Caged Magic

by Jennifer Lyon

  Two days? No, don’t cry. Don’t. What would happen to her? Shivers wracked her body. Not knowing what else to do, she leaned against his thick, sturdy back, pressing into the softness of the bird. “What’s going to happen to me? To Kendall?”

  Linc spun so quickly, she barely registered it. His eyes burned into hers. “You’re mine. You belong with me, and together we’re going to find the baby. I have people out there looking, and I’ve gone out twice searching for her, but I can’t leave you for long. You get agitated when I’m not here.”

  “So you stayed?” With her? While she was crazy?

  “When I’m not here, Ginny stays with you. You’re calmest with her.” Linc held out his hand to her. “Let me take you to bed, and we’ll talk there.”

  “Bed?” Linc had on gym shorts and nothing else. Part of her was drawn to him, craving the feel of his skin against hers. In her deepest terrors, she remembered that, him holding her and the bird singing. But another part of her was scared—if she slept, would she slide back into the soul screams and never return? “I don’t want to sleep.” Panic nipped at her chest.

  His eyes searched hers. “Then let’s go for a walk.”

  She glanced at the doors to the balcony, noting the darkness. “It’s night. And what if I, you know, start screaming?” God she couldn’t even trust herself. She’d been gone for two days. It felt like she was standing on a fragile layer of ice over black water. One more crack and she’d be thrust down into the depths forever.

  “Then I’ll shield you, making us both appear invisible. No one will see or hear, and I’ll bring you back here.”

  She believed him and laid her hand in his. His warm strength closed around her fingers. Despite her confusion and fear, the constant tug in her mind trying to suck her back into the soul screams, she felt safe. Protected.

  She probably was insane, she thought as he grabbed a zip-up sweatshirt and wrapped it around her. He led her down to the first floor and out into the cool, dry night. Spheres of light spilled from fixtures on the buildings.

  After a few minutes of walking, her muscles elongated, and the stiff achiness from two days of inactivity eased. Her thoughts centered on Kendall. “Linc. Is there any news about Kendall? Please.” She squeezed his hands. “I have to know.”

  “Not yet. Phoenix and Key talked to all the employees at Lustrate Publicity.”

  She considered that. “The employees were willing to talk to some guy off the street?”

  “Hunters have the ability to use memory shifting to help get people to cooperate. Anyway, it turns out things started going bad for the company about a year ago. After nearly three decades of wild success, clients started dropping them, a nasty lawsuit was filed, their insurance company cancelled them. I took a look at their financials.”

  She turned to eye him. “Are they a public company?”

  “No. Sutton hacked in.” He shrugged. “They were hemorrhaging money.”

  “What do you think that means?”

  “Asmodeus. The timing fits. Twenty-nine years ago, Petra started the company, and it became an overnight success story that never hit a snag. Until a year before Archer’s thirtieth birthday, when he had to choose either his human or demon side.”

  Risa listened, her mind still sluggish. “What if Archer didn’t want to choose his demon side? He was a playboy, partying, throwing money around, screwing a multitude of women. He only fixated on Blythe in the last few months.” Before that, he’d had zero interest in the kid. He had paid Blythe not to name him on the birth certificate or connect him to the baby. At that point, Blythe figured Kendall was better off.

  “Exactly, and maybe he didn’t want to give that up to become a demon and answer to Asmodeus.”

  “So where’s his mother now? What happened to her?”

  “Not a trace. They’ve run down every lead. She was last seen going home after work and then disappeared. Her car’s in the garage, but there’s no sign of her.”

  Risa couldn’t understand it. “Maybe she’s dead.” So where was Kendall?

  “Could be. Or Asmodeus used her as blackmail to force Archer into choosing his demon side. Since Petra’s a demon witch, Asmodeus could pull her into the Underworld.”

  Oh. She stopped walking. That would explain Archer’s sudden interest in Kendall, if Asmodeus had demanded he get the baby and spawn to release his mother. But it was all speculation. What really worried her was, “Is Kendall in the Underworld?”

  “The witches say unlikely. The only reason Asmodeus could have pulled Petra in would be because she gave him her soul.”

  But Kendall wasn’t a witch, she had demon blood. “What about Archer? If his mom was there, could he go back and forth between Earth and the Underworld?”

  “That’s the beauty of a hybrid, they belong in both worlds, so yeah, Asmodeus could have pulled his son to the Underworld and then had his demon witches call him back to the earth while a hybrid. But, once he wakes from his hibernation state, his human side will have died off. Then if you witches banish him, he won’t be able to come back in his demon form. He’ll have to be summoned into a host body, which won’t be as strong and able to shoot hellfire, making him easy to banish again and again.”

  Worry buzzed in her ears, and the souls tugged at her.

  “Risa? Kendall isn’t in the Underworld, you felt her with your magic. Remember? You wouldn’t be able to do that if she wasn’t on the Earth realm. Besides, it makes more sense that Asmodeus sent Petra back to Earth to do his work, including raising Kendall to become another demon witch to serve him.”

  Cool relief calmed her frantic anxiety. She had felt Kendall, and it did make sense, although not for the reason Linc thought. Asmodeus would want Kendall raised on Earth to eventually choose her demon side and fight his battle.

  “Risa, we’re looking for the baby, I swear it.”

  “What if I don’t get her back?” It just hurt. Blythe would hate her for eternity. And Risa deserved it.

  “Don’t give up.” Linc started walking again, urging her along. “But right now, you need to heal, or you won’t be any help to Kendall. Focus on getting strong enough to find her.”

  The truth of that washed over her. Letting the silence of the night settle around them, Linc’s hand holding hers comforting and solid, she tried to think about something else. Much as she loved Kendall, worrying herself sicker than she was wouldn’t bring the baby back.

  He looked over at her. “I’ve increased the reward on her too. A hundred K. I won’t give up until we have her with us.”

  Us. What was happening here? There wasn’t any us, was there? Yet he’d been taking care of Risa and searching for Kendall. Her curiosity bubbled to the top. “Why are you doing this, Linc? Your curse is gone, right?”

  “You remember that?”

  She shivered again. “Right now I do. I remember how hard you fought not to hurt me. How good it felt. God I wish I could have held the screams off longer. Felt you come inside me and…” She trailed off, embarrassed. Ashamed. She was the one who’d broken apart, not him. Her emotions ping ponged. “Sorry, I’m rambling.”

  He stopped and pulled her around to face him in a circle of light outside the pool area. Steam rose from the water while Linc’s eyes darkened from gold to bronze. He settled his other hand against her cheek. “You will feel that. As many times as you want. We’re not over, love. You’re mine. You gave yourself to me that night, trusted me with your body, magic and mind. We’re not over.”

  The passion in his voice vibrated against her chakras. Whispers of longing threaded in her stomach. But even in her confused state, she knew Linc hadn’t ever wanted a real relationship. “You can’t mean that.” Could he? “I’m having a sane moment now, but any second I’ll be dragged back into that craziness. How can you want me?”

  “Because you fight for what you believe in and the daughter you love.” Shadows dimmed his eyes. “Because I know what it’s like to be trapped in a cage, helpless. Used. Forced t
o do things…” he rubbed her arms through the sweatshirt, “…haunted by the ones I couldn’t save, but I will save you.”

  Risa leaned closer to him, drawn to the man who was so strong, yet in this moment he was showing her a deep vulnerability. “Who couldn’t you save?”

  Linc shook his head. “Not tonight. You don’t need that shit in your thoughts.” He lowered his mouth to hers in a soft, quick kiss. “You’re going to heal, and we’ll get Kendall and figure out how to release the souls so you can live in peace.”

  Before she could process everything he’d said, he tugged her inside a gate. At the edge of the pool, the warm mist hovering over the water caressed her bare limbs. “Is it heated?”

  “Yep.”

  It tempted her. She sat down on the edge and put her legs in. Warmth encased her feet and calves, wringing a sigh from her. Such a little thing, but it felt wonderful.

  Linc dropped down next to her. She lifted her head, looking up at the velvety sky dotted with silvery-white stars. “It’s so peaceful. I wish I could hold on to this.”

  He threaded their fingers together. “Hold on to me.”

  She stared down at their joined hands, his fingers long, thick and scarred. He might have a pretty face, but he had fighter hands. What was driving him? Memories percolated, one rising to the top. “One of the times I was awake, you made me macaroni and cheese.”

  He shrugged. “Not my preference, but you conjured the box, and I took the hint.”

  Startled, she said, “I did that?”

  “Oh yeah. Shocked the hell out of me. I was combing out your hair, asking you if you were hungry, and the next thing I knew, I’m holding a box of macaroni and cheese.” He leaned closer. “And damn near covered in your magic. Totally unfair, little witch.”

  Her eyes widened. “I didn’t realize I’d done it.”

  “It was incredible. The feel of your magic is hot as hell, but more importantly, it was the first true sign that your power was rising. And your magic is what will heal your mind. At least as much as possible until you release the souls.”

  She was still trying to take it in. “So you made me the mac and cheese.”

  He lifted his nose. “Disgusting stuff, by the way. However, you ate almost the entire batch. And that time when the soul screams came, you fought, Risa. Begged me not to let them have you.”

  She remembered Linc pulling her against him, and telling her, Listen for Falcon. He’ll show you the way back to us. The hairs on her arms lifted in an electric reaction. Linc and the falcon, they’d been her lifeline. Her only hope.

  “You’re remembering a lot more now. How’s your head?”

  It dawned on her then that she only felt a dull throb. “Doesn’t really hurt.” She tilted her head, considering that. “The pain began to fade when you were stroking my face in the room. How?”

  “Soul mirrors. I can take your pain.” He squeezed her hand. “At first I couldn’t get much, but the more chakras you opened, the more pain I could draw off.”

  Recoiling, she tugged on her hand. “No. It’s excruciating. How can you bear it?” Why would he?

  “Doesn’t bother me. I learned a long time ago to block out pain or most anything done to me.” He clamped his mouth shut and breathed in.

  Why? What had been done to him that he’d had the ability to resist pain? He’d said earlier, Because I know what it’s like to be trapped in a cage, helpless. Used. Forced to do things. Forgetting about herself, Risa slipped her hand from his to stroke his back. The bird reached out to her, his feathers caressing her fingers. She searched for the ridges buried in the tattoo and found them.

  A sick feeling welled in her stomach.

  “This tat, it covers something, doesn’t it? Some pain.” Something they’d done to him. Hurt him with. Oh God, could she bear to know?

  “Risa—”

  “Tell me.” Adrenaline burst into her veins, pumping anger. “Tell me what they did to you.”

  “It’s a brand.”

  The horror sickened her.

  “I wouldn’t do something they wanted me to. I got dragged out of my cage, held down and branded with the word feral.” His pupils swelled, the lines in his face shifting from handsome to lethal. “And I still wouldn’t do it.”

  Sweet Ancestors, they’d been monsters. He’d been just a kid. She swallowed the vile rage choking her. “Do what?”

  “Rape a young woman they put in my cage.”

  A clang rang in her head. Not soul screams, but shocked outrage. “Why would they want that?”

  His eyes iced. “They wanted me to be exactly what they branded me with—feral. They treated me like a fighting dog, and they worked to make me mean enough to never lose. But they couldn’t break me with pain or any humiliation.”

  While she’d caved under pain, dropping her shield, allowing her father to kill his marks. Some of them had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, not evil. But if a person paid her dad enough, he’d kill whoever they wanted him to. He didn’t care if it was a young woman, a man with a family—nothing mattered. But Linc cared. Oh, he’d killed—she’d seen him do it in that cage. Then he’d been gentle with her. “You’re so much stronger than me.”

  “Wrong, baby. They just hadn’t found my weakness yet.” His back knotted beneath her hand. “Not until they chained that girl to the wall and held up the brand, ready to press it to her back. I can still hear her screams of terror.” He turned away from Risa. “I did what they wanted. Anything to spare her the agony. I became exactly what they branded me.”

  No! Risa couldn’t even imagine being put in that position. “You didn’t have a choice.” It came out in a painful whisper. He was as much a victim as that poor girl.

  “I tried not to hurt them, to make it as easy as I could. Most even figured out I was the safer option and clung to me. I wanted to care for them and keep them safe, but the captors always killed them at some point. It would’ve been more humane if I’d killed them the first second they were put in my cage.” His jaw was rigid, tone vibrating with anger. “When I got out, I killed every last one of those bastards.”

  His regret and guilt were so thick it made her chakras ache then pop open, spilling out magic. She didn’t think, but went with her instinct and laid her hand on his arm. “How did you find your way from that, to the man you are now?”

  “Hilary pushed me to learn, and Baron taught me street smarts, and I used both to acquire money and polish. I built a house, hoping that would make me feel more settled. In control.”

  Risa could only imagine what a home represented to Linc—not just a place to live, but control over his world. His house had been open and beautiful, not an ugly confining cage. And yet, she sensed that it didn’t give him what he’d needed. “But the house didn’t help?”

  He hesitated, eying her for several beats, then said, “Nothing changed the reality that beneath all the clothes, manners, wealth and home lived a violent, feral man saddled with a curse for witch blood. The need to fight was always there, driving me to the underground cage fight. I hated it, detested that I couldn’t shake what my captors had made me into.”

  Her heart ached for him. “So you left Vegas?” Still trying to escape the cage, even though he’d been free for years.

  He nodded. “I found the Wing Slayer Hunters run by Axel and other men just like me. Fighting to be better than we were. There’s an induction ceremony that the hunters do. First, I chose my tattoo, a falcon, and had the outline done. After that, at some point, there was a test.”

  “What kind of test?”

  “To show commitment to our god. It’s the one thing Wing Slayer needs to invoke his god power—real belief. Anyway, it’s different for every hunter.”

  She debated asking him what his test was, but deep down, she had the sense that it was between him and Wing Slayer. Instead, Risa said, “How do you know you passed?”

  “Axel knew. So we held this ceremony with just the Wing Slayer Hunters, and once I gave
my vow, there was this hush of power on the air, then it vanished. After that, my tattoo had been completed.”

  “He accepted you.” She whispered it, understanding that it meant so much to him.

  Linc nodded. “For the first time, I belonged somewhere.”

  With her magic flowing into him, his sincerity streamed back. Despite her enviousness of his acceptance, she welled with joy for him. “I’m glad you found them. That you have a place. A purpose.”

  Linc seemed to shake off his thoughts as amber lights flared in his eyes. He latched his gaze on to hers. “What are you doing?”

  “Magic. You were so tense talking about your past. I want to help. Comfort.”

  “Risa.” His low voice shivered in her chest.

  “What?”

  “I’m not feeling comforted.”

  Oh. “You’re not?” She’d only done this with Kendall and the witches she’d helped heal in the infirmary.

  “Hell no. I was half hard just sitting here with you, but this?” His voice dropped to a growl, and he leaned into her, wrapping a hand around her head. “Baby, this is desire. And it’s making me burn to kiss you.”

  He was so close she could see the flecks in his eyes, feel his breath on her face. She forgot about everything but Linc and the way he made her feel centered and desirable. Not crazy, weak and broken. She didn’t know how long she had before she’d be dragged away from him again.

  But she wanted this. “Kiss me.”

  For a second, he stayed perfectly still.

  Would he retreat? Second thoughts? He’d said earlier they weren’t over.

  He unlocked his muscles and swept her up, her legs splashing in the pool water as he settled her on his thighs. Curving his hand around her jaw, he angled her head up and pressed his mouth to hers.

  Her magic surged, rising and swirling.

  Linc groaned against her lips, his tongue sliding in to stroke hers. His other hand wrapped around her hip, holding her as he ate at her mouth, dipping deep inside, then nibbling at her lips. He trailed wet licks and kisses down her throat.