It wasn’t Morgan he heard.
It was Agnes. Her voice, her eyes—even the scent of her skin. She smelled of lavender.
The way those blue eyes stared at him. Blue.
Morgan’s eyes had been green, deep, mossy green and full of malice and evil. The taint in her was so complete, he could even scent it in the air.
But now it was like he was staring at another woman entirely. Nothing he saw or sensed was Morgan. Even her face seemed subtly different.
She started to hum, and her eyes took on an unfocused look as she started to saunter around the room. By the couch, she paused, staring down at Kelsey’s exposed back. When she looked up, her eyes were clear once more, and sharply blue. Her lips thinned down into a narrow line as she said, “That’s quite a hatchet job you did, Vax. Did we not teach you better?”
A ruddy flush darkened Vax’s lean cheeks, and he snapped, “Apparently not.”
“Then you should have come and got me.”
“If you could stay in your damned head, old woman, I would have. A healer, I am not.”
She made a rather prissy sounding little “Hmmm. That is quite clear. A mess, this is.” Then she reached down over the back of the couch, trailing her hand down Kelsey’s spine.
Malachi’s skin tightened from the magick he sensed in the air as she touched Kelsey. It felt like yet another piece of some unknown puzzle fell into place.
He knew magick. He had always been sensitive to it, most likely a legacy from his long-gone mother. Each witch’s magick had a scent to it, or perhaps a taste.
He’d been around this witch and her magick before. Many, many times. It was almost as familiar to him as the feel of his own powers.
He could hear Kelsey’s voice, remembered the words she had said just before she had left him only hours ago. “The Council and the Select are going to make a mistake. A big one. And once they make it, it can’t be undone.”
“This doesn’t make any sense,” he muttered as he shook his head.
It can’t be undone.
But the puzzle of this peculiar woman faded as he edged a little closer to Kelsey, staring at the jagged scars he could see on her upper back. As he watched, the healer’s magick settled into her skin, and the vivid red marks on her back began to fade until they were little more than pale stripes across the sleek skin.
Thin little stripes.
But there was another scar. This one was older.
His spine began to itch.
Blood began to pump hot and heavy through his veins, pounding through his head. It coalesced into a roaring in his ears, and it only increased as he moved closer, staring at that scar.
It was twisted and jagged, disappearing under the waistband of her jeans. In his mind’s eye, he could see the entire scar, knew that it thinned down and disappeared just above the soft curve of her ass.
Strength drained out of his legs, and he collapsed. The solid oak of the coffee table caught his weight; otherwise he would have ended up on his ass as he stared at Kelsey.
“It really is you,” he whispered.
It felt like he was seeing her for the first time, all over again.
The first time—no. Malachi couldn’t even remember the first time he had seen her. He had seen her thousands and thousands of times, for well over a millennia.
Even without touching it, he knew how that scar would feel under his hand if he touched it. It looked rough, but it felt strangely smooth.
He knew if he stripped her clothes away, he would find another scar. This one on her left knee. And on her right hip, there would be a heart-shaped birthmark.
“You see now. Took you long enough to understand.”
Looking up over the back of the couch, he stared into familiar blue eyes.
Hell, he didn’t think his brain could function enough to understand a damn thing. But before he could say anything, her eyes clouded over, her expression changing. She sighed, and the sound was morose, full of despair. She looked away from Malachi, her eyes seeking out Vax’s face. “What am I doing here?” she asked.
“We’re just trying to keep you safe,” Vax said quietly.
She lowered her lashes and smoothed a hand over the back of the couch. “You cannot keep me safe. They are already looking for me. She should have let it be.”
More was said, but Malachi barely heard any of it. Once more, he found himself staring at the long line of Kelsey Cassidy’s back, entranced. He reached over to touch the scar, and his fingers shook. It was every bit as smooth to the touch as he knew it would be, and her skin was warm.
When he breathed in, it seemed like he was taking in Kelsey’s warm, subtle scent for the first time. “This is unbelievable,” he muttered, closing his eyes.
Did she know?
Or maybe he was just losing his mind. After more than a thousand years of them sharing dreams—and bloody hell, she had only been alive for seventy years. How could he have been dreaming of her for so long?
In his mind, he heard a ghostly echo of her voice from long ago. Ages. It was one of the first times she had talked to him.
“I am nothing. I am no one. For now—”
“Why didn’t I see this before now?” he murmured, reaching out and brushing her golden-red hair back from her pale face.
He captured one wildly curling lock of hair and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger. “All that time, and I’ve been waiting for a woman who hadn’t even been born yet.”
“True love is worth waiting a lifetime for.” He looked up and met the familiar blue eyes. There were tears glowing there as the woman murmured, “Even if it means you’ll spend your life waiting for something that never comes.”
He had nothing to say to that, though, and there was no time. The woman’s blue eyes chilled, and her face lost all expression. “They are coming.”
The explosion of magick that flooded the atmosphere was not subtle. It was harsh and raw, pounding at the shields Vax kept around his home with the intent to rip the shields open. The shields held, though. Malachi had to admit, he was a little impressed.
“They found us pretty damn fast,” Malachi muttered.
“Locator spell,” Vax said grimly. “There were traces of Kelsey’s blood left in the rubble of that wall when it came down around us. Dawn’s using it to track her. Figures wherever they find Kelsey, they’ll find her.” He glanced toward the petite blonde, his face tight, eyes as dark and stormy as thunderheads.
Another weak moan escaped Kelsey’s lips, this one a little louder. Her breathing became erratic as she moved closer to wakefulness. Mal eased off of the table, crouching by Kelsey’s side. As her gold-tipped lashes lifted, he murmured, “How do you feel?”
“Lousy.” She closed her eyes again and murmured, “Where did you come from?”
“Disney World,” he said dryly.
She started to push up onto her elbows. Malachi couldn’t keep from lowering his eyes, and just as she realized she had lost her shirt, she froze. Not soon enough though. He could see the soft, delicate curves of her small breasts, even the soft rosy pink of a nipple before she eased back down on the couch. He tugged the maroon throw from the back of the couch and draped it over her before moving back to sit on the edge of the table.
Power swelled again and slammed into the shields. Kelsey winced a little as she wrapped the throw around her torso. As she sat up, her eyes met Mal’s once more.
Two thousand questions danced on the tip of his tongue, and there wasn’t really time for any of them.
“We have to get out of here.”
Vax shook his head. “Not together. We have to split these two up. But we have a little bit of time. Dawn has about a hundred years’ worth of shields she has to break down. That’s going to take a while.”
Kelsey rubbed at her eyes with her fingers and muttered, “This is a damn mess I’ve made.”
“You did what you had to, Kelsey,” Vax said with a shrug. “Remember that.”
Malachi closed his
hands into fists, and then forced them open. Rage, tension, and fear warred inside him. What he was going to do went against every instinct he had, but he had to make sure Kelsey stayed safe. So he needed to handle the Select now. “Vax, take Kelsey. She’s in no shape to watch her back, so you’re going to have to do it. I’ll stay here and deal with Dawn and the others when they break through.”
“Deal with them how?” Kelsey asked darkly. “By handing her over to them? You don’t know what’s happened. You wouldn’t listen to me.”
“I will not be handing anybody over to anybody,” Malachi responded. Then he glanced at the blonde woman. She was standing in front of Vax’s stereo system, fiddling with the volume buttons, spinning the little dials, her lips pursed and thoughtful.
“Besides, I am not blind, Kelsey.” A stupid jackass, perhaps, but not blind.
Hell. Even a blind man could sense a difference here. He opened his mouth to say something else, but his voice cut off abruptly as the stereo came on. The hard, driving sounds of classic Aerosmith came screeching out of the speakers, and three of them had to bite back a grin as the blonde clapped her hands over her ears and stumbled away from the stereo like it had bitten her.
Vax rounded the couch and turned down the volume before turning the radio off.
In a bland voice, Mal said, “Like I was saying, I can see something has changed.”
Vax wrapped a hand around the woman’s elbow, guiding her away from the stereo and over to the couch. “What a bloody loud nuisance,” she muttered, flicking a look back at the stereo like she hadn’t ever seen one.
As she sat down, Vax handed her a magazine, and she stared at the glossy pages with wide eyes.
She didn’t even seem to hear the other witch as she reached out and touched the pictures in the magazine reverently. “How lovely.”
Yeah, something had changed. He even understood what. The how of it, he had no clue. And why she was acting so damn odd, almost normal one moment and then startled by a damned stereo the next, that was a complete puzzle.
But it wasn’t one he had time for. Looking back at Vax, he said flatly, “Find Kelsey a shirt, and you two get out of here.”
“Well . . . you see, I don’t think that’s the best way to handle it, big guy,” Vax drawled. “And don’t come after me again. I’m getting damned tired of it, and it’s pissing me off.”
“Then I suggest you get your head out of your arse and listen to me,” Malachi replied silkily.
Vax just cocked a brow. “I can take care of her, sure. But the Council isn’t going to listen to me as well as they would you. That’s assuming they listen to me at all. And they won’t hurt Kelsey, especially if she isn’t in their way.”
“I am not willing to take that chance.”
“Once you tell them what has happened, they will let it go.”
“I don’t completely understand what has happened,” Malachi snapped.
Shoving away from the wall, Vax laughed. “Like hell you don’t know what’s going on. You may not be ready to admit you understand it, but you do know.” He nodded toward Kelsey. “You two go back to England. Trust her, Malachi. The two of you deal with the Council. I’ll take Goldilocks here. I can avoid the Select for a while. We’ll hole up somewhere with lots of shiny electronics, and she can push buttons to her heart’s content.”
The blonde stilled and looked up at Vax with narrowed eyes. She pursed her lips and said coolly, “That mouth of yours has gotten you in trouble with me before.”
A shiver ran down Mal’s spine at that voice. He looked up at the witch, and once more, it was like staring back into time. Her eyes were a cool, focused blue as she stared at Vax. The smile dancing on her lips was one Malachi had seen a thousand times before.
Vax looked a little bit wary as he added, “The Select, I can handle. Her, I’m not so sure about.”
Nessa laughed.
Once more, power came thundering down around them, and Vax scowled. “Dawn’s enlisted some help. Whether or not you’re ready to believe it, we don’t have time for this. That’s Selene’s power I feel, and she’ll break through in half the time it would take Dawn.”
SHE DIDN’T EVER WANT TO FEEL LIKE THIS AGAIN. Kelsey stumbled away from Vax and slapped at his hands as he tried to help her to the huge bed under a wide window. “I can do it,” she muttered, her voice hoarse and raspy. But she really wasn’t so sure. Her legs felt watery and weak, and her head felt like it was jammed full of cotton.
What was it about being injured by any kind of magickal attack that completely drained a person?
She’d been hurt through magick before, but she hadn’t ever literally had a wall fall down on top of her.
With a thankful groan, she collapsed onto the bed. The scent of vanilla filled her head as she drew in a deep breath before turning her head and meeting Vax’s eyes. “Thank you.”
Vax’s lean, dark face was grim as he shook his head. “Don’t thank me. You look like hell. I did an awful job of watching that nice ass of yours.”
“I’m alive,” Kelsey said as she forced a smile. “I feel awful, but it doesn’t matter. We did what we set out to do. She’s safe. I’m alive. We bought some time. That means pretty much everything went according to plan. Now you just keep her safe, and Malachi and I will deal with things here.”
“You’re going to be useless for the rest of the day.”
“Only one day?” she muttered. Hugging her pillow, she nestled deeper into the blankets. “Malachi can deal with them for a little while.”
Of course if he had listened to her in the first place . . . That was the last thought in her head before she escaped back into sleep.
That was how Malachi found her when he materialized in her room moments later. She was sprawled on her belly, hugging her pillow to her chest, the long red-gold skeins of hair tangled over her back. A soft black fleece hid the fading scars on her back, but in his mind’s eye, he could still see them.
Outside the window, twilight was settling over the land. The significance of the twilight wasn’t lost on him. They had less than twenty-four hours now, but he wasn’t worried about the Council. He only needed a few minutes with Tobias. He could convince the shifter they needed to recall the order. Three of the Council members would be enough. Temporarily, at least—long enough to convince the rest of them.
Of course, Kelsey presented a different problem.
And he couldn’t even begin to figure out how to start dealing with it.
He needed to leave the room, needed to find Tobias and call the Select off. But Malachi couldn’t leave. Drawn to the bed, he settled on the side, staring down at her profile. A long, thick lock of red-gold hair lay across her cheek, and Mal reached out, brushing it aside. She muttered a little in her sleep as he touched her. Lightly, he swept his fingers down the satiny skin of her cheek.
Kelsey sighed and turned her face into his touch. The temptation was too strong to deny. He stretched out on the bed next to her and laid his palm on her neck. His thumb rested in the hollow of her throat, and under the silky barrier of her skin, he could feel the slow, steady beat of her pulse.
The scent of her surrounded him, and he could feel the warmth of her body even though inches separated them. So close—
Malachi braced himself for the vicious punch of lust that always hit him when he was this close to her. But it didn’t come. Instead, there was a slow, steady rise of need, something that was gentler than anything he’d ever felt for her. Yes, he wanted to strip her naked and mount her, wanted to feel the silky wet clasp of her pussy around his cock.
But he was satisfied to simply lie there, listening to her breathe, hearing the soft cadence of her heart.
CHAPTER SIX
Waking alone was something Kelsey was used to. But she wasn’t alone right now. No, she was sprawled atop Malachi, her legs all but wrapped around his hips. She could feel the thick, hard length of his cock pressed against her, and each slow pulse made her sex clench with need. A wh
imper rose in her throat, but she managed to swallow it before it escaped.
Malachi had his arms wrapped around her, one hand resting low on her spine, just above the curve of her bottom. His other arm was banded around her torso, holding tight.
And she had one of her arms wrapped around his neck. The other hand was fisted in his shirt. His chest was under her cheek, and judging by the warmth of his body, they’d been sleeping pretty damn close for a while.
Licking her lips, she tried to squirm away from him, but his arms didn’t loosen. Kelsey lifted her head as much as she could and glanced at his face. Still asleep. Good—that was good. Now she just had to get away from him before he woke up.
And before she melted.
Which she expected was going to be in the next few seconds. Less. His hand slid down, cupping her ass, and that moan she’d been biting back slipped free. His hips rolled upward, bringing his cock more firmly against her sex. His other hand fisted in her shirt, and he lifted his head, nuzzling her neck.
“Too many clothes, lass,” he muttered, his voice low and rough, thick with the brogue that made her knees melt.
The arm around her torso loosened, but rolling away was the last thing on her mind. Malachi shifted upward, suddenly, spilling her onto her back.
“Malachi?”
“Hmmm . . .” His head lowered, and he raked his fangs across her neck. As he reached for the hem of her shirt, Kelsey closed a hand around his wrist, but she couldn’t find the strength to try to stop him. Instead, as he shoved the loose, baggy fleece up, she arched, trying to help him strip it away. He didn’t though, he just stopped once he’d bared her breasts, leaving the fleece caught under her arms.
Malachi took one nipple in his mouth, sucking deep and then releasing her flesh only to catch it between his teeth and bite it gently. The sensation streaked through her veins, turning her blood to liquid fire, hunger pooling low in her belly. Involuntarily, she pressed her knees together, trying to ease the ache deep inside.
“Hurt, does it?” Malachi muttered, trailing a hand up the outside of her thigh. “Open for me, love . . .”
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