Soul Magic

by Jennifer Lyon

  Wearing only her jeans and a black bra, she closed the distance between them. “I’m not moving until we take care of that arm.”

  Her scent almost drowned his lungs. She was so close, too damned close, her full breasts spilling over the delicate black cups. “Get back! And put your shirt on, damn it!” Was she trying to make him lose control?

  She lifted her eyes, and the green heat in them damn near knocked him senseless. “You’ve seen me naked. You took care of me.” She grabbed his hand and started to wrap her shirt around his arm.

  Naked. Sex. Carla. Holy fucking hell, the feel of her small hand on his … he took hold of her shirt, tugged it loose from her fingers, and finished wrapping up his arm before the last thinning thread of his control snapped. “You’re playing with fire, little witch.”

  “And you’re always saving me.” She looked around, her expression grave as she saw the dead men. “Thank you for that.”

  He blinked and his gaze locked on her breasts. Her nipples hardened beneath that thin layer of material. She was reacting to him. Had to be the pheromones he gave off. The curse was burning so hot in him, he was probably spurting the damn things. He had to get himself under control! Jerking his gaze up to her face, he said, “My cabin.” He started walking, hoping like hell he wasn’t leading her to her own murder. By his hand.

  She walked beside him.

  He had to shorten his stride so she could keep up. He kept his eyes and ears opened to any threat as they walked, while wondering why she would risk her life to see him. By the time they reached the steps of his cabin, his neck and shoulder muscles felt like rocks, and sweat slid down the center of his back. The effort of not touching her …

  Half of him wanted to pull her to him, run his hands and mouth over all that warm, bare skin. Make her sigh and writhe to feel his touch. Then bury his cock inside of her, make her his.

  The other half, that cursed animal, saw all that bare skin as invitation to palm his knife and cut her over and over. The idea of her power-laced blood welling up set his veins on fire with murderous craving.

  Sutton strode up the steps, grabbed his shirt off the railing where he’d tossed it while cutting the wood, and threw it at Carla. “Put this on.” He didn’t look at her and tried not to breathe in her scent as they went inside the cabin. He could bear it more easily if she covered up.

  Shutting the door, he ignored the living room and turned right. He used his palm print to open his environmentally controlled computer room. He had to contact Axel to report in about the rogue attack and to have him come get Carla.

  Now.

  Before he lost control.

  “What is this?” Carla walked into the room the size of a master bedroom and looked around.

  She had put his shirt on, a big black garment that hung down to her knees. Knowing it was his shirt on her, the shirt that had touched his skin just an hour ago was now touching hers, sent his blood rushing to his dick. He focused on answering her with, “Server, hard drives, monitors, printer, big-screen TV. I keep the Wing Slayer Hunters’ computer network backed up here.” Yeah, he was showing off a little. Carla had a PhD; she was elegant, smart, and beautiful. He was self-taught, but hell, he wasn’t without skills. He went to the keyboard of his main computer and accessed the warehouse to connect to Axel.

  With every strike of the keys, he felt Carla’s presence behind him. Felt her breathing. Smelled her scent.

  Her blood.

  A low roar started in his head. He looked up to the monitor, expecting to see Axel or one of the other hunters.

  Instead he saw … “What the hell?” His eagle tattoo filled all the monitors in the room. It was even on the big-screen TV. No fucking way! Someone hacked—

  Carla inhaled sharply behind him. “It’s Keri. She’s using my magic to block your computer.”

  Her words hit him square in the back at the same time that he felt magic sizzle through him. He turned to look at Carla. “Why are you here trying to make me kill you?” It was all he could do to stand down, hold his position.

  Her hazel eyes bloomed a pain-filled yellow, her witch-shimmer dimmed to a gray dust color. She brought her hand up to knead the spot between her breasts. “Keri’s my twin sister. She was murdered two years ago …”

  Sutton reached behind him, curling his fingers around the computer table, and anchored himself to the spot while Carla told her story. He didn’t dare let himself feel anything, no pity, sympathy, or rage that Carla had seen her twin sister murdered. Or that the rogue had sliced Carla with his knife. He had to stay in control, cold and logical. Keep the curse locked down tight. When she finished, he said, “Keri’s using your magic to hijack my computers. Why? What does she want from me?”

  Carla had bunched the front of the oversize shirt in her hands and twisted the material. Now she dropped the shirt and smoothed it down as she explained. “Find the eagle. Free me. That’s what Keri said.” She took another breath, lifted her shoulders, and added, “Keri always loved eagles from the time she was two years old. She’d hike to all kinds of places to see them. To Keri, you’re the eagle that can save her. She needs you.”

  “Just because I have an eagle tattoo?” That was a hell of a stretch. “Lots of men have eagle tattoos.”

  Carla stared him down. “You saw what she did, putting your tattoo on the monitors. It’s you. Keri believes you can free her. You can find her. You have all these resources.” She looked around at all his equipment. “You can find the rogue who killed her and has the knife she’s trapped in. And once you locate the knife, I’ll find a spell or a way to free her soul so she can go on to Summerland.” She took a breath. “Keri hates being trapped!”

  Her pain and desperate determination stirred the dark craving in him until he couldn’t think. Carla’s scent was filling up the room, and his mind was saturating with her. The memory of his dream, of seeing his hand hold the knife that cut Carla shoved him into motion, and he walked toward the door. He needed a little space …

  The door closed. By magic. He was trapped in the computer room with the one witch he’d seen himself cut in his dreams.

  It was his nightmare come to life.

  “I didn’t fight hard enough for Keri when she was alive, I’m going to fight for her to my last breath now.” Carla stared at Sutton’s naked back, his huge muscles bunching and twitching beneath the eagle tattoo. The brown and black wings spread from the edge of his pants on his left side to the top of his right shoulder. The white hood and tail stood out in stark contrast. The bird’s dark, intense eyes seemed to be watching her. The creature looked so real, it even had the yellow beak and feet. She wanted to touch the bird, and touch Sutton. Craved it. Needed it. She wanted to rip off the shirt Sutton gave her and press her body up against him. What the hell was wrong with her? Keri had been the impulsive thrill-seeker, not her, Carla the coward.

  Sutton slowly turned from the door. He dominated the room, towering over the electronics and her. His dark pants sat loosely away from his narrowed hips, then bulged at his thighs and again at his calves. His hiking boots were huge, nearly twice the size of her own feet. His eyes bore into her. “I can smell the magic in your blood.” He took a step toward her, then stopped as if he’d put the brakes on. He crossed his arms over his massive chest and glared at her. “Open the door. Give me some space.”

  “You’ll do it? Look for the knife Keri’s in?” It felt like she needed more than that from him, but what? Her skin heated, and her powers twirled restlessly deep inside her stomach, seeking some elusive thing she didn’t understand. This was crazy, yet her hands itched with a need to touch him, to run her fingers and palms over the bare skin of his chest, shoulders, and all the way down his arms to his thick wristbands. Her gaze snapped back to her blood-soaked shirt wrapped around Sutton’s left arm. Her chakras bubbled and her scar heated.

  Almost without thought, she used her magic to get rid of the shirt, leaving his arm bare and the wound gaping open, oozing blood. Carla’s st
omach clenched … the pain he must be feeling! The scar on her lower back was burning now, fueling the need to touch him. Heal the wound.

  “Carla …” Sutton growled out the warning.

  She looked up to his face to see his bald head gleaming in the overhead lights. His jaw was clenched, his throat worked.

  But she couldn’t stop. The scar pushed her, made her need to touch him. Part of her brain yelled the warning that this was the collision they had both been trying to avoid. Something irreversible. Another step, and her skin pebbled. Then she lifted her hand, the pain in her lower back a branding agony now. She looked up into his fierce blue eyes. “Have to.” She laid her hand over the wound.

  Sutton hissed, then froze as if by sheer will he’d turned himself to a statue.

  Carla’s first four chakras burst open, and her powers poured out in breath-stealing waves, rushing around her body and humming. Then they poured down to her hand, and light flared from her palm, growing brighter as her powers began healing him. Every pulse of her magic opened up a yawning need inside of her, desperate to pull Sutton into her. Her nipples ached to be stroked by him. Her womb throbbed to be filled by him. The hot, sexual desire burned inside her.

  “Can’t … oh shit.” Sutton grabbed her hand, wrapped his free arm around her, and yanked her off her feet. With his arm locked around her waist, his head an inch from hers, they both turned to see that his blood coated her palm. Then it began to vanish.

  The burning in her scar faded as her body absorbed his blood. The heat of Sutton’s body surrounded her, caressed her until the need inside her ramped up to bright, fierce, painful need.

  “Can’t let you go,” Sutton said tightly as he slipped a hand under her leg and hooked her thigh over his hip.

  His erection pressed against her core. Her breath rushed out as pleasure raced along her nerve endings. Sutton pulled her tighter and lowered his face to hers, brushing his full lips against hers. “Need you.” Then he sank into her mouth.

  A voice exploded from the computer. “Sutton, what the hell is going on?”

  Sutton’s arm tightened around her as he jerked his head up. “Mine,” he snarled.

  Carla tried to clear the haze from her mind and looked around the room.

  Axel’s green eyes stared out at them from all the monitors. “I just got your message that you killed three rogues, and Carla is in danger.”

  What the hell was she doing? “Put me down.”

  Sutton seemed to struggle with himself for an endless second before he slid her down to her feet. “Get here, Axel. Now,” he said in a dark voice as he backed away from her.

  Carla looked down at her hand. The blood was gone. That was what Keri had wanted—Sutton’s blood. But why? The answer stunned her, taking her breath away. Soul mirrors were the two halves of one soul ripped apart when the curse was thrown. When those two halves of the souls found each other, they used a blood exchange and sex to re-form the bond and make the two souls whole again.

  Oh, Ancestors, had she just kissed her dead sister’s soul mirror?

  Carla was walking on the astral plane, on a graceful path of colored stones with beautiful vines on either side of her. Huge white and purple flowers bloomed as she passed by. The path gave way to soft grass surrounding a rock waterfall that splashed into a pool. Mist from the waterfall kept her cool. She wasn’t even walking, but gliding.

  Sutton walked beside her. He was shirtless, the eagle on his back fluttering and stretching its wings inside the tattoo. She couldn’t stop looking at him.

  She wanted to touch him, to feel all of his skin.

  That was when she realized she was naked, her body soft and warm, feeling fluid and desperate for his touch.

  He turned to look at her, his blue eyes lighting up with interest.

  Then Keri appeared in the pathway in front of them.

  “Carla, you found him! You found the eagle!” She held out her hands and Sutton forgot about Carla, his gaze latching on to Keri. He moved to her, sweeping her up into his arms. Now they were both naked, and Carla had to look away.

  She woke up, feeling the wash of vivid humiliation and stabbing loss. The grief for her sister was always with her, but this was tinged with feelings that made her uncomfortable. Jealousy, and shame for feeling that way.

  Pushing up, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and glanced at the clock. Just after one in the morning. Her room was velvety dark and cool. She sat there, letting her emotions calm down.

  She wouldn’t sleep any longer. Getting to her feet, she decided that now was an excellent time to go to the astral plane and retrieve Pam. She’d assure Keri that she would find the knife and free her. She didn’t need to hold Pam hostage.

  Although, as she walked out into the hallway, she had to admit that that didn’t sound like Keri. Was there another reason she was keeping Pam’s spirit on the astral plane?

  She opened the door to Pam’s room and stopped. The room was filled with flickering candles, gentle sounds of the rain forest floated in the air, and on the ceiling over the bed were pictures of animals and babies playing.

  Most telling of all was the scent of fresh-baked sugar cookies.

  “Mom, what are you doing here?”

  Chandra Fisk sat in a chair by the bed, her long dark blond hair in a braid, wearing flowing green silk pajamas and working on her laptop. She lifted her green eyes. “I drove straight through. Keri needs us.” She glanced toward the bed. “And so does Pam. You don’t have to do this on your own, Carla.”

  Was she still dreaming? “You know about Keri?”

  Her eyes darkened. “She’s not at rest. I’ve known that ever since that horrible day she was murdered.”

  Carla went into the room and softly closed the door. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Her mom’s smile was sad. “You would have told me that it was grief.”

  Carla opened her mouth to protest, then realized that that’s exactly what she would have done. She’d have pulled out her training and explained how grief can twist reality. “I’m sorry.”

  Chandra set her laptop down on the bed, stood up, made her way across the room, and hugged Carla. She took her hand and the two of them sat on the end of the double bed. “Don’t be sorry. I wasn’t sure. How could I be? We were both devastated by Keri’s murder. My mind could have been playing tricks. These days, without our familiars, we can’t be certain of anything. And I was scared for you. The rogue had marked you with his knife. Nothing we did healed that wound. I was terrified he’d be able to find you.”

  “I know.” They had both worried about that possibility. Carla had left San Francisco to hide, and also to draw any rogues away from her mother. Chandra had only agreed because she thought it would be safer for Carla.

  Chandra looked into her eyes. “It’s Keri’s soul that was on the astral plane.”

  “Yes.” Squeezing her mom’s hand, Carla said, “She tried to bind herself to my armband and got trapped in the rogue’s knife. How could she have been trapped and I didn’t know?”

  Chandra’s mouth pulled tight and her green eyes filled with pain.

  Carla said softly, “Mom, I’ll find her and free her. I promise, I’ll do it.”

  “Oh, Carla, this isn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known. Binding a soul like that takes tremendous power and is always dangerous.”

  “Keri was powerful, Mom. And danger never stopped her. I should have known she wouldn’t leave me.” Her throat tightened with memories of Keri. “Remember when we used to fight? I’d go away to cool off, but Keri couldn’t stand it, she’d follow me. Like the time she used magic to get Mark Tanner to like me enough to ask me out?”

  Chandra smiled at the memory. “Keri’s version of helping.”

  “Of course, I felt Keri’s magic and was furious. Embarrassed. I told him no, yelled at her, and went to Dad’s lab to work off my anger. Keri followed me. She brought me brownies and ice cream and wouldn’t leave me alone until I forgave her.�
� God, she missed Keri so much. She was infuriating, wild, and loving. Keri had a quick temper that evaporated as quickly as it came. Carla was the one who could hold a grudge, and then Keri would tease her out of it. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Mom, I should have known Keri wouldn’t leave me, not when I was in danger!”

  Her mom hugged her again. “Carla, honey, we didn’t know. But now we do. I’m not leaving. Not you, not Keri. We’ll figure this out together.”

  Carla swallowed and pulled herself together. Her mom was right. She looked over her shoulder at Pam. Chandra had dressed the woman in lemon-yellow pajamas and combed out her hair. Her chest rose and fell softly as she slept.

  “She looks peaceful.”

  Chandra smiled. “Pam suffered a terrible shock from shooting that witch hunter. We want to make her body feel pleasant and relaxed, and maybe her spirit will want to return.”

  “Thank you, Mom. I should have done more of this.” She waved her hand around.

  “I’m happy to help.” Chandra shook her head. “You need to focus on Pam’s spirit and Keri’s soul. There’s much more going on here than we understand.”

  “Thanks. I came in here to go back to the astral plane.” She explained about Keri wanting her to find the eagle, that she thought Sutton was the eagle, and that she was going to send him as much as she remembered about the rogue who killed Keri. Maybe he could track the knife. But Carla didn’t tell her mom about the blood, or kissing him. She wasn’t ready to talk about that yet. Instead she finished with, “I’m going to tell Keri we’re doing everything we can and to let Pam’s spirit go. I’ll bring Pam back if I can get her to do that.”

  “And if not?”

  She said, “I don’t know yet. But I’ll think of something.” She stood up and walked to the edge of the bed where Pam lay so still. Laying her hand on the woman, she began opening her chakras, and said, “Let’s see what happens.”

  “You look like shit.”

  Sutton didn’t bother looking at Linc. “Got anything?”

  “Checked three places tonight. No one can connect the names you gave me to the name Styx.”