Caged Magic

by Jennifer Lyon

  The demons in the stands surged to their feet, shouting and clapping in thunderous adulation. In a blink, Archer vanished from the curtain of flames, appearing before Asmodeus’s throne. “Father, I bring you a gift.”

  A trio of silvery spotlights snapped on from somewhere, illuminating the floor a dozen feet in front of Linc. A large round section of the surface vanished, leaving a gaping black hole.

  Linc’s icy calm cracked as the top of Risa’s head appeared, rising from somewhere beneath in a slow reveal. Her hair was styled into dark, shiny curls around her face, eyes rimmed with blue liner, lips painted a luscious, shiny red, and diamonds dripped from her ears.

  The dais she stood on lifted her higher. Bared shoulders gleamed beneath the lights. She wore a designer halter dress in seductive red, which cupped her breasts, slid over her hips and down her legs. A slit to the top of one thigh showed too damned much. Silver sandals adorned her feet, exposing red toenails.

  The dais slowly turned, and the crowd roared their lust over her long, slender back bared down to her ass. The smell of pheromones saturated the place.

  She was being displayed. A thing to use just as her father had done to her.

  Linc lunged against his chains, desperate to get to her, to yank her against him to protect her and shield her from being displayed like a whore.

  “The witch who dared to steal my daughter, your granddaughter,” Archer announced. “She used her sex appeal and lies to lure witches and hunters to help her.”

  “A beautiful traitor,” Asmodeus’s ram head said.

  The bull turned its eyes on Linc. “She’s lured you as she’s lured so many others. You will die as they did.”

  Risa’s face was frozen, her chin held high in defiance. He could barely feel her magic. Her power was trying to protect her as it had when he’d first met her. But she had nothing to be ashamed of, no reason to hide. He mentally reached through their bond. Don’t look at them, look at me. They are nothing to us. They might see your body, but I see the beauty of your soul.

  Her eyes came to his. They won’t break us.

  There she was, his warrior witch shining out of that seductress costume. Pride in her filled his chest and his wings surged out, slamming into a half-dozen demons on either side of him.

  The furious males jumped up, ready to attack.

  “Enough.”

  Linc recognized the voice. Wing Slayer stood on his left, opposite of Asmodeus. The god moved his hand and Risa vanished from the dais and instantly reappeared in a chair close to Wing Slayer. A second later, Linc’s chains broke off, and a force yanked him from the aisle to inside the cage.

  Automatically, he locked his gaze on Risa, relieved that Wing Slayer would watch over her.

  Risa stared back as she raised her hands, pulling gossamer threads of her magic from her witch shimmer and weaving them into a shield. His wings lifted high as her power flowed into them. Go kick some demon ass.

  Her voice bushed his mind, reaffirming her belief and trust in him. Before he could respond, the cage door clanged shut, the reverberation ringing in his head and sharpening his awareness. Whipping out his knife, he turned. Where was Archer?

  A hissing noise raised his guard.

  Linc spun as a flaming arrow streaked from above. Cinnamon magic flooded him, and he blocked with his wing.

  Another arrow fired, and Archer soared down, his face contorted in fury.

  Linc blocked the arrow and leapt, grabbing the spawn’s calf and slashing his blade into the leathery skin.

  An arrow rocketed toward his face. Linc had to pull back, releasing Archer. The shaft missed his cheek but singed a path of hellfire across his deltoid. He smelled his own flesh burning. He focused on Archer, losing track of time as he fought, slashed, blocked and searched for an opening to kill the spawn.

  “Where is the child?” the bull head of Asmodeus suddenly bellowed.

  Don’t get distracted. Linc kept his full attention on Archer, blocking another arrow as he somersaulted in the air, trying to get behind the spawn.

  “She’s in the astral plane, awaiting the outcome,” Wing Slayer answered.

  “We demand the child!” all three heads decreed. “You issued the Provocatio. We answered by bringing the witch. You will produce the child now or your hunter forfeits.”

  Worry gnawed at Linc, but he lunged, plunging his knife deep into Archer’s side.

  The demon spawn screamed and shot a volley of arrows so fast, Linc could barely track them to block them with his wings.

  “We insist the child be present. That was the agreed terms.” All three heads nodded.

  “Hold the fight until I return,” Wing Slayer commanded.

  Wait, what? No, he didn’t want Wing Slayer leaving Risa. “It’s a trick!” Linc shouted.

  “No choice, hunter.” Wing Slayer vanished.

  “We demand a penalty for this duplicity,” Asmodeus decreed.

  Icy dread kicked Linc’s stomach. Before he could think what to do, two demons grabbed Risa from the chair, dragging her to the front of the cage and forcing her to her knees in the same place where she’d risen from beneath the floor.

  The doors that Linc had entered the arena through blew open, and a huge demon came in wearing thick gloves and holding a long pole with…

  Oh, fuck, a branding iron! A bellow tore from his soul, and Linc threw himself at the bars. “No!”

  Risa raised her face to his, tears streaming down her cheeks as her hands continued moving fluidly to weave her magic into his wings. Don’t look. They want you to hurt yourself before Wing Slayer returns and the fight resumes. They’re trying to break you.

  “Brand the witch a Harlot! Brand the witch a Harlot!” demon voices shouted.

  The brand glowed a sizzling, violent red.

  “Brand me!” Linc shouted, wrapping his hands around the bars, his knife clanging as he fought to get out. He couldn’t endure it, couldn’t let this happen. Every cell screamed, his muscles jerking with insane agony.

  The demon raised the brand, and Linc’s vision turned scarlet. “Don’t fucking touch her!”

  The bird screeched in his head, wings beating against the bars with Linc. Wild desperation jacked his heart rate when he honed in on her hands, which were still moving in that weaving motion. Risa, use your shield!

  Can’t. Archer’ll kill you if I pull back my shield from your wings.

  The brand closed in, only a foot away from her back.

  Use your fucking shield! He couldn’t bear it.

  Archer’s behind you! Fight or this is for nothing.

  The brand edged in, sizzling inches from her skin.

  “Stop!” Wing Slayer roared, appearing next to Risa. The god shoved the demon holding the brand across the arena with one hand while carefully cradling Kendall in the other.

  Through it all, Risa kept weaving. She would have let them brand her to keep feeding him magic. He gripped the cage bars, panting and unable to believe it.

  She lifted her gaze to his, her eyes blazing fierceness through her tears.

  His heart kicked. She’d been terrified, scared, but his mate hadn’t run. Hadn’t left him, not even emotionally. You’re my warrior witch. He needed her to know and tried to project more when a voice interrupted him.

  “You killed my mother,” Archer said above him.

  With Risa safe, Linc pivoted. Time to end this fight. He had to free the woman he loved no matter what the cost to him.

  The spawn hovered fifteen feet off the floor with his back to the bars, hellfire leaping around him. “I gave up my humanity to save her from the flames. She spent four months being tortured with hellfire. I could only get her out by spawning and grabbing that kid so she could be raised to want to spawn.” Archer’s eyes filled with fire.

  “Dude, I’m not your therapist or priest.” Seriously, did this look like soul confession time? Linc eyed the way the flames appeared to be feeding the spawn energy or fire. Not good. Deciding to keep the bastard
talking while he figured out a way to attack, he said, “Your mother chose to serve a demon master and saddled you with him as a father. She deserved to die. But I could understand wanting to save your mom despite that.” Linc gripped his knife, looking for some weakness, but the flames protected Archer. “But then you had a daughter.”

  Red rage smoldered in his eyes. “Told the bitch to get rid of it.”

  Risa’s pain slammed into him, hot, bubbling anger and grief for her friend and outrage for Kendall.

  He’s going to pay, love. Focused on Archer, he said, “That’s what makes you a flaming asshole. When Asmodeus demanded the child, forcing you to choose between your mother or kid, you should have chosen Kendall. She’s the innocent. You should have refused to spawn and taken her and Blythe and gone anywhere you could to be safe. Instead, you chose your mother who’d made a deal with a demon.”

  “He tricked her!”

  “Bullshit.” Linc pushed harder. “How do you suppose your mom got so rich? Her business so successful? She negotiated everything she wanted in exchange for having a demon brat and promising to raise him to spawn. She didn’t protect you.” Maybe. Linc had no fucking idea.

  “Shut up! My mother loved me!” Yanking an arrow from the quiver on his back, he slammed it into the bow and released.

  Linc shot up, snapping his wings out to block.

  Too slow. The arrow dodged the wing, angled down and tore into his calf and through the bone with fast and deadly force thanks to the hit of hellfire energy. Fuck, that burned. Flames hissed and snarled, hungrily tearing his flesh.

  The hellfire rushed inside him. Hot. Raging. Killing him. No time. He had to kill Archer. As long as Archer died before Linc, Risa and the baby would be freed. He shot forward, wings pumping. Flames raced up his thigh.

  Archer shoved away from the bars, his wings flapping, another arrow nocked. “You’re dead, hunter.”

  Risa’s power bloomed, lighting up his entire being. The flames on his leg sputtered and choked, then died. Together. We fight together, Risa said through their link, her presence in his mind a source of strength. Let me worry about the hellfire. You kill Archer.

  His warrior witch filled him with pride. Linc thrust his wings faster, stronger. “Hey, dumbass, you forgot something.” He crashed into Archer, slamming him back to the side of the cage a few feet away from the hellfire.

  The arrow between them hacked into Linc’s side, the fire eating at his organs. Ignore it. If possible, Risa would heal it. He shoved the knife into Archer’s chest, slicing through skin and ribs. The tip of the blade pierced the spawn’s heart, but not deep enough to kill him.

  Archer screamed and wrapped both hands around Linc’s wrist, stopping his progress. Black-edged flames burst out of the demon’s fingers. Agony bit into Linc’s nerves. The skin bubbled and blackened, peeling off in strips.

  He blocked it out, determined to hold the knife and push it far enough into the heart to kill Archer. Didn’t care if the hellfire burned through to his bones, he’d keep his grip on that damned knife to save Risa. She was worth any torture. “Want to know what you forgot?”

  Archer’s crimson eyes faded to a pinkish white. “You have to die!”

  “No, I don’t. You forgot the real threat here.” The fire around his wrist snapped and hissed, wrestling Risa’s beautiful magic. “My witch. Risa fights at my side. That’s her magic kicking the shit out of your hellfire.” Leaning in, he made sure Linc’s eyes would be the last thing Archer saw before he died. “And my knife killing you. No one threatens my mate or my child.” Linc tightened his grasp and shoved, using his body weight and love to drive the blade straight through the demon’s heart.

  The wall of hellfire flames rushed over Archer, yanked him away and receded. Yet it didn’t touch Linc.

  Blinking, Linc dropped to the mat. Agony shot up his leg. He didn’t care. The arrow that had been embedded there had vanished, either from Risa’s magic or it had disappeared when the hellfire pulled the spawn to his death. Spinning around, Linc noted the throne and viewing stands were empty. All the demons had left too.

  The cage door swung open.

  He raced out, fell to his knees, pulled Risa into his arms and kissed her. Finally he lifted his head and looked at his god. “Thank you.”

  Wing Slayer nodded, shifted the baby and touched Linc’s fire-ravaged hand, wrist and arm. Heat flashed and then receded, leaving the limb healed. His leg healed in the next instant.

  “Better.” Wing Slayer held out the baby. “Now for your daughter. You have claimed her, hunter. She belongs to you and your witch until she is thirty, at which time she will choose to remain human or spawn.”

  Kendall stared at Linc for a second, then held out her pudgy arms.

  Linc gathered her to his chest, and one of his wings folded around her. Kendall giggled, petting the feathers. He looped his free arm around Risa.

  Her gorgeous eyes glittered with unshed tears. “You trusted me. Believed that I could fight the hellfire.”

  A huge grin split his face. “Just like you believed I’d come for you here in the Underworld.” He’d fought with his fellow hunters and trusted them with his life. But Risa? He trusted her with his heart and soul. “Told you, little warrior, I will never doubt you again. Never pull away.” He brushed her face with his fingertips. “Together.”

  “Always.”

  “Rise,” Wing Slayer commanded.

  They stood, Linc cradling Kendall. The god loomed over them. “I cannot grant you immortality until the souls are released from your magic, Risa.”

  Linc felt her distress and rubbed her shoulder. “The soul screams are unbearable for her. How can she release the souls?”

  The god looked at Risa. “You need to ask your Ancestors. They can assist you.”

  Before they could respond, they were sent back to Earth.

  * * *

  Risa watched as Linc laid the sleeping baby down in the crib shielded by a screen made of wings. They were on the rooftop, the one where Linc had made love to her. “Where did this come from?” The crib and screen hadn’t been there before.

  “Since Wing Slayer sent us here, it had to be him.” He took her hand.

  She let him pull her toward the glass overlooking the city. Linc wore shoes, jeans riding low on his hips and the bird inked over the brand. Risa had on the yoga pants and tank top she’d been wearing before being pulled into the Underworld.

  Thankfully, that dress was gone.

  Her eyes were drawn to his back, and she reached out to skim her fingers over the bird.

  Linc stopped, his muscles tensing.

  “I want to look at the brand that marks you as the man who fought to free me. I heard you scream at the demons to brand you instead. I’d rather they hurt me than you.” He’d been hurt enough already. “Please. May I ask the bird to step aside?”

  Linc looked over his shoulder. “The bird is yours. You don’t have to ask.”

  Risa wanted him to understand. She’d never abuse the trust Linc gave her. “I had no choice in the Underworld. I had to wear that dress and was displayed as a creature who used her beauty and sexuality to hurt others. That dress was like a scarlet letter proclaiming me as the evil seductress my father turned me into. The thing I hated in myself.”

  His eyes filled with rage. “I know, baby. But that’s not who you are.”

  His love swelled in her, a healing balm that helped her let go of the past. She wanted to do the same for him. Stroking the bird, she said, “This brand exposes a part of you that you sometimes hate. I’ll respect your choice if you don’t want me to see.”

  Linc spun, tugging her into his arms, his mouth claiming her in a hot, wet kiss. Possessive heat sizzled between them. His hand squeezed her hip as he pressed his erection against her belly.

  No. He was saying no. Risa fought a wave of disappointment, but she understood. In time, he’d trust her enough.

  Linc pulled back, and his nostrils flared. “I’m on the edge of lo
sing control. They held a fucking branding iron close to your back. I need to strip you bare and turn you to see your back. To kiss every inch of that flesh those animals threatened. And while I do that, I’ll be inside you, claiming you.”

  The fierce heat of Linc plowed into her veins, yanking open her magic to spill out. An ache bloomed deep in her womb, one only he could fill.

  He released her, pivoted and sank to his knees.

  Confused, she stared at his massive shoulders covered in bronzed skin and ink. What was he doing? “Linc?”

  “I don’t hide from you, love. Ask the bird to move. He’ll do it for you.”

  Shivers danced over her skin, raising a million tiny bumps of emotion. Her heart swelled, and tears filled her eyes. He was giving her this gift—a trust so deep, he’d let her see his brand. “Falcon.” Her voice quivered. “Will you show me?”

  The bird slid down to Linc’s lower back. Across his shoulders, burned into his flesh, was the word Feral.

  A huge wave of emotion surged into her chest. He’d made a choice, choosing this mark over hurting a woman. To her, this brand represented a man who strove to do the right thing no matter the cost to him, and she loved and admired him for it. Risa dropped to her knees and kissed each letter.

  Linc pulled her around in front of him, his mouth hungry for hers. She held nothing back, kissing him with the passion that belonged to him. Only him. Her magic rose, stripping them of their clothes.

  Then Linc did as he’d promised, turning her to kiss her back while sliding his cock into her body.

  Branding her as his.

  ~ 26 ~

  Linc walked out on the balcony of the suite. Kendall wiggled in a brightly colored baby-bouncer contraption. Going over to her, he crouched down and caught sight of the words blazed across the bib covering her sleeper.

  My Daddy Has Wings.

  His chest ached. His daughter. Once he hadn’t thought he wanted this, then he’d lost Risa and learned just how far he’d go for his mate and child.