E.V.I.E.: 13 Slayers, 13 Missions

by Lexi C. Foss

I was surprised to hear genuine regret in Emerald’s voice, and something told me she wouldn’t have interrupted if she didn’t believe it was truly necessary. Gently, I lowered Rowan to the ground, but before I released her, I put my mouth to her ear and growled, “This isn’t over, baby.”

  23

  Rowan

  Jax’s warning raced around with the many, many other thoughts in my head. If I wasn’t so used to how my mind worked, I might have developed a migraine, but I’d learned to deal with the chaos long ago. Still, his voice stood out above the others, sending shivers of need—and of fear—racing through me at the same time. That man was a force unto himself and I sensed that I could easily get lost in him, but I didn’t know who I would become if I did. I wasn’t sure I could give up everything I knew to jump into a void and hope I found a soft place to land.

  Emerald had interrupted us—whether or not I was happy about that still wasn’t clear to me—because she’d turned on the news to a report about the murder of a young woman. The details were vague, but if you knew what to listen for, it was pretty easy to decipher that the attack was vampire related. The cause of death was unknown, they said, but from the way she was slumped on the ground, I suspected she’d been thrown against it in a fit of rage. The reporters stated that the medical examiner attributed her death to loss of blood, which they believed resulted from her head injury.

  What the human eyes didn’t see was the faint glow of residual magic that illuminated a symbol on her chest—a circle with two inner rings. Truth. In addition, the lingering magic was tinted green and even if I hadn’t already known Dorian was trying to use the amulet to find its owner, this would have made it perfectly clear.

  “I need to go.” As usual, I was already armed—being caught unprepared was a mistake no slayer made twice. Either because they’d learned their lesson, or they were dead. So, I tied my hair up—again—and opened the bag I’d brought with me. Along with fresh clothes and a few toiletries, there was a cache of extra weapons. I retrieved one of my stakes and pressed it into Emerald’s hands.

  “I know it’s been a while, but it’s in your blood.” I said it more for my own comfort as we both knew she’d never lose her ability to kick vampire ass.

  “I got this, Ro,” Emerald assured me with a shake of her head. She took the sharply pointed instrument and lifted her chin toward the door. “Go take care of the bastard so I can go home.”

  I took her hand and gave it a squeeze, then looked at Jax for the first time since I’d nearly begged him to mark me. He was almost as talented at hiding his thoughts and emotions as I was, and I didn’t have time to try and puzzle out what he was thinking.

  “Emerald was born to be a killer, but I still expect you to protect her,” I demanded before I stalked to the door and left the fall closed behind me.

  Waiting for the elevator was annoying as hell, but it was thirty fucking stories and by the time I got to the bottom, I doubted it would have been faster than waiting and taking the lift. The digital numbers were climbing, and my eyes were fixed on them, while my mind was already on the street, searching for Dorian.

  “I don’t protect Emerald, baby. I protect my fucking mate,” Jax growled in my ear, causing me to jolt with surprise.

  “How do you do that?” I snapped. “You’re the only person who has been able to sneak up on me since I was seventeen.” I’d believed I was safe then, and my naïveté cost me greatly. It had been a valuable lesson, but a costly one. I learned that I possessed greater power than anyone had guessed and to constantly be aware of who or what was around me. Always assume someone is lurking in the shadows so you’ll never be taken off-guard when it happens.

  “I don’t need your help, Jax,” I insisted angrily. “I need to know that at least one of my only two family members left is safe.”

  His blue eyes were filled with resolve, his expression unyielding. “I will always try to give you what you ask for, Rowan. Unless it threatens your safety.”

  The elevator arrived and the doors silently parted, but before I could take another step, Jax’s arm was there, barricading the entrance.

  “This isn’t something I will bend on. You can either accept my help and we can do this together, or you can fume about the fact that I’m following you all night.”

  I could see on his face that he was dead serious and arguing would simply be a waste of breath and time. “Fine.”

  He unblocked the elevator and allowed me to walk on first. I stabbed the button for the lobby and warned, “I can’t stop you from coming with, but so help me, dog. If you get in my way, even once, I’ll kick your ass and sell your soul to the Grim Reaper.”

  Jax didn’t say anything, but I saw his lips curl upward and knew he was trying to keep from laughing.

  “V pizdu!” I exploded, throwing my arms in the air and stomping to the far corner before I relieved him of his manhood. I was still kind of curious about that and not quite ready to write off the possibility of letting him entertain me with it for a night.

  Once we were on the ground floor, I headed for the front door with Jax matching my pace. My temper was starting to cool, and logic was making its case, so I decided to be calm and really explain why I didn’t want him to accompany me. I stayed him with my hand on his arm, and he didn’t hesitate to stop and give me his full attention. “I don’t prefer to hunt on my own just because I’m not a fan of most people.”

  Jax cocked his head to the side, his blue eyes crinkled around the edges, clearly amused.

  “It’s the nature of my job to put myself in danger. And it’s in your nature to do anything you can to protect your mate.”

  “I’ll concede to that,” he agreed hesitantly.

  For once, I dropped the mask and let him have a clear view of my mind. I needed him to know that this wasn’t about ego. “If I’m in a situation where you feel I can’t handle myself and try to interfere, it could cost us both our lives. You need to find a way to trust in my abilities and not intercede unless I specifically ask you for help.”

  Jax contemplated my words for what was probably only seconds and yet, it felt like an hour. At last, he answered. “I promise not to act unless you ask or give me permission.”

  “Thank you.” My appreciation was sincere and from the softening of his expression, it was clear that he understood.

  Then he grabbed me around the waist and hauled me up—literally, as my feet were dangling beneath me—for a fast kiss. When he set me back down, he playfully smacked my ass. “Lead the way, Slayer.”

  Amazingly, I was amused rather than annoyed and snickered as I exited the building into the chilly night air.

  My magic hummed with anticipation and I silently—because I didn’t need to give Jax further proof that I was a few eggs shorter than a dozen—reminded it to watch from the sidelines. I felt a rapid little pulse, my magic chucking its figurative pompoms at me. My mind suddenly conjured up the sight of a football spiraling right at me and then a slightly sharper and intense shot of power hit me in the solar plexus, making me gasp for my next breath. Jax immediately halted and turned me to face him, his blue eyes filled with concern. I waved him off, taking a deep breath since the strike had only been strong enough to rob me of a moment of oxygen.

  “Idi na khui!” I bit out. I could practically hear its haughty sniff and retreat at being told to fuck off. I’d tried being nice. Silence. Fine, enjoy your childish pout. I don’t have time for this bullshit.

  I regulated my breathing and when I looked up, Jax was still watching me, but his expression had shifted to one of mirth. “Don’t say a word,” I warned.

  He held up his hands as if surrendering, and his face split with a grin.

  Sighing, I gestured for him to move along, and we walked toward the neighborhood where the girl had been found. It was unlikely that Dorian was still there, but it would help me get a sense of where he’d gone. This reality was new to him and I had a feeling that he would be drawn to any of his normal haunts that were unchan
ged in this realm.

  The police were still gathered around the site of the murder with caution tape keeping me from investigating. It irritated me when the cops found one of Dorian’s victims before I did because it made my job more difficult. Honestly, when it came to magic, there wasn’t a lot I didn’t have the ability to do. Having the power and having the patience, though, were two very different things. And just as it was with the amulets, the more power I packed behind my magic, the more it drained me. Freezing the whole block so that I could get close to the witch was a pain in the ass and I really hated to do it. Invisibility was even more of a bitch and was a fuck of a lot easier if you respelled an object—usually clothing—to hide you rather than casting the spell on yourself every time.

  If those motives weren’t enough to dissuade me from using my magic, there was the little detail that I never used my magic unless it was the only option available. Fortunately, I had a creative mind and after so many years of repressing the instinct to rely on my witchcraft, I’d become quite proficient at finding alternative options.

  “Stay here,” I told Jax distractedly as I walked away, my mind already absorbed by the plan I was forming.

  No matter what anyone says, size matters. Being so small, I could have easily been bitter about it and spent my life wishing I were taller. But that path seemed like complete lunacy and a waste of life. Instead, I’d always used my compact size to my advantage. Wearing black came in handy most of the time as well, which was the predominant reason the color comprised the majority of my wardrobe. My purple hair didn’t aid the matter, though, so I rarely wore a top or coat that didn’t have a hood; otherwise, I carried a cap in my pocket. After twisting my ponytail into a bun, I pulled up my hood and slithered into the shadows.

  As I glided on silent footsteps, I kept to the darkness and curled into myself to appear even smaller. I wasn’t so little that they would think there was a child running around, it was just enough for a peripheral glance to dismiss me as a trick of the eye. There was a young, female officer stationed at one end of the alley, her job to keep people from crossing the tape barrier. When I was a few feet from her, I stopped in a doorway that had a busted light, giving me more cover, and waited. She was pacing and when she returned to my side of the passageway, my hand shot out and struck her carotid baroreceptor, immediately rendering her unconscious. I prepared to catch her as she crumpled to the ground, but a giant suddenly appeared and scooped her into his arms.

  “Kakóvo chyorta?” I mumbled, glaring at the unbelievably sexy wolf-man who was stalking me. “Where did you come from?”

  He shrugged as he brought the woman to the doorway and gently set her on the stoop, careful to keep her upright by leaning her into the corner. “I can stealth when the occasion calls for it. When I realized your plan, I knew you could handle it, but I also knew assisting you right then wouldn’t put you at risk. If I can help, why shouldn’t I?”

  When he finished his explanation, he stood and crossed his arms over his broad chest, making the muscles ripple in his biceps and the veins pop on his forearms. “Well?” he urged expectantly.

  I literally pinched myself to dissolve the fog his amazing arms had put me in and made sure my mask of indifference was firmly in place before looking up at him. “You have a point,” I begrudgingly admitted.

  He kept his expression blank as he waited for me to expound upon my answer. But his eyes were his tell and they crinkled at the corners as satisfaction gleamed from their blue pools.

  “You’re a distraction,” I blurted out. Then I cursed myself six ways to Sunday for my momentary lack of discipline. Jax raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth, but I ran away from my stupidity, using the job as my excuse.

  “I need to get her out of her hat and coat,” I said, suddenly all business. “I only have a small window of time before they notice she’s not at her post.”

  Jax’s eyes narrowed and his mouth curled downward. I was right, but by his expression, he was onto my avoidance tactics and he was letting it go only for now. He jerked his chin in a motion for me to get to it and I didn’t wait around for him to change his mind and argue.

  I grabbed the woman’s hat and stuffed my hair into it, then tucked my long shirt into my pants so all that was seen was my black pants. Jax had removed her coat and was holding it open for me to slip my arms inside and let him settle it over my shoulders. It was big on me, but I didn’t think it was very noticeable, so I zipped it up and melted back into the group of officers and medical personnel. No one spared me a look as I untethered the crime scene tape from one side of the wall and shuffled inside the cordoned-off area. I’d pilfered a camera from one of the cruisers and proceeded to take pictures as if it was my job.

  Then I paused as if I’d spotted something interesting before dropping down onto my haunches.

  “See something we missed?” A young rookie asked from a few feet away.

  “Maybe,” I mumbled as my eyes did a more thorough search of the body than they could ever accomplish. Without the gift, they wouldn’t see that the remnants of the truth spell he’d cast were still lingering on her chest. It was becoming fainter and fainter, but since I finally knew what the fuck was going on with that bastard, I had a new edge to my strategy.

  When I really considered things, it was a double-edged sword that Dorian was a warlock. Every witch possessed unique powers and, if they weren’t careful, it could be used as a sort of signature. My mother had taught me how to “erase” any trace I might have left behind, but I’d been careless with it until it had landed me in a world of pain.

  Dorian either didn’t know how to erase his trail, or he was sloppy. I had a feeling it was the latter because of the arrogance he’d displayed whenever I nearly caught him. It never seemed to occur to him that I would be able to track him down by his magic, even if he had figured out that I was a witch. Until now, he hadn’t been entirely wrong. With no indication that he had magic in him, I’d never attempted to look for it after he’d slipped through my fingers.

  I knew what I was looking for this time. I firmly told my magic it was being let out on a furlough and to not fuck around and have all of its privileges revoked. Then I gently opened the door to its confined space and let it out to learn about Dorian’s power. I had a hunch about the faint green aura that made the symbol glow, especially when I’d been able to detect it through the television. I was almost positive that this was residual energy from the amulet. It wouldn’t have been any use to him, but if he’d attempted to harness its magic, it would have lashed out at him. If he did it again—and let’s be realistic, he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed—my magic would have an easier time sensing it because I was tied to the amulets by blood as well as power.

  On the flip side of all of this, he wouldn’t be as easy to kill as the rest of the other bloodsuckers I’d terminated in the last century, but not as hard as killing a daywalker, mind you. As I’d told Jax and Emerald earlier, I was going to be forced to use magic to destroy him and the truth was…it terrified me. I’d managed to keep an extremely low profile in my new home, but now I’d returned to a reality where my power put a big fucking target on my back. Although, now that we knew Cassius had been able to traverse realms, it meant there was no longer any place where I was safe. Jax’s face floated into my mind and the feelings from my dream came flooding back, reminding me of how I’d felt in his arms.

  My magic sparked on the ends of my fingers, bringing me back to reality and reminding me that we were kind of in a hurry. “Yebanutaya,” I sneered at myself. I was such an idiot. It was a fucking dream, and I was sitting here mooning over it like it had really happened. Maybe a straitjacket was in my future after all.

  My amulet warmed against my skin and unexpectedly, my magic retreated obediently back into its cell. The aura around the young witch had faded entirely, but it had been enough. As I put my hands on my knees to push to my feet, a breeze fluttered her short, black hair and I spotted a tiny symbol tattooed undern
eath her ear. Some covens liked to brand themselves. It was a badge of pride, and a way to recognize each other. It was monumentally stupid if you asked me. They had to be off their trolley if they hadn’t considered how dangerous it was. Not only were they advertising that they were witches, but they were offering themselves up on a platter for anyone who wanted information about, or sought to destroy, their coven.

  However, in this case, it worked in my favor because now that we knew Dorian was a witch, we might be able to get some information from the local covens. I sent up a little prayer of thanks to Gorska Maika and stood up. My hand sought the comfort of my amulet, but I dared not lift it from beneath my shirt, and the bulky coat was too thick to feel it through the material. Instead, I curled it into a fist and stared hard at the crescent moons that created a Triquetra for another moment before releasing my index finger to point at it. I mumbled a spell and though no one could see it, I felt the magic flow to her neck where it gently blew the ink off of her skin like dust in the wind. Then I looked over toward the young cop, only to find Jax had taken his place, his eyes trained on me, observing me carefully. I knew he’d seen the lavender glow that sometimes surrounded me when my emotions were high, or I used stronger magic but didn’t know what caused it. From the intensity of his vigilant stare, I gathered it was what he was waiting to see happen.

  To anyone else, it would seem as though he was simply watching me, but I could tell by the set of his shoulders and the tiniest tilt of his head that he was listening to everything around him. Most likely trying to make sure he could intercept anyone who might have noticed my questionable presence—which was a hell of a lot more probable if I lit up like I’d been dipped in radium—with a dash of plutonium since blue and red make purple. Might as well be accurate with my ridiculous imagery.

  When my gaze met Jax’s, he lifted his chin and stepped back, giving me a sign that it was safe for me to come to him and—I would analyze this to pieces later—I immediately stood and walked straight to him like I was being pulled by a magnet. He lifted the loose, yellow tape so I could slip underneath it, then grasped my hand and laced our fingers together before guiding me away from the scene. From just that small touch, my core tightened, and my pulse beat heavily between my thighs.