Defying Magick: an Urban Fantasy Novel (The Witch Blood Chronicles Book 2)

by Debbie Cassidy

  Bones? The Yamduth had carried bone weapons. My brain was making strange connections. “I asked Vritra what could cut through dragon armor and he said there was always something. He didn’t tell me what, but the Yamduth on the tram were carrying bone swords. And you guys defended me hardcore, so I assume bone can cut through dragon armor.”

  “Dragon bone. I’m certain they had dragon bone. Father probably didn’t think it was likely they’d get hold of any. It’s very rare. Aside from Father, there have only been a handful of asura who could shift into dragon form and they all died millennia ago. Dragon bone coated with the blood of the target is even more lethal. Being reapers probably gives them access to resources we know nothing about and …” Her eyes widened. “But you don’t think they got it from any old resource do you? You think they got the bones from the vault? You think Shukra gave them the bones.” She sat up. “He has access to the vault, and so do I. There are only three keys. I’ll have to go back and check the vault.”

  “But why would he order a hit on the yaksha? He didn’t mention them in his note.”

  She shrugged. “If he was about to commit suicide he probably wasn’t thinking straight.”

  There was more to this. Things just didn’t add up properly. “Why go after me again? No. It still doesn’t make sense.”

  “I get what you’re saying. It just doesn’t add up, does it? Look, father can’t know about this, not until we have all the facts. He’s hurting right now, and if we’re going to inflict more pain, we need to be sure it’s unavoidable.”

  A hollow pit opened up inside me. “How bad is Vritra?”

  “Locked away in his suite. He hasn’t eaten or drunk anything all day.”

  Oh god. He was in pain and he blamed me. I buried my head in my hands. “You think … you think you can take me to him?”

  Henna smiled and her face lit up. “Fucking hell, I thought you’d never ask.”

  _____

  The penthouse suite was shrouded in darkness, the only illumination filtered in from between the slats in the vertical blinds covering the floor to ceiling windows.

  I padded further into the room, my shoes sinking into the plush carpet.

  “Vritra?”

  No answer, but he was here. My body was thrumming with awareness of his presence. The sofas were dark, shadowy lumps. Was he sitting in one of the chairs? I moved further into the room.

  “Vritra, its Carmella.”

  Heat caressed my back and my dragon stretched as warm breath stirred the hairs at the top of my head.

  “Don’t you know it’s dangerous to enter a dragon’s den without invitation?” His voice was gravelly, like calloused fingers running across sensitized flesh.

  I moistened my lips. “Henna said you hadn’t eaten anything. You must be hungry.”

  His low rumbling chuckle raised gooseflesh across my skin.

  “Yes. I’m hungry all right.”

  And then he was touching me, yanking me toward him, my back to his chest—hands caressing and kneading my hips and my breasts, thumbs rolling my hard nipples through the thin fabric of my shirt and bra. I couldn’t breathe. No, I was breathing but it was too shallow and too fast. My head swam with sensations. My body was lit up, sensitized and hungry for more. His arousal pressed into the small of my back. It was time to pull away and put some distance between those clever hands and my eager body, but my dragon had other ideas and pressed against him, reveling in his heat. His lips and tongue claimed my neck. The world didn’t matter when he sucked on my flesh like that. A whimper, a moan. Me. That was me. What was I doing?

  He was supposed to be upset. This didn’t feel like upset. He cupped my groin, his fingers rubbing against the growing heat and matching the throb of my desire. No. This wasn’t why I’d come to see him. A bestial growl vibrated in his chest as if to shut down my thoughts. No thinking, woman, just feeling.

  This wasn’t the Vritra I knew. This was someone else … something else. This was the dragon, and it wanted my dragon. And from the way my power was pulsing, it wanted him too.

  I tried to pull away “We should talk.”

  He lifted me off the ground and carried me across the room, pushing me up against the cool wall. His fingers gripped my hips, and tugged. Fuck I wanted him inside, me. No … Not me, my dragon. My dragon wanted this. She wanted him. And he was grinding up against me, his huge hard cock rubbing against me. I was swollen with need—pulsing, wet, and ready.

  I pushed into him, almost losing control. Dammit. No. This wasn’t what I wanted. This was her—the dragon inside. She wanted Vritra, and he wanted her. Not me.

  Never me.

  I twisted in his grasp—my asura power lending me the strength. “No. Not this.” I shoved him back, but it was like shoving a solid brick wall. He was immovable.

  “You want me, Miss Hunter. I can smell it.”

  Fucking supernaturals and their super senses. “My dragon wants you, but I don’t.”

  He blinked down at me in the gloom, the whites of his eyes gleaming in the moonlight, his savage face in shadow. He reached up to run the pad of his thumb over my lips. Oh, please … don’t … god. My mouth parted and my tongue flicked out to lick him. His body tensed and a low moan tore from his throat. My core tightened.

  “You are the dragon,” he said roughly. “The dragon is you.”

  Our gazes locked and he pressed his thumb to my lips, my control broke and I took it into my mouth, sucking hard and tasting the salt on his skin

  “Fucking hell,” his voice was an aroused rasp, and then his thumb was gone and his mouth was on mine—tongue tangling, mouth crushingly raw and violent. The scent of cinnamon filled my head as his hand tore at my leggings and slipped down them into my panties. His finger slipped into my wetness. Ah, yes, oh fuck yes, he played me and I moved with him. My dragon took over. There was no thought, only sensation, taste and smell and touch. The thick pile of the carpet beneath me, his huge body covering mine, his fingers inside me, mouth on my nipples drawing a line from my core to my breasts. I wanted this. I wanted him inside me. My body craved him like the Sahara craved the rain. It would be epic, primal, raw, and liberating, satisfying, but … it wouldn’t mend my heart.

  The tiny voice inside me, the one that loved to reason, screamed out to stop. Stop this now.

  “Stop.” I pushed at his shoulders.

  Vritra went completely still. He raised his head, ember eyes glowing in the dark. “Stop?”

  My chest heaved, every nerve vibrating with pleasure. “Stop. Please.”

  He was off me in an instant. “Fucking hell, Hunter.” He had his back to me, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly. And then he strode off into the bedroom.

  Breathing shallow and fast, I pulled myself off the floor, adjusted my clothing, and then cautiously followed. The door to his bedroom was open, and a quick peek showed it to be empty, but the sound of running water drifted from the partially open en suite bathroom door. He was taking a shower.

  My feet, treacherous things that they were, carried me to the ajar doorway. He was visible, his body obscured behind frosted glass, but still. There was no steam. He was taking a cold shower.

  Oh, man. I could so do with one of those. I could climb in with him. Finish what we’d started.

  Fucking hell! What was wrong with me?

  The shower shut off.

  Shit.

  I legged it back to the main room and waited. I’d come here to talk to him, to resolve the issue of Shukra and get him to eat something, and I was damned if I was leaving without having done that.

  Two minutes later Vritra sauntered into the main room, naked except for a darn towel around his hips. What was he trying to do to me?

  I turned away. “Can you please put on some clothes?”

  “Well, seeing as you’re not interested, it shouldn’t matter.”

  I blew out a breath. “Look, it’s not that simple.”

  “It’s simple enough, you either want me or you don’t.
And for a good few minutes there, you wanted me very much.”

  I still did, but damned if I was going to fall into the trap of thinking with my vajayjay. “Just because we could have sex, it doesn’t mean we should.”

  He snorted. “What did you come here for, Miss Hunter? Truly? Did you come to pet the poor sad dragon who just lost his best friend? Did you want to make him feel better? Is that why you came?”

  He padded over, his eyes gleaming dangerously, and my body went into melt-down mode, because damn that guy rippled when he moved.

  He stopped a foot away and leaned in. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Fucking you would have made me feel a whole lot better.”

  Shit, I was wet again. “I should go.” I made to move past him

  He side-stepped and blocked me. His breath was warm on my face. “Next time you walk into my suite, be prepared to be fucked. Hard.”

  Oh god. I slipped around him and barreled to the door, before my dragon could take over and make me do something I’d regret.

  18

  The take-out menus were on the table, the flat was clean, and the sheets on the sofa-bed had been changed. Aaron would be arriving in an hour, maybe less. God, how long since we’d last seen each other? Four, maybe five months? My other bestie, Aaron was my go-to-guy, the brother I’d have chosen if given the chance, and the only guy that had even shared my bed without any hanky panky.

  Tonight would be epic: chatting, take-out, and maybe a movie. But probably just a whole load of catching up. He’d get all big-brother protective over the Yamduth being after me. Although, maybe they weren’t out to get me any longer. Henna’s trip to the vault confirmed that some bones were missing. If Shukra had been the one behind the hit, surely being dead cancelled out the bounty? Shukra must have hired the Yamduth to kill the Yaksha and then come after me. But no yaksha souls had been found at Shukra’s residence, and there was no real motive to want me dead, so yeah, things still didn’t add up. I’d agreed to hold off on reporting this to the IEPEU, to give Vritra time to grieve before they were crawling all over his vault looking for evidence in the Yamduth case. The cuff was still sitting on the coffee table. Without giving myself too much time to think I popped it back on again.

  Just in case.

  My phone rang. Eeep, that was probably Aaron saying he was at the station. Ooo, maybe I should go meet him. The phone rang again.

  Crap, I probably should answer it first. “Aaron?”

  “Carm, babe, I have some bad news.”

  My heart crawled into my boots. “You can’t make it.”

  “I was half way there, and I got a call. I’ve had to turn back. Sweets, I promise I’m gonna wrap this shit up and get down there to see you ASAP.”

  “Yeah. ‘Kay.”

  “Love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  He hung up. Do not burst into tears. I sniffed. Gosh I needed to man up. Urvashi was on a date. Banner wasn’t answering his phone, and Honey was on pack business. That left Vritra, who wanted to fuck me, and Paimon, who couldn’t. Wait. What was Henna up to tonight? I tugged out my phone to find out, and it buzzed in my hand. The number was withheld.

  “Hello?”

  “Miss Hunter,” The High Witch’s cool refined voice filtered down the line. “We need to speak in person.”

  “I assume this is about Karen, right?”

  “You assume correctly. May I send a car?”

  As much as I wanted to tell her where to shove her car, I couldn’t turn my back on this responsibility. “Yeah, sure.”

  “It’ll be with you in fifteen minutes.”

  Well, looked like the moping and take-away would have to wait.

  _____

  Fashion model Henry led me into the library and then closed the door behind me. The room was dimly lit, and the tip of the High Witches up-do was visible over the top of the wingback facing away from me.

  “Please come take a seat, Miss Hunter.”

  Parking my butt in the wingback across from her, I crossed my arms and waited. She looked even younger today, and if not for the silver of her hair and the tired look in her pale eyes I’d have pegged her for no more than thirty-five years old.

  The High Witch sighed. “I believe my words wounded you gravely the other day.”

  “Well, there aren’t many people who take kindly to being called an abomination.”

  “Please accept my apology. It was simply the nature of the spell. The intent had to be strong, and in order to bar you from the skein we were forced to use explicit language as to why.”

  “Well, some warning would have been nice.”

  “In hindsight, yes, that would have been wise.”

  I just wanted to get this over with and go home. Being targeted for death twice in the same month was beginning to take its toll. Being given power then having it taken away was beginning to get old. I was beginning to get fucking old. “So, you wanted to see me about the Daayan? Have you traced her?”

  “No. But we’ve found a way to trace her, and we need your help.”

  “Tell me what you need.”

  “The Daayan is connected to the skein.”

  “What? You have to be kidding me.”

  She pursed her lips. “I wish I was. This relates directly to the witch’s oath you took—the knowledge that the Daayan were once human women chosen from each of the original witch bloodlines—so you will not disclose this fact. Only the High Witches are aware of it. We discovered the connection this morning. Its tentative, but there, and not surprising since the vengeful spirit now belongs to the demon and the demon is somehow able to grant us access to the skein.”

  “There are a lot of somehows and maybes floating about. If I didn’t know better I’d say you really didn’t have a clue how this all works.”

  “And you’d be correct in your assumption. The Daayan, the demon, and the original witches are all tales that have been passed down from High Witch to High Witch, word of mouth for generations. How much is true, and how much has been altered by time is something we can only guess at.”

  “But you told me.”

  She smiled softly. “Yes. What a rebel I am.”

  Was that a twinkle of mischief in her eye? “So what happens now? Can we track her using her connection to the skein?”

  “Yes. I can. But I will need you with me. Once we find her we must open the doorway and send her back, together.”

  “Just the two of us?”

  “Yes. Just the two of us.”

  “And what about my magick? I’ll need access to the skein for that.”

  The High Witch nodded. “It’s something the High Witch council was aware of when we barred you, and they have given me authority to lift the bar for a short period of time.”

  “How short?”

  “Five minutes.”

  Wow, they really didn’t trust me. “You’re not making this easy on yourselves are you?”

  She swallowed and glanced down at her lap. “I’m going to tell you something now, Miss Hunter, something that I should only reveal under oath, but consider it an act of good faith that I am sharing this information without sealing your tongue.”

  The woman certainly had a way with words. “I’m listening.”

  Our connection to the skein is unravelling. We’re running out of time. Witches are reporting loss of access, spotty access, and some have even claimed that spells they did days ago have unravelled.”

  Oh shit. “The agreement is breaking down.”

  She nodded, her expression solemn. “We must find her and return her, or magick will be lost to us, and, Miss Hunter, that means retroactive loss.”

  “You mean old spells will be undone?”

  “Exactly.”

  How many people had used magick to fix a problem, to survive, to heal or cure a loved one. How many buildings had been forged using magickal tech created by Brahma corp. With our connection gone all that would crumble. I couldn’t let that happen.

  “How will
you do it? Lift the bar?”

  She held up a tiny tape recorder. “The reversal chant is on here. It’s been sped up to last only a second, but the essence is the same so it should work?”

  “Should?”

  “The theory is sound.”

  Great. We were going on theory. “Shouldn’t we test it out just in case?”

  “It’s a one shot deal, Miss Hunter. I play it and it works, but then it’s useless for a second use. Barring a witch from the skein is difficult. To you it probably seemed like we spoke a few words and it was done, but the witches who spoke that spell spent days chanting, believing in their words and honing their intent. The word abomination was their anchor for belief that what they were asking for was indeed right. The same goes for a reversal. We just don’t have the time or the energy to recreate it right now.”

  Theory it was then. “So where is she?”

  “We’re working to get a lock on her. As soon as we do I will call you. Will you be there, Miss Hunter?”

  “I’ll be there.”

  What choice did I have?

  19

  Table was set, flat was clean, take two on having friends over. Saturday nights were no longer about going out and getting pissed. I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. The rest was piled up on my head in a messy knot. Urvashi exited the bathroom, adjusting her knickers.

  I bit back an amused smile. “What is wrong with you tonight? Hungry bum syndrome?”

  She winced. “New thong, but I think it’s a little tight.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, god my butt is getting fat.” She spun to give me a view of her pert backside. “Is it getting fat? It is isn’t it?”

  I cocked my head. “You know what, now that you mention it...”

  He bottom lip trembled.

  “It looks the fucking same as it always does.”

  “Phew!” She pressed her hand to her chest. “So what were you saying about the High Witch before my arse decided to eat my knickers?”

  “You’re wearing a thong, so your practically force feeding your butt.”