Dark Vortex: Mated by Magic

by Stella Marie Alden

  She turned away. “I just don’t remember anyone ever making me breakfast before.”

  “Never?”

  With her back still to him, she made a little negative motion with her head. Against his better judgment, Jack moved closer, kissed her neck, and breathed in her scent. She still smelled like the ocean, fresh and salty. Like mother earth. Blood rushed south and he quickly put some space between them.

  Fuck, what was going on with him? Mating was all about the sex. He shouldn’t care whether she’d ever had breakfast served. Damn. His head suddenly felt screwed on all wrong.

  He wracked his brains for words of comfort but his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

  “Let’s just wait over here in the parlor for a few minutes. My sister should be along any minute.” Great job comforting her, Jack. What a blithering idiot.

  He got her situated and made a beeline up the stairs towards a cold shower. That was probably all he needed. Then he’d be fine. On the way up, he heard his niece babbling on the front porch. Shit. He rushed back down the stairs, just as his sister entered.

  “Hello beautiful ladies.” Jack gave each a kiss on the cheek.

  “Is it true?” Kathy caught his eye and shifted the baby onto her other hip. “The little weasel Kyle threw a couple of cowardly shots at you last night. Did he really almost kill you? Then challenged you? What’re you going to do?”

  Jack held up his hand. “How did you hear all this?”

  “The whole clan knows. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to put two and two together. Kyle is after your leadership.” Her face grew pale as she spoke. “The last time you two fought, you barely came out on top. Has he really found a perfect mate?”

  “Don’t panic. I have a plan and you and Yolanda are part of it.”

  At the sound her name, the baby squealed, “Ya, ya, ya, ya.” She reached her chubby arms to him and he happily took her over in the crook of his arm. She kicked her legs into his stomach and laughed at some big ‘ol baby joke known only to her.

  His sister peered into his face. “You really look like shit, you know.”

  “Thanks. You always know just the right thing to say. Follow me. I want the baby to play with this woman I met last night.” He moved Yolanda onto his hip and she pulled at his hair, so he conjured an imaginary small ring of keys and let them float just beyond her grasp.

  “A woman?” Kathy frowned.

  “Trust me.”

  She followed him into the sunny parlor.

  “Do you think this is a good idea? We’ve generally kept her away from the public until she gets some of her more interesting talents under control.”

  “Her magic won’t be a problem. I’m counting on some sparks.” Jack laughed and lifted the baby high into the air and she squealed.

  Zoe must have splashed some water on her face because instead of a red nose and puffy eyes, she gave them all a bright smile. The sun came through the window making her eyelashes sparkle with beads of water. It took some effort to look away.

  “Kathy, meet my untrained mate choice, Zoe Burton.”

  *

  Zoe’s mouth dropped open at Jack’s introduction. Untrained mate choice?

  Kathy gave her brother an incredulous stare and mouthed, ‘Are you insane?’ Then turned back to Zoe with syrupy sweetness. “So nice to meet you.”

  Zoe wasn’t that clueless. She heard the insult in Kathy’s tone but the baby was sugar-sweet. The cutie waved her pudgy little fists, and to Zoe’s surprise, pushed a burst of energy–and a wet magic baby kiss–into the air. When it landed on her face, Zoe tentatively tried to blow the same energy back.

  A slight breeze blew across the room and landed on the baby’s forehead. The baby giggled, clapped her hands, and a torrential rainstorm covered the parlor, complete with thunder and lightning. It appeared to soak her audience.

  “No.” Kathy lightly tapped the baby’s hands. “Make nice day. No rain.” She cleared away the storm with a wave of her hand, turned to Zoe, and muttered a snotty, “Sorry.”

  Jack laughed it off and shook his head. He stared Zoe up and down until her panties all but melted off. “I’ll leave you ladies alone.”

  She blushed as he ran up the stairs.

  “Babies can really do magic?” She tried to break into the silence which his sister, obviously, had no intention of doing.

  “It’s an illusion. What are you, human?” Kathy’s face showed every ounce of disdain possible.

  She wasn’t sure how this kind of training was going to be helpful. What was up with the hostility? After all, none of this was her idea.

  “Jack called you his mate,” Kathy said, placing Yolanda on the floor and scattering toys around her.

  Zoe shrugged. “He seems to think so.”

  “Untrained mate?” Kathy’s eyes were large now, as if she had just had a terrifying thought. “Did he say the oath?”

  “Yes.”

  “Shit.” Kathy looked like she was about to burst a gasket.

  Zoe added quickly, “But it wasn’t his fault. He just assumed I believed in your ways. I don’t.”

  The baby stood on shaky legs, then sat down with a thump and giggled. Moving her pudgy arms in the air, she made giant spiders appear.

  Zoe cringed and reminded herself that it was only an illusion. She was never going to get used to this.

  Kathy cleared away the insects. “He’s holding off the madness until you have some chance of mating? That’s why he wants me to train you?”

  Zoe shrugged and studied one of the many ferns in the solarium.

  “Why on earth did you agree to this?”

  The baby began to cry at the harsh sound of her mother’s voice. Kathy picked her up and soothed her, all the while shooting eye darts.

  “He was the one who tricked me into coming here. I didn’t want to come. He followed me to the beach like…like some kind of stalker.”

  “Did he tell you why he thinks he needs you?”

  Zoe felt her blood go cold. Of course, there was a reason. She shook her head.

  “He needs you to augment his powers because his cousin is threatening to kill him.” Kathy stood and paced back and forth over the hardwood floors with the baby bouncing at her waist. “Kyle’s into some very bad shit. Last time they dueled, Kyle almost won. Now the little twerp is claiming he found a perfect match.” Kathy stared daggers at Zoe. “Do you understand what this means? If Jack doesn’t find the same, he won’t survive. Last night’s sneaky blast was just a sampling of what Kyle will do.”

  “So if I’m not his match, then he could die?” Cold shock crawled through her body.

  Kathy nodded with a grim face. “My brother’s desperate and not in his right mind.”

  Zoe frowned. She wondered about her own state of mind. How had she let him talk her into this? She should leave now, before things got any weirder. She didn’t owe these people anything. She glanced at the door and thought about making a beeline for it.

  “Jack thinks you’re his match, but what do you think?” Kathy let out an exaggerated sigh.

  Zoe blinked and licked her lips. Just the thought of the man made her toes curl and her skin tingle.

  “You like him?” Kathy raised an eyebrow.

  “There’s definitely something between us. Ever since he first touched me at Olivia’s shop–”

  “You were there? My brother Josh said that some other healer saved Jack last night, not Olivia.”

  “Yeah, that was me.”

  “But you’re warring, not healing.” Kathy’s brows drew together sharply. “You can’t be both.”

  “That’s what I keep hearing.” Zoe shrugged. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

  “How’d you heal him?”

  “I–” Zoe cringed. It sounded surreal to say it aloud. “I created this black and purple-dust-devil-thingy.”

  “Whoa.” Kathy stepped away with fascination and a bit of fear in her eyes. “Vortex energy. I’ve heard bedtime stories, but n
o one’s ever seen it, let alone conjured it.”

  “I don’t even know how I did it. Or even if I could do it again.”

  Kathy paced, bounced, and then paced some more. She refused to make eye contact. Finally, she stopped and looked at Zoe. “I can try to help. I don’t know how much I can teach you in such a short time, but I can try.”

  Zoe blinked in surprise. If Kathy was willing to train her, then things must be bad. “If Kyle’s as bad as you say he is, it’s not good for Jack.”

  “No.” Kathy’s lips thinned. “It’s not good for any of us.”

  Chapter 8

  Three months prior

  Zoe waited at Nan’s apartment door, her heart still thumping like crazy. Her best friend appeared in a simple black suit and silk shirt. The long white sleeves and neck scarf covered most of the tats. All of the pink hair stripes were gone, along with nose, eyebrow, and lip rings.

  “Did someone die? You look so…different.” Zoe followed Nan into the small apartment, carrying a bag of their favorite Chinese takeout.

  “Had a job interview today.”

  “No way! You swore you’d never go legit.” Zoe gave Nan an awkward hug. More like a pat on the back, but it was a start.

  Nan raised her eyebrows and removed round aluminum containers. Somehow, she found a spot for paper plates between the laptops, printer, and monitors. There was an external hard drive, and a couple other electronic devices that Zoe didn’t recognize on the chairs as well.

  “First things first.” Nan placed a pile of textbooks on the floor and sat. “What’re you working on that would send some stalker after you? I thought we agreed that we weren’t going to take any more questionable jobs unless we talked it out.”

  “I swear I’ve done nothing since my parents died.”

  “Any freelance jobs on Craigslist?” Nan’s intense stare would make her an awesome cop someday.

  “Absolutely not. I’m working for that place, Broad Street Computer Security. They have real clients, real paperwork. I even filled out a W2 form. They love me there. Might even give me a raise. Besides, I need the insurance for–” Zoe swallowed hard and looked down at her hands. “My therapist. You know I wouldn’t jeopardize that.”

  “So when did you first notice this guy following you?” Nan slipped the chopsticks out of their paper, and separated them with a click.

  “I don’t know…” Zoe found the least occupied chair, moved the stack of papers, and sat. “Maybe a couple weeks ago, but who knows how long he was following me before that.”

  “Okay, download.”

  “I noticed the guy when I left Broad Street. Second time this week that he’s been waiting for me after work.” The tremor in her hand made chopsticks an impossibility. She grabbed a fork from the drawer and plopped back down. “So I picked up my pace and thought I’d lost him. but all of a sudden he’s like right behind me. His hand almost grabbed onto my arm. He would’ve too, if this big guy hadn’t pushed him aside when I screamed.”

  Nan shook her head and frowned.

  “But that’s not the worst of it. I’m sitting on the subway and look out the window and there he is on the other side of the plate glass, just staring all weird-like. Creepy as hell. He makes a gun with his fingers. One thumb up and the index finger pointing.” Zoe emulated the virtual gun and pointed it at Nan. “And then he mouths the word, ‘Bang.’ I was shaking like crazy but I had my cell phone in my hoodie. So I snapped his picture.” She pulled her phone out and opened the photo. “I went three stops in the wrong direction before coming back here, just to make sure I wasn’t followed.”

  Nan stretched to see the shot on Zoe’s phone. “Too bad. He’s pretty hot. Nice suit, too.”

  Zoe rolled her eyes. “He’s not hot, he’s a nutcase.”

  “Send me the picture. I just got access to some pretty cool facial recognition software. We can try it out.”

  Zoe raised her eyebrows and sent the photo to Nan’s email. “Facial recognition software?”

  “Relax. I’ve been helping out NYPD with some terrorist shit. They’re the ones that called me in.”

  Nan wiggled her eyebrows and it finally dawned on Zoe what was up.

  “Thus, the suit? Oh my God.” Zoe squealed, jumping up and down in her seat. “You had an interview with NYPD?”

  “Not exactly.” Nan stood, then twirled in front of her. “Do I look FBI?”

  Zoe snorted. “Except for the sword tattoo up the side of your neck.”

  “That one is hard to hide.” Nan grinned, pulled off her scarf, and unbuttoned her shirt, revealing her favorite camouflage cutoff tank top. “The department I’m interviewing for doesn’t seem to mind the body art.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Zoe stabbed at a chicken ball.

  “Happened last week. I haven’t had a chance.” Nan waved her chopstick in the air. “There was a terrorism attempt that I found out about. I was on site with a team, like in a big war room, helping out.”

  “Were you snooping through government files again?”

  Nan wiggled her eyebrows.

  Zoe laughed and swallowed the wrong way. She grabbed a glass of water, gulped, and sat back down. “What if they caught you?”

  “Never gonna happen.” Nan put down her chopsticks and typed at lightning speed on her keyboard. “Anyhow, looked like the city needed my help, so I pretended to be a terrorist.”

  Zoe froze mid-bite. “You pretended to be a fucking terrorist?”

  Nan shrugged and popped a chicken ball in her mouth, chewed, then smiled. “I just bought way too much fertilizer and some other stuff that I knew would flag me. And it did. I got arrested.”

  “That’s kinda over the top, even for you.”

  “I know, right?” Nan laughed. “There was a maniac hypnotizing people online. Friggin’ incredible. I caught his site and recorded it when no else could. I can’t even talk about it. But my awesome hacking skills helped them catch the bad guys, and I met this hot cop.” Nan closed her eyes with a dreamy look that Zoe had never seen her use before. “The guy is unbelievable in bed.”

  “I leave you alone for a few days and this is what happens?” Zoe exhaled and it came out with a whoosh.

  “Finding the bad guys is way more fun than being the bad guy.” Nan began to close up the leftover food in the containers and put them in the refrigerator. She pulled out a bottle of wine from the bottom rack. “Hey, look what I found. Want a glass?”

  Zoe nodded, found a couple glasses, and took them over to the counter. She poured, took a sip and grimaced at the cheap wine.

  Nan sat down on the old grey couch and patted the spot beside her. The only other furniture that could fit in the tiny room was a coffee table and a wall with a monitor. Instead of sitting next to Nan, Zoe perched on the edge of the couch.

  “So, while we wait to see if something pops up on your stalker, did you find your great-aunt yet?”

  “You mean the witch?” Zoe rolled her eyes and laughed. “That was one strange weekend.”

  “I hardly remember much of it.” Nan smirked. “Or your parent’s funeral. We drank what was left of their wine collection?”

  “I’m surprised we finished before the cops locked us out of the house. How the hell does anyone rack up over a million in debt?”

  “Probably ‘bout a hundred thou’ a year for ten years….” Nan chuckled.

  “Ha. Ha. Thanks for the math lesson. But I am glad we got my papers out of the filing cabinet. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have even known where to start looking for my biological family.”

  “I still can’t believe they never told you, you were adopted. Your parents had some serious issues…” Nan stopped as if she’d stepped in a pile of dog shit. “Oh Zoe, I’m so sorry.”

  Crap. Here it comes. Zoe tried to swallow back the horrible memories, the anxiety that formed a baseball size lump in her throat. But just as her therapist, Doctor Larry, had explained, the more you try to stop it, the more it’ll attack. She let a few pictu
res of her past dribble into her mind like a leaky faucet. Man. Her father was so screwed up. What kind of pervert got jacked up over touching a kid?

  When the memories faded, Nan was there, watching her patiently.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Zoe shook her head, then took a deep sip of her wine.

  “Okay.” Nan gave her a sad smile.

  “Don’t do that pity thing. I hate that almost as much as the memories. Dammit. How long you think it’s going to take before I don’t feel so shitty every time someone mentions his name? It’s like having my own personal Susquehanna Hat Company.”

  “I don’t know.” Nan put her hand on Zoe’s leg, then drew it back when Zoe flinched.

  “I didn’t find anything else about the…” Zoe made air quotes. “Witch. But, I did connect with a distant cousin on Facebook. She wants me to come visit.”

  “Hmmm…Maybe that’s our answer to the stalker. You can work remotely, right?”

  “I guess.” Zoe frowned and glanced down at her wine. “I can ask.”

  “I think you should clear out of town for a little bit.”

  “I’d miss you.” She hated how whiney she sounded, but the thought of not having Nan to talk to left an empty space in her chest. “You’re my only family now.”

  “And you’re my little sister, but I’d feel better knowing you were out of the city because I think my new job might be sending me overseas.”

  Zoe’s mouth dropped open in shock. “So soon? For what?”

  “Well they didn’t tell me exactly, so I kind of snooped around.”

  “Shit, Nan, you hacked into the FBI? Your would-be employer?”

  “Well, let’s just say that some of the guys just happened to be logging in as I walked by, and I just happened to remember their keystrokes. I found an empty computer on the way to the lady’s room.”

  Zoe held out her empty glass for Nan to fill, and shook her head. “So where are they sending you?”

  “Looks like Afghanistan. There seems to be an influx of slave trade to the U.S. that we’re supposed to track.” Nan held up her hand when Zoe started to protest. “I’ll be fine. Trust me. Now let’s pick a movie to watch while we wait for the computer to identify your stalker guy.”