Night Magic: A Wing Slayer Novel

by Jennifer Lyon

  She ran her fingers over his face. “I’m not going to let her burn you. Now that I know what she’s up to, I’ll find a way to stop her, but that means I have to be there. I’m going with you and the others to the Infernal Grounds.” She held her breath, waiting for him to argue.

  He rested his hand on her breast. She could feel the tension in his body. “You’re making me crazy.”

  Softly she repeated, “I’m going.”

  “I know.” He put his mouth to hers. “We fight together. We win together.”

  He gave in? “You aren’t going to trick me?”

  “No. I want to. Jesus, I want to lock you in the gym downstairs, but you’d just get out. Besides, you trusted me by telling me what you saw. You thought about sneaking off and trying to kill your mother yourself, didn’t you?”

  Of course she had. But Phoenix had blown apart her solitary way of doing things. They’d trusted each other when the rogues attacked them on the bike, and they had won. She was beginning to believe they were going to win here. Kill the coven, break the handfast, and maybe prove to the Ancestors that she was worthy. “We’re stronger together.” But she was still holding back. She wanted to give him more, to tell him the truth in her soul.

  She had seen herself through his eyes, felt his deep caring, and she wanted him to know how she saw him. How she felt about him. Her mother, the cold, evil bitch, had clearly illustrated everything that love was not.

  Then Phoenix had reached into her and revealed the depth of his caring by sharing his image of her. That gave her more courage than she’d had in her entire life. She hoped she wasn’t going to have to die, but if she did, she would make sure he knew how she felt.

  She struggled to form a picture in her mind, using the images he’d shown her. She built it one step at a time. First she pictured the gently sloping grassy yard bathed in the moonlight.

  “Ailish,” Phoenix said, “what are you showing me?”

  “Wait.” Now she pictured Phoenix naked, standing beneath the moonlight. His legs spread, his warrior build taking up space, and the phoenix rising from the flame tats.

  Phoenix laid his hand on her face. “That’s how you see me?”

  “Yes.” Her heart pounded with trepidation. This was all new to her. But she wouldn’t back down. Not now. “And this is how I want to show you I love you.” She pictured herself, kneeling, kissing him, then drawing him deep into her mouth.

  He stiffened for a beat, then peeled away from her. The cold air swept over the places he had warmed. Never in her life had she felt more naked or vulnerable.

  Or stupid.

  Maybe her mother had been right. Her magic cringed in shame, her throat tightened. She didn’t know what to do. Get up and go in the house? She felt around for her clothes, not even sure where he—

  He caught her hand. “The idea that someone would love me, rely on me, used to terrify me. I didn’t want to fail someone who loved me and break them. It was easier just to be the short-term hero.”

  She couldn’t talk. It was too much, the fear of rejection mixing with the desperate, painful hope. This was what she had avoided. She could handle physical pain, but not this.…

  “But you, Ailish, you make me want to be more than a hero. I want to be the man worthy of you, a siren witch so special she’s only born once in a century. I want to protect you, fight with you, and fill your world with light.” He rolled over, covering her with his naked and very hard body. “I need to be inside you, touching your magic …” He spread her legs wide and thrust into her. “To tell you I love you. You’re mine, Ailish.”

  His deep love poured through her and sent her over into an orgasm.

  They were just inside the house when his phone rang. Ailish heard him dig into the pants he was carrying and pull it out. “It’s Ram,” he told her, then answered, “Yeah?”

  She walked to the bedroom as he followed behind.

  “Six witches,” he said, his voice razor sharp.

  Ailish went to her corner and fished around until she found her sweatpants. She put the shorts in the bag.

  “I don’t want to leave Ailish.” Pause. “He is? Okay, I’ll leave when Dee gets here.” He hung up.

  “Missing witches?” she asked.

  “Yes. Linc’s bringing Dee back here, then we’ll both go out to find them.”

  She looked for her brush.

  “What are you doing?”

  She snapped up to her full height, startled that he was standing right behind her. “Going to take a shower.”

  “Your stuff is still in the bag I packed for you.”

  She turned, standing in front of it. “It’s out of the way. You weren’t using this corner.” Years of not having a home, not having her own space, hell, of not having much to call her own, made her defensive. Protective. She wanted him to leave her space alone.

  Phoenix moved away, and she forced herself to relax. He had brought her the stuff, he wasn’t going to take it from her. Embarrassed, she turned back for her toothbrush.

  Phoenix was opening and closing dresser drawers. “Now that we know where the rogue hideout is, we’re going to try and cut them off and rescue the witches.”

  Holding her pile of clothes, she said, “You won’t get too close to those mini-dagger things?”

  “No, not until we figure out how to get around them.”

  She relaxed a little and noticed that his movements were edgy. The rogues were getting too much of a head start while he waited for Linc and Dee. “Go. You’re wasting time.”

  “No. I want to save those witches, but I’m not leaving you.”

  Annoyed, she said, “The house is safe. I’m not going outside, and I sure as hell won’t be inviting a demon inside. Linc is bringing Dee here, you said he can be trusted.” The very idea of the witches being cut again and again until all their blood drained out, just so the copper-stinking rogue could get his power high, made her want to go out and hunt those bastards herself.

  Phoenix walked back to her and touched her face. “You sure? It’ll only be a few more minutes. Linc’s fast in his Viper.”

  “Yes.” She trusted Phoenix, loved Phoenix, but she also had to be able to stand on her own. She’d managed to take care of herself for eight years. This was important to her, vital. She wouldn’t be the burden to him that his mother had been.

  He leaned down and kissed her, then straightened. “Drawers on the right side of the dresser are yours. Take the right side of the closet. Put your stuff in the bathroom. I only use one drawer in there, you can use the others. We’ll get the rest of your stuff later, or buy what you need.”

  The shift in subject caught her off guard. “I’m fine with—”

  “You’re not living out of bags stuffed into a corner like you’re homeless,” he said, shaking his head. “You have a home, a place where you belong. With me.”

  Warmth traveled through her. This was what love was, giving each other what they needed. She needed her own space, and Phoenix needed to save earth witches and hunt rogues. “Go. I’ll put my stuff away and wait for Dee.”

  He took her hand and put her phone in it. “You need me, you call.” One last kiss, then he strode out, moving at hunter speed.

  She smiled, picturing him in that awesome Mustang. A minute or so later, she heard the alarm beep as he rearmed the house. She decided not to shower until Dee was safely in the house, so she pulled on her sweatpants and tank top, slipped the phone into her front pocket, and passed the time stowing her clothes in the dresser and hanging them in the closet. Next she put her laptop in the bottom drawer, then picked up the bag containing the rest of her stuff and walked toward the bathroom.

  A high-pitched, pain-filled scream froze her in place. Oh God, she recognized that sound! Dee! Ailish reached into the bag, fished around, and found her packets of silver crystals. She shoved them into her other pocket. Then she ran down the hallway to the front door.

  “No—oh God!” Dee cried.

  “Get out here,
Ailish Donovan! You’ve got to the count of three or I’m pouring acid on her face. She’ll be as blind and ugly as you. One!”

  Male voice. Possessed? She didn’t know! What should she do?

  “Two!”

  She had no choice. Quickly she reached into her pants and hit the speed dial for Phoenix, leaving the line open. She fisted the silver granules and opened the door.

  The alarm blared. She smelled sulfur on her left. Reacting, she got ready to kick—

  Something pressed against her neck and fired a big, hot jolt through her, shutting down her nerves, muscles, and chakras. The ground came up and smacked her. Her arms and legs twitched. Stun gun? She tried to think! Saw shadows moving around her.

  “Bring the woman. We need her alive to keep the witch under control.” Ailish heard the words, but her tongue was dead in her mouth. She was picked up and thrown in a vehicle.

  Training took over. She forced her sluggish body to respond, shoving herself up on her arms and bringing her legs up to snap a kick into the shadow’s head area.

  But her body was slow and clumsy.

  He grabbed her foot, twisted brutally, and snapped the bones. Vicious pain screamed through her, and she rolled to her side, gagging. He climbed in after her and whispered in a voice that echoed with demonic vibes, “Make it easy on yourself, witch. Agree. Or I’m going to make you scream until you’ll beg me to fuck you while you call me master.” He jammed something against her neck, and a jolt of hot pain went through her, then darkness.

  Phoenix raced out of the community and turned left. The streets were pretty clear at midnight. Ten minutes later, he’d just made it to the empty church that was on the way to the rogue hideout when his phone vibrated. He hit the switch for his Bluetooth. “Yeah.”

  “Trouble,” Ram said. “Linc and Dee attacked. They got Dee.”

  “Fuck!” Ailish! He spun the wheel of the Mustang, turning back when he heard the frantic beeping that signaled his home alarm had gone off. Then a signal for another call. He grabbed his phone from the center compartment and looked at the screen. A call from Ailish.

  He switched to her line and said, “Ailish?”

  All he heard in response was the blare of his house alarm and noises. Grunts, a pop that sounded like electricity, and then a male voice he didn’t recognize say, “Bring the woman. We need her alive to keep the witch under control.”

  Fear for Ailish exploded. He pulled the car over to the side of the road and heard, “Make it easy on yourself, witch. Agree. Or I’m going to make you scream until you’ll beg me to fuck you—”

  Phoenix threw himself out of the car as his wings burst from his back. He called Axel and began to run. “The demon witches have Ailish. I’m going now.” The male voice he heard had to be a man possessed by Asmodeus. It didn’t take any leap of imagination to figure out they had used Dee to get Ailish out of the house.

  “The wards,” Axel reminded him.

  His wings began pumping as he ran. “Ask Darcy and Carla to try to get them down or break them.” He left the ground and began flying. “If they can’t, I’ll find another way through them.” He hadn’t forgotten that Maeve Donovan had a plan to destroy him. He was going to rip out her throat before she got a chance to release the cry that would burn him to ash.

  Failing that, he was going to dive-bomb Maeve and take that bitch down with him and free Ailish.

  He wouldn’t fail. Not this time.

  A terrified sob tore through the deep gray fog. Surfacing, Ailish took stock. Her head hurt, spots on her neck burned, and her ankle was on fire. Full awareness came back swiftly. She was at the coven grounds, could feel the skin-crawling wards surrounding her. She smelled sulfur. Heard voices. She could feel that she was lying in the dirt. Reaching out with her hand, she felt only emptiness. “Dee?” Where was she? Had they left her behind?

  A hand wrapped around her arm and jerked her to her feet. She landed on her right foot, but every movement sent agony through her shattered left ankle. She strained to focus her eyes, able to see the shadows of a group of demon witches to her left. The one in front had to be her mother. To her right, another witch, and something next to her, a shadowy crouched shape she couldn’t make out. The handfast binding felt heavy and warm.

  “Choose, witch. Submit to me. Accept me as your lord and master. Or we begin.”

  The possessed mortal’s voice made her skin chill. It was a blending of the mortal and the demon in a sickening echo, driving home that she was in real trouble. For eight years, she’d trained for this moment.

  The showdown.

  She had to resist, force her chakras open and fight. And if she lost, she had to die an earth witch. With a dry mouth, she said, “No.”

  “Prod her.”

  Ailish steeled herself for more pain. She heard a sizzle, and every cell in her body tightened …

  A horrible scream.

  Dee! The cry came from her right, the crouched figure! She struggled to make her eyes work, but nothing more focused.

  She heard a sob and gagging, then Dee vomiting.

  Bile rose in her throat, her skin shrank back, but deep in her gut, rage took hold. “Stop!” She couldn’t let Dee be tortured! As an earth witch, she was supposed to stand between mortals and demons!

  Ailish, I’m here. Can you bring down the wards?

  Phoenix! Her chakras quivered in response to him in her head. They have Dee! She formed the layout in her mind, trying to show him where Dee was.

  A figure walked up to her. “You were given a great honor, and you humiliated me.” Her mother lifted her hand from her side and slammed a force of magic into Ailish’s left ankle.

  The pain detonated, shooting up her leg, seizing her bladder. She doubled over, crumpling to the ground. She tasted her own blood, biting her tongue and lip to keep from screaming. Tears burned and streamed from her eyes.

  Shit, I feel your pain! I can’t get through the fucking wards! Phoenix’s voice bellowed in her head.

  Her chakras responded by bubbling a little harder, trying to get to Phoenix and the bird. They opened enough to allow a weak stream of power to rise like water from a hose. Having Phoenix close to her, the bird funneling her power, helped, but the stream was pale and anemic. The red-hot agony eased to a bearable throbbing. She realized that with her chakras partially opened, he was able to take some of her pain.

  Can you sing?

  His voice—oh God, it was like a lifeline. It gave her courage, made her determined. She tried to measure her power; she had only two chakras open. Need more power, she answered as two robed demon witches grabbed her shoulders and dragged her to her knees before the possessed mortal where he stood in front of the altar. From behind her, Maeve commanded, “Ready our demon lord.”

  The coven witches swarmed over the male, pulling off his clothes and touching him in ways that made Ailish grateful for her blindness. They fawned over him in sexual worshipping as the scent of sulfur grew thicker. Even the two witches holding her rushed forward, desperate to touch the vessel that held Asmodeus.

  Within seconds, the handfast binding on her wrist sent out dozens of sparks along her nerve endings, forcing her body to respond in a sick kind of lust that made her nipples swell painfully and her core dampen. This was nothing like when Phoenix touched her; with Phoenix, her body responded with a natural beauty that made her magic rush and sing.

  Darcy and Carla are trying to send more power to you. You should feel it.

  As the witches were tearing off their robes, moaning and writhing, a warm sensation that felt a bit like a patch of sunlight on a cold day began swelling in her chakras. She recognized the feel of Darcy’s and Carla’s magic. The sounds of the coven and their demon slid further away from her as she focused on that energy, the joy of twining and circling magic.

  She had to do four things: Bring down the wards, get between Dee and the witches, banish the demon, and stop her mother from releasing her birth cry once Phoenix was in sight.

 
From her pelvic floor, energy rose, bubbling up, opening her third fire chakra, her fourth air chakra, and straight up through her throat chakra. Kneeling on the ground, her ankle a sick throb, she put her left hand in her pocket and opened the packets of sliver. Fisting a handful, she said in her head, Now.

  Funneling the magic upward, she felt the bird sweep with his powerful wings, helping her fuse in the power from the earth witches and control it all. Ailish took a breath to push the power through her voice and sang:

  Earth, air, water, and flames,

  Circle and grow into—

  “Stop!” Her mother grabbed her hair and stomped down on Ailish’s broken ankle.

  The searing pain made her scream out the words:

  An army of light to

  Bring down darkness!

  While singing the words, Ailish threw the silver over her shoulder toward her mother and flung herself to the left, rolling to where Dee lay, and she finished:

  Bind it, bury it, choke it, burn it!

  She came up on her knees, aiming her power at the wards on the other side of Dee.

  The ground trembled violently. The wards blew apart like a popped balloon, releasing screams and pressure.

  Three loud screeches cut through the night like battle cries. She could feel Phoenix getting closer, feel the bird as if his wings beat in her own chest.

  “Kill the woman, kill the bird!” Asmodeus’s command throbbed in the blended voices of the demon and human.

  A dark, cold energy blew across her skin as her mother began to turn, around and around.

  Other witches swarmed toward Dee.

  Behind her, Dee coughed and gasped, “Can’t breathe!”

  They were choking her with dark magic! Haley had described it as having oily rags stuffed down your throat while bands tightened around your chest. Ailish had to stop them!

  If she used her magic to hurt them, the witch karma would kill her, and then they’d kill Dee. She struggled to think.

  Her mother kept spinning like a top, pulling in energy while the other witches chanted, “No air, no breath, black death, black death.” Dirt blew up from the ground, ringing Dee and pushing Ailish out.