But with Keara in the picture, spying no longer seemed as pleasing.
****
Keara paced the floor of her bedroom, running her hands through her hair, pulling the strands loose from her braid. Jamie sat on his pallet, his gray eyes watching her movements. Thoren wanted her to leave her home, her shop, the only place she knew. The town might not be welcoming to her, but the shop held memories of her life. How would she be able to pack that?
And Lily. What would become of her friend? Enar frightened her, although she doubted he meant Lily harm. Would going with Enar be better for her friend or worse?
She should be thankful that although Thoren didn’t consider them married, he still wanted her to go back with him to his land. Her land. Her people.
What an odd thought.
An even stranger thought was his insistence she possessed magic.
Did she? Was that why she healed the sick by placing her hands on them? Why her ears smoked? What did she really know about herself? About her newly discovered race?
Nothing. Nothing at all.
She should be thankful Thoren wanted to take her back. Provided he told the truth.
A shudder ran through her. Of course he told the truth. Because if he didn’t...she didn’t want to think about it. Since he told the truth—she refused to think otherwise—the Goddess watched over her when She sent the men to find some boy.
Speaking of. “Jamie, have you seen a red-headed boy? The men were looking for one.”
Jamie shook his head, his talkative streak obviously at an end.
“They said he might not have red hair, but would have unusual abilities. Oh, and he’d have the same mark I do.” She raised her sleeve and pointed to the spindly lines shaped like a dragon.
Jamie’s eyes widened, his head shaking like insects’ wings.
“No? Never seen that on anyone else? All right.”
Now that her braid was completely undone and hanging in strands, she might as well do something productive. Like try to cram an entire life into two bags. Unbelievable her life had come to this, to being married to a stranger that didn’t consider them married.
But what a choice. She’d take mister jaw-dropping gorgeous over Lord Simon any day. How could she have considered the thought that Lord Simon would be an acceptable match? What had she been thinking?
Keara dropped her hairbrush and comb into the open bag. She had made the correct decision. If she told herself that enough times, it might stop the fear she felt when Thoren stopped touching her mark. With his hand on her, all she wanted was him, his touch, his acceptance.
From his raven’s-wing-black hair to his thick, leather-covered thighs, he exuded a sensuality any normal woman would want to taste, touch, and claim. And in that regard, she was normal.
She wouldn’t mind this marriage, sham or not. Having him care about her, to find her pleasing to his eye, might never happen, but she would enjoy this time with him and the new feelings he awakened within her.
“We have to pack, Jamie. We’re going someplace new.” And I hope they like us better there than they do here.
Chapter 4
By the time Keara and Jamie finished packing and made their way downstairs, Enar and Lily had left.
“Where are they?” Her voice sounded panicked and she hoped Thoren didn’t notice.
“Don’t worry. They went to get Lily’s things, stop by the inn where we were staying, pick up our gear and horses, and return here. We’ll leave before dawn.”
Dawn. She had until dawn and then her life would change, hopefully for the better. Dawn, and she’d never see this shop, her life’s memories, again.
Keara looked at the cabinets where her grandmother’s potions—formerly bestsellers—sat in colored vials, unsold and unwanted. Business had all but disappeared in the last three months, since her grandmother’s death. The store smelled the same, the fragrant scent of herbs hung heavily in the air, but townsfolk no longer shopped here.
Keara shoved her hands through her hair, and stared at the shop, remembering what it once was, what it would never be again. She knew in her heart, they would never return, that this was the last day she’d see her store.
What should she take? “Are there places to gather herbs where we’re going?” She turned to look at Thoren, who stood by the table with Jamie, both sets of eyes focused on her.
“There are. But you might find other things besides herbs to sate your healing abilities.”
Her head cocked to the side. “What other things?”
He smiled. “Magic.”
A chill ran down her spine. “You said that earlier. And it’s not evil?”
“No. This is the only place I’ve heard of that insists magic is evil.”
“Are you sure?”
“Do you really think you’re evil?”
She circled the nail of her thumb with her forefinger. “Grandmother used to say those with green eyes were evil.”
“What do you mean by evil? Do you kill? Do you want to hurt people?”
“Of course not! But all that are not like the others are evil.” Did she really believe that?
Thoren took a step toward her, locking her gaze to his. “Evil is not how you look. Evil is how you act. The man in the square looked like the others, but he was evil.”
“You got that right,” Jamie chimed in, breaking the connection Thoren’s eyes held over her when he glanced at the boy.
“Do you know how I know that man...what was his name?”
“Lord Simon,” she whispered.
“Do you know how I know Lord Simon is evil?”
No, she didn’t, and as long as Thoren looked at her, she didn’t really care either. What was it about this stranger that sent coils of pleasure racing through her veins straight to her core? And his touch. The only thing better than him looking her in the eye was his touch upon her arm. She’d do anything he wanted as long as he touched her.
Maybe she should avoid his touch.
It was a little hard to do when his hand circled her forearm, one finger rubbing across the spindly dragon imprinted on her skin. Ah, that felt good. At least her new husband-who-claimed-he-wasn’t-her-husband no longer scared her.
Even all his talk about magic no longer frightened her. All her life she knew her differences. She hid them well, but they still existed. More than anything, she wanted his belief to be correct. Who wants to be thought evil?
His finger rubbed across her mark and shivers ran down her spine, lodging in her core. So much for worrying about sleeping with a stranger. If he wanted her, she was more than happy to accommodate. The kitchen table would do nicely, thank-you very much.
“I know he meant evil because his touch gave you pain. When touched by one that means harm, the mark will hurt. But you don’t have that reaction when I touch you, do you?”
No. Definitely not. Was it her imagination or were his lips moving closer to hers? Oh yes, she felt his breath on her face. Her eyes closed.
“Does that touch work on men too or only women?” Jamie asked.
Imp. Thoren took a step back, dropping her arm, red coloring his ears. Keara grabbed the spot his fingers vacated, the absence of his touch leaving her cold. She really needed to have a discussion with Jamie about when to leave the room.
“It works on anyone with a mark. Draconi can tell a person’s intentions when their mark is touched.” Thoren smiled at Jamie.
Jamie pointed a finger at Thoren. “You’re a Draconi?”
“That’s right.”
“So what’s a Draconi?” Keara asked.
“Didn’t your mother or father explain to you what a Draconi was?” One black brow rose.
“My mother died when I was still a babe and my grandmother never knew who my father was. He left before I was born.”
“So no one told you what a Draconi is?”
“No. Tell me, what is a Draconi?”
“We’re a race of shape-shifting sorcerers.”
Did she he
ar him right? Shape-shifting sorcerers? Since when did tales told to give children night terrors come to life?
“Don’t be frightened, Keara.”
Forcing her lips into a grin, she tried to breathe normally. Or breathe at all.
“It’s a part of who we are. And only the males change, you don’t have to worry about changing shapes.”
Thank the Goddess. If she had changed while she lived here, she would’ve been lynched for sure.
“Why don’t the women change?” Jamie asked.
Her usually quiet and shy apprentice was all about talking today. Perhaps he wanted to know more about the land they were traveling to, but he had never been this inquisitive about anything she tried to explain to him. Maybe for a boy, shape-shifters held more interest than herbal lore and the running of an apothecary shop.
“Good question. Why don’t we change?”
“I’m not sure. It’s exceedingly rare and hasn’t been reported in many generations. No one understands why females don’t change like males. But females have their own powers that the males don’t.”
“What kinds of powers?”
Enar slammed the back door open, halting the conversation.
“Hey, the horses are out back and it looks like we have company.”
So much for learning what powers Draconi females possessed.
Enar strode into the room, holding hands with a wide-eyed, paler-than-normal Lily.
“Company?” Thoren stepped toward Enar.
“A group of men-at-arms heading this way. And they aren’t being too quiet about it.”
“Lord Simon!” Keara whispered, her heart racing. She should have known he would never leave her be. Once he made a decision, he followed through like a flood bursting a dam. Instead of fretting over what to take and leave, she should have grabbed Thoren and ran.
Too late now. Lord Simon would kill them all and take her for a wife.
“We’ve got to leave before he gets here! He’ll kill you!” Keara motioned toward the back door.
“I said I would protect you.” Thoren glared at her, forehead furrowed into rows.
True, but she heard the noise of footsteps in the alley closing in on the yard, more murmurs from the front of the shop. Keara smelled fury drifting in from the street, harmful intent washing in through the cracks in the walls, threatening to suffocate them. How would Thoren protect her? Fly them away?
Reaching into his pocket, he pitched Enar an iridescent ball. “Take the boy!”
Holding Lily with one arm, Enar grabbed Jamie against him as he squeezed the ball, disappearing from view. Keara screamed. Thoren lunged for her, clasping a hand over her mouth, his fingers pressed firmly against her skin.
“Hush.” He wrapped an arm around her waist, muttering words she didn’t understand, causing the air around them to shimmer.
Keara’s heart pounded an erratic beat, her breathing quickened. The front and back doors burst open with a bang, spilling rays of evening sun and soldiers from Lord Simon’s regiment.
Thoren’s arm tightened around her waist, pinning her arms against her sides. His other hand clamped over her mouth, his mouth next to her ear. “I cast an invisibility spell. They can’t see us, but they can hear,” he whispered, his breath tickling the sensitive skin of her ear. “Nod if you understand to be quiet.”
Keara nodded and Thoren dropped his hand from her mouth. She shivered as her eyes tracked the last spot she saw Enar.
The air opposite her shimmered slightly, showing glimpses of the three pressed against the wall. Enar held Jamie with one arm, the boy hugging his legs, while Lily hid her face in his chest.
Lord Simon stormed in, his eyes filled with malice as he directed his men to search upstairs before flopping in a chair at the table beside Keara and Thoren’s hiding place. How had she ever thought this man a socially acceptable choice? She must be as addled as Lord Simon’s father in his last days.
Blood pounded through her veins, beating in her ears and she wondered if Lord Simon could hear it too. Thoren’s hand found her left forearm, his fingers slowly stroking from her mark down to her wrist and back again.
Her heart slowed, the blood racing through her ears becoming a mere trickle as pleasurable feelings flowed from his touch to her lower belly, pooling warmth in her core.
Her body relaxed, the tension fleeing, as she realized despite the danger surrounding her, she remained safe in Thoren’s arms. He meant what he said about protecting her.
And about magic. If she wasn’t so frightened, she’d think the whole invisibility thing pretty exciting.
“Sir, we checked outside, there’re horses. Look like they’ve been ridden, but we don’t find evidence of people. They ain’t outside, sir.”
“Sir, they ain’t upstairs either.” Boots clomped against wood as the soldiers strode downstairs.
“They were just here, you lily-livered sons of goats, I heard them! Now search again. Tear up the floors if you have to. They have to be someplace!” Lord Simon jumped to his feet from where he lounged at the table, gesturing at something on the floor. “See here. It’s a bag, packed and ready to go. They have to be here, search again!”
The men hustled, kicking the rugs around until they located the trap door to the cellar.
Why had she dropped her bag smack dab in the middle of the floor? Why hadn’t she placed it against the wall? Or left it in the bedroom? Due to her carelessness, the soldiers would tear up the shop looking for her.
At least Thoren had a spell. Of...magic. Nice to know magic could be used for good. Which went a long way in convincing her Thoren spoke the truth about evil and magic not necessarily being related.
She watched as Lord Simon stood at the entrance to the cellar, allowing his men to creep down the ladder into the darkness below, while he stayed in the light. It figured he refused to sully himself with trivialities like searching the premises. Goddess forbid he actually scuff a boot. Or run into men who with a small flick of the wrist could hurt him.
Frightened horses nickered as the soldiers grabbed their reins. If they took the bags, then neither Lily nor the men would have extra clothing to wear on the journey. And if the soldiers took the horses, they’d all be walking.
Provided they even got to leave.
“Nothing down here, sir.”
“Well, search again. They have to be somewhere.”
“Maybe, sir, they left some other way. Because, no offense sir, but they ain’t here.”
Lord Simon glared at the soldiers, shoving a lock of brown hair behind his ear. “They couldn’t be far, their horses are still outside. Peter and Markus, take your men and search the area. Hun and Geo, guard the front with me. The rest of you hide in the yard. If they come back for the horses, take them. I only want the apothecary. The rest are expendable.”
Had she actually considered this man might not mean her harm? Praise the Goddess Thoren came along when he did. Who knows what would have happened to her otherwise.
Steam circled around her face and she craned her neck to see it coming from Thoren’s ears. His ears smoked just like hers. No wonder he hadn’t insisted on lynching her when he saw steam rising from her ears. Keara closed her mouth. Maybe what she considered odd, a Draconi considered normal.
His arm clenched around her waist, his lip turning in a snarl as he glared at Lord Simon. If only looks could kill. Wait, maybe they could.
Or not. Lord Simon remained upright and alive.
Oh well.
The lord walked out of the shop, stopping to stand with legs wide and arms crossed in the doorway. His men took up a post on either side, generating stares from the people walking in the street.
She took as deep a breath as possible considering the vise grip of Thoren’s arm around her waist. For the moment they were alone in the shop.
“Anything in the shop you can’t do without?” Thoren whispered in her ear. The man needed to stop doing that. Breathing in her ear, making chills shoot through her body when
she should feel scared instead.
Her head turned to shelving behind the counter in the front room. “I would like to take my books. But I don’t see how we can get them with him standing in the doorway.”
“Leave that to me. Will they fit in your bag?” He gestured to the bag on the floor in front of them.
She shook her head. “There’s a satchel under the counter that most of them would fit in. But that would be another pack for the horses.”
“We’re leaving the horses.”
Was he crazy? The thought of walking, who knew how far while carrying a couple of bags, made her body ache. But it beat the alternative.
“Keep close to me and we’ll walk to the shelf.”
Her eyes darted to Lord Simon’s back. “Won’t he hear?”
“Not if we’re quiet.”
She nodded, the movement jerky as adrenaline pumped through her muscles. Thoren kept his arm around her waist, moving her toward the shelves, watching Lord Simon and his minions through the storefront window. They paused by the counter for her to grab the satchel.
“Keep it under the counter. It’s not protected by the invisibility spell.”
Lord Simon would come running if he saw a satchel floating across the room. Keara watched with trepidation as Simon twitched, rising onto his toes, bouncing off the ground to do the motion again. Sounds from the street floated through the open door, covering the noise she made putting the books into the bag.
“Anything else?”
Keara looked around the shop, memories passing over her. She mixed her first potion here, treated her first patient over there at the table by the door, mixed herbs at the counter. Twilight bathed the shop, drifting through the windows, casting long shadows of the men guarding the place. She took one last look, knowing she’d never see the place again, trying to remember the pleasant times and forget about the bad.
Taking a deep breath, she turned toward Thoren, whispering in his ear. “I’m ready.”
He flicked a hand at the satchel and it vanished. Keara gasped, unable to help herself. Lord Simon whirled, stepping into the shop, obviously looking for the source of the sound.
Magical Lover Page 4
