Wrath and Magic (Spells and Sins Book 5)

by Melody Raven

  A moment later, Derek came out of the kitchen.

  “Everything okay?” asked Sam.

  He shrugged. “Who knows? Parker and Dante are fine, but I’m not sure about this whole ghost thing. I don’t like this.”

  Well, she was pretty sure no one liked it, but she wasn’t going to say that out loud. “I think we’re almost done here and we’ll move onto the next building. Claire, Bastian, do you want to come with us to the office? That way we’ll be in a bigger group.”

  “I need to sit here and not move,” he said through clenched teeth. She had a feeling it took a lot for him to admit that he couldn’t move. “Just hurry.”

  She nodded before she motioned for Derek to come back with her. Once they were alone again, she glanced around. “Okay, we’re almost done, right? What more do you think needs to be checked?”

  But instead of answering her, Derek’s hands went around her waist and pulled her back against him. She caught her breath as she felt his hard muscles and hard... other things pressing against her. It was impossible not to be aroused as he ran his hands over her stomach and then the front of her thighs. Not touching anything explicit, but the meaning all too evident. “I can start checking here,” he said into her ear before he took the lobe between his teeth and gave a soft nibble.

  It took Sam longer than she was proud of to remember that she wasn’t exactly in a place where she could indulge this kind of fantasy. She tried to pull away, but Derek’s grip around her stomach held her in place. “Derek....”

  In a flash, he flipped her in his arms and pushed her back against the desk. Her legs naturally parted for him and he pressed fully into her center, his heavy-lidded eyes staring down at her. “I can’t stop myself,” he warned as his hips moved in a primal rhythm against hers, their clothes the only thing stopping them at this point.

  Even as she tried to get logical, multi-syllable words out, little waves of pleasure shot through her nerve endings. “I, um, focus, Derek. Please.”

  “I can’t.” He bent down to her neck, where he kissed her before taking some of the sensitive flesh between his teeth. “I’m different.”

  She tried to blink through the pleasure. “Different? Different how?”

  “Claudia did something to me. I can’t think, can’t breathe without wanting you. Not like before. Not like normal. I need you like I need water.” He licked his way up her neck and then reached her earlobe once more. “Like air.” He nipped at her ear; her eyes drifted shut and she curled her fingers in his hair.

  “Derek....” But nothing else came out. She was moving with him now, his sensual spell working its way around her and sucking her in deeper and deeper....

  “I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I just need you all the time. Any time. Anywhere. I came back wrong, Sam.”

  That had her eyes popping open. Wrong.... This was wrong. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She moved her hands to his chest and tried to push him off, but he was an immovable object.

  He looked down at her, the hurt evident in his eyes. “You don’t want me anymore? I came back wrong and now you’re done with me. I should’ve known.”

  She shook her head, trying to clear the haze from her mind. “I don’t— What do you mean, you came back wrong? You’re Derek. My Derek. You’re fine.”

  “I’m not fine. I’m never going to be fine again and it’s all your fault.”

  No. This wasn’t right. Derek would never say that to her. She pushed at him once more, but again he didn’t budge. So this time she put some magic behind her thrust and shoved at his pecs. She expected him to go flying across the room, but instead he disintegrated in her hands as he turned to smoke right in front of her until there was nothing left. She was alone in the small office. Her hands shook as she stepped away from the desk and swung in a circle, looking for evidence of Derek—or whatever that was.

  It couldn’t have been Derek. Derek was supportive and loving.... Like he had been just a few minutes ago while talking about Claudia. That was... something else.

  So where was Derek then? She ran out of the office to see Claire and Bastian right where she’d left them. But she thought back to what Derek had done. He’d gone in the back to check on Angela and Dante. From the look on Claire’s face, Sam wasn’t looking calm and collected, but she didn’t care right now. She ran to the kitchen and pushed open the doors, only to see Angela passed out on the kitchen floor.

  When Sam approached, she saw the familiar shoes poking out from the back. She bent down and verified that Angela was still breathing before she moved on to where Derek was lying, motionless. After going to the freezer—which was no longer on, thank goodness—she saw Dante’s body too. Between the three of them and Bastian, that meant everyone but Claire had been attacked. Shit.

  Sam stood and looked around her, not sure what to expect. Derek hadn’t been Derek. That meant Claire and Bastian could be compromised too. How would she know who was real? She supposed she had been able to turn the other Derek to mist. Maybe that would be the best way to test her friends to make sure they were who they said they were.

  She wouldn’t be able to carry all three of them out of this kitchen without help, so she’d have to test Claire and Bastian before they did anything else.

  Letting out a deep sigh, Sam left Dante, Derek, and Angela where they lay. Except when she went back into the main floor of the restaurant, Claire and Bastian weren’t sitting at the table. They were backed up against the wall and staring at the entrance in horror. Sam’s gaze followed and she soon saw what they were looking at. Zeus and Hera sauntered in and they both looked pissed. Their upper lips were raised, exposing the hint of tarnished fangs. Zeus had an extra gross string of drool hanging from his jowls as they stepped forward, one slow step at a time.

  Hera unexpectedly made a snapping motion at the air in front of her face. Sam frowned and stayed still. She wondered what exactly they were seeing that she wasn’t. What kind of horrors did the hellhounds pick up that her eyes couldn’t? They advanced steadily in the room, and even though she still had a fair bit of fear where the hounds were concerned, they didn’t seem interested in her.

  As they got closer, Sam softly stepped aside as they pushed their way into the kitchen.

  She padded behind them as they walked over Angela until they found their favorite person, Derek. Zeus took what she hoped was a gentle bite of his shoulder and started to drag him out of the room, even pushing Angela aside. Even though the hound weighed far less than Derek did, it didn’t seem to have any problems with the weight, and Sam didn’t see any blood coming from his shoulder. She had a feeling that if she tried to come between the hound and Derek, she’d cause him and her a lot more injury than if she just let them go. Sam stepped aside and held the door open for Zeus as he continued his mission to get Derek out.

  The entire time, Hera moved her head from side to side, the constant growl emitting from her throat a steady warning to any looming presence around them to stay the fuck away.

  She had to admit, she was starting to warm up to the idea of having a hellhound as a pet. She met Claire’s eyes and motioned to the front door with a jerk of her head. The girl immediately rushed over to open the door for Zeus and Hera. Neither of the hounds seemed concerned with Claire, which seemed like a good sign. As soon as they were gone, the three of them—Sam, Claire, and Bastian—looked around as though waiting for any more surprises.

  “Angela and Dante are both knocked out,” said Sam finally. “I’m going to need your help to get them out.”

  Bastian nodded as though it was business as usual as he approached her. As he started to pass, Sam reached out and set a hand on his arm, sending a jolt of magic out. He rolled his arm away from her and glared down. “What the fuck was that?”

  “Just a precaution,” she said, not apologizing. “Go on.”

  He narrowed his eyes but didn’t say any more.

  Claire made her way over and eyed Sam suspiciously. “Are you going to do something to me?” />
  “Do you want me to be suspicious of you during the entire drive home?”

  Claire sighed and held out a hand. Sam held it and squeezed tightly as she shot her magic out. Bastian had hardly reacted, but Claire’s entire body stiffened and her knees just started to give out before she stood.

  “Sorry.” Sam let go. “I tried to rein it in.”

  Claire shook her head. “It’s fine. I think Bastian’s tolerance is just higher than, like, a robot’s.” As if to prove her point, Bastian then showed up, carrying Dante over his shoulder. Both the women stepped aside for him so he could take Dante back to the car.

  “So...” said Claire finally. “No diary?”

  “I don’t know,” said Sam finally. “If we’re going to keep looking, we need to come up with a better plan. Right now we’re getting picked off one by one.”

  “Did you see anything?”

  Sam tried to stay cool, but when she felt something stabbing her palm, she realized she was squeezing her nails into her flesh so far it was testing the bounds of the skin. She forced her hands to relax. “I did,” she finally admitted. It would be unfair to understate the nature of what they were up against. That being said, she didn’t want to admit what exactly had happened. Namely, how tempted she had truly been. “What did Bastian see?”

  Claire shrugged. “He didn’t say. But whatever it was, it scared the hell out of him. Which scared the hell out of me.”

  Sam nodded. She hadn’t seen anything that had truly affected Bastian. What had he seen that could shake him so much? Probably nothing as pleasant as her own phantom. “What about you? Did you see anything?”

  Claire shrugged. “Same story. I did but nothing I want to talk about. I didn’t get attacked, though. I walked out of the kitchen and whatever it was left me alone.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything when it happened? I should’ve known.”

  “I, um....” Claire winced. “I didn’t think it was a ghost at first.”

  “If it wasn’t a ghost, what would it be?”

  Claire stared ahead and sighed. “I, um, I saw Jackson.”

  “Okay.” It wasn’t crazy that the evil spell would take form of the evil witch.

  “Except this isn’t the first time I’ve seen Jackson.”

  “You mean he’s been coming to see you since he escaped?”

  Claire let out a bitter laugh. “Not exactly. I mean, before he escaped I’ve been seeing him. Like, visions of Jackson that taunt me. Ever since I killed him. I thought they stopped when we brought him back, but seeing him here....” She shrugged. “I just figured I was going crazy again.”

  Sam reached out and set a hand on Claire’s arm. “Hey, you’re not going crazy. I mean, with all the stuff we’ve seen... I think it would take a lot more than a few pesky visions to make me think you’re crazy.” Claire scoffed and Sam didn’t really know what else she could say. Claire should know that the crazy level was raised pretty damn high for the both of them. “After everything you’ve seen, why would you think that seeing a few pesky visions meant you were losing it?”

  “I just.... You weren’t there. They didn’t feel like visions. It felt like he was there, in front of me. Touching me.” Sam’s eyes widened and Claire winced as though she realized she’d said too much. “I mean, it’s not like I’m a normal person seeing things. I’m not even a normal witch. I’m a soul sucker. I imagine the bar for crazy is lower. Or at least the stakes are higher.”

  “I’m not worried about it. And I’m kind of older and wiser than you, so you should take my word for it.”

  Claire shot Sam some side eye and smiled. “As long as you’re sure,” she said in a very unconvinced voice.

  Bastian came back inside then. “You two couldn’t even get the girl?” he grumbled.

  “You do it so much better than us,” said Sam sweetly. As he walked by, she touched his arm once more and he winced before he pulled away.

  “Really!” he barked.

  “I owe you dinner, I promise,” she said. But there was no way in hell she was taking any chances from here on out. He carried Angela a bit more carefully than he had Dante, and Claire and Sam followed him out. The hounds had deposited Derek next to the SUV and stood diligently on guard, looking either way. Sure enough, there were no visible wounds on his shoulder. Sam carefully approached, waiting to see whether the hounds would give her any trouble. But, strangely enough, as she got closer, Zeus and Hera both ran off down Main Street.

  Damn. She didn’t want to leave without them, but she couldn’t wait around any longer. She bent down and pulled Derek’s shirt back. There would definitely be a bruise from Zeus’s strong bite, but the skin was all intact, thank goodness.

  “What’s the plan?” asked Bastian.

  “We should go. Can you put him in the car?”

  If he was annoyed at being the muscle again, he didn’t show it. He simply reached down for Derek and started to lift him up. Right as he hooked an arm under Derek’s shoulders, Derek’s eyes snapped open. Sam’s breath caught in her throat and she began to smile. But before she could get too happy, Derek’s hand reached out and he crushed Bastian’s throat.

  Derek blinked as he tried to reconcile what he was seeing with what he knew was reality. Something had happened. He didn’t know what, though.

  He turned around and looked up and down the deserted street. The town had taken on an eerie quality, which was saying a lot considering it had been damn freaky before.

  The mist rolled in through the downtown buildings. He could even see the outline of the low clouds as they swirled around his feet. What was bothering him so much?

  He glanced up and down the road and realized the cars were gone. Sam was gone. Shit, Sam.... Where would she go? She wouldn’t leave him here, would she? Did he do something to scare her off? Why couldn’t he think straight?

  He couldn’t scare off Sam. Hell, he wished Sam would scare easier sometimes. But she obviously wasn’t here, which made him think that he wasn’t there either. Maybe none of this was real. Sam wouldn’t leave him. Not after everything they’d been through. Somehow he was absolutely certain of that.

  So if that was the case, where was he? He saw the restaurant they’d all been searching and he started for it, looking for any sort of clue. Before he could take more than a few steps, a woman appeared in front of him. There was something familiar about her dark hair and deep blue eyes shrouded in tears.

  But even though she was crying, her face was contorted in rage as she held her hand out toward him in a way he’d seen replicated by Sam so many times. He stepped back as the witch stared him down. “You’re never going to hurt anyone again!” she screamed at him as a blast of power shot out from her palm.

  Derek braced himself for the blow, but nothing happened. He looked down at his chest and back at the apparition that was now gone. He was once again alone....

  He brought a hand to his chest and verified that he was still in one piece. Yep, all there.

  He started for the restaurant once more, more eager than ever to get out of the road. This time he only got four steps before another vision hit him. The same witch from before was crouched down on the ground, her body shaking with sobs. A moment later, the mist cleared and he could see what she was crying over. Rather, who. Bastian, looking the same as he did now, was unconscious on the street, his chest a deep red from some injury he couldn’t make out.

  “Please...” the witch breathed. “Please come back to me. I’ll do anything....”

  A breeze swept down the street, and the vision blew away as though it had never happened at all. He finally realized that it was Claudia he was seeing. He was seeing what had happened all those years ago. But why? How did he get here? And did he want to get out of this strange state of being or should he stay until he knew more about how Claudia beat the darkness?

  Even though it seemed to be a different plane of existence, he didn’t have any illusions. He might be no safer here than he was in the real world, an
d considering he had no idea what the rules were, he knew he needed to get to safety as soon as possible. There was no Sam or Bastian or Claire here to help him.

  He winced and rolled his neck, trying to relax as much as possible. When had he become so reliant on them to keep him safe? He’d spent so long on his own, doing everything for himself. Ever since he’d first started working with Sam, things had changed. He hadn’t felt in charge of his own life anymore. Hell, he hadn’t been in charge of anything. Nothing could symbolize exactly how unprepared he was than the fact that he’d died.

  Nothing about his life seemed in his own hands anymore.

  “You’re lost.”

  He turned around to see a woman. This wasn’t Claudia. This didn’t seem to be anyone he’d ever met before, and thank goodness, because she was terrifying. Her hair was inky black. And by inky, he meant it was dripping wet, but not with water. There was a black substance dripping down her white dress and onto the pavement around her bare feet. Her eyes were shrouded by dark circles, and the ink seemed to be coming out of her fingers as well. He thought back to Heather trying to hide how the darkness had taken over. This woman was positively saturated with darkness.

  Derek eyed her up and down. She didn’t seem overtly threatening, but he wasn’t naive enough to believe he wasn’t in danger. He reached for his shoulder holster, but there was no gun. He seemed to be on his own.

  “You don’t need to be lost.” The woman’s voice wasn’t natural. There wasn’t an echo, but it seemed as though there were at least three people speaking at once.

  “Can you tell me how to get back?” He didn’t really expect her to help him, but he didn’t know how to handle the strange apparition. She was either about to attack him or he could use her to his advantage. Unlike the strange vision of Claudia, this woman spoke right to him. She seemed more real than the other things in this world.