Embracing Magick: an Urban Fantasy Novel (The Witch Blood Chronicles Book 3)

by Debbie Cassidy

  “It’s fine, just leave it.” I shook my head. “She’s fine.”

  The doctor pursed his lips, but didn’t push it, jotting a note on his pad he ambled off into the lab.

  Patrick joined us a moment later. “Glad to see you made it out unscathed.”

  “Yeah, we didn’t all make it out. They have one of our operatives.”

  “Yes, special operative Black. Now, I’m aware of the electromagnetic field, I can work on a tracker that will be able to resist it.”

  “You can do that?”

  He smiled. “I’m confident.”

  That was as good as a yes.

  Mira hopped off her examination table. “I’m hungry.”

  There was that look in her eyes, the one that said it wasn’t regular kind of food she was after—more the chomp-on-your-flesh kind of meal. How were we friends again?

  I waved her off. “That’s cool. Go get fed. I need to check in with Vritra. I’ll meet you back at the flat?”

  She nodded and slipped out of the room. The doctor returned and glanced at the door to make sure she’d left before approaching me. I lay back and submitted to the obligatory checkup.

  Paimon and Alara had gone back to their world to try and organize a meet. My gut was all queasy with anxiety. Aaron was still underground, still in the cosmic god’s thrall and if we didn’t get the alliance we needed, there would be no retrieving him or any of the other unsuspecting souls. If we got some humans out maybe it would weaken him enough to make him reconsider his plan. And the yaksha, if we got the yaksha out, he’d lose his army. All this depended on the alliance. And then there was the High Witch. She’d taken an oath from me but told me a lie. I needed to know the truth about this cosmic being that was threatening our world, and I suspected that she was the only one who could shed light on it all. My last attempts at seeing her had been a bust. But she’d lied to Varuna, too, and maybe with the god’s help, we could force her to talk.

  “All done,” the doctor said.

  Good because I needed to see a god about a High Witch.

  ◆◆◆

  Varuna rapped his fingers on his desk, well on Xavier’s desk—the god had commandeered the office and made himself at home.

  “I can’t say I’m surprised that the covens would hide something like this. Or that they would have some involvement in this. The Daayan case raised suspicions, but with no proof or direction for those doubts, I’d been at a loss. You say there’s more you cannot tell me?”

  “Yes. A witch’s oath.”

  “I’ll see what I can do to get you the audience you require and you will go in tapped. We need this on record. No more oaths. The fate of our world depends on it.”

  “I know. We need as much information on this creature as we can gather. I don’t doubt that once the High Witch knows the gravity of the situation, she’ll be happy to share.”

  “And if she does not, then we will drag the information from her. As gods we have been benevolent and refrained from asserting our influence on humanity, stepping up only to aid. I believe this may have given certain factions the impression that we are weaker than them. The Covens have been allowed free reign for far too long. Their quest for a grip on the skein is no longer a priority. The High Witch informed me that this creature may be from the same dimension as the Daayan, but she withheld the fact that it could be a cosmic being.”

  “So, you have heard of them?”

  “Yes, but I’d always believed them to be a myth—a story to prevent us from being arrogant in our status. If they are indeed the beings of the stories of old, then our divinity pales in comparison to their cosmic power. The time has come to dispense with formalities. The High Witch will answer to me or face the consequences. We have worked too hard, and lost too much in the defense of this reality to fall prey to any threat now. We will defend our world with every ounce of power we can muster.”

  The conviction in his words filled me with confidence. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me just yet. All the information in the world will be of no use if we cannot weaken the cosmic god’s tether to this world, and to do that we need this alliance with the djinn. I’ve recommended you go as our emissary.”

  “Me? But I’m investigative, I have no rank. They won’t listen to me.”

  “Yes. They will, because I’ve ungraded your clearance. You officially speak for our council. You are our Emissary. You’ve been into the cosmic god’s facility, you’ve seen what we’re up against and you made it back out. You are the most qualified to take on this task.”

  I left the room filled with equal parts pride and dread. It was an honor to be chosen but if I failed we were all doomed.

  ◆◆◆

  Vritra was nowhere to be found, so I ducked into my suite for a quick shower and change of clothes. The hot water soothed away the aches and pains and refreshed my mind. There was nothing like a shower to chase away the yuck of the day and inject some positivity into your perspective. I went from we’re-all-gonna-die to we’d get Aaron back and everything would work out.

  My tummy grumbled. Mira had gone off to get a bite to eat. Maybe it would be a good idea to fuel up too. My dragon growled in agreement. Six weeks ago, the whole beast inside thing would have made me uneasy, but now she was a part of me, a companion, a friend, and a protector. I trusted her to watch out for me, trusted her judgment when mine was compromised. Yeah, I might even go as far as to say I loved her. Pleasant warmth filtered through my limbs. Yeah, I got it. She loved me too. Wrapped in a bathrobe and nothing else, I padded into my room and almost had a heart attack to find Paimon standing by the bed. My dragon bristled.

  “What the heck? Did you forget to do the icy breeze thing to let me know you were coming?”

  His gaze travelled from the top of my head to the tips of my toes and my neck heated at the evident desire in his cerulean eyes. I waited for the pull, the draw that would tug me across the room toward him in my eagerness to be in the same space as him. But it didn’t come. Instead, my stomach squirmed with unease. I needed a moment to examine this development, but he was a larger than life presence in my personal space. Not that it had bothered me before, but then over the past few weeks only one male had been permitted into my inner sanctum. One male I’d trained with, ate dinner with, laughed with and confided in.

  The problem was clear. This was Vritra’s space. Our space: his and mine. Having Paimon here felt wrong. But he was obviously here with news about the meet so...

  “Did the council agree?”

  He shook his head. “Not yet. Alara is speaking to her father and urging him to intercede on our behalf. He has much sway over the council.”

  Alara was working on it? But what was he doing? “And you’re here?”

  He took a step toward me. “I needed to see you.”

  Those words should have made my heart beat faster and my pulse race, but for some reason all they did was make the squirming in my belly stronger.

  “What did you need to see me about?”

  His brows knit together. “Please, don’t be like this?”

  “What?”

  “I understand that seeing me with her must have been painful. If I could turn back the clock, I’d have taken precaution to prevent her from coming with me.”

  He thought I was upset about Alara. “I told you it’s fine and I meant it. Okay, so I was a little thrown at first, but she helped us, and she’s still helping now. Maybe instead of coming here you should be with her, endorsing her arguments.”

  He exhaled and his scent hit me, tinkering with my memory and bringing forth every moment, every ache that his presence and his touch had evoked in the past months I’d been in love with him.

  “Carmella?” He bridged the distance between us and gripped my shoulders. “I cannot abandon my people. The alliance between Alara’s kingdom and mine is essential to peace in our world. But I will not abandon you either.”

  My scalp prickled with apprehension. “What are you saying?�
��

  “I want you, Carmella, and we can be together. I can come to you here, in your world. A lord is permitted to take a Sharmuta, if he pleases.”

  My breath caught. We could? Together like a real couple. My dragon nudged me, pulling me out of my head. Wait what did that mean? “What is a Sharmuta?”

  “A... lover.” His left eye twitched.

  Ice trickled into my veins. He was lying. “What does that word mean? What does it mean, really?”

  “Does it matter? It’s just a word. Alara has given her blessing to the arrangement. She understands what we have. She has agreed to marry me regardless, for the good of our realms.”

  He pulled me against his chest, inhaling the scent of my damp tresses and filling my head with his intoxicating scent. It would be so easy to give in, to allow him to sell me this fantasy, to block out the fact that he would be someone else’s husband. Urgh. No. I just couldn’t.

  I pulled away. “And what about Alara’s feelings? What about her happiness?”

  “She is a royalty. This is our way. Lords rarely love their wives. Many marriages are politic alliances.”

  “What is a Sharmuta?”

  He hesitated before speaking. “Roughly translated it means concubine.”

  Concubine, as in his mistress? “You want me to be your whore?”

  “Carmella...please...” His blue eyes darkened with sorrow. “It’s just a word. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Of course it means something. It means I’m not your girlfriend, or your lover, or your wife. It means I’m your bit on the side. Words matter. They mean something. And the fact that you’re okay with this, that you’d ask me this...you’re not the person I thought you were.”

  “Noble? Just? A cut above?” His tone was laced with bitterness. “Is that what you expected? It is what everyone expects. And I have been that person. You have no idea what I have sacrificed for the good of the realm. And I believed I could give you up too. Walk away and marry the woman chosen for me. But when it comes to you...” He paused, his throat working. “When it comes to you, I lose all sense of nobility. You are sewn into the fabric of my soul. I cannot live without you.”

  Oh, God. Why was he saying these things? It made everything so much harder. I’d made a promise to myself. To value myself, to protect my heart and, right now, if I let him walk away with it, it would inevitably be broken. Love is supposed to be enough until it isn’t. I wanted him. I wanted him all, but not like this. Never like this.

  In this case, love just wasn’t enough.

  “Does it matter how we are together as long as we are?” he asked. “I am sure Alara will find a diversion, and once she bears children she will have those to occupy her.”

  He’d have children with her. His children with another woman. “And where would you be while Alara was taking care of your children? Here with me? Great father figure you’d make.” The words came out harsher than intended but sod it. He deserved it for making me love him when there was never any future. And I needed a future. The desire burned bright inside me. A home, a family and a place to belong. Paimon would have all those things, but not with me. He’d have them with Alara.

  He reached for me, pulling me into his arms—stroking my back as if trying to brush away my doubts. But the doubts were now convictions. Alara deserved better, I deserved better. I shoved him away, but he was solid and immovable. My dragon stirred, ire radiating off her in waves.

  A knock on the door and Vritra’s deep baritone followed. “Carmella?” The door opened and Vritra stepped into the room. He took in the scene and the warmth in his eyes died. His expression shut down.

  “I see you’re busy. I’ll speak with you later.”

  Oh, shit. “Wait!”

  But he was already gone.

  The dragon roared and I shoved Paimon away. “Everything you just said offends me. Your proposition, the way you view your betrothed, everything. I don’t know why, but I assumed you had more respect for women. We may never have been lovers, but I always believed we were friends, and now this.”

  The color drained from his face. “I’m sorry. In my world it is an honor to be chosen as a Lord’s lover. It is our way.”

  “Well, it’s not our way. It’s not my way, and it cheapens what we had.”

  “Had?”

  I swallowed hard, tears springing to my eyes for what could have been and what was lost. “Yes. It’s over Paimon. In fact, it never started.” I unclipped the cuff from my wrist and handed it to him. “You need to move on. You need to focus on Alara. From what I’ve seen, she’s a strong, generous woman. You could do much worse.”

  “And us? What about us.”

  “Maybe in time we can be friends. But right now, you need to concentrate on building a relationship with your fiancé.”

  “It will be an empty marriage of convenience.”

  “Only if you allow it to be. You’re a good man, Paimon. A decent guy. You helped me be strong. You helped me heal my broken heart and you taught me that to move on I needed to claim back what I’d given away. So... I’m taking back my heart.”

  He exhaled sharply, his eyes glistening with moisture. The lump in my throat grew and I swallowed it and stood tall.

  His lips curled in a small sad smile. “I envy the man who captures your heart and succeeds in keeping it. He will be a lucky man indeed, Carmella Hunter.”

  A tear slipped down my cheek, and I nodded brushing it aside. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll keep you informed on the progress of the meet arrangements.” He stepped back and vanished.

  I sagged. Oh, God, that had been tense. My stomach rolled with anxiety. Vritra...the look on his face. My dragon clawed at my insides mimicking the guilt that raked at my gut. I needed to find the demi-god. I needed to explain.

  ◆◆◆

  The training room was busy. Young asura beat the crap out of each other. But there was no sign of Vritra.

  Gita ambled over. “He’s not here. Was here about fifteen minutes ago. We told him you’d been by and he went to find you.”

  “Shit.”

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing. Except I think Vritra might think it was something.”

  “Wanna talk about it?”

  Did I? “No. Not really.” I needed to fix this. I needed to tell him nothing had happened between me and Paimon. “I’ll catch you later.”

  The next stop was his chambers, but there was no answer there either. The upper floor training room was the only other place I knew to check. The place he’d asked me to avoid for safety’s sake. But my heart was pounding too loud to think. I had to see him and explain.

  Pushing through the double doors into the huge chamber I scanned the almost bare room. There was a monolith of an asura doing a strange kata to my left and that was about it. Vritra wasn’t here. Wait. There was someone at the back of the room—two someone’s sparring. I walked farther into the chamber and the gloom receded enough for me to identify Vritra in hand-to-hand combat with the tiny female asura I’d seen kicking the huge guys arse a few days ago.

  They both moved fluidly, attacking and defending, countering and evading. It was almost hypnotic and then Vritra had her in his grasp. He flung her to the ground, covering her with his body, a move he’d used on me several times. A move that had left me breathless and aching as we’d stared into each other’s eyes. He was looking into her eyes now. And her chest rose and fell erratically, and then she wrapped her legs around his waist and gripped the back of his neck, pulling his mouth down to hers.

  I turned and ran.

  Out on the street my phone buzzed in my pocket. Dammit, why was I crying? Why did my chest hurt so bad? I answered, wiping my face with the sleeve of my shirt. I’d left in such a hurry, I hadn’t even grabbed a coat, and the chilled air penetrated the thin fabric of my long sleeved shirt.

  “Hunter,” Melody said. “Alara just got back to us. You have a go.”

  Go. Yes. I needed to go and do something
. Switch off the tumult of emotion and take action. This was what mattered—the fate of the fucking world. My heart and its complexities would have to wait.

  17

  Alara stood in Melody’s office decked out in ornate robes, her hair in a stylish up do. She looked stunning and completely out of a place.

  Melody handed me a file. “You’ve been promoted.” Her brows flicked up. “I’d say congratulations, but with the task ahead of you, I’m not sure it’s cause for celebration. Your new identity card is inside along with instructions on what our government wishes you to negotiate for and what we have to offer in return.”

  I cracked the seal and scanned the document. They wanted to trade human technology in exchange for aid in the event of an attack on our world. They’d also agreed to offer sanctuary to the djinn in an event their world was in jeopardy and soldiers to fight alongside them. It sounded reasonable enough. Except the djinn realm atmosphere was toxic to humans. This was something I’d have to spin.

  I pocketed the ID and document and placed the empty file on the desk. “Okay, let’s do this.”

  “Our atmosphere is toxic to humans and the creatures from your world,” Alara said.

  “I know.”

  “So what do we do?” Melody said.

  There was only one way I knew of. “You have to bind with me, don’t you?”

  Alara nodded. “How did you know?”

  So Paimon hadn’t told her everything. “Paimon took me to your world once. I didn’t see much of it though. I was locked in a room while he did important council stuff.”

  Her lips turned down slightly. “In that case, it should be relatively simple. If you have been bound to one of us before, your body shouldn’t be too resistant to the transition. Unless you would rather bind with Paimon?”

  The thought sent a shudder down my spine, part longing and part apprehension. It was best not to go there again. If we were to move on, then our minds and bodies needed to be separate.

  “Do you wish me to summon him?” Alara asked.