Eleanora brushed cool lips over Cassie’s forehead. “I may have missed the solstice, but we will have Christmas this year. All of us. Together.”
“I’d like that,” Cassie managed, her words almost unrecognizable. The last thing she remembered was Jeremy’s arms around her as he lifted her from the couch, and her mother’s tender touch on her arm.
“Stay with her,” Eleanora murmured.
“Of course,” he replied and carried her toward the stairs.
Chapter 9
Next time Cassie opened her eyes, it was still dark. After a moment of heart-pounding terror when she truly didn’t recognize where she was, she felt foolish.
“I’m in my bed,” she muttered. “Jeremy brought me here after I passed out from whatever Mom put in that tea.” Reassured by the silky texture of her sheets, she glanced at the digital display across the room. Six in the morning. No wonder it wasn’t light yet.
She rolled over and closed her eyes seeking more shut-eye time, but an overfull bladder nagged. Finally giving up, she dropped her feet over the side of the bed and made her way into the bathroom, her eyes at half-mast. She sat on the commode in a daze and moved her hand about in the semi-gloom hunting for the toilet paper rack. The bandage around her arm made her clumsy.
A luminous streak followed her fingers.
What the hell was that?
She snapped her eyes fully open and moved her hand again, creating another streak of multihued light.
“Must be the tea,” she mumbled. Fascinated, she splayed her fingers and drew them through the air. Five iridescent trails cut through the darkness, dissipating after a few seconds. She’d seen Eleanora do things like that, but—
Cassie walked back into her bedroom, creating various effects with her fingers in the darkened room. She debated returning to bed, except she wasn’t at all sleepy anymore. The odd thing her hands were doing spooked her. Tugging the chain on an antique lamp, she hunted down the sweats she’d stripped off before Tyler made the fatal mistake of trusting her. After nearly kicking over the bottle of Calvados, she picked it up cautiously, carried it to the bathroom sink, and dumped what was left down the drain. She turned on the taps for good measure and let them run until no trace of the amber liquid remained.
When she stared at her reflection, her mouth held a grim smile with such hard edges, she scarcely recognized herself. As grisly as Tyler’s demise had been, she was ecstatic to be rid of him. She patted the bandage over her arm and wondered just how bad the cut beneath it was.
It’s a damned shame Tyler didn’t suffer more. Yeah-huh. Mom said the same thing last night.
The best part was her mother was back. Cassie wondered where her mother had been and decided she’d have to find out more about how this magic stuff worked. Maybe if she’d been a little sharper, Tyler wouldn’t have been able to trick her in the first place. Humming a tuneless melody, she left the bathroom. Coffee would be just the thing to revive her, plus it would taste wonderful. Intent on heading for the kitchen, she opened the door to the hallway and ran right into an easy chair with Jeremy in it.
He grunted as his chair shifted an inch or two. “A bit early isn’t it?” he inquired, reaching out to snag her wrist.
Her mouth fell open. “Have you been here all night?”
“Yup. For what little was left of it anyway.” He swiveled his neck on his shoulders. “A bit stiff, but none the worse for wear.”
“Why? There are lots of beds in this house.”
“I wanted to be close to you. In case you had nightmares or something. Your mom and I discussed it. She wasn’t in all that great a shape, so I told her to dose herself with the tea she gave you and get some sleep.”
He pulled her onto his lap. Cassie’s entire body left a glowing contrail.
“What’s that?” She pointed with a none-too-steady finger. “I’ve been doing that ever since I got up. Is it something from the shaman tea?”
“Mmph.” He snorted but didn’t say anything further.
Dimly lit sconces lent just enough light for her to see him draw his brows together. “Feel like some coffee?” he asked after a pause that felt a tiny bit too long.
He’s not answering me. Why?
Breath caught in her throat. A hundred unspeakable explanations rushed through her, and she curled into a ball on his lap. “What the fuck is wrong with me?”
“Not wrong. Just different. It’ll be fine. I promise.” He closed his arms around her and rocked her against him. “There’s something you need to know, and I thought it might go best sitting in a well-lighted space over a cup of something hot.”
Her stomach tied itself into a knot, and she pushed out of his arms. The fucking bandage made everything harder. On her feet, she raced down the hall to a light switch. Once the sconces blazed to full brilliance, she stomped back to him and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “There,” she announced a bit breathlessly. “We have light. Tell me.”
He quirked a brow. She realized she was tapping a foot on the Oriental carpet runner that lined the hall.
“Would you like to sit back down?” He patted his lap.
She thought about it. “No. I want to be able to look at your face.” Retreating into her bedroom, she dragged her desk chair into the hall and sat across from him. Every movement left its own traces of luminosity, visible even with the lights turned up full. The more times her body did that, the more it freaked her out.
“Okay. I’m sitting.” She gestured with one hand, batting at the multicolored streaks. “Christ, Jeremy. What the fuck is wrong with me?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” he repeated. “Actually, it’s something right.” He waved one of his hands languidly through the air with similar results. “I can do the same thing.”
“Yes, Mother can do it too. So what? Both of you can turn it on and off—whatever it is.” Chills tripped down her spine like uninvited guests. “For God's sake, start talking. I don’t need the War and Peace version.”
He looked at her with something akin to sympathy in his eyes, and it only made her feel worse. “If you don’t tell me what’s going on right now,” she sputtered, “I’ll go wake Mother. Someone has to tell me.” Cassie swallowed hard and searched his face.
He closed his eyes and, for a moment, he looked as otherworldly as he had the previous night.
Jeremy dragged a weary hand down the stubble on his cheeks. “You lost a lot of blood last night. Too much, really.” At the expression on her face, he held up a hand. “No, you wanted to know. So don’t interrupt. It wasn’t your father’s fault. Not really. He had his hands full.” Jeremy cocked his head to one side. “It’s hard to explain to mortals what it’s like projecting yourself over distances. It drains you in erratic ways. Anyway, Fran miscalculated, and by the time he got things under control, you were dying. Your mother was far too weak to be of much help. Once I’d dispatched Tyler, I helped bring you back.”
She’d been watching him, and she knew him really well. “There’s something important you’re not telling me.” Cassie wrapped her arms around herself. She felt cold, but it wasn’t the kind of cold where a sweater would fix things.
“We—Fran and I—used my blood to ensure you’d survive.”
Cassie regarded him through slitted eyes. Disbelief skittered through her. “How? There’s scarcely transfusion equipment here.”
“Magic.” A corner of his mouth twitched. “You had that huge gash on your arm. You haven’t seen it yet, but trust me, it’s probably six inches long. I cut into my arm, laid it next to yours, and instructed my blood to migrate.”
“Show me.”
Nodding, he rolled up a sleeve. Sure enough, a two-inch wound emerged. Except it looked well on its way to being healed.
“No way you could’ve done that last night,” she exclaimed. “If I unwrapped my bandage—”
“Cassie,” he broke in, “it’s healing so fast because I have power and can focus it for things like this.” He hesitated. “It ap
pears the combination of Eleanora’s and Fran’s blood, along with my own, means you finally have magic too. That’s what those odd lights mean. It’s psychic energy that you don’t know how to control yet bleeding out of you.”
Her arms were already wrapped close around her body, but she shook uncontrollably. Cassie hugged herself tighter, afraid if she let go she’d explode into a million pieces.
Magic? Me? ran through her brain over and over like a perverted mantra.
“I really do wish you’d come here.” Jeremy held out his arms. “It’s a lot to take in all at once, but it’s not like you didn’t grow up with the stuff.”
She looked longingly at his offered embrace and made a decision. “Come on.” She stood and held out a hand. “Let’s lie down. That way I’ll have you and the covers. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get warm again.” She clamped her teeth shut to stop them from chattering.
Without waiting to see if he’d follow her, she bolted for her bed and dove under the duvet, slithering to the spot that was still warm from where she’d slept. Jeremy tugged the bedroom door shut behind them and drew the drapes back before joining her.
“It’s going to be a lovely day,” he murmured, fitting his body against her back. “The first day of a whole new life for you. Maybe for us too.” He pulled her close, an arm about her waist, before continuing to talk low close to her ear. “Eleanora and I spoke for a while last night. We believe it won’t take more than a year or so for you to learn just how much you can do.”
Cassie turned abruptly so she was facing him. “You knew last night?” she asked, even more shaken. “How?”
“Because, dear one, you were bleeding power all over the place—once your heartbeat stabilized, that is. Fran was absolutely delighted. That aristocratic British patina of his went up like a poof of smoke. I swear he was grinning like a gargoyle just before he vanished.”
Cassie closed her eyes and struggled to make sense of what Jeremy told her. A gazillion questions clamored for recognition, but figuring out where to begin was daunting.
I’m an engineer. This is just another problem to work through.
Bullshit! Electronic Workbench can’t help with this one.
She met his gaze. “What exactly do Mother and you think I’ll be able to do?” She held her breath. Maybe the answer would be simpler than she imagined.
“Hard to say.” He stroked her back gently. “Your power is a combination of many things. Making predictions is a dicey proposition, but it’s possible you’ll be stronger than either her or me.”
“What if I don’t want any of this?” she asked. Cassie worked to keep her voice steady. “It’s not like I ever lusted after magic.”
Now, now, an inner voice chided.
“Ah, well, that’s not totally true,” she admitted, glad the bedroom was still dark enough he couldn’t see her blush. “There were a few years when I would’ve given anything to be like Mother, but I really did come to terms with just being me… Oh, hell.” She gave up trying to explain herself. “I’m blathering.”
“’Fraid there’s not much choice involved.” He pulled her to him again and ran his hands along her hair and her back, creating little patterns that felt soothing. “It really will be okay. I can teach you how to dial down the luminosity in about an hour.”
Cassie melted against him. A confusing welter of emotions rocked her. On the one hand, she was exultant she could finally share her mother’s world. On the other, she was scared shitless of the unknown.
“Yes,” he agreed. “There are all those things.”
“You can read my mind?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I suppose you’ve always been able to.”
“Even Tyler, low life that he was, had that ability. Why would you think I didn’t?” Mild reproach ran beneath his words.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Don’t pay any attention to me.”
“Oh, but I want to…pay attention to you that is.” He laughed low against her hair. “You invited me into your bed after all.”
“That was…” She broke off unwilling to admit how much she craved the comfort of his arms.
“Last night you told me you loved me.”
She giggled. “It was the tea talking.”
“Oh really?” He angled his head until he looked right into her eyes. “Because I’ve loved you for years.”
The words rang sweetly in her heart, and she closed her uninjured arm around him. He moved his hands lower until they settled around her ass.
“That’s better,” he breathed in her ear. “Close. Just as close as we can get. Blood to blood, Cass. We belong to one another now.”
When she raised her face to his, he kissed her long and slow, exploring the interior of her mouth. She wrapped her other arm gingerly around him and held on tight. Her nipples turned into mini points of delight, crushed against his chest. For a second she wondered if they’d leave those cunning lighted trails too.
He kissed her harder, and she kissed him back. Savoring the taste of him, the feel of his lips firm against hers. Emotion poured from him, and she lost herself in the wonder of the man in her arms. Hunger for him raced along her nerve endings, and she writhed against his body, thrilled by the press of his ridged flesh hard against her stomach.
Cassie pulled away from a kiss that was becoming endless. She ran her fingertips over his shoulders and then traced the planes of his face. “We need to—”
“Yes, our clothes have to go. Sooner rather than later.” He smiled tenderly and then sat up and unbuttoned his shirt.
“Here.” Half sitting, she reached over, her fingers deft. “Let me.” As she tugged the chambray fabric off his shoulders and touched his skin, the same numinous glow rose from her fingers and his chest. The effect was tactile as well as visual, and it was the most erotic thing she’d ever felt. Her fingertips were as sensitive as her most private parts. Heat raced to her core, and she reveled in the touch of his skin.
Reaching under her sweatshirt, he cradled a breast and grazed a thumb across her nipple. She yelped with delight and leaned into his hand, hoping for more.
“See,” he crooned as he eased her top off. “This magic stuff’s not all bad. Especially when there are two of us.” Bending his head, he fastened his mouth around her nipple. He sucked on it and teased it with his tongue. Sensation swirled around her like a living thing. Colors in the air intensified everything until she was so close to release she could hardly stand it. Moving a hand between her legs, she only had to flick her clit a couple of times before she tumbled into an orgasm so intense she thought she’d pass out.
He covered her hand with his, insinuating fingers inside her while his hot, insistent mouth remained latched to her breast. When he finally let go of her nipple, she pulled his head back toward it, not wanting him to stop.
“Once more, darling,” he crooned. “That was so easy, I know you can come again. I feel the energy.” He moved down her body, pulling off her sweat bottoms, and slid his tongue into her flowing nether regions. He sucked and teased her engorged flesh, licking, biting, encouraging her arousal to build.
Cassie tangled her hands in his hair. She writhed and bucked beneath him, crying his name. He worked a finger inside her and reached to claim a breast with his free hand. Another wave of passion took her and spun her around. Release flooded her senses way past overload.
She’d never come more than once before, but her body told her there could be more—lots more—with Jeremy.
When she opened her eyes, her breath still coming fast, he was unzipping his jeans and slithering out of them. Fascinated, she couldn’t look away. It might’ve been a trick of the loose-fitting clothes he always wore, but where she’d thought his body would be soft and pudgy, hard lines of muscle came into view. Broad shoulders and a chest dusted with blond curls topped a hard, flat stomach. He had the most beautiful cock she’d ever seen. Thick at the base, tapering to a graceful glans, it was wonderfully, joyfully erect.<
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Reaching for him, she ran her hands over his chest and shoulders. “You…you’re different than I thought.” She felt foolish. Heat rose to her cheeks, making her even rosier than she already had to be from her orgasms. Was she going to just out and tell him she’d thought him woefully out of shape?
He chuckled and captured one of her hands. Turning it palm up, he kissed it and then licked the spaces between her fingers. Cassie quivered, and heat sparked again between her legs.
“It’s useful,” he murmured, raising his gaze to meet hers, “if others misjudge me for a nerd. When they underestimate me, it often buys me a critical advantage. Like in the catacombs. All those men were so intent on you, they ignored me. Tyler wrote me off as an overweight fag.”
Understanding dawned and she snorted. “It’s a glamour?”
“Uh-huh. More like a reverse one, but the same principles apply.”
“You didn’t look different until you took off your pants.”
“The illusion’s so much a part of me, I suppose I wear it like a second skin. I have to think about it to let it go.”
“Well, I would’ve liked you either way.”
“Are you sure?” His body wavered, and the old, familiar Jeremy was back.
“Yup.” She reached for him.
He laughed. The Greek god body shimmered back into place. “I’d rather save my magic for you.”
She laughed too, and he pulled her against him. The touch of his nakedness against her was so electric, she moaned low in the back of her throat. Sexual hunger more intense than anything she’d ever imagined engulfed her.
“I want this,” she reached hungrily for his cock, “more than I’ve ever wanted anything. The glamour didn’t change that part.”
“You’re observant. It’s one of the things I love about you.”
Obligingly, he moved so she could close her hand around him. Cassie hadn’t ever felt anything quite so erotically charged. “All this time,” she marveled as she touched him gently, almost reverently. “I had no idea. Jesus, think of all the wasted opportunities.”
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