by Lisa Edmonds
Normally I would have used an air magic burner spell, but that wouldn’t even scratch the paint on the damn thing. Using my earth magic, I reached into the stone, grabbed the particles that formed the rock itself, and broke them apart. With a sharp crack and a burst of power, the stone turned to a pile of sand in my hand.
I sensed a presence in the circle a fraction of a second before an unseen hand gripped me tightly by the throat, cutting off my air. I clawed at my flesh, trying to pull the hand away, but there was nothing there. My fingernails gouged my own skin.
The cold fingers on my throat tightened. My vision tunneled. Choking, I fell onto my back.
Charles, holding his guts in with one hand, struggled to sit up, though I wasn’t sure what he thought he’d be able to do. Ben stood just outside the circle, eyes bright gold as he watched us.
I’d brought Malcolm with me as backup, safely stashed in my bracelet, but this was no ghost crushing my throat. It was a spirit, but the living spirit of a being so powerful it could travel through the trace of its own magic and throttle someone. I had no doubt it would simply discorporate Malcolm without even having to try very hard, probably killing me in the process.
A dark voice whispered in my brain in a language I didn’t know. It sounded like tay-may-tay day meenay. I had no idea what that meant, but threats sounded generally the same in all languages.
I only had a few seconds of consciousness left. It was time to find out just how much affinity for vamp magic I had.
I slapped my bloody hand to the runes I’d drawn on the floor, grabbed the spirit’s cold gray trace, and unleashed my blood magic on it. “Obliterate,” I croaked.
The runes flared in a burst of power. The spell was my ace in the hole, my backup in case my plan for removing and destroying the stone went awry.
My magic impacted the dark magic with the force of two trains colliding and the shockwave shook the building. The floor trembled and the chandelier above us swung madly as artifacts and paintings fell off walls and shelves and broke on the floor.
A roar of fury filled my head. The fingers squeezed and twisted sharply, as if trying to break my neck in that last moment, and then vanished with a pop of displaced magic as the last of the dark magic and gray trace burned away.
I sucked in air and rolled onto my side, coughing uncontrollably but thrilled to get air into my lungs. I was vaguely aware I had just rolled into the puddle of Charles’s blood, but I couldn’t care about the mess at the moment because breathing was the only thing that mattered.
When my vision cleared, I saw Charles sitting next to me holding his stomach. Bryan and Adri had joined Ben outside the circle. They’d probably come running when the building shook.
I felt like I’d been run over, but I managed to focus enough to break the circle. “Okay, it’s safe,” I croaked. “Your boss needs food.”
Bryan headed for the stairs, presumably to go fetch whoever would be providing Charles’s first course. I didn’t want to be here to watch him feed because it would make me think of him biting me and the less I thought about that, the better.
Charles looked like undeath warmed over, but he somehow had the strength to help me sit up. His fingers trailed along my arm before he sat back. His shirt covered the wound in his abdomen, so I couldn’t tell if it had healed. Probably not, since most of his blood was on the floor around us.
“A thank you would be shamefully inadequate,” he said, his voice thin but firm. “I do not know how best to show my gratitude, but I assure you I will compensate you justly for the risk you took to remove and destroy the stone.”
“You saved my life twice before,” I reminded him, my voice hoarse. My throat ached and I could almost feel those cold fingers still wrapped around my neck.
He shook his head. “You were shot by Kent Stevens because of an error in judgment on my part. I healed your injuries after the construction site murders with no expectation of repayment. Most importantly, I provided care at no risk to myself, whereas you risked your life to save mine. My honor demands I offer just compensation.”
I had no energy to argue with him about it tonight. “Then let’s say you owe me a boon and leave it at that for now.”
He inclined his head. “That is satisfactory.”
Several sets of footsteps were coming down the stairs, presumably Charles’s much-needed meals. That was my cue to leave. I staggered to my feet and nearly lost my footing in the blood on the floor. My stomach still roiled from the dark magic and nausea made my skin clammy.
Bryan appeared, accompanied by Matthias and two other enforcers. I gave Matthias a little wave. He responded with a slight nod, which was about as much of a greeting as I was used to getting from the notoriously stoic enforcer. I turned to head for the bed just as a fifth person reached the bottom of the stairs.
Sean.
My stomach lurched. I flinched and wrapped my arms around my middle.
Sean stopped near the bottom of the steps, keeping his distance. His face was hard, almost expressionless. No doubt he was angry about being kept upstairs.
Charles had been walking slowly to his bathroom. Bryan and Matthias were at his sides but he did not lean on them. He paused. “Maclin.”
Sean studied him, his eyes golden. The last time they’d seen each other was minutes after my death and resurrection. Charles had broken down the door of Jack and Delia Hastings’s house trying to get to me. The air was thick with tension. No one breathed.
“Vaughan,” he said finally. “I’m here to see to Alice, nothing more.”
Charles inclined his head. He continued to the bathroom, his steps unsteady.
When the door closed behind the vampire and his guards, Sean approached me, his worry prickling on my arms. “Are you all right?”
I nodded. “It’s not my blood. It’s all from Charles. The stone is destroyed and the magic is gone. Thank you for waiting upstairs like I asked.”
A muscle moved in his jaw. “We’ll discuss it later. What happened to your neck?”
I hesitated. I had a strong suspicion about whose spirit had tried to throttle me, but it seemed so farfetched that I couldn’t bring myself to say the words out loud. I might ask Charles about it later in private, but right now there were a half dozen other people in the room, none of whom I wanted to think I was nuts.
“The magic in the stone did that,” I said finally. “I’m fine now.”
Adri joined me next to the bed. “Come with me upstairs. You can use my bathroom to clean up.”
“Thanks.” I put the dagger into its sheath and the broken crystal into a small velvet bag and dropped both into my bag with my phone.
Sean glanced at Ben. Some kind of unspoken command passed between them. The younger werewolf took my messenger bag. “Here, let me get that so you don’t get blood all over it,” Ben said. “You look like Carrie at the prom.”
“I bet I do.” I sighed. “I’m very much looking forward to a shower.”
Ben and I followed Adri to the stairs. Sean fell into step behind us as we climbed up to the main floor. His concern and anger still scoured my flesh. I sensed him watching me as we walked, but he was silent. Part of me wished he would touch me, and part wanted him as far away from me as possible. I rubbed my temples.
“You okay?” Ben asked.
“Yeah.” I forced a tight smile. “Just feeling sick from the vamp magic, I think.”
Adri led me to a door halfway down the hall and took my bag from Ben. “You can stay in the hall,” she told Sean and Ben. “She’s safe in my apartment. There are no other exits.”
I expected Sean to argue, but he leaned against the wall opposite the door. “We’ll wait out here,” he said.
Adri and I went inside. Her apartment was about the size of a hotel suite, with a kitchenette, small living room, bedroom, and bathroom.
She led me into the bathroom, took a black plastic bag from a cabinet, and handed it to me. “Put your clothes in there and I’ll get them cleaned and back to you. I’ll ge
t you some clothes that fit and leave them here on the counter.”
She went into the bedroom to give me privacy. I stripped quickly and stuffed my bloody clothes into the bag, then handed it to Adri. “I’m jumping in the shower.”
“Towels and washcloths are in the cabinet. The green soap is really good for washing blood off your skin. Help yourself to whatever else you need.” She shut the door.
Before I got in the shower, I used my phone to look up the words of the spirit who’d tried to crush my throat. I wasn’t sure how to spell them, so I went to a translation website, used the speech-to-text function, and repeated what I’d heard.
When the search results came up, I stared at my phone.
Did you mean “Teme-te de mine”? the website asked.
Translation: “Fear me.”
The language was Romanian.
Well, shit.
9
When I emerged from Adri’s apartment thirty minutes later, scrubbed clean and wearing the signature black shirt and pants of a Court enforcer, I was surprised and relieved to find Ben waiting alone in the hallway and no sign of Sean.
“He’s back at the house,” Ben said in answer to my unspoken question. “There was another incident involving Caleb.”
I sighed and put my bag on my shoulder. “What now?”
“He didn’t shift in public this time, which is good, but he got into a bar fight and the cops were called. He went out the back and drove home to Jack’s house. By the time he got there, Sean had already gotten a call from the bar’s owner, so he had Jack bring him over to talk about it.”
Adri led us back down the hall toward the main security door. “I thought things were getting better with your young wolf.”
“They have, but he’s still having trouble controlling his temper,” I said as she placed her palm on the scanner to unlock the door. When the locks disengaged and the door opened, I felt some of the tension ease out of Ben’s shoulders. Few people liked to feel trapped and that went triple for shifters.
“I guess I shouldn’t jump to conclusions until we know the cause of the fight,” I added as an afterthought. “It’s possible Caleb didn’t start the fight, but he should know better than to get mixed up in a bar brawl. He’s not even twenty-one, so he shouldn’t have been in a bar in the first place.”
“I think that’s another thing Sean is talking to him about,” Ben said wryly.
We followed Adri to the front door of the mansion. She walked with us out to the SUV.
“Thank you for coming here and saving Mr. Vaughan,” she said as Ben went around to the driver’s side and got in. “All things considered, I thought you might not want to get involved.”
“Like I told Bryan, Charles has saved my life twice. Even if he says he didn’t expect repayment for it, I still felt like I owed him.”
She tilted her head. “And now it’s he who owes you.”
I shook my head. “I wanted to square our account, not tilt things back the other way.”
She took a step forward and pressed her lips to my ear. “Don’t refuse the boon,” she murmured. “Powerful forces are at play. Mr. Vaughan is an ally you’ll need, maybe sooner than you think.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, just as quietly.
“That’s all the warning I can give.” She opened the SUV door. “We’ll see you soon. Take care and watch your back.”
“Thanks. Good night.”
Our drive back to Sean’s house was quiet. I was tired, but the spirit’s threat and Adri’s warning kept rattling around in my head. I had a feeling I would probably have a hard time falling asleep, despite how long I’d been awake and what I’d been through in the past thirty-six hours.
Ben stopped at a red light and turned to me. “You can tell me to mind my own business if you want, but how are things between you and Sean?”
A little sizzle of pain passed through my abdomen. I wrapped my arm around my stomach. “I guess I’d rather not talk about it. No offense.”
“None taken.” A pause. “Does your stomach hurt?”
“A little. Probably from channeling the vamp magic.” I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes.
When we turned onto Sean’s street, I saw Jack’s truck still parked in front of the house and stifled a sigh. I wished I could just get in my car and drive back to my own home. My stomach was churning again. Was I that worried about facing Jack? Surely not.
“Alice? Are you going to jump out before I even get to the house?” Ben’s voice startled me. His tone was teasing, but he was frowning.
I took my hand off the door handle and reached down to pick up my bag. “Sorry. I’m feeling jumpy.”
“You really haven’t seemed like yourself at all today.”
“That’s what everyone keeps saying. It’s been a really tough day.”
Ben turned into Sean’s driveway and parked behind my car. My uneasiness grew at the thought I wouldn’t be able to leave if I needed to.
“Can you park over there instead?” I asked, gesturing at the third bay of the garage. “I doubt he’ll be taking the jet skis out tonight.”
Without commenting, Ben re-parked the SUV over to the far side of the driveway and we got out.
Instead of following him toward the door, I hesitated by my car. I had the nagging feeling I was supposed to be somewhere else, but I couldn’t think of where.
“Planning on running away?” Ben leaned against my car, watching me. “You look like you’d rather be anywhere else but here. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Reluctantly, I headed for the front door.
“I’ll see if I can get them to wrap up their discussion as quickly as possible so you and Sean can go to bed,” Ben said. “You probably just need some sleep and some werewolf TLC.”
My stomach cramped painfully. I leaned against the brick wall. “Maybe I should go back to my house.”
He looked worried. “You’re sick. Let’s go inside and get you upstairs to bed. Maybe you’ve got a stomach virus.”
I’d been thinking my tummy trouble was caused by healing spells or the stone’s magic, but Ben’s theory made a lot more sense. It didn’t explain my anxiety, but a bad stomach virus could definitely be making me feel out of sorts.
The door opened. Sean and Jack stood in the doorway. “We’re in the middle of something,” the taller blond man said brusquely. “What’s going on out here?”
“I don’t know.” Ben moved closer to me, almost protectively. “I think she’s sick and not thinking clearly. I’m having trouble getting her to go inside. She wanted to go home instead.”
Jack’s brow furrowed. “You need to stay here with us for safety,” he said, surprising me.
“Come inside, Alice,” Sean said, stepping aside. “Ben can help you go upstairs and get settled while I finish talking to Jack and Caleb.”
Still confused and a little on guard because of Jack’s apparent concern for my wellbeing, I went into the house, followed by Ben. Sean closed the door behind us.
Caleb stood in the living room, wearing his usual black T-shirt and ripped jeans. He strongly disliked me, partly because Jack and Delia didn’t like me, and partly because I’d told him to back off when he tried to intimidate me the first time we met.
Still, I greeted him. “Hi, Caleb.”
“Hey,” he said shortly.
“Patrick will be here in about forty-five minutes so you can head home,” Sean told Ben. “In the meantime, can you go up to the guest room and flip the mattress and put some clean sheets on the bed? There’s extra bedding in the hall closet.”
If Ben wondered why I was staying in the guest room, he didn’t comment. He headed up the stairs.
I started to follow, but Jack’s voice stopped me. “Alice, just a minute.”
I turned back. “Yes?”
He crossed his arms. “Just to make it clear where I stand, I’ve always believed it would be best for the alpha of a werewolf pack to choose a shifter as a
mate and that hasn’t changed. However, if there’s a threat to you, we stand with you.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Caleb objected. “Why stick our necks out for her? Like Delia said, it’s Alice’s problem; let her deal with it.”
“That’s not how a pack works.” Sean joined Caleb in the living room while Jack and I stayed in the foyer. “An attack on any of us is an attack on all of us. Delia should know better than to say something like that. You’re new to being a shifter and in a pack, but this is something you need to understand and feel: kinship with the rest of your pack.”
“But Alice isn’t pack,” he argued. “If we were talking about Ben or Jack or Karen, sure, yeah, I’ll step up. She’s just your girlfriend or whatever. That doesn’t make her pack.”
Sean’s eyes went bright gold in anger and he snarled. “Alice is my consort. It’s a shifter title that makes her more than a girlfriend. She’s a potential mate. She’s human, but she’s a powerful mage and she’s demonstrated she can use shifter magic as well. In any case, I don’t have to explain why she’s important to me, but I want you to understand why even Jack, regardless of how he feels about Alice, is standing with her. It’s a matter of honor, both his and the pack’s. He might not want to admit it, but his instinct is to protect Alice, even if he wants something different for me.”
A muscle moved in Jack’s jaw. “He’s right,” he told Caleb. “When you accepted our invitation to join our pack, you took an oath to stand and fight with us. As long as Alice and Sean are together, that means protecting her too.”
I pressed my hands to my abdomen and backed toward the kitchen. “I’m going to get some water and then help Ben upstairs. I’ll try to catch a couple hours of sleep. Wake me up if anything happens.”
“There’s some over-the-counter medicine that might help you in our bathroom,” Sean said. “Let me know if you need me to go get you anything.”
“Thanks.” I got a cup of water from the kitchen and headed for the stairs.
Sean met me at the foot of the steps, his expression softening despite the tension in the air. “Do you want me to come up and help you get settled in?”
