The man hanging out the window saw her and aimed.
As she faced off with the gunman, reality ground into slow motion while her thoughts sped up. Did these rogues have Kendall or know where she was? Had they hurt the baby? Cold determination iced her veins. She wouldn’t die. She and Linc would live to find Kendall. Sight, breathe, squeeze the trigger. The gun boomed in her hand.
The bullet slammed into the man’s shoulder, the bullet’s impact violently jerking the upper half of his body before he disappeared inside the vehicle. She dropped down to the seat, ears ringing and the smell of burnt gunpowder stinging her nose.
“I hit him.” She held the gun on her thigh, trembling.
“Hang on.” Linc jerked the SUV around another corner. “A truck just picked up the chase.”
She shook her head, trying to dislodge the roaring. Wait, that growl of multiple engines was real and getting louder. Turning, she blinked. A half dozen or more motorcycles bore down on them and the truck. “Linc! More rogues!”
“The guys on motorcycles are friends. The man you called, Baron? That’s him and his crew.”
As she watched, the men on the choppers fired guns at the rogues. “Kendall. What if they know where she is?”
“Baron knows what to do. They’ll try to take one alive to find out about Kendall and Archer. Now get your damned seat belt on.”
Numbly, she obeyed. Buildings, signs and the few cars on the road blurred as Linc broke every known traffic law. She eyed the gun in her hand. It shook. Hell, her whole body trembled. “Do you think I killed him?”
He laid his fingers over hers. “You hit him in the shoulder. You have to shred a rogue’s heart to kill him.”
The warmth bleeding off him made her realize how cold she was. Shock? Fear? Memories of her father killing, the sounds of the gun, the blood and horror, mixed into everything else.
“But you damn near killed me. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
His voice chased out the past, while his solid strength and warmth helped calm her. “Told you I could shoot.” She’d trained diligently at the gun range.
Linc’s eyes glinted shards of gold approval. “Baby, it was fucking awesome. But you scare me that way again, and I swear to God, I will buy every Twinkie, Sno Ball and Ding Dong in the world and burn them. Then I’ll buy the company that makes them and shut down production. Hear me?”
All her fear, terror and nausea boiled up into a near-hysterical laughter. As they left the chaos and danger behind, she laughed harder. Probably not sane, but the release of tension felt pretty damn good. Finally regaining control, she caught her breath and said, “You sure you want to threaten my Twinkies after I just shot a man?”
Linc grinned. “I like to live dangerously.”
* * *
After dropping Risa off at the school, Linc headed back out to help Baron and his men deal with the rogues. In all they’d killed six, and the two they managed to question first didn’t have any helpful information. Arriving back at the academy, Linc tracked Risa down in the infirmary, where she was helping Carla and Ginny get the medical wing set up to treat any injured witches they rescued.
He found her in the six-bed ward, bent over and smoothing a sheet over a twin bed. Damn, she had a sweet ass in those camo pants. The image of her in the SUV, standing up through the sunroof, hair flying as she aimed and shot the rogue filled his head.
Scary as fuck and hot as Hades. Drawn to her, he strode in and wrapped his hands around her hips.
“Oh!” She turned, her hair flying out behind her. “I didn’t hear you.” Surprise widened her eyes, then concern edged in. “Did you find out anything about Kendall?”
“No.” He hated failing her, causing her even one more minute of agony. “We questioned two of them, but they knew nothing about a baby. Or anything new about Archer.”
She wilted, dropping her arms and looking lost. “I’m not sorry for trying, but I’m sorry I put you and your friends in danger.”
That sucker-punched him. “Baby, I wasn’t in danger. If you hadn’t been with me, I’d have stopped the car and killed those rogues on the spot. But they’re like cockroaches. If two were there, I knew more would be coming. I couldn’t risk being involved in a fight and more of them arriving and attempting to snatch you.”
“I can defend myself pretty well with a gun.”
His mouth curved. “I noticed. You looked like a sizzling-hot warrior witch right out of my erotic dreams. If I hadn’t been distracted trying to keep us alive, I’d have dragged you into my arms and kissed you. Long and hard.” He sucked in a breath as his groin tightened and need burned low in his guts. He dropped his gaze to her sensual mouth. “Still want to. But I’m not.”
“No?”
Color chased out the worried pallor, warming her skin. The pulse at the base of her throat fluttered. Oh she wanted him. Despite all the shit going down, they were building a real connection, one that should help the souls to get used to him and the falcon. Before he could change his mind and kiss her, he said, “You said your favorite subject in school was music, right?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Yeah.”
“Come on, then. I want to show you the music rooms.” He tugged her hand, leading her out of the infirmary.
“You have a music room here? At the school?” Enthusiasm bubbled over as they went outside, followed a sidewalk curving through grass and plants. Linc led her past the first two-story building. “This is the math and science wing. It has classrooms, labs, computer science rooms. Everything is state of the art.” He couldn’t keep the note of pride out of his voice.
Risa stopped, tilting her head up. “You really care about this school.”
The L.C. Group projects were his passion, his way of making sure kids had options. If he did this and made a difference, then he was more than the feral brand on his back. But what surprised him was how much he wanted Risa to know this about him. He’d never had the urge to share this side of himself before. “I care about the kids.”
“What you’re doing here, it’s important, Linc. You escaped after having your childhood ripped away, got a second chance and did all this. I do this little thing trying to protect women from abusers, but this…” She trailed off, looking around. “You’re doing so much more.”
Aside from Hilary, no woman’s words had ever meant so much. But he had to disagree about one thing. “The work you do is important, Risa. I saw how fierce you are in that car today.”
She swung her gaze back to his.
The second her gaze hit his, his chest hollowed with a whoosh. The air between them sizzled, and his heart rate shot up. He didn’t have words for this…connection. It was almost too intense.
He turned, breaking the moment by taking her into the second two-story building. Risa showed mild interest as they passed by the English and language departments, visual arts and theater, but perked up as they entered the large music room at the end.
Her eyes sparkled, and she rushed inside to run her fingers over the drum kits and guitars before moving to the piano and dropping onto the bench.
Leaning on the side of it, he watched the way she caressed the keys. “You play piano? Took lessons with one of your fancy tutors?”
“It’s been years.”
“Think you can remember anything?”
“Let’s see.” She struck a few keys with her right hand, and a few more with her left.
“How many years since you actually played?”
“Too long.” She flicked her gaze up. “Maybe I should try this later when you’re not around.”
Yeah, he wasn’t buying it. She’d been too excited when she saw this room. Leaning on his forearm, he took in the flush on her face and the fluttering pulse at the base of her throat. Excitement. Little witch couldn’t bluff worth shit. He was definitely learning her tells.
“Sugar, I didn’t win a fortune in high-stakes poker by letting a pretty face and innocent blue eyes distract me. You’re sandbagging
, Twinkie girl.”
Risa dropped her head back and laughed. The sound bounced off the acoustics in the room and punched him in the chest. Before he could recover, she laid her fingers on the keys.
The notes rose from the piano, the familiar melody beginning softly, then building with restrained power. She commanded the music and him. Helpless against her lure, he moved to stand behind her shoulder.
Her hands flowed over the keys in a graceful dance so compelling and intimate, he felt every touch like a caress.
Cinnamon. The scent of her magic rode the notes, whispering over his skin in perfect time with every beat she played. Even his heart rate shifted to match the pulse of building music. Dual cravings exploded, the need to cut her or fuck her. Lust for her blood seared his veins, and his cock swelled with the drive to slam into her and mark her.
Mine. She’s mine. I could—
The bird screeched in his head. A streak of pain ripped down both his arms. The bird went to work chomping on his nerves again. But damned if it didn’t snap the feral shit out of his brain.
To calm himself, he laid his hand on her shoulder. The contact sent a shudder through him, quieting the sick hunger for witch blood.
She looked up, her fingers slowing.
“Keep going.” Even as the music and magic ruthlessly shredded his emotional defenses and stripped him raw, it also fed the most primitive part of him. Both rousing and soothing the beast in him. It didn’t make sense, but he wanted more. “Please.”
Her smile lit up his veins. Then her eyes slid closed as she sank back into the power of her playing.
Linc pressed his thighs to her back, feeling her move as the music and magic wove through the room and deep into his very essence.
Finally the last note died away, leaving him with aftershocks.
Looking down into her eyes, he tried to catch his breath and recover his equilibrium. It wasn’t just the music. It was the depth of the song, “Bohemian Rhapsody”. To Linc, that song represented his mother killing the boy he was, the man he might have become, that day when she chose her life as a druggie over her life as his mother. “How are you that good? Where did you learn?”
“My mother. She was a pianist before she married my father. I played before I walked. I’m not as good as she was, though.”
“Your mom was better than that?”
“She came from a family of music witches.”
After shifting around the bench, he sat next to her and laid his hand on her thigh to keep his bloodlust down. “What’s that?” He wanted to know everything about her.
“It’s a little bit vampirish.” She flashed him a grin. “Basically, they harness the emotion of their audience, feed it into their music and return it, enhancing the emotion. The bigger the crowd, the more powerful the experience.”
“Is that what you did just now? With me?”
“I have a minor ability. But with you…” Her eyes shimmered with vulnerability. “It’s more. When you talked about your mom earlier in the car and I could feel your pain, your sense of betrayal…it came out in this song. I don’t know how to explain it.”
Linc leaned away for a second, needing distance. “Damn.” This woman saw too much of him, digging into places he wasn’t fully ready to share. “I don’t know what you’re doing to me.”
She dropped her stare to her hands. “I wasn’t trying to do anything. It’s just what I felt. My mom and I played, and then after she died, it was the only place I could feel her. Even after I understood what she’d done by helping my father assassinate people, she was still my mom. I missed her.” Her fingers caressed the keys.
Oh yeah, he understood that.
Shaking that off, she added, “I used to play for Kendall too. She’s just old enough to sit on my lap and bang the keys. Or sometimes, when she doesn’t feel well, the music soothes her.”
The desolation in her voice ached in him. “Hey, we’re going to find her. Baron’s crew are looking for the baby too. I’ve offered a twenty-five-thousand-dollar reward for information. We’ll find her, Risa.”
“Twenty-five…” Her eyes widened. “I can sell my trailer. It’s worth more than that. I’ll pay you back.”
No bluffing now, she meant that. “Forget it. A child doesn’t have a price tag. And you aren’t going to live in some trailer when this is over. We’ll get you a house, a nice place for Kendall to grow up.” Somewhere he knew they would be safe. Cared for. With security. And some rogue-eating dogs. Damn it, the thought of her out of his life and protection didn’t sit well.
Her back stiffened, and she shook her head while twisting her hands. “Don’t, Linc. Just…don’t. Once I have Kendall and your curse is broken, whatever you think you’re feeling now? It’ll be gone.”
Pushing her hair back over her shoulder, he studied her profile. She really didn’t trust him, and why should she? Hadn’t he told her, clearly, they weren’t anything more than sex? Had she ever had more than sex? Thinking of Kendall, he had to ask. “Your baby’s father, did he leave you?” That thought ticked him off.
“I don’t want to talk about him.”
Ugly possessiveness rooted in his chest. “Were you in love with him?” Calm down. He’d lost it with her earlier today, been a complete fucktard.
“I’ve never been in love. Not ever doing that. Saw it destroy my mother.” She stroked the keys of the piano. “Kendall’s father was nobody, just a man I thought I wanted to try to have sex with, be normal. But I’m not, okay? And he wanted nothing to do with us.”
Relief coursed through him. Only Linc had made her feel safe enough to experience desire and pleasure.
Turning bleak eyes on him, she added, “Kendall’s just a baby. What if she’s not eating? Or scared? Cold? She could be teething again, and it makes her cranky and cries. What if they hurt her?” Tears welled in Risa’s eyes.
She broke his fucking heart. Wrapping an arm around her, he pulled her into his side and kissed her hair. “Don’t forget, everyone in Glassbreakers is looking too. They’re ripping apart the lives of Archer and his mother, looking for any clues.”
Taking a shuddering breath, she lifted her gaze to his. “The souls are calmer now. I was fine when we fooled around. What if we have sex now? Finish the bond, and try to find her again? Please.”
Linc’s cock jumped, and need clamped him. But Carla had warned him against it, and he believed her. “We didn’t try to harness your magic, and the falcon wasn’t helping you control it.” Instead the creature had basked in the feel of it, like a cat in a sun spot.
“I don’t know what else to do.”
Yeah, he’d seen her in action, Risa wasn’t one to sit around and wait for others to solve her problems. Something else he liked about her, except he didn’t want her in danger. “You’re doing it. Plus rogues are snatching witches all over the place—we think they’re using their blood to replenish the spawn’s power.”
Layers of horror filled her eyes. “In his hibernation state?”
He stroked her arm, needing the contact. “There’s been nothing from him since he burned my house. So yeah, that’s what we think at this point. Tonight we’re beginning a grid search, operating on the theory that Archer needs to be close to where he spawned. We’re hoping to rescue witches too, and some will be injured. You can help heal them, and ask them if they know or heard anything about Kendall.” He wasn’t placating her. Witches might not be sure enough of Linc and the other hunters to tell them, but they’d trust another witch who was helping them heal.
“I want to help, and asking the witches you rescue from rogues is a good idea.” She tightened her hand on his arm. “But we have to find Kendall before Archer wakes.”
Linc could feel her panic building, and so did the bird. The creature flexed his wings in Linc’s skin.
“I feel that.” Wonder filled her voice. “The bird. His wings are brushing my arms.” She pressed between her ribs. “And here, like an internal caress.”
He pulled her
closer into his side. “And the souls?”
“Uneasy, but he’s not harnessing my magic, more like soaring gently above it, his wings barely causing a ripple in the surface.”
He opened his mouth, when his phone shrilled urgently.
“What’s that?”
“Alarm that a witch has been taken or located.” Pulling it out, he glanced at the message. “We have a lead on where witches are being kept. I have to go.”
“What about your bloodlust?”
“I can handle it as long as I don’t touch their blood. I have to do this, Risa. I have to.” Once, he’d been forced to do reprehensible things. Unspeakable things. Saving witches eased his guilt.
Rising, he looked down at her. Every muscle and tendon fought him, trying to resist leaving her. The need to pick her up and take her to his bed pounded in his spine.
No. He wrenched himself back and headed to the door.
~ 14 ~
The scent of copper and sulfur hung on the night air over the Las Vegas Strip. The whole area was on lockdown, patrolled by police and National Guard to prevent looting of the hotels, shops and a nearby mall. Reporters hovered at the crime-scene barriers.
Linc ignored them all, shielding himself to appear invisible. Just like the rogues did to move through the Strip, unbeknownst to the authorities. The rouges had dragged in a few witches too. He and Eli had been searching each hotel, looking for more rogues, rescuing witches if they were alive, and hunting for clues to where the spawn had holed up. Ram was checking out the restaurants and shops, while Baron and his men had spread out to the surrounding areas and known rogue hangouts.
All of them called in Sutton, with his immunity to witch blood, to move any injured witches. He’d been taking them back to the academy infirmary.
“Ground zero,” Linc said, staring at the blackened rubble of the Mystique Hotel where Archer’s demon side had spawned.
“It burned to the ground.” Eli’s voice floated from the vicinity of Linc’s left shoulder. “Even the steel beams are obliterated.”
“Hellfire. It destroyed my house too.”
Caged Magic Page 17