The Silverwing's Sorceress: THe Shadow Slayers, Book 2.5

by Cassi Carver

If she took what Jaxon offered and tried to build a life with him, how would he take it when her red hair turned to gray? How would she deal with it when new acquaintances though he was her son—or her grandson? They’d have to move somewhere remote, like Mercury Island, where he wouldn’t have to hide what he was.

  And one day, she really would be too old to make love to him anymore. And years or days after that, she would die. All the while, he would remain as handsome and vigorous as he was last night. No matter what…she would lose him some day.

  She walked to the balcony and opened the door to the large wood deck, intending to get some fresh air. Alone with her thoughts, she was getting downright depressed.

  “Good morning, dove.”

  Her head popped up, but when she didn’t see Jaxon, she glanced over the balcony. He was reclining in a chair on the back patio, facing the view of the valley, his feet propped up with The Book of Death in his hands.

  “Hey…uh…good morning.” She hoped she didn’t look as guilty as she felt. He’d made her promise some crazy things last night, but in light of his sexual coercion, who could blame her for going along with it?

  “Come down. I have chicken soup on the stove for you.”

  “Okay, let me freshen up. I’ll be down in a minute.”

  She took longer than usual getting ready for her day. There may have been a small part of her that was avoiding the inevitable discussion they needed to have. Once her jeans were in place with a long-sleeved green T-shirt, she wandered down the stairs into the kitchen and ladled a portion of soup into a bowl.

  When she exited the door opening onto the back patio, Jaxon smiled, rose from his chair and put the big black book down on the seat. Then he came to her, took the soup from her hands and placed it on the table. When he returned, he bent to her level and kissed her so gently it made her heart flutter. “Mmm… I’ve tasted my woman’s lips. The day can begin now.”

  She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his jaw. She was going to tell him that they were better off as friends. Just not yet. She knew Jaxon, and he wasn’t going to take it well. She needed to be in the sanctuary of his arms a few minutes longer before she cut both their hearts out. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and clung to him. After a minute, she released her grip and pulled back.

  His lips quirked into a slight frown as his gaze traveled over her face. “You’re the quiet one this morning. Not enough sleep?”

  “Jaxon…” Her breath faltered, and she couldn’t say more. Her legs felt quivery and the muscles in her shoulders and neck went limp. Her head hung so low, her chin almost touched her chest. “I have to talk to you.”

  He lifted her chin with his index finger and met her gaze. He didn’t say a word, just read her expression for a moment, and then swallowed. Something like desolation reflected in his eyes, but he attempted a smile. “Let’s talk later. I want to show you something.”

  She took the out, not quite ready to say what needed to be said anyhow. “Really? What?”

  “First off, you do remember what today is, don’t you?” He pulled her to the chair beside his and sat her down, then he picked up the book and joined her.

  “Uh…Tuesday? We’re going to dinner at the neighbor’s tonight to use the phone.”

  “Perhaps. But I was looking over your book—” the way he said it made her smile, as though the book itself was up to no good, “—and I think I may have found something.”

  Her eyes widened and she followed his gaze to a page she’d already glanced over several times. “The exorcising spirits spell? How would that help?”

  “Not so much spirits… Here, read carefully.” He put his thick finger to the page.

  She ran her teeth over her bottom lip. “I did read it carefully, it’s just not worded for the modern woman.”

  “Think of it not so much as spirits, but as energy. What if you shut down the energy to the mountain?”

  “That might turn off the generator—and leave us in the dark, by the way—but how would it help with the ward?”

  “This entire mountain is made of energy. Even I could feel it when you had the voice recorder in your hands. Perhaps if you cut the source of energy, it will take the ward down along with it.”

  “Hmm…” She thought it wasn’t a bad idea, but then she read a little further. “Jaxon! That’s not just sorcery, that’s coven magic! Are you hiding any witches around here that I don’t know about who are going to help me make a circle strong enough to even attempt something like this?”

  “Have I been wrong this entire time? I was under the impression that the high priests were the strongest in their covens.”

  “Yes. It used to be that way, running in family lines from what I’ve heard. But if I were going to have impressive power like that, I would have already had it. It’s like the child of two basketball players. The potential is in the genes, but that doesn’t mean the kid’s making it to the NBA.”

  “Would you at least consider trying?”

  She looked over the spell again. “Nope. I can already tell you that I won’t have enough juice to get it done.”

  He looked up to the blue sky and let out a deep breath, then he met her eyes. “Will you always allow fear to rule your life? Will you give up before you’ve even given it a chance?”

  His heavy expression and wounded look made her doubt they were still talking about the spell. “I don’t see what’s the use of trying when there’s no way it can work. We’ll avoid a lot of pain if we just admit that now.” She brought a shaky hand to her cheek and tucked a long strand of hair behind her ear. “Anyways, by tonight, we’ll be phoning San Diego, and I’m sure it will be a matter of hours until someone comes to pick us up.”

  “I love you, Abbey, but I can’t sit here any longer and watch you give up on your life without a fight.”

  He set the book in her lap and strode down the embankment. “Hey!” she called to his back. “Even if I could do the spell, this is nex veneficus! That would make me a sorceress—remember?” But he didn’t turn around.

  This was why Abbey didn’t mix friendship and sex. One night between her legs, and now Jaxon was like the walking wounded. The sun was about to go down, and he’d barely spoken to her all day. There was a chance he was avoiding what she’d wanted to talk about earlier, but mostly, he just looked pissed. So much for him not being able to stay mad at her. He was doing a pretty good job.

  He stabbed his pencil into the spiral-bound notebook on his lap and the lead snapped.

  “Enjoying translating the journal, huh?” she asked.

  He glowered at her, his lips a thin line. “Not really. The damn thing is gibberish. I’m going to have to give it back to Kara and admit that I failed. There comes a time in a man’s life when he has to be realistic and know when to cut his losses.”

  “I’m sorry. I know you’re disappointed, but I think you’re right about knowing when to walk away. You tried your best. It isn’t your fault.” She fiddled with the edge of the black book and ran a finger over the red slashes on the cover. “Well, it’s almost time to leave for dinner.”

  He exhaled and slammed the journal shut. “Then let’s get started. It’s not a long walk, but the terrain may take some time for you to navigate.”

  “Nah. I know these hills pretty well. I’m not worried.” She was about to put the book on the coffee table and head out when Jaxon dashed across the room and wrapped a firm hand around her upper arm. “Shh…” he whispered in her ear.

  “What?” she whispered back.

  “There’s a man speaking quietly at the door. He sounds like our neighbor.”

  Abbey strained her ears, but she couldn’t hear a thing. “Did he think we were supposed to meet here?”

  Jaxon shook his head. “No. Definitely not.”

  She clutched the book to her chest and put her lips to his ear. “Maybe his wife didn’t make it back yet and he wants to let us know…”

  He turned his face to hers. “Then who is he
speaking with if not his wife? And if his wife hasn’t returned, he can’t be using the phone.” When the melodic chime announced their visitor, Jaxon squeezed Abbey’s shoulder in encouragement and brought her eyes level with his. “Go wait in the tunnel.”

  “You’re overreacting, don’t you think?”

  With his hands at her back, he steered her toward the kitchen. “If your uncle really did cut the brakes on your and your parents’ cars, who’s to say he wouldn’t send someone to finish the job?”

  “You really think he’d chance such a direct attack? Doesn’t seem like his style.” Her mother’s recording had been pretty damning evidence that Claudius was up to something, but when she thought about him actually sending someone to hurt her, she couldn’t conceive of the possibility. She caught herself when she almost defended him, declaring her uncle wouldn’t do that. In reality, she barely knew the man.

  Jaxon dialed the code into the light switch and when the wall rolled open, he shoved Abbey into the tunnel. “Go.”

  She grabbed his forearm. “Come with me.”

  “No. I need to know who’s out there and what their intentions are. Don’t come out until I knock on this wall four times.”

  A fist rapped on the front door loud enough that even Abbey could hear it. Jaxon kissed her hard and then turned, twisting the dial once again to make the panel slide shut.

  On his way through the kitchen, Jaxon grabbed a chef’s knife and anchored it in the back of his jeans. The large double doors at the front of the house had an oval of clear stained glass in the center of each panel. When Jaxon peered through the decorative glass, there stood the man from down the hill with a half-empty carton of beer in his left hand. Jaxon smiled and glanced past him, surveying the entryway and the woods beyond. He didn’t see any others, but as surely as Jaxon breathed, that man had been talking to someone.

  He opened one of the double doors and with a smile, thrust out his hand. “Brad. Thank you for coming. I’m sorry I took so long to answer. My fiancée and I weren’t quite ready yet. I thought we were supposed to head over your way for dinner…”

  Brad glanced beyond Jaxon into the house, and the slight tension in his brow and the almost imperceptible quaking of his hands had Jaxon on full alert. Brad was wound tight, and that didn’t bode well for their evening. “Sorry, Jaxon. I wanted to come tell you before you came all that way that my wife’s been delayed. More shopping.” He laughed and shook his head. “She won’t be back until tomorrow, so I don’t even have the steaks to cook for you. I’m so sorry for the mix-up.”

  The man was an impressive actor…so impressive that Jaxon might have believed him if Brad would have had any way of getting this information from his wife without having a phone himself. “No worries. Let’s try again tomorrow night.”

  “Well, I did bring the last of my beer.” He smiled and held up the half-empty box, making the three dewy bottles clink together. “And I’d love to meet your fiancée.”

  Somewhere from the direction of the living room, Jaxon heard a doorknob turn and click, and the sound of a door quietly being pushed open. Since Abbey hadn’t come out of the tunnel, his worst suspicions had been confirmed. “Thank you for the beer. I’m sure she’d love to meet you, too. Here, let me take that…”

  Jaxon stepped out of the house and reached for the beer, and still playing his role, Brad extended his hand to give him the carrier. When Jaxon grabbed his wrist and twisted, Brad’s entire body followed the motion, but not quickly enough to keep from dislocating his shoulder from the joint. The bottles hit the ground and shattered, spraying cold brew and brown shards of glass across the entire entryway.

  Brad squealed as his shoulder hung sideways. “Get the bastard!” he screamed. Jaxon heard the sound of feet—and not just one pair—loping in his direction.

  Still controlling Brad’s body, Jaxon spun and locked his arm around the man’s neck, using Brad’s chest as a shield in time to see four men barrel around the corner of the foyer. The first had been prepared to throw a spell, and he released it, his eyes going wide when he realized it would hit his friend before it hit Jaxon.

  When the bolt of energy pierced his chest, Brad sputtered and coughed. “Kill the priestess,” he wheezed before going limp in Jaxon’s grip.

  The fourth man turned back, as though he was going to look for Abbey, and Jaxon snarled his fury, his fangs jutting from his mouth and his strong, crystalline claws bursting from this tips of his fingers. They were going after his woman. And he was going to gut every last one of them.

  When the second and third men hefted back their hands to try again, Jaxon flipped Brad from vertical to horizontal and threw his body to intercept both bolts midair. The bolts crackled against Brad’s skin but had no effect on slowing him down. With only one of the two doors opened, Brad’s head and feet hit the sides of the doorway, dropping him at the threshold in a bloody heap.

  “Incendia!” the third man exclaimed, sending a red orb in Jaxon’s direction. It burst into flames just as Jaxon dodged and whipped the knife from the back of his pants. He threw it so hard, the knife buried itself halfway down the hilt in the man’s chest. The man coughed and blood bubbled from his lips as he dropped to the floor.

  Brad and the flame-throwing man were finished, but that still left two in the doorway.

  One raised his hand, and with a sweeping gesture and a word, the open door slammed shut, leaving Jaxon on the front entry with the other men inside. Jaxon could still see and hear them clearly through the cut-glass windows when the man called to his friend, “You got this. I’m going to find the priestess!” and then took off at a run.

  Jaxon growled and grabbed a door handle, but it instantly seared his palm. With a yelp, he released it. Through the oval window, he saw the remaining man duck down and quickly chant something while the man’s glowing hands flexed before him. In the ebbing light of the evening, the glow cast a shadow under his eyes that made the witch look insane, and the static energy he was amassing had his hair standing on end.

  Jaxon had only a fraction of a second left before the man was ready to launch his spell—and judging from the atmosphere around them, whatever the spell was, it had a startling amount of energy behind it. Balling his hand into a fist, Jaxon punched through the front-door window in an explosion of glass and grabbed the man by the shirt.

  As soon as he made contact with the man’s chest, the surge of energy crested over his arm and fried every nerve ending in his body. He instantly drooped as his knees almost went out from under him, but he didn’t let go. Somewhere in his mind, Abbey screamed. No, not Abbey. She’s safe in the tunnel…

  As the man fed the current into Jaxon, burning him from the inside out, Jaxon’s mind flashed to the first week he’d known Abbey and the night Gable had come for her. Brakken’s insane son had electrified Jaxon’s flesh until Jaxon’s heart had stopped beating entirely, and then he’d taken Abbey, carved her and left her to die. That wasn’t going to happen tonight.

  On the brink of losing consciousness, Jaxon centered his will and yanked his hand back through the cut-glass window with every bit of strength he still possessed. His forearm scraping along the juncture where wood met broken glass, Jaxon propelled the man’s face into the door. The thud of his skull shattering against the thick oak was one of the most blessed sounds Jaxon had ever heard. Instantly, the voltage sputtered out.

  Jaxon dropped to his knees, his body a misfiring expanse of pain. Blood ran freely from the deep cuts on his forearm. He allowed himself one breath, then he surged to his feet and kicked in the closest of the front doors. Leaping over Brad’s body at the threshold and the other men dead in the foyer, Jaxon took off down the hall.

  Chapter Ten

  Through the thick dirt walls, Abbey heard a muffled cry of pain coming from somewhere in the house. And a moment later, she felt threads of mountain energy stirring, as if her kind were pulling its strings. The startled scream hadn’t sounded like Jaxon, but even if it wasn’t, it meant Jaxo
n was in trouble and fighting for his life. She remained frozen where she stood, so frightened for him that she wasn’t sure if she was going to wet herself or vomit.

  “Do something…” she whispered in the quiet of the tunnel, never hating herself more than she did at that very moment. Do something, Abbey!

  All this time she’d been terrified over losing Jaxon. She worried over every detail—his immortality, her growing old, sex and love and friendship, rejection and abandonment. But the truth suddenly wedged itself between her ribs and drove a stake through her heart. She could lose him anyway. Even an immortal could die. Nothing on this earth was certain but the fact that she loved him and he loved her.

  And their love was worth fighting for.

  Whatever the future held for them, gray hair or tropical islands, for as long as this life allowed it, she wanted to be by his side. And as long as she was high priestess, no witch was going to take him from her.

  Feeling dizzy, she drew in a huge breath and cracked open The Book of Death to the section Jaxon had marked. Time to get in touch with her inner priestess.

  She scanned the page that spoke of exorcising spirits. What if Jaxon was right? What if she could use the same spell for other forms of energy? It was coven magic, relying more on the strength of the witches than any fancy words or ingredients.

  She shoved her green sleeves up her arms and ran a trembling finger over the words. The actual spell looked kind of simple. Earth, air, water, energy. She was surrounded by earth and air, so all she would need was water and as much of her own energy as she could muster.

  There was no time for doubt. Jaxon needed her. She closed her eyes and—

  The sound of the heavy panel sliding open snapped her head to attention. “Jaxon—” she started to say, but the two men entering the tunnel weren’t Jaxon. “Oh, shit.”

  She picked up the book and ran. The torches were barely kicking on in time to keep pace with her. She got to a fork in the tunnel and glanced behind her. Big mistake. The men had already caught up, and the one in the lead reached out and grabbed her hair.