Mystic Storm: An Adult Paranormal Witch Romance: Othala Witch Collection (Sector 2)

by Bella Love-Wins

  He did not stop, and thank the stars for that, because his very talented tongue soon sent her right over the edge, leaving her legs shaking and her core pulsing as fireworks went off behind her eyelids. Even then, he was unrelenting. Blowing against her skin for a second, he gripped her hips and buried his tongue as far as it would go, extending her ecstasy into the heavens.

  Before she could catch her breath, he positioned himself at her center, lifted her tired legs over his shoulders, and thrust inside her wet, still throbbing heat. Yes. That sensation was exactly what she had been craving. Xander let out a long, wild growl as he moved out of her slowly, then deeper in. Back slightly, and further in again. He tilted her hips again, changing the angle to where every stroke hit a spot that catapulted her pleasure. Kiera whimpering out his name and he picked up to a feverish pace, matching the rise of her hips as he buried deep inside of her. Just when she thought she could probably stay this way for hours, a tidal wave of ecstasy exploded in her core, taking her to a peak so high she covered her mouth in anticipation of the scream threatening to escape.

  Xander lowered her legs to the bed again, leaning forward to kiss her fiercely. That wicked kiss brought her back to the salacious moment. Novice in the bedroom or not, Kiera was ready to try everything with him. They may have been closer to avoiding this year’s shifter transformation, thus sparing her life, but she was not going to take a second for granted. She found a reserve of energy. Pressing her hands against his chest, she motioned for him to lift off her, and flipped herself onto her hands and knees. She could swear Xander growled just then. He held on to her waist, lining himself up between her knees. A moment later, his velvety tip glided against her heat and he entered her slowly.

  He felt amazing inside of her. Her inner walls tightened around his thick shaft, still pulsing from her last climax. He gripped her hips tightly, and the torture-filled sound of his moans told her he was aching to let go. He must have been holding himself back, still so protective and careful not to hurt her. With that awareness, she pushed back onto his flesh, moving and rotating her hips, no longer biting back how good he made her feel. Her freeness with her words had him groaning, picking up the pace. He reached his hands up her sides and held each breast in his palms, massaging them. Oh God, her desire mounted deep in her center, and Xander pounded into her harder and faster, calling out her name when they came together.

  Drenched in sweat and completely sated, she stretched out her legs to recover. Xander cradled her body, relaxing beside her on his back.

  “God, woman… I can’t get enough of you…but I must go now. There is much to be done.”

  “I understand. Can you find your way back to the tunnel?”

  He kissed her forehead and got off the bed to get dressed. “Yes. Promise me you’ll be careful.”

  Getting off the bed, she picked up her coat. “I will.”

  “Do not underestimate Minassus,” he warned.

  “I will make sure Kiera does not,” said a confident female voice in the doorway. It was Coco.

  “Make sure you do not, shifter witch,” Xander told her in a sharp tone.

  She winked at him. “Glad to see you are finally dressed. I’ve been waiting forever.”

  “Coco, what are you doing here?” Kiera asked. “I thought you were keeping an eye on the Regent’s movements.”

  “I was, but I had to come and find out what the hell is going on here. Where did that surge of magic come from?”

  “I was practicing. I used telekinesis on the ravagers. It worked!”

  “How long ago?”

  “Just before we—” Kiera started, then she stopped short. “Perhaps half an hour ago.”

  Coco shook her head. “No. Not then. It was before that. Plus I sensed you outside the fortress when I felt it.”

  Kiera looked at her familiar with confused. “Outside? I did not perform any magic out there.”

  “There was no mistaking it, Kiera. It augmented our powers. I felt it. You did too. It affected you physically…made you stumble.”

  “It had to be Liam,” Xander said to Kiera. “When he shook your hand. Though… it can’t be. He is not a witch.”

  “But…how?”

  “Someone may have put a spell on him,” Coco suggested. “I know how to determine who or what it was, but we have to do it right now. Minassus will be back at the fortress in a few hours. He was visiting his mother’s home village, but he’s on his way back now, which is another reason I hurried to get here before him.”

  “You know, you could have led with that information,” Xander said to Coco, clearly irked.

  “I guess I could,” she replied, detached. “You’d better go now.”

  He shook his head and turned to Kiera. “Be careful.”

  “We will,” Coco answered for both of them.

  As he turned to leave the way he came, Kiera had a hard time shaking the feeling that Xander also needed to take his own advice.

  18

  Kiera

  Kiera was trying to keep it together, but the fact that she and Coco were about to break into the Regent’s locked study and rifle through his belongings took away any confidence she had.

  “Are you sure nothing in the main library has the information we need?” she asked Coco for the tenth time.

  “Positive. That bastard kept all the good stuff to himself.”

  “And you know that how exactly?”

  “Hello,” she said, pointing her index fingers at her chest. “Over three-hundred-year-old practicing witch familiar here.”

  “You know what we’re looking for?”

  “Of course, and I know exactly where it is. He has a lockbox under the floorboard behind that big paisley armchair at the window. I saw him flipping through that scroll one day, and he was so focused, he didn’t notice I was sitting on the windowsill spying on him.” She took off again, and stopped in front of his door, bending to study the lock. “Now shush so we can steal it before he arrives.”

  “Do you need help with that?”

  “Right. I forgot. Telekinesis is one hell of a talent,” she whispered, smiling broadly.

  Kiera focused on the lock parts with her mind.

  “Okay,” Coco said. “All you need to do is picture the metal tumblers and levers, lifting out of the bolt that prevents the handle from moving. It’s like your—”

  Kiera smiled. “Done.”

  Coco shook her head. “Please tell me you won’t turn into one of those boastful bitches…I mean witches,” she grinned, and pushed the door open. “Nice work, by the way.”

  “Thanks.” Kiera lit a candle next to the door and followed Coco across the room to the window. They pushed the armchair to the side. “The loose floorboard is right where you said it was.”

  “Of course it is,” Coco answered, getting down to her knees. She lifted up the square of wood to reveal a long, rusty metal box. Picking up the box, she checked the lock. Coco needed no help replacing the floorboard, and pushed the armchair back to its original spot. “Let’s get this to your room.”

  “Good idea,” she agreed, following Coco back to the door. “Tell me something. Why have we never done this before for other spells we were curious about?”

  “Search his room?” Coco checked the empty hallways, then motioned for Kiera to leave the room. She blew out the candle and quietly pulled the door shut, not wanting to attract any unnecessary attention as she considered the question. “Nothing else was worth taking the risk.”

  Kiera folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure I believe that.”

  “Have you ever stopped to wonder how I’ve lived this long, young thing?” Coco crooned. “I can think of eight…no, nine times I cheated certain death, and I can tell you it is always worth the fight.” She crinkled her nose, and then she relaxed her face and smiled. “All right. Maybe I was not brave enough to cross Minassus before this…but now, I can feel it in my bones, Kiera. We have a chance to cut the son of a bitch off at the knees
and go back to how life was before. You are so strong, love. I can hardly believe the quantum leaps you have made these past few days. As your familiar, you know it’s my goal to help you hone your craft, to unlock the powerful parts within you and harness the world around us as you become stronger. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been so proud of you…but these past few days, it’s like you are a woman on fire.”

  “Awww, dear.”

  She grasped Kiera’s hands. “That fearlessness is exactly what you were born to wield…and if I go on, I swear your fiery little ass will make me cry.”

  Coco sniffed a bit and fanned her eyes, which had already filled with tears. Taking a breath, she picked up the box and passed it to Kiera. “Enough with this sentimental stuff. Let’s get the hell out here.”

  “Agreed. His carriage is close to the fortress entrance.” Kiera hurried up to her room with Coco following behind. She placed the lockbox on the bed. “What exactly are we looking for?”

  “An account that Thalia wrote.”

  Kiera stared over at Coco. “Sector Two’s first witch Regent?” Coco nodded. “From three hundred years ago?”

  “Yes. Did you open the box?”

  “Yes,” Kiera answered.

  Coco flipped the lid to one side and quickly picked up the rolled-up scroll on top. A large ancient coin the size of an egg fell to the bed.

  “What’s that?” Kiera asked.

  “Thalia’s talisman,” Coco answered. She placed the coin in her hand and made a fist around it. “She was not a fan of familiars, so she used this to concentrate her magic instead.”

  A small piece of paper floated down to the bed afterward. Coco studied the scrap of paper for a moment, then her lips formed a tense line. She passed the note to Kiera. “It appears that the Regent knows about your powers.”

  “What? Why do you think—” Kiera froze and the blood drained from her face. Her name was scribbled on it in the Regent’s handwriting, and below it, there was one phrase. Must neutralize.

  “Got any doubts that he knows?” Coco asked, opening the scroll.

  “No. I don’t understand, though. If Minassus was aware of what we were planning to do, or conspiring, as he would put it, why did he not stop us before he left for his mother’s village?”

  “My guess is arrogance. He probably believed he had time. Speaking of time…” Coco sat on the bed and pulled Kiera’s arm, motioning for her to sit. “See here?” she asked, pointing to the fifth paragraph of the old handwritten document.

  Kiera looked at the flowery cursive section that seemed to have been written more slowly than anywhere else on the page.

  “Read it aloud,” Coco instructed. “In case there’s anything you do not understand. People spoke a little differently back then, and Thalia was pretty feisty herself.”

  “All right,” she agreed, lowering her eyes to the paragraph. “It says, Ameerah was right. Something changed after I gave it up for that arrogant washed-up NFL’er last week. Even Ameerah herself said she sensed it all the way out in Green Bay. Anyway, I recited that spell on the laptop, speaking directly to the image of the cluster symbol that she sent to my cell. I don’t know how exactly, but it worked. The energy from Ameerah’s spell transferred from the symbol into me and magnified my abilities. From the spell! Not from the witch herself. I can’t even begin to fathom what it means, but for starters, I will ask every witch and sorcerer in Chicago to repeat the step, and I will try again. Those goddamned ravagers won’t know what hit them. If this works, the old biddies and I will share a laugh in honor of that jock I slept with. I guess I should have gotten his name. But maybe not. I saw him at the same bar where we met with that bleach blonde skank bitch, Corinne, from high school. Chick can’t even hold her liquor. Oh well. Who would have thought finally losing my virginity would help save the world?”

  Kiera looked up at Coco. “What is an NFL’er? And a cell? Oh, and a skank?”

  “The first is an athlete who played one of the most brutal sports of that time. A cell is a handheld portable phone that evolved into a device almost every person on the planet owned and stared at ad infinitum…” She stared off into the distance, dreamy-eyed. “All those colorful games… and don’t even get me started on our addiction to social media.”

  “And a skank?”

  “Never mind that. Some insults should stay in the past, darling. Did you understand the rest?”

  “I think so…she drew power from the residual energy left behind in other witches’ spells?”

  “Exactly…just like you, after you gave it up to Xander,” she said, grinning.

  Kiera rolled her eyes. “And when I shook Liam’s hand…”

  Coco nodded vigorously. “Exactly. Magic from him flowed to you. My best guess is it was the shifter magic left behind from the Chosen who transformed him, and if I’m right, he was turned to a shifter a different year than Xander was. Oh my goodness, do you knows what this means?”

  “Um…can you give me a hint? My head hurts. It has been a long day.”

  “I will give you more than a hint. All you need to do is physically touch one shifter from each of the years since Minassus initiated the shifter transformations ceremonies. You will draw power from each spell that was cast.”

  “So that means we have to find eight of Xander’s shifters…as I have… touched him already.”

  “And don’t we know it, girlfriend?” she joked.

  “No. Seven. I already shook Liam’s hand.”

  “I need to get this request over to your man.”

  “You need to hurry. Xander’s second in command is getting ready to leave camp with Reena to strengthen the outer walls, and it sounded to me that they were going to start tonight.”

  Coco began to remove her clothes. “Fastest way is to fly there, but please, be careful with Minassus. Now that I think about it, he’s probably known since you met Xander at the Great Hall the first time. He was turned by Minassus…”

  “Ahhh. I see. The Regent may have sensed the transfer of energy, and only remembered the account in Thalia’s scroll after it happened.”

  “You are in danger, Kiera. Maybe you should come with me. We can leave through the tunnel and stay at the shifter camp.”

  “Perhaps you’re right, especially since the Regent is—”

  A loud knock on Kiera’s door stopped her dead in her tracks.

  “Kiera!” shouted the Regent from the other side of the door.

  Panicked, but clear on what needed to be done, Kiera exchanged a knowing glance with Coco and frantically whispered, “You have to go now! Through the window. Get to Xander and gather the seven shifters. I will find a way to leave the fortress as soon as I can. Just in case I cannot, you need to do it, Coco.”

  “Touch them? Will that work?”

  “It may be the only way.”

  Coco nodded and quickly wrapped her arms around Kiera. “I hope you can draw their energy from me.”

  “Hurry!” Kiera looked toward the door as Coco took on her Osprey form. “The Regent is not going to wait much longer. Time is—” That split second while she focused on him, three images crashed into her head all at the same time. She reared back. “Oh no! We are out of time! And the Regent…it can’t be.”

  “What?” Coco implored to her. “Tell me!”

  “Kiera!” Regent Minassus shouted from the door, more loudly this time.

  “The Regent is going to try to force me to perform the transformation spell…tonight.”

  “Like hell he will,” Coco barked.

  “But that is not all. The first winter storm is forming.”

  “This early?”

  “Weather predictions have not always been accurate. It’s coming. Tomorrow night. The ravagers are already on their way! Approaching from the west. You need to get word to Reena and Liam.”

  “How far away are they? How soon will they reach the outer walls?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered, trying hard to focus, but now there were so
many images coming to her, she could barely focus. “Less than a day. And the Regent…he has Xander’s mother!”

  “Oh hell. Already? Where?”

  “Here! At the fortress. The Regent’s visit to his mother’s village was a decoy…he sent guards to get Xander’s mother at the same time. He will use it as leverage to force Xander to bring this year’s men to the Great Hall so I can complete the transformation ceremony. Tonight.”

  “Xander won’t do it.”

  “He will…to save his mother.”

  “Holy crap, Kiera. How are we supposed to prepare for the ravagers’ first attack, stop the ceremony, and rescue Xander’s mother? With you here and cut off from the rest of us?”

  “Kiera! Open this door before I break it down!” the Regent roared.

  “You and I will have to trust that our connection is strong enough, Coco. Get your hands on those seven shifter soldiers before you do anything else. Go! Now!”

  Coco nodded, flapping her wings hard as she flew off.

  “Coming, your eminence,” she replied calmly, hoping she could buy some time. She returned the scroll to the lockbox and tucked it underneath her bed. Smoothing down the front of her coat, she headed to the door.

  Regent Minassus stood tall, pushing past her as he burst into the room. “Where is your familiar? Never mind. I will get to her in short order.”

  “It is very late, sir. Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Very smart,” he murmured with a smile.

  “I don’t understand.”

  The Regent tilted his head to the side. “Lies.”

  “Sorry?”

  “Do not play innocent with me!”

  Kiera’s heart was in her throat. She swallowed hard, wishing she could keep feigning ignorance, but it was too late. He knew.

  19