by Cheever, Sam
Ardith was unable to move, her magic buried under the dampening powers of the mercury-laden web. She could only look upon Edwige and her evil spawn and fume as they laughed at her.
The human soldiers started toward her, a hateful gleam in their eyes.
~AM~
Screaming and flailing, the crowd fought to get to them but a line of soldiers had moved between the rabid crowd and the prisoners, blocking them.
Rocks and other, softer and more disgusting things plummeted toward them, rarely missing as they retraced their steps toward the justice building. By the time they reached the door and ducked inside, Draigh was bleeding from several cuts and gashes and was covered in rotted garbage. His fellow prisoners were in little better condition.
Once inside the cool, dimly lit corridor leading to the gallows from the prison, Draigh turned to Blackthorne, holding out his wrists. “Ardith?”
Blackthorne sent a jolt of magic into Draigh’s cuffs. “She’s keeping an eye on Edwige.”
Once his hands were free, Draigh was able to use his magic to release the woman and free his ankles. “You captured the rogue?”
Blackthorne frowned but only said. “I’ll explain later. For now, we need to get to the portal. It’s on the top floor.”
Draigh shook his head. “I’m not leaving her. Where is she?”
“Hunter, you can’t—”
“Just tell me where she is, mage.”
Blackthorne looked around. “Keep your voice down. Many lives are at stake here, not just yours and Ardith’s.”
With an effort Draigh kept from roaring in frustration. He nodded, turning away. “I’ll find her myself.”
Blackthorne touched his forearm. “She’s on the third floor. In the library, waiting for President Zith. Tread carefully, hunter.”
Draigh didn’t acknowledge the other man’s warning, he was already running toward the stairs.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Draigh watched President Zith and his protective guard enter the library. Wrapping himself in a cloaking enchantment, Draigh slipped up behind the soldiers and peered past them to get the layout of the room. The rogue witch and her apprentice were speaking to President Zith. Edwige was making plans for executing Ardith, who was standing a few feet away, surrounded by soldiers. His witch had a magic squelching net settled over her, which hid the visible aura of her powers.
Draigh swore silently. He was too late.
Rage climbed up his throat, his hands clenching into fists as he listened to the rogue calmly discussing Ardith’s death. Draigh didn’t fight the rage. Instead he embraced it, and as the soldiers started to pull Ardith toward the door, he dropped the cloaking enchantment and set his beast free.
His skin rippled, expanded. Bones and tendons popped as they grew. Claws sprang from his fingertips and a roar burst from his lips. His head whipped around at the sound of a pain-filled shriek. Edwige had President Zith wrapped in a rope of magic that seemed to be infusing him with deadly energy. The human leader jerked manically as Edwige’s electrical magic sizzled against his skin.
The soldiers around Zith had started moving back, their faces slack with horror.
Draigh focused eyes that he knew glowed with building magic on the rogue. He opened his mouth and his voice came out several octaves lower than his human intonation, and was rough like gravel against glass. “Let him go.”
Edwige simply smiled. She turned to the young soldier nearest Ardith. “Kill that beast or I’ll finish off your president.”
Draigh recognized Richard from the prison wing. The young soldier’s face was pale, his eyes too wide and dark in the paleness. He looked from Edwige to Draigh and back again, clearly uncertain which was the greater danger.
“Do it!” Edwige twisted her outstretched hand and President Zith screamed, long and high, the sound filled with exquisite pain.
Richard’s jaw tightened. He turned to Draigh. “I’m sorry.”
Draigh knew the boy’s instincts would flee in the face of his leader’s imminent death. Whatever the soldier thought of Draigh, he would do as Edwige demanded. As Draigh leapt for him, the young soldier lifted the web gun upward.
Draigh fought his beast for a modicum of control, knowing he would regret harming the young soldier when he regained his mind. With a roar, he swiped the gun out of Richard’s hand, feeling the man’s skin split under his long, deadly nails.
Richard cried out in pain and the gun skittered across the floor, landing at Ardith’s feet. She looked up at Draigh, a message in her beautiful eyes. It was a plea for him to retain his humanity. To hang with her a moment longer.
Draigh fought the beast for control, he reached for her, touched the snapping magic holding her in thrall, and sent a surge of power into it, tearing the web.
A bullet snapped into him, then another and another. The pain sent the beast roaring mindlessly toward the group of soldiers. He picked the first man up and threw him into the others.
The air shifted next to his skin and pain lanced his calf. Draigh roared and turned. He found himself staring into the silver eyes of Ardith’s star pup. A vision slipped across his mind. The pup used the most effective type of reason against Draigh, he simply showed the hunter what he’d become in that moment.
Draigh cried out, covering his face, and fell to his knees. He fought the beast to push it back.
The pup moved away, heading for Edwige.
The rogue lifted her hands to attack Sirius, but she never got the chance. With supernatural speed, Sirius leapt onto Edwige’s chest and encircled her throat in his deadly jaws. The rogue stilled, her eyes wide with horror, and then she and Sirius disappeared in a blast of silvery light.
Draigh’s body slowly returned to normal, repelling the bullets and healing as it regained its humanity. Soft hands touched his shoulders. Ardith’s jasmine scent washed over him, soothing the frantic beat of his heart. He inhaled deeply to pull in her sweet essence. Draigh slowly stood, biting back a groan from the achy leftovers of his change. He looked down at Ardith. “Are you okay, witch?”
She smiled, her eyes soft. “I’m good, hunter. How about you?”
Draigh shook his head and pulled her into his arms. Burying his face in her hair, he shook with emotion. His arms enfolded her with near desperation and he had to take care not to hold her too tightly. All he wanted to do was take her away from that place and make love to her for hours. “I am now.”
All around them human soldiers groaned, untangling themselves and pushing slowly to their feet. They cast cautious looks in Draigh’s direction.
President Zith had collapsed into a chair, his face gray and covered with a sheen of sweat. His hands shook as he scraped them over his face.
Footsteps sounded in the corridor and they all turned toward the door. To Draigh’s amazement, Lady Penelope and the Huntsman strode into the room, followed by a few dozen black robed mages and hunters. It was a formidable contingent.
Zith shoved to his feet and clasped his shaking hands together to still them.
Lady Penelope glanced at Ardith as they entered the room, a silent question in her eyes. Ardith nodded, affirming they’d gotten Edwige.
The mages and sorceri stopped before President Zith and stared at him until he bowed.
“Lady Penelope, Lord Huntsman, welcome to First City.”
The Huntsman glared at him. “We have come to tell you that the zombies which surrounded the city have been dispatched. I understand our people have managed to capture the rogue witch—”
“With no help from you or your people,” Lady Penelope interjected sternly as she cast a disgusted look toward the disheveled soldiers.
Zith had the good grace to look ashamed. “We were misinformed, my lady. I cannot apologize enough.”
She lifted a dark eyebrow. “It is true. You cannot.”
“We’ll deal with the rogue. You will do whatever it takes to get your world back under control,” the Huntsman said.
Zith’s bushy brown eyebr
ows lifted in alarm. “But how will I calm the people?”
“Your prison is filled with creatures to publicly execute. We will leave several of our people here to manage the zombies until the execution.”
Zith sighed with relief, bobbing his head in agreement.
“And we will assume that your government remains friendly with the council and the authority?” Lady Penelope inquired gravely.
“Yes. Of course.” Zith threw Draigh a look. “What of that one? He attacked my soldiers.”
Ardith strode forward, handing Zith the web gun. “He was only trying to keep you from making a terrible mistake, President Zith. Had you harmed a member in good standing with either the council or the authority, you would have been dealing with the zombies and the mess the rogue created on your own. It would not have gone well for you.”
Draigh hid a smile. He knew what she said wasn’t true. The mages and hunters couldn’t have walked away and left Edwige to do her worst, no matter what the humans did. But it was a good bluff. Her threat held weight with the human leader and Draigh was heartened by her coming to his defense.
Lady Penelope’s black eyes widened slightly when she looked at Ardith, but she didn’t disagree with Ardith’s statement. “We will go and allow you to attend to your affairs, Zith.”
Ardith’s gaze suddenly snapped around, her eyes widening. At the same moment Draigh comprehended what she’d apparently just realized.
Joris was gone. He’d disappeared.
~AM~
They stood together on the steps of the social club. Ardith was dressed in a low-cut gown with full skirts that swung when she walked. She held a parasol above her head, the wind dancing softly through her loose curls.
She pretended she hated the dress of the time, but secretly she sometimes liked feeling like a girl.
The light in Draigh’s eyes when he looked at her only enhanced her pleasure.
For his part, the hunter looked like a pirate. He wore tight brown-leather breeches, tall black-leather boots, and a billowy, white shirt that was open to his pecs, showing lightly furred, sun-kissed skin that made her mouth water.
She inhaled his scent greedily, under the pretense of scenting the water off Salem Sound.
“So. I guess this is goodbye.” The hunter appeared grim.
She looked up at him, her heart pounding painfully. “I have a new assignment.”
He nodded. “Yes. So do I.”
She glanced toward the sound. “Would you walk with me?”
His eyes lit. “I’d like that.” He cupped her elbow and they started down the street, toward the sparkling blue water dotted with huge, masted ships.
Every bit of Ardith’s awareness centered on the touch of his hand on her arm. The heat he created with that small contact spiraled through her, tightening her belly into a knot of need. It was ridiculous to plunge into full blown lust from such an innocuous touch. Illogical.
But then, nothing between them had been logical.
“I understand you visited the Watcher.”
When she glanced at him, she noted the slight twitching of the lips that told her he was holding back a smile.
“Damn gnome.” She grinned when his smile escaped. She liked to see him smile. “I owe him a favor now. I’ll admit I’m a little worried about that.”
Draigh let the smile grow into a laugh. “You needn’t worry. He’s an infuriating creature but scrupulously fair. He’ll not ask more of you than you’d willingly give yourself.”
She swayed against him as they walked, enjoying the way he leaned into her touch, as if he couldn’t get enough of it. She knew the feeling. The street got busier and louder as they neared the docks. It became difficult to speak among the screaming and rambunctious activity so Ardith stopped talking and just enjoyed the feeling of being with him one last time.
After being jostled several times and even pinched once, Ardith pulled Draigh toward a side street, away from the activity.
Finally she asked, “So, what’s your next assignment?”
He sighed. “I must travel to the future. There is a colony of sorceri there who have not answered the authority’s yearly summons to report in. The Huntsman fears something has happened to them.”
She nodded, biting her lip against the need to tell him to be careful. She’d spent the last days since they’d returned to Salem, while they worked out the details of what to do with Edwige, trying to convince herself she didn’t care for him. Unfortunately, it was hard to ignore the way her body came alive whenever he was near.
“What about you?”
Ardith stopped, suddenly so filled with emotion she wasn’t sure she could talk. Her assignment would take her away for a year or more. She’d be going to a place where communication with other magical beings would be difficult at best, impossible at worst.
She suddenly couldn’t envision going that long without seeing him, touching him. “I…” She swallowed, hard. Her eyes stung and she closed them, trying to stop the tears from flowing.
He shifted and suddenly his hands were at her waist. His scent enveloped her. His heat pulsed against her skin. The sweet warmth of his breath bathed her face and Ardith opened her eyes, allowing the tears to fall as his lips claimed hers.
Drenched with emotion, the kiss was like a punch to the stomach. Ardith wobbled on her feet from its impact. She grabbed hold of his arms for support and suddenly found herself enveloped, the iron bands of his arms wrapping around her and drawing her into the safety and delight of his big, hard body.
Ardith relished the velvet push and tussle of his tongue, delighted in his taste against her lips, and inhaled the sun-warmed scent that seemed to enclose her in a special kind of bubble, beyond which nothing else existed. Suddenly she couldn’t get enough of him. Couldn’t press herself close enough to his hard length. Couldn’t deepen the kiss enough to satisfy her craving for more.
His breath against her face grew frantic, a low moan rumbled in his wide chest. Ardith trapped his face between her hands and held him in the kiss, which had become a desperate mesh of lips and tongue and even teeth as they fought to assuage the grinding need within them. They had only moments to address that need. Only a tiny slice of time to find a way to deal with the idea that what they’d found was gone again.
They had only a smidgen of their lives to explore the depth of what they were giving up.
In those moments there was nothing beyond the cocoon of their lust. No sounds, no scents, no visual cues could yank them from their need. Only Ardith’s spinning mind could manage the herculean task. As she realized she had to take advantage of the tiny slice of time allotted them.
She dragged her lips from his. “The portal is just a few steps away.”
His gaze found hers, held and sparked with emotion as it read her intent. “My rooms.”
She was already turning away. “Yes.”
They ran down the street, hand in hand, ignoring the judgmental looks of the women on the street, as well as the jealous glances from their men. Ardith suddenly felt as if they were being controlled by a giant, unseen clock that clambered over the moments, struck away the hours, and left them little choice as to how their lives would continue onward.
She was deathly sick of that clock. Heartrendingly sick of its ticking hands.
She wanted time with Draigh. Needed it. And she would take it.
They ducked into the dark passageway between two brick-fronted businesses, the slight tang of electricity sparking against their skin as they plunged past the barrier and hit the back of the portal.
Draigh was on her even as they started to make the passage through time and space to his castle in the sky. His hot mouth pressed hers, his tongue sweeping out to taste her lips and push beyond to dance a velvet touch against her teeth and tongue.
Her hands tore at his shirt, pulled at the button on the band of his breeches. Her lips moved hungrily beneath his.
The scent of flowers assailed them, and the angle of the light chang
ed as they reached Draigh’s rooms. Like a magical elevator, going all directions at once and none in specific, the portal had carried them to that one place their minds dictated. Depositing them into heaven.
~AM~
Draigh reached down and lifted Ardith, carrying her to his enormous, incredibly soft bed, and laying her gently onto it. He didn’t even bother removing her dress. Instead he reached for the frothy hem of her petticoats and lifted them, dropping to his knees at the side of the bed to place his hungry lips over her swollen sex.
She moaned deep in her throat as his lips encompassed her, pulling gently on the rigid little bud of her clit. Draigh was intoxicated by her scent. Her taste was sweet, citrusy heat against his tongue. The slim, muscular columns of her thighs quivered against his shoulders, flexing with every pull of his lips against her clit.
Draigh inserted a finger into the wet heat of her pussy, gliding it gently and slowly in accompaniment to the pull of his mouth on her mons. Ardith’s fingers quivered against his hair, tugging gently as he rocked her world.
Draigh increased the tension of his lips on her sex. His thrusting finger plunged deeper, more quickly inside her channel. He felt the first quivering compression of her sex around his fingers and knew she was close.
A deep, husky cry emerged from her throat as she found the edge of her climax and slipped over. Her upper body came off the bed, her head dropping back on a groan of delight, and her fingers tightened against his scalp as she came.
Ardith clamped her thighs over his shoulders and held him to her body through several more orgasms. It wasn’t until she sprawled, boneless and panting with satisfaction, that Draigh stood and scraped his leather breeches down his hips, allowing himself to finally pop free, thick and rock-hard.
Ardith’s lust-filled gaze skimmed over him and she lifted her arms in invitation. “Come, hunter, let me give you back some of the pleasure you’ve given me.”
He happily complied. Stepping out of his breeches, Draigh kneeled on the bed, and watched her scoot backward. When she settled in the middle of the bed, he positioned himself between her thighs, his hungry lips finding hers. He tucked his hips, the rigid column of his cock seeking the moist delight of her pussy, but Ardith had other ideas.
