by Mary Hughes
For witches and wizards, not shifters.
She exploded “Why the hell did you use this? It’s for witche—”
“I had to do something or he’d die.” Jayden whirled to face her, fists on hips. “What would you have done?”
“I’d have brought disks for shifters, dumbass.”
“Enough.” Noah’s white-knuckled hand clamped to his side. “I don’t care why, or even what at this point. Come morning, unless we find a way to reverse the hex, I’m facing Ivan as fifteen pounds of dog. Against a hundred pounds of wolf, I’m dead.”
Silence. Sophia swallowed hard.
Then Jayden said, “This is more than a talisman can handle.”
“I need this hex gone. Do whatever it takes.”
Whatever it takes. Sophia stiffened. This was more than a few gewgaws could fix. Noah needed a real witch.
She’d have to do it. Which meant she’d have to break her second funeral seal. Hands.
Even at the thought, pain seared her palms and her fingers seized up. The disk slipped from them into her jacket pocket. She breathed through the pain. For Noah’s life? She’d risk it. What the hell. It hadn’t killed her last time, it might not this time either. Maybe next time, but that was then.
She opened her mouth to say she’d do it. That she’d use her magic. Mason spoke first.
“How?” he asked. “How do we get rid of the hex?”
“Carefully,” Jayden said.
“No,” Noah said. “We’re out of time. Use brute force and deal with the fallout as best we can. You need to do it.”
“Yes.” She started to say. Yes, I’ll do it.
But the instant she thought the words, a thousand razor blades of pain spun through her hands, up her arms, and sliced into her larynx.
Nothing more came out.
A voice dropped into the silence. “All right, I’ll do it. But you know it will cost you.”
The voice was Jayden’s.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Of course it costs, with you.” Noah’s face was grim. “What do you want?”
Eye my newt. Sophia mentally smacked herself. In hindsight it was obvious, though all of his previous magic could have been explained by his artifacts—the apron, the brooch, and the disk. But if he could remove a multilayer spell?
Jayden was a wizard.
Sophia seethed inside. Since Rodolphe, she didn’t trust any witch or wizard except her brother. Not her aunt, not even herself. A wizard who charged favors for magic? Bottom of the trust pile.
“How did you know I could?” Jayden asked.
“I didn’t,” Noah said. “I just suspected. But my mother worked—” he grimaced, “—for one of your kind and the signs were there. Now stop delaying and do what you need to do.”
She said, “Noah, don’t. I’ll do i-i-hhh.” Pain constricted her words, hands searing as if each of her fingers were lit like a firecracker.
“I don’t want much.” Jayden shrugged. “Name your firstborn after me.”
“That’s it?” Noah raised one brow. “All right, but only if my mate agrees to it.”
“Done.” Jayden plucked a thick wedge of blue chalk from the air, squatted, and began to draw on the garage’s concrete floor.
“I do not like this,” Mason growled.
“Hush now,” Jayden said in a distracted murmur. “I have to get this right.”
“Noah, don’t,” Sophia said again. “He’s got his own agenda—”
“Princess, with all due respect, shut it.” Jayden swept out a circle. “This is hard enough.”
He closed the circle and her lips snapped shut. The spell was begun. Any interference now would only hurt Noah.
Jayden sketched a second circle, inscribing it inside the first, touching at their tops. A container circle, the kind that held magic on the inside rather than kept it out.
She was grudgingly impressed. He was doing serious magic, faster than even her most accomplished professors. She wondered why she’d never heard of him. The magical community was exceedingly small. Wizards powerful enough to reverse another witch’s complex hex? Minuscule.
She knew them all. At least, all the lawful ones.
Could Jayden be…? Sophia’s heart started pounding, like a drum rattling her ribcage. She’d seen photos of the Council’s most wanted, but disguise spells, good enough to fool a witch, were not impossible. Especially fooling a witch who wasn’t doing magic.
Vanishing the chalk, Jayden stood. “Okay, you can talk again.” He pointed to Noah and then the center of the circles. “Stand there.”
“Noah, wait.” Fear and need and love collided in her throat. She forced her words past the pain. “I-I’ll do it.”
Noah frowned at her.
A strange glint entered Jayden’s eye.
She ignored him to concentrate on Noah. “Don’t let him do magic on you. I don’t trust him. I’ll do it.”
“Sophia.” Noah cupped her chin, raising her face, and kissed her lips gently. “I saw what that cost you at Bonnie and Clyde’s. I don’t want you going through that again, especially when there are alternatives. Jayden knows what he’s doing, and once he’s given his word, he’s trustworthy.”
“Names have power.” She searched Noah’s golden eyes. “How do you know what he’ll do with our…” Her cheeks heated. “With your firstborn once it’s named the way he wants?”
Noah kissed her again. “He wouldn’t dare harm any child of mine, yours, or ours.” With a final kiss he released her and strode into the center of the circle.
He faced the intersection point as if he knew what it was. Maybe from growing up in that wizard’s home, he did. Jayden faced him across the point. Only a few inches separated them. Sophia was struck by how alike they were, wizard and shifter. Equally tall, lithely muscled, rangy builds, their black locks carelessly tousled, and handsome, chiseled faces. Even their skin tone was the same bronze.
“Ready?” Jayden said.
Noah smiled grimly. “No. But go ahead.”
Jayden joined his hands and swept both arms back toward his hip, like he was going to pop a volleyball.
“Wait,” Sophia said. “The hex rebounded on a magic mirror with carved demons, then hit my picture. Are you compensating for that?”
Locked mid-gesture, Jayden gave a sarcastic eye roll. “I wasn’t born yesterday, kid. I’m doing a reveal first.” He released his joined fists at Noah. “Show!”
Magic shot into the circle. The air ignited with a whoosh of violet smoke that rose in a cylinder from chalk to ceiling. Violet haze washed back through the joined point to envelop Jayden. Sophia relaxed a bit, seeing that. Jayden had joined himself with Noah’s confinement circle, so that whatever he flung at Noah would rebound on him. More dangerous for the witch, but it made for more efficient spell-casting. For the first time Jayden’s magic was evident, glowing strong and clear. He must have been masking it, and the reveal stripped the mask away.
The magical poison also showed, a bilious sea urchin, spiny fingers waving, anchored to Noah’s flank.
But there was no visible sign of the hex. The reveal didn’t show the one thing they needed. “Damn it, Jayden! What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” The wizard’s black eyes were narrowed, his clenched teeth bared. “This is like nothing I’ve ever seen. And that’s saying a lot.”
A buzz bit Sophia’s ears. Not the normal hum of reveal magic, but the angry drone of a thousand riled hornets.
The smoke around Noah went red. He folded over suddenly, as if he’d been hit. His head kicked back. His face was drawn in severe pain, his skin dead white.
“You’re hurting him,” she shouted over the buzz. She barely kept herself from yanking Noah out of the circles, which would result in far more catastrophic pain. It took clutching her pearls so hard they nearly cracked.
“The poison is trying to latch onto my magic.” Sweat trickled down Jayden’s forehead. His hands, extended toward Noah, were stiff and
tense, tendons white. “Trying to break out.”
“Heavens above.” Sophia dropped her pearls to clutch her hands. They were cold.
“What does that mean?” Mason’s voice was dark with concern.
She swallowed an iceberg of fear to answer. “Using Jayden’s power, the poison could break confinement, take over Noah’s body then jump the gap to take over Jayden too.”
“Hell.”
“Yes.” She held her arm out to Jayden. It shook slightly. “Use my power to resist.”
“What about your death seals?” he yelled over the drone.
“A little Share Power won’t break them.” She hoped. But even if it did, she needed to do this, for Noah.
Jayden didn’t wait for another invitation. He latched onto her wrist, his other hand still extended, quaking, toward Noah.
She chanted up a small Share. She’d already released a third of her power and her magic stirred deep in her core, her very cells, responding to Jayden’s need, rising to her wrist to meet him.
He drew.
Her Sight showed her power pulsing from their joined hands into his aura. He converted the power into a pulse of magic aimed at the poison.
Spiny fingers shot up, trying to grab it. But Jayden’s augmented magic sheared through the bilious poison’s fingers like shurikens through vines.
The red haze faded to a pulsing violet.
“Did it work?” Mason shouted.
“Maybe,” Jayden said. “I’m going to try to unravel the hex.”
“How?” Sophia said. “You can’t even see it.”
“Like this.” He snatched a purple wand from the air. Flicked it at Noah. “Unwind!” He spun the wand as if he would wrap the hex around it like cotton candy.
Sophia didn’t see anything gathering on the wand. “It’s not working.”
And worse yet, as Jayden used up his magic, the poison surged. New fingerlets grew and latched onto his dimming power.
Jayden dropped the wand and switched to fighting the poison. “More power,” he gasped at her. “Faster. Now.”
For Noah. She snarled, “Share all.”
It wasn’t complete—two thirds of her power was still sealed so she couldn’t do a true Evacuate, and time would replenish it. But the released third burst from her, and from the battle Jayden fought, he’d need every drop.
He’d been gentle before. Now he sucked power out of her, not waiting until it rose to her wrist but yanking it directly from her cells. It hurt like hell.
She clenched her jaw and let him pull. Tears stung her eyes and her breathing collapsed into panting. Still he pulled, a thousand barbs tearing through her, shredding her flesh from the inside.
The poison’s buzzing ebbed. Was her hearing failing…? Her physical eyes sprang open, tears trickling down her cheeks, but she ignored them to stare at the containment column.
The violet mist was thinning. Noah, his color returning to normal, slowly straightened.
The poison shrank to a dot…and disappeared from sight.
Sophia felt like the Hungry Ghost’s straw, drawn and wrung out. When Jayden released her arm, she staggered.
Noah sprang toward her.
Jayden flung a hoarse, “Stop!”
Noah ignored him, knocking straight through the wall of magic. The purple smoke collapsed.
Jayden sagged with a grunt. “Damn it, I hadn’t closed the connection yet.”
Noah grabbed Sophia in his strong arms and held her tightly, like he’d never let go. “Love, are you all right?”
She felt like a burst, empty piñata, like a desiccated husk. But his arms, his warmth, eased the pain. She gave a weak nod.
His hand, caressing her hair, seemed still worried. “Jayden. The hex?”
“I don’t know.” Jayden drew a bushel of air in through flared nostrils, then let it out slowly. He looked wiped. “I did see enough to identify a layered weave before the poison tried to take over, and that only because Sophia aided.” He paused. “That’s some mate you have there.” His tone was honestly admiring.
Her cheeks heated.
“I know,” Noah said. “Did you neutralize the hex?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” He sounded vexed.
Mason said, “But the poison disappeared. That means the hex is gone.”
“Normally I’d agree. But I’m not sure. The hex, the poison, not to mention Noah’s innate magic…this whole setup is strange.” Jayden materialized a handkerchief and passed it over his brow.
Sophia peeked up from Noah’s arms. “How?”
An annoyed grimace flashed across his face. “I don’t know. That’s what’s strange about it.”
Mason said, “If you’re not sure the poison’s gone, shouldn’t you try again to remove it?”
Jayden was already shaking his head. “It nearly kicked our asses. I’ll try again, but only after I know the hex is neutralized or Sophia has regenerated power. Better yet, both.”
Mason’s upper lip peeled up, like a wolf. “Noah may have to fight as a dog?”
Jayden didn’t answer, his eyes bleak.
“If I do, so be it,” Noah said. “What do we do now?”
Jayden’s lids slid shut. “We wait for the sun.”
Noah took Sophia’s hand and led her behind one of the sets of shelves. Quietly he said, “This may be the last night of my life. I know you think our joining is because of the hex, that we’re not truly mated. But for tonight—Sophia, I need you.” His eyes, hot on her, underlined his request.
What could she say? He was brave and wise and kind and tomorrow he might die, fighting for his pack and her.
But the clincher was—she loved him. It might have been the hex, but her heart didn’t seem to think so. And frankly, neither did her head.
She kissed him. “Yes, of course.”
He took her to a small side office, closed the window blinds, came to her, and gently removed her coat. As he unbuttoned her blouse, he kissed her forehead, temple, cheek and nose. “I love your nose.” He kissed it again. “If I lose tomorrow, I die a happy man.”
“While I’m glad you like my snout of a nose, don’t say that. If the hex isn’t gone in the morning, I’ll break my hands’ seal and take care of it myself. Speaking of which…” Jayden had told her it was essential to get Noah’s big secret out of him. “Now that you know my worst, maybe you can tell me yours—”
“Later.” Noah put a long forefinger to her lips, silencing her.
Momentarily. “But—”
“Shh.” He replaced finger with mouth, and kissed her.
He didn’t say it, but both love and sorrow drove that kiss. His lips tenderly plied hers, the mate coaxing a response rather than the alpha demanding it.
She loved sweet and gentle but if this was the last time they’d be together, she wanted more.
She slid her hand along his fly and squeezed. He surged and groaned in response. Continuing to stroke denim, she curled a hand around his nape and backed with him to the couch. She sat, urging him down next to her.
When he hesitated, she tore off her blouse.
He collapsed onto the couch as if the sight of her lace-clad breasts took the strength from his body. But he quickly found it again. He pressed into her and kissed her, hands finding her breasts and cupping them. As their thighs seamed together, his kisses deepened, staccato thrusts of tongue interspersed with long swirls of hot lips.
His shifter’s stubble rasped against her skin. It charged her with increased frenzy. She palmed his honed cheeks and levered her tongue toward his tonsils.
He chuckled and thumbed her nipples through her bra. “Not so fast,” he murmured between kisses.
“Not so slow.” She growled it. Somehow she’d acquired a wolf along the way, a wolf who drove her to grab hot heaven with her mate.
When he continued to simply kiss her and gently test the heft of her breasts, she took things out of his hands. She reached behind her, unhooked her bra, tore it off, and threw it away.<
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Or rather she put things into his hands, because her taut breasts poured into his palms, filling them perfectly, her nipples tight and begging for his thumbs.
He made a sound that was half groan, half howl. His head dropped to the crook of her neck. His forehead was damp. “Sophia, you’re so lovely. My wolf wants all of you, now. But my human wants to cherish you forever. I’m trying to give you time to adjust, to get ready—”
“My wolf says fuck that.” She leaned into his hands, shimmying her nipples against the whorled skin of his palms—and landed a cupped hand on his groin.
He was erect under his jeans, practically bursting behind the zipper.
“You’re ready. I’m ready. Let’s get dirty.” She stood and stripped off pants and panties and toed off her shoes. His eyes roved over her with gratifying hunger. The bulge in his jeans jacked up another size.
She climbed onto his lap, facing him, in her trouser socks and pearls. Not insanely sexy, but she was too desperate for him to care. “Kiss me.” She grabbed his face and locked lips.
He wrapped arms around her naked back and returned her kiss with glorious abandon.
Her wolf howled her pleasure. Her human rolled her hips, rasping her dewing vulva against his heavy denim ridge. The friction sang up her nerves, urging her faster. She rippled against him, her heart thudding to keep up with her racing breath.
He broke off the kiss. “Wait,” he panted. “I wanted to say—”
“No more talk.” She silenced him the most effective way she could—she plastered her lips to his and thrust her tongue into his dark mouth. Then, to compound his interest and keep him taking care of business, she yanked, pushed, and unzipped until she’d fumbled open his jeans.
His erection sprang full and tall from the opening. She rose on her knees over him, took him in her hand and guided herself to perfection—
He grabbed her and flipped her onto her back on the couch. Spread her thighs and opened a hot, wet kiss on her pussy.
She shrieked. His fingers pressed into her flesh and his tongue slapped her clit. She howled.
“You want hard and hot? You’re going to get so hard and hot you’re going to spontaneously combust.” He shifted, sucking lightly on her clit while grinding his stubbled jaw into her swollen labia. She thrashed under his mouth.