Hexed by Fire

by Nola Robertson

  Once they reached her apartment, it took a lot of convincing and an enjoyable amount of kissing before she agreed to stay and wait for him. He also told her it would be a good idea to contact her friend Paige and let her know what had happened. Maybe get her to come home to ensure nothing happened to her either.

  He hadn’t actually lied to Alex, but the guilt from keeping the truth from her was still bothering him by the time he arrived at the office and found the other three men gathered in Chance’s office. The spacious room reminded him more of a lab than it did an office. Numerous counters and tables occupied a majority of the space, most of them containing various types of equipment he’d never seen before.

  An entire wall had built-in shelves containing an extensive library of books covering various topics, everything from the shifting phases of wolves to quantum physics. A large desk sat off to the right in the corner. It was outfitted with dual touch screens and what appeared to be a state-of-the-art computer system.

  “Glad you could make it,” Drake said when he entered the room, a reminder that Mason’s specified hour arrival time had turned into almost two. “I’m assuming since you’re alone, you received my text and Alex is safe.” Drake was an expert at masking his emotions, but when it came to his niece, his concern was quite apparent.

  Mason nodded. “It took some convincing, but she agreed to wait at her apartment.” He didn’t want to think about how furious she was going to be when she found out he’d deceived her. The instructions might have come from Drake, but he’d been the one to follow them.

  His reasons for agreeing had been selfish and partly due to the animal side of his nature. He’d only known Alex a short time, but she’d become important to him, someone he cared about. He and his wolf had staked a claim, considered her theirs to protect.

  If Drake’s plan to go after the creatures and whoever controlled them was successful, things could turn dangerous, and Mason didn’t want Alex anywhere near them. “I take it you have some news on the case.”

  “We do,” Chance said, smoothing his gloved hand along the front of a white lab coat already covered with shiny blue smudges. He grabbed a sealed glass container from the counter in the middle of the room, which contained some of the glowing glass fragments Alex had taken from the park.

  Chance glanced in his direction. “As you already know, the magic used on Alex’s apartment was definitely black magic. Blood magic, to be exact.” He imitated a shiver. “Very nasty stuff.” After picking up a remote control, he tapped a button, and a screen on the wall to the left lit up with an image of a hand, the flesh blistered and burned.

  “Here’s what’s interesting.” Chance pointed the control, and a small red dot appeared on the screen in the middle of the image. “There are faint traces of a residue on Gwen’s hands. And thanks to the fresh samples Alex collected, I was able to make a connection.”

  Mason smiled, proud of his quick-thinking and stubborn witch. His witch. The possessive thought warmed him, swirled around him, swept through his body, and elicited an approving growl from his wolf.

  Chance continued speaking like a lecture moderator. “The residue on the glass isn’t witch’s magic, blood, dark, or otherwise.”

  “Then what is it?” Aidan asked, his eyes wide with interest.

  “It’s demon magic.” Chance seemed impressed and disheartened by his discovery at the same time.

  “How is that possible? The practice of demon magic was outlawed years ago,” Mason said, hardly able to contain his shock. Even Drake, whom he’d never seen upset about anything, clenched his fists, seemingly disturbed by the news.

  “We don’t know… Yet.” Chance pursed his lips. “I don’t know what caused the burns either.”

  “But if you had to guess?” Aidan asked.

  Chance tapped the countertop with his free hand. “Then I’d say they were made by some type of rod-like object carved with these symbols.” The laser light moved across the image in a circular motion, showing small patterns burned into the victim’s skin. “I would also say we’re dealing with a warlock.”

  “I don’t understand,” Mason said.

  Drake folded his arms, a serious glint in his eyes. “Warlocks are rare and extremely powerful. They are the witch version of a vampire, only instead of craving blood, they crave power and use dark magic to obtain it. Wicks Hollow hasn’t dealt with one in over ten years.” He frowned. “They are especially drawn to elemental magic, the strongest of all magic.”

  “If it really is a warlock we’re looking for, then why did he take the other women? None of them had elemental powers.” Mason had read the files provided by the coven on each of the witches and hadn’t found any similarities between them. Even their powers were uniquely different.

  “Again, no idea,” Chance said.

  “We’ve got a bigger problem.” The summer tan on Aidan’s face paled at least three shades.

  “Which is?” Drake asked.

  “We’ve got to warn Alex…and Paige. The protection charm on their apartment is strong, but it’s no match against a warlock’s magic.”

  Mason’s pulse thrummed through his body as he fished his phone out of his pocket, then swiped the number for Alex’s cell. Tension filled the room. Concerned eyes focused on him, waiting for a response. “Fuck, straight to voice mail.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I should never have left Alex alone. If something happens to her…”

  Drake placed a hand on his shoulder. “You can’t blame yourself. I’m the one who told you to make sure she stayed put.”

  Mason appreciated Drake’s support, but it didn’t help minimize the sharp gnawing pain in his gut. To be honest, he believed Alex would be safer staying at home and had decided long before he’d gotten his friend’s text to persuade her to stay there.

  “Aidan, you go with Mason, find Alex and Paige, then bring them back here. I’ll contact the high council and let them know what we found.”

  Chapter Ten

  It was nearly eleven by the time Alex had taken a long shower and filled her cup with some freshly brewed coffee. Magical power, the energy from Aidan’s protection spell, softly hummed through the walls of the apartment. Alex’s brother was usually a pain in the ass, but when things got tough she could always count on him to watch out for her.

  She almost wished she hadn’t promised Mason she wouldn’t leave the apartment. Staying because she wanted to was one thing. Staying because she had to was another and felt like she was under house arrest. Thankfully, knowing her car was repaired helped minimize the feeling of being totally stranded.

  Not only did she enjoy Mason’s company, the night before had been phenomenal, stellar, absolutely awesome, and she was disappointed when he had to go. She ran her fingertip along her swollen lips and smiled at the memory of their parting kiss, or rather kisses, because the man hadn’t stopped after one.

  Her bliss was quickly followed by the realization that she’d slept with an employee, something Drake would easily figure out. As far as she knew, the agency didn’t have any policies addressing the situation, anything that would result in termination for either of them.

  But if last night turned out to be a one-time thing, then working together was going to be awkward.

  Mason had seemed anxious before he left. She couldn’t tell if he was holding something back or worried about going after the creatures, and she’d been tempted to make him take her with him anyway.

  If not for the condition of her clothes, the tangles in her hair, and the thought of having to endure a huge amount of teasing from Chance and Aidan, she might have changed her mind.

  Aidan had never approved of any of her past boyfriends. Though she was certain Mason could take care of himself, she hoped her sibling wasn’t going to act like an overprotective big brother and make his life miserable.

  After her ordeal yesterday, the last thing she needed to deal with was her family. She decided staying home wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

  With th
at in mind, she settled down at the kitchen table with her laptop. If she planned on staying put, then she might as well work on the case.

  The only other issue troubling her was Paige and her inability to reach her. Sometime during the night, the battery on Alex’s cell phone had died. An irritating fact she’d discovered when she tried to use it earlier that morning. She glanced at the island counter where she’d plugged it into an outlet and willed it to charge faster. Not keeping her phone charged was a bad habit, one her family constantly chastised her about.

  Unable to change the situation, she turned on the computer, then pulled up the files she’d taken from the coven database, starting with Gwen’s.

  Her family had spent the last two weeks analyzing data, trying to find a common thread linking the missing witches, without any success. Hoping she’d have better luck, she scrolled through the information. When she reached the administrative portion of the file, Trevor Mitchell’s name appeared on a short list of tutors.

  She opened the files for the other two women. When she moved her mouse across the box labeled “mentor program” and found Trevor’s name listed on both forms, nervous excitement pulsed through her.

  It reminded her of the two things Professor Reynard always stressed. One, everyone should always listen to their intuition, and two, even the most unlikely bit of information could turn into a solid clue.

  She leaned back in her chair and tapped her fingers against her chin. It couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

  A melodic chime burst through the quiet room, startling a squeak out of her. It took her a few seconds to realize the noise had come from her phone. She got up and disconnected the charger cord, then pressed the icon to check her messages.

  Surprisingly, the only text on the screen, the one she planned to ignore for the moment, came from her instructor. He wanted to know why she’d missed class and expected her to return his call.

  Alex had expected to see two or three messages in response to the four texts she’d sent Paige the night before. Not hearing back from her friend was unusual.

  Dread spiraled through her, warning her that something wasn’t right. She tapped her friend’s speed dial, then listened to four rings before the call went to voice mail. “Paige, I’m getting worried. Please call me as soon as you get this message.”

  Gripped with indecision, she held her thumb over Margaret’s number. Alex didn’t want to worry Paige’s mother, but finding her friend and ensuring she was safe continued to plague her.

  Before she had a chance to make her decision, she received another text. Paige’s name appeared on the screen with a message that said, “Watch the video, then call me.”

  The number on the screen might belong to Paige, but instinctively, Alex knew she wasn’t the one who’d sent the message. Hand trembling, she tapped the image on the screen to open the attachment.

  The video reminded her of a segment from a horror movie. It started with a wide-angle view of the bars to a metal cage, then panned to the right and zoomed in on a woman sitting in a corner, her golden curls spilling over her lowered head. A fur-covered hand with long talons shot into the picture, and grabbed her by the arm. Paige’s angry, frightened face appeared on the screen, her scream blaring through the speaker as she was wrenched to her feet.

  “No, no, no,” Alex rasped through a constricted throat. Her heart raced, the beats pounding in her ears.

  Magical energy hummed through the phone and throbbed against her hand. Bright orange light burst across the display, then the video faded to black and the file disappeared along with the message.

  She had no way of knowing when the video had been recorded and hoped Paige was still alive. Her hand shook so badly, she almost dropped the phone. It took her two attempts before the call finally went through. She placed the phone against her ear, waiting for whoever had sent the video to answer.

  “Alex.”

  Apprehension prickled along her skin. She hadn’t missed the dangerous edge in Trevor’s voice. All she wanted to do was scream and ask him what he’d done with her friend. Instead, she fought to remain calm, to sound normal. To not let him sense the fear pulsing through her. “Trevor.”

  “I’m so glad you called.” His smug tone reeked of satisfaction.

  “Oh yeah, why is that?” Bitterness rolled off her tongue.

  “I know you’re smarter than that,” he snapped. “If you want to play games, it won’t go well for Paige.”

  Anger and fear jockeyed for the same emotional spot and triggering her magic. Warmth radiated from her core, her powers igniting into a slow burn beneath her skin. “What do you want?”

  “I want you, of course.” He snickered as if his reasons should be apparent to her. “I want you come to me…unless you’d prefer I send my friends to get you. And just so we’re clear, your brother’s pathetic protection spell won’t keep them out.”

  Antagonizing Trevor was a risk, but Alex wasn’t going to do anything until she knew her friend was alive. “Let me talk to Paige first.”

  His tone turned lethal. “Making demands?”

  She gritted her teeth and gripped the phone tighter, knowing she had no choice but to do what he asked if she wanted to save Paige’s life. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her voice almost to the point of begging and asked, “Can I please talk to her?”

  There was a long moment of silence on the other end of the call before she heard Paige’s voice crackle through the speaker. “Alex?”

  She released a relieved breath. “Are you okay?”

  “He’s crazy. Don’t do what he says.” Her words came out in a frantic rush.

  Alex heard flesh being smacked and her friend crying out in pain.

  “Paige!” she yelled.

  Trevor came back on the phone. “You have thirty minutes to get here,” he snarled, the command deep, sharp, and vile.

  Alex didn’t need a further explanation. There was no misunderstanding his intent—show up or Paige would die. “Where?”

  “We’ll be waiting for you on campus, near the museum.”

  She was about to end the call when Trevor spoke again. “And Alex?”

  “Yes?” she hissed.

  “Tell anyone where you’re going, and I can’t promise what condition Paige will be in when you get here.” The call disconnected.

  Thirty minutes was barely enough time to get to the college, let alone sprint across campus. She swallowed hard against the nausea building in her stomach.

  There had to be a way to let Drake and Mason know Trevor was responsible for Gwen’s death. For taking the witches, creating the creatures, and putting the spell on her apartment. If Trevor could wield black magic, he was a lot more powerful than she’d imagined, and would know if she tried to contact anyone in her family.

  The only advantage she had was Mason eventually showing up at her apartment. She had no idea how long he would take and hoped he came sooner rather than later.

  Moving quickly, she returned to her laptop and highlighted Trevor’s name on the open document before saving it to the file to her portable drive. After removing it from the computer, she snatched a blank sheet of paper, folded it in half, and scribbled a name only Mason would recognize in large letters. Then she tucked the drive inside the folded sheet and set the paper on top of her keyboard.

  She slid her dagger inside her boot and grabbed her backpack. As she headed for the door, she made a silent promise to slice out Trevor’s heart if he’d done anything else to hurt Paige.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Seriously, Aidan, you can’t get through your own protection spell?” Every muscle in Mason’s body vibrated with tension as he paced a small circle on the porch outside Alex’s apartment. The midday sun did nothing to chase away the chill settling around his heart.

  Her car was gone, a strong indication she wasn’t home. They’d banged on the door, even yelled her name, not really expecting a response. Yet the cop in him had to verify the facts, had to see for himself, had
to confirm he wasn’t going to open the door and find her torn and mutilated in the same way he’d found Gwen’s body.

  “I designed it specifically for Paige and her so they could choose who they wanted to let in.” Aidan glared at him over his shoulder. “I didn’t think I’d need to break into my sister’s place after I set the spell.” He pulled a vial containing an orange liquid out of his pocket. He took a step back, stretched out his arm, and sprinkled a few drops on the doorknob.

  The knob glowed bright gold, shimmered a few seconds, and returned to normal. He tapped the knob a couple of times, pressed down on the handle, and opened the door. “Alex, you here?”

  Mason shoved past him and rushed into the living room. “Alex,” he yelled, catching a faint whiff of scent still lingering in the air as he hurried down the hall, shoving open closed doors until he’d reached the back bedrooms.

  When he returned to the living room, Aidan was tucking his phone in his pocket. “There’s no sign of a struggle.”

  “No magical residue that shouldn’t be here either. Drake has Chance tracking the GPS on her car, but nothing yet. He said he’d call as soon as they had something.”

  Mason ran a frantic hand through his hair. “You know your sister. Where would she go?”

  “Depends. Was she angry with you for leaving her here?”

  “She was fine when I left, told me she’d wait for me.” Mason frowned. “She seemed more irritated about the situation than angry with me.”

  “Alex is usually good about keeping her word. If she told you she’d stay put, then she wouldn’t have left unless…”

  “Unless something bad happened to make her change her mind.” Mason finished for him. The pressure in his chest tightened even more. She was in trouble. He sensed it. His wolf sensed it. While he fought the anxious animal’s urge to shift, Mason paced the room, trying to find any clue that might tell them where she went.