Hands raised, Reid—or whatever the hell his name was—kept his tone calm and measured. “I don’t have the money on me, but I’ll get it. I’ll give every penny back—”
Another rise and fall of that crowbar. “You’re damned right you will. Tomorrow night, same arena, same time. Bring every cent, and we might let you walk out alive.”
Funny, they thought they had a say in that.
“Maybe we take the girl as collateral.” A short guy, notable for the ridiculous amounts of chest-hair bursting from the top of this shirt, leered my way.
Flipping my sword over the back of my hand, I caught it in an overhand hold. “I’m betting I can cut off your dangly parts before you lay a hand on me. You wanna gamble on that?”
“We don’t need the girl.” Hints of a creole drawl laced through Good ‘Ole Boy’s light and taunting tone. “Because if Reid here is stupid enough not to show, we’re coming back and burning this place to the ground.”
Reid visibly bristled, and everyone in the room knew they had him.
“See? I knew he had at least an ounce of sense.” Good ‘Ole Boy’s smile didn’t waver, yet never quite reached his eyes. “We’ll get our money, Reid will learn his lesson, and no one else has to get hurt.” Turning toward the exit, he jerked his head for his men to follow. “Come on, boys. I’m sure these lovebirds want to make the most of their night together.” Just outside the door, he paused and glanced back with daggers of death stabbing from his eyes. “Because if either of them tries anything stupid, it’ll be their last.”
Chapter Six
“Hi, I’m Octavia Hollows. I don’t believe we’ve met. Reid, was it? Or, Nicky? No, I believe you went by Lawrence?” Lips pursed in visible contempt, I folded my arms over my chest.
After checking all the doors in the club twice to make sure they were locked, Reid kept his gaze on a high-alert swivel. “My name is Reid. I never lied about that. I can even show you my driver’s license to prove it. And, technically speaking, you never asked for my last name, so—”
“Ah!” I wagged my finger inches from his face. “Nuh-uh! You don’t get out of this on a technicality.”
Catching my accusatory finger, he held it loose between us. “Hicks, my name is Reid Hicks. All those other aliases, I pulled from old Wolfman movies. Which is pretty ironic, now that I know the truth about myself. Kind of explains why I was always drawn to those characters.”
“By all means, let’s discuss your adorkable traits of the past, and not the fact that you’re obviously being set up for something horrible tomorrow.”
“Without a doubt, I am.” Casting another glance to the door, he lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug. “Bright side? They can’t kill me.”
Realizing he was still holding my finger, I tugged my hand away. “And when they realize they can’t, they may decide to take their aggression out on the boxing club just for funsies. This place is Jack’s life. We can’t let that happen.”
“Absolutely not,” Reid seconded.
Chewing on my lower lip, I turned on my heel and strode to Jack’s office where I dropped my sword back on his desk with a thump.
Bacon welcomed me back with a lift of his head, before yawning and flopping back down on his side.
Hip perched against the edge of the desk, I looped my thumbs in the front pockets of my jeans. “Okay, so this is basically a magical math problem. We just need to figure out the right equation. Dina would normally be my go-to, powerful breaker of all wards. If I had any clue where she was.”
Following me in, Reid squatted on the floor beside the cot to scratch Bacon’s belly. “Dina?”
Pulling out my phone, I glanced at the screen and prayed she had called. No such blessing had been granted. “One of my former foster mothers, and a bad-ass Wiccan. She and her entire coven went looking for me, and have since fallen off the map. I came here hoping to find them. No luck there yet.”
Concern creased Reid’s forehead. “Look, my bullshit doesn’t have to be your bullshit. If you need to focus on finding your family, I totally get it. I’ll figure something out, I always do.”
Dropping my phone onto the desk, I combed my fingers through my cotton-candy pink hair that desperately needed a color boost. “As much as I hate it, I can’t do anything to help them right now. Who I can help is you. Each and every one of those ladies would take turns kicking my ass if they heard I walked away from someone who needed me.”
Plopping down on his butt, Reid stretched his legs out in front of him. “They sound like amazing women.”
“They really are. I’m only just now beginning to appreciate their influence in my life. And that’s exactly why I’m worried about Jack and Stormie. They’ve always been good to me. I can’t walk away without knowing they’ll be okay.”
Flipping a rogue lock of mahogany hair from his eye, Reid grunted his agreement. “So, fantasy world where everything plays out just as it should, how does this go?”
Stare drifting to the ceiling, I dragged my tongue over my top teeth and toyed with that scenario. “Perfect world? I’d have something on hand that belonged to a member of the coven, and I’d use it to scry for them. We’d find them. They’d be okay, and all my worrying would be for nothing. Dina would stride in here, like the Amazonian goddess she is, and would immediately know the right spell to break whatever ties are holding you back.” The instant the words left my lips, I perked up. “That’s it!”
“There it is.” Reid jabbed a hand in my direction, as if this was all part of his master plan.
“Yes, you’re the clever one here.” With a roll of my eyes, I searched Jack’s desk for a piece of paper and a pen. The words came easily enough, but experience had taught me time and again not to trust them. To be safe, I inserted an escape hatch into my spell. Managing little more than lackluster confidence, I turned to face him with my precious slip of paper. “Brace yourself. Here goes nothing… and I mean that literally.”
“Don’t build it up too much.” Reid playfully clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “I’d hate for it not to live up to the hype.”
“Laugh it up, Fuzzball. The last guy I did a spell on gave me intimate details about the contents of his spank-bank.”
At that, he sat up a little straighter. “Wait. Is that a possibility? I am not comfortable with that level of sharing.”
“I mean… what are the chances of it happening twice? You ready?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“Awesome. That makes two of us. Let’s do this.” One last calming breath, and I began. “Goddess of beauty, truth, and grace; join us now in this time and space. Free your child from the ties that bind, that he may embrace the power of his kind. Let this spell guide him to the truth like a treasure map, and be instantly broken when my fingers snap.”
Paper pinched between my thumbs and the sides of my index fingers, I glanced up from under my lashes in expectation of… something.
Nope.
Big fat nada.
Even my most messed up spells came with at least a little spark. Nothing at all was a new low, even for me. Lips screwing to the side, I cast a sideways glance in Reid’s direction. “You feel anything?”
A mischievous smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth as his leisurely gaze traveled intimately over my curves. “Not yet, but damn, do I hope to.”
“Ah, hell. Is this a spell thing? Did I just make you magically horny?”
The tip of his tongue toyed with the tip of one lengthening incisor. With a lupine bound, he leapt to his feet and prowled straight for me. His chest rising and falling in heaving pants, his pecs stretched the fabric of his white t-shirt taut. One blink, and his eyes glowed a brilliant topaz. “I am definitely under your spell.”
Edging towards the door, I inspected this sudden new turn of events. “Okay, we didn’t achieve full wolf, but we managed some traits. That’s progress, right? Going to have to ask a little favor though: stop looking at me like that.”
�
�Like what?” His pupils expanded to inky black pools of desire.
Mouth suddenly parched, all I could manage was a breathy squeak. “Like a snack.”
“Mmm, eating you sounds like hours of fun.” Tilting his head, his hair framed his face in a wild mane. “Come on, you’re going to tell me you haven’t thought about it?”
“Thought about what?” I swallowed hard.
“What it would feel like to give in to temptation?” He stepped in close, his body skimming mine. Heat radiated off him, coursing through me in waves of temptation. Dipping his head, his lips teased over mine without offering the sweet release of actual contact. “What it would… taste like?”
I knew I should take a step back and insert enough distance between us for clearer heads to prevail. Yet, staring into his glowing eyes, I found myself enraptured by his animalistic allure. Lips opening with a pop, I prayed something sensible enough to diffuse this situation would come tumbling out.
“Elba…” I croaked, “my fiancé.”
Reid backed off… an iota. “And where is he now?” The words rumbled from his chest in an alluring growl.
“At the moment? He’s a little bit dead. But that’s an ailment I can totally cure… if I can find him. Which I fully intend to do.”
Reid wet his lips, making them glisten like ripened cherries. “Even marriage vows end at ‘til death do you part. You would have nothing to feel guilty about.”
“Why would I feel guilty?” I shifted my weight and instantly judged myself for it. Did I just lean in? Shit, why did I lean in? “We haven’t done anything.”
“Tell me to stop.” Reid brushed the hair from my face, the side of his hand breezing over my skin. “Be my willpower. Because I look at you… and I have none.”
The word was there, on the tip of my tongue, waiting to be uttered. But with my pulse pounding and a longing ache throbbing through my core, I… hesitated.
That beat of silence was all the invitation he needed. One arm snaked around my waist, the heat of his palm scorching against my lower back. His mouth crushed against mine, tongue probing between my parted lips with enticing flicks. A low moan of appreciation escaped me; the spell of his touch far more potent than any incantation I could ever utter.
It had been so long since I’d been held like that; his body asking mine an unspoken question of desire. Other than a brief encounter with a fellow necromancer who staged his own death to get near me—wish I was makin’ that shitshow up—I hadn’t felt this kind of connection since—
Elba.
Placing a gentle hand on Reid’s thick forearm, I pulled away. Peering into his inviting stare, I allowed myself a moment to entertain that alluring what-if. Catching my hand, he raised it to his lips to deliver a seductive kiss to each of my fingertips. With the scruff of his cheek brushing against the heel of my palm, he inched his way down to my wrist, his gaze never wavering from mine.
Need coursing through my core in heady waves, I raised my opposite hand… and snapped my fingers.
Stumbling back, Reid’s wolfish attributes vanished in a blink, his cheeks ablaze with a ruddy glow of embarrassment. “Oh, God! Octavia, I am so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to—”
Pressing the back of my hand to my lips—which still tasted like his salty sweetness—I shook my head. “This wasn’t you. I told you, I suck at spells.”
“You cast a spell so I would make out with you?”
“As heartwarming as it is that you think I need to result to that to get a little touch, that was not my intention. I was trying to break your ward.”
“I didn’t mean to insult you, but… wow. You really are bad at this.”
“No shit.” Skirting around him at a healthy distance to avoid any chance of contact, I slumped down on the cot. Shoulders tight and tense, I fought to steady my uneven breathing. Feeling the mattress shift under my weight, Bacon wriggled closer to rest his head on my leg. “That’s all I got. I don’t know what else to try. We got close, there were changes, but not enough to warrant attempting that hot mess again. Without my magical lifeline to turn to, I’m out of ideas.”
“Well, I could try ramming my tongue down your throat. No, wait… we already did that.” Sauntering closer, he playfully kicked at my foot with the toe of his scuffed-up cowboy boot.
“Easy, now.” I huffed a humorless laugh in the face of my crushing embarrassment. “You’re a big, strong wolf and I’m just a delicate little flower.”
Head falling back, Reid chuckled. “Oh, no. You are many things, Miss Hollows, but delicate is not one of them.”
And, there it was.
That jolting moment of startling epiphany.
Closing my eyes, I laughed at the simple loophole I overlooked. “I went about this all wrong. It’s right there in the blueprint of your ward. You can’t wolf out against a human. But, I’m not a delicate human.”
Lacing his fingers behind his head, Reid stretched out his shoulders. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” I parroted, scooting to the edge of the mattress, “we don’t need magic. We never did. We just need to get your blood pumping with a nonhuman.”
“I thought that’s what we just did?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Not like that.” Annnnnd my cheeks were burning again. “I meant more in a combative situation.”
“You wanna talk some sense into her?” Reid beseeched Bacon, before tossing an incredulous glance my way. “Look, I don’t care if you’re a siren, necromancer, or the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. I’m not going to fight you, Octavia.”
“No, you’re not. I’m not a complete moron. We’re going to put you through the paces out in the gym and try to set your wolf free.” Pushing off the edge of the cot frame, I strode to Jack’s desk and palmed both my swords. “And just in case things get away from me—again--I’m going to keep these handy.”
Reid’s mouth swung open, most likely in search of yet another argument.
Before he got the chance, I turned to face him with my blades crossed in front of me. “We need to do this, Reid. Jack needs us to do this.”
A quick pat to Bacon’s rump, then Reid rose to his full, intimidating height. “Then, lead the way, milady.”
Rolling my shoulders, I marched toward the gym.
“Octavia?” Reid called, stopping me short. “Just so things aren’t weird, we’re in agreement that what happened between us was the fault of the spell, right?”
Behind my eyes, I saw the vision I had of our bodies entwined. It would wrap everything up in a pretty little bow to say that was nothing more than foreshadowing of my magical faux pas. It didn’t explain away the differing details of the encounters, but it offered me an out to which I could cling.
“Nothing between us but a bit of failed magic,” I lied to myself through a tight smile.
Chapter Seven
Reid’s voice rumbled from his chest in a growl that was more animal than man. “Do it again. Harder.”
Flicking a strand of sweat-soaked hair from my eyes, I filled my lungs to capacity. Throwing my shoulder into it, I rocketed my fist forward and clocked him in the chin… again.
His head jerked back, eyes glowing that menacing topaz. This time, his nostrils even twitched into a snarl.
One blink.
And another.
Then, it passed.
Shaking it off, Reid’s gaze snapped back to mine. “Why don’t you lose the boxing gloves and try it again? Or, maybe grab a weapon of some sort?” Turning in a slow circle, he scanned the empty gym. “Do you see anything you could deliver blunt-force trauma with?”
Arms falling slack at my sides, my shoulders sank with exhaustion. “Reid, we have literally been at this for hours. My pig is snoring, and that’s not any kind of weird metaphor. You’ve ran, jumped rope, beat on the heavy bag, and done more push-ups than any human ever could. The fact that we’ve been reduced to me sucker punching you should probably be where we wave the white fla
g and admit this isn’t working.”
“We’re so close. I can feel it.” Bouncing on the balls of his feet, Reid shook out his arms. “We’re scratching at the surface of it. I can feel the wolf trying to claw its way out. If we quit now—”
“We can sleep,” I cut in. Leaning back against a corner pole of the boxing ring, I sank down on the mats. “Whether we like it or not, you’ll be going up against those assholes with the crowbars tomorrow.” A quick glance at the wall clock and I amended that claim. “Correction, make that later today. Since we can’t get the wolf to come out and play, we at least need to get some rest. That’s the only way we can even remotely prepare for the runaway train of shit barreling straight for us.”
Wiping his forehead on the back of his arm, Reid slumped down next to me. “You keep saying we. This is my mess. You can skip out at any time, guilt free.”
“Can, but not going to.” Pinching the front collar of my t-shirt between two fingers, I waved the fabric back and forth. “Seriously, the amount of boob-sweat I’ve got going on is truly alarming.”
Letting his head loll to the side, Reid peered my way. “Why?”
Brow creased, I glanced down at my chest. “Well, I mean, I know they aren’t huge, but there’s still enough there for a little humidity to form.”
Reid snorted with laughter. “I meant, why are you helping me?”
Stretching out my legs, I allowed myself a brief moment of reflection before answering. “Before I came here, I had a run-in with a pod of beauty queen sirens.”
“That…” Reid trailed off as he considered the full ramifications of what I was saying, “sounds absolutely terrifying.”
One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “Once I got past the ruffles, taffeta, and double homicide, it wasn’t that bad.”
Dead Ringer (The Journals of Octavia Hollows #5) Page 4