For heaven’s sake I’m a Carver and we can do anything. All I have to do is figure out how to cut the emotional response.
I let a few ideas pop in my mind but none sound good, so I start thinking about altering my memories. I hear a growl but I don't look up to see what happened. I don't care. I am busy strategizing how to erase Dar from my memory.
Still fiddling with the idea, I head to the stock room to get more beers. I leave my rag at my station and exit the bar. I walk through a series of men looking at me and trying to show me with their eyes that they are interested. I feel one hand brush my butt and I turn around and stare at crystal blue eyes, large shoulders, impeccable chest and a whole lot of everything I need to take my mind off everything. The blue eyes were smiling at me.
"You like that?" I ask, seductively.
"Oh you know I did," he says back with a devilish smirk.
"How so?" I ask, with a glimmer of amusement.
"Come here and I’ll let you feel for yourself." He grabs me by my waist and I let him pull me in and… wow. He’s good and ready. "Wanna play?" He whispers.
I smile and hold up the keys to the stock room, "Let's play." My heart is pumping against my chest and I can feel my magic start to swirl around me. I grab the door to the dry storage and opened it slowly, letting the big guy walk in.
He still has his hand on my waist and he pulls me to him. I let his lips touch mine. My fire rose up from my stomach and I could taste it in my mouth, waiting to be exhaled. My lips tingled and I could have sworn they felt as smooth as snakeskin.
Let it burn, I thought, loving the smooth feeling of my skin. Except the man I was kissing had stopped. I open my eyes and see the guy's eyes blood shot. He teeters back on his heels, face ash-white. He looks down at his hands, as do I. They start shaking and then he clenching his mouth falling into a seizure.
Oh crap… I think with a sparkle of relief? I can’t stop watching and the longer I do, the more I feel lighter. As if kissing him caused me and my fire to erupt because it was so. . . wrong? I laugh out loud because I know I’m going crazy. Kissing strange men is frowned upon but not bad, not that I’ve ever done anything like this before, but I really needed the distraction. I watch him convulse for another second then I am blown forward as the door knocks into my back.
Dar kicks my legs out of the way and shuts the door.
My eyes narrow to him. He looks at me then peers at the other man next to me. He folds his arms over his massive chest and just shakes his head.
My emotions are all over the place - anger, anxiety, and guilt. I had no idea what was wrong with the guy who is now curled up in the fetal position. I just needed to get rid of the added pressure of my fire to think clearly.
I push up off the ground, feeling the fire inside me shifting as I move. It felt odd, like it was changing its structure. I just need to calm down, but with the look Dar is giving me I didn’t feel safe.
"Sorry no pets allowed back here," I say with sardonic pleasure to an even more pissed off Dar. His eyes are full blaze amber. My fire changes from solidifying under my skin, to its original free-flowing state. My hands curl up into fists…at the ready. Except my fire is no longer building like it was a second ago, instead it continues to flow, I feel it slip out of my pores. My jaw drops, it’s never left me like this before. It’s never disregarded me like this. I can’t even tap it down and it’s seems to want to head straight for Dar.
My skin is crawling with what looks like millions of small red scales leaving me. The fire is slithering on the ground towards him and the idiot either has blown a brain fuse or has no self-preservation. He looks awed instead of worried. I shake my thoughts and try and pull it back before my fire reaches him. Yes, I was mad at him, more so a few minutes ago than now, but I couldn’t let my fire touch him in its raw state. It would kill him, which is exactly what I would expect from my fire because, in all honesty, I was sure it had an intelligence of its own, and it’s vengeful.
Dar’s eyes dim to his regular hazel eyes. He watches my fire begin to spiral up his legs. I can feel his skin even though I have not moved. Everything feels like it is not real, even more crazy is that the fire is not burning him. He’s just standing there, impassive.
My fire is not burning him?
It’s practically massaging him. What the hell? I feel betrayed. I remind myself that Dar does not care about me, let alone acknowledge me until a few minutes ago when he threatened to get a restraining order against me! My fire should have begun building in heat. Angry heat. But it wasn’t. Fire or no fire I would show him what a Carver is made out of!
Dar’s eye watched me. When I took my first step to challenge him it felt like his presence doubled. I could practically taste the fury he was giving off. It is taking up the entire stock room. His eyes bore down on me. I take aim at his massive chest and lunge to push him through the door and out of my life forever.
I scream as magic abruptly swirls in the room. I see him look behind me with interest. The side of his lip curls up as he looks at me like I am the most pathetic person in his life.
I shake internally, wishing everything still and silent. I need to think! I need to get rid of Dar forever.
Feeling my fire burst around me but not inside of me like usual, I struggle to get air into my lungs. I open my watery eyes. It takes a few blinks to understand what I am looking at. Small glass shards standing still in my face, I look around and everything is still. There is shattered glass everywhere, hanging in the air. It's as if a bomb exploded and it was halted mid-explosion.
There is frozen red liquid in the air, too. I look at Dar and he says, “I think it’s clear who needs to leave.”
I ignore him and close my eyes. This night has been my least favorite in my entire life. I am never going to fix this mess if I don’t push him out of my mind.
First things first, it’s time to check on the big guy on the floor. He looks frozen or passed out. I reach down and touch his skin, he does not have a pulse. I hope that means he is frozen. I let my magic enter him but I can't feel my magic move.
Oh crap. Did I deplete my magic?
I try and think about what I did because I have never been depleted of magic, and it’s been a long time since I got tired after using it. I need to see if anyone else is frozen.
I side step Dar but he stops me with a quick hand. "I’m serious Beth. I’ve told the Magic Council about what you’ve done and they asked me to tell you to leave. If I were you I would try some place less populated." His tone sounds almost pleased to be passing along their message. I let his words pass over me. I forget them as soon as I hear them. I try to push past him but I can't. I can't use my magic to get past him and I can’t feel my fire. It’s like the fire is no longer a part of me. "You have been a pain in my ass for too long," he says, as an after thought.
I look around trying to get a thought, some kind of anchor to hold onto, to figure this out. Then his words filter in and I stop.
Damn him.
I took in a deep breath and move back. He is just standing there, looking high and mighty.
How is he not frozen?
If there is anyone that should be frozen, it’s him. Well, technically he should be a pile of ash. I concentrate on trying to find my magic to take down the storage room guard dog. I feel his hand before I see it. The massive ogre hand wraps around mine, "Your fire is in me, if you want it back you have to promise to put everything back and leave." His tone is still arrogant and has a level of authority I have not felt before.
I watch his light-amber eyes glow at me, but it felt as though I was obligated to hear and answer. I could feel my fire on the outside of my skin, waiting to return to me, “Answer.”
My body buzzed. I bite down hard on the inside of my lip. I can see my fire-scale things thrumming between my wrist and his hand. It is horrible. I want my fire back. It is mine! How can he keep it from me? I look up with a renewed hatred. “Give me my fire back and I
will make sure everything rights itself.”
“And you’ll leave this… place.” I’m not sure why it sounds as if he wants to interject a different word for “place,” but I don’t care.
“I’m gone,” I hiss.
It feels as though my fire-scales are seeping from him back inside me. The fire is responding to the contact of his hand on my wrist. His body heat is branding my skin. His hand tightens around my wrist harder and I barely hold back the scream. It hurts. It feels like something foreign, or maybe shards of glass are ripping in my veins.
My voice breaks as I say, “Let go of me”.
Everything has to be set right! I don’t know if that was my voice, or his. I don't know if I screamed that or if it was in my head. My knees buckle. The only thing keeping me up is his tenacious grip.
The shards of glass or whatever they are entering into my veins are trying to make me stand up. It is as if a force was making me do as he wanted. I can hear his words repeating over and over in the back of my mind. I am turning into a slave of pain. The shards are slowly melting into my body and I scream again.
My wrist drops to my side at the same time I fall to the ground.
"Shit!" I can hear Dar say. But it sounds very far away.
My eyes stay closed. I don't want to see him. I can't face him, not after that. Not when he literally overtook my power. The realization hit me like a wrecking ball.
He has authority over me. How?
Faint words echoed in my mind. They were my mother’s words about Carver’s mates. We claimed our mates by giving our hearts, to the other, and vice a versa. It blended us and made us one.
I feel Dar put his fingers to my neck checking for a pulse. I can’t stand his hands being on me so I flinch and smack his hand away fiercely. I refuse to open my eyes. I need space, my own space. I envision being cocooned and I instantly felt my stomach drop, letting me know my magic has responded. There was a buzzing in my ear as if everything was silent. Eerily silent.
I look around and I am surrounded by a white haze. I don’t have to move to know that everything is going to feel soft and gentle. My chest rose and fell with rapid breaths.
I never gave Dar my heart. I only spoke to him three times while he was in the hospital. My chest tightened as I remembered my words at the hospital, I told him to use mine. But I didn’t think that really constituted as the same thing. Did it?
What the hell did I do? I was so young. I didn't know any better. I let some time pass before I press a hand to the haze and picture the storage room again, taking away the shell I created for myself.
Grabbing my upper arm, Dar picks me up until my feet touch the ground. I stand with shaky knees. He points to where the guy once was, "You really messed up Beth. That guy remembers everything up until everything exploded. Now I have to fix your stupid mess so that enforcers and hunters don’t find out." He is so enraged I almost missed that he is acting as if he is going to help me.
I back away from him and look around. All the bottles are whole again. I back up and turn to the door, and leave him in the storage room. I don’t need his help and I am not in the mood to even discuss it.
Heading back to the bar, everything looks just as it should be. I look for Shane to see if he notices, but he is watching the VIP door. I look to the VIP door and see Cory walking down the stairs next to a tall, thin, ebony lady with long, thick braids down to her butt, wearing a light blue shirt with a low scoop and tight black pants with strappy black heels. She is adorned with several large pieces of jewelry and holding a glass of red wine.
Cory leans in to say something; as she leans in I can tell immediately that the lady is a vampire. Her teeth show and I take a step in her direction, but a hand wraps around my arm halting me in place.
"I thought I told you to leave," his voice whispers tight and menacing.
My heart is beating desperately in my chest. I can’t shake the need to obey him, but I know that my little sister is way too close to a vampire. "Cory," I whisper, and whimper at the same time.
I can’t leave without her.
"Nothing will happen to your sister. But something will happen to you if you don’t leave. Now." His voice is stern but his hand softens on my wrist. Was he trying to be gentle? Yeah right. "Now go." His voice hardened at the end.
I feel his hand leave, and I try to get Cory’s attention as my feet walk to the back door. She hasn’t looked at me and my heart is practically breaking because, for the first time in my life, I am scared.
When I push the door open I feel Cory's heart start to jump and I turn, worried that someone is hurting her or maybe she finally saw me. But she is not looking at me. She is looking at Shane.
I hold the door open and hear Shane ask, "Hey. You okay?" I let the door close as I pull out my phone, and text Cory.
Me: Not feeling well. Had to go.
A few seconds later,
Cory: What do you mean? Are you okay?
Me: Had a run in with Dar. Tell you about it when you get home. Can you take a cab?
Cory: Yep.
I start my car and pull out of the parking spot, but the need to obey Dar leaves. I don’t feel the need to go anywhere anymore. I drive down the street and park my car so that when she leaves, I will be here to drive her home. I can’t leave Cory, and to be honest, I am worried about her and the vampire. I don’t trust Dar at all. In fact, if he wasn’t able to do what he just did, I would probably kill him for making me leave when my sister needed me.
I lean my seat back, text Cory and tell her to text me when she clocks out because I will pick her up. Then watch the back door to make sure that no one is laying in wait for her. I figure she will walk out in two more hours so all I have to do is bide my time.
A short time later the big guy I gave a seizure to walked out the back door. My heart pricked up. This is my chance to fix my mess and try out my theory on memory manipulation. I begin the words in my mind and whisper them, even though I know no one could have heard me. My stomach drops and I know my magic took hold. I am hoping that the spell worked. To test my spell I wait until he gets in his car. I run to the end of the street and jump out in front of the car.
He breaks hard and swerves. He jumps out and runs to me, “Are you okay ma’am?”
I act shaken up, “Yea. No. Yea. Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry.”
He holds my shoulder, checking me over himself. I shrug away, “I’m fine. I promise.” And then take off in his opposite direction. He yells for me but I keep running toward the trees with a big smile on my face. It worked; he had no idea who I was.
I wake up with a start as Cory opens the door. I’m pissed I fell asleep and now I’m curious how she saw me. Cory feigns an uneasy smile as she sits down.
I start the car and pull it into drive. My sister looks over with a curious smirk. The last thing I want to do is rehash what happened with Dar. Instead of letting her ask the question, I ask her, "Why the hell were you chumming it up with a vampire, Cory?" I don’t hold back my contempt for the blood-sucker.
Cory raises her eyebrows as if I am the one being ridiculous. I’m not. She could have been hurt and I wasn’t there to protect her. She should know better than that. Not that we talk much about other magical creatures. We usually just talk about me and my magic, and I don’t usually let that conversation go on for too long because, when it came down to everything, there were some things I didn’t know.
Huffing, Cory says, "That was Patra. She said she was an enforcer for the Magic Council."
I can feel Cory's heart stammer and I remember that her heart is mirrored in my chest. I say a few words in my mind. You're safe Cory, therefore I release the mirror of your heart. But our conversation was far from being over.
“You do realize that vampires are dangerous, right?”
Quick to snap back, she argues, “You do realize that Carvers are more dangerous, right?” I could see her searing me with her eyes in my periphery as I dr
ive.
“I would never hurt you, Cory. That, is the difference.”
Cory let out a breath and shakes her head, “And Patra can’t hurt me, she’s with the flipping Magical Council for heaven’s sake.”
I slam my hand on the steering wheel. “That means nothing. And you shouldn’t think that just because she is in a position of authority that she does not break the rules. They all do.”
“Just because you don’t trust anyone does not mean I have to be the same.” Cory checks the heater and turns it up to full blast.
I turn the heater up in temp but down in flow because I hate it when air rushes at my face. “You trust her? You just met her!”
Cory turns it back on full blast, “No, I don’t trust her. But I don’t go around slighting people because they are different from me. You treat everyone as if they are beneath you. Even other Carvers.”
I quickly turn to point at her. “Shane is an asshole. I treat him like an asshole,” I defend.
Folding her arms, “If Shane is an asshole, what does that make Dar?”
Ugh. She would go there. “That was quick. Didn’t know it would take you this long to bring him into the conversation.”
Unzipping her jacket, “I wanted to give you a chance to just tell me, but you didn’t and now I’m tired and just need the cliffs notes version so I can go to bed.”
Somewhat pricked, I ask, “Are you asking because you really want to know or because it’s the polite thing to do?”
Her jaw tenses before she lowers her hands to the vent. “Don’t be rude. I ask because I care. You are the only one who asks about stuff to be polite. Which is really annoying, by the way.”
Ugh. I squeeze the steering wheel wondering why tonight feels like the longest car ride of my life. “I do care, Cory.”
She leans back and flaps a hand at me almost like she is shooing me. “Yeah? Prove it. Tell me what happened and then let me help you.”
I was not at all inclined to tell her what happened, “I think you’ve done enough.”
The Carver's Magic Page 9
