by Deanna Chase
Ruby turned in my direction and gazed at me with a mixture of longing and regret. “Take care of yourself, Miss Pyper.”
I nodded. “I’m so sorry, Ruby. You didn’t deserve this.”
She shook her head, her sad eyes haunting. “No one does, dear. Be safe. Love with your whole heart, and never apologize for living.”
“I will.” I clutched my chest, trying to keep my heart from pounding out of my rib cage.
She turned toward Julius. He’d dropped his hands, now channeling just a small stream of power into the circle, keeping the protective barrier. Ruby floated over to him. “I know what you did. Thank you.”
He gave her a nod of acknowledgment.
After one last look back at me, Ruby’s smoky form unraveled and dissipated into the night.
“What’s happening?” Shelby glanced frantically between Julius and me. “How did I get here?”
My heart broke all over again. She was young. Eighteen. Nineteen maybe, and didn’t understand what had happened to her.
“Julius freed you, sweetie,” I said as kindly as I could. “You’ll never be trapped again.”
“But…” She stared down at her smoky body. After a moment, she gasped, understanding dawning. “He killed me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to hold back a fresh onslaught of tears.
“He took my life. For himself. So he could cure himself.” Her hands curled into fists and she struck out against nothing in a fit of rage.
“Cure himself?”
But she didn’t hear me. She was too busy fighting an invisible battle.
“Get it out, darling,” Julius coaxed.
She stopped abruptly and stared at him. “You did this. You found me.”
He nodded.
She gasped and then swallowed. “Thank you.”
“Shelby—” I started, but before I could get the rest of the words out, her smoke form burst into a thousand particles and blew off in the breeze.
My eyes met Julius’s and the magic abruptly vanished. He strode to me and wrapped me in his arms, burying his face in my shoulder.
I clutched him, relieved and more than a little overwhelmed. “When you locked Jade out, I thought for sure you were going to sacrifice yourself. That you intended to purge yourself of the life energy that’s keeping you here with me.”
“I planned to. I would’ve if that had been possible.”
“Don’t ever try it,” I whispered. “If for nothing else, then for me.”
He tightened his grip around me but didn’t answer. And I knew deep down he’d never be okay with living among us, knowing he was only here because of three lost lives.
***
“Should we talk about it?” Jade sat at the end of her kitchen table, holding a forkful of cheesecake.
“We can if you want.” I sipped coffee and eyed Julius. He was across from me, his arms folded over his chest.
“Right.” She sighed and turned to Julius. “I don’t mean to sound like a diva coven leader or anything, but do you realize how dangerous it is to call the coven circle magic without any other witches to help?”
“Jade—” I started.
“She’s right.” He turned to me, regret clouding his eyes. “I put you in danger. It won’t happen again.”
I shook my head. “Stop. I never once felt threatened in any way.”
“That’s not the point.” Jade stood and started pacing. “Anything could have gone wrong. And I was shut out.” She stopped and placed her hands on her hips, staring Julius down. “You have tremendous power. And that’s a good thing. But don’t shut me out again. Especially when Pyper’s involved.”
“I’m right here.” Damn, I hated it when people talked about me like I wasn’t in the room. Or worse, like I was precious cargo that needed to be protected at all times. I appreciated Jade’s looking out for me and Julius’s concern, but it sure did get tiring real quick. I set my mug down on the table, gave Jade a pointed look, and then left the room to find Kane.
“Hey, Pyper.” Kane sat on the couch in his living room, his feet propped up on an ottoman. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah. Just taking a break from witch central.”
He chuckled. “You’ve come to the right place.”
I sat next to him. “It’s exhausting sometimes, isn’t it?”
“Witch central?” He raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“No. Jade’s just doing what she has to. I mean everything that comes with this supernatural life. It’s not like it’s new to me. I’ve known Jade just as long as you have and lived through plenty of crazy. But this time it feels more intense. Closer to home maybe.”
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in for a sideways hug. “It’s because of Julius. You’re in deeper now.”
I tsked. “I barely know him.”
His lips twitched with something close to smugness. “You know enough.”
I pulled away, clasped my hands between my knees, and hung my head. He was right. I was in deeper because of my feelings for him. Everything was intensified. Seemed to be happening in Technicolor. The sheer enormity of it was more than I’d let myself feel in maybe forever. “What am I going to do about this?”
“Nothing?”
I turned my head, giving him a sidelong glance.
He shrugged. “You can fight it if you want, but we both know you’re not going to give him up. At least not right now. So why not just see what happens and take it from there?”
I snorted. Damn him. “Why do you have to know me so well?”
“That’s what you get for choosing me for a best friend.”
Some of the tension drained from my shoulders. That place just below my heart twinged, the one that was reserved just for him when he said the thing I needed to hear at the exact right moment. “Looks like college was good for something after all.”
He laughed. “Worth every penny.”
Marc strode into the room. “I just got word that Tyler was turned over to the Witch’s Council. They found the spell in a notebook in that small closet you two found that detailed his plans to kill Shelby and Ruby. So even though the talismans were taken, they had enough to implicate him.”
“What does that mean exactly? That he’s been turned over to the council?” I asked.
“It’s been confirmed that he is in fact a witch, though apparently not a particularly powerful one. And because of that, the council will conduct its own trial. As far as the NOPD is concerned, the case is closed.”
“He seemed plenty powerful when he was trying to strangle me,” I said.
Marc frowned. “It’s possible he learned how to store his power and use it all at once. But you’re right. That’s unusual.”
“So is killing people to extend one’s life,” Kane said dryly.
“There’s something I don’t understand,” I said. “Tyler is a young man. Early thirties maybe. Why would he be thinking about extending his life?”
Marc sat in one of the chairs across from us. “You’d have to ask him, but I imagine it’s because by extending it now, he’d spend the next fifty years looking like a thirty-year-old. Then he’ll start to age.”
“Jesus,” Kane muttered. “That’s sick.”
“Agreed.” A rare flash of loathing lit Marc’s eyes, and he clenched his fists. “If I weren’t a Council witch, I’d have ended him myself.”
“And I’d have helped you,” Jade said as she strolled into the room with Julius on her heels.
“Okay, that’s enough for me for one evening.” I stood. “I think it’s time for me to head home.”
Jade walked me to the door and gave me a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early.”
I hugged her back. “It’s past midnight. Why don’t you take the morning off? One of us should ge
t some rest at least.”
“Forget it. I’ll be there.” She let go of me and stared me down.
“Okay.” I laughed. “See you at six.”
I moved to open the door, but Jade stopped me. “Wait.”
“For?” I raised my eyebrows.
“I think it might be a good idea if Julius stays at your place for a night or two.”
Julius’s gaze snapped to me and then we both turned to look at her.
I cleared my throat. “Why?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure. A feeling? I just don’t like the idea of your being alone right now.”
“Tyler’s in custody. What’s there to be worried about?”
“Humor me, would you? I don’t know why I feel this way, I just do. And you know I try to never ignore my intuition.”
Kane sent me a knowing smile and made a crude face no one but me saw.
I stuck my tongue out at him. His silent commentary on Julius and me being stuck in the same apartment was amusing, but not really welcome. I knew how to control myself… for the most part.
Everyone turned to look at Kane, who only raised his hands as if to say “What?”
“Julius?” I called.
He turned and eyed me, his expression guarded.
“Would you consider babysitting me until Jade’s confident this crisis is over? My guest room is free.”
“I’d hardly call it babysitting,” Jade huffed out.
I rolled my eyes at her. “I was joking.”
Julius cleared his throat. “I’d be honored to be your protector, Pyper.”
I pursed my lips. “Looks like I have my own personal bodyguard.” I moved to Julius’s side and slipped my arm through his. “Walk me home, then?”
He smiled down at me, warmth lighting his eyes for the first time all evening. “It would be my pleasure.”
Chapter 24
“You’ll be in here.” I opened the door to my spare bedroom. Oops. I’d stripped the bed and hadn’t remade it. “I’ll get the bed taken care of. Just give me a second.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Julius stood beside me, his hand resting on the small of my back. “I can just—”
“No. You’re my guest. It’ll only take a minute. Wait here.” I slipped into the room and grabbed clean sheets from the armoire.
Julius moved into the room and watched me wrestle with the fitted sheet. When I finally got it secured, I turned to retrieve the top sheet, but he already had it in his hands.
“Let me help.” There was a relaxed smile on his face I didn’t see very often, and it amused me.
“You’re feeling domestic.”
He shrugged. “It’s nice to do something normal.”
I couldn’t agree more. Together we finished making the bed, and when I finally smoothed the cream-and-black-colored comforter, I was half-inclined to climb right in myself. I stepped back from the bed and caught Julius watching me. There was a smolder in his newly intense gaze that heated me from the inside out.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice gruff.
I swallowed and glanced away, trying to get hold of myself. “You’re welcome. I should probably—”
“Pyper?” His voice washed over me in a soft caress.
“Yes?”
He glanced at my body-paint supplies in the corner, and I couldn’t help remembering that day of the Halloween party when I’d painted him. The way his chest had felt beneath my fingers. And when I’d lost control and kissed him. The way he’d claimed my mouth and had made me feel for the first time in months. He dragged his gaze back to me and crossed the room, stopping right in front of me.
“I want to kiss you good night,” he said, his eyes staying trained on mine.
I licked my lips, knowing if I let him, a lot more than kissing was going to happen. I nodded anyway.
The corners of his lips curved up and he slipped his arm around my waist, pulling me into him. “I have to ask you something first.”
“Okay,” I breathed.
“It’s not really a question. More of a request.”
I raised my eyebrows, more than a little curious as to where this was going.
“Let me take you out on a proper date. Not one that ends with breaking and entering and someone being arrested.”
I chuckled, but my laughter quickly faded away. “I didn’t really want to go, you know. With Tyler I mean.”
He shook his head. “Then why did you?”
“Because…” I sucked in a breath. “He seemed nice.”
“Nice?” His tone was just this side of incredulous.
“Well, he did seem nice. In fact Jade even said he had good energy. I can’t help that he turned out to be a psycho. And you weren’t available. So…”
“Fair enough.” As he pulled me tighter, he finally focused on my lips. “Well?”
My blood started to pump with anticipation. “Well what?”
“The date. Will you let me take you out for a night on the town?”
Pleasure wound its way all the way to my toes. “Yes. I’d love that.”
“When?”
“I have my gallery opening tomorrow night, so Saturday night?”
“Saturday it is.” Julius ran his thumb down the side of my neck and then caressed my collarbone. A shiver of lust claimed my core with that one touch. His gaze turned to one of longing, and then on a small sigh of need, he bent and covered my mouth with his.
I wrapped my arms around him, sliding one hand up the base of his neck, reveling in the warmth of his skin, the way he tasted and teased my tongue and then turned demanding as he bent me back slightly, taking everything I was willing to give.
My other hand clutched at his button-down shirt, and I pressed into him, delighting in his hard, lean body.
Everything pulsed with need and want. And just when I was ready to slide my hands up his shirt, to trail my fingers over his flexing muscles, he pulled away, leaving me completely breathless. He stared at me, his eyes aflame with a wolfish desire.
I smiled and stepped back into him. The room was silent except for the rush of blood in my ears. My body was on fire, and there was no denying I wanted him. Was ready to give him everything right then. I ran my hand down his chest, resenting the linen fabric covering his skin. “Why’d you stop?”
He clasped his hand over mine and lightly kissed my fingers. “As much as I want you, I don’t think this is the right time.” Regret swam in his eyes as he backed up again. “Too much has happened tonight. When I finally have you, I want it to be more than survival and a desperate need to feel alive. I want it to be about you and everything I haven’t been able to stop thinking about these last months.”
Whoa. I heard what he was saying. Understood he was trying to be the noble gentleman, but his words made that fire inside me burn brighter. His willingness to wait, his desire for this to be more than a hurried act of pleasure, made my heart thunder and my knees weak.
He moved to my side, wrapped his arm around my waist, and gently guided me toward the door. “Good night, Pyper.”
I stared at him in awe. He was literally throwing me out of his room. “Your self-control is bloody unbelievable.”
He chuckled. “Not every man is ruled by lust, Pyper.”
“But you’ve been celibate for approximately ninety years!” I blurted out.
His eyes crinkled with amusement. “You think so?”
Oh crap. The idea that he’d maybe been with someone else wasn’t something I wanted to explore. I waved my hand. “I just assumed. But it’s none of my business. Forget I said anything.”
His body shook as he held in his laughter.
“Oh, stop.” Heat burned my cheeks as I opened his bedroom door. “I’m going to bed.”
Julius followed me but stopped in the doorway.
“Sleep well.”
I paused, noting the way he stood with one hand casually touching the top of the doorframe, his dark eyes following me. He was so beautiful. I’d never seen anything sexier. It took all my willpower to not throw myself at him again.
Sleep well. Yeah, no chance of that.
***
“So, what happened?” Jade passed me a large cup of coffee and a freshly baked chocolate croissant.
I sucked down two large gulps of the sweet java and willed my eyelids to stay open. “Nothing.”
“Pfft. Don’t give me that crap. You look like… Well, let’s just say it appears someone kept you up all night doing unspeakable things,” she said while stuffing the baked goods in the front case.
“Oh, I was up all night. But only because I couldn’t sleep after the way he kissed me.” I leaned against the counter and checked the clock. Only four more hours until Holly took over. Jade and I had opened again. Which meant that since I hadn’t managed to doze off until well after three a.m., I was once again running on about two hours’ worth of sleep.
“So something did happen.” Her tone was full of innuendo.
The door to the back room nudged open as if a breeze had caught it, and a second later Ida May drifted through it. Did you finally get some last night, Pyper? It’s about time. In my day not a night went by—
“Ida May! Stop. We don’t need to hear about your bedroom activities.”
Jade laughed. “It was her occupation.”
You’re no fun, Ida May said to me and floated up, eyeing the menu. No doubt we were in for another of round of her dirty-minded creations.
“Just one kiss,” I said to Jade. “Then he kicked me out.” I sighed and shoved more chocolate croissant into my mouth.
“He stopped it?”
“Yep. Said the timing wasn’t right.”
Men never say that, Ida May called. I bet there’s something wrong with his pecker.
I ignored her.
I’m telling you, if a man cuts you off, there’s a good— Shit, the fuzz is here. Gotta go!
