Mitchell supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. They were caught up in this mess because they believed. Even Sebastian, whom Mitchell had gone to school with, believed this woman was a goddess. There was no getting around that.
Not that Mitchell had ever truly liked Trident. He’d tried to kill Ellie. Putting up with him had been a means to an end. They were now officially at the end.
He turned his attention back to the woman in Eleanor’s body. “You’re not Eleanor.”
She pursed her lips and clapped her hands, again. “No. I’m not. Brave girl gave me her body to defeat my sister and defeat her I did.”
So he wasn’t dealing with the one who had been harassing Eleanor for the last ten years but the other sister. “Eleanor is nothing if not brave.” Actually, she was a million things that were all wonderful. Each day he was with her he got to know more and more of those fantastic traits. “If the job is done, then it would be time to give her back her body.”
The crowd gasped, and Mitchell ignored them. They wanted her to be in Eleanor’s body, to be alive for them. He supposed this would be an interesting study on human nature and how it was to be confronted with one’s goddess in person. Except that Mitchell didn’t give two shits about any of them.
“I’m afraid that isn’t going to happen.”
He’d not expected it to be that easy. “Why is that?”
“Because I’ve decided I like being in it.” She clapped her hands. “And these people want me to stay. She gave me permission.”
It was strange watching Eleanor’s body clap her hands in a way that was obviously not Eleanor. He hated it.
“Is she dead?” The answer to that question would determine what happened here. Just how badly the rest of this went.
She shook her head. “Of course not. I would never kill anyone. I’m the nice one. Well, I guess I killed all of my sister’s followers. But they weren’t really alive anyway. She put them in dead bodies. Isn’t that sick?” She spun in a circle. “I love this body. I love, love, love it.”
He loved it, too. Just not with this woman in it. “It doesn’t matter what you want. This body doesn’t belong to you. End of story.”
“Mitchell.” She walked toward him. “See? I know your name. Unlike my sister, I occasionally pay attention to things.” She beamed at him.
It certainly was a tale of two sisters. Mitchell clenched his teeth. One who had wanted nothing but pain and to be worshiped and the other who wanted the same thing, but disguised in kindness. Nope, he was done with all of them. How and why they’d been gifted with so much magic didn’t concern him. Not while she was riding along in Eleanor’s skin.
He waited. She’d started to tell him something before she got sidetracked. Patience went a long way in solving problems, even if he hadn’t been displaying any today.
Finally, she finished. “She saved you. She wouldn’t let them keep you. That’s why you’re here now. Because of her. But…” She took another step in his direction. “We can change that, if you want. I could give you one of my followers. Sebastian, for example, you know him. It wouldn’t even be a stranger. And then it would be like you and Eleanor were together. Sort of.” She touched his shirt. “I promise to take very good care of you.”
He resisted the urge to swat her hand away. That might hurt Eleanor. Amazing how much difference the soul of a person made. He loved the woman who should be living in this body and yet he wanted her hand off of him as though she had poison in her fingertips.
It was time to show her what he was capable of. Probably beyond time to illustrate it. Part of Mitchell’s powers came from observation. If he saw someone do something once he could emulate it.
“You can’t have her.” He’d start with the obvious. “And I don’t want to hurt you. But I will if you don’t get out of her body and give her back to me.”
She sighed. “Why can’t you just go along? All of these people love me.”
“I don’t care. I love her. Have you ever thought of the nature of the spell ceremony that binds witches together in wedlock?”
The woman wearing Eleanor blinked rapidly. “Ah, no…”
“Some things change, but the marriage ceremony has lasted, virtually untouched, since there first were witches. Or at least that’s how historical records show them. If you weren’t… you… I’d be interested in asking you lots of questions about it. As it is, I couldn’t care less. But I digress. The thing about the marriage ceremony is that it binds two souls together. For the most part, witches make good decisions about it, right?”
He waited for her to answer. Mitchell had her full attention and that of her crowd of worshipers, too. He scanned the group. Even Sebastian seemed to be listening. He never used spells when he taught. Why should he when he captured the students without them? However, maybe there was a kind of magic to it, teaching people what they didn’t know before they took his class. Educating the masses…
He had this woman in his non-cast spell. He could feel it. Now, he just had to take her where she needed to go. And if she didn’t listen, well that would just be too darn bad for her.
“I think so. I never met a mate. Well, I had one, but she took him from me.” And there it was, just what he wanted. Turning the attention back to love. It was important.
He nodded, like he cared. “I know. So hard. But why is it that we make such good decisions when the humans don’t always? Why do their marriages end when ours don’t? Because of the spell, the ancient spell that we’ve been doing forever, that binds our souls together. I’ve never had it. I don’t know exactly what that feels like, but I’m told it gets to where you can feel the other person actually inside of you. There’s no doubt. No wondering if they love you. You know they do. They can feel how you love them. So why don’t we make mistakes? I almost did once.”
He’d wound her into this story, and he was fully aware that Lawson and Stefan were listening. He could feel them, hear their heart beating from the distance away. Storytelling was how he got from A to B with his students and that was how he was going to get this woman out of Eleanor.
“You did?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, I did. Yes, the woman in question has married the right person. But we almost made a big mistake and were only thwarted because of a hex. Yep, that’s right a hex. How miserable would it have been to have been spelled into an existence we could not get out of, connected soul-to-soul with the wrong person?”
She visibly swallowed. “Maybe it was a good thing he and I didn’t make that mistake, then. I mean, who knows what would have happened?”
That’s right. Think about love. “Here’s the thing. That person you’re holding. She’s mine. I mean, I know. This is a modern age. We don’t own each other, and I don’t want to do that with Eleanor. I am not interested in possessing her. But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Eleanor is supposed to hold my soul inside of her because I’ve already given it to her.”
The second she’d sat down with him at dinner he’d been lost to her and glad to be. There would never be anyone else for him, and as sick as it was to even think it, he’d actually become grateful for the hex that had destroyed his life. If not for that year of hell that he couldn’t remember, he’d be sitting across from Ava right now, both of them not living their best lives.
He wouldn’t wish the hex on anyone. Not his worst enemies. Still, whatever it took to meet and love Eleanor? He’d do it again. In a heartbeat.
“And she gave me hers. So you can’t have her. Because she already belongs to me.”
She opened and closed her mouth. “You make a beautiful case. I am almost inclined to do it just so you two can have your love story. But this is my time now, and I’m not going to. I’m sorry. You didn’t soul bind. I bet you can find someone else.”
He tried. He really had. “Enough is enough.”
Mitchell spoke for Lawson and Stefan’s benefits. They could take that as they wanted but at least be alerted to the fact that he was done tryin
g to reason with her. Instead, he stepped back, looking at the rest of the crowd.
“This is who you worship? Does this sound like a person who cares about you? No, she and her sister have fed off your love for generations. It is what kept them alive. They don’t love you back.”
He’d read about this in a book. Never had his time in the library been more fruitful. If someone or something fed off a power source, the best way to get rid of them was to cut off the power source, and that was just what he had been doing the entire time he had her attention.
Oh, she hadn’t noticed, but second by long second, he’d cut her off. It was easy. Make a hole in the source and it dripped out into nothingness. He’d started with a small hole. Now he made it bigger. She gasped. Yes, she’d feel that.
“Something’s wrong.” She whirled around and then stared back at him. “I don’t feel right.”
He shook his head. “What do you mean?”
She grabbed Eleanor’s head. “I’m dizzy. Like I can’t quite stay in place.”
“I’m not sure I understand.” Like Eleanor might say, he was a wonderful liar. He put his hands on his hips. “Is there something I can do?”
He looked over her head for a second to see Lawson floating in the back of the room. The other man lifted both eyebrows. Mitchell would lay money that Lawson could see what he was doing. But they were probably the only people in the room who could.
She fell forward onto her knees. This was moving fast. He’d feel sorry if she wasn’t holding his love captive.
“My lady, is there something we can do?” Trident called out, throwing himself on the ground. Nothing much was going to change here. They could continue to worship her. Maybe she’d even find a way to protect some of her energy so she could someday come back. Of course, Mitchell intended to write a paper so future people would know what to do about this kind of problem. They couldn’t have ancient witches showing up and messing with modern day lives.
He leaned down. “I don’t know what’s happening.” The lie was easy. He knew he’d never regret it and better she think that than she turn her people on him. He’d rather not have to hurt anyone else or to have the Enforcers do it. This could be nice and clean. “But ask yourself how you want to go. Do you want them to all see you reduced to nothing? Get out of her body before that happens. Then maybe you can reboot.”
Probably not so long as the hole remained in her energy stream…
She nodded. “I can see why she loves you. You’re very kind.”
He wasn’t. Not to her. And he didn’t mind that at all. There were a few people in the world he would kill for. Eleanor was one of them.
Besides, this woman should have been dead a thousand years earlier.
He saw the second she left Eleanor. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. This time, he knew it was Ellie, and he caught her before she collapsed. The old witch’s people cried out. That was fine. He’d leave them to Lawson. Maybe the Enforcers would want to do something about this, maybe they wouldn’t.
He had who he came for. His love. His Eleanor. She was his.
“Why isn’t she waking up?” He looked between Ava and Kim. Between the two of them they should be able to help Eleanor. If they couldn’t, he’d take her to every healer in the world until someone could. Still, this was taking too long.
Kim glanced up at him. “I have been cleansing her aura for all of five minutes. This is a long process. Go do something with yourself.”
“Go do something with myself?”
Ava shook her head. She rubbed what looked like nutmeg over Ellie’s lips. He didn’t understand his ex’s powers, but they were real. There was one example of something he’d never be able to learn. The earth didn’t speak to him, and he was better off for it.
“You should have seen Stefan when you were hexed. You weren’t even married yet. He kept trying to rip my head off. It wasn’t pretty.”
Kim nodded. “Doesn’t do scared very well. He’s better at being the reason other people are scared. Mitchell is the same way it would seem.”
Eleanor moved her head, and he let out his breath. It was the most she’d budged since he’d brought her here. Seeing her so still when he knew she wasn’t really asleep had to be the hardest thing he’d ever witnessed.
“Here.” Kim rose. “I actually think what she needs is you.”
“Me? I’m not a healer.” He pointed at Eleanor. “She requires your skills.”
Kim rubbed her nose. “No, what she needs is to feel you. Her aura isn’t hurt. Her energy is fine. She’s not resonating as high as she should be in magic. You two are meant to be together. When I need someone, it has to be Stefan. You’re not done saving her today. Pick her up. Bring her to the couch with you. Sit still. Just be.”
He’d asked for her help and now he had to trust her. Okay, he’d sit still. Most of the time that was what he did. Only not lately. He couldn’t remember there ever being a time when he’d run here there and everywhere so much before.
Mitchell stroked Ellie’s hair. It was so soft. Ava nodded to him before walking into his kitchen. Kim followed her. Depending on what exactly the Enforcers were going to do now, the guys might be gone a long time.
Sebastian and Trident had been devastated. He’d not stopped to see how they were before he’d popped away with Ellie. She was all that mattered to him right then.
He leaned over to kiss her cheek. “I took her right out of you. And now all I need in the whole world is to see your eyes open. Okay? Open them and then you can go right back to sleep. I’ll sit here. I won’t bother you at all. But please, Ellie. Show me your eyes.”
She must have heard him because her eyes fluttered open. Her gaze was glazed, it was clear immediately she wasn’t really with it yet. “Mitchell?”
He let out a long breath. “Yes. You’re safe.”
“You came for me?”
He kissed her nose. “I did. I’ll always come for you.”
“I know. I believed.”
Her lids closed again. Those had to be the sweetest words he’d ever heard. Tears clouded his vision, but he sucked them back. There would be a time for crying from relief. When they were alone and Enforcers weren’t going to be suddenly arriving to catch him doing it.
There were things in life he shouldn’t care about and maybe that was one of them. Still, he’d already caused a rock slide by throwing things. They didn’t need to see him weeping, too.
He stroked her hair. Yes, he’d cry when he and Eleanor were alone. He’d tell her all the ways he loved her. He’d make sure that nothing ever got to her again. Or maybe he wouldn’t cry. Maybe there would just be too much happiness for wasting time on tears.
Mitchell grinned down at her. Maybe they’d do lots of other things and maybe she’d cry. But because the pleasure he gave her was so incredible she couldn’t help but do so. Yes, he had plans. Lots and lots of them.
He loved his woman.
Chapter 14
Eleanor
* * *
She tried to wake up but sleep kept pulling her under. Dreamless, nothing darkness that felt like a warm blanket. There was something missing, something that had been dragging on her for so long and without it, she was so relieved she couldn’t keep her eyes open. That didn’t make sense. It didn’t matter. She went under again.
The next time she tried to wake, a hand was on her forehead, cool, gentle. “She’s not ready.” Eleanor knew that voice. It was Kim. How was Kim here? Eleanor was somewhere else… Where? She wasn’t sure.
A kiss on her cheek and the warm scent of Mitchell wafted over her. “Not yet. You showed me your eyes when I asked, but now we need you to rest and get better. Sleep. I’ve got you.”
Doing as Mitchell requested was not hard. She went under again.
Eleanor finally roused with no idea how much time had passed, but she was drenched in cool, wet sweat. She groaned. It took her half a second to realize she was strewn across Mitchell’s lap. That would be a great way to
wake up were she not disgusting and probably making him that way with her sweat.
“Hey.” His hand was in her hair, stroking it. “You’re up. And it’s okay for you to be.”
“I’m gross. I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “You’re alive. You’re here. You’re sweating. It’s more like glistening. I don’t care. Hi.”
Eleanor forced herself to sit up. The room spun before it righted. “How am I here?”
“You told me you believed.” He lifted his eyebrows. Mitchell was so darn cute. Or maybe sexy was the right word. Her head wasn’t quite on correctly yet.
“I did,” she answered him. “Even when I went under, I thought of you. I believed in you. That doesn’t answer my question.”
He nodded. “Yes, that’s true. I sort of executed her. I took her energy, I drained it.”
She didn’t understand. “What?”
He kissed her lightly on the mouth. “Could we not? I will tell you all about it. Just not this second. I… I don’t want this moment tarnished with that.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “I wasn’t going to let them have you. I pretended I didn’t care.”
“And I pretended I didn’t know why she was dying, that I wasn’t doing it. Guess we’re both really good at lying during stressful situations.”
He pulled back, and she knew she could be lost in his eyes forever. “I’ll never lie to you, Mitchell.”
He winked at her. “I guess you could be lying right now. But you’re not. I’ll never lie to you either. I love you.”
Covered in sweat on his couch, she believed for the first time ever that they could have a future. There would be days to come.
“Did you pick one?” Mitchell flopped down on the couch next to her. He’d gone for a run. They were going out in several hours to see Kim for her birthday, at last. A very belated birthday. It would be their first couples activity together where they saw other people.
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