“I can feel your powers, they're scattered and unfocused. Maybe you need a break?” He wanted, needed, to help her.
“No.” She looked dejected. “I need you. I need you to help me.”
He felt the wings of his hawk spread in happiness. Responding to Darcy as he always did. It didn't freak him out anymore, it just was. He was only inches from her. “I'll help you. What do you want me to do?”
She glanced away, then back to him, her eyes darkening with resolve. “I need you to touch me. Help me focus. Last night when you touched me, we formed some kind of mind link. I think that will help … somehow.” She lifted her hand and fingered the silver symbol that rested flat against the skin between her clavicle bones.
He reached out to touch the necklace. “It's warm with magic.” His body went tight with need, with silvery lust, but he ignored it. He felt the tat on his back stir again, the wings fluttering with the desire to touch her. Protect her. Help her.
Darcy tilted her face, looking up into his eyes.
He leaned down, and keeping his fingers around the necklace, he kissed her. He sank his tongue into her mouth, tasting her.
She wrapped both her hands around his arm that held on to the necklace. She kissed him back with enough heat to make him groan. His body flooded with her magic, it felt like warm light that vibrated. He couldn't touch it but he sure as hell could feel it. His raging hard-on felt it. But Axel forced his mind away from sex and lifted his head. “We'll do this. Together. Ready to try it again?”
Her eyes shimmered bright gold lights, and her skin glowed silver. “Yes. I need you close to me. Touching me.”
He was a second away from lifting that skirt and being as close as a man could get to a woman—deep inside of her. He let go of the necklace.
She clutched his wrist. “Don't let go of me.”
Ah, hell, her voice, her tone, reached deep inside of him, so deep that it had to be real and not a trick of magic. “I've got you, sweet witch. I'll hold on to you while you set your magic free.” He shifted around the back of Darcy, then put his arms around her, folding them beneath her breasts.
“Hawk?”
The wings fluttered beneath his skin. “He's here. Feel him?” He tried to open his mind and let her feel what Axel did. Tried to let her feel him with her as she had last night when they had made love.
“Yes.” She leaned back into him. “I don't know the spell, so I'm just opening myself and calling the spells.”
She was where she belonged—in his arms, where he could guard her. It crossed his mind that those were odd thoughts, but he shoved it away. Darcy needed the spells to heal Hannah. He said into her ear. “Go ahead, call the spells to your necklace.”
She raised her arms above her shoulders and stretched them out toward the tapestry, her fingers spread and extended. Her witch-shimmer began to brighten. “I beg the Ancestors, help move the gift of my mother's spells from the silver box into my silver necklace.”
The hum of her powers rose inside of him. The connection opened between them. Good God, her thoughts and memories swirled, and for a second, he could see her as a young girl locked in a dark, small space. Then it vanished, but Axel grasped that the memory held her back and tripped up her power. She'd been told she was evil when she did anything weird or magical.
It pissed him off, and he heard the echo of his hawk's furious screech.
Words flowed from him, “There is no evil in you, love. You're a witch, embrace it. Show me, Darcy. Open for me,” he said softly, his body shuddering at the mental image of her when she opened for him. “Let the power have you.”
She arched her body into a graceful, beautiful line. Her head angled back against his chest, her breasts and hips thrust out. He couldn't tear his gaze from her.
Until the clap of thunder.
Axel looked up at the tapestry while keeping Darcy supported in his arms. The box in the tapestry glowed, and the sands began to melt into a thick, sparkling liquid. He sucked in a breath at the power in those threads.
Darcy's body arched further, her eyes were closed now and her witch-shimmer lit to a glow as bright as any star.
The entire room shivered.
Axel felt like he was on the ultimate amusement ride. His insides came alive, the throb and beat of her witch-energy streaming through him. The sexual energy between him and Darcy grew sharp and bright with the magic in the room. It brought him to the painful edge of release, but he didn't care. All that mattered was the witch in his arms. Her scent was burgeoning with desire. She began to sway slightly. He knew if he touched her, if he skimmed his hand under that skirt and into her panties, she'd come.
He had to force himself to breathe, to keep his hands where they were and just hold her. But damn, he wanted to feel her come, feel her wet pleasure.
A sudden atmospheric shift chased out his sexual thoughts. The shimmer in the room dimmed. Danger screamed through his body, honing every one of his senses to intense awareness. A stutter and gasp of the witch energy streaming through him warned him that another force was trying to get in. Axel whipped his head around, looking for the source. In the opened doorway, he saw a shadow of something with three heads.
Demon, his hawk shrieked.
The thought exploded in his mind, Mine! I'll kill anything that threatens her.
With his gaze pinned on the opening to the room, the door trembled, then slammed shut. The oppressive force vanished.
Hawk settled on his back.
The shimmer in the room brightened allowing Darcy's witch energy to flow freely once more. What the hell was that? A demon? With three heads … Asmodeus. How had Darcy summoned a demon, the demon that had taken part in the curse?
A loud crack caught his attention. He shifted his gaze to the tapestry just as a stream of lightning arced from the silver box in the tapestry to Darcy's necklace.
He'd never seen, or felt, anything like it. The pure energy of that continuous beam of lightning sizzled, crackled, and flashed brilliant colors. It fed the necklace for endless minutes.
It ramped up both their sexual urges. Darcy moaned with need.
Axel leaned down. “Soon, Darcy. I swear. Just let the magic fill you.”
She shuddered. Her skin was so hot, he felt the heat through her thin top.
Finally the beam of lightning thinned, then disappeared.
The box slammed shut.
Darcy hurt. It felt like her organs were going to burst open like an overripe watermelon. Her skin was hot and tight, and there wasn't enough room for her to get a full breath. The necklace was heavy and hotter than her skin. “It's done.”
“Not yet.” Axel skimmed his hand beneath her shirt and under the bra to cup her breast, using his thumb to stroke her swollen, sensitive nipple.
She couldn't help but moan.
He slid his other hand down her abdomen, over her hip, and down her thigh. He snaked under her skirt, sliding up the inside of her right thigh.
Her powers shot to where his hands touched her, making her writhe. “Too much!”
“You need release. And I have to touch you. God, I have to feel your wet need, your pleasure.” He pulled her damp panties from her and replaced them with his long, warm fingers. He parted her folds.
Her breath shot up into her throat and she arched into him. “I can't control it.”
“All you have to do is feel.” He shifted his hand on her breast to grasp the nipple with his thumb and finger, rolling gently. Sparks of pleasure lit from her nipple to her core.
He slipped a finger inside her body. Then two. Thrusting into her. She bucked against him.
“Darcy, honey, give it to me. Everything.” He slid his thumb over to caress that swollen nub. And kept thrusting his fingers in and out. While tweaking her nipple. She let him have her, letting her body go, moving against his hands, desperately seeking relief. The pressure built and throbbed to a crescendo. When she exploded, he locked one arm around her while he stroked her to orgasm. “More. Pour i
t out, let it go.” He kept rubbing her more and more, until the excess energy poured out of her with every pulse of pleasure.
She was limp when he finally pulled out his fingers and scooped her up in his arms. He walked into her tiny bathroom, set her on the closed toilet, then leaned in and started the shower. “Want me to strip you or …”
She let her powers get rid of her clothes. Then his. Axel stood in front of her naked. His dark hair hung nearly to his shoulders, his face suffused with color, his chest rippling, and his cock … the thick head beaded with need. She reached out and used her thumb to spread his semen, coating the broad head. Immediately, her powers surged, reaching.
His cock twitched hard.
She leaned forward and drew her tongue across the sensitive tip. Then she had to have him all and closed her mouth around him, drawing him in as far as she could take him.
Axel hissed in slowly, then let out a breath with a groan. Hearing his pleasure excited her, but the feelings washing off of him and sinking into her ripped open her guts. He loved the feel of her mouth, he loved the feel of her hand, but even in the intense sexual need, his first thought was her. Her protection, her comfort …
Just her.
Tears burned her eyes and she closed them, letting her mouth draw him in while she brought up her hand to cup his balls and poured her magic into her fingers and tongue.
Axel slapped his hands on the mirror behind her. “Christ, Darcy.”
Except she didn't think he said the words out loud. She thought in her head, “Come, Axel. Come for me.”
He shivered, his entire body rocking with the intense pleasure. He dropped his hand to the back of her head, tugged the band from her hair and sank his fingers into the strands. He thrust into her mouth, once and again. “Darcy …” He gave it to her then, spurting into her mouth. Letting her take as much of him as she could.
With his orgasm came his overwhelmingly fierce need to help and protect her. Along with how much he wanted to drive his cock into her even though he'd just come.
And the suspicion. Just a thread that hadn't yet risen all the way up to his consciousness.
But it would. The sorrow of it was just too much for her to bear. She didn't want to hurt him and she didn't want to lose this intimacy, trust, and connection with Axel.
He leaned down, putting his mouth on hers, and her thoughts shifted once more into silvery pleasure and joy to feel him merge body and soul with her.
He pulled back, looked in her eyes and said, “I can't get enough of you.” He lifted her in his arms, stepped easily over the side of the tub and put them both in the warm stream of water. With the water pouring over her hair and down her back, he said, “Again. Now. Put your legs around me.” Then he lifted her to take him deep into her body.
Darcy stayed downstairs while Axel went up to check on Hannah. She wanted some time to think. It was all so overwhelming. During the transfer, all the knowledge in her mom's spell book had poured through her. Some knowledge stuck, and some she wasn't able to catch as it flowed through her chakras.
Now she had to see if she could access the spells in her necklace. Usually witches learned magic as they grew. Even if their mother died, another witch took them in. They filled their own spell books, or got the spells from their mother's, one at a time.
She sat on the floor wearing jeans, a white shirt, and no shoes. One by one, she pointed at each candle, using her fire chakra to light the flames; a red candle for earth, orange for water, yellow for fire, and green for air. Then she moved to high magic, lighting the blue candle for communication beyond the mortal realm.
Her fifth chakra opened at her throat, creating a spinning sensation around the length of her spine as low magic and high magic met. As soon as that settled, Darcy pointed at the indigo candle for her sixth chakra.
Nothing. That chakra located at her forehead remained closed.
She took a deep breath, feeling her power rise through her first four chakras, and flow down through her fifth. She held the connection. She would get her sixth chakra open eventually. For now, she focused and pointed at the violet candle for knowledge. It lit.
The chakra at the top of her head remained closed.
Darcy faced forward, letting the candles surround her, and closed her eyes. She placed her hands in her lap and focused on the necklace at her throat.
The silver warmed and expanded against her skin. She directed more and more of her energy into the necklace. Carla told her it was the same backwash principle as when she saw and felt Morgan's memories and emotions. By pouring her energy into the necklace, she was forcing an exchange.
She saw her mother's memory of summoning a familiar: Fallon stood beneath the moonlight on a secluded beach somewhere. Darcy could see the pale moonlight dancing on the water. See her mother raise her arms high and arch her back, her long hair picked up by a breeze and blown around her.
Words flowed through her head.
Time hung still and endless as Darcy watched. Her stomach clenched in worry, she already knew this story. Her mother had told her.
A man walked toward her mother, he wore black, was tall, and had windblown hair. When he got closer to Fallon, she saw his face. The delicate lines and soft skin of a rogue. His eyes were dark, his mouth full.
She opened her eyes, forcing the connection to break. Her hands shook in her lap. She'd seen her father.
Her mother's killer.
The man who wanted to kill her.
Her hands were cold and clammy. Her head throbbed from tremendous sadness. Acid burned her stomach.
But she had to try again. Had to find a spell to break the death curse. She centered herself by looking at each candle, touching each chakra, except the two that remained closed. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated, directing her energy into the necklace.
This time she tried to let the different images just move through her. It was hard not to focus on her mother, but she let the impressions keep passing by her.
Until she came to one where her mom was younger, about nineteen. She was on the beach facing a man who had the mark.
The death curse.
Darcy focused hard on the image, stopping it, then playing out that specific one. She saw witches gathered behind her mother. Staying focused, she watched her mother do the spell to break the curse.
She had what she needed, it was time to pull out.
Opening her eyes, she was shocked to see Axel. He was crouched down on the other side of the candles, watching her. “What are you doing?”
“Checking on you, but you were in some kind of trance so I waited. I don't want you staying down here, Darcy. Come upstairs, I'm making spaghetti.”
Her stomach growled viciously.
“What were you doing?”
“Finding the spell to heal Hannah.” She lifted her hand, closed her fingers, and all the candle flames went out.
“Your hand is shaking.” Axel wrapped his fingers around her hand, rose, and pulled her to her feet. Threading his fingers through hers, he tugged her out of the room and turned left down the hall toward the stairway.
“I saw my father, then I pulled out. I was in my mother's memory.”
“That's in your witch book?”
Darcy realized she was on dangerous ground here. She couldn't tell him about soul mirrors yet, not until she healed Hannah. “It's not like an actual book. My mother couldn't teach me the spells one by one, so she transferred her memories of doing witchcraft. I saw the first time she met my father, which was the time she used a sleeping charm on him to get away.” Or she would have seen it if she'd stayed in the memory long enough. They walked into the kitchen. The smell of spaghetti sauce filled the room and made her stomach rumble again.
Axel let go of her hand and walked over to the stove, then he said, “Can you make this damned water boil?”
A large pot filled with water sat on a flame, next to a pan of simmering sauce. On the counter next to that was a package of spaghetti noodles, a
long with an open bottle of red wine and a couple of glasses. Axel moved to stir the pan of spaghetti sauce, then he picked up a cookie sheet.
She asked, “Is that garlic bread?”
“Yes. It's going to burn because that water is taking too long to boil.”
She smiled at his aggravation. “Put it in the oven,” she said, then lifted her hand over the pan of barely warm water and directed her energy into it.
Axel stuck the bread in the oven, then moved around her and poured the wine. He handed her a glass.
She took it while keeping a steady flow of energy directed toward the water. A minute later, the water simmered into a full boil.
“Put in the spaghetti.”
She added the spaghetti then turned to see him at the other end of the counter slicing a rich-looking cheese.
Damn, she was starved.
A slice of cheese lifted off the cutting board and sailed toward her. She snatched it from the air and took a bite of the sharp cheddar. Delicious. She washed it down with a sip of wine.
His lips twitched into a quick grin. Axel stirred the spaghetti, then the sauce.
The fragrances made her mouth water.
He picked up his wine and said, “Did you find the spell for Hannah?”
She nodded and handed him a cheese-topped cracker. “I saw the spell to break the curse, but I'd like to study it more tonight. And I'm going to have to try to get my sixth chakra open to see if I can communicate with the Ancestors. We need their help to break the curse.”
Axel swallowed a bite of cheese and cracker, then asked, “How do you open the chakra?”
She traced the rim of her wineglass. “I don't know. Keep trying. Maybe it's in my necklace somewhere. Carla is asking the Circle Witches—some of them are old enough to remember before the curse.”
“Okay, tell me about the spell.”
“It's a ceremony. I need to do it someplace in the moonlight and with ley lines, a place like the beach.”
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