“She reads random thoughts from people with elevated emotions. I’m not sure why she was born with this gift. It’s quite a mystery, actually. I took Effy to the coven mistress when I first discovered my niece’s gift and the mistress was just as perplexed. She said it was easier to explain the mysteries of a white witch than Effy’s telepathic skills.”
Matt frowned. “There’s no great mystery about a white witch. They can conjure spells without the use of a wand.”
Maddy was surprised. “You know about them?”
“Of course. I have been around for two hundred years and I have met my share of interesting characters.”
“You’ve met one? I thought a white witch was a myth.”
“I haven’t met one, but I do know they exist. The rumour is there’s only a handful in existence. Just because no one has ever seen one, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Look at the humans. They believe lycans are a work fiction, yet here I am.”
“You’re right, of course, but it seems incredible that a witch could be so powerful, she doesn’t need a wand.”
“Some would say your niece’s gift is incredible. I’m guessing she doesn’t have a wand, yet.”
“No, she doesn’t. She’s too young. I told her I’ll take her to the mistress when she’s older. No doubt Effy’s experience will be more pleasant than mine was,” she added, almost to herself. His expression lit with interest. “I was nine years old when my mother took me to the coven for a wand,” she explained. “When a witch receives her first wand, there’s a whole rite of passage they go through, but none of the ceremonies worked on me. The cauldron didn’t produce smoke, the bell didn’t ring, the enchanted fire didn’t burn. The mistress refused to believe the implication. You see, my gran, my mom, and my sister were all powerful witches and the mistress couldn’t accept I was born without the gift.” Maddy recalled the ritual as though it happened yesterday. “I remember she looked at me with disappointment on her face.”
“I’m sorry.”
She waved a hand in the air. “Don’t be. Being human isn’t all that bad. I’ve accepted my place within my coven. I’m the normal one, the simple one.”
“There’s nothing simple about you, Maddy,” he said quietly.
She stared at his handsome face, her limbs melting at the brief flash of warmth in his eyes. For a moment, she forgot what they were talking about as she lost herself in the tender look he gave her. “I think the mistress would disagree,” she said. “Do you want to know something funny? I used to fantasize I was a white witch and the coven would accept me as one of their own.”
“I would imagine being a white witch is not as glorious as one might think. They would be hunted by all the dark forces of the world. Imagine one falling into the wrong hands? They would be a powerful weapon.”
“Perhaps that’s why no one’s ever seen one. They keep hidden to protect their identities from Garos.”
“Perhaps.” Matt’s mouth tensed. “Maddy, even though we’ve veered into a fascinating subject, I would like to return to our earlier topic.”
Maddy braced herself. “Oh?”
“How do you know about my one?” He asked. “Only a handful of people know about that time in my life.” He released an exasperated breath when she didn’t respond. “I see. You don’t want to talk about it. How about Leo and Sam and our secret organisation? How do you know about that?”
She feared if she didn’t satisfy some of his curiosity, he’d never give her the wand. “I mean you no harm, Matt. My knowledge of all these things will stay with me. I will never divulge your secrets to anyone.”
He stared at her for such a long time, she wondered if he believed her. His next words put her at ease. “I believe you,” he said quietly.
Relief flooded her senses. “Thank you. The only thing that matters is I need the wand to destroy it.” She paused, searching for the right place to start. “Centuries ago, Catherine fell deeply in love. For a short time, she believed they would marry, but that was not the case. He fell in love with another and he left Catherine, breaking her heart. The story is she had so much anger and hatred for him, she turned to the dark powers and sold her soul to the devil in order to create a curse powerful enough to destroy all her family’s, and their family’s happiness. She wanted to take away everyone’s true love.” Maddy fell silent and stared at him.
“Go on,” he said quietly.
“Catherine cast a dark curse on all her descendants. If she couldn’t be happy, she didn’t want anyone to be happy. The curse was simple, yet powerful. All her female descendants’ lovers would die an untimely death.” Maddy swallowed the rush of emotion thickening her throat. “The curse has touched me personally. My...my father was in the best of health. He jogged every morning, he ate well, and he never drank or smoked cigarettes. One day he died of a massive heart attack. My mother knew the curse had struck. She was grief stricken and for a long time she couldn’t even get out of bed. I was the one who found her one morning. She’d swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills. I was twelve.”
His expression was grave. “I’m sorry, Maddy.”
She bit her lips to stop them from quivering. “My sister and her husband had only two years together before he died in that car accident.”
“That was the night your sister was in labour and he was driving her to the hospital?”
Maddy nodded. She still felt raw thinking about it. “No one knows why he lost control. The streets were dry, the car was new, and he was an excellent driver without ever having so much as a parking ticket.” She paused, releasing a long, heavy sigh. “There are others, too, my aunts, my cousins, distant relatives. They’ve all suffered the same fate. The only way to end this curse is to burn Catherine’s wand. Until then, any man who falls in love with one of Catherine’s descendants is doomed to an early death.” She leaned forward in her seat and gave him an imploring look. “I want Effy to have a good life. I want her to fall in love and get married one day. I want her to have a family. I have to do this for her.”
“What about you? Don’t you want to fall in love and start your own family one day?”
Maddy was taken aback. The man she was destined to love sat before her, but he loved another, a ghost. “I...I’m happy being single. I told you Effy is my life.” She tensed under his penetrating, dark gaze. “What about you, Matt? I’m only twenty-seven. I haven’t been single for as long as you have. You’ve been alone for two hundred years.”
His face darkened and she regretted her impulsive outburst. “Our situations are different. I met my one and she died. A lycan who loses their one is never the same again and their one can never be replaced.”
She bit her lip from voicing what was on her mind, I am your one. Grim-faced, he rose from the couch.
“Are you leaving?” She asked.
“Yes. It’s getting late.”
She rose. “Will you...will you help me end my family’s curse?”
He stared at her for such a long time, she worried she wasn’t going to like his response. “Yes. I will pick you up at ten tomorrow morning. Will that give you enough time to get a babysitter for Effy?”
Maddy was warmed by his concern. “Yes,” she said softly. “Wendy lives a few blocks from here and she’s always available for emergencies.”
She walked him to the door. He stopped and gave her a brusque nod before he turned and walked away. Maddy watched him get into his car and drive away. She stared at her street long after he left.
****
Matt woke up in a cold sweat. He dragged the sheet from his body and ran a rough hand through his hair as he sat up.
“Hell and damnation,” he growled under his breath.
He shot a dark look at the window and saw that the sun hadn’t even started to rise. Frustrated, his gaze caught his clock on his night stand and he grimaced. It was three o’clock in the morning.
A familiar pain of discomfort made him glance down at his naked body and his mouth thinned. He was still arouse
d. Grim-faced, he left his bed and walked into his adjoining bathroom, his thoughts on the dream that had roused an intense heat in his loins.
In his dream, he stood over a deep ravine and his one and Maddy clung to vines over the edge. He could save only one. The skies were overcast, the area around him stark and bleak. A thick fog rolled toward him and he knew if he didn’t save one soon, he’d lose them both.
Matt stared at his reflection in his bathroom mirror, his mouth tense, his jaw clenched. The dream felt real, his feelings felt real—the fear, the panic, and the helplessness of choosing one woman to live and one woman to die. He placed his palm flat on the mirror, grimacing at his reflection.
He stared down at their upturned faces, their hands beginning to slip from the thick vines they clutched. His one screamed for help, begging him to save her, as Maddy stared up at him, her expression calm, understanding.
“It’s okay, Matt. Save her,” she said quietly.
He looked down at his one and saw his past on her terrified face. He saw his youth, his life starting, the man he used to be. Then he looked at Maddy, her expression firm with courage and acceptance. Her dark eyes shone with unshed tears, the expression behind them forgiving.
“I understand,” she said softly. “You can’t save both of us.”
Matt’s gut clenched with an instinctive need to survive. The force of his emotion travelled up his chest to his face and the back of his eyes burned. He wanted Maddy to live. If she didn’t, he might as well end his existence. In his dream, something deep in his soul penetrated the back of his mind and he took a staggering step forward, his hand reaching over the ravine to clasp Maddy’s hand. He couldn’t lose her. She was his future.
His one disappeared under a blanket of fog and he stared at Maddy’s lovely face, brave and sweet, her mouth parting in surprise. He pulled her up and she fell into his arms as she sobbed onto his chest. He held her close, throwing his head back, and he howled long and loud into the misty skies.
Then his dream changed. They lay on his bed at home, their naked limbs entwined, Maddy gasping with pleasure as he ran kisses over her face, her shoulders, her neck.
His need to mate with her was fierce. He positioned himself in between her legs and stared down at her face. “How could I have been wrong all these years?” He said hoarsely.
And then he entered her and she threw back her head and screamed.
Matt released a ravaged breath as he turned away from the mirror. He snapped back the shower curtain and turned on the cold water full blast. He stepped under the biting spray and tightened his jaw. Matt placed his hand on the ceramic wall before him and closed his eyes as dropped his head slightly. The punishing force of the water eased the heat coursing through his veins, but it did nothing to assuage the wild thoughts running through his mind. Something wasn’t right. His beast knew it and his human knew it.
He inhaled a long, ragged breath, his hand at his side bunching into a fist. He had cared deeply for his one, but the feelings he’d felt in his dream for Maddy had been powerful.
Damnation, he’d just met her. How the hell could he feel this way?
He dragged his thoughts from his dream and released a tormented breath.
Chapter Five
At ten o’clock in the morning, Matt pulled up in front of Maddy’s house. He got out of his car and was about to walk up to her door when he saw her coming out onto the porch. He watched her hug Effy good-bye as Wendy hovered in the background. Maddy straightened and turned around. As she made her way toward him, he skimmed his gaze over her simple beige skirt and white shirt and rested it on her face. Her hair was down, framing her face, and she cast him a nervous glance as she neared him.
“Good morning,” she said.
She looked fresh and rested while he knew he must have looked like hell. He hadn’t gone back to sleep when he’d awoken from his dream and his gut clenched as the sudden image of Maddy’s naked body his flashed before his mind. He hid a scowl.
“Good morning,” he growled. He ignored her raised brow as he reached for her door. After he opened it, he glanced back at the house and waved at Effy.
The little girl gave him a tentative wave back, her expression curious. Dammit, he hoped she hadn’t read his mind when he’d pictured her aunt naked. Effy’s face broke into a grin and he relaxed. Maddy’s niece wouldn’t be smiling if she’d just read his mind.
He shut the door behind Maddy and strode to his side. Her sweet scent hovered around him and he swallowed hard. Matt clamped down on his jaw as he opened his door. His beast howled for release and Matt thinned his lips as he slammed his door shut.
“Depending on traffic this morning, we should be at Leo’s hotel in about thirty minutes,” he said, glancing at her.
Gratitude softened her gaze. “Thank you for helping me, Matt.”
He nodded brusquely and started his motor. A couple of minutes later they were driving away from her quiet, suburban street. “Did you have breakfast? Should we stop to eat first?” He asked, giving her a swift, sideways glance.
“No. Thank you for asking. I made pancakes this morning.” She paused. “Unless, you’re hungry, of course.”
“I’m fine. I’ve been up for some time and already made myself breakfast.” His gaze dropped briefly to her shapely legs below her knee length skirt and his inner beast growled.
Maddy gasped. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“You...you growled.”
He stiffened. “Forgive me, it wasn’t directed at you. I was thinking about the wand,” he lied. What the devil was he supposed to tell her? That her smooth, shapely calves aroused him? He turned the corner more sharply than he’d intended to and Maddy released another gasp. “Sorry about that,” he said.
They settled into silence until they reached Leo’s hotel and Matt didn’t mind the quiet. His dream still disturbed the hell out of him and he didn’t know if he could focus on small talk.
The more he thought about the dream, the more he questioned the lycan legend.
According to the legend, once two soul mates consummated their relationship and mated, they would involuntarily shift into their lycan beasts. If a lycan mated with a human, the human would transform into a lycan on the next full moon. The problem Matt faced was he’d never had sex with his one. He’d just assumed she’d been his one because of his feelings for her. She’d been the first woman he’d ever cared about and now he wondered if that had been love? He tightened his hands on the wheel, wishing Leo was back from his honeymoon so he could talk to him about this.
He found parking near the hotel and got out of his car. Maddy was reaching for her door as he opened it and she smiled up at him. He reached for her hand and helped her out. Maddy stood before him, the morning sun reflected in her warm, dark eyes and he resisted the urge to drag her against him and kiss her. Matt tightened his mouth as she turned and gazed at Leo’s hotel.
“It’s magnificent,” she said.
“His office is on the top floor. This is one of a string of hotels he owns all over the world.”
Maddy gave him a thoughtful look. “You sound very proud of his accomplishment.”
“Leo is like a brother to me. He took me under his wing when I was a fledgling lycan. He taught me everything he knows.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and led her to the hotel. “This way.”
Suddenly, a powerful blast slammed into his gut. He sensed lycans around him, dangerous lycans. Matt growled under his breath, ignoring the look of surprise on Maddy’s face, as he snapped his gaze across the street.
He saw them, three men, partially concealed by a parked mini-van, one of the men reaching into his jacket’s breast pocket. Matt’s gaze caught the glint of steel and he snarled. The lycan pulled out a gun and Maddy gasped.
Everything happened so fast, Matt didn’t have time to call upon his lycan speed to pull Maddy out of harm’s way. He stared at her in astonishment as her hand shot out in front
of his chest and bunch into a fist the second he heard the gun go off. Stunned, Matt stared at her tight fist and dragged his gaze to her ashen face. Slowly, her hand opened, her breath coming out in short gasps, and a silver bullet dropped from her grasp to the pavement below them.
Tight-lipped, he glanced at the three lycans and watched them jump into a car and peel away. Passersby either stopped dead in their tracks and looked around in confusion or ran for cover.
Matt returned his gaze to Maddy and watched the blood drain from her face as she stared up at him.
“What...I don’t...I’m...” she whispered brokenly.
Her body swayed as she closed her eyes and Matt’s gut clenched. Grim-faced, he lifted her into his arms as she fell into a dead faint.
“Bloody hell,” he said hoarsely, his gaze dropping to the silver bullet on the ground.
Maddy was a white witch.
****
Maddy opened her eyes and took a moment to adjust to her surroundings. Matt carried her, his gaze fixed on the elevator door, his expression stern. She glanced up at the small screen lighting each floor and saw they were almost on the top floor. The events of the last few minutes flashed through her mind and she parted her lips in surprise.
She’d caught a bullet in mid flight.
Maddy’s heart raced. “Matt, you can put me down.” Her voice sounded small and faint. She stiffened, willing herself not to faint again. She’d caught a speeding bullet, she thought again, panic rising in her throat.
Without looking down at her, Matt said, “No.”
“I’m...I’m fine,” she said.
He gave her a dark look. “My lycan can hear your heart pounding in your breast. It senses the blood rushing through your veins. If I set you down, you’ll faint again.”
“I won’t faint. Please, I can walk.” Did he even realise what he’d just said? A lycan only sensed these things with their one, she thought.
His expression hardened as he slowly put her down. The elevator doors opened and he took her hand. “This way,” he said.
Tall Dark Handsome Lycan, Book 4 Page 4