by Ts McKinney
Chapter Two
Gabriel
This-this monster, or whatever the hell he was, was about one second away from me blasting him right out of the store. I was a Législateur and not only should he give proper respect, but he damn well should be shaking in his stupid Converse tennis shoes. First of all, what type of respectable participant of dark magic wore ratty tennis shoes? Second of all, why in the hell wasn’t he either acting afraid or trying to engage me in proper battle. A shove to my chest was not proper battle, by any means. The move seemed so…human. Having said that, he wasn’t human. Not by a long shot.
While I wasn’t sure what he was, I did know he was evil. Dark magic swirled all around him like a dark cloud, tempting me to end his existence without asking another question. There was something else, though. Something strange about his actions. To be honest, he reeked of vampire but since we were standing in a clear line of a bright sun beam, that couldn’t be correct. What else was there? Demon? No, if he was a demon, I should be able to see through his veil.
In a flash, I twirled my finger and said, “Tourner, démon.” He spun around like a puppet on my strings and slammed, face-first, against the nearest wall. I grabbed both his hands and pulled them high above his head, pinning them between the wall and my grasp. My body, much larger than his, crowded him until there was nothing between us. It had been a move to demonstrate my strength, speed, and superiority. Instead, it had ended up putting me in a position that my body obviously found very appealing. My dick started to thicken. Fuck, that was just what I needed right now.
“Take my business elsewhere, Darkness? Really?” I whispered against his ear. While that close to him, I took another deep sniff. Vampire…and something incredibly sweet. Darkness and light. Two things that shouldn’t ever mix. “I don’t think so. My business belongs right here, with you, trying to determine what sort of dark games you’ve been playing with those poppets of yours. Killing people with poppets, are we, Darkness? Not very original if I do say so myself.”
I expected swearing, probably some fighting, maybe even, if he was any good, a halfway decent magical battle. Did I get any of those things? Nope. He, the irritating cutie, started laughing and not a nervous laugh, either. No, it was full on, can’t-catch-your-breath laugh. Of all the disrespectful, arrogant, stupid little—
“Dude, they’re not real, just something for the tourists to buy. I sew them with clothes I buy from the Goodwill.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “Voodoo dolls aren’t real, dumbass. Try to get that through your head. That voodoo shit is a gimmick we use to suck tourists into the store. What are you? A fucking tourist?”
His ass, perfectly plump, pushed against my groin, and his lips curved into a seductive smile. Not ten minutes ago, he’d been telling his boyfriend that he wasn’t in the mood, but now he was practically humping me through his clothes. What game was he playing at?
He winked. “Now…if you had something else in mind, I might be able to help you out with that. Voodoo dolls are a hoax, but I bet I could teach you something that’s real magic.”
Oddly enough, I wanted to take him up on it. As deadly as I knew he had to be, he seemed almost playful—like a naughty kitten. Since playing with him was out of the question, I needed to take him captive, keep him with me until I could determine what he was and what his role in the murders was. I was going to compel him to tell me everything, get into his mind, much like I’d done with Detective Arceneau. But I wanted privacy for that, and no chance of anyone walking in. I’d wait until I got him alone.
The poppets sold in this store were definitely the same that had been found with both victims, and he’d already admitted that he was the one who made them. Yes—take him captive. It wasn’t as if I had any other choice. It was my duty as a Législateur. Just because I would enjoy it didn’t mean a damn thing.
Calmly, I removed his hands from the wall and pulled them behind his back. “Eram in carcerem,” I whispered. The spell that would imprison his wrists. I secured his wrists with invisible, magical cuffs. They would not only bind his magic but would keep him from putting up too much of a fight. “Sorry, Darkness. You’re coming with me. I believe you and I have many things to discuss, starting with your handmade poppets.” I tugged at his upper arm. “Come on, I don’t have all day.”
His feet refused to budge, and he kept swinging his head in one direction and then the other, looking behind his back like he couldn’t figure out how his wrists were trapped. What? All magical creatures knew of the cuffs. How could he not know?
He didn’t know, or else he was a hell of an actor.
“What the hell, dude? How are you doing that?” He glared at me. “Let me go. Now. You were kinda funny at first but not anymore. Go away. Shoo!” He nodded toward the door. “After you undo whatever the hell it is that you’ve done to me, of course.”
“Shoo?”
“You know—get! Leave me alone. Hit the road. Disappear.” He twisted his arms. “How in the fuck are you doing that?”
I frowned. There wasn’t even a hint of deceit rolling off him. He truly was confused. As I watched him try to figure the invisible cuffs out, I couldn’t help but think how utterly adorable he looked.
Adorable? Shit, that was dangerous. Too dangerous. With the amount of black magic surrounding him, there was no way he could be anything other than truly evil. A wave of sadness washed over me when I finally acknowledged what he was and what I’d end up having to do to him.
Either I would have to destroy him or send him to my brother, and he would destroy him.
I raised my chin. It was my responsibility. No, it was my honor to serve as a Législateur—my family’s honor. With sheer determination as my armor against whatever fuckery he was using against me, I grabbed his upper arm again and started dragging him toward the door. He fought me. He fought me with every ounce of human strength someone his size would possess. No dark magic…no fucking magic at all. And yet I could sense his magic inside him. Why wasn’t he trying to use it?
“No! Please! You don’t understand,” he whimpered. “I’m not allowed to leave the building.” He looked down in embarrassment when I turned to stare at him in disbelief. “I mean, I’m not supposed to leave without Dominic with me. He’s, uh, he’s afraid I’ll have some sort of medical set back. I’ve only been out of the coma for about three months.” His oddly colored lavender eyes pleaded with me. “I have no idea where you think you’re taking me or why you’re doing it but please don’t. It-it isn’t safe for me out there.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re under my protection when you’re in my custody, Darkness. You’ll be perfectly safe. For some stupid reason, you’re not afraid of who you should be—me. This…Dominic is no threat to you.”
He frowned and tilted his head, studying me. “I’m not afraid of you.”
An eerie feeling crept through me. I had no idea what he was, only that he was full of dark magic. What in the hell was I about to get myself in to? “You should be, Darkness. You really should be.”
*****
The trip from the downtown shop where I’d found Darkness to my penthouse suite at the hotel was…different—nothing like what I would have expected. He fought me at first, but I could tell from the way his head swiveled in every direction that it was fear of something other than me. Then, with only a few miles between us and the shop, his attitude changed. He no longer acted afraid or confused. When his head swiveled those times, it was to soak up the beautiful New Orleans scenery. Instead of accepting I was his captor, maybe even judge and executioner before all this was over, he quizzed me on practically everything he saw, wanting to know facts about everything. His enthusiasm did absolutely nothing to deter the adorableness of him. Abso-lutely-fucking-nothing.
I also realized I had to be mistaken about the vampire scent. He exhibited no adverse effects of being in the sun. I had been prepared to shield him with magic but I didn’t need to. His skin was bronzed instead of pale. Shit…what was he? It was dri
ving me crazy and not for any of the right reasons. No, all my questions had to do with something personal. He fascinated me, even if he was responsible for the brutal deaths of two of our members of the magic community in New Orleans. They say curiosity killed the cat but, I had a feeling, in my case, that fascination would have the same effects as curiosity.
I’d suspected that getting him through the lobby of the hotel would be a fiasco that would require me to place a magical veil to prevent customers and staff from actually seeing us, but Darkness was as quiet as a church mouse and completely obedient. He’d asked a few questions, but other than that, our lobby walk of shame and the elevator ride itself was uneventful. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was a bit disappointed. Bringing my captive to his knees would have given me a pleasure buzz like I’d never experienced.
As soon as I’d gotten us safely in my suite, I threw up some protective wards to keep us and the hotel guests and staff safe and to block any spells someone might use to try and locate him. After that, I led him down the hall to my bedroom and shoved him inside.
“Wow. You call me Darkness and I’ll call you Money Bags. This place is over-the-top gorgeous. Do you own this hotel? Hypnotiq? That sounds very mysterious.” He grinned. “I like it.”
What happened to my quiet, afraid to leave his shop, vulnerably adorable captive?
“Stop talking,” I snapped. “You talk too much, and I don’t care if you like my hotel or not.” That was a lie—shouldn’t be, but was.
“Not usually,” he said as he moved around my room, looking at my things like they were his own. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, but apparently being with you has transformed me into a chatty-Cathy.” He plopped on my bed, arms still secured behind his back, and stared at me. “So, if you didn’t bring me here to talk, why did you bring me here, doll? You’re gorgeous, by the way.”
Yep, he’d transformed into a cocky flirt…and I’d be damned, but I liked that side of him too. Determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, I put a hand on his arm, preparing to read his thoughts. Instead…nothing happened. Nothing! I was hitting a wall so powerful that I knew no warlock or vampire in this city had been able to erect it. Something powerful was protecting him—some spell that I’d never encountered before. The most unusual thing was that I sensed no darkness around the wall. None at all. It was simply impenetrable and everything I tried bounced right off it. I had power over his body, but not his mind. It was disconcerting and only added to the mystery.
Unsure what to do next, I waved my hand in his direction and before he registered any movement from me, he found himself flat on my bed, arms released from the invisible cuffs and forced over his head. Just for the fun of it, I spread his legs and magically secured them to the mattress as well. He looked confused as hell and sexy as fuck. The sexy as fuck, I understood. The confusion about being magically pinned to the bed, I didn’t get. He had to recognize what I’d done to him and how I’d accomplished it. Well, after the magical cuffs’ incident, I guess it really wasn’t that much of a surprise that this confused him as well.
“What. The. Hell?” he said as he tried again and again to move his arms and legs. His head whipped around to look at me. “How are you doing this? What the fuck, man?”
I walked over to the edge of the bed and looked down at him. Yep, sexy as fuck. He even made confusion look good. Sitting down next to him, I said, “Why are you playing dumb with me, Darkness? I see magic swirling all around you. You reek of a vampire but since you’re able to walk in the sunlight, I assume it means you’ve just been entertaining one.” Tilting my head, I added, “Who’s your lover, Darkness?” He sniffed the air. “There’s a hint of sweetness, too. Whatever could that scent be, Darkness? Just how many lovers do you have?” The notion of it made me unaccountably angry. The idea of him with multiple lovers didn’t sit well with me. In fact, it made me furious. And jealous.
He stared at me for a few seconds and then said, “You’re completely bonkers, aren’t you? I should have known. Are you going to kill me? You brought me back to your hotel room so you could torture and murder me, didn’t you? You do realize that people saw me leaving with you…saw me come up to this room with you? I hardly think you’ve thought this whole abduction and murder plan through clearly. There are flaws, Poppet—lots of flaws with your plan. You need to let me go.”
I watched as he again tested the magical restraints and then huffed when he couldn’t release himself. There was a chance I was about to be in serious trouble. Since he nibbled on his lips when he tried to break free, they were getting more and more plump with each passing second…more and more fucking sexy. I wanted to devour them. “I didn’t bring you here to torture and kill you, Darkness.”
“Why did you force me to come with you, then? And you did force me, by the way—don’t try to act like it was anything other than absolute, unfair, brute force.” He looked up at his extended arms to prove his point.
“I brought you here to ask why you used your poppets to murder two of New Orleans’ most prominent citizens,” I said casually. “What did you use in the poppet that made them so strong because an ordinary doll wouldn’t be able to kill those two—they had magic of their own.” I leaned in closer to him, still trying to test his scent. “So, let’s talk poppets, shall we?”
His eyes grew wide for a few seconds and then he burst out laughing. “I told you the voodoo dolls are nothing more than shit for the tourists to buy, Poppet. They’re a hoax. I haven’t killed anybody.” He winked at me and added, “But even for a serious nutcase, you’re still sexy as hell.”
My brow arched. “I don’t believe your boyfriend would appreciate you complimenting me that way. He seemed rather possessive where you’re concerned. Is this why? Because you flirt with everyone? If so, I understand why he has to keep you on such a tight leash.” I really didn’t but there was no point admitting that to him. When I was back in the shop, it’d taken all my restraint to not kick his boyfriend’s ass, especially since his boyfriend was a known warlock—a weak one, but a warlock nonetheless.
“My fiancé,” Darkness murmured and then looked horrified that he’d said it out loud.
“Ah, your fiancé. That’s even worse. Let me guess, you’re always unfaithful to him. He had dark magic swirling around him too. Tell me, Darkness, what is your fiancé? Do you know?”
“A dick.”
Well, I hadn’t been expecting that response. “Why are you engaged to him then?”
“Dunno.” He frowned. “Well, I do know. I think it’s guilt. I mean, he’s taken care of me for a long time. He was there for me when absolutely nobody else was.” He looked me dead in the eyes. “It’s hard to walk away from somebody when they’ve sacrificed so much for you.”
“Yes, you mentioned something about a coma. So that asshole in the shop took care of you?” I found that hard to believe. “And there was nobody else for you? No family? No friends?”
He gave an attempt at a shrug. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t remember anything about my past. After the surgery, I lost every year, day, hour, and minute up until I woke up. Blank. Nothing. It’s irritating.”
“I’ll bet it is.” I seriously doubted he was being truthful, even if he looked totally innocent. “So, this man, your fiancé, was the only one you remembered? Seems convenient to me.”
Something flashed across his face that looked a lot like sadness. I blocked it out, because I didn’t need to get sucked in any further than I already was. I should have collected him and taken him straight to my brother, not bring him home with me like a lost puppy.
“No, I don’t remember Dominic either. The information I have is everything he’s told me.” His eyes flashed again, this time frustration. “Remember? I distinctly remember telling you it was like a blank chalkboard.” Shit, did I tell him that or just think it in my head?
Alarms started going off in my head. If he was being honest, which I doubted he was, there was a chance he was innocent of the murders
, or at least innocent of intentionally murdering them. Was he being used? What he was describing sounded more like a memory binding spell than surgery on his brain. Another thought occurred to me. “Why doesn’t he allow you to leave the store? I mean, must you sleep there? That hardly seems comfortable.”
This time he rolled his eyes. “We live in an apartment above the store. It’s actually very nice, which is kind of strange now that I consider it, because we sure don’t make any money in that damn store. As for leaving the building, I said that it wasn’t safe for me to leave without Dominic with me. He’s worried about my health.”
Bullshit, he was worried about his health. If the man had been so damn worried, he wouldn’t have manhandled him so roughly earlier. No, there was something else going on, and I fucking intended to find out what it was. My problem was that I wasn’t sure if I needed to protect him or keep him locked up for safe keeping. Oddly enough, I wanted to do both at the same time.
*****
Marchand
So, clearly, I’d been pulled, against my will, into the twilight zone. The guy who abducted me was rich, gorgeous, sexy, and completely nuts. Having said that, I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that his parlor tricks were very impressive. Back at the store, I would have sworn that my hands were cuffed, but there’d been nothing wrapped around my wrists. Yet, I couldn’t escape the invisible bonds. Now that we were in his high-end penthouse suite, he’d pulled out another trick and somehow managed to bind my hands and feet to the bed. Maybe he’d hypnotized me? That had to be it. He was making me do shit because he’d managed to tap in to my mind somehow. I didn’t normally believe in that shit either, but what else could it be?
