Lover Behind Enemy Lines

by Liv Olteano

  “I’m guessing by your face that you got your answer,” Nathan said in a soft tone.

  I nodded, afraid my voice would betray the intense feelings that were wreaking havoc inside me.

  He looked into my eyes. “Will you tell me about this person?”

  “Someday. But not right now.”

  “Okay. I’m good with that. Now, what can I do to get these handcuffs off?”

  “Promise you won’t try to escape or leave this house without my explicit permission?”

  “Promise.”

  A few seconds later, when there was no red circle around either of his wrists, I uncuffed him. He rubbed his wrists carefully and rotated his hands, making a bit of a face as he did so.

  It was as good a time as any for me to give this another shot. “Let’s talk about why you tried to break into our house.”

  He sat up on the bed, resting his back against the headboard. “That’s an easy answer to give. The reason I came here and tried to break in was you.”

  Chapter Four

  I STARED at him for a few seconds, not sure how to react to that. “You broke in because of me?”

  “Precisely.”

  His wrists showed no red marks, so it had to be true.

  I tried to decide what was the best way to deal with this—whatever “this” was. But it was difficult to say the least. So maybe a roundabout way would give me more clues. “Do you know what I am?”

  “Not exactly.” He sighed and crossed his legs at the ankle. “You already know that I’m Nathan Gallagher. Why is it relevant to you who I am?”

  “Ah. So this is a mix between a scouting expedition and sharing info, huh?”

  He smiled. “In a way. I’m fighting for my life here. That’s my motivation.”

  “We’re not threatening your life, Nathan.”

  “You might not be. But it’s in danger either way.”

  I sat on the chair next to the bed. “Please explain that.”

  “Do you have any siblings, Claw?”

  “Not blood-related. But I consider the guys here my family. Why?”

  He looked away from me and aimed his gaze somewhere on the large windows. “I had a sister. She was declared missing back when we were kids. You probably know that already.”

  I didn’t answer either way.

  “Her name was Vivian. We were partners in crime back then, before she… disappeared. We used to have such fun. I loved my sister.”

  “You talk about her in the past tense.”

  He nodded. “I took her disappearance very hard. My parents aren’t the consoling type that much, so I felt terribly alone without her. When I grew up, I started looking into her disappearance. Things didn’t add up. I explained that to my parents. In the end, they broke down and told me the truth. Vivian hadn’t disappeared as I’d thought. They’d sent her away.”

  “Why?”

  “My mother is part of the strongest witch coven of Seattle. I’m sure you know that too. My sister and I inherited skills from both my parents’ families. She says we’re stronger than any one member of our extended families, in fact. When we were kids, we could combine our powers and do things adults had a tough time managing. But Mother said Vivian realized from a very young age that she could gather more power from those around her. That it was like an instinct in her. Way back when, they used to kill babies like that. Nowadays families with such babies are expected to abandon them. But Father didn’t have the heart for it when she was a baby. He thought whatever instincts she had, they could educate her to control. It seems they couldn’t.”

  “You’re saying your sister drained power from those around her as a baby?” I asked, hiding the shock I felt.

  “If my parents are to be trusted, yes. She drained energy from everyone, including us. My own power seems to have grown accustomed to having to replenish itself. So it keeps replenishing itself until I’m so charged I’m almost ready to explode. She used to drain it off me and I felt well. After they sent her away, my mother started doing something similar so I could function normally.”

  “That’s disturbing.”

  He shrugged. “It had to be done. We tried to train my mind into stopping the amassing of power, but it just refuses to. Mother found some spells that extract and store my excess. And she used those reserves herself. It’s how she improved her position in the coven, in fact. But it’s one of those dirty family secrets nobody but us knew, until now.”

  “What happened to your sister, then?”

  He looked at me, his eyes brimming with sadness. “She ran away from the family they sent her to live with. She was just a kid. I don’t dare contemplate how she managed to survive on her own. But she did manage it.”

  “Did she reach out to you?”

  “No. She has some memories of us as children, but vague. She wouldn’t have known who her family was or where to find them. Ironically enough, we met in a café months ago. The resemblance between us is pretty obvious, but it wasn’t what alerted us to each other’s presence. Our powers interacted as they used to. As soon as we got close enough to each other, she immediately started to relieve me of my excess power. We were both alert and checking our surroundings, trying to pin who it was we were interacting with. And when we looked at each other, I just knew it was her.” He got up from the bed slowly and started to stretch and then walk around without a clear direction. “I told her she disappeared as a kid and we were never able to find her. Something about her told me sharing the truth would be a bad idea. And I was right.”

  “How so?”

  “She’s my sister, and I tried to make things right with her—for her. But she’s… different. She grew up on her own, with greater and greater powers and nothing to teach her limits or why anyone should have them. She scares me.”

  “Do you know about her spirit servants?” I asked, trying to gauge his reaction.

  He looked down and nodded. “She has a whole gang of magically enhanced regular people. She uses them like toys. And those spirit servants of hers gather her more power. I’m afraid of what she’ll do when she has enough of it.”

  “But how do I figure into this?”

  “I met her and her cronies in Denny Park some time ago. You were there. I sensed something special about you and that other guy you were with. But she sensed it too. She’s been trying to identify you ever since; trying to capture you, in fact. You’d surely make juicy sources of power.”

  Just like you are, I mentally added.

  “I’d seen the guy you were with in Denny Park; he hanged around my favorite café. I followed him to this house. I followed that Asian guy too, to Club Zee and back here. She wouldn’t say what you were or what made you guys important, but I sensed she feared you somehow. And if she feared you, then I had to talk to you. She needs to be stopped, but I refuse to allow any harm to come to her. She’s sick. It’s not her fault.”

  What his sister was doing was carefully planned and thought out. She wasn’t innocent of her doings by any measure. But she was his sister, and he probably felt responsible for her well-being.

  “And do you think we can do something to stop her?”

  “I’m hoping you can. Not harm her, though. I’m here to negotiate something of that nature.”

  “Negotiate? And what would your bargaining chip be?”

  “Anything you’d like. Anything at all. Name it and it’s yours, as long as you make me an oath that she won’t be killed.”

  “You’re offering yourself up?”

  “If that’s what it takes, and you’d be the one having me—yes. It would be no hardship. I find you very attractive. So I’d love to offer myself up to you, if it would do the trick. I’m planning to do it even if it won’t.” He grinned slyly.

  “So you don’t know what we are? Or what we do?”

  “You and your housemates?”

  “Yes.”

  “I have no clue. But whatever it is, it’s badass enough to worry my sister. And at this point, it takes som
ething pretty impressive to worry her. You’re my only hope. Please, Claw. I’m begging you. Help me save my sister’s life. Help me save her from herself.”

  No red band appeared on his wrists. He was telling the truth. It made sense, too.

  I studied his face. “Are you afraid she’ll harm you?”

  He sighed. “She might. Not intentionally, I think. But she’s been draining me ever since we reconnected. Up to a point I enjoyed the fact she did. It makes me feel lighter, closer to normal when some of the increasing power amassing inside me is drained. And I’ve been seeing less of my mother, so when Vivian came along I really needed some help with that. But I don’t like what she’s using it for. It’s not right.”

  “What if she finds out you came to us? Would she harm you then?”

  He thought about it for a few seconds. “I wish I could say she wouldn’t. But the kid I used to know and love and the woman I’ve reconnected with these last few weeks are different creatures. You’re pretty much my last hope. Just in case you decide to kick me out, at least I have traces of restraints to prove I was held captive. I could say you kidnapped me, or I broke in to find out more about you; you caught me, but I managed to get away.”

  “Because you think she’d harm you.”

  “She might harm me.”

  “Then you won’t go back to her.”

  He stepped around the bed, stalking slowly toward me. “Are you saying you’ll keep me safe?”

  “As much as I possibly can, yes.”

  “Why?” He got close enough for me to feel his body heat.

  “Because you’re a person in need of help. That’s what we do: we help people.”

  “Even people like my sister?”

  “As much as she can be helped, yes.”

  “And that’s your only reason for wanting to help me?” he whispered, staring into my eyes.

  Gods, it was intense. Looking at him this close was messing with my head. He was nothing like the boy I’d once known. His eyes were the same, but the person behind them wasn’t. Nathan was all man. There was nothing boyish about the mischievous glint in his gaze or the way he was slowly running the tip of his tongue over his lower lip.

  I swallowed thickly. “You don’t have to do that.”

  He batted his eyelashes all innocent-like. “Do what?”

  “There’s no need to seduce me in order to get my help. It’s yours.”

  “Wonderful. What if I want to seduce you anyway?”

  I couldn’t look away from his lips. “Do you?”

  He took one step closer but held back from actually touching me. His magic vibrated through him; the ripples of its power lapped at my senses and got me dizzy. Or was that just his mere proximity? I couldn’t think straight enough to differentiate between the two.

  “You’re an honorable man. I can tell,” he whispered. “I feel like I can trust you. It’s even more of a turn-on. Don’t try to tell me that you’re not attracted to me, because I won’t believe it. You are. I can feel it.”

  “And if I am?”

  “Then we’re both in luck. Because I’m really attracted to you too. I’d like nothing better than to eat you up right now.”

  I exhaled slowly, aware that the air would dance over his face. “I am very attracted to you.”

  He stepped back and looked into my eyes. “To me-me? Or memory-me?”

  A cold and ugly feeling slid through my heart. Was I betraying Menewa’s memory by doing this? Any other man would be entirely separate from his memory. But Nathan included something of him, while not being him either. Was I betraying both of them by mixing my past and the present?

  “I’m not sure I can answer that question right now,” I confessed. “It seems wrong to act on our mutual attraction until I know my answer.”

  He sighed and stepped back farther, then plastered on a smile. “Very well. But try to hurry up with the pondering. I’m not a patient man by nature.”

  “Thank you for understanding.”

  “Why does this feel like a brush-off?”

  “I assure you it’s not. You can tell I’m being honest.”

  He looked at my wrists. “It seems you are. Okay. Think about what you want to do, but hurry about it, please.”

  I nodded. I had important information that I needed to share with my team and Aashi. Not only was Vivian Gallagher able to use ley line magic, but she could use it to enhance regular humans too. She was without a doubt the most dangerous caster we’d ever run into. But we had a more or less secret weapon in our arsenal now: her brother.

  WE all went downstairs and sat at the dining room table. Nathan was beside me. Everyone else in the room either stole glances at him or glared with abandon—this last was Taka. After I shared what Nathan had told me, they were all silent and contemplated the info for a few moments.

  Taka drummed his fingertips on the table. “So you’d have us believe you came here not knowing who or what we are?”

  The way he glared at Nathan was becoming a permanent feature. I found it oddly endearing, but wondered for how long it would last.

  “I only knew you guys were powerful somehow—powerful enough to get my sister’s attention.”

  “You’re basically offering to help us apprehend her?” Angelo asked, studying his face.

  “As long as it doesn’t mean ending her life, yes. She’s my sister, but I’m not a fool. She’s too dangerous if left to her own devices. I’m sure you know that, judging by your expressions when you talk about her.”

  “We do know,” I replied when nobody else did. “But apprehending her will mean putting her someplace where her powers will become null. She may think it a much harsher cruelty than actually killing her.”

  Nathan sighed and ran his fingertips through his blond curls. “I suspect she will see it as worse than being dead. Her power is her reason to live. If she finds out I’m involved in her capture, then she’ll hate me until her very last breath. I’m aware of that.”

  “Do you envision helping us without her knowing you’re involved?” Drew asked, lifting an eyebrow.

  “Your power-draining connection to her has been throttled almost to the point of severing it,” Ginger intervened. “I’m pretty sure she knows something’s up with you. You’ve disappeared on top of that, so it’s obvious there’s something going on.”

  I thought about it. “But at this point she can’t know he’s a willing participant. Not unless she can see into our home base.”

  Taka crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I’m pretty sure she can’t see in. I put up an enthusiastic amount and diversity of shields since the last time someone broke in,” he muttered, and glanced at Angelo out the corner of his eye.

  The guy blushed a little. Drew set his hand on top of his man’s for comfort. “Then it’s a good thing we have those extra layers.”

  Nathan looked between us. “So you’re all magic users?”

  “Not exactly.” Drew shrugged.

  “But you are all something different. You register as powerful to me.”

  Ginger glanced at his nails. “Do we? Would we register as such to her?”

  “I’m pretty sure you would, yes. The ones she saw for herself did, for sure: Claw and—” He glanced in Drew’s direction.

  “Drew,” Angelo said softly and squeezed his hand. “So she knows about us.”

  Nathan looked genuinely curious. “What are you, exactly?”

  “You’re not fishing for information to share with your sister?” I asked.

  Nathan looked at me. “No, I’m not. I’m just confused about your energy signature and the kind of power you exude. It’s not strange per se, but definitely unfamiliar. And the as son of a Seattle coven big shot, anything registering as unfamiliar is a pretty strange thing.”

  “Ley line witches.” Taka rolled his eyes. “They always think it’s all about them.”

  Nathan smiled. “As opposed to you people, who are…?”

  We all exchanged looks. Would telling
him we were dreamcatchers give either him or his sister any power over us?

  “I’ll be right back, and we can discuss this,” I said as I felt Aashi’s summons to the webs room as an answer to my request to confer.

  Nathan frowned. “What, you just decide to take a coffee break in the middle of a serious discussion?”

  I patted his shoulder after I got up. “I’ll be right back. No worries, they’ll play nice.”

  “I’m rather hoping one of them won’t.” He grinned. “I’ve spent the last few days cuffed to a bed. My muscles need some action.”

  “Can I interest you in a tour of our training room?” Taka asked, suddenly looking entirely too happy.

  “Challenge accepted,” Nathan answered before I could say anything.

  “Then I’ll come find you guys downstairs.” I left the room. After I was out in the hallway, I added, “If you don’t kill each other in the meantime,” and shook my head.

  Aashi’s presence radiated from behind the double doors of the webs room. When I opened them, the spiderwebs that covered the walls and corners shivered as if in anticipation. The décor was sparse, but Aashi’s presence made anything seem lackluster anyway. Her black eyes shone with mirth, for some reason I wasn’t privy to—at least not yet. The grin on her lips told me she was about to share whatever juicy tidbit had her in such a good mood. It generally didn’t bode well for the receiver of the news.

  “Spirit mother.” I inclined my head.

  The double doors closed behind me without me touching them. “Son of my heart and sword of my cause,” she intoned, crooking her finger to beckon me closer.

  I walked closer to her petite frame. She preferred to show herself as a short Native American woman with flowing black hair that reached her waist and sun-kissed skin. The thick black eyelashes and finely shaped eyebrows framed the most perceptive and inquisitive black eyes I had ever seen. Mirth transformed her usually overwhelming presence into a strangely playful but scary one.