Sebastian simply nodded before turning and excusing himself to his office. Steven wasn’t too far behind. After a few more moments, Winter left as well. Ethan went after Winter. I still didn’t understand why those two had a way with each other, but they did. I was left alone with Cole.
Slowly he moved closer to me. “This is quite the situation, isn’t it?”
I shrugged my response. I wasn’t sure what to say, and there was still a part of me that didn’t want to discuss things with Cole. He espoused that he had the packs’ best interest at heart, but I had a feeling he reveled in the strife more than he’d ever admit.
“Winter’s upset, but she’ll follow him anywhere.”
Unsettling discontent wafted off Cole like a stench. Was it Sebastian’s power or Ethan’s position that he wanted? Or was it just an ingrained desire to take what others had?
“I think we have things handled here. I don’t see any reason for you to stay.” I was having a hard time concealing my contempt for him.
“Does my presence bother you that much?”
“Cole, I don’t trust you.”
His tongue slipped over his lips, moistening them. After giving me a long, hard look, he stepped even closer—close enough that all he had to do was lean down for his lips to brush against my ear. “I don’t think you mistrust me. You don’t trust how you feel when you’re around me. Deep down, you know fidelity has never been something Ethan has committed to, and there must be a part of you that believes being mated still won’t change that. He mated with you because you’re sweet and inexperienced. I don’t think you’re nearly as naïve as he believes you are. I think you feel it. You made a mistake. The small imperfections you tolerate will soon tire you. I suspect I’m a reminder of all the things you won’t get from Ethan—honesty being one of them.” With that jab, he turned and walked away before I could respond. He looked over his shoulder before he exited. “I’m sure he hasn’t told you that the mating bond can be severed for reasons of infidelity. It happens so infrequently most people forget. After all, what type of person would cheat on their mate? With Ethan, it might be something you remember.”
The urge to walk into Sebastian’s office and ask that he send Cole away was so strong I had to force myself to stay planted in that spot until my anger and umbrage resolved. It took longer than I’d expected. Cole was very gifted in the art of manipulation, or perhaps he wasn’t and I was constantly feeling the weight of my insecurities about our relationship. Ethan’s past was something I often thought about, and I hated that Cole could easily make me worry about something I’d worked so hard to get past.
CHAPTER 11
After my run-in with Cole earlier that day, I really wanted to be alone and was working on a way to ask Ethan to stay at his house when Josh knocked on my front door. I didn’t want to see Ethan, and I wasn’t thrilled about seeing his brother, either. I urged a smile onto my face and opened the door.
He stopped at the threshold and assessed me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
His lips twisted into a scowl of disbelief, and he angled his head. “Really, because I don’t believe you at all.”
“Cole,” I breathed. “He has a way of getting under my skin.”
“About Ethan, right?”
I stammered, trying to find the right words while ignoring how awkward it was to discuss my relationship with my mate’s brother.
His face was still twisted into a scowl. When he finally spoke, his voice was serene and earnest. “I’ve tried to get my brother to stop doing challenges to the death. I hate them and still consider it a barbaric practice. I get that few people challenge him or Sebastian because of it, but it’s still hard to deal with. He stopped doing it for you. The thought of hurting you bothers him. He’s never cared enough about any woman to worry about it.”
He swept his hand over the room. “He stays here all the time. Do you know how much he hates your house? It’s a tenth the size of his, you don’t have the same privacy he likes, and you have neighbors who drop by all the time. I’m convinced he only likes a handful of people, and on most days, I’m not sure I can be counted among them.”
I made a face. “Yeah, you really do irritate him.”
I was treated to one of his wayward grins. They seemed to share a peculiar sibling pride from irritating each other. It was a dynamic I didn’t understand. Sometimes, their interaction was reduced to puerile extremes in attempts to out-annoy each other. He moved closer and clamped his hands on each side of my face as he brought me close to him. After planting a chaste kiss on my forehead, he continued, “Do you know the level of overprotective crazy my brother has? Now I have someone to share it with, and it’s still too much.”
“Speaking of overprotective crazy, why are you here?”
“Magic. You need to do it.”
There was a familiar pounding on the door as if a magical spell had summoned them. I wasn’t surprised to find Trent and David at the door, grinning, holding my full moon basket. They handed it to me the moment I opened the door and pushed past me in their typical fashion. As usual, they were bright-eyed when they saw Josh. Initially, they, too, were charmed by the charismatic guy with the tattoos, disheveled hair, and sleek, lean physique. His looks had held their attention the first time, and maybe even the second time, until they’d seen him perform magic, and then that became his sole appeal. I imagined they’d been on their way home when they’d spotted his motorcycle. The basket was an excuse for them to visit.
Seated on the sofa across from Josh, their eyes glinted with expectation.
“You know I change into a wolf, right? Does that impress you at all?” I asked, sorting through the bag of caramel and chocolate-covered popcorn, glazed nuts, and chocolate-dipped fruit. Even though I appreciated the actual call of the moon, I looked forward to the basket more.
Trent looked at me with little interest. “Yeah, yeah. Your hot boyfriend is a wolf, the sexy mean one is a wolf, the gorgeous Southern boy is a coyote, and tall, dark, and broody is a panther. And Dark Swan with the resting bitch face is a snake. Yeah, impressive. You’re all great. All animals I can see at the zoo. Good for you—a menagerie. I’m sure there’s a cookie in that basket. Why don’t you treat yourself to one?” My sneer made him laugh, but I only garnered a fraction of his time. His attention was back on Josh, who displayed amusement at my neighbors’ interest. He might have been faking it; they didn’t care.
An hour later, Josh had done his version of Fantasia, with books, pillows, and various knickknacks moving in a chaotic dance. He treated them to several more tricks, including moving an object from one of their hands to another, and after several moments of pleading, he traveled with Trent, moving him to the backyard and back into the livingroom in a matter of minutes. Magic never bored them, so Josh had to end the visit by telling them he had to work with me. Only then did they seem mildly interested in me. I urged them to leave because I wasn’t sure what to expect from my restricted magic. I was nervous doing it even with Josh; I didn’t want to risk their safety.
Josh smirked once the door closed. “Uninvited guests,” he teased. “I’m sure my brother loves that.”
I shrugged. “He likes them.”
“I’m sure he does.… You’ve met him, right?”
I laughed. “He doesn’t play well with others.”
Josh was still smiling warmly as he stood in front of me and grabbed my arm, examining the spot where the mark had been. Concern overshadowed his face, placing a wary frown on it. He released my arm and ran his fingers through his hair several times.
“Do something easy, like a protective field,” he instructed softly. Stepping back, he observed me avidly.
Tightly bundled magic packed away for storage, never to be used again, felt heavier—ready to be used and exert its energy. I relaxed into it, allowing it to release, unfurl, and course through me. As soon as I gave it free rein, it flooded through me, renewed and strong. Too strong. It was different from
what Josh and I had worked with before, and he sensed that, too. He watched with caution, his hands positioned to use his magic easily if necessary. A golden diaphanous sphere formed around me, and I was surrounded by the strong magic that was neither natural nor dark. The connection felt foreign, as if it were being controlled by something else. The overwhelming feeling was similar to what I’d felt when Maya had used me to curse the pack. Pressing my lips tightly together, I refused to allow any words to come through me. I closed my eyes to concentrate, and images of people appeared. Intense eyes enchanted in magic. Their lips moved in unison, and I tried to make out what they were saying or reciting. An invocation—no, a spell. I snapped my eyes open.
Magic pulsed off the sphere so hard it pushed Josh back. A magical sandstorm whirled through the room, pinning him against the wall. He struggled, and strong magic blasted from him; his eyes went black as coal as he called on more powerful magic. A dense mass of magic formed in the bubble, suffocating me as it pulled at my breath and coursed through my body. A slow death. I pushed back; she pushed harder, working to control my words and actions. Maya wasn’t fighting me, but Josh. He wore the struggle on his face.
I wasn’t going to win the magical battle with her, but I refused to concede. I forced a change as she’d done when the Creed had been about to restrict her magic. She made me pay dearly for the decision as she fought the transition. I felt my bones break and screamed from the pain. The pull of my ligaments was torture as they moved to accommodate my new form. I felt the pressure of my clothes tightening around me before they ripped from my body. Hair stabbed through my skin. Fur matted to my body, but I was no longer ensorcelled. My panting was drowned out by Josh’s. He rested against the wall, his face pasty and glistening with sweat. I rested for a long time, sprawled in the middle of the floor and trying to gather enough energy and pain tolerance to go through the change again. Transitioning back to human form was comparably easy and less painful; I was holding on to the excruciating pain I’d just endured.
Half an hour later, I was in human form, wrapped in the throw from the sofa and sitting across from a wide-eyed Josh.
“What the hell was that?” he finally breathed out.
“I don’t know. It’s not the same magic. It’s not even dark magic. She’s using Faerie magic.” I was guessing—Faerie magic was its own distinctive brand.
“I think she’s looking for a new host,” he said as he rested his head back against the wall. “Me.”
She was probably tired of me restricting her and was looking for someone who possessed a great deal of magic. Together, the two would be unstoppable.
“She was in my head, trying to lure me into accepting her.” Faes were weaker descendants of Faeries and had the ability to compel people into artificial emotions to do their bidding. I imagined Faeries had that ability on a larger scale. From the look on Josh’s face, it had been hard to resist.
Before I could question him further, his phone rang. He grabbed it off the arm of the sofa, looked at it, and made a face. “She’s fine,” was the first thing he said. “And if you care, I’m fine, too.” He didn’t have the energy to lace his words with the typical acerbic sarcasm he reserved for Ethan.
Josh answered Ethan’s questions tersely until he reached the end of his patience. “I know you’re on your way here. Why don’t you save the questioning?” He ended the call.
“Do you really wonder why you’re not often among the handful of people he likes?” I joked.
He flashed me a half-grin, which took a lot of effort. “Not at all. I take pride in him randomly taking me on and off the list.”
Ethan didn’t show up alone. When I came out of the bedroom, dressed in different clothes since my other clothing was torn beyond repair, I found Ethan, Sebastian, Dr. Jeremy, and Kelly in the living room. Behind them, trying to peek around, were David and Trent.
My brow furrowed in inquiry as I tried to make sense of the odd grouping. I understood my pack being there, but I had no idea why they’d invited David and Trent. I quickly realized they hadn’t.
“Hi, guys, what brings you by?”
David pushed through the small crowd. “Well, my little cotton blossom,” he started while I wondered how he’d come up with that one and when I would tell him to take it back wherever he’d found it. “We were at home about to have a nice dinner when our electricity went out. Everyone’s except yours was out for nearly fifteen minutes.”
“Mine didn’t go out.”
“Exactly. And I’m not the only one who noticed.” He gave me a look similar to what Sebastian and Ethan gave me when they thought I’d been careless with magic. “Your secret club is having a big problem with the ‘secret’ part.”
“Sorry. Things got a little out of hand.”
David shrugged. “I understand. Just be careful. Please.” There was more to his request. I knew he worried about me more than he wanted to admit. His introduction to the otherworld had been grim. He’d never admit it, but I could tell he wished he could be in blissful ignorance where vampires, faes, mages, witches, and were-animals were just tales.
With a strained smile, he looked over at Josh and me, then around the room, summing up the situation as best he could with the limited information he had. He didn’t even look curious, just wary of what it all meant. Waving, he and Trent let themselves out.
“How are you?” Dr. Jeremy asked, moving toward me, penlight in one hand, emergency bag in the other.
“I’m fine. No bruises, no injuries, just a slight headache.” The latter a result of trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
“Maya’s looking for a new host,” Josh informed them, disconcerted.
Ethan’s face blanched, and Sebastian inhaled a ragged breath. They both knew that without Maya, I couldn’t live.
“We need to find another shade,” Ethan speculated after a few minutes.
“Spirit shades can’t just enter someone, right? The host has to request it,” I said.
“Exactly. But every time Sky uses magic, Maya takes it as an opportunity to lure someone into asking. She got in my head, and I’m not sure how.” Josh started to pace, biting at his nail beds. “It was like a siren call. I had a hard time resisting it. If Sky hadn’t shifted, I’m not sure I could have held out very long.”
“Sky, don’t do magic,” Sebastian instructed. He didn’t have to tell me—doing it made me feel like Maya was suffocating me. She’d offered her life to me. Was killing me the only way she could free herself? Or was she hurting me just enough to distract me and prevent me from silencing her? I’d been too busy trying to breathe to notice her attempt to beguile Josh, which added to my fears. She didn’t need to cast a spell to find a host.
“You don’t have to worry about that. She won’t find another host she considers worthy, human or were-animal. Shifting to your were-animal prevents her from performing magic, and humans with their lack of magical ability will weaken her,” Josh said.
“The biggest question is why. The removal of Sky’s restrictions and Maya trying to find another host are somehow linked. This can’t be a coincidence,” Sebastian mused. I knew it was more than just the connection he was worried about. He wanted to know how it would affect the pack, who was behind it, and why. Why was the biggest question. Once we found out the why, the who would be easier.
Ethan regarded his brother. “Josh?”
“I don’t know, but I plan to find out.”
It was hard not to be offended by Josh departing as fast as he could, doing everything short of scaling the walls to keep his distance from me. I wasn’t the problem; the shade occupying my body was. I couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be coaxed by her, to feel the rapture of her magical seduction. Josh was highly susceptible to different and more powerful magic. It was his Achilles’ heel, and he knew it. That magical nudge from Maya had been all he’d needed.
I looked around the empty house, still feeling the magic that wisped through the air. Ethan had gone with Jo
sh to figure things out. It was only a matter of time before they realized they couldn’t work together. Good intentions were one thing, but execution was another. They always intended to get the job done, only to be faced with the reality that their personalities didn’t work well together. Eventually, one of them would relegate the other to another room in the most impolite way possible. Brothers.
The lingering magic felt odd. Images of the people I’d seen during the magical sandstorm resurfaced. And there was the enigmatic pull of the Aufero, which I hadn’t felt in a while. I tried to shrug it off, but denying it was hard. I opened the closet where I stored it. A foggy gray coloring drowned out its orange glow as it pulsed to life. I slammed the door closed and locked it—as if that would change anything.
I couldn’t just sit around; I needed to do something. With a notepad and a spell book next to me, I sat on the couch and wrote out the words I thought the people had been saying. I wrote just one word per line, afraid that if I put them all together, I would unwittingly unleash something again. I had no idea what language the people were using, so I spelled the words phonetically. I scanned the spell book for something similar. Google Translate was a bust, as did a global search.
I was doing another search, using slightly different spellings of the words, when there was a light knock on the door. A familiar knock—Quell’s. I disabled the ward and opened the door wide enough for him to enter, but he stayed planted at the threshold, staring at me. The smell of blood came off him in waves; he’d either just fed or was feeding too much. Vampires always had a faint odor of blood, but it now overpowered Quell’s scent.
“Do you want to come in?” I asked with hesitation. He seemed different, and I wondered what Demetrius’s programming had done to him.
“Yes.” He didn’t move, displaying the same hesitation I’d had with the invite.
After several long moments, he stepped over the threshold and went into the living room. True to his nature, he stood unmoving in that unsettling, unmistakably vampire way.
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