“Who’s that?” She couldn’t get her bearings.
“Carla Fisk. She’s one of the soul-mirror witches in California, and mated to Sutton West. You saw him last night in the strip club.”
Risa blinked, trying to clear the sluggish fog clogging up her thoughts. “I’ve heard of them.” What witch hadn’t? The soul-mirror witches and hunters were romantic legends, and she haunted secret online sites gossiping about them while looking for ways to free the souls trapped in her magic and help her heal her fracturing mind.
The bed dipped.
The sensation of male weight on the mattress tripped more memories. Her heart rate jacked, and Risa rolled to the other side, her bare feet hitting the tile. Standing between the bed and a wall, she gritted her teeth against a wave of vertigo. Breathe. Ignore it.
“Risa, Jesus. I’m not going to hurt you.” He loomed up on the other side of the bed, holding the mug of tea. “Think. I’m the one who found and saved you last night. You passed out cold in my arms, and I brought you here.”
Her heart pounded in her ears while old shame curled low in her belly. “I’m fine.” Lifting her chin, she willed her body to back up her claim. “I need to leave, to go find Kendall.”
“You’re not going out there alone. It’s a disaster, with law enforcement and the National Guard covering the city. Power outages everywhere, the Mystique Hotel burned to the ground, other hotels have major damage, several cars and bodies are burned, and—”
Blythe. Buzzing roared in her ears. Dropping back against the cool plaster wall, she squeezed her eyes closed, desperately trying to shut out that image. If only she could somehow go back and save her. Hot tears pricked.
A warm hand curled around her biceps. “Your friend. Damn it, I didn’t think about what I was saying. Come here.”
Snapping her eyes open, she stared at him. While on the bed, she’d felt trapped, but right now, his balmy scent of clean shampoo and strong male didn’t trip her flight instinct. Instead, she had the urge to lean into him. Weird. “What are you doing?”
“You’re crying.” He reached up a free hand, swiping away a tear. “If you need a hug…”
She pushed him away. “No hugs.” Get it together. She couldn’t fall apart now, not with Kendall out there at the mercy of whatever the hell Archer had become. Besides, she didn’t do hugs. Not with men anyway. She couldn’t bear their touch.
Linc backed up, his face blanking. “I’m trying to help you here.” Frustration edged his smooth voice.
Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself. The man had saved her life, and she’d seen him in action. If he wanted to hurt her, she wouldn’t be able to stop him. Risa needed to rein in her inner bitch and get control. “I know. Sorry, I’m not good at being touched.” Pushing off the wall, she tested her steadiness. Better.
His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t comment on her proclamation about not being touched. “Sit in the chair.” He gestured to the two chairs grouped in a corner, then headed around the bed to the nightstand. “Try the tea and toast. I know you want to find your daughter, and believe me, we want to find her too. But you need your magic to help us, which means you need to recover. I went out last night after I brought you here and couldn’t find any trace of her.”
Wanting distance and to pull herself together, Risa settled in the plush chair. “You went out and looked for Kendall?” Really? But she shouldn’t be that surprised. The Wing Slayer Hunters had a rep for being relentlessly protective of witches. Make that witch a baby and, yeah, they would find her.
Except that Risa had lied, claiming Kendall was her daughter and a witch. Guilt twinged in her chest, but what else could she do? If she told him the baby was Archer’s daughter, a demon’s daughter, they weren’t going to be as motivated to rescue her.
Linc set the tray on the table between the chairs and handed her the mug. “Yes. Plus we need to find the spawn. But we can’t leave a baby witch out there alone with no one to protect her.”
Exactly what she had thought—if they believed Kendall a witch, they’d find and rescue her. She sipped the tea, letting the warm, sweet liquid drown out her regret at lying.
“How are you feeling?”
He crouched in front of her, his slacks outlining his powerful thighs. Her gaze traveled up the black shirt covering his ripped abs, to his broad chest and his sculpted face. But when she looked into those light brown eyes that glowed almost gold, her magic did a little bump-and-grind thing.
“Better. No pain aside from a small headache.” Her power had healed her knife wounds while she slept. And speaking of her witchcraft. “When you’re close, my magic reacts.”
“Soul-mirror connection. I feel your magic too. A lot. It smells like cinnamon.”
Having him this close, his knees almost touching hers, and those eyes looking too deep… Too much.
She dropped her gaze to study his hands, which were scarred with thick knuckles, an odd contrast to his pretty face. She sipped more tea, then gathered her courage and asked, “Are we really soul mirrors? What does that mean exactly?” She’d never met anyone who had first-hand exerpience, so her knowledge was limited to what she’d read.
“That we have the two halves of one soul, and once we bond through a sex and blood exchange, the curse breaks. I won’t have bloodlust, and you’ll be able to access your high magic.”
Risa tried to take that in. She’d never been able to reach the magic in her fifth, sixth and seventh chakras. “How? I mean, we need familiars to help control that magic.” The curse cast by demon witches three decades ago had broken witch’s bonds with their familiar, and that was the reason they couldn’t access their high magic.
“The way it’s worked so far, our tattoos become the witch’s familiar.”
“The tattoos are alive?” Oh she’d read all this, but it sounded even more surreal hearing it. Especially since witches and hunters had become enemies since the curse saddled hunters with a craving for the power in witch blood. Although she’d heard that before the curse, witch hunters and earth witches had worked together and were friendly.
Linc shrugged. “It’s a part of us that awakens when we find our soul mirror.”
“And you’re okay with that? That part of you is my familiar?”
He hesitated, his eyes shading with doubt. “I won’t lie to you. No, I’m not. The whole thing takes a lot of trust, including that you will use your magic to prevent pregnancy—something I never leave to the woman, I always use a condom. But in this case, to complete the bond I need to come inside you.” He took a slow breath. “But I’m so close to losing against this curse, I either figure out a way to trust and bond with you, or I die.”
His bluntness rocked her back, sloshing the remains of the tea in her cup and dribbling on her hand. So she was his last choice before death, yay her. He didn’t want her, and he certainly didn’t want a child tying them together long term; he just wanted freedom from the curse. Grabbing a napkin, she told herself to stop it, she wasn’t looking for the big love story, and she sure as hell wouldn’t get pregnant. So he wanted to use her? She’d been used before, so she knew how to do that and how to use magic to prevent a pregnancy.
And she’d get her high magic. She might be able to free the souls trapped in her magic then, and maybe even heal her mind. She needed to know more. “How do you know we’re soul mirrors?”
He handed her a piece of toast. “Try to eat this.” Once she took it, he went on, “Part of how I know is pure animal instinct. I touched your blood and felt the connection. My tattoo started itching last night, getting worse the closer I got to you.”
“The falcon one? I saw it.” Saw it didn’t begin to describe her reaction to the ink. That creature would be her familiar? “It felt like the bird was looking at me.” Did the idea sound as crazy to him as it did to her?
“He probably was. I’ve had the tattoo nearly a year. His eyes were closed…until I touched your blood. The itching stopped almost instantly.”
/> Setting down her toast, she considered that. “How do I know you’re my soul mirror? You have all these signs, but…” Risa couldn’t get her head around it. All she wanted was to find Kendall, release the souls in her magic and stay sane. This soul mirror connection seemed big and a bit scary.
“Let me touch you.” Huskiness thickened his smooth voice.
“Why?”
Linc leaned a fraction closer. “You’ll feel the connection in your magic. And…” a grimace cracked his stone-carved face, “…bloodlust.” He held up his arms.
The veins bulged in his forearms, pulsing beneath his skin, the lines nearly burgundy in color, and damned angry looking.
“You want my blood.” Her heart shot into her throat, and she glanced between him and the door.
His jaw hardened. “I won’t hurt you. But it’s getting worse, and touching you helps.” Linc took a breath and added, “Don’t be afraid of me, Risa. I’ve spent years becoming a man women don’t have to be afraid of.”
The raw honesty in that statement trembled straight down her center. Over time, she’d honed her instincts in spotting a liar. Linc didn’t ring her lying gong. “Just touch?” Risa verified.
“Yes.” He held out his hand to her.
She hesitated. Too many times she’d been touched when she didn’t want it. Those memories raced in her mind, but Linc hadn’t hurt her. He’d saved her, brought her to his home. Her skin tightened, and her stomach twisted.
She eyed the lines bisecting his palm. Lifelines. More proof that he wasn’t rogue. Come on, just do it. No way can you get Kendall away from her demon father by yourself. You need Linc and his friends. Decision made, Risa’s mouth dried as she laid her hand in his.
His long, warm fingers closed around hers, but he kept his hold loose. His bulging, ready-to-crack jaw muscle eased, and he drew in a slow breath. “Better.” He stroked his thumb over her hand. “Feel it?”
Her chakras shivered, from her heart straight down to her pelvis. Power rippled in tiny carbonation bubbles flowing through her hand to his. Almost like her magic wanted to touch him. Long seconds had passed when a faint feathery sensation brushed her magic, the part of her no one had touched before. Talking about a connection like that was one thing, but feeling it? It scared her. “I don’t like it.”
His eyebrows snapped up. “What? My touch?”
His offended tone curved her lips, and for a second, assuaged her. “I bet that would be new for you.”
“Hell yeah. When I touch a woman, I make damned sure she likes it.”
Her brief amusement vanished. “I’m not most women, Dillinger. And I don’t like being touched, or this connection. We barely know each other, yet I feel you in my magic. That’s just creepy.” She tugged her hand.
He let go, watching her with sharp eyes.
Her chakras pulled tight, as if reacting to releasing his hand.
“Who hurt you?”
Stunned at his too-soft question, she stared at her tingling traitor of a hand. How much had he discovered just by touching her? Could he feel how broken she was? Or how close she was to going totally and irrevocably crazy? Or that she’d failed so badly as a witch, she had souls locked in her shield magic? She didn’t want anyone to know those things about her.
Tilting her chin up, she avoided the question. “Wow, you really don’t take rejection well.”
He didn’t move, just watched her with the intensity of a predator. “Was it your baby’s father?”
Her baby…oh, he meant Kendall, not her crazy hallucination of Nola. Urgency tightened her muscles. Setting down the mug she still held, she answered, “No, he’s not around.” Another lie. She must be breaking records today. “It’s just me and Kendall, and I have to find her. I’m all she has. I need to try my magic.”
“Do you think you’re up to it?”
She had to be. “Yes. But you should leave. I’m really not in the mood to get attacked by a blood-crazed witch hunter.”
“I’ll smell your magic anywhere in the house. It’d be safer if I touch you. And it might help you. Eventually my falcon will become your familiar.”
She drew back. “I haven’t agreed to this soul-mirror thing.”
Linc’s gaze softened. “I won’t push. It’s enough that I’ve found you for now. Let’s take this one step at a time. We’ll help you find your child and protect you both. Then we’ll see how we can work this out between us.”
Yeah? Because what happened when Linc and his friends figured out she’d lied? That Kendall wasn’t her child or a witch, and they would essentially kidnap a demon’s daughter?
~ 4 ~
Risa splashed water on her face in the bathroom. She’d needed a moment to pull herself together before returning to the conversation with Linc. Drying her cheeks, she steeled her spine. She couldn’t worry about the consequences of lying, not with Kendall’s safety at stake. That baby, with her huge smile showing off her new tooth pushing through her gum, light blue eyes and shrieking laugh owned Risa’s heart. She couldn’t leave her in Archer’s clutches. What did he want with Kendall?
My father wants her alive. And what he wants, he gets.
Archer’s words from last night sent chills down her back. Asmodeus was a scary three-headed demon Risa never wanted to meet. Ever. And she sure as hell didn’t want Kendall in his clutches. The baby had demon blood. Did that mean she could be in the Underworld? Oh God, the thought choked her.
“Risa? You okay?”
She jumped at Linc’s voice on the other side of the door. Steeling herself, she dropped the towel on the counter and headed out of the bathroom. “Yes.” Skirting around the big man, she sank into the chair. “I’m ready.”
Linc crouched in front of her. “You’ll let me touch you?”
“Are you sure that just touching will keep you from losing control?” The memory of those rogues in the strip club made her wary.
Rising to his full height, he nodded. “Touching you will keep the bloodlust down. The problem will be when I let go of you. Then it’ll hit me with the force of a bullet train.”
His unflinching honesty helped her believe he was at least trying not to hurt her. “What do we do?”
Something almost desperate flickered in his gaze. “Don’t let go, don’t pull away. And if something does happen, don’t run. It triggers the predator in me when prey runs.”
He considered her prey? Had she lost her freaking mind here? Goose bumps broke out on her skin. Kendall. You’re doing this for Kendall, and for Blythe. You owe them both. “Tell you what, hunter. I’m not prey, and you don’t pull that predator shit on me, or I’ll find a gun and shoot your balls off. And believe me, I don’t miss.” Damn Archer for melting her gun. She’d feel better if she had it.
Linc raised both eyebrows, his lips twitching. “Tough girl, huh?”
“You know it. I’m a trained bodyguard. I protect women from men who don’t know the meaning of the word no.” Reminding herself of her skills and how hard she’d worked to get strong steadied her.
“Oh, I want to know more about that.” He settled into the chair on the other side of the small table. “But right now, I’m going to hold your hand. Then when I let go of you, I have a straight line to the door. I’ll leave until the bloodlust calms.” He stretched his arm across the table, his palm up.
Don’t hesitate, just do it. Find Kendall. For the second time in a few minutes, Risa laid her hand in his.
His warm fingers gently captured hers. “The table is between us, Risa. You don’t have to worry about anything except not pulling your hand away and focusing on your magic.”
She sank into his gaze over the empty mug of tea and half-eaten toast. Trusting men didn’t come easy to her. Hell, it flat out didn’t happen. But when she looked into his eyes, she wanted to. He made her long for…something. As if he touched her in a place she hadn’t known about. Risa shook it off and turned her gaze to the bed.
Focus.
Drawing in a calming brea
th, she mentally reached for her magic, starting with her first chakra. It popped open, spilling out a slender stream of power. Her second and third chakras opened with no real effort on her part. Her magic rose and traveled right to Linc’s hand wrapped around hers.
Huh. Soul mirror, she thought, then set it aside to concentrate on finding the baby. After a few beats, her magic began gliding up and down her center, until her fourth chakra in the vicinity of her heart opened.
Linc’s fingers tightened, and his breath caught.
Risa glanced over, but his face remained impassive. Good enough. If she were doing shield magic, she’d need her hands to weave her power into a magical shield. Instead, she used her magic like a tracking dog and didn’t need the hand enveloped in Linc’s massive one. She chose one of her favorite memories of Kendall—when she woke up and did the full-body wiggle, her entire face splitting into a grin—and held the picture in her mind. Focusing her magic on the image, she mentally reached for Kendall. Hard.
Her psyche opened up to the universe. The vulnerability of it unnerved her. Danger could latch on to her magic, especially since she didn’t have a familiar to protect her by chasing off anything threatening.
Linc’s fingers squeezed her hand, his thumb sliding over her skin. The sensation anchored her, providing at least an illusion of safety.
Distant crying caught her attention. Honing in on that, Risa pushed her magic harder to strengthen the connection. Kendall? In answer, misery rolled over her—fear, confusion and loneliness. Oh God, Kendall. Damn it, she wished she had her high magic. With her third eye, she’d be able to see the baby.
All she could do was feel her. She wasn’t really hearing her crying. It was more of a vibration in her magic. Pouring out more energy, she struggled to get a sense of where Kendall was. She’d come this far, she had to succeed in locating the baby.
* * *
Linc took a moment to study Risa while she concentrated on her witchcraft. Her dark, nearly black hair tumbled around her in curiously uneven lengths ranging from hitting her shoulder blade to almost mid back. Had she grabbed handfuls and chopped it off? That mess of shining locks framed stunning dark blue eyes, apple cheeks and full, sensual lips.
Caged Magic Page 5