A Touch of Death

by J. J. Dean

  Quietly, I ask, "What makes you think you'll turn into that person for using something that's in your nature to use?"

  "Because... Because I've seen it happen to my father. What's to say it won't happen to me?" he answers resentfully. I open my mouth to answer, but he keeps talking before I get a chance to dispute his questioning. "I didn’t have an easy start to life. For the first twelve years of my life, I was raised as a power source by the man who was supposed to love and care for me. My mother died shortly after my first birthday, so it was down to my father to bear the responsibility of caring for a child. Only, it wasn't so much of a burden for him since he only used me, tapping into my powers and pulling on them to add to his own. Twelve years of being drained until I had just enough power to stay alive was all I knew. Loving a man who didn't love me back, thinking what he was doing was some twisted way to show me he loved me and needed me. The first twelve years of my life were the worst until my Paw figured out what was happening

  "My Paw was my mom's dad. He wasn't an incredibly powerful mage, but he was one of the good ones. When he saved me from that bastard, I was malnourished and drained too much to be able to replenish my energy or power. My Paw gave up his power to keep me alive. He drained his power until he only had a flicker left to stay alive and gave everything to me to keep me alive. He lost his immortality that day and began to age, becoming barely more than a human with only the ability to flip the newspaper over without using his hands. He sacrificed his power and immortality, so I would have a chance to live. He passed away a year after my twenty-sixth birthday when my immortality kicked in. I haven't seen my father since my Paw took me in, but I know he never stopped looking for more power."

  He's quiet for a moment, so I gently ask, "How did your mom pass away?"

  "She was drained until she was nothing more than skin and bone. It's never been confirmed who killed my mom, but I'm positive that bastard killed her. My father had been doing the same thing to her as he did with me, only I was always more powerful, so it was easy to withstand the amount he drained from me. I don't doubt he killed her, maybe as a mistake or not, who knows. But it left me in the hands of his greed."

  Spencer faces me with a look that breaks my heart in pieces. The gold in his eyes is dimmer than I've ever seen them, and I find myself missing the sparkle they usually hold.

  "Spence, I've only known you for a short amount of time, but I know, down to the very marrow of my bones, that you could never turn into your father. Don't you see that? I mean, along with the others, you saved me, took care of me, and have given me a place to live. You went shopping for clothes for me because you and Zayn knew I didn't have anything of my own." I look down and twirl the beautiful ring Zayn gave me, watching the light glint off the polished surface. My head comes back up, and I look into Spencer's eyes with determination. "You've exhausted yourself by using a lot of your power just to create a livable room for me, a complete stranger you didn't know three days ago. I fully believe you aren't capable of doing what your father did. You're not him, Spence. You're one of the good ones too."

  He stares at me for a moment longer before releasing a long sigh and looking down at his lap. Instead of pushing the issue, I let my words sink in. I turn back around and lean against the wall. With a bout of courage, I tilt my head as though to rest it against his shoulder. I stop halfway, shake my head, and take off my hat. Once it's on the floor beside me, I carefully rest my head on his shoulder. I can feel him tense under my head, but he quickly relaxes, slowly dropping his head to rest on mine.

  A whole flurry of sensations breaks out inside me. The same stirring from when I kissed Nix returns, a little fainter, but there nonetheless. My pulse picks up its pace, and a faint warmth sparks in the centre of my chest, spreading through my body slowly.

  I don't realise I've tightened my grip on Spencer's hand until he rests his free hand on top of mine. "Novia, are you okay?"

  I nod against his shoulder but don't give him a verbal answer. My focus is on the strange feelings unfurling inside of me. What is happening to me?

  "Novia?" Spencer asks, lifting his head away.

  "Hmm?"

  He chuckles and then quietly says, "I said, I'm sorry for dropping all of that on you. I didn't mean to...I should have just... I'm sorry. You're the only one that I’ve told besides the guys. I'm not really sure why I did, but I appreciate you listening."

  "You don't need to feel sorry for anything. I'll listen whenever you need someone to talk to." When I lift my head away from his shoulder, the warmth stops spreading through my body and begins to dim.

  I turn my head to face him, only to find him already watching me. When my eyes meet his, the gold in his eyes grows brighter, and a silver flash of colour zips through his irises until it disappears again. Spencer inhales sharply through his nose, and his lips part slightly. "That shouldn't be possible."

  "What? What shouldn't?" I ask, breathless, though I have no idea why.

  With his gaze still on mine, he says, "I need to talk to Zayn."

  He lifts himself from the floor, releasing my hand as he does so. I climb to my feet right after him. Just as he goes to walk out of the room, I ask again, "Spencer, what do you mean? What shouldn't be possible?"

  Spencer turns around to face me again, wearing a look of disbelief. He still doesn't answer me, only stares at me like I'm some enigma that he's trying to work out.

  Feeling suddenly awkward and shy, I tuck my hair behind my ear, and he tracks the movement. His eyebrows rise slightly, and he steps forward as though he can't help himself. He walks closer to where I'm standing, eyes on a spot just past my own. When he's close enough, he lifts his hand and trails a finger along the edge of my ear. My entire body shivers, and a hot flush rushes through me. I inhale swiftly, and my nostrils flare. His touch sends lighting through my body, a sudden ache forming at the apex of my thighs. Arousal has liquid pooling between my legs when Spencer slides his finger back down to my earlobe.

  I reach up to grab his arm. With a husky voice that gives away the effect he's having on me, I tell him, "You really shouldn't do that to a fae's ear."

  His eyes snap to mine, and when his gaze meets mine, heat flares up in those honey coloured irises. He swallows audibly, but his voice still has a raspy tinge to it when he asks, "Your ears weren’t pointy before?"

  Just above a whisper, I reply, "Glamour. fae can glamour."

  When my hair falls from where I'd tucked it, he brushes it aside and places it behind my ear again, brushing the incredibly sensitive skin there. His eyes flick back to the side of my head, so, while he's watching, I pull up the glamour over my ear and back down again. He reaches out to stroke it again, but stops just shy of his skin meeting mine when I pathetically whimper. "You really shouldn't touch a fae's ear."

  My skin feels hot to the touch, and need hits me so fiercely that it causes me to clench my thighs together to try and ease the pressure. It does nothing but draw Spencer's attention. Lust sparks in his eyes again, but this time he moves away from me. He creates enough distance that the heat finally begins to fade, and rational thinking returns.

  "I'm-" he clears his throat. "I'm going to find Zayn. I'll finish up here after I talk with him."

  Before I can say a word, he's gone, walking down the stairs and leaving me alone in my new room, aroused, conflicted, and utterly confused.

  Chapter 15

  Spencer

  Walking away from Novia is more difficult than I care to admit, but I do it. I need to talk to Zayn, and I need to talk to him right now. Maybe he can tell me what the hell just happened, tell me that it couldn't possibly be what I think it is.

  I walk down the stairs and barge into Zayn's room without any warning. I find him reclined on his bed, propped up by pillows with his legs crossed at the ankles and a book in his hand. He looks as though he doesn't have a single worry about anything.

  Dick.

  "What? Why am I a dick? I haven't done anything!" he declares with bewildermen
t.

  Shit. That wasn't supposed to be a projected thought. I mumble an apology and shut the door behind me before sitting at the end of his bed and falling backwards to stare at the ceiling.

  "Do you want to tell what has you wound up tighter than a harp cord? Or why you're calling me a dick when I couldn't have possibly done anything to earn the title because I've been in my room since returning from our walk?" he asks with a calm voice.

  Instead of verbally answering, I let him see what happened in Novia's new room. I show him the silver flash across my eyes, and the accompanying emotions that followed: an all-encompassing hunger to make her mine, needing every piece of her the same way I need air, wanting to own her from the tips of her toes to the hair on her head. I show him the ache I felt in my chest when I refused and walked away, show him the need that's still pounding at me to go back up the newly-created stairs and cement the bond I'm sure just flared up inside me like a lit firework.

  "Well, that's certainly a new development," he comments, being as useful as a chocolate teapot.

  I groan and rub my hands over my face roughly. "A new development, sure. But you know as well as I do that a Mage Link isn't a common thing. But apparently, she's mine."

  "Spence, it's not the end of the world. In fact..." he pauses, clearing his throat. "Nix and I have come to realise that we're bonded to her, too."

  I turn my head and look at him with wide eyes. Did he just...

  "Yes. I did. Nix has already told me that she's his mate. His animals are only soothed when she's near, and he feels the same need to claim her as you do. Same for me, it seems. When she cut herself on the glass, and I had to leave the room, it was because her blood was like a siren call, and I was only barely able to resist."

  I stare at him with my mouth parted in shock. "What about Ezra? She's tethered to him too, right? Has he mentioned anything?"

  Zayn shakes his head, "He hasn't mentioned anything, though he's kept to himself since the decision to let Novia stay with us. But I don't think it's possible for an incubus or any other demon to create such a bond. Demons are known to be flighty, unable to form strong connections due to their distaste of monogamy. It's not in their nature. I'm surprised Ezra has stayed with us all this time, not that I'd want it any other way."

  I take a moment to absorb that information. I've never encountered a bonded demon before, so maybe Zayn's right. But that then leaves the question of why Novia would tether herself to someone who couldn’t be bonded to her. Better yet, how is this even possible? fae only mate with fae, so how have a mage, a vampire, and a shifter found themselves with a mating bond that recognises Novia as ours?

  "That's something I'm researching at the moment. It shouldn't be possible, but I'm positive we've all bonded to her, and she to us. I don't believe Novia understands or realises she's tethered to us, but she feels it. She feels the bond she's created as strongly as we feel ours," Zayn tells me, placing a bookmark in his book and lifting from the bed to return it to his bookcase. "The research I've conducted hasn't given me any answers, but I'll continue to search. There has to be answers for something that shouldn't be possible."

  He comes to lie on his bed, mirroring my position, but while my hands are knocking my hat off as they run through my hair, his are clasped on his stomach. We lie in silence while my brain tries to absorb everything Zayn has told me. How is possible that a fae has tethered herself to Naturals that aren't other fae? How have three of the four of us bonded to the same female?

  "What do we do about it?" I ask Zayn after a long stretch of silence.

  He thinks about my question for a moment. "I suppose we should all discuss everything. Mating bonds can't be ignored. They'll only grow stronger the more they aren't acted on. Novia needs to understand what's happening because she's more confused than us, given that she doesn't even realise it's a mating tether she's created. It's best if we all gather and talk about it."

  I give him a nod. "Sure. That would probably be best. I'm going to finish Novia's room, and then we can all sit down and talk it out."

  "Perhaps we can discuss it after we take Novia to buy things for her room?" he says, smoothing a hand over his clean-shaven face. "I'd prefer that she has a completed room to retreat to if she becomes overwhelmed or needs space while she digests all we have to tell her."

  That's a very good point. Best to have a room that she can hide in comfortably should she need it. I nod and lift myself from Zayn's bed, snatching my hat up and placing it on my head backwards. "Alright. I'll go finish the room. Should only take a few minutes. Go find Nix and Ezra. We'll all take Novia shopping. It'll be good to get everyone out of the house, I suppose."

  Zayn smiles, and I head out of his room, heading back up the stairs at a slower pace. When I reach the top step, I find Novia standing on the balcony with the french doors wide open. Her hand is out in front of her, palm facing the sun, and the breeze stirs her hair, blonde tresses floating through the wind.

  Just seeing her again has my heart thundering heavily in my chest, the bond demanding I be near her. I spent so many years telling myself I was never going to let anyone else in after my father used me like his personal power source. Especially after witnessing the man who loved me like my father should have, and raised me to be the man I am today, pass away after giving me something I was unable to give back until my immortality hit. Then I go and find my Link. A Mage Link isn't common, but not entirely rare. A few mages have been fortunate enough to find their Link, but many are still searching, even after years and years. I just never thought I'd find mine. And I definitely wouldn't have thought it would be the fae we saved.

  But here I stand, watching her like I can't tear my eyes away, a need so powerful that it's taking me all I have not to let instinct rule and claim her right here, right now. I never thought I'd allow anyone else in after the guys, but I know as well as any mage alive how important a Link is. I know that it's not something I can deny, and, surprisingly, I find I don't want to. For the first time in decades, I want someone to know me, all of me, and that someone is Novia.

  I won't make any kind of move until she understands what's happening to all of us though. She needs to know, and the sooner we buy whatever she wants for her room, the quicker we can explain.

  I step into the room, making my steps loud enough for her to hear. She turns her head and smiles a little awkwardly when she sees me. I'm not liking that smile as much as the other ones I've received from her.

  "Uh, hey. Are you okay? Did you talk to Zayn about whatever had you rushing off?" she asks, her voice seeming a little more distant than it had before.

  "Sorry about that," I tell her, avoiding answering her questions. Before she can say anything else, I say, "I'm going to finish your room. After I'm done, we'll take you to get whatever you need or want to make it yours."

  Her smile turns more genuine. That smile does something funny to me, but I keep my shit on lockdown. We have stuff to do, and then we'll talk about everything.

  "Okay. Give me another second, and I'll help you out." She turns her head to face the outdoors again, her hand still outstretched towards the sun. A couple of seconds later, she slowly begins to glow, faintly at first until a white misty light surrounds her entire body.

  She moves away from the balcony and walks towards me. Holding out her hand towards me, she says, "We don't need you overworked again, so I'll syphon energy to you while you work."

  I hesitate only slightly. I don't know if I'll be able to touch her without my bond surging to the forefront of my mind and the need to claim her becoming too strong for me to resist. When I see the flicker of hurt in her eyes though, I decide it's worth risking. My hand darts out, and my fingers clamp around hers, a look of surprise crossing her features before she grins at me.

  "Okay, do your thing."

  It's hard to concentrate on anything other than her hand in mine, the soft feel of her skin, or the way she's subconsciously brushing her thumb over my knuckles. It takes a lot of effor
t, but I finally push everything to the back of my mind and draw on my power. A yellow light flickered with gold sparks grows around my hands, my power feeling stronger than it has before.

  I look down at the hand holding Novia's the same time she does. We both lift our heads, and I'm left absolutely breathless when Novia smiles the brightest smile at me. Her teeth sparkle in the light that's streaming through the room, while her eyes sparkle with something I need to see more of.

  Before getting completely distracted, I pull my attention away from Novia and focus on her room. There are some electrical things I need to iron out before her room is finished, so I pour my effort into fixing that. I can feel Novia filtering energy slowly into my body, so whatever I use is replenished in a matter of seconds.

  Quicker than it would have taken without Novia's help, I finish her room until everything is as it should be. I don't release her hand, though. I don't think I can make myself at this point. "Alright, sweetheart. Let's go get you some decorations and stuff."

  She squeezes my hand, and I tug her towards the stairs, thankful to myself for making them wide enough for two to walk up and down at the same time. We get to the kitchen to find Nix leaning against the sink. When his eyes latch onto Novia, they light up like I've never seen them before. His eyes roam over her before stopping at our hands. I watch him closely, spotting the frown that forms and then disappears just as quickly, replaced by a different grin. The grin he's now sporting resembles more of a Cheshire Cat than anything.

  I roll my eyes before asking, "Where are Zayn and Ezra?"

  "Zayn is rallying Ezra. The asshole is being more stubborn than usual. Give it five minutes," Nix says, moving away from the sink and to the fridge. He opens the door and pulls out a glass of what looks to be Dr Pepper. He holds it out for Novia, who gladly takes it, thanking him with a smile. She releases my hand, and I send a glower in Nix's direction. He did that on purpose, and the smug grin he's sending me back just proves as much.