“I’m not afraid, Amber—well, not in the way you think. Heddou is dangerous and unpredictable, and if he finds out about you, well—I don’t think you should take that risk,” Nic said.
“Nic, if there’s somewhere I can go to get answers, then I need to do it. This thing has taken Dex, it’s taken Victoria, and I can’t just leave them to their fate—it’s not right. How many more people have to die because I’m hiding what I am?”
He sighed and shook his head. “You won’t just try Madeline first?”
A memory of what had happened with Madeline the first time I’d gone to see her popped into my head. The look on her face, and the feeling as she’d attempted to suck the power clean out of me.
“No, I’m pretty sure that bridge is well and truly burned…,”
“Fine, then Heddou it is, but at least let me gear up first,” Nic said, his tone telling me he was less than pleased about the entire situation.
“Well, if you are, then so am I.”
Nic grinned, and his face relaxed for the first time since I’d mentioned Heddou. “I don’t think he’ll be expecting that; everyone is too afraid of his power to challenge him personally.”
I swallowed hard and attempted to school my features into an expression that wouldn’t give away the sudden jolt of fear I felt running through me. Madeline was scary enough, but Nic was behaving as though she was nothing more than a fluffy kitten in comparison to Heddou—a fluffy kitten with sharp teeth and claws, with a temper, and a control of her magic to rival any demon…. If Heddou was worse than that, then I was in way over my head.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
Chapter 23
Standing in the middle of my bedroom, I peered into my closet and pushed aside the clothes hanging from the rail in the middle, revealing my gun safe. Tapping in the code on the keypad, the lock made an audible click and the door swung open.
The inside was lined in a plush black leather; the gun safe was the one thing I had bothered to actually spend a bit of money on. My first pay check from the Elite … and, as far as I was concerned, it had been worth every penny. The man I’d bought it from had said it was unbreakable, but then, in a world filled with preternatural creatures, witches, and demons, nothing was really unbreakable.
So far, no one had bothered with it. No one even knew it existed.
Grabbing two extra magazines for my Glock, I slipped them into my jacket pocket and dropped down onto my knees. Tugging the small wooden box concealed at the bottom of the safe out onto my lap, I pricked my finger with the needle I’d brought and ran it along the edge of the lock. The small spell used to keep the box shut hummed for a second before it recognised my magic and dissipated.
The curse was harmless to anyone who had the means to disarm it—a single drop of my blood was all it would take, but for any unsuspecting fool that lifted the lid without first nullifying the magic….
Well, I’d seen it used once before on a man who’d broken into my mother’s house when I was younger. The smell of his skin as it had bubbled free of the bones of his skull was something seared into my memory. My own version of it wasn’t quite as potent; I’d made it before my magic had come back into full force and the thought, now, of what might happen if I attempted to upgrade it….
Flipping open the lid, I stared down into the contents of the box. It was a mishmash of witchcraft supplies that, if I was caught with them, would end with me strapped to a gurney and burned for my crimes.
I pulled one of my mother’s hex bags free from the bottom of the box and lifted it to my nose. It smelled like a mixture of rotten socks and cabbage—not particularly what I wanted to carry around in my pocket, but the bag was capable of voiding another’s magic, and if I was going to see this great and terrifying Heddou that struck fear into the hearts of men, then I was going to need to bring something with me that could protect me.
Taking my silver cross—the one Graham had given to me after everything that had gone on with Jessica—I draped it around my neck. There wouldn’t be any vampires, as far as I was aware, but I was done with taking chances. Plus, it wasn’t just vampires the cross could protect me against. Demons weren’t particularly keen on religious artefacts as a general rule.
Tucking the hex bag into my pocket, I slammed the box shut and hid it at the bottom of the gun safe once more. Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath and called my power. It surged forward, making it difficult to breathe. The sheer ferocity of it all still surprised me. I’d spent so many years not having anything at all, and now … well, now it was different, and I still wasn’t entirely sure where the limitations of my magic lay. But from Enzo’s face after he’d tasted it, I was pretty sure it was safe to assume my power was impressive.
* * *
Nic stood propped against his motorcycle, his open leather jacket doing nothing to conceal the extra weaponry he’d collected. As he moved and lifted his arm, the end of his holster came into view, the gun catching my eye.
Whistling low, I took the helmet he held out to me.
“Nice gun,” I said, eyeing it appreciatively, my own gun sitting comfortably against my chest.
He glanced down and smiled. “It’s my brothers.”
“Are you allowed to do that? Carry someone else’s gun, I mean,” I asked, sliding the helmet into place and quickly crushing down the fear that tried to claw its way up my throat. I still hadn’t completely recovered after the last trip I’d taken on his bike.
“It’s mine now. My brother was military; he was killed by a pack of shifters gone rogue.”
“A pack?” I was parroting his words back at him, but I couldn’t help it. Shifters ran in packs, but rogues were usually out on their own, disowned by their group; it was part of the reason they were so dangerous.
“Weird, isn’t it?” Nic said, but his voice sounded very far away, and I could only imagine that he was reliving the horror.
“Were you with him?”
“No. I was supposed to be, but….” he trailed off, but not before I’d caught the trace of guilt in his tone. He sighed and pushed his hand back through his hair. “I was military, too—it’s a family thing—but, unlike my brother, I was a complete screw-up. Got myself discharged for picking a fight with the local vampire group where I was stationed. The powers that be decided I was an unsuitable candidate, too much of a loose cannon. Can’t say I blame them….”
There was a bitterness in his voice that spoke volumes about how he really felt. And the urge to reach out to him was almost overwhelming.
“The night he was killed, I got my ass thrown in jail for starting the fight with the vamps. If I’d just let it all go, he wouldn’t have….” Nic cut off once more as his voice cracked.
He dropped his gaze, and I could practically see him pulling himself back together once more. The shields he’d lowered to tell me what had happened to his brother snapped back into place, tighter than ever, and the moment was gone.
“I’m sorry,” I said, brushing my hand against his arm.
Lifting his face once more, he grinned at me, his expression closely guarded—and then it hit me. This was nothing more than a persona. A really good one, but it wasn’t who Nic really was.
I’d been getting glimpses of who he was with the more time we spent together, but this was first time I’d really managed to get behind the facade he kept in place. And from what I could see, he was so much more than he wanted people to believe him to be.
“Sorry? Don’t be. Jason could be a righteous prig when he wanted to be. We weren’t close; he was the golden boy and, well, I was … I was me. The eternal disappointment.” He said it all with a smile, but there was something else that lurked in his eyes, and after what I’d already seen, I couldn’t help but think it was regret.
“You ready?” he asked, swinging his leg over the saddle of the motorbike before he kicked away the stand and held it propped between his thighs—his incredibly muscular thighs. The jeans he wore moulded perfectly to his
ass.
Christ, Amber, get your head back where it needs to be. Now is really not the time for that shit.
But I’d glimpsed what lurked beneath Nic’s tough playboy exterior and I wanted to see more. Of course, it helped he was as hot as sin…. I’d been able to resist the thought of his lips on mine before. But now, well—he wasn’t the shallow player I’d assumed he was, and he’d gotten to me. And now, more than ever, I was in danger.
I sighed and settled onto the bike behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist awkwardly as all I could feel was the harsh outline of every weapon he carried.
“Ready…” I said, and tried to ignore the scent of leather and the deeper musky scent that was all Nic.
If I didn’t get a grip soon, I was seriously screwed.
Chapter 24
Staring up at the large, white-slatted house, I couldn’t bring myself to feel afraid. Nic stood beside me, and the tension in his body vibrated off his skin causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end.
I was supposed to be afraid.
“Heddou lives here?” I said, tilting my head to the side. Maybe if I stared hard enough, concentrated, I’d start to feel the appropriate amount of fear.
“Yup, this is him…. Are you sure Madeline wouldn’t be a better fit?” There wasn’t any nervousness in his voice, but the simple fact that he would even ask that meant he was afraid.
“You don’t need to come in, you know? I can handle this myself,” I said, moving onto the first step.
Nic grabbed my arm and jerked me around to him. He searched my face, his gaze probing mine before he released me with a snort. “And this is the exact reason I need to go in there with you.”
“What is?”
“You’re not afraid, not even a little bit, are you?”
“Well, no, not really. I know what he is, but….” I couldn’t shake the image in my head of Heddou smearing chicken blood on his face and rattling bones around in a cup.
“You really don’t if you’re willing to walk in there like an arrogant asshole. He’ll eat you alive.”
“Literally?” I said, raising an eyebrow.
“Christ, Amber, what’s going on with you? Why are you behaving like this is no big deal?”
“Why are you so certain it is a big deal?”
“Because I know who Heddou is, I know what he’s capable of, and…” Nic trailed off and glanced over my shoulder.
“Heddou wants to know if you plan on arguing on the street for the rest of the day, or if you actually plan on coming inside?” The female voice was soft, with the hint of an accent that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
Spinning around, my gaze was captured by a pair of gentle brown eyes, the type that could draw you in and, before you even realised what was happening, you’d be tied up. She smiled at me and the barest hint of power crawled across my scalp.
Lifting her arm, her caramel skin glistened in the sunlight like she was covered in shimmering magic; the silver bracelets she wore sparkled in the afternoon sun as she held her hand out to me.
“He can’t wait to meet you,” she said.
I took another step towards her before I even realised what I was doing. Shit. Nic was right, I was an arrogant asshole, and if I didn’t pull it together it would get me killed.
Slipping my hand into my pocket, I wrapped my fingers around my mother’s hex bag, and the prickle of power instantly fell away. The woman in front of me, who still stood with her hand outstretched, stared at me in confusion. Her skin no longer glistened with magic; it was probably just some kind of shimmering body lotion, but it definitely wasn’t magic. Realisation flooded her warm brown eyes and she let her hand fall back to her side.
“Your parlour tricks might work on me, but Heddou is beyond that…” she said with a smirk before turning and stalking back up the steps.
“If your plan is to piss them off before you even get inside, so far you’re doing a fantastic job,” Nic whispered in my ear, his sudden proximity making me jump.
I gave him a dirty look before I followed the woman up the steps to the large porch that ran the full length of the house. Nic caught up to me easily, his long stride bringing him level with me as I waited for the woman to push open the front door and step into the dark hallway beyond.
Glancing back at me, she gestured almost impatiently for me to follow. There was no rush of magic this time—at least the hex bag was doing its job, the first thing in a while to actually go right.
I stepped into the house and the atmosphere settled down around me, like a slightly too-warm blanket. It pressed against my skin and each breath was harder than the one before.
The house itself surged with power; I hadn’t felt it from outside, but now that I was standing in the hall, it beat against my body as though searching for a way in. It didn’t feel like Lily’s power had; hers had made my bones ache and my teeth chatter. This was different. Old, just as hers had been, as old as mine, but I didn’t recognise it.
The woman who’d tried to trick me outside drifted down the long corridor that stretched beyond the wide, sweeping staircase, and I went after her. Her body seemed looser, and when she shot me a look over her shoulder, her eyes rolled in her head as though she was completely intoxicated.
Nic’s hand closed on my arm and I stared at him; his eyelids were heavy and he dug his fingers into my skin as he fought whatever magic was threatening to overwhelm him.
“I can’t breathe,” he said, gripping me harder.
“Go back outside,” I urged, grabbing him as he slumped down onto his knees.
“Amber, I can’t….” He trailed off, his voice weak as though he didn’t even have enough breath in his lungs to speak.
Scooping the hex bag out of my pocket, I stared down at it for a second before jamming it into Nic’s hand. His recovery was instantaneous, his shoulders shuddering as he dragged in a deep breath and his eyes cleared.
The moment my hand fell away from the hex bag, the power within the house crashed over my head and my spine stiffened. My body wanted to run, to crawl back out through the open door if it had to, but my own power had other ideas.
It poured upwards from my core without me needing to call it, pushing back the invading power that seeped in through my pores, scalding my throat with every breath I took.
Clenching my fists, my own magic fought, pushing out every last drop of Heddou’s power until there was nothing left but the power I wielded. The demon mark throbbed and burned as Heddou’s magic continued to vie for control of my body. He was no different from Madeline and he was testing me.
Releasing Nic, I strode down the hall, Heddou’s power calling me forward. I didn’t need a guide; his own power acted like a beacon and it was that I followed.
Pushing open a door at the end of the hall, I stepped into the full room, my gaze searching through the curious glances thrown my way before they fell on a man at the back of the room.
He grinned at me, his smile wide, but it was far from welcoming, and his power suddenly intensified.
“Cut the crap, Heddou. I didn’t come here for a pissing match, I want your help…” I said, gritting my words out as he turned up the power again.
I imagined it was how it would feel if I sank to the depths of the ocean, the crushing force of the water around me slowly squeezing me down until I was nothing but a fine paste.
“You come into my house and demand my help? I should kill you where you stand, child, for the insolence.” He had the same accent as the woman I’d met outside, the same woman who was now standing next to the fireplace with a smirk on her face.
Sweat beaded on my forehead as my own magic pushed upwards, keeping his power at bay.
“Enzo sent me, he said you owe him a favour….”
The words dropped into the silence in the room like gunshots, and suddenly I could breathe once more. Heddou’s power disappeared as though it had never been there, but that was an issue all of its own. My own power flared as the
pressure released, sweeping outwards and slamming into the people closest to me before I could stop it.
They dropped, their bodies hitting the floor like puppets whose strings had been cut loose from the master.
I turned in a slow circle, staring at the eight bodies surrounding me in a perfect ring.
“Crap…” I said, catching Heddou’s furious gaze.
The people didn’t move—they didn’t even twitch and my stomach sank into my shoes. Had I just killed eight people? Because if I had, then I’d just become the very thing I was supposed to hunt and stop.
Nic stepped into the room, his eyes drifting across the bodies on the floor before he lifted his gaze to my face.
“Amber, what have you done?” he asked, and my heart came to a shuddering halt as I realised his voice was filled with fear.
Chapter 25
“She did nothing but defend herself,” Heddou cut in, his voice ringing out clear in the still silent room.
I stared at the other people standing around, but I didn’t see terror in their faces. Instead, they continued to watch me with a type of curiosity normally reserved for animals in the zoo.
“I don’t know what happened, I…” I stuttered, my gaze falling back to the people still lying around me on the floor.
Dropping to my knees next to the nearest one, I pressed my fingers against his neck, but there was no pulse and his skin was icy. It shouldn’t have been possible, but he felt as though he’d been dead for far longer than a couple of seconds.
“I didn’t mean to do this…” I said, staring back up at Heddou.
He shook his head and clapped his hands together, the sound resonating around the room, growing deeper until I felt it in my very core. The man I’d just checked stirred and flipped over onto his back before slowly climbing to his feet. His movements were awkward and stiff; the kind of movements you might make if you’d spent weeks lying on your back….
Blood Craft: The Shadow Sorceress Book Two Page 13
