapped a hand to my thigh. “Listen, I am getting real sick and tired of you answering a question with a question. I know you’re up to something, I don’t know what but I know you’re in here for a reason. You wanted to be caught. I can’t prove it, but I feel it in here,” I said, pointing to my chest.
“In your shirt?”
“No. How can you be so dense? In my heart.
I feel it in my heart that you conned someone into letting you into Magnolia Cove, then you spelled me and probably killed Argus and made it look like a suicide.”
“Now that,” he said sharply, “I didn’t do. A real sorcerer always takes credit for what he’s done. And that wasn’t me. Find another murderer, if that’s what you’re looking for. Otherwise I’ll be here, waiting for you to simply surrender to the bond between us.”
I threaded my fingers through my hair. “Because once I surrender, what?”
He shivered as if the thought was the most pleasurable idea ever. “Once that happens, your power will be mine, and then the only thing that will limit my abilities is my own imagination.”
“Or your own sanity.”
“That, too.” A confused look flashed over his face. “Wait. I don’t think that came out right. Anyway. Surrender, Pepper. Do that and everything will be so much easier. For you and Magnolia Cove.”
I rocked back. “You are here for a reason other than me.”
His face fell. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Feeling a surge of confidence, I strode up to the bars and grabbed them. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re here to do something to the town. With every breath I have, I will find out exactly what that is.”
Suddenly it sounded as if an explosion came from behind me. I whirled around to see a cloud of dust filling the space where the front doors had been.
Had been.
That’s right. Past tense. The doors were gone. Blown away by some sort of force.
I coughed and waved dust from my face. For a moment panic filled me. Was this someone come to break Rufus out?
Then a shadowy figure strode forward. Long, strong thighs crossed the room in less time than it took for my heart to empty of blood on the downbeat.
My knees shook when I saw the dark look on his face. Fear rocked my soul as Axel walked to the cell and raised his hand.
Rufus slammed against the concrete wall. He groaned.
“That’s for entering Magnolia Cove,” Axel said.
“Daring,” Rufus wheezed.
He pushed himself off the floor and dusted his black leather pants.
Axel gripped the bars of the cell so hard I swore I heard the metal start to bend. “What I’m going to do to you for screwing with Pepper will have to wait until they release you.”
Rufus chuckled. “Ah. Is the beast upset with me?”
“If I could let the beast rip you to shreds, I would.”
Rufus sneered. “How do you know you can’t?”
The way Rufus watched Axel gave me the creeps. There was some twinge of truth in his words.
After all, it had only been a couple of days ago that Axel had fought his twin brother, Adam. During the fight, both men had started shifting into their werewolf forms. Before that, I had believed Axel only changed during the full moon—one night a month.
Afterward Axel couldn’t explain why or how the shift had started. Luckily it hadn’t been completed.
Axel snickered, turning away from Rufus. For the first time his gaze met mine. He strode over to me, heat blazing in his blue eyes. Axel cupped his hand under my head and pulled me to him for a deep kiss. The motion startled me, but only for like half a second. Then I was curling my fingers into his T-shirt and inhaling the wonderful scent of musk and leather that drifted from his skin.
When he pulled away, Axel tipped his forehead until it touched mine. “We’re going to get you out of this. If I thought killing him would help, I’d do it.”
I laughed nervously. I didn’t know if he was kidding, but I didn’t feel his words were far from the truth.
“It’s good to see you, too,” I said huskily.
He grazed his calloused fingers across my cheeks. “I came as soon as I heard.” He kissed my forehead and threaded his fingers through mine. “We’ll find a way out of this.”
“Think you’ve got the chops to break what I created?” Rufus said.
Axel’s face twisted into a dark expression. “It wouldn’t be the first time. You don’t own the rights to magic, Rufus, and there are much better and more educated sorcerers in the world than you. I happen to be one of them.”
“We’ll see, beast.”
Axel stiffened. He released my hand and crossed back to Rufus. “You won’t see anything. You’ll be stuck here, rotting in a cell until they kick you to the curb. So no, you won’t see how you’re defeated, but you will be. And when I do solve your little spell, I’ll personally take you to the boundary.” He lifted a finger. “I promise you, that’s one trip you won’t want to take. So remember that. Sleep with it and let it fill every second of your thoughts. Because when you see me again, it won’t be a charity call.”
Rufus raked his gloved fingers through his black hair. “Whatever you say, beast. Whatever you say.” Rufus’s eyes widened. “Looks like it’s time for y’all to go.”
I heard the distinct sound of boot heels on the tile floor. “Do one of y’all want to explain what tornado flew through my station?”
I turned around to see Garrick Young standing in the open doorway, the glass doors broken behind him.
“I just happened to walk by and saw this mess. What happened to my man?” he said.
I cringed. “I think he was distracted. He should be back soon.”
Axel pointed to the doors. “That’s my fault. I’ll fix it.”
Garrick scowled. “I know you’re ticked about this situation, but you can’t destroy police property. You and I go way back, Reign.”
Axel ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ll fix it. Then we’ll get out of your hair.”
Garrick nodded. “Sounds like a solid plan.”
Axel kissed my cheek. “Wait for me outside. This will only take a minute.” He raised his arms as I scampered across the room, darting around Garrick and hoping his scowl couldn’t hurt me in any way, shape or form.
When I reached the threshold, I glanced over my shoulder, catching one last glance of Rufus. His dark eyes probed mine, and he shot me that unwinding, curling smile that sent a shiver of fear straight to my heart.
Yes, he had a plan that was bigger than the connection he’d made to me. Of that, I was certain. But what I didn’t know, was how to stop him.
Thank goodness Axel was back. As soon as I had him alone, we’d make a plan to defeat Rufus.
Or at least I hoped to heaven and back that we could, because I had a feeling Magnolia Cove had no idea what was coming. Since I didn’t know what to expect, I also didn’t know how to stop it.
NINE
Mattie ran up as soon as I stepped outside. “I think I lost him, sugar. You get what you needed?” Her gaze swept to the broken doors and Garrick and Axel. “Oh, well, it looks like you might’ve gotten more than you bargained for.”
I grimaced. “I think you’re right.”
Mattie licked her paw and rubbed one side of her whiskers. “Since you don’t need me anymore, I’m going on home.”
“Are you sure you don’t want a ride?”
“Oh, I’m sure, honey. You and Axel probably got a lot of kissin’ to do.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay. Well, I’ll see you at the house.”
“Sounds good.”
With that Mattie disappeared into the night. A few moments later the police officer who’d chased her appeared, took one look at the doors and started cussing.
I quietly excused myself to a row of trees in the distance, where I watched Axel fix the doors in a storm of power that looked more like a lightning shower than magic.
It was pretty cool, y’all.
He marched outside with a purpose and intention I’d never seen in him before. I have to say, it was incredibly sexy and stirred my hormones in a way that I knew to be dangerous.
Best to stay far, far away. After all, if Betty could sense when we kissed, who knew what else she could sense?
Something I didn’t want to find out, thank you very much.
A
xel wrapped a hand around my neck and gently kneaded his fingers into the rope of muscles. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but Axel, I have a feeling that whatever Rufus wants isn’t going to stop at me. There’s something strange about everything. I mean, the police didn’t have too hard a time tracking him down and nabbing him.”
He cocked his head. “He could just be stupid. To spell you the way he did suggests it.”
I poked his chest. “It’s not that. There’s more to this than just me.”
Axel took my hands and stopped, studying me. The bloom of intensity in his eyes made my lower lip tremble. “I don’t care about the part that isn’t you. I care about you. As soon as Garrick called to tell me what was going on, I returned. I’ll do whatever I can to break this spell. First things first, we need to speak with Argus Amulet.”
I shook my head. “Don’t you know? He’s dead.”
His eyes flared. “Dead?”
“Tonight. Shot himself up with a lethal dose of deadly nightshade.”
“Not Argus.”
“Yes, he did. Killed himself.”
Axel exhaled a deep breath. “I’ve known Argus a long time. Consulted with him on several cases. He knows how to dose that stuff. He wouldn’t have committed suicide.”
“I confronted Rufus about it, because let’s face it, he’s the most likely to have killed Argus, but he didn’t know anything. Not that he would tell me the truth, but I thought at least he might reveal a nugget of information.”
Axel released my hands and raked his fingers through his shoulder-length dark hair. “I’m still digesting what you told me about Argus. No way he killed himself. No way.” He glanced at me. “And it was nightshade?”
“Garrick has the vial.”
“Okay, there are a lot of cogs going in this thing. Do we know how Rufus was able to enter Magnolia Cove?”
I shook my head. “No.”
He clicked his tongue. “So even if we kick him back out, he could still reenter. We need to know that won’t happen. Next, I need to work on getting you separated from Rufus.”
