by Terra Wolf
I felt my skin flush under his stare.
I cleared my throat. “I don’t know why it didn’t hit me until now, but it has to be a Proxy. I came home from the park, and my house had been broken into.”
“What? Why didn’t you mention that half an hour ago?”
I sighed. “Nothing was taken. And I wasn’t here. Coop was fine.”
“What were they looking for?”
I held up my ring and the sapphire glistened. A heaviness fell between us.
“Oh,” he muttered. “Of course.”
“I did a reveal spell. My jewelry was everywhere. When they realized the ring wasn’t here, they trashed the place to throw me off, but the spell doesn’t lie. It had to be the reason they were here.”
“I can put a protection spell on the house.”
I shrugged. “I don’t need it. I’m leaving for Vegas.”
“You can’t seriously consider going out there alone. I’m going with you.”
“No.” I put up my hand. “I’m not going alone.”
“Is Ian going with you?” he asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “Jack, my editor, is going.”
“What? You think I’m letting you walk into a death trap with someone who knows nothing about magic? Not happening.”
Finn had briefly crossed paths with Jack last year when Masquerade was published. He showed up, uninvited, to one of my book signings, saw Jack, and left without even saying hello or good-bye. Typical. I don’t know what I expected from him. We had been broken up, but in the messy, so confusing kind of way. I didn’t understand my heart’s need to have him out of my life as much as its need to have him in it.
I cringed at his reference to Jack, but decided now was definitely not the right moment to share what major witch transgression I had committed tonight. One catastrophe at a time. I elected to keep moving forward.
“I need you here.” I didn’t dare touch him, even though the impulse was there. I can’t tell anyone what’s going on. My parents will flip. Ian will worry. If it is Proxies, they can’t do too much to my family if they are focused on me in Vegas.” I waited for the fuse to blow.
“What? I’m not staying here and sending you off to Las Vegas with Mr. Editor so you can walk into a trap set by some deranged Proxies. You know what they’ll do. There’s only one thing they’re after. I’m not staying behind.”
“I’ve managed to take care of myself so far; I’ve got this covered. I need you to help me with my family. I won’t be able to think clearly if I’m worried about them the whole time.” There were multiple things clouding my mind as I stood in my room arguing with Finn. “Can you do this for me? Last favor, Finn.”
Deep down, I battled with emerging hope. I never wanted it to be the last time with him, but I had to get through the next few days before I could even start to process what had happened in the last few hours.
Nothing had changed between us. Finn hadn’t changed. He was here because he was a Guardian. I had to remind myself it wasn’t anything else. He couldn’t take back what he did in Savannah. He couldn’t unbreak my heart. We were over.
I zipped my bag and pulled the handle.
“Nothing about this feels right, babe.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have called you, but I didn’t know what else to do. I need my family to be safe. I need Emily safe.”
“I can protect them and you. Let me,” he growled. I knew it was his wolf talking, not the Guardian. His eyes were alive like glowing sapphires.
I shook my head. I had already asked too much. Said too much. I needed to do the rest of this on my own. I walked past him, the suitcase trailing behind me.
Finn grabbed the handle from me, taking it the rest of the way down the hall, and placed it in front of the front door.
“Is there anything I can say to change your mind?” he asked.
“No. I have to do this. I can do this.”
I looked at him. I could feel the pull between us loosening. He was going to let me leave.
“Ivy, if I let you walk out of this door and onto that plane, you know I can’t help you. That Proxy wants one thing, your magic, and if you end up alone with him, he can steal it from you—all of your power. Your bond with your family. Everything you’ve become. You could die.”
The smoothness in his voice started to shake, and I saw something in his eyes I’d never seen before. There was a tear forming on his long lashes. “Look at me and tell me you want me to stay here. That you want to face this alone. Tell me and I’ll do it. I’ll stay—for you. But I want to be with you. I want to protect you.”
His hand was on my arm, and he stepped closer. He put the other hand on my cheek. My skin reacted with sparks, snapping through my body as his mouth melted into mine. I felt the familiar need I had pushed down so many times desperately trying to break free inside me.
With Finn, there were never thoughts, only desire and instinct. He pulled me closer and tighter, holding on to me with everything in his being. I remembered everything about him. The way he tasted. The way he made me feel in his arms. The magic that coursed between us. The way he shattered my heart.
I couldn’t let him sidetrack me—too much was at stake. I shoved against him, breaking the kiss and the hold he had on me.
“I’m telling you to stay, Finn. I can do this. Just take care of them.” I pulled the suitcase behind me and left him and Cooper standing in the doorway.
Thank you for reading Fated Night. Are you ready for book two?
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Ally
Spells of Fate Book Two: Fated Possession
It felt a lot like Groundhog Day. I pulled up behind Jack’s Jeep and parked in the gravel drive. The little ranch looked like it did when I drove up yesterday afternoon. The street was quiet except for a few early morning commuters on their way into work. I waved at one of Jack’s neighbors as I pulled my suitcase from the trunk of my car.
I tapped a few times on the front door and waited for him to let me in. Nothing. I knocked again, this time with a little more force.
What if something had happened to him? I tried the handle, but it was locked.
“Jack?”
“Yep, I’m here. Hold on,” I heard him call through the door.
He cracked the door and peeked to see me standing with one hand on my suitcase, and the other clutching the leather bag dangling from my shoulder. He looked surprised and relieved to find me on his porch. I guess a part of him didn’t trust I would return. After everything he learned last night, I couldn’t blame him.
“Good morning.” I smiled.
“Hi.” He rubbed the scruff on his chiseled jaw.
“Did you sleep? You look terrible.” I pushed past him into the foyer and dropped both bags. “I should have called ahead to see if you had coffee.”
The study was bright with early morning sunlight. The embers in the fire had faded, and from the looks of the couch, Jack had probably spent the rest of the night there after I left. There were more charts drawn on the legal pad, and the letter rested on the coffee table. It made me nauseated just being in the same room with it.
“Sleep, me? No, not much. Coffee’s in here.” I followed him to the kitchen and watched as he poured two cups of coffee. “What about you, did you sleep?”
I took a sip and sat at the kitchen table. I hadn’t closed my eyes. Finn had stolen all my time.
“No, I didn’t even try to sleep. But I have good news. The protection spell for your sister is completed. She’ll be ok for a few days. No one can touch her.”
“You did that?”
“No, but I called in a favor.” I didn’t want to
think about what it might have cost me.
“What happens after a few days?” Jack sat across from me and placed the pot of coffee between us.
“After that, the spell wears off, and it has to be recast or hopefully, she can go on living like normal.” I reached for some sugar and stirred a swirl in my mug. I wanted everything to go back to normal. “You don’t have to worry about anything happening to her.” I smiled.
“If you can or someone else can create a protection spell, why don’t you just protect people all of the time?”
Jack’s question reminded me why non-magicals weren’t supposed to know about magic. They would always try to apply logic and reason to something that was mystical and not of this world. More than anything I could tell he wanted to make sure Emily was safe, but he was curious about the magic.
I needed to avoid discussing Finn’s gift. I was glad his range of powers was in our arsenal against the Proxy, but I couldn’t think about him right now or the way I could still taste his kiss. His secrets weren’t mine to tell.
“It’s a little complicated, but only chosen witches can perform certain spells. There are some we all share. There are some we can teach each other, and then there are some that are so unique that only a few witches can do them. The guardian spell is a gift spell. It can’t be taught. We can’t spell everyone into safety all the time. Besides, we have to let people live their lives. I believe in free will, don’t you?”
Jack nodded over his mug. “Of course I do.”
“I do have some more updates for you. I have an idea who might have sent the letter.”
He set the mug down. “You do? Who is it?”
“It’s only a theory. This is complicated, but I’ll try to explain the best way I can.” I took a deep breath and looked into Jack’s eyes, knowing he couldn’t understand this level of darkness. “I think it’s a Proxy.”
“A Proxy? Is that a witch?” he asked.
I knew Jack would have plenty of questions and I had prepared myself with the Cliff’s Notes version of Magic 101 before coming over. I also had to decide what I could safely tell him without creating more problems.
“No, not a witch. It’s a person, or really, a being, who can sense magic. They can sometimes even see it, but they don’t have any of their own.”
“Ok, keep going.” Jack looked determined to understand every magical word I uttered.
“Proxies do have the ability to become magical, to use magic, but only if they steal it. If they use their senses to track someone like me. They can take the magic.” I waited to see if Jack would register the enormity of what I told him. “And then use it to be their true selves.”
“What does that mean?”
“They are shifters. Proxies want magic so they can transform.”
He took another sip of coffee and leaned in his chair. “So, that’s what this is really about? A Proxy out there wants your power. Someone wants to steal your magic?” He paused. “But if he or she takes that from you, will you still be you? Can you survive?”
“I don’t know, sometimes yes, sometimes no. The stories I always heard were that Proxies would take more than the magic. They would take the actual life force from a person, but I don’t know if it’s all true.”
Jack stared at his knuckles while strumming his fingers on the table.
I continued, “But the good news here is, I think we finally know what we’re dealing with and that’s a big advantage.”
“Advantage, huh? Do you know who the Proxy is?”
“I’m pretty sure it was Helen.”
Jack looked puzzled.
“Not anymore, she died in the plane crash, but I think she saw me in 1968 and told someone. I should have figured this out sooner when she looked right at me, and she was so darn catlike.” Again, I was losing Jack.
I tried to think of how to explain the magical elements that separated Proxies from witches and shifters.
“They are quite feline, think Siamese cats—they are sneaky and quiet. Really, what better way to creep up on people and steal magic than to be like the stealthiest creatures on the planet?” I had always heard that cattiness of Proxies was their deadliest trait.
“Let me guess. They shift into cats?” His eyebrows rose.
I nodded. “Yes. Tigers, lions, even panthers. They have domination on the cat shifter family.”
“Ok. Keep going,” he urged.
“My guess is that, before the plane crash, Helen told another Proxy about me and that person was involved in Holden’s murder. And that’s why they don’t want any Vegas Star book or movie sequels surfacing. They also probably think I know more about the VonRue diamonds than I actually do.”
“But why did they include me in this master plan? Couldn’t they have as easily sent you the letter and let you take care of this yourself?”
“Yes, but they needed insurance that I would follow through. They’ve made me vulnerable now. They knew if they exposed me to you, I would have to share my secret. Plus, if something does happen to me now, the one person who is in charge of my creative work knows what’s at stake, so there can’t possibly be any sequel work. They don’t know what I’ve told you or how much I’ve written of the next book. They’re scared. I think you are an extra insurance policy.”
He leaned in closer to the table. “Wait, how are you vulnerable now?”
I took a deep breath. As if last night wasn’t emotionally exhausting enough, the layers of secrets kept being peeled back, leaving me more exposed for Jack to see. I choose my words carefully.
“When I showed you the orb, I broke a bond. I’m not as strong as I was. I can’t tune in to some of my family’s gifts. My magic is a little on the weak side.” I sighed. “I think that’s enough for you to know right now.” I could see the concern in his eyes. “I’m ok, Jack. I’m fine. It’s temporary.”
He looked shaken by my confession. “I didn’t know.”
“It was the only way. Otherwise I might be drinking coffee in a jail cell this morning.” I tried to laugh.
I didn’t want him to feel responsible for my choices. He had been right, the Proxy had targeted him, and we couldn’t work together if he didn’t know the truth.
“What happened after you left here?” he asked.
I froze and my stomach churned. Were my cheeks turning crimson? “I—uh—”
“Did you get another clue or something? How did you figure this out?”
“Actually, it was pretty major. But don’t worry. I’m fine.”
“Ivy, what happened?” His voice was stern.
“Someone sort of broke into my house.”
“What?” His eyes fired as he looked at me. “Are you ok? Was Cooper ok?”
I don’t know why I thought he could stay calm through all of this. There was nothing ok about any of the events I shared. Any normal person would have already had a heart attack.
“Yes, yes. It happened when I was here. I’m sure they knew I would be at your house because of the letter and they waited until I was gone.”
His chest released a pent up breath. “Good. This is unbelievable.”
“As weird as it sounds, the break-in was actually a good thing. That’s how I figured out the Proxy connection.”
Jack shook his head and stood. He carried his mug to the sink.
“What are you going to do next? I mean us—we, what are we going to do next?” He rinsed out the mug and placed it in a drying rack.
“We’re going to get on that plane to Las Vegas. We’re going to find the rest of the diamonds and hand them over.” I walked next to him. “Give them what they want. Then come back here to our happy, normal lives in Sullen’s Grove.”
As the words escaped my lips, I wondered what I would be coming back to, what the fallout would be with my family, and what box had I opened by asking Finn for help.
He threw a towel on the counter.
“You can’t be serious. This is like dealing with terrorists. You expect me to help you fin
d missing diamonds and be a pawn in some mystical cat-and-mouse game for power?” He towered over me. “This is crazy. Last night was crazy. Finding out about you was crazy. But this, this is getting worse. It’s a nightmare.”
What he said hurt. My heart stung. I winced, but did my best not to let him see the effect. He was steering off course, and with only a few hours before our flight, I had to get him back onboard.
“This isn’t your fight anymore. Emily’s safe. You stay, and I’ll handle this. I have enough to figure the rest out on my own.” I left my coffee on the counter and walked down the hall toward my suitcase. “You’re right. You don’t need to be involved. I can figure it out,” I called over my shoulder.
I reached for the door handle, but before I had a chance to maneuver my bag through the exit, Jack pushed it closed.
“No. There’s a reason they sent me the package, and I’m going with you. I’m not going to let you face this alone, especially since it’s my fault you might be weaker or something.” I could tell he was uncomfortable with his last statement.
I prickled at the thought of a powerless Ivy, but smiled because my reverse psychology plan had done the trick.
“Are you sure? It could be dangerous, Jack.” I tried to keep my smiling to a minimum.
“Exactly. It is dangerous. You need someone to watch your back. I might not have any magic, but there’s no way you’re going to Vegas without me. Let me grab my bag. I’m coming with you.”
He retrieved a leather carry-on bag from his bedroom, grabbed the package on the coffee table, and met me on the front porch. He stopped and smiled, holding up the two airline tickets. Little creases formed around his eyes, and I knew that somewhere behind those deep brown eyes of his was a man who maybe wasn’t afraid of this witch.