Seduced by Magic

by Stephanie Julian

  Using her wings, she repositioned her body over his until her sex rested on the tip of his cock, held straight by her hand. His eyelids closed for a few brief seconds as she hung there, suspended over him, their bodies only touching by the merest degree.

  His hands unlaced from behind his head and she floated up, breaking the contact.

  His loud groan echoed in the room. Hell, Sal and Nortia and Selvans probably heard it downstairs. She didn’t care. To her, it was the most erotic sound in the world.

  When he opened his eyes and grabbed the slats in the headboard, she smiled and let herself sink slowly down on his cock.

  She nearly lost control as she enveloped the hot, hard tip. Sinking centimeter by centimeter, she let her weight settle her onto him. The delicious friction created by his width against her sheath made her womb clench. The first spasms of an orgasm made her muscles contract, drawing him in farther.

  “Oh, fuck, Scarlata.” The roughness of his voice made her breath catch in her throat. “Come on, babe. Move.”

  Stilling her wings, she dropped her body the last few inches, impaling herself on his shaft and freeing the orgasm to rack through her body.

  With a growl, Justin reversed their positions and began to pump into her clutching pussy. With his hands on her shoulders and his body covering hers, he nailed her to the bed with his thrusting hips, his breath short, sharp gasps in her ear.

  Arms pinned to her side and her legs spread wide, Scarlata rode out her orgasm on a cloud of bliss.

  And after Justin finally groaned and released into her, his head nestled into her neck, she took a deep breath and fell asleep.

  * * * * *

  “Scary, we got a problem.”

  Sal’s quiet voice coming through the door roused her.

  Stretching, she found herself sprawled over Justin, who looked exhausted even in sleep. Not wanting to wake him, she used her wings to lift herself off his body without shaking the bed. Even so, he shifted restlessly, turning onto his side and grabbing the pillow next to him. Curling around it, he breathed her name on a sigh.

  Her heart contracted and she wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed with him.

  “Scary, come on, move it.”

  She sighed and slipped into the hall before Sal woke Justin.

  “What’s going on? Has something happened?”

  Sal nodded, his expression somber. “You’d better come down. We’ve got a major clusterfuck on our hands.”

  He turned and hurried down the stairs as fast as his short legs could carry him, which was surprisingly fast. He beat her to the front room where Nortia and Selvans stared at the television showing grainy images of billowing smoke.

  “The blaze appears to have been deliberately set in a distinct circle on Hawk Mountain. Firefighters are finding it difficult to get to the scene due to the remoteness of the area.”

  Nortia and Selvans turned when she gasped.

  “I’ve got to go back.”

  “You know it’s a trap, Scary.” Nortia shook her head. “You can’t go. That’s what they want.”

  Her wings fluttering in distress, Scarlata headed for the door. “I have to go. There are more than thirty Fata living in that area.”

  “What?” The goddess screeched as if someone had stuck her with a pin, stopping her in her tracks. “Why did I not know there was an enclave there?”

  “Now, don’t jump down Scary’s throat.” Selvans raised a hand. “I set it up. Seemed like the perfect spot. But the Mal appear to know more than we gave them credit for. They knew exactly where to hit. What I don’t understand is how they knew and why they needed Justin.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Scarlata shook her head. “Those people are my responsibility and I need to get them to safety.”

  “I’ve already tried to transport there.” Sal shook his head. “Whoever’s working the mojo, they’ve got a shield around the perimeter to keep us from getting in there and taking them out. They know exactly what they’re doing. You’re going to have to go in over the flames. Be careful, babe. They must want you pretty badly. Don’t make it easy for them.”

  “I won’t.” Scarlata added a brief smile before opening the door. “Please tell Justin…I love him.”

  Then she stepped out into the bright light of day and flew north.

  * * * * *

  “What the hell do you mean, she’s gone?”

  Justin had heard the door close and figured Scarlata would be back in minutes. When she didn’t come back, he’d pulled on his shorts and barreled down the stairs to find everyone huddled around the TV. After his father had filled him in, his mouth had dropped open.

  “And why are you all just sitting here?” Justin added when no one answered his first question.

  “Norty and I are too big a prize for these people,” his dad said, shaking his head. “We can’t be taken. Not by the Mal. Besides, Scary knows what she’s doing. I don’t like it either, son, but—”

  “I’m going.” Justin stabbed a finger at Sal. “Transport me there. Right now.”

  Sal shrugged, hands in the air. “Don’t know that it’ll work. The Mal strung up a screening spell. Although…you may be able to slip through. They’re not screening humans. Probably because they know humans would blab to the tabloids about something strange in the forest if they couldn’t get to the site. Yeah, this might work.”

  “Son, you can’t go. What help will you be?”

  Justin turned, ready to tell his dad to shut up, but throttled back when he saw real fear in Michael’s eyes. “Those people must be terrified. At least I can help calm them until Red can get them out. I gotta go. I can’t sit here and do nothing. This is partly my fault.”

  His dad sighed. “I don’t like this. I’m not convinced those men don’t know exactly who you are. Maybe this trap is for you too.”

  “It doesn’t matter. She’s out there alone and I can’t live with that.”

  Chapter Nine

  Smoke billowed into the air, making her eyes sting and her lungs burn.

  Still, Scarlata flew into the gray haze, fighting tears of rage.

  Her beautiful forest, willfully decimated. When she found the men responsible, she would kill them. Painfully and slowly. Possibly by the same means they had used to scar her forest.

  They’d set the fire in a mile-wide circle, perfectly encompassing the enclave. By the way the fire stayed in a ring, not moving forward or backward, she knew it was being magically controlled. By someone with a lot of power.

  By the time she’d breached the choking circle of smoke, she flew directly to the center of the ring, where she knew they would be gathered.

  And they were.

  Scarlata had barely landed when they converged around her—a mix of Fata, including a few salbinelli, fauni and gianes. None had wings. There were few folletti left in the Americas. Possibly one less if she failed.

  “Scarlata, we can’t get out.” Barboso ran for her, the beautiful, young salbinelli nearly frantic. “The fire—”

  “No time to explain.” She searched the crowd until she found what she wanted. “Johanna, bring me the twins. Quickly. I’ll get the children away then we’ll figure out how to get everyone else out.”

  Goddess willing, she would have the time.

  Johanna ran forward, a twin in each arm. The girl and boy toddlers were barely three, their bright gold hair already showing the streaks of green that marked them full-blooded fauni. Johanna, herself one of the oldest fauni in America, had only moved here in the last hundred years.

  “I’ll protect them with my life,” Scarlata promised their mother, the fauni’s lavender eyes wide and filled with dread. “I promise.”

  Scarlata flew away with her heart in her throat, terrified she would drop one of the squirming, crying, precious babies. They only weighed about twenty pounds each but their chubby little bodies represented so much more than their mother’s love. They represented hope for the Fata.

  As soon as she had
cleared the ring of smoke and fire, she realized she’d made an error. She needed somewhere safe to keep the children but it would have to be close so she could return for others as soon as possible.

  The answer came in a flash of memory and an entreaty to the Great Goddess Uni for luck and a little foresight on the part of others.

  * * * * *

  Justin blinked and found himself in a large cave.

  With no apparent entrance or exit.

  “Damn you, Sal,” he muttered under his breath. “Son of a bitch.”

  The cave was wide enough to host a dinner party for twenty, table included. And the sheer rock walls rose at least thirty feet above him.

  A soft glow illuminated the space, some of it coming from above, where there had to be an opening to the outside, explaining the fresh air. But most of the light came from the glowing walls. Veins of silver-colored crystals ran all through the stone, giving off a radiance that shone like bright moonlight.

  He’d never seen anything like it. The researcher in him had to get a closer look, running his hand along the faintly warm rock. Which must be why the air didn’t feel cool.

  Where the hell was he?

  If Sal thought to keep him safe here, it wasn’t going to work. He’d drag himself up the walls with his hands if he had to. He’d be damned if he took this sitting down. Moving his fingers along the stone, he searched for handholds and began to climb. He’d only gotten a few feet off the ground when the glow in the cave flickered.

  He glanced up and saw something had blocked out the light at the top.

  No, not something. Someone.

  “Justin, thank the Goddess,” Scarlata breathed. “I was hoping you would be here.”

  Scarlata had entered somewhere above and floated toward the ground, her wings flapping to ease her down.

  Too stunned to do more than kiss her when she landed, he didn’t even notice the crying babies she held in each arm until one of them hit him in the chin.

  “Here.” She passed him the children, filling his arms with squiggling, tiny masses of warm flesh. “I’ll be back.”

  Then she flew up and out of his sight.

  Leaving him with a hole in the pit of his stomach and two terrified babies with green streaks in their yellow hair, eyes so blue they blazed and chubby little cheeks flushed bright red in their fury.

  Holy shit. He didn’t know a damn thing about kids. Not that he had many but none of his friends had babies. Or if they did, he’d never seen them. What the hell did he do with them?

  The children began to scream louder.

  “Hey, guys. Give me a break here. I’m doing the best I can.”

  The slightly smaller of the two children hiccupped but stopped crying.

  “I’m a girl,” she said, sounding for all the world like an American child. “I want my mommy.”

  “Where did the fire come from?” asked the boy. “Will my mommy be okay? What about Dilby and Auralia and Cornelius and—”

  As the twins—they had to be, they looked too much alike—continued to spout questions he couldn’t answer about their mother and friends, Justin realized Scarlata’s task was much greater than he’d imagined.

  How many people were stuck in the center of the ring of fire? Was she planning on flying each of them out herself? How long would that take? Could she do it before the fire made its way to the center of the ring?

  In the short time he’d known her, he knew she would do whatever had to be done to save her friends.

  No matter the cost to herself.

  Dread sank into the pit of his stomach like acid and he held onto the children just a little tighter.

  Forty-five minutes later, Justin was surrounded by seven kids—two of whom had hooves—varying in age from the three-year-old twins to the mute ten-year-old Auralia.

  Then there was Dilby, a beautiful dark-haired girl who looked completely human. She’d been the last to arrive and immediately took over.

  She picked up the twins and gathered the rest of the children in the center of the cave. She got them quiet with a few words and sat them down on the floor while she wove a spell.

  Suddenly the air over their heads filled with what looked like a movie, figures moving, thunderbolts flashing. Regiments of centaurs, warriors with wings and spears fighting dragons and giants.

  He didn’t realize he was just as engrossed in the illusion as the children until Dilby appeared at his side.

  “She’s not going to be able to save them all.”

  For the first time since Dilby arrived, Justin heard a tremble in her voice. With the children, she’d been steady as a rock, seemingly old beyond her years. Now, he saw the terror in her eyes.

  “She needs help,” Dilby continued.

  He shook his head, frustration boiling in his stomach along with dread. “I know. I want to, Dilby. I just don’t know how.”

  “You’re the son of a god.” She bit out every word, emotions far beyond her years in her eyes. “You need to do something.”

  “Dilby—”

  “Now.”

  “Honey—”

  “Or she’ll kill herself trying to get their parents and everyone else out.” Tears began to appear in her dark eyes. “You’ve got to help.”

  He released a frustrated sigh. “How?”

  Dilby opened her mouth but stopped before making a sound.

  “What—”

  Dilby slapped a small hand over Justin’s mouth and, with a wave of her other arm, dissipated the illusion the children were watching then silenced them with a curt motion of her hand across her throat. The kids immediately went quiet.

  Someone’s coming. Dilby’s voice was silent but he heard her perfectly. In his head. Someone’s getting close.

  He figured it wasn’t Scarlata.

  His heart nearly beat into his throat. The kids. Jesus, how would he protect these kids? They were so tiny and he was powerless against the magic these people had.

  “Dilby,” he whispered. “My powers. Tell me how I get them.”

  She didn’t answer right away but her eyes widened in fear before narrowing in speculation. And hope.

  It should only be done by an elder, someone who knows what they’re doing. He heard her voice in his head again. But I’ve seen the ritual performed. I know what it entails.

  “Can you do it?” he whispered again.

  She swallowed hard then nodded. But if something goes wrong, I could kill you.

  His heart beat just a little faster but he ignored his fear and forced a grin. “Honey, you’re all I got at the moment. If there’s any chance you can make this work, it’s gotta be now.”

  Even if there’s a chance you could die?

  He nodded. “I know the risks. Frankly, I think they’re designed more to scare off any potentials.” Well, that was what he was hoping anyway. “If you want me to help, you’ve got to do this. Now.”

  * * * * *

  Though the fire hadn’t advanced, the heat and smoke were becoming nearly unbearable for those remaining in the circle.

  Scarlata had taken all the children to the cave but she now faced the daunting task of deciding which adults to remove. She should take the children’s mothers first but she really wanted to have a strong male in the cave in case someone responsible for the fire should actually find them.

  She refused to think about the fact that Justin was in that cave as well. He would die defending the children and she would not want to live without him.

  By the time she flew into the circle, she’d made up her mind.

  “Dagobert, you must come next.”

  The young salbinelli drew closer, shaking his head. “The women, Scarlata. You must get the mothers out.”

  “We have no time to argue.” She nearly stomped her foot in frustration, the heat of the fire beginning to make her eyes tear. “You are the strongest. You must protect the children.”

  “Yes, go,” urged Johanna, the mother of the twins. “We are all expendable. They are not
.”

  Dagobert looked ready to argue but Scarlata merely picked him up in her arms and flew away. Although he only stood four feet in height, he weighed nearly a hundred and fifty pounds. Luckily she was strong and it wasn’t far to fly. Still, by the time she reached the cave, her arms ached from the strain of holding Dagobert and her lungs burned.

  But when they reached the cave, the sight that greeted her wrenched a shout from her.

  “Justin! No!”

  * * * * *

  Well, maybe death wouldn’t be as painful as he’d figured.

  Justin felt only Dilby’s warm palm resting on his chest as he lay on the floor naked, his bare skin in contact with the soil from head to toe.

  Dilby had explained what she was going to do but not how it was going to work. Frankly, he hadn’t cared as long as it did work.

  And at first, the only discomfort he felt were the rocks against his back. Then warmth began to seep into his body, coming directly from the stone.

  He had about thirty seconds to ponder that situation before excruciating pain enveloped his entire being and he couldn’t think at all.

  Every molecule in his body screamed in agony as Dilby continued chanting. His heart felt as if it were trying to beat its way out of his chest then began to ache with searing pain.

  Blood continued to pump through his veins but it slowed to a sluggish crawl as if it had thickened and was congealing. He couldn’t move his lungs to breathe and with his last breath, before everything went black, he saw his Red.

  * * * * *

  “No! Dilby, no!”

  Scarlata ran for Justin but strong arms tightened around her from behind.

  “Let her finish,” Dagobert hissed. “If she stops now, she will kill him.”

  Scarlata wanted to scream in frustration but the sight of the children huddled in a tight knot in the far corner of the cave brought her to her senses.

  “Children, quickly,” she urged. “In a circle around them. Put your hands on the stone. Call to the Mother Goddess and entreat her aid.”