by K. F. Breene
“I’m not sure,” Dominicous answered quietly, “but whatever it is, it’s made him feel inferior.” His gaze hit mine as we stepped onto the pavement. “That’s between us, of course. As family.”
Warm fuzzies bubbled up my body. I shrugged with a shy smile. He turned to our followers, the group of women getting a better view of my crew as a streetlamp rained down light. Wide eyes there were in plenty.
Except for Birdie. She didn’t seem fazed by much. “So what is this, then? Bodyguards?” Those fists found her hips again.
Jonas stepped away and pointed out towards the distant street. Charles did likewise, pointing back towards the park. Ann loitered near the Hummer, eyes always moving. You’d think we were in a combat zone instead of a deserted park.
“Did you feel a…presence back there?” I asked hesitantly. I didn’t know how to come out and say, “Hey! You’ve got magic. So have I! Let’s make a club!”
Birdie eyed me in speculation. It was Delilah that answered. “Was that you? We’ve always managed to call the corners successfully, but then…we just can’t seem to direct our focus. We stalemate.”
“You can’t direct the focus, you mean,” Birdie huffed. “I don’t know how you do half of the things you manage.”
“And what is it you manage?” Dominicous asked. “And these corners you speak of. That is…the elements? Magical forces?”
Delilah scrubbed at the ground with her toe. “We just mess around with our energies.”
“Don’t be bashful,” Birdie interjected, stepping closer to her friend. “It is nothing to be embarrassed about.” She faced off to Dominicous defensively. “We practice a form of Wicca—a modern pagan, witchcraft religion. While we don’t rip off our clothes in the moonlight and praise the Goddess and God, we do celebrate nature. We focus our energies and open up to the world around us. To the trees swaying, to the air displaced by a tiny insect, to the awe of watching the sunrise after a long night. We—”
“Are long-winded,” Jonas growled. His plans for this night had been shot all to hell. Poor bugger.
Birdie didn’t know the backstory, though. Her fisted arms rammed down at her sides. “This belief system goes back to the Paleolithic peoples, I’ll have you know. To the cave paintings of the Hunter God and Fertility Goddess. It is old, passing through time and space—still around. And Witchcraft, something you might deem a silly little hobby idiot women get up to, is actually something known in ancient history as ‘The Craft of the Wise’ because most who followed the path were in tune with the forces of nature. Witches were anything from midwives to healers. We don’t prance around, waving wands and sacrificing things to open fires. We are useful, damn it!”
“And do you practice tarot, perchance?” Dominicous asked softly.
One of the twins started fidgeting. Delilah lowered her head further as a shadow passed over Birdie’s eyes. They thought they were beaten. They thought tarot proved their silliness. And they couldn’t be more wrong. Not with this lot.
“Because I’ve been meaning to get my tarot read,” I jumped in. “I’ve tried and I have no idea how.”
“Me, too,” Ann spoke up. She glanced at me, a sparkle in her eyes. “Seriously, I have. I tried to do it myself, but I have to read that stupid book that tells you what the cards mean. And there are different meanings when it’s inverted, and…”
Charles glanced over at Ann. “You’re a Shifter. Leave the magic to those who know what they’re doing.”
“I have magic, you dick. It just works differently than yours,” she shot back.
“Can the preschoolers shut up for a second?” I rubbed my temples. I needed a more professional outfit. In defeat, I said, “Okay, I think we still have things to do tonight—”
“No,” Jonas interrupted. “The Boss was called in to the other site. Toa has looked at it.”
“Stefan…?” What I’d felt earlier swirled around me. “There was another demon? Stefan was called in without me?”
I looked down at the glowing face of my phone. Only one message: “Dinner will be fine. Dress up?”
“Why wouldn’t he call? Wait—” I rounded on Jonas. “He was supposed to call. I was supposed to be contacted, right? As the mage of this territory?”
“Toa went in your stead. He qualifies,” Dominicous countered mildly.
“That was my decision to make. Plus, Toa probably forced his way there. He doesn’t trust Stefan not to freak out—” Another puzzle piece clicked into place. “He did freak out, didn’t he? He tried to keep me away so he could go crazy.”
“I think we need to first address the, very confused, young ladies in front of us. Then we can address the glitch in communication.” Dominicous smiled down at the foursome.
I covered up the link. I didn’t want Stefan to feel the anger headed his way. With a guy like him, you had to spring it on him, or you had no hope of it sticking.
“Yes, fine,” I conceded. “That makes me mad, but okay.”
“Just don’t blow anything up,” Charles droned.
I breathed in deep and squeezed my eyes shut for just one second. Regrouped, I put on a smile and addressed Birdie. “Sorry about all this. I’m still learning. Anyway, we have a different take on magic than you probably realize. For example…”
I sucked in the elements, mixing them just right. Barely thinking, I enclosed Charles in an extremely electric containment box. An extremely electric, smallish containment box. Mouth off again, I dare you.
Charles stood unnaturally still, glancing at the hazy black box around him.
“Throw something at him,” I offered the women.
“Please don’t,” he muttered, not moving anything but his mouth and eyes.
“I will,” Ann volunteered. She picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could. A shower of sparks blasted out from point of contact, most of them on the outside of the box, but a few singeing his skin. He flinched, his eyebrows dipping low.
Jonas smirked.
“What is that…” Delilah leaned in, analyzing the box.
“Is this a trick of some kind?” Birdie asked.
I shook my head. “I’m human. Just like you. Magic is real. You felt me in your…circle earlier. Someone helped me with that spell. This is real, it’s just not advertised.”
“Then who are they?” Birdie motioned to the guys around me.
“That’s a lesson for another day. For now, I want to get to know more about you. About your magic. See if you would be up for learning more about it. Maybe using it.”
“Possibly you would like to come back to the mansion?” Dominicous asked.
“Just coerce them,” Jonas grumbled. “Humans just need the suggestion and they fall in like sheep. Weak-willed race, all of them.”
I’d had it.
Jonas was the next to get a black box. His glare made my butt tingle, but I didn’t care. His tattoos swirled to life, orange and shimmering. With a hand like a claw, he raked down the front of the box. Sparks lit up the parking lot, burning his skin.
“What is he doing?” one of the twins exclaimed—they looked identical. I’d forgotten what name went with who.
“He’s being cranky,” I answered.
Jonas raked down again, trying to weaken the box with the runes swirling his arms. But I shot black. He’d try all night if he wanted. I may learn slow, but I did learn, so eat it.
I turned back to the girls as Charles said, “Just take it, bro. You don’t want her to duel you. She comes up with nasty shit that hurts for a week. If you’re lucky. One time, my balls literally itched for a month. No one wanted to touch me—thought I was the first to contract one of the human sexual viruses.”
“This is quite entertaining, but it’s getting late, Sasha,” Dominicous chided gently. “I would like to check in with dinner preparations and speak with Toa.”
“Yeah, sorry.” I brushed my hair out of my face distractedly. “So, ladies, uh…do you want to learn more about your magic? Maybe come with us t
o the mansion—where we live? We can fill you in and maybe see about classes and whatnot.”
“The mansion?” Birdie shook her head confusedly. “Listen, this is all…interesting, but Jen has a family to get back to, and the rest of us have to work tomorrow.”
“Right, of course.” I took out one of my newly printed business cards. Below my name was: “Black.” Other than that, there was a phone number and address. That was it.
“Think about it. Think about how it felt when I joined your circle. About what I’m able to do with my magic. I know you could do that, too. You are able to access it, and that is the hardest part. Well, for most humans.”
Birdie fingered the card before tucking it into a pocket in her skirt. “We’ll see.”
“And if you want,” I continued, stepping toward the retreating four girls, “come by tomorrow at sundown. Or any time tomorrow night.”
Birdie gave me a small nod as she shepherded the girls away. I watched them walk away in silence, hoping beyond hope they chose to, at least, learn more. That feeling of unity, of harmony, had been so natural and gratifying. I wanted to feel it again; to work as a team. As a unit.
“They will come around,” Dominicous said, moving toward the car. “They just have to allow time for their minds to expand and include these fantastic ideas. Human females are much better at adapting then males.”
“Make them come around,” Jonas growled, staring at me not unlike that caged demon the other day.
“I’m going to head out,” Ann said, stepping closer. “I want to check in with Tim. Plus, I have a date.”
“With whom?” Charles and I asked together.
Ann gave me a sly smile. “We’ll chat later. Gotta run.”
Without an ounce of bashfulness, she stripped down to nothing and handed me her clothes. “Keep those, would ya? Buying new clothes is getting expensive.”
Green magic enveloped her, her grimace quickly changing into the furry face of a mountain lion. A feline purr echoed off the cars. With the grace only a big cat could muster, she turned tail and loped into the trees. Gone to hunt, or run, or just let her magical side run free. I smiled after her.
“Okay, let’s get this show on the road.” With a last glance toward the site that had held that nasty spell, I wondered, and feared at the same time, when another creation would be turned loose. And how powerful of a demon it would be.
Chapter 10
“What the fuck is this?” Jonas roared, standing at the back of his Hummer.
I’d just spent a tense fifteen minutes sitting in confined quarters with Jonas and his simmering temper. Now we stood at the back of his car, seething rage turning into explosive language. Dominicous stepped back to see the problem, and then, grinning, wasn’t helping.
Keeping my distance, I circled to the back of the car and found the issue. It was a bumper sticker that read, “Trust me, I’m hilarious.”
Ann’s doing, obviously.
“Everyone that knows you will know that thing is lying, bro,” Charles helped, slinking away. “Sasha, I’m going to go eat. I’ve had about enough of you for one evening.”
“Real nice,” I muttered.
“I must get you to tell me a joke sometime,” Dominicous said to Jonas.
“Okay, Jesus, you guys. You spend more time pestering each other than you do me, and that is saying something.” I walked toward the mansion. Toward Stefan.
“Did you do this, human?” Jonas demanded, still standing at the back of the Hummer.
“No,” I called.
“It was that mongrel. Damn it!”
“He is so easily riled up,” Dominicous noted in his usual pleasantry, walking with me. Sometimes it was hard to remember he could rip someone’s face off. And would, if the situation demanded it. “I wonder how he relieves his stress.”
He didn’t have long to wait to find out.
Jonas caught up to us as we entered the mansion. “Sasha, wait.”
He stepped in front of me, his face red from willing calm. “In this territory, all things magical go through you. It is up to you to defer that authority to another. And while the Boss knows this, the most important thing to him is you. Your safety. He, more than most, will first act as your mate, and next as a leader. Some would say this is his greatest weakness, but in a race where procreation is hard, females that can bear children are, indeed, the most important, and therefore, no one will fault him too heavily.
“But as a co-leader, you need to balance his weaknesses, as he balances yours. If he steps on your position, it is up to you to set him right, aggressively if need be. The Boss has wronged you, and you need to see to it that he gets a hold of his shit, and doesn’t do it again. We don’t breed weak females, human. We don’t breed females that will roll over and take what they are given. We are a warrior race. We fight for what’s ours.”
Jonas flexed, thick cords of terrifying muscle running from his head to his feet. His face went red. This message will self-destruct in five, four…
“I got it, Jonas. Go have sex. Mean, nasty, aggressive sex.” I didn’t dare pat him on the arm. You had to know when to leave the guy alone.
His crazy gaze slipped past the Regional as he turned. He strode down the hallway, flexed arms pushed away from his sides. A smaller guy stepped in front of him and loitered, apparently not having the presence of mind to look up. Big mistake.
With a roar, Jonas picked him up by the neck and the ass. Limbs on the guy flailing, mouth in a silent oh, Jonas hurled him through an open doorway. A thumping tumble indicated the guy had landed.
Jonas continued on his way as if nothing had happened.
“I can see why he doesn’t get a multitude of challenges,” Dominicous said, his expression pensive as he watched my helper stride away. “He is largely unpredictable and barely contained. He’s had some emotional scarring, I think. He looks to Stefan, to his Boss, to keep him in line. To keep him grounded. That is wise, or else he would be a problem.”
“Did you just see what he did? He threw some random guy through a doorway! He is a problem.”
Dominicous turned his gaze back to me as we continued to the upper floors. “But he is on your side. More so than on Stefan’s. He is rooting for you, or else why would he call his superior’s personal motives down?”
“Well, he offered up his life to protect me. If I don’t succeed, it will mean he made a bad decision. He doesn’t say the words, ‘I was wrong’ all that often.”
“Good. He is knowledgeable. I hope you don’t mind if I keep an eye on him, though. I don’t like such unpredictability so close to my daughter.”
Dominicous deposited me in front of Stefan’s and my wing. “Until dinner, then.”
He offered a slight bow and continued on his way, his stride quickening without my shorter legs to hinder him.
What a weird night. And it wasn’t over.
I paused outside the door as the familiar wave of longing washed over me. Sometimes I hated this intense hunger to reconnect with him after even a short absence. It muddled my thoughts and got in the way of my agenda. Like right now, for example. I needed to be firm and steadfast, demanding what was mine and taking no compromise.
With a stern face and confident air, I steeled myself, then pushed through into the room. Plush and refined furnishings greeted me, welcoming me home. I found him in the living room area, sitting in front of a huge bay window, staring out at the night. His broad back faced me, the bump and divot of his muscles beckoning me closer.
Keep your head, Sasha. Don’t let the prettiness distract you!
I cleared my throat. I would not request an audience, I would demand it.
He continued to stare out the window, completely lost in thought.
I cleared my throat again, louder this time.
Two onyx eyes flashed to my reflection in the window. He straightened up slowly, like a bear coming out of hibernation. His huge width of shoulder swiveled as he stood, higher and higher until he was standing ov
er me from the other side of the room. Black slacks and a dress shirt perfectly outlined his stellar body. Freshly shaven and smelling like sin, the sight of him pushed all the air out of my lungs.
Jonas’ growl sounded in my head, keeping my focus.
I raised my chin and prepared for a battle. “What’s this I hear about you not contacting me with a demon sighting?”
“I needed to go without you. I needed to confront my past without fear you’d be affected.”
Ah. Good explanation…
“You could have explained that, Stefan. It was my decision to make, not yours.”
“Yes.”
That earthshattering face stared at me, passive. Intense love radiated through the link, infusing my body. His solid frame, filled with undeniable power and strength, seduced me closer. Increased my longing until I wanted nothing more than to fall in his arms.
“I need you to treat me like your mage,” I pushed, desperately trying to ignore my body’s treachery. “I’m not a trophy wife that might get hurt if I scratch my arm!”
“Scratching your arm would be getting hurt.”
I gritted my teeth into his bemused, twinkling eyes. He wasn’t taking this seriously. He hadn’t been scared enough.
“When word comes in about something magical, that is my domain. I expect to be notified. Stefan, think of it from my point of view. I’m trying to fit into this place. There are certain codes you all live by, and I can’t have you getting in my way when they involve me. Either you start acting like a leader, or I will start acting like you.”
The twinkling in his eyes dulled. A small crease started between his eyebrows. “What does that mean? Start acting like me?”
“Do my own thing, and not involve you. My crew is loyal to me. The Mata are, too. If something comes up, like that demon the other day, I can simply…not let you know.”
His fists clenched and unclenched. Muscles flexed and relaxed, straining his shirt. Remembering the fight earlier, or maybe from the demon the other day, had the link warring with rage, uncertainty, and, above all, possessiveness. He could not comprehend me facing that alone. Unprotected.
