The Forbidden

by Cheyenne McCray

  With a bat of her tremendous paw, Junga knocked the witch facedown. The female screamed. So did several other witches.

  “No! Please don’t hurt Sandy!” another witch cried as Junga sank her incisors into the redheaded witch’s nape.

  The instant rush of blood flowing over her tongue was an aphrodisiac like no other. She dragged the screaming witch from the room, intent on enjoying a good meal. And Sandy was a very good meal, indeed.

  October 31

  34

  Early in the afternoon of Samhain, Silver woke in Hawk’s arms. Despite what they’d experienced the previous night, right this minute she felt safe and secure in his embrace.

  She was facing him, her head tucked under his chin.

  No matter that she was bone weary, she needed him in ways she couldn’t begin to understand. She needed to heal. To feel complete. To hang on to whatever comfort she could have.

  She needed to feel him inside, outside, and every way she could have him.

  The curtains were drawn, and only a slight yellow cast of sunlight peeked through the shades. Hawk and Silver were naked beneath the covers, their legs and arms intertwined. Renewed energy poured into her body. A magical lift radiated through her in wondrous sensations. Sensations she wanted to share with Hawk.

  Silver kissed the curve of his neck. He smelled clean and masculine, of the lily-scented soap and his intoxicating scent that she’d become addicted to in such a short time.

  Barely a week ago he’d first visited her world. How could she have come to need him so much in such a short amount of time?

  She brushed her mouth over his Adam’s apple, the stubble rough beneath her lips. He stirred, shifted.

  “You need rest,” he murmured in a sleep-roughened voice.

  “I need you.’’ Silver flicked her tongue along his throat to his strong jaw, tasting the salt of his skin.

  A rumbling groan of desire rose up within his chest. She pushed gently at his shoulder, guiding him onto his back. With his good hand at her waist, he took her with him and the sheet slipped from her shoulders, down to her buttocks, baring her, baring him.

  She straddled his waist. Rocking slowly on top of Hawk, she enjoyed the feel of his lean hips between her thighs, and her moans mingled with his.

  With a sigh of pleasure, she leaned forward. Her long, silken, clean hair drifted over her shoulders and across his chest.

  She placed her forehead to his. “Love me, Hawk. Love me like we have forever.”

  Silver took his mouth, claiming him as her own. While she continued to rock, she gently nipped at his lower lip and he responded with a low groan.

  He slipped his tongue into her mouth and she took it within her, lightly sucking, tasting. His flavor was as intoxicating as his scent, and her head spun.

  With a sigh of complete surrender to the emotions filling her, Silver tangled her tongue with his. Their lips met, their teeth nipped, and their tongues danced.

  Hawk couldn’t get enough of Silver’s taste. “Hawk.” Her hair tumbled over her shoulder and caressed him as if it had a life of its own. “Please come inside me. I want you there.”

  She rose onto her knees just enough to place the head at her entrance.

  A fraction at a time, she eased down on him. Dear gods, she was sweet. He watched her in the dim light as she took him deep inside her and she moaned. She bit her kiss-swollen lower lip while she began to rock against him in slow, even strokes. A small gasp escaped her with every thrust. He traced the curve of one breast with his fingers and she shivered beneath his touch.

  She arched her back, her breasts thrusting high, her chin tilted up and her eyes closed. Her hair floated over her shoulders, all the way down her back, to whisper across his thighs.

  Hawk felt so heavenly inside her that tears gathered at the corners of Silver’s closed eyes. His possession was complete and total.

  That twisting, spiraling sensation in her abdomen grew stronger and she felt it begin to swell throughout her body. She held back, waiting, waiting for Hawk. He thrust into her as she moved against him, their joining becoming harder, more needy.

  Their eyes never wavered from each other. Silver moaned and sparks began to glitter around her. She couldn’t help the magic slipping from her.

  “Come with me, a thaisce.” Hawk’s movement became more urgent. “I want you to come with me.”

  Silver gasped as her orgasm burst through her. A rainbow glittered behind her eyes and then shimmered out of her, filling the room with her magic, reaching every corner, every space. The orgasm swelled within and without, and left her feeling so perfect, so complete.

  Hawk released a shout as he pulsed within her channel. She continued to shudder as she rode him, rode him until he gripped her hip and rolled her onto her side.

  Her mind spun with the suddenness of the move and the glitters around them spun, too. Gradually the sparkles faded as her orgasm slowed to small clenches in her channel. He moved so that his cast rested on her hip, their legs intertwined, much like they had been when she’d woken.

  Still struggling to find the breath to speak, Silver caressed Hawk’s stubbled jaw with her fingertips. A sensation swept over her from head to toe and she knew it was going to be so hard to let this man go.

  Hawk tucked Silver tighter to his chest, and she breathed deeply of him, imprinting his scent and the feel of him into her memory.

  A deep shuddering sigh racked Silver’s body. Why did it feel as if her heart were being ripped into tiny pieces?

  35

  Normally on Samhain, Silver and the other witches would decorate with Halloween decorations. They filled cauldrons with candy to give to the children who stopped by Moon Song for the goodies.

  After the Halloween celebration for the children, Silver and her D’Anu sisters would go to a secluded place on the beach and perform a Samhain ritual.

  This year, Jake and his officers had barricaded the street and surrounded the place with “caution tape.” They didn’t want kids anywhere near the shop.

  And now, here they were, on their way to Golden Gate Park to prepare for the battle with the Fomorii.

  As she and Hawk traveled in Bitty, Silver’s throat was so dry she could barely swallow.

  Her sweaty palms slipped on the steering wheel as she maneuvered the battered car through the dark San Francisco night.

  Neon lights illuminated one street where several nightclubs competed to drown out one another with music so loud it pounded in Silver’s head.

  She caught glimpses of adults in Halloween costumes—demons, vampires, werewolves, and of course witches. In the past she had often wondered what humans would do if they knew what really came out at night.

  Tonight she was too worried to care.

  While Silver drove the VW up and down city hills, through neighborhoods and past young trick-or-treaters, Hawk sat quietly beside her, his gaze fixed somewhere in the distance. No doubt his mind churned over their plans for tonight.

  Despite Silver’s protests, he had removed his sling, but at least his black cast remained, holding his broken bones together. He’d sheathed his sword and dagger—there was no convincing the man otherwise.

  Silver tried to swallow again, but her dry throat refused her. It's really happening. We’re going out to meet the Fomorii head-on.

  Her stomach cramped again. What if she was responsible for more deaths?

  But so what if she was? Wasn’t killing preferable to what the beasts would do?

  The cramp in her stomach nearly brought tears to her eyes. What’s wrong with me? How could I have come to this point, to feel nothing at the thought of the demons’ deaths?

  And Darkwolf. What if he was there and she couldn’t fight the mental hold he seemed to have over her when she was near him?

  The thought of his sensual pull, those dark eyes, that magnetism, caused her to bite the inside of her cheek, hard.

  I will not let him get to me.

  She forced herself to focus on the
plan. It had to work.

  What if my witchcraft fails me?

  High above, cloaked with their magic, she was certain the D’Danann kept pace with the beat-up yellow VW. Behind Silver’s vehicle, Mackenzie followed in her little car. Cassia riding with her, Mortimer in Cassia’s pocket.

  Silver had left Polaris at home, not wanting the familiar to be in the middle of the battle. She missed him and wondered if maybe he should be there, too. He’d certainly been displeased with her when she left with the others.

  Jake and his team might already be at the park. But Eric—he was nowhere to be found. A knot of concern for him rose up within her. It wasn’t like him to not show up on time.

  Goddess, please, Silver prayed as she turned her thoughts to what they must do. Please let this work.

  She stopped at a traffic light and clenched and unclenched her hands as a ghost, a Faerie, and a superhero made their way along the crosswalk. The rising harvest moon illuminated the trick-or-treaters in an eerie glow.

  This will work. It must work.

  Hawk remained silent the entire trip to the park. Once they arrived and climbed out of the car, he met her at the back of the vehicle.

  He grasped Silver’s hand and drew her into his embrace with his good arm, and her head rested against his chest. His warm length pressed flush against hers, and as always, her body reacted to him. Wanted him.

  Needed him. A need so great it pushed all thoughts from her mind for that moment.

  She closed her eyes and breathed in his masculine scent that somehow gave her strength and calmed the bat wings darting around her belly. Somehow this man made her feel like everything was going to be all right.

  An ache enveloped her heart and she suddenly felt a burst of something for Hawk that she couldn’t clearly define until the word came to her.

  Love.

  Was there such a thing as love at first sight? Love so soon? They’d only known each other for a short time.

  Definitely lust at first sight, but love?

  Yet it had been magical between them from the moment they met.

  She shivered and bit her lip to hold back any words that threatened to spill through her lips. Now wasn’t the time. Hawk was leaving and she would likely never see him again.

  When he pulled away, she opened her eyes and tilted her face up to look at him. In the light of the harvest moon, his features were dark and proud.

  Silver reached up to meet his lips and he kissed her in such a long, sensual kiss that it melted away the last of her nervousness, giving her a sense of calmness. A sense of rightness.

  An ache squeezed Hawk’s heart as he drew away to look down at his beautiful Silver. Her gray eyes glittered and the glow of the full moon highlighted her features. She smelled of lilies and starlight, and a cool breeze off the bay. She’d been so warm, so very warm in his embrace. So perfect.

  “You are my hero, Hawk.” She looked up at him, and he could see the sorrow in her eyes. Sorrow that he was leaving? “You always will be, no matter what.”

  He stroked a strand of her hair. “And you are mine.”

  Together they walked hand in hand to join the others. It was well over an hour yet to midnight, and they needed to be ready. They hoped the Fomorii hadn’t arrived early.

  Sher and Aideen scouted the area and the surrounding trees for signs of the Fomorii. When they found none, they led the rest of the winged D’Danann to the meadow. They were to settle in the trees surrounding the clearing and await the arrival of the demons.

  When he, Silver, Cassia, and Mackenzie entered the woods, Hawk paused.

  Silence. Complete and total silence.

  Not the sound of a breath. Not the crack of a twig. Not the twitter of a bird. Not the trickle of water. Not the hum of insects.

  Nothing.

  It was the nothing he didn’t like.

  They slipped into the trees, Silver leading since she knew the path. She used her illumination spell, the soft blue glow lighting their way down the invisible path. The air smelled of rich earth and pine, yet something sinister, too. A smell that caused hair to rise at his nape.

  Behind him Cassia stepped on a branch. A loud crack echoed through the trees.

  Mortimer gave a squeak from her pocket that sounded like a reprimand.

  Hawk winced and cast a disapproving look over his shoulder at Cassia, and she gave an apologetic grimace.

  The blue glow that had been surrounding them dimmed and in that fraction of time all went dark.

  Hawk turned back to follow Silver—

  She was gone.

  There was no sign of her blue glow.

  He cut his gaze back toward Cassia.

  Only Mackenzie stood behind him. Open-mouthed. Eyes wide.

  Cassia had vanished.

  * * *

  Silver heard the crack of a branch behind her, but didn’t stop to look. She crept through the near darkness, focused on finding the meadow until she finally reached the tree-line. Moonlight bled across the open space before her.

  She glanced up at the full moon. A red cloud passed over the yellow-orange globe.

  Red cloud. Blood will be shed tonight.

  The thought made her shudder.

  The meadow appeared eerie beneath the unearthly moonlight. Not a ripple on the pond’s surface. Not a ruffle of grass. Not a movement in the trees. Not a breeze over her skin. Yet there was a strange shimmer to the air.

  Hair prickled on her scalp. Nothing felt right. She turned her worried expression toward Hawk.

  No one was there.

  Silver’s heart pounded in her dry throat. She raised her hands and magnified the glow from her fingers to see better.

  Nothing. No Hawk. No Cassia. No Mackenzie.

  Sensations like worms crawling over her skin caused Silver to shudder again.

  She heard a soft hiss. Then another. And another... All around her. Everywhere.

  Then she saw eyes. Black glittering eyes. Hundreds.

  Snakes.

  They began to slither from the trees, from the ground, coming straight toward her.

  Silver stumbled backward, out of the trees and to the middle of the meadow, near the pond. A branch cracked beneath her feet, the sound like a shot through her heart. She slapped her hand over her mouth to hold back a scream as the snakes slithered closer.

  She tripped over her feet, almost falling. She whirled to run.

  And nearly slammed into Eric.

  Silver came up short and held her hand to her chest. “Eric. Thank the goddess it’s you. Where have you been?” Her gaze whipped back to the snakes that now were still. Some rose up, nearly standing on their tails, as if watching Silver and Eric. She blinked in surprise.

  She cut her eyes back to Eric.

  He smiled. An evil, chilling smile that turned Silver’s blood to ice.

  Her name came out of his mouth in a long hiss, “Sssssilver.”

  Silver’s jaw dropped. “Eric? What’s wrong with you?”

  His smile was broad and two long, sharp fangs appeared, like a rattler’s. “Eric issss dead.”

  Stunned at the sight of the fangs and the words. Silver shook her head. Nothing made sense. Eric dead?

  Taking a step back, she let a spellfire ball grow between her palms. “What the hell is going on here?”

  Eric—or not Eric—advanced on her. “Just a nice little ssssurprise for you, Ssssilver.”

  Eric was really dead? Silver swallowed and her stomach pitched. Is that why we couldn’t find him tonight?

  The spellfire ball grew bigger in her hands. Darker.

  His eyes slowly shuttered from the sides. A long, forked tongue flicked through his lips. “And now you have sssssssserved your purpossssssse. You have led the other witchesssss here and I will enssssssure your assssssisssstance.”

  Silver’s eyes widened and she shook her head in disbelief. She took another step back. Tripped near the pond. Her booted foot slipped in the slick mud. She fell so hard on her backside that pain
shot up her spine.

  Eric’s features melted away.

  Melted.

  His arms vanished.

  His legs molded together.

  His head flattened. Elongated. Shifted.

  A beast rose up so that it towered above her, its body at least twice as wide as hers. It had thick red scales and a yellow underbelly, a yellow and red fan of cartilage and skin behind its head.

  It was no longer in Eric’s form. The creature was a Basilisk.

  Without hesitating, Silver flung the dark ball of purple fire at the Basilisk. The fire enveloped the creature—but instead of stunning it, or burning it, the creature seemed to grow in width and height.

  Goddess, help me!

  Powerful fog flew from her fingertips to wrap around the creature’s length. “Sleep," she commanded in her thoughts. “Sleep!”

  “Ssssssilver,” the Basilisk hissed as its head slowly moved from side to side in a methodic, mesmerizing motion. “You ssssleeeep, Ssssssilver. It isssssssss time. Firssssst you help ussssss, then you join sssisssster.”

  Silver blinked. Swayed. Fought the hypnotic hold of those black eyes.

  Her magic faltered.

  It happened so fast.

  Silver screamed. Tried to turn and run.

  In a flash, the Basilisk coiled itself around her body.

  Pain wrenched her. She heard and felt the sickening pop of bones in her chest. Felt air whoosh from her lungs. Black spots appeared before her eyes, and her grip on consciousness faded.

  The Basilisk clenched harder.

  Squeezing the life out of her.

  The next thing she heard was Cassia’s shout. Saw a flash of blinding white light searing everything in its path.

  Silver’s world went black.

  * * *

  “Cassia just vanished. Gone.” Mackenzie’s gaze cut to the leaf-strewn ground, then back to Hawk, anger etched on her features. “She was there, and then she wasn’t.”