by Terri Pray
She’d been expecting him to refuse and to turn her away; after all, what she wanted him to do was illegal, unethical, and could backfire on them all too easily. Instead, he now sat at the table, gathering his cards and waiting for her to take the seat opposite him.
“Why did you agree so readily?” Hailey slipped into the seat, keeping her hands well away from the crystal ball. “Knowing everything that could go wrong? You could get into a lot of trouble for this; we both could.”
“It feels like the right thing to do.” He set the cards to one side, folding his arms on the table. “And that risk doesn’t seem to be preventing you from trying to help, does it?”
“And?”
One raven-wing eyebrow rose. “And what else do you need to know?”
“There’s a lot more to your decision than you’re letting on.” She didn’t have to be an empath in order to realize that.
“Perhaps, but we can discuss that later. Right now we need to focus on Karol. Do you have anything of hers with you? It would be easier to follow through the link with a physical contact.”
Nice change of topic. Hailey scowled for a moment then shook her head. It didn’t matter what his reasons were, not right now, at least; they could wait. Karol needed her help.
“We don’t need one. She wears a rune, a protective rune I gave her sometime back. You should be able to follow through from my link to that.” Everything a witch made carried a part of themselves within it, even if it had been then gifted to another. “I spent three weeks making the rune. I made sure she had it on her before she married the bastard.”
“You had an idea, then, that he would be like this?” The accusation was barely hidden, spoken without hesitation or thought of the pain his words caused.
“You went to school with him. What do you think?” How many nights had she paced across her room, trying to figure out a way to tell Karol that she shouldn’t marry Brian? A hundred arguments based on nothing more than his brutish behavior at school and a gut instinct. “I couldn’t be certain that things were going to go badly, and she was in love. So I did what I could.”
“Sorry, that was uncalled for. You’re right. I went to school with him and so did she. I doubt she would have listened if we’d said anything to her.”
“She loves him. I don’t know why she does, but even now there’s a part of her that still loves him.”
“Then she won’t thank you for this, no matter what you believe he has done to her.” Darrel reached across the table. “I’ll need your hand.”
Doubt raised its ugly head. “You don’t know how to shield.”
“No, I don’t. Not to the same extent you do. Nor do I need to. In fact, shielding too deeply would prevent me from being able to follow the link through to her.”
“Then how can I be sure she won’t sense you, or that you won’t drag me into the mire with you?” A valid concern, especially after what she had already seen. “I need your help, I won’t deny that, but I don’t need to be dragged into pits. Or be the cause of any more harm to Karol. She’s been through enough already.”
“You won’t be dragged anywhere that you don’t wish to go. You have my word on that. When I do this I follow the path in from you or an object, I don’t drag people with me. You’ll be piggybacking of your own free will; makes it easier for you to break contact.” He kept his hand open, waiting for hers. “You can either trust me or the rest of this night will become little more than light conversation and discussions on how often I dropped slugs down your back. Which I have no objection to, but it won’t help Karol.”
No, it wouldn’t. A dozen questions and more gained life at the back of her mind, fading as she met the darkness of his gaze. No threat, no taunt, just the calm knowledge that if she did not take the chance now there would never be another opportunity. Brian would continue hurting Karol, and that she could not permit. Silently she reached across the table, resting her hand in his.
“Then we do this.” His gaze locked with hers.
“Yes.”
Warmth seeped through his hand, washing over her arm before his eyes had even closed. Whatever had opened his channels had done so fully. Normally she felt a hesitation, a hitch, something that made the one taking a look stop for a moment, even have to push past it, but for Darrel no such block existed. Powerful, a raw, brilliant power; with the right training he could become the most skilled witch of his kind.
That’s what was missing. Training.
Goddess above, he was doing this on instinct. If he pushed just one barrier within her the wrong way, she’d die. Curl up from the inside and crumple. What had she done? If he took one wrong step he could destroy them both.
And there would be nothing she could do to prevent it once they took that step into the bond.
“Trust me.” His words were little more than a whisper. “I won’t hurt you.”
Trust. It was such an easy word to say, harder to follow through on.
“You’re making this harder. Relax and trust me.” Liquid velvet, smooth, soothing, he poured the urge to trust him into those words. She could almost see it, his hand caressing the side of her face, soft lights, music, and his lips descending to claim hers in a gentle kiss. Would he do that?
This wasn’t the time or place to let her thoughts drift in that manner, even if her thighs clenched under the table, traced by an unseen hand.
What would he think when he touched those emotions, those raw needs that now built within her being? She glanced at him, only to blush at the knowing look in his eyes.
Calm, breathe, focus. That’s all I have to do right now.
Hailey let her eyes drift shut, forcing herself to take long, slow breaths, clearing the thoughts from her mind. Slow, calm, focus on only the center within, the source of power and life, that place that made her who she was. Nothing else mattered, not doubts, fears, nothing but that small ball of light within her core.
“That’s it, let me in, let me all the way in. That’s right, open up the doors,” he whispered, a soft, silken sound. “There, I can see it, the link between you and the ward stone she wears. I don’t think she’s taken it off even for a shower since you gifted it to her.”
Karol wouldn’t have done; she knew the importance of gifts like that. “She never even questioned me when I gave it to her.”
“Good. It will make it easier.” His voice was soft, comforting. “She trusts you, so she’ll trust anything that you’ve given her.”
Swimming; it almost felt as though she were swimming through a warm sea. Her body wasn’t her own, the links between her and any she had ever touched with her magic. Anything from a small clearance spell to a ward left a link, some stronger than others, but the strongest of all of those had to be the one between her and Karol.
There. Not as hard as she thought it might be.
Reality hit her in the gut with a pair of clenched fists.
Oh, Goddess, what had he done to Karol? Pain, tears, a knot that formed in the back of her throat, and endless pain burning in the pit of her stomach. “She’s crying,” she murmured.
“I know, I can feel it.”
“He’s hurt her again.” How, though? She couldn’t feel the how. No bruises, no marks, not that she could sense, but this wasn’t her line, her gift. Everything she saw, that she felt, was fuzzy, the only clarity coming from his touch.
“She’s curled up on her bed, her arms about her stomach. He’s not hit her, not yet. He came very close this time raising his fist. If she hadn’t moved he might have struck; she can’t be certain. That’s not why she’s crying, though; she’s found out what he’s been doing with a woman she works with.” His voice remained soft, calmer than she would have expected. Didn’t he feel anything towards Karol?
He was an empath; this should have hit him hard, but he just sat there, holding the link in place. Guiding her through this.
Hailey bit back a sob. Karol’s pain was her pain, every breath gulped between the tears echoed in her own body
, tears streaking a path down her face. “I can’t bear it. I never thought she would be in so much pain.”
“You must keep a tight grip on your focus.”
“She hurts.” It would have been so easy to let go, to pull back and avoid the pain.
“She’ll heal when she’s ready to, but she lacks the will to leave now. He’s torn her down. So far down she can’t be sure if the woman she once was remains in any way.” How he could speak of the hurt, the pain they both felt from Karol’s crying in such a calm way she didn’t know. It took everything she had not to react to it, not to cry and match Karol sob for sob. Even then, small tears dropped onto the surface of the table.
“You say she’ll heal, but how can she when he’s going to keep doing this to her time and again?” Salt lingered on her lips.
“Because she won’t be alone; you won’t let her be. I won’t let her be. She’ll pull through with our help.”
“Our help? You want to help, beyond this moment?” He was there, right at the back of her mind, able to see into the depths of her thoughts, her dreams.
“She was a friend.” His voice was thick.
“And now?” Such a long time ago, so many years had passed by.
Cruel to even think it. He wouldn’t be helping if he didn’t feel something towards Karol. A sense of duty, a need to help, a level of responsibility…
“Now you’ve come to me for help and I can’t turn my back on her, any more than I could you now. I see what you’ve seen, feel what you’ve felt.” He shuddered, getting his voice and emotions back under control, his fingers caressing her hand as he spoke. “It’s time to pull back; we have what we needed to know. She needs our help. If we just give up and leave her there she’ll die. Sooner or later he’ll lose control fully and then kill her.”
“No,” she protested, yet it was already too late. Her window into Karol’s pain faded, but the hurt didn’t. “I can’t leave her like that. Please.”
“She never knew you were there.” He still held her hand, even now that the link had faded back into the small, hidden thread within her core. “It’s better that she doesn’t if we’re going to help her. Brian cannot be permitted to continue doing this. Another month, maybe six, and it will turn to violence. Even if she hasn’t admitted it yet Karol knows where this is leading. She knows. I can see it, sense it. She understands but is locked in this cycle of abuse. She hates herself for not being able to leave. For not having the strength. She doesn’t realize it’s not just about strength. It’s never just about strength. It’s about having that safe place to go.”
Violence. It had already come so close to that. Just the wrong word said and Brian would have struck Karol that night instead of storming out to be with his new girlfriend. “I know. I’m sure she does as well. It’s just all too much for her to cope with right now.” Talking hurt; the tightness in her throat made it nearly impossible to speak clearly. All she wanted to do was cry for her friend, for the situation, and for feeling helpless.
“You’re shaking.” His hand slipped from hers. “Come on, we’ll have to get you warmed. I should have expected this. A lot of witches go through a form of the shakes after opening themselves up. They aren’t used to it, except with the Goddess in whatever form she chooses.”
He moved quickly away from the table, returning a moment later with a blanket that he wrapped about her shoulders even as he moved her away towards the couch. “It’s going to take a few moments before you begin to feel like yourself again. Don’t try to rush things, give your body the chance to recover on its own. You’ve been through far more than you realize.”
She wasn’t about to argue.
She stumbled more than walked toward the couch, leaning into his supporting arms. Her legs felt like they belonged to someone else, her breath still came in short gulps for air between a series of deep shudders. Running a marathon in half time might have been less physically draining than what she had walked into with Darrel.
If she’d have known just how draining this was going to be, then…then she’d have still done exactly the same thing. Karol was worth the risk.
“You’ve never done something like this before, have you?” He eased her down onto the couch, sitting next to her, wrapping his arms tightly about her as he settled there. “It can take a great deal out of a witch; not so much one of the ungifted, though. They have a natural protection that prevents themselves from being drawn in. Your mom told me it was their ingrained belief that magic just didn’t exist that helped protect them from the touch of an empath. I’m not sure I ever truly believed that, though.”
Karol…she couldn’t separate her feelings from those of Karol, not fully, not yet. She tried talking again, but the knot that bound her voice had become tighter than ever. “My throat hurts.”
“It’s from the amount of crying you did. It’s going to be all right.” He shifted a little on the couch, pulling her back against his chest. “Just relax, give yourself a little while to center again. It will become easier for you.”
Warning bells went off in the back of her mind, barely heard through the maelstrom of emotions Hailey struggled to gain control. Guilt, hate, anger, fear, regret, hopelessness all merged into a whirlpool. No sooner did she gain a handle on one cruel wave than another crashed down against the core of her being.
Shields. She had to grasp them again, rebuild to protect herself within and without.
It should have been easy. The first thing she’d ever learned at her mother’s knee. Then those lessons had been reinforced by Gem. Without shields, she could harm others without being aware of it. Her magic could spill over in unseen ways. No, she had to get them back into place before it was too late.
“Breathe,” he urged, brushing his fingers through her hair. “Just breathe. Don’t think about anything else right now. It will become easier in a short while. Don’t try and make sense of this; it’s just how it works.”
It sounded like such an easy thing to do, if a band of cold hard steel hadn’t found a way to lock about her chest. She could still feel him, a link stronger than anything else she had experienced before. Each beat of his heart echoed within her mind. She didn’t even have to close her eyes in order to see the golden energy that pulsed at the center of his being. Linked. They were still linked at a far deeper level than should have been possible. He’d pulled back, broken the contact, so why hadn’t it all ended then? There shouldn’t have been this depth of a bond between them.
Panic soared into life, claiming her, brushing aside everything else. Vulnerable. He’d seen into her heart, her soul. She should have kept the shields up, should have said no. This was her price, her punishment for ignoring the privacy of her friend.
Karol’s pain still wove its way through her heart and there was nothing she could do about it. Not yet, at least. Not until Karol was ready to face the truth.
“I’m right here; trust me. Just breathe.” His fingers traced her cheek, brushing over her face gently, a soft tingle following the wake of his caress. “You don’t have to do anything else right now.”
“You shouldn’t still be there, with me, not like this.” She turned, meeting his gaze. Mistake. That had been a mistake. His eyes held hers, locking, until she knew pulling away was no longer an option. Pits of darkness that should have warned her to stay away served only to pull her deeper into his gaze.
Danger. Foolish. I have to pull back from him. Now. She knew everything she should have done to put a distance between them; after all, she’d practiced it on a near daily basis with any man that so much as looked her way, but this time her good judgment fell silent. With a low whimper she arched up towards him even as his grip tightened possessively, the link tightening between them until she couldn’t even be sure which one of them started the kiss…
Chapter Five
The how and why of what they were doing faded away into the back of her mind as her lips parted eagerly beneath his kiss, welcoming the soft, probing touch of his tongue. Safe. Desp
ite everything there was a safe aspect to him that, like the blanket, wrapped her in a warmth she was reluctant to pull away from.
A deep shiver played through her body, hardening her nipples under the thin dress. She could smell him, that subtle scent of cinnamon she had first encountered when she had walked into his home. It lingered on his skin ‑‑ not overpowering, just there, enough to spark her hunger.
She needed him.
Realization hit full force. She needed, wanted, and desired him. All those times she had shut her feelings off, refused to date, refused to play bed skip with whoever had tried to catch her eyes, finally caught up with her. Only, it was more than that. He wanted her; since school he’d wanted her. He’d carried dreams of her through into college. Even now she could feel them at the back of his mind. Those carefully hoarded images of them kissing, holding each other, exploring their bodies under the light of the moon. Now he had that chance.
Unless she refused him.
Refusing the consort of the Goddess would be easier. I need him almost as much as he needs me.
Hailey turned to face him, pressing deep into their kiss, shifting until she was able to wrap her arms about his neck, pulling him closer. They shouldn’t have been doing this, but it felt right, so very right. He was there, in the back of her mind still, each soft shiver of delight that gained life was something he felt. The quickening of his breath, she echoed, her own pulse racing to match the growing beat of his heart.
Refusing him would have been like trying not to breathe.
“You’re still shivering,” he whispered against her lips. “Do I need to start a fire?”
“I’m not cold, though.”
“I know. I just thought it would help.” He suckled on her bottom lip, scraping his teeth against it, one hand reaching to tangle into her hair. She arched against his touch as his free hand drifted down her back, reaching under the blanket to cup her ass, massaging her firm curves lightly. “Say the word and I’ll stop; I won’t push this if you don’t want it. I won’t be angry with you if you want to call a halt to this. I don’t want to do anything with you that you might regret come morning.”