Lifting the knife over my head I lowered it into his chest in one smooth motion. I stood to watch as he turned to dust.
I turned to Ian, he was awake and watching me from the bed. I walked toward him, moving through the fire as though it were not there. With a flick of my hand, I set Gabriel’s remains ablaze.
I climbed onto the bed and straddling Ian I lowered my lips to his. His arms came around me to pull me closer and we moaned at the contact.
Rufus cleared his throat interrupting us. We looked to Rufus, who was disheveled, but alive.
“I knew it. You are Fire Fairy.”
“No. I am Fire Banshee.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Well, whatever you are, that was fucking amazing,” Rufus said with a goofy smile.
“Yeah, well, it was also exhausting. I take it Lydia was not in the house?”
“No, she must have left while we were asleep,” Rufus replied.
“Yeah, I don’t think she went too far though,” I muttered under my breath, but both men heard me. I shook my head.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I will be. I should feed though.”
“Can you feed from me?”
“No, I need a mortal… or four.”
I gave Rufus a pleading look.
“I’ll be back.”
As Rufus left the room I turned back to Ian. “Are you sure you are okay? Is there anything I can do?”
“Yes. I am okay, and you can lie with me until Rufus returns.” Needing no further encouragement, I snuggled in close to him. “How did you know to come?”
“I don’t know. I dreamed that he stabbed you. I felt the knife enter my chest as it entered yours in the dream. When I came in here, he was a few seconds behind my dream. I think I startled him, which probably made him miss his mark.”
“I owe you my life. I will gladly live the rest of my days showing you how thankful I am.”
I welcomed the kiss. I gave myself over to the passion in it, just for a few moments, before I pulled away.
“I didn’t have time to think, only act.”
“You were magnificent,” he said, reminding me of the time not so long ago that I’d said the same to him. “You were radiant with your power. Fire suits you.”
“Uh-huh,” I muttered. It did suit me. I could be warm and comforting, but when I was angry, I could be uncontrollable and deadly. More so now. That’s what bothered me. “I could smell his fear. It was intoxicating, like a… turn-on. It creeps me out that I got so into it. I mean, I didn’t want to have sex with him. His fear captivated me. I lusted for his death, for killing him. I feel dirty.”
“Goldie, there is no reason to feel this way. You had a normal reaction to a stressful situation. You know banshees are not the only species to become excited by another’s fear. It is normal to get excited in an intense situation. Adrenaline is — in its own way — an aphrodisiac. Though, I will concede that a banshee’s level of excitement from another’s fear can be stronger than a mortal’s.”
“So, it’s official? I am banshee.”
He stiffened. “You are not entirely there yet, do not worry.”
“But I could become full banshee if I take more essence from you.”
He shifted, pulling away from me.
“Possibly, but do not worry, you do not need to take more essence.”
“You’re misunderstanding me.”
I lifted my face to his and kissed him deeply.
“Oh?”
“Mm-hmm,” I murmured against his lips.
He relaxed and slid his hands to cup my bottom, pressing me to him. I moaned when the evidence of his excitement rubbed against me.
“I leave you two alone for one minute and you’re all over each other. Sugar, he’s injured. Keep it in your pants, would you?” Rufus said.
I turned to reply, but stopped at the sight of two curvy, Mediterranean looking women. Both looked catatonic, proving they were under Rufus’ mind control.
He smirked and said, “Dinner is served. I believe it’s Italian.”
“Uh, Goldie, you probably want to take a shower, right?” Ian said, trying to get me out of the room so he could feed.
“Nope, I’m good. We can take a shower when you’ve healed.” I sat beside him as he prepared to feed.
Rufus left the room, presumably to get more women for Ian. I wasn’t thrilled that Rufus had brought women, but it was my understanding that attraction to the mortal from whom they fed made it more satisfying for the banshee.
Ian took control of the women, giving me sidelong glances as he had one of them move to the bed and slide in on the other side of him. What was happening wasn’t meant to be erotic. Still, there was something sensual about the process. His large, strong hand cupping her head. The fluttering of her eyes as his lips neared hers. The way his body shuddered as he took in the nourishment he needed to heal and survive. Sensual.
The warmth between my legs made me shift my position. Ian locked eyes with me. The look on his face turned that warmth to searing heat. It wasn’t watching Ian with another woman. It was picturing myself in her place. That he was touching me, feeding from me. That I was causing those reactions in him.
By the time he finished with the second woman I was more than ready to satisfy my lust, but Rufus entered with two more women.
“Really? Are there no men out tonight?” I grumbled, earning a laugh from Rufus.
“This is why I suggested you leave,” Ian said, a smile on his lips. “You know that I get more from women than men.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s okay. I’m okay. Just get it over with so we can… uh, move on.”
When Rufus finally left the room with the women in tow, Ian grabbed me by the waist to pull me into his lap. He kissed me with his renewed vigor, and I melted in his hands. If I was excited before, it was nothing compared to what I felt now. I was on fire with wanting him.
“How about that shower?” he asked as he slid his arm under my legs to carry me to the bathroom.
We washed each other slowly, stroking, caressing, and kissing every inch of each other’s bodies. Then he suddenly took me in his arms, pressed my back to the wall and lifted my legs to wrap around his waist. He slid inside me on a long, deep groan.
Gripping his shoulders, I moved with him.
“Give me your essence. I want it. I want to become banshee,” I whispered in his ear.
His movements faltered for a second before picking up speed and driving me over the edge. Even before the spasms slowed, he took my lips with his, sliding his tongue in to meet mine as he released his essence into me. I gasped from the intensity of it, fresh from a feeding, and clung to him as I accepted it. Willing it to turn me. Willing myself to become banshee.
I moaned as our auras merged and his essence mingled with mine, flowing into and over me, even as he moved inside me. The mixture of sensations was glorious. I cried out again as another climax overcame me. I gripped his shoulders, riding the waves until he buried his face in my neck as his own orgasm pulsed through his body.
We clung to each other for a few moments, letting the water wash over us as we basked in the afterglow. He turned off the water and carried me to the bed.
“Something happened this time. Something that hasn’t happened the other times you’ve given me your essence. Our auras merged, didn’t they?” I asked.
“Yes. We were connected even before sharing essence. I felt it the night we met in the park; you may have too without fully understanding what it meant. It became stronger each time you took my essence. This time seems to have completed that connection. You will sense my emotions, especially when I am in danger. Fear or physical weakness will make it hard for me to shield my feelings from you. Also, sleep. That is how you knew Gabriel stabbed me.”
I had recognized him the night we met… or at least my aura had. When he had walked into my room that night, I remember feeling excited to see him, as though he was someone I cared about returning from
a long trip.
“Does it work both ways?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“So, you felt my pain when he tortured me?”
“Yes. It is how I found you.”
“Is this typical?”
“No. This connection we have is rare… and special.”
“Good. That’s good.” It meant he had never had it with someone else.
He grinned knowingly.
“Do you think it worked? Am I banshee now?”
“I do not know. Only time will tell.”
We fell into silence again, caressing each other.
“Gabriel said we killed the Angels,” I said.
“I heard.”
“Then it’s over? We did it?”
“We cannot be sure just yet. Gabriel may not have worked alone.”
“Right. Of course, why would it be that easy?” I said on a yawn.
Ian slid deeper into the bed and I tucked my head under his chin.
“Bryce mentioned a fairy named Matilda possibly working with Gabriel. And Matilda having an unknown sidekick… which I’m guessing is Squeaky. If we can find where Lydia is holing up, we can find Matilda.”
“Makes sense… Let us sleep now. Tomorrow we will go to Bryce and discuss this further.”
I lay awake for what felt like hours listening to him breathe until I finally drifted to sleep.
********
“Qadira,” she called, her voice melodic and enticing.
“Yes?” I couldn’t see who the voice belonged to through the thick fog.
“Come to me.” Her voice drifted to me from every direction at once.
I turned in a circle, but there was no break in the cloud.
“I can’t. I don’t know where you are.”
“Use your inner sight.”
“My inner sight?”
She laughed. “Yes. Concentrate on finding me and you will.”
“I don’t even know who you are, how can I concentrate on you?”
“You don’t recognize my voice?” She was becoming agitated. “You’re her daughter, you can figure this out!”
“Lydia?”
“Yes! Now focus and come to me.”
I concentrated on the image of Lydia. Her long red hair, curvaceous body, and the slight smirk on her full lips. Something in me pulled me to her.
The fog began to clear. As it did, a beautiful forest appeared. I was in the center of its clearing standing beside a fire pit. That vision of fairies dancing around the fire flashed through my mind again.
“I’ve seen this place before… in my dreams.”
“Of course, you have, only this is no dream. This place is in your blood. It is part of you.” Lydia was standing across the fire pit from me. Her sheer white gown flowing in the wind.
“How did I get here?”
“I brought you here,” she said as she sat and motioned for me to do the same.
I lowered myself onto the log behind me, not quite as elegantly as she.
“What do you want?”
“I am to bring you to Matilda. She would like to meet with you.” She sat with her hands folded in her lap looking proper and perfect.
“Why?”
“You will know all you need to when the time is right.”
“Why didn’t you just take me?”
“She sent me to ensure the rumors are true. After all Ian had to say and feeling your power, I have what I need to report back to Matilda. Then you will come.”
“Nope. Not gonna happen. I am happy right where I am.” I looked around me. “Well, I am happy where I am when I am awake.”
Her hand was on my throat. “You have a lot of love in you,” she said as though it were a disease. “It will be too easy to make you come to her, whether you want to or not. You will have no choice.”
“It was you. You let Gabriel into the house. You… what did you do?” I muttered to myself before realizing that I had the answer.
Rufus had said Ian had no control when it came to Lydia.
“You bespelled Ian so Gabriel could get to him. Kill Ian, get to me. That’s it, isn’t it?”
In response she tightened her grip on my neck. I couldn’t breathe and since I was still sitting, I couldn’t get good traction to get her off me. I dug my nails into her arm, but it seemed to have no effect on her. I tried calling the fire but there was no answer.
I was putting those I love in danger just by being around them. This Matilda would use Ian and Bryce… anyone I care for to get to me. My loved ones were the bait and I the big catch. The only way to keep them safe was to leave and stay away until I was sure the threats were gone. That is if I survived this whole dream-strangulation predicament.
Can you die in a dream?
“I told you. This. Is. Not. A. Dream. You can run away, but we will find you. We will win,” Lydia said.
Her expression suddenly changed. She was frightened. Her strength began to fade.
She released her hold on me and I fell backward off the log. My hands went to my neck of their own accord, and I massaged the sore area while looking up at Lydia.
She was looking around all panicky. “No! Not yet! I need more time,” she yelled.
In a sudden poof of air, she was gone. I was alone in a forest in the middle of who-knows-where, with no idea of how to get out of this dream that was not a dream.
I stood and looked around. All I saw were trees upon trees. The surrounding forest was thick with them, but I could not tell how thick.
“Well, might as well pick a direction…” I said as I walked toward the tree line.
When I stepped into the forest, the ground became much softer, but I chalked it up to decaying vegetation and kept moving. The further I went, the softer the ground became and before I knew it, I sunk to my knees in the muck. I could no longer move. I was stuck.
“Help!”
But there was no reply from the blackness.
Trying to lift myself out of the pit, I pushed with all my might on the surrounding ground, but I only succeeded in sinking my arms. I was even more stuck, if that were possible.
“Ian?” With our connection, maybe he could hear me. Still there was no reply. I was on my own.
“Qadira Morrigana ó Cuinn, stop panicking! You can figure this out. You got this. It will be okay.”
My little self-pep talk didn’t work. I couldn’t figure it out. I didn’t know where I was, or how I had gotten there. I didn’t know why I was stuck. Were there just random patches of quicksand in the middle of forests, and I just wasn’t aware? Was this another one of Lydia’s tricks?
How do you save yourself from a dream? Though, according to her this was not a dream, but then what the hell was it? And how the hell do I get out of it?
My thoughts were becoming too rapid and chaotic, but I couldn’t calm myself down. I was going to die in some pseudo-dream, and there was nothing I could do. I would never see Ian, or Bryce, or Seth… or even Rufus again.
I closed my eyes and started crying. I cried so hard and so much that at some point I tired myself out and fell asleep right where I was standing… uh, sinking?
I don’t know how long I was asleep before I woke again, but I was no longer in a forest. I was in a bed and free to move my limbs. Sleep was apparently the answer to escaping the dream-that-was-not-a-dream. I’d have to remember that just in case.
As my eyes focused, I saw a man sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to me.
“Ian?” He turned to face me.
“Goldie! I thought you would never wake. I tried everything.” I realized I was wet.
Between being wet and the soreness on my cheek, it was clear he had tried “everything” to rouse me.
“What happened?”
“I am not sure, actually…” I relayed most of what had happened.
“Well, you were correct about Lydia working with Matilda. We also now know that Gabriel was not working alone.”
“Fantastic. We should head back to t
he beach house. To Bryce.”
“I agree.”
Chapter Nineteen
The ride back to the beach house felt longer than it should have. I was so tired, but Ian and Rufus kept nudging me awake, scared that I’d slip into another reality-dream-nightmare and be lost forever. Being that she seemed to have been sucked out of my thoughts by an unseen force, I didn’t think Lydia was going to bother me again for the night, but I figured I was better safe than sorry. Besides, Rufus was having fun prodding me every few minutes, and who was I to ruin his fun?
Lydia had made it clear they would use my loved ones to get to me. I could not put them in danger by being near them. So, I used the time thinking of the best way to leave… just until we could stop Lydia and this Matilda.
Do I tell Ian, or do I leave in secret? Once I could think of a way to take care of Tweedledee and Tweedledum, I could come back. I would not risk Ian or Bryce or anyone just to stay with them. I had to go to keep them safe and that meant leaving. And I could not tell Ian. He would try to stop me, or failing that, he’d follow.
As we pulled up the driveway, I noticed the lights were on in the house. The stained-glass doors looked mystical with the lights shining through. I got out of the car and was awestruck by their beauty. When the wolf in the center turned its head to look at me, I rubbed my eyes trying to clear this vision, but it was still looking at me. I turned to ask Ian if he could see what I did, but when I glanced back at the doors, the wolf was in the same mid-howl it had always been.
“You okay?” Ian asked, sliding his arm around me, as Rufus passed us to enter the house.
“Yeah, just tired,” I said, turning to face him, and to stop him from following Rufus. “Before we go in, I have something to tell you. I am not sure how you will take it, but I think you should know.”
He stiffened and took a step away from me and losing his touch affected me more than it should have.
“Go ahead,” he said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, which made him look unusually vulnerable.
“Lydia has been bespelling you. That is why you are so weird when you’re around her. Rufus has even noticed something amiss.” I held up my hands to stop his interruption. “He has noticed that you have no control over your decisions around Lydia. I just thought you should know. Maybe Bryce can make you something to help prevent it.”
Becoming Banshee Page 18