by Kim Loraine
“It was me.” Izzy’s shocked words resonate in my heart. What was her?
“It is done,” Helena says, sighing and letting go of her sisters’ hands.
Tristan blinks a few times and stares at the women, then at me. “Where the bloody hell am I?”
Helena throws a glance my way and says, “I’d distract him if I were you, Izzy.” Then she starts to sing.
My beauty rushes to me, closing her lips over mine and pressing both palms against my ears. I don’t care that the only reason she’s doing this is to protect me from her sister’s siren song. I’m desperate for her kiss. My cock grows hard, pressing against the thin material of my joggers, insistent and needy.
Izzy releases me, the heat in her gaze and her heavy breaths telling me she feels the same level of desire as I. “She’s done,” she whispers.
“Are you sure?” I ask, hopeful she’ll suggest we make our way upstairs and finish what she started.
Helena holds Tristan’s focus, and says, “Go home. You’ll answer anytime I call and tell us everything you hear from Calista. When we find her, you’ll be free of me.” Then she kisses him, but when she pulls away, a silver wisp of breath hangs between them. She inhales and it’s as though she’s stealing his essence as it leaves his body and settles in the center of her chest. I can see the glow for a moment before it disappears.
He blinks and nods, brow furrowing. “What happened? Who are you?”
I take that moment to finally speak. “You were just leaving, mate. I’ll see you out. Had one too many tonight?”
He frowns. “I…fuck, I don’t know.”
“It’s a long way home to Cornwall. Safe journey.” I clap him on the back and usher him out of my home.
“Grant,” Izzy starts, but I shoot her a glare that makes it very clear I’m not interested in hosting her former lover in my home a second longer.
“He’ll be fine. Won’t you, Tristan?”
The man nods and leaves my house.
“We’re not done with him,” Izzy warns. “You can’t interfere right now. He’s our link to Calista.”
“It’s all right, Izzy,” Helena says. “I’ve taken enough from him that we can pinpoint his location at any time.”
“Let him go.” Gwen’s words are soft. “He needs to be far away from you, Izzy. Too much contact with you will reawaken old memories and he’ll see you as more than a past heartbreak.”
Izzy stops her protests and the jealous part of me relaxes a fraction. Why would she care about what happens to him now? Does she truly still carry feelings for him?
I thread our fingers together and pull her close. “Come upstairs with me. I’ve missed your touch,” I tell her.
Everything in me goes cold at the hard stare she sends me. “No. I…I need some time.”
She leaves me alone in the kitchen, heart in my hands. It’s clearer than it’s ever been now. Tristan was more to her than a love potion gone wrong and she just had to sacrifice him for the greater good. I never meant anything to her, and I shouldn’t be surprised. She’d told me as much time and time again. I just didn’t want to hear her.
With a glance at Helena, I say, “I’ll be needing to see you outside.”
16
Grant
Pacing the driveway, I work out what I need to say. I have too much on the line to let my feelings for this witch get in the way. Am I really going to abandon my pack for a woman who’ll never love me? I don’t think I can. But I know beyond all else, that I won’t be able to live with Izzy in my heart and not in my arms.
The front door opens and closes with a soft click, capturing my attention from my jumbled thoughts. My heart lurches at the sight of Helena, her expression somber and wary.
“You needed to see me?” she asks.
“That…thing you did. Your song. I need you to use it on me.”
Dark eyebrows rise in shock. “Pardon?”
“I can’t keep doing this with Izzy. She’s imprinted on me, but she doesn’t want a life with me. I’ve promised her I’ll let her go, but I need you to help me do it.”
She steps closer to me, her shoes crunching on the gravel. “And you think I’ll be able to separate her from your heart?”
“I just watched you do it. Isn’t it the same thing? You bewitch me, make me stop wanting her, and I’ll be able to let her go while still helping you.”
She purses her ruby lips and nods. “It’s worth a shot. I don’t know what it is about you that makes your body react like it does to her, but if I can help her be free of the coming heartbreak, I will.”
My whole body tenses when she holds my face between her palms just as she had with Tristan. Then a beautiful melody leaves her lips. I feel it winding around my heart, clouding my judgment, taking root, until the tendrils of magic begin to burn to ash, dying before they are able to control me.
She steps back and frowns. “Oh, hell. This is ridiculous.”
“What just happened?” I ask.
“I can’t spellbind you. Goddammit.”
“Why the hell not?”
She mutters something under her breath and sighs. “You’re right. You’re right about it all. She’s your damned mate and you’ll be bound to her for the rest of your life. I can’t ensnare you in my song because your heart is already owned by another. Why didn’t you tell me you were in love with her?”
It’s as though she’s punched me in the gut. “I…I’m not.”
“My song would have worked if the two of you weren’t in love.”
The two of us? Izzy is far from in love with me.
“You’re wrong. She doesn’t love me. This must be due to her being my mate.”
A sad smile flits across her face. “I’m not sure. I don’t regularly interact with shifters. In fact, I try to keep my contact with your kind to a minimum. I have allergies.”
I bite back a harsh response. “Then what do you suggest I do?”
She shrugs. “Enjoy the little time you have left. The curse will take us all unless we stop it, and if Tristan doesn’t do his job, we’ll not be able to find Calista in this lifetime.”
Izzy
Now that Tristan is gone, I can breathe. The moment the spell broke, my heart was free and Tristan owned none of it. Unfortunately, the traitorous organ in my chest is still owned by another mystical force. The mating bond between Grant and me is still there, still strong, and my feelings are edging closer to something dangerous.
A cramp grips my abdomen, reminding me of the other aspect of my life that has had me tense over the last week. My monthly course arrived this morning, and I can’t say I wasn’t relieved. There’s been a lot in my lifetimes to cause me stress. The possibility of a child, one whose mother is destined to die, had me nearly losing my mind in premature grief and fear. I can’t be here for a child, and I can’t be here for Grant. I’ve been purposely distant ever since that conversation. Now, even though I’ve wanted him, I couldn’t bring myself to initiate sex. The risk is too great.
He’s standing in the kitchen, staring at a kettle that hasn’t yet begun to boil and despite my own issues, I want to wipe the frown from his brow.
“Tea?” I ask, grinning when his focus snaps to me and surprise registers on his face.
“Eventually. If the bloody kettle ever boils.”
I don’t know how to change this for him. But he’s so certain the curse won’t take me, I can’t convince him he’s wrong. I’ve lived it over a thousand times with the same result no matter what. I’ll die by the time I reach twenty-seven and we’ve no earthly idea where we can find the one person who’ll be able to stop it. All we have is Tristan’s link with Helena. He’s our best chance to break through the protection Calista has set around herself.
I glance down at the kettle and shake my head at the sight of the unlit burner. “It’ll never boil if you don’t turn on the gas and light the flame.”
He places both palms on either side of the stove and heaves a sigh. Something has him t
wisted into a knot, and I suspect that something is me. With softly murmured words, I bring the kettle to a boil, the steam whistling through the spout. Those dark eyes snap to mine and the look of longing inside them makes my chest tighten.
“Thank you.”
The curl of want and need pairs with undeniable affection. My God, how does he do that? It’s dangerous.
Shrugging, I flip my long hair over my shoulder and offer him a smile. “It’s no trouble. Next time, invite me for tea and you won’t have to wait for a kettle to boil.” I wiggle my fingers at him, bringing a slight grin to his dark expression.
“Witch,” he mutters, but I know he’s only teasing.
“Beast,” I say, stepping closer. I can’t stand the space between us any longer. My fingers itch to feel his skin under them, my lips ache for his, and the rest of me? There’s a hunger like nothing I’ve ever known coursing through my body and landing straight between my legs with every passing moment. Right now, it’s fly or fuck, forget the fight instinct.
My hand brushes his as I take a mug from the cupboard and begin readying the tea. It doesn’t take me long, but with Grant’s heated gaze trained on me the whole time, I’m wound tight enough to snap. Abandoning my task, I turn toward him and slip my hands under his shirt. His skin is warm and wonderful.
“Where have you been, my beauty?” There’s an ache in his voice which brings a wave of guilt over me.
I don’t know how to answer him. How do I tell him I’m afraid of falling in love, I’m afraid of everything we could lose—everything we will lose.
“I’ve been…thinking.”
He turns his body toward me and runs his hands around my waist, tugging me close. When he drops his forehead to mine I have to close my eyes to protect my heart from the emotion I know I’ll see in his stare. “What about?”
“The love potion. You saw how strong the effects were. Still, hundreds of years later, I was under its effects. If we hadn’t been able to break it, I’d still be in love with Tristan.”
Grant cocks an eyebrow. “So…you’re not still in love with him?”
“No. It was all a lie. A spell. Just like our mating bond. Don’t you see? It’s dangerous and making us both irrational.”
“We’ve been through this already. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
“I think we need to stop letting ourselves get close. I can’t have a child.”
“So you don’t want to have a child with me?” There it is, the hurt I knew was coming.
I shake my head. “I don’t want a child at all.”
“And what if it happens? What’ll you do?”
“It’s not going to happen. We aren’t going to be doing anything that might end with me having a baby.”
I pull away, needing space, from him, from my own heart, and from all the possibilities I see between us. A life together, children, a home. Those are things I can’t dare to hope for, not yet.
“Beauty, don’t do this. Not now. I’ve tried to cut you out of my heart, but nothing works. Don’t deny me the time we have.”
My chest hurts from the weight of everything I know that I haven’t shared with him. Gwen’s visions aren’t wrong. She said I’d be leaving them, that they’ll lose me in order to break the curse. “I can’t let you throw away the life you want because of some magical mating bond.”
He sighs. “I don’t know why you can’t understand that this is how it’s done in my world. It’s considered a gift to find your mate. Many of us spend our very long lives without ever knowing the special bond between a mated pair.”
“But you can’t even introduce me to your pack. They want to kill me, remember?”
His eyes narrow, jaw clenching. “Aye, I remember. But that’s not going to happen, now is it? So stop wobbling back and forth, and let me be your man. We’re going to talk ourselves to death before we can figure out how to stop the curse.”
He’s right. Again. Stopping the curse should be the first thing on my mind. It’s not just me affected by this killer spell. My sisters will die again and we’ll have to find each other all over. Chances are good we won’t have a fallen angel summoning us next time.
My eyes burn with unshed tears and I just want to slap myself. I haven’t been such an emotional wreck since the first time I left Tristan. I hate this feeling. The last time I felt this way, I’d fancied myself in love. I should walk away now. Tell Grant I don’t want him, or any kind of life with him, but when I turn my gaze up to his, he seals his lips over mine and takes my words before I can utter them. His hands cup my face and his tongue begs entrance to my mouth, and damn it, I can’t let him go. Not when I’m already in so deep.
Grant
Helena was right, goddammit. I’m in love with Izzy. It’s as simple as breathing. But I can’t tell her yet if I want to keep her close. All I can do is show her how I feel by being the mate she deserves.
Deepening my kiss, I press her against the refrigerator and plant my palms on either side of her head. She’s caged in my arms, but there’s no fear in her posture. The little moan that falls from her as she opens for my tongue makes my cock strain against the thin fabric of my joggers. Fuck. This woman doesn’t seem to understand what she does to me. Breaking the kiss, I stare into her eyes, keeping my gaze unwavering because I need her to know how serious I am.
“Please, Beauty. Don’t pull away.”
She slides her hands over my arse and squeezes. “I don’t think I can even if I want to.”
“Good. I won’t push for anything you can’t give, but I’m not going anywhere either.”
Nodding, my feisty witch closes her eyes and wraps her arms around my shoulders before hopping up and wrapping her legs around my waist. “I’ve told you. I can give you my body, but not my heart.”
That sends a pang of hurt through me, but I’ll take what she can give until this trial is over. I’ll have her love after we’re safe. “Then let’s go upstairs before your sisters come in and get a show.”
She giggles, her lips against my neck, trailing up until she finds my sensitive earlobe. Sparks shoot through me and, God help me, if it weren’t for those bloody witches staying with us, I’d lay her out on the kitchen table and have her right here. I’m almost willing to say, fuck it, and do it anyway, but my fucking phone starts ringing in my pocket.
“Fuck,” I mutter.
“Ignore it.”
I sigh and place her on her feet. “I can’t. That’s Lachlan’s ringtone. It’ll look suspicious if I don’t answer.”
Straightening her shirt, she offers me a saucy smile before sauntering to the living room. “I’ve got some work to do anyway. We’ve still got a boss witch to find and kill.”
My phone keeps ringing and I know I’ve got to tear my attention from Izzy if I want to avoid Lachlan’s ire. “Lachlan, what is it?”
His deep rumble of laughter grates on my nerves. “Did I pull you away from your mate?”
“As a matter of fact.”
“I need to welcome her into the pack. As alpha, it’s my right to approve her entry.”
My heart races at the thought of him meeting Izzy. The moment he sees her, he’ll know she’s not a shifter. That in and of itself is dangerous. “She’s just a little shy. We’re taking some time to get to know one another. It was…unexpected when we met.”
“But you plan to turn her.” He doesn’t ask. That’s the first thing any self-respecting male would do. Ensure she’ll be with me forever.
“Not quite.”
He laughs again. “Well, maybe I’ll come over there and steal her away. I could do with an unclaimed woman on the side.”
My hackles rise. “The hell you will. She’s mine.”
“Then fucking turn her. What are you waiting for?”
“Fuck, Lachlan. There’s a lot on at the moment. I’ve got a job to do as well. How do you expect me to handle that and being newly mated?”
“True. Speaking of, we’ve completely lost the trail of those bi
tches.”
“Really?” My voice is tight and it’s all I can do to keep myself from smiling.
“I don’t understand it, but they must’ve been tipped off about us. We’d traced them to a flat in London, quite near that pub, The Witch’s Brew. They’re none too subtle, are they?”
“Any idea where they might’ve gone?”
He sighs over the line. “Well, according to the last bit of intel, one of them had a home in Ireland at one point in the past. That might be a good place to start. Perhaps we can get her scent at least.”
“And what happens if we can’t find them?”
“Our client won’t be pleased.”
I don’t know what to say to that. “I’ll do what I can.”
“You’d better. The pack will suffer if you don’t.”
“I understand.”
He chuckles. “Good.” Relief makes me sag against the wall. But then he clears his throat and I know something else is coming. “I think I’ll come by for a little visit in a few days. You and I need to go for a run, and I want to get to know my new sister.”
The line clicks and goes dead before I have a chance to respond. Setting my phone on the counter, I stare down at the lines in the marble. How can I keep Izzy safe with Lachlan breathing down my neck looking for the very witches I’m keeping in my home?
17
Grant
Izzy’s soft blond hair is splayed across her pillow when I wake in the middle of the night. Her scent should be soothing, my mate in bed with me should be the best comfort I could possibly receive. Instead, I’m racked with fear for her safety. As confident as I’ve been around her about this bloody curse, I’m terrified I’ll lose her. And Lachlan won’t be kept away. I know the witches have a plan, the protection spell to alert them to unwanted visitors, but Izzy can’t be gone when Lachlan comes. He’ll only return in order to welcome my mate to the pack.
Izzy moans in her sleep, the silver light of the moon beaming in from the window making her hair appear to be made of moonbeams. The long strands are the only thing covering her naked skin. Every time she moves her bare breasts brush my side. It’s erotic as fuck. I need to either get up and see to myself in the loo, or spread her legs and take her right now. My beast is clawing at me to mark her as mine, and I honestly can’t deny that need much longer.