Spell of Binding

by Anna Abner

  Cole would be experiencing the same sensations, along with the worst horrors buried in his subconscious. Eventually, dreams and reality would flip-flop in his mind. At some point, his sanity would reach its limit and snap. Permanently.

  Dani came to in a rush, gasping as she rose off the floor. The overhead light shone like a spotlight on her face. How long had she been asleep? Hours? Days?

  David scuttled forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Are you okay? Look at me. Say something.”

  His touch terrified her, and she flinched at the feel of his flesh on her bare arms. But then she remembered the binding spell, and she stopped fighting him. Instead, she sat very still and absorbed his touch. It felt…warm. Solid.

  Dangerous.

  He shook her gently. “Dani, say something.”

  “Sorry.” Her tongue was dry. Please, God, say she hadn’t been mouth breathing while unconscious. Or worse, snoring. “I’m a little disoriented.” His fingers pressed into her bare flesh. He’d leave marks behind if he didn’t ease up.

  “I guess it worked,” he said, removing his hands.

  She stood on legs a little wobbly from the rush of spirit power and shook blood back into her limbs.

  “Everything go alright?” she asked.

  “Not at first,” he admitted, rubbing his hair into an adorable mess. “For a few minutes, I didn’t think I’d be able to wake you up.”

  “But you did. Good job.” She stretched her arms above her head, and her spine cracked. “What does it feel like?”

  “Electricity. Is that normal?” His gaze flitted over her breasts before returning to her eyes.

  Though she was covered from neck to toes in layers of clothing, she felt exposed. Her skin overheated. She lowered her arms and David glanced once more below her collar bone. Every nerve ending in her body electrified under his hesitant gaze. He was beyond attractive. More like dangerously exciting. And it was as if they were back on their only date and the last year hadn’t passed. All those giddy, anxious first date feelings came rushing back.

  “I don’t know,” Dani answered, folding her arms. “Cole doesn’t like to cast, and he likes to talk about it even less.”

  “If I could touch people again after years of isolation,” he said, drawing his full lower lip between his teeth, “I’d want to explore my new ability.”

  Her breath hitched. “Like what?” Her mind dreamed up all kinds of kinky pleasures, each of them more titillating than the last, and every one starring David Wilkes.

  His eyes widened, as if he hadn’t expected her to be on board. “Well, I’d start with the small stuff. You’ve already held hands.” He extended one strong, firm hand toward her, palm up.

  Dani floated her hand atop his, and he grasped it in a feathery soft grip. His thumb grazed the inside of her wrist, and she shivered.

  David trailed strong fingers up her forearm, circling the dark webs only they could see. Gently, his free hand brushed the hair from the side of her neck and then he spread his fingers through her hair.

  David’s breath puffed against her face as he cupped her cheek, close enough to kiss.

  “I’ve wanted to touch your hair for a long time.” He smiled sweetly. “It’s beautiful.” His fingers wiggled along the base of her skull. “And even softer than I imagined.”

  Dani couldn’t think of anything to say. Her higher-level thinking had glitched, and she had become one live nerve, beginning under his palm and spreading out. No one had ever touched her hair. Or massaged her scalp. Or made her heart rate spike in uncontrolled desire.

  She liked his hand in her hair, and she wanted it other places, too.

  “That’s nice,” she said huskily.

  David backed up a step, leaving her chilled and achy.

  “This Cole guy,” he said, his voice unusually strained. “Is he your boyfriend?”

  “No.” Her thoughts were oatmeal in her head. “I told you. He’s a friend.”

  “It seems like you have a lot of male friends. How did you meet him?”

  She couldn’t look at him and think clearly, so she turned away and fiddled with the gears on his ten-speed.

  “When the Dark Caster tried to open a Chaos Gate the first time and was stripped of his powers by agents of heaven, we all felt it. In a weak moment, I visited a coven in Raleigh. I was curious about people with powers like mine. Cole was a member. He feels better about himself when he’s helping others. I didn’t stay with the group, but Cole and I became friends.” She squeezed the gear release and let it out slowly, imagining it was David’s fingers. Suddenly there were so many things she wanted to do to him. But not yet. They still had a lot of work to do. “Let’s practice the sleep spell again. It should be second nature.” She rolled her head and then returned to her spot on the floor.

  “I don’t like this,” David grumbled. “I’m scared I’m going to hurt you.”

  She gazed up into his troubled expression. “Would you rather practice here or in a busy hospital with a man’s life on the line?” She didn’t tell him a nightmare spell was tougher to break than a no-frills sleep spell. And another necromancer’s spell was always tricky to counter. To pull this off, David would need all the skill and confidence they could scrounge.

  * * *

  There was nothing left of his sister, Caitlyn. Not after Cole’s knife had finished its grisly work. His shoulders and back ached from the nonstop stabbing. Finally, the monster inside him grew tired, and Cole stole control of his own body. He rose from his knees, now stained bright red with his sister’s still-warm blood.

  “Steph?” he called to his spirit companion. She had yet to join this macabre little tea party. “Please, hon, I need you.”

  But his nightmare wasn’t over. It was never over. Because just as he wiped the blood and mess from his hands, the bell chimed over the front door of The Repository, his comic book shop.

  “Cole?” His mom entered, clad in the silly yellow sweatshirt she loved with the kittens on the chest. She’d been wearing it on cold days since Cole was a kid. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Go,” he managed to say before the rage took over and he saw red. His body was no longer his own.

  “Cole?” She stared at the puddle that had been her daughter, though it was unclear if she realized its significance. “Something’s wrong.”

  Yeah, there sure was. The force within Cole thundered back to life and trapped him inside his own skin. Cole lunged, knife in hand. Those kittens were soon nothing but blood and thread.

  Chapter Ten

  Waking from the sleep spell the second time was more painful than the first. Dani’s muscles refused to act on her signals to stand up.

  “You need to rest,” David said, hovering.

  She bit back a groan and struggled into a sitting position. “No, I’m fine.”

  Kelly Clarkson sang from her cell phone.

  “How are we supposed to clear our minds,” David grumbled, “when your cell phone is going off every five minutes?”

  “What do you want me to do?” Caller ID read Holden Clark. She had to answer.

  “Turn it off.”

  “I can’t.” She hit the answer button. “Holden? What’s wrong?”

  “We’re coming home early,” Holden announced. “Neither of us wants to see you or Cole dealing with this crap on your own. We might be able to help.”

  “No, you don’t have to. Stay on vacation.” She’d seen the way Holden looked at Rebecca. From what she knew of his past, he needed a sexy vacation with his new girlfriend more than almost anyone.

  Holden made a dismissive snort. “We can get a flight tonight, and then it’ll be another day of travel until we get home.”

  “Holden, stop. I don’t want you to cut short your vacation. I’m fine.” No, she wasn’t. She was having trouble handling memories of the basement, let alone reality. And David’s proximity was doing funny things to her equilibrium. She could use an extra hand.

  �
�Listen, little witch, you helped me and Rebecca when we needed you the most,” he said. “I’m not going to abandon you now.”

  Dani wasn’t used to people going out of their way to help her, and the unexpected kindness brought embarrassing tears to her eyes. She had no family of her own, and she literally kept her friends at arm’s length. She felt guilty for ruining Holden’s vacation but also overwhelmingly grateful that he’d be home soon.

  “Thanks.” She cleared her throat. “And, uh, Cole’s not doing well.”

  “What happened?”

  “He’s trapped in a nightmare spell. The doctors and nurses are taking good care of him, but I’m scared.”

  “I was put under a nightmare spell,” Holden admitted.

  She hadn’t heard. “How bad was it?”

  His breath crackled against the phone’s mouthpiece. “Bad. Really, really bad. And I was only in it for half an hour. How long has it been for Cole?”

  She checked her watch. “Sixteen hours and change.”

  “Jesus Christ, Dani.”

  She was working as fast as she could. She still hadn’t slept or eaten anything except candy and a cheese sandwich for days. She couldn’t go much faster. David needed time to adjust to all this magic stuff before he could master it.

  “Before you go,” Dani said, “do you know a man named Derek Walker?”

  There was a longer-than-normal pause on the line. For a second Dani thought they’d been disconnected.

  Finally, Holden answered, “What has he done?”

  “Nothing, that I know of. He’s the man we’re supposed to put a demon into.”

  Another long pause. “He’s the necromancer who hurt Rebecca.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Holden laughed angrily. “Absolutely, one hundred percent sure. He tried to destroy the woman I love. I cast a memory removal spell on him. The last I heard, he was a shell of a man living alone in his house in Richlands with no contact with the other side.”

  “If he failed, he’s being punished by the Dark Caster.”

  “Good.”

  Ouch. Dani wasn’t prepared, yet, to write off another human being. She understood the deviltry Derek had participated in when he’d tried to release a demon into the world, but even Holden had admitted the man was a shell.

  “I’m not suggesting we give him a big hug,” Dani explained, “but we can’t let a demon possess anyone. Not even him.”

  “I know you’re right, but don’t ask me to help him. I won’t. Not after what he did.”

  Her phone buzzed, signaling another incoming call. It was from a private number this time. “Holden, you’re a good friend. Call me tomorrow. I’ve got to go.” She switched over to the new call.

  “Daniela Ferraro?” a male voice asked.

  “Who is this?”

  “Detective Moyer. Ma’am, I’m at the hospital. One of the nurses claims a message was left for you here. I want to make sure you’re okay. Has anything out of the ordinary happened? Have you seen anything suspicious where you are?”

  “No. I’m fine. I’m with David at his condo.”

  “David Wilkes?” Then without waiting for an answer, the detective announced, “I’m sending a patrol car to watch the apartment. Just for a few hours until we can sort out what happened. You have my number.” He said good-bye and hung up.

  “David?” Dani found him in the garage staring blankly at his amateur spell circle. “We have to go. Practice is over.”

  * * *

  Confidence was not the word David would use to describe his feelings as they prepared to leave for the hospital. Though he’d successfully called a spirit companion and put Dani to sleep twice, he was in the peewee leagues compared to where Dani needed him to be. And there wasn’t anything he could do about it on such short notice. She’d assured him spirit power was the crucial ingredient they needed, not experience. But that didn’t ease his nerves one bit because Tony was just as much a newbie as David.

  He peeked through the living room blinds. “The cab’s here,” David announced, holding open the door of his condo for Dani, who swept by him carrying their necromancy supplies and smelling of island fruit. Her face was drawn, and he sensed she was more worried than she would admit.

  Both a yellow cab and a marked patrol car sat parked across the street. The police officer saw them first, scanned the area, and then stepped out.

  “Everything okay?” the cop asked.

  “Going to visit our friend in the hospital,” Dani said. “We’re fine.”

  “I’m supposed to keep eyes on you tonight.”

  “No problem.”

  “And tomorrow?” David asked, stepping beside her, his arm brushing hers and sending bolts of sexual awareness up his bicep. “Will we be followed by police indefinitely?”

  “That’s not up to me, sir. I’m here until 0600.”

  That sounded like a giant, you’re on your own after that.

  David tapped the yellow cab’s roof and then helped Dani into the backseat before climbing in beside her. His thigh bumped hers, and not by accident.

  If he had half a brain he’d stay one hundred yards away from this woman. Because despite the ice in her veins, and her witchy magic, and her damned neon-pink shoes, he could not get enough. He hadn’t been this obsessed over one girl since high school. Could it be residual magic rubbing off and leaving sparks?

  Whatever it was, it had him spinning.

  “What are the odds we’ll actually pull this off?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Fifty-fifty?”

  “You’re lying.” He could tell because she wouldn’t make eye contact. “We have almost no shot at all, do we?”

  “I don’t know.” She rolled her head against the seat rest and closed her eyes. “I’ve never been under so much pressure in my life. I just want this all to be over.”

  “Yeah.” Then she would scurry back to Springfield, and he’d probably never see her again. Sure, he might call a few times with a necromancy question, and she’d help, but eventually things would go back to the way they’d been two weeks ago.

  And that thought depressed the crap out of him.

  Forty-five minutes later, David steered his new rental car onto Western Blvd. Dani hadn’t wanted to take the time to rent it, but he didn’t need a cabbie in their personal business. So, he’d rented a lime-green Volkswagen Beetle until the police released their personal vehicles from the evidence lot.

  In his normal life, David drove a giant black Suburban and had scoffed at the silly-colored girly car at the rental place. But it was their only choice. Everything else had been spoken for.

  “I’m not sure Tony will show up,” David said, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

  “What do you mean?” Dani swiveled her head around. “We can’t cast without him.”

  “I know, but he asked me to do something I probably can’t do.”

  “Whatever it is, we’ll do it,” she assured.

  Easier said than done. “His sister is following a dangerous path, and he wants me to help her straighten up, but she refused to talk to me.”

  “Geez.” Dani crossed and then uncrossed her legs in the cramped front seat. His gaze fell upon her thighs. Even covered in long pants they were shapely and strong. He imagined laying his palm on her leg and dragging his fingertips higher…

  Sucking in a terrified gasp, he swerved to avoid plowing into a fire hydrant.

  “You okay?” Dani exclaimed.

  “Yeah. Sorry.” He returned his hands to ten and two on the wheel and kept his eyes on the road.

  “Well,” Dani said, “I’ve been around kids long enough to know the harder you push, the harder they push back. Give her a little time and we’ll try again. Be sure to tell Tony that.”

  “He wants me to save this girl,” David said, “but I’m not sure it’s possible.” He wanted to help, but he didn’t know what to say to a sad teenage girl who’d lost not only her brother, but her hopes and dreams, too.
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  “You care about him already.”

  Tony was alone and trapped, unable to communicate with anyone except the occasional necromancer. He was about as pathetic as a boy could be.

  “He’s just a kid himself,” David said. “Sixteen years old. I can’t imagine what he’s feeling.”

  “And he reminds you of Ryan.”

  “Of course he does.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Dani assured. “I’ll talk to her, too. Whatever it takes. We need him.”

  At the entrance of the Onslow County Memorial Hospital, David parked in the visitors’ lot and got out, patting his pockets to insure he had the sidewalk chalk for the upcoming spell he’d agreed to draw and cast in Cole’s hospital room. God, he missed his normal life. He missed Ryan. He even missed his mom, and she was a neurotic.

  “Don’t be nervous,” Dani said, coming around to his side of the Beetle. “You can do this. There’s absolutely no reason you can’t.”

  She was chattering, which meant she was just as unsettled as he was.

  He grabbed her hand roughly, grounding himself in the soft, cool flesh of her fingers. She clung to him, and he wanted to reassure her, but he didn’t know what to say because he was certain they were screwed. At the front doors, David kept a firm grip on Dani’s hand as he pulled the door open for her.

  Cole Burkov’s room was on the third floor. He had two roommates, an elderly fellow with a bandaged leg and a middle-aged woman surrounded by at least six dozen flowers in vases.

  A female ghost shimmered into sight near the head of Cole’s bed.

  “Oh God,” David breathed. This must be Cole’s spirit companion. She was a plump brunette in gym wear—baggy gray T-shirt, black stretch leggings, and a pair of nice-looking cross trainers. She made eye contact with David, smiled hesitantly, and then faded out of sight.

  So, there would be an audience for this little comedy. Wonderful.

  Dani pulled the privacy curtains and whispered, “Focus. We’ll be done in five minutes.”

  He seriously doubted that.