by Leah Silver
And that pissed me off.
“If you can do that, why the hell did you let her crawl all over you … and why did I waste all that time trying to train you with my daggers?”
“Because charming takes time. I can’t just walk up to a demon and ask it to die. It would laugh at me. I have to earn their trust first. And Floresta, although a very powerful Fae, was young and … impressionable.” He sidled up next to me, but I didn’t look at him. I was too overwhelmed with disgust. But was it with him … or myself?
I didn’t linger on the question. Instead, I picked up the pace. When we finally found our way to the front door, I barked an order at Ed. “Burn this place to the ground. And all the bodies with it.”
“You got it, sweetheart.” He winked at me, a sly smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. It seemed if he might enjoy wizard’s fire. By the glee in his eyes as it shot from his hands, I was betting he did, at least when it was his.
“Make sure it goes out before it spreads to the human homes.”
“Sure. I’ll just set the timer on this oven for an hour.” He was being a smart ass, but I didn’t care. I was too … what? Angry? Jealous? Emotional? All things I couldn’t afford to be at the moment, yet there they were.
I walked back to the car with the men walking a few paces behind me, not sure what to do. That was the spring. So was Devlin the trap? Or did he just think he was the trap? I could only hope it was the latter.
I threw myself into the backseat and slammed the door behind me, even though it would’ve been better if I sat in the middle, since I was the smallest. I wasn’t out for anyone’s comfort but my own.
I scowled out the window, arms crossed, while the men calmly got into the car. Ike turned the engine over in silence, and we rode back to my house the same way. In fact, no one said a word until we filed into my study.
“What’s the plan?” Oscar ventured cautiously.
“I’m getting awfully tired of that question,” I snapped, going to a hidden compartment near the fireplace. I pushed it in and it popped open, revealing a bottle of very old whiskey. I’d been saving it for … well, I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like the right thing to burn off the emotions I was feeling. Even if I didn’t like to drink before a job.
I got out a glass and poured the amber liquid into it, filling it more than I should’ve.
“You keep Irish whiskey in a secret compartment next to the fireplace?” Ed looked impressed as he stood and examined the bottle after I walked away and left the cabinet open. They could get their own glasses if they wanted.
I shrugged, not feeling the need to explain myself.
“Not sure I’d keep something so flammable next to the fireplace, but, hey. You do you, lovely,” Levi said. I could feel his temptation to lay the charm on, but he didn’t.
I eyed him, wanting to shoot a barb at him, but I didn’t have the energy. Questions whirled around my head. I took a swig of the whiskey, hoping it would burn them away along with my feelings. Instead, it just burned a track down my throat. I put the back of my hand over my mouth, trying not to cough in front of the men.
Oscar held up his glass in a toast. “You know the good stuff, lass.” He tipped his head to me as he took a swig, and it didn’t seem to affect him at all. I didn’t often drink human liquor. But Oscar must’ve enjoyed a glass now and again by the way he appreciated the drink. He held it up to the firelight and examined it as he swirled the liquid around. “A very fine glass indeed.” He took another drink.
I nodded and turned away with my own, taking another swig.
What could we do? Storm the castle, so to speak? It seemed like the only plausible solution. And what about Floresta? Had she actually killed herself? When Tempest found out what we’d done, would she keep helping me? Or would I feel her wrath, too?
“I tried to get that demon to work for us. To act as a mole. Told him he could kill Devlin. That would’ve been easier than trying to charge in, guns blazing.” I was mostly talking to myself, but they all listened.
“That would’ve been easier,” Ike, the one who’d chastised me for killing the demon, answered. “But only if he cooperated. He could’ve turned on us as soon as you let him out of that vase. Then we’d have had our hands full of a shit storm without an umbrella.”
I jerked my head around and looked at him. But to my surprise, he wasn’t teasing. I could tell by the way he was looking at me that he was sincere. It caught me off guard. I didn’t know what to say, so I brought the small tumbler to my lips and took another long swig, sucking air through my teeth as it went down.
“I need to clear my head,” Levi said out of the blue. “Merry, care to join me?”
Truth be told, I didn’t care to join him in anything. The image of that gorgeous Fae on top of him, his hands on her and her tongue on him, was still too fresh. “No. I’ll stay here by the fire, thanks,” I bit out.
“Just come.”
I whipped my gaze to him, anger passing over me hotter than the flames I stood near. “No one tells me what to do.”
Ed leaned down, putting his mouth right on my ear. “I don’t think he’s trying to tell you what to do, love. Nor am I. But it might do you some good to yell at him for a bit. Get it out,” he murmured, his hot breath causing goose bumps to break out over my body.
When I turned and narrowed my eyes on him, he winked again, lifting his glass to me. I rolled my eyes, but spun on my heels toward Levi.
“Fine. But I don’t forgive you.”
“Just so the whole room knows that,” Levi retorted in annoyance.
“Oh, we do.” Oscar sounded amused as he examined his glass.
I followed Levi out of the room and down the hall. He went straight to the back, out into the garden where we’d spoken before, where we’d kissed. The memory warmed my blood … until I thought about the moans Floresta had brought out of him.
“You liked her.” It wasn’t a simple statement, more of an accusation.
“I like a lot of people.”
“She wasn’t a person. She was the daughter of Tempest, the Fae queen. She was young, beautiful, and all over you. If we’d spent even a few more minutes fighting that water demon, I think we would’ve walked in to find you doing more than…” I trailed off, not able to finish my sentence.
He chuckled. “Are you jealous?”
I scowled. “Among other things, Captain Obvious.”
He strolled to the edge of the garden, near the big tree at the back, where the fence divided my small yard from the ones around me. “This is a very nice tree. It’s been here a long time, hasn’t it?”
“I suppose it has. Yes. You deflecting?” I reluctantly headed to where he stood.
“No, I’m just saying. You’ve been around a very long time. Maybe longer than me. Maybe not. In your head, you know she was just a job. That she didn’t mean anything to me. And that my saying the words out loud is wasting my breath.”
I turned my back on him, chipping the bark off the tree with my fingernail. My voice came out softer and more sad than I meant for it to. “You moaned for her. You didn’t moan for me.”
“And there’s the root of it.” He put his hand on my side. I stiffened, but he didn’t pull away. He kept his hand steady against my body, anchoring me where I stood. “Love, I don’t moan like that when I’m actually enjoying myself.”
It was a lie. Right? I wanted it to be a lie. It was too easy. But somehow, it felt true. I chanced a look at him, and his eyes confirmed what I already knew. He’d been faking.
“She would’ve been able to tell you were faking. She wasn’t some twenty-year-old human girl. She was a Fae.”
“Not a charmer. And boy, did I have her charmed. She would’ve finished stripping off her clothes, and danced a jig in the street if I asked her to.” He flashed a smile and quickly doused it, remembering his agreement not to charm me.
Slowly, I turned toward him. He put both hands against the tree, one on either side of my head, leaning tow
ard me.
“When I’m with you, I promise you’ll get nothing but the uncensored truth. No ridiculously loud groans—only dirty words, heavy breathing, and the kind of moans that vibrate silently over your skin with my mouth hot and open over it.” He smiled broadly, as if this would be some kind of gift to me.
I contemplated him, debating my next move. “Is that so?”
“Want to find out?” He bent his elbows, bringing his body even closer to mine. I sucked in a breath, anticipating the heat he’d given me before.
I let him get close to my mouth. He watched me the whole time he pressed his attack. Pressed in every sense of the word. He had me against that tree so hard I could feel every bit of his body against mine, the rough bark digging into my back. It only made my next move more difficult.
“No,” I said simply.
He paused only for a moment before he retorted, “Oh, yes.” Rapidly, he closed in on me. Too fast for me to move away, particularly with the way he had me pinned. His lips covered mine, demanding a response, and my arms went around him of their own accord, pulling him closer to me. I hooked a leg around him as well at some point, so basically the control thing was going swell for me.
“By the Mother, I need you,” he breathed as one of his hands found its way under my tank top, which was quite a feat, considering how tight that thing was. His other slid to the thigh of the leg I had around him, shifting us so his erection pressed between my legs.
At the contact, I moaned, responding with more of everything. More kissing, more pulling him to me … I even ground my hips against the hard length I could feel beneath his jeans, which made him a bit crazy. The hand under my shirt stopped sweetly caressing the skin of my stomach, shooting up to close hotly over my breast. He squeezed it before plucking my nipple between his fingers as he thrust his hips against me. I counted his loss of control as point for me. It didn’t count that I enjoyed it, too.
“Merry, where did you get this book?” Ed’s voice seemed urgent as the screen door on my back porch slammed closed. But the blood still pounded in my ears, Levi’s breath warm against my face. His hot hand was still closed over my breast, giving me goose bumps as he reluctantly slid it down and out.
I didn’t want this interruption, even if I needed it. Instead, I searched for his mouth, giving up the battle for control and trying to ignore Ed. But Levi was already pulling away.
“Whatcha got, Ed?” he asked.
I glared at him. “Damned charmer,” I grumbled.
Levi stepped away from the tree, and Ed crossed the yard faster than I’d ever seen him move. He was holding an old book, and I bristled at the sight. No one touched those books except Sara and me. What right did he—
Nope. I derailed my train of thought right there. These were my men. And they were trying to help me. If that book would help him, he could page through it all he wanted.
“Where did you get this, Merry?” he asked again.
“It belonged to a dear friend of mine. When she died, all her things came to me.”
“All of them? Where’s the rest?”
“Why?” I asked.
“This book holds the key for hiding from a seer. But the spell requires a few ingredients I haven’t seen before. If she has some in her stores—” He let us connect the dots ourselves.
“You’re saying Agatha’s stuff could save our asses?” I chuckled. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. She saved Sara and me from the void once already.”
The boys looked at each other, confused expressions on their faces, but said nothing as Ed held the book out to me, his thumb holding the page I needed.
It opened, and I saw her shaky, crooked handwriting, hearing her voice as I read the words.
Seers are dangerous things. One all creatures might want protection from. Use this spell to become a blind spot to a seer, and literally stay out of sight.
I smiled and shook my head. She never was one to let a pun go unused. The spell itself was complete moon language to me, so I handed the book back to Ed.
“Who was this woman?” he asked, his eyes wide and almost wild with excitement.
“Like I said, a dear friend of mine. She died many centuries ago. She saved me, and Sara for that matter, when we were turned.” I shrugged. “Seems right she’s coming to our rescue again.”
Ed smiled. “Do you think, when this is over, I might look at some of the things she left behind?” His question was tentative, as if he knew her things were special to me. Sacred.
I ran my eyes over his face, knowing the answer before it was even out of my mouth. “Of course, Ed. Just take care of them. They’re very old, and have some sentimental value.”
“I believe you.” He turned to Levi. “Think of what we could learn.” He was clearly more excited about picking my dead friend’s mind than Levi was.
“You say we like I’m going to understand any of what you’re about to say to me,” Levi said, but Ed ignored him as we walked into the house.
Ed chattered on about Agatha’s groundbreaking spells, heading into the living room. I touched my lips as I closed the back door, still feeling the heat of Levi’s kiss.
I watched Levi follow behind. When he looked over his shoulder, I gave him my most smoldering look. I felt the heat in his eyes trace down my body in longing before he turned back.
“Soon,” I vowed. “Soon, I’ll have my piece of all of them.”
Throwing sand in the seer’s eyes
“Well, where are her stores?” Ed asked.
“First, tell me if you can protect all five of us, or just one of us. If it’s just the one, who should it be?” I asked.
“No, I can make a draft big enough for all of us.”
“So, is it a spell or a potion?” I asked.
“Both, I think. It combines both arts.” He flipped through the book and nodded, as if confirming what he’d said. “See, here it requires the right words, but here…” He pointed elsewhere. “It requires you to boil some ingredients together so the air has the right … feel for the spell to take, and here you drink it to become invisible, so to speak.”
“I see,” I said, even though I really didn’t. I never was much of a magician. And when Agatha died, my exposure to the inner workings of magic died with her. I was way out of my element here.
“Yeah, I agree with Merry. I think we’ll just have to take your word for it, Ed,” Levi said.
Ike came up behind me, slipping an arm around my waist. “Feeling better?” he whispered in my ear, making me shiver slightly.
I turned to face him. “Yes and no.”
“I’m sorry about earlier.”
“Ike, compared to what Levi did, it’s no big deal.”
“Hey,” Levi said, sounding offended.
“I’m just saying,” I said before turning back to Ike. “Apparently, I forgave him. So don’t worry about it.”
I saw Levi wink at Ike out of the corner of my eye, and then elbow him for good measure. “I didn’t even have to charm her,” he said under his breath.
I whipped around. “Perhaps you should’ve,” I said with a glare.
Oscar laughed. He clapped both men on the shoulders as he ushered us forward, following Ed for some reason. “Never listen to the romantic braggings of a charmer.”
“Noted,” Ike said.
“Hey.” Levi feigned hurt, but his proud smile said otherwise.
“Ed, do you know where you’re going?”
“Oh… No, I guess not. I just assumed the stores would be in the basement with your weapons.”
“They’re not.”
“Okay, well, you lead.”
I smiled at him. He was fun when he was frazzled. The absentminded professor.
Pushing ahead of him in the somewhat narrow hall, I led him to a back bedroom.
“Should I make you boys turn around so you don’t see all my secrets?” They shifted their weight, chuckling nervously. Ed looked to Levi for guidance, and I laughed. “Ed, don’t get guidance f
or how to handle me from Levi. He’s just as blind in this as everyone else.”
“Two burns in one night,” Ike said. “You must be smarting.”
“Mind your business, wolf.” Levi gave him a light shove.
“You boys finished?” I asked, watching them tease each other like brothers. Was that what my life would be like? Living in a house full of brothers? I shuddered at the thought, turning back to the wall.
It was a bare spot in the room. Nothing but green wallpaper with white lilies on it. Not my favorite choice, but by the time I got done adding this little feature to the room, I wasn’t in the mood for changing wallpaper. It was peeling in a few places, and really should be redone, but as we didn’t spend time in here, we never saw it anyway.
I held my hand up to the only yellow lily on the entire wall. A door opened out into the room.
“This house is amazing,” Ed said, practically bouncing with excitement.
I walked in first, going to the center and pulling a chain to illuminate the naked bulb in the ceiling.
Wooden shelves lined every wall, and I’d tried to organize things in a way that made sense. Herbs and spices on one wall, prepared potions on another, strange ingredients that couldn’t really be classified took up an entire section on their own. Even if I didn’t know what to do with them, and had figured they would stay in here forever unused, I’d wanted to treat Agatha’s possessions with respect.
I lovingly pulled a glass container of bat wings from its cubby, looking at it with affection. She’d used to tease me with them, and tell me she added them to my favorite stew. “See anything you like?” I asked Ed.
He seemed overwhelmed as he clutched the book to his chest and looked at the room wide-eyed. Suddenly, he gently put the book down on a small wooden table in the corner and turned to me. Before I could comprehend what was happening, he had me off my feet and wrapped in his arms, planting a kiss firmly on my lips. It started out excited, urgent, and hard. But as he held me, I felt a spark travel from him to me, making my lips tingle. I couldn’t put my arms around him since he’d trapped me a bit, but I wanted to as desire shot through me, doing things to my insides that made me need more of this man. It made me ultra-sensitive to his touch, to his body pressed against mine, to his breath on my face, his beard scratching my skin, everything. It dulled everything else around me, pulling me out of reality.