Mystical Seduction

by Dorothy McFalls

  But the Protectors knew the truth. And they all agreed that they needed to track down Ballou and confront him before he got the chance to regroup and plan another attack.

  For the past several hours, Stone had received regular updates from the street-by-street search. So far, no one had found anything more notable than garden gnome that had gone wild in an elderly woman’s courtyard garden.

  Horace had wanted to join the search, but Stone had stopped him.

  “You’d just go looking for Faith,” Stone had pointed out, which had been the truth.

  While Horace was glad for the distance from her—he didn’t need Faith in his life, and he certainly didn’t need her sapping his powers—he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her and what he would do with her when he got his hands on her again.

  He blamed her for binding their souls into a tangled knot. She’d pursued him with a single-minded determination and had teased him mercilessly. What was a guy to do? Oh, he knew what he’d do when he got his hands on her again.

  He’d grab her wrists and hold them above her head. She’d struggle against him. Maybe she’d be a little frightened. Good. He wanted her to use some caution around him in the future.

  He held out his hand and focused on that damned teacup again.

  She’d fight him. Curse him. Bite his lip. He’d bite her back. And that would only serve to enflame her. Their lips would battle, and she’d press her body against his. Through the layers of her clothes, he’d take her breast into his mouth. Her nipple would be hot and aching for him. He’d lick, suck, and tease until she moaned his name.

  The blasted teacup didn’t even wobble.

  But she’d eventually surrender. Her tight, compact body would meld with his. Her curves fit so deliciously well with his, especially when she wrapped her legs around his waist. She’d bite her lower lip and smile. She had a mischievous smile that made his chest ache. Seeing it would make him want to kiss her again. She’d make a little grunting sound in the back of her throat as he ravished her mouth. He liked it when she did that.

  And her light blue eyes would grow smoky with lust.

  He narrowed his gaze and gritted his teeth, hoping that would help focus his powers so he could slide the cup across the table.

  With a wave of his hand, her cloths would be torn from her body. There was no need to hide his powers from her anymore. So why not use them to his benefit? And hers. After he put that third mark on her body she would belong to him.

  Forever.

  Nothing would stop him from taking her. Their desires and hungers would be merged.

  The cup shuddered, but remained exactly where Jake had set it. Horace drew in a deep breath and tried again to visualize the cup moving toward his outstretched hand.

  He’d worship her. He’d feast from her honey-scented body, taking pains to make sure she’d be as lost in the bliss of their lovemaking as he surely would be. He’d make love to her with his tongue and bring her to the brink of madness. She’d be shouting his name before he was done. He’d make sure she’d never regret loving him.

  Horace leaned across the table, picked up the cup, and took a sip of the tea Jake had fixed for him.

  “I’ve never lost control like this before,” he admitted to Brendan, who slouched in a nearby chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “The power is still there,” Brendan said as he watched Horace through heavy-lidded eyes.. “You’re just too caught up with other...um...thoughts, to be able to focus.”

  “Other thoughts?” Brendan wouldn’t have been eavesdropping, would he?

  His friend raised a brow and had the decency to blush.

  “I’d appreciate it if you’d stay out of my head. My feelings toward Faith are private.”

  “I wish I couldn’t hear them.” Brendan stretched and crossed his legs at the ankles. “It’s worse than watching pornography. I’d appreciate it if you could tone it down. Dallas isn’t around to help me out, you know.”

  “Try harder. I’m sure you have something better to do than sit in my head. Perhaps you could go help look for Ballou.”

  “This isn’t her fault, you know,” Brendan said. “You shouldn’t blame her.”

  “I don’t want to hear this.”

  Brendan didn’t seem to care what Horace did or didn’t want to hear. “She didn’t take your powers. You still have them.”

  “Then why couldn’t I even tip over that damned teacup?”

  Brendan shook his head. “The silvery thread that connects you to the universe, the source of your powers, is still there. And it’s shining pretty brightly right now. I think you’re inadvertently funneling all that power over to Faith.”

  It was a commonly held belief among the Protectors that they didn’t have any innate powers of their own. They were able to tap into the universe and focus the energy that was everywhere and everything at all times.

  It took years of training and careful practice to learn new ways to direct that energy. New skills just didn’t pop up overnight. Well, not usually.

  “I’m not convinced she’s tapping into my powers or that I’m somehow sending them her way. Don’t forget, she healed me.” Which was one of the most difficult skills to learn. Only a few among them were naturally inclined to learn the complicated process involved with saving a life.

  Horace wasn’t one of them.

  “The bond I have with Dallas enhances my natural abilities and I enhance hers. Perhaps it is the same with you and Faith.”

  It couldn’t be the same. Faith was human. Horace closed his eyes and shook his head. “I just want it to all stop.”

  “What’s happening to you doesn’t have to be bad.” Brendan leaned forward and put his hand on his friends shoulder. “Two halves of the same whole coming together...it’s a beautiful thing. There’s nothing wrong with finding your mate.”

  But Brendan was wrong. Horace needed to remain alone. Why? The answer pulsed against the barriers in his mind, trying to get out, trying to warn him.

  Loving Faith would bring the both of them nothing but danger.

  He had to stop this. For both their sakes, he had to figure out how to stop his heart from wanting her so fiercely.

  ****

  Much to Faith’s horror, sparks lit up her father’s leather-appointed study. The bursts of energy flickered as they cast an alarming green glow on the books crammed onto the shelves that lined all four walls. Faith took a deep breath, trying desperately to control whatever Horace had done to her. Horace!

  The room suddenly lit up like a fourth of July celebration. During the grand finale, at that.

  Faith’s mother gasped.

  Faith would have gasped, too, but since taking a deep breath had only made the sparks brighter, she thought it might be safer to hold her breath.

  “Honey, are you okay?” he dad asked. His voice sounded strange. Distant. “Honey?”

  Faith looked up at him and blinked. She could see his lips moving and hear the words, but she couldn’t seem to put the two together.

  She looked down at her hands. They’d started to glow now, too.

  “You’d better not touch me,” she warned. She remembered how she’d had knocked Horace’s friend to the ground with a very similar kind of spark when he’d tried to keep her from leaving the café. And she hadn’t forgotten how she’d broken the wine glass without even touching it. “I don’t know how to control this. I don’t know how to stop it.”

  And her heart ached.

  What the hell was wrong with her? Despite everything that had happened and continued to happen to her, she still wanted Horace. She wanted to feel the strength of his arms around her and the press of his lips against hers. She wanted to share her life with him, to simply love him. And she wanted him to love her back.

  Wanting couldn’t be a bad thing, could it?

  She needed Horace. At this point, he seemed to be the only person who could help her.

  But she couldn’t trust the jerk. He’d alread
y brought too much chaos into her life.

  She didn’t dare risk getting near him again. If she got any more of his powers, she would probably explode.

  “Why can’t I have a relationship that is as easy and straightforward as the one you have with Mom?” she cried.

  “Easy?” James tossed a loving glance over his shoulder to his wife. “We’re talking about your mother, right? The queen of having her own way?”

  “Hey!” Judy protested lightheartedly. “You aren’t so perfect yourself, professor.”

  “Love is never easy,” James warned. “But why would you want it to be? It’s the challenges that make life interesting.”

  Faith wanted to believe what her father was telling her, but her heart hurt too much. What she wouldn’t do to trade this pain for a nice, boring relationship. Compared to glowing and breaking things, dull looked pretty darn good.

  Judy twined her fingers with her husband’s. “Sometimes we hurt each other without even realizing it.”

  “But-but—” Faith sputtered.

  Her parents’ relationship worked. They honored each other. Trusted each other.

  “I’m not saying you should trust Horace,” Judy said.

  “But perhaps you should trust what your heart is telling you,” James finished.

  “What if I don’t know if what I’m feeling right now is real? What if these emotions are all a lie?”

  “Look deep,” James said. “You’ve always been good at sorting difficult things out. Heck, out in the field you were always able to keep my mishmash of files organized. If you can handle that, you can certainly sort out whatever is tugging at your heart right now. Don’t worry, Faith. You already know the truth.”

  “You’re right, Dad.”

  “As usual,” Judy said with a grin.

  Faith shook her head. “What my heart is telling me scares the hell out of me, though.”

  “Most hard decisions do,” James said. “What is it telling you to do?”

  Faith drew another careful breath. “I should go to him.”

  “No!” Judy shouted. “Have him come here. You should confront him on your terms, not his.”

  Faith shuddered at the thought of Horace getting anywhere near her family. He wasn’t human. For all she knew, he might prove dangerous. Her parents needed fair warning. Even if telling them made her head feel like it was going to explode, she needed to tell them the truth about Horace. But she didn’t get the chance even try to explain much of anything before the doorbell rang.

  “I bet that’s the police,” her dad said as he started for the front door.

  “The police?” She’d forgotten that her mother had called them. She touched her glowing fingers together. A spark danced in the air. “I’m beginning to understand why Horace is so against talking with them,” she murmured.

  Her dad paused at the study door and frowned in Faith’s direction. “I’ve seen some strange things—” he started to say but then stopped himself and forced a gentle smile. “I’ll send the police away, if that’s what you want.”

  Faith sent a questioning look toward Judy, who quickly gave her daughter an encouraging nod.

  “Yes, please send them away,” she said just as the bell chimed again. She had nothing to tell them anyhow. Her stubborn tongue didn’t seem willing to let her tell anybody much of anything.

  Her dad returned to the study a few minutes later with an unremarkable man dressed in a dark suit. At first Faith thought the man looked like one of her father’s colleagues. He had dark hair, a regular face, and a pleasant smile. Then she saw the gun in his hand.

  And she remembered.

  “Please, where is he?” Ballou asked. His voice was soft, polite. He sounded completely harmless, and looked harmless, too, until he pressed the barrel of the pistol to her dad’s head. “Where is the Lion?”

  ****

  “Faith’s in danger!” Horace dropped the empty teacup he’d been turning around in his hand and shot up from his chair. “She’s in danger. I have to find her!”

  “Dallas is watching her,” Brendan said in an irritatingly calm voice. “She would have called if...”

  Horace didn’t wait to hear the rest. He nearly knocked Stone over in his rush to get to the door. Car keys in hand, he made a dash for his SUV.

  A force outside himself pulled him. Faith needed him. The hell with his mixed-up emotions and fears for his heart. She needed him.

  No one was going to stop him from protecting her.

  “At least let me ride shotgun,” Brendan said with a broad smile from the passenger seat. How the hell he’d gotten there so quickly, Horace had no clue. “You need me, Horace, especially with your powers on the fritz and all.”

  Horace didn’t have time to argue. So he let his friend stay. He punched the gas pedal and sped away.

  “She might be a stubborn little thing, but she doesn’t deserve to die,” he said. No, he wasn’t going to let Faith get herself killed.

  He’d miss her quirky smile.

  Hell, he’d miss everything about her.

  As hard as he’d tried to fight it, he loved her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The tension in the room had grown so tight Faith felt lightheaded. Even so, she jumped out of her father’s leather armchair to surge to her feet. And swayed. No, she could not fall over. She was determined to stand her ground, to fight to the death if necessary. No matter what, she would not let some otherworldly badass hurt her father.

  “Let’s not make any hasty moves,” Judy said. She raised her hands slowly, showing her empty palms. “Let’s take a minute and talk about what you want and what we can do for you.” She took a careful step away from Ballou and his gun.

  James had stiffened in response to having a gun pressed to his temple, but he looked calm. Of course, he would. He’d confronted violence many times in the past. He’d exposed more than a few government sanctioned crimes and murders in Africa, South Asia, and South America, and had upset several military regimes.

  Instead of protesting or getting nervous, James merely sighed deeply, and then asked, “Is this Horace, honey?”

  “No,” she answered with great care, following her parents’ example. “I tried to tell you earlier, but I couldn’t seem to get the words to come out. This is the man who is trying to kill Horace and me.”

  Apparently nothing held her tongue now.

  “My daughter will be happy to cooperate with you,” James said. “This boyfriend of hers has bullied and frightened her.”

  “And made her glow...and not in a good way,” Judy added with a sweeping gesture in Faith’s direction. Though Faith wished her parents could be anywhere but here, her love for them swelled. They had rushed to defend her like a pride of lions protecting their cub despite the danger to themselves.

  Faith suspected that if given the chance, Horace would have been right there with her parents, defending her just as fiercely. If only they had met under different circumstances.

  If only he were human. A safe, normal human.

  The halo glowing around Faith’s head appeared to intrigue Ballou. His black eyes widened as he watched her. Slowly, his mouth dropped open. He took a step toward her.

  “What has he done to you?” Ballou took another step closer. He reached out, looking as if he planned to touch the sparkling halo. If he did, he might be in for a huge surprise. She wished she could control the otherworldly power surging through her veins. If she could focus it and use it against Ballou in the same way she’d used it against Brendan, they might all have a chance.

  Faith screwed her eyes tightly closed and concentrated on Ballou and his gun. The power gurgled and popped. She tried to push it away from her and toward Ballou. She tried to make it explode like it had before.

  Nothing.

  She opened her eyes. Ballou towered over her. He’d tilted his head and had furrowed his brows deeply.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Uh, apparently nothing.”
<
br />   Faith needed Horace to tell her how to use his powers, if a human could use them.

  And none of that helped her with the pressing problem at hand. She had no idea how to defend her parents from Ballou.

  At least he no longer had his gun trained on her dad’s head. But James didn’t keep himself out of harm’s way for long. He slowly crept up behind Ballou, preparing to pounce.

  “You shouldn’t be glowing like that,” Ballou said. “The power, Horace must have unleashed it. What was he thinking? It should never be unleashed like that,” he scolded and waved the barrel of the gun at her as he would a wagging finger. Wary of the gun, her dad backed up a step. “Obviously the Lion botched it up. I can’t believe anyone could botch something as simple as a mating.”

  “What do you mean?” Faith asked. Perhaps Ballou could shed some light on what was happening to her. She slowly rose from her dad’s leather chair. Ballou followed her movement, aiming the gun at her chest.

  “What did he do to me?” she demanded.

  “You know what he did.” His gaze deepened to a fathomless black. “He mated with you, but not in a manner befitting a queen. I saw him with you. He treated you like trash, taking you first in a grimy alleyway and then in the middle of the dance floor. And you let him do it. You let him make you his whore.”

  A blush stung her cheeks. She’d told her parents about what had happened with Horace, but in not such rough detail. The color in her mother’s face had all but completely drained away. Her parents had always taught Faith to be an independent woman, to never let a man dominate her. She hated to think how disappointed they must be in her right now.

  “Where is the Lion? They’re hiding him from me. But you, they treat so carelessly.” His lips didn’t move, but his words boomed through the room with enough force to make the windows rattle. “Why do you let them dishonor you? You’re his queen!”

  “Queen, servant, sex slave...” Whatever.