Key added, “Would have taken me days to get all that detail.”
Linc grinned. “Looks good, huh?”
The eagle went from disappointment to panic and started clawing his back. Ripping his skin, screeching and desperately trying to get out. Blood welled and slid down his back in warm rivers. For a second, Sutton thought maybe this was a temper tantrum over not getting wings. But no, he could feel the eagle’s genuine need to get to Carla. She was in trouble! But why didn’t he feel it from her? His heart rate shot up, and before he took his next breath, his knife was in his hand.
“What?” Axel appeared at his side with his wings folded up into his tattoo.
Ram had his cell phone out as he ran up. “No warning from your alarms, and the cell’s working.”
“Jesus, Sutton,” Phoenix said. “Your eagle’s shredding your back.”
He didn’t care. Sutton went invisible and launched into hyperspeed. All that mattered was getting to Carla. He raced to his cabin, covering the distance in seconds. Now that the eagle had him moving, he didn’t bother clawing his back, but he was pitching himself against his skin, still trying to break free.
He knew the other Wing Slayer Hunters were behind him. He vaulted up the steps, stopped at the door, and inhaled.
No copper scent.
He listened, and heard Carla’s soft cries. Shoving open the door, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he saw Jerome asleep on the sleeper sofa. He ignored him and hurried to the bedroom.
She was in one of his T-shirts and curled on her side, her arms over her head. “Carly?” he called softly. Materializing, he walked to the side of the bed and sat down. Her hair was sticking to her head and arms and he could smell sweat.
Fear rocketed through him.
He put his hand on her shoulder. The shirt she wore was damp with her sweat and, even worse, he felt almost no pain from her. Shit. He should feel her pain!
“Sutton.” Her voice was thready.
He lifted her and turned, setting her in his lap. “Carly, you have to open your chakras.” He was pretty sure he could siphon off her pain then.
“Can’t. Tried. Won’t open.”
He felt Axel walk into the room and absently smoothed the shirt down over her thighs to cover her. “It’s the prongs in her head. They are causing her severe headaches.” He felt so fucking helpless.
“You can’t take her pain?” Axel’s voice was soft.
“I have been, but something’s going wrong. Her chakras are closed and she says she can’t open them.”
“What’s going on?” Chandra’s voice came from behind Axel.
Axel turned out of the way.
Chandra wore green pajamas, and her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. Worry lines appeared on her forehead when she saw Carla.
Sutton couldn’t get on top of the panic. His eagle was fretting and softly keening. “She’s sicker. In pain. I can’t get her pain to come to me. Tell me what to do.”
Chandra came to the bed, knelt down, and put her hand on Carla’s head.
“Mom?” Carla said.
“Yes, honey. I want you to just rest.” She looked at Sutton. “Her chakras are closed, and she’s running a fever.”
“Can you heal her?” She was a witch, she had to be able to heal her.
Chandra closed her eyes, and her peachy shimmer brightened with her effort. Then she opened her eyes and looked into Sutton’s eyes. She shook her head. “We need to try something else.”
“What?”
She stood up. “Axel, can you get Darcy?”
“Darcy’s already yelling at me to get her. I’m on my way.” He turned and strode out.
Chandra said, “I’m going to go out and talk to Jerome. I want you to try to force her chakras open.”
“How?” He wasn’t magical like them.
She put her hand on his shoulder. “Just touch her, try and draw her magic out. That might open her chakras. Try, okay?” Her voice ended on a plea.
Sutton reached up and put his hand over hers. “Anything. I’ll do anything.”
“I know you will.” She looked slightly relieved and a whole lot scared. He squeezed her hand. Chandra left, closing the door.
“Carly,” he coaxed her, “sweetheart, we’re going to do this together.” He laid her on the bed, then hurried, gathering up one of his clean shirts and a pair of her panties and dropped them on the end of the bed. Then he raced into the bathroom, grabbed a washcloth and ran it under cool water. Returning, he sat down again.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “You didn’t get wings.” She closed her eyes, took a breath, and forced them open again. “I’m sorry.”
She was in agony and she was sorry for him? It choked him. He gently stripped the shirt and panties off her. Then he ran the cool cloth over her face and neck. “Just get better. I don’t give a shit about the wings. Please, you have to get better.”
She closed her eyes.
He knew she was conscious, it was the pain pulling her away from him. He felt what he could only describe as an echo of her pain. He moved the washcloth down, over her breasts, ribs, and stomach.
He made a round trip to the bathroom to wet the cloth again.
Then he turned her over, scooped up her damp hair, and ran the cool cloth over her neck and back. Dropping the cloth on the floor, he climbed over her, not caring that he had his boots on, and pulled her back to his chest. He slipped his arm under her head. “I’m going to touch you and bring your powers out. Then I can take your pain.”
She stiffened. “Too much pain for you.”
He kissed the top of her head. “We’ll share the pain, baby. The two of us and it won’t be too much.” Liar. He was going to pull all the pain from her. Every last drop. He slid his right hand down her belly and spread it over her triangle of hair between her thighs. Then he moved his hand up over the skin of her belly, between her ribs and breasts to her neck.
Then down again.
And back up. Gentle touches.
She sighed.
“How do your chakras feel?”
“They’re trembling but can’t open.”
“They feel me?”
“Yes.”
Hope flared into him. He slid his hand into the tangle of hair, scooted back enough to settle Carla on her back, and nudged her legs apart. He would get closer to her first chakra this way. “Just you and me, Carly. I want you to open for me, let me share your pain.” He stroked her folds, then separated her.
She relaxed deeper, letting her thighs fall open, allowing him to touch her.
Her trust humbled him right to his soul. She knew he’d care for her, including listening to make sure no one came in. This wasn’t sex—she was too sick and weak for sex—this was intimacy. He was easy with her, working in one finger, then leaned over her and brushed his mouth over her forehead. Her chakras went from her pelvis up to the top of her head. He figured if he touched her from both ends, he could force something open.
He felt her responding clench around his fingers.
A small spasm of power breaking free.
Then her pain started filling his head. Thank the Wing Slayer. He took his hand from between her legs. Keeping one hand on her to continue siphoning off her pain, he slipped on her clean panties, then pulled his shirt off over her head. Sutton lay back down and pillowed her head on his arm. He fitted his chest up against her back, and put his hand on her bare arm. Skin-to-skin contact was important.
She said softly, “Only two chakras opened.”
“It’s enough for right now.” He didn’t dare push her any further, not until her mom and Darcy checked on her. He lifted his hand from her long enough to grab the comforter and pull it up over her.
Carla lay in the cocoon of Sutton, his chest against her back, his biceps under her head, his arm curled around her. The pain had notched down to a bad headache. Her legs and arms were heavy.
There was a soft tap on the door.
“Come in,�
� Sutton said.
Her mom came through the door, her face lined with worry or fear. She knelt on the floor, her cool hand brushing back Carla’s hair. “It worked?”
Carla was so tired. “Two chakras. I’m losing my power, Mom.”
Chandra’s eyes welled up. She squeezed Carla’s hand. “I thought the soul-mirror bond was supposed to make you stronger.”
She tried to force a smile, but it was too much for her.
“You’re my soul mirror.” Sutton pulled her tighter against him.
She couldn’t say anything.
Two more people walked into the room, Jerome, looking like a mad scientist with his blond hair sticking up all over, and Darcy, her hair pulled into a tight ponytail, and wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
Darcy went to the bed and sat down. Her eyes were dark and worried. She laid her hand over Carla’s and said, “I’m going to see what I can get from my third eye.” She closed her eyes.
Axel moved silently into the room and stood next to Darcy. She leaned against his leg.
Carla felt Darcy’s magic rise and swirl around her, then sink deeper and deeper into her. She tried to keep the two chakras open, giving Darcy access. But even with Sutton touching her, it caused sweat to break out on her body and her hands to shake.
Darcy pulled back and opened her eyes.
Carla looked into the brown depths. “Tell me. I know you don’t want to.”
Tears welled up in her friend’s gaze. “The prongs, they are … you’re dying.”
“No!” Sutton yelled behind her. “She’s not dying! I’m her soul mirror, I can make her stronger! Get out, I’ll—”
Carla felt his rage and pain. She didn’t know how to help him.
“Out! I’ll save her!” Sutton yelled. He let go of Carla and jumped to his feet. “I won’t let her die!”
Axel moved to face him. “We’ll figure this out. Maybe ask Wing Slayer—”
“Wing Slayer!” Sutton roared. “He doesn’t care! He hasn’t claimed me or Carla. You told me he wouldn’t take her from me. But look at her! Wing Slayer can go to—”
“Sutton, no!” The pain exploded in her head and her vision blurred. Ignoring them all, she crawled across the bed, trying to get to him. She reached out a hand, finding his hip. She latched on to it. “Don’t.”
She felt him sweep her up into his arms, pulling her close to him. “Carly, I can’t lose you.”
She sighed against his chest. Her two chakras stayed open and the pain trickled out of her and into him.
Sutton walked to the corner and sat in the chair between the sliding glass door and the fireplace. “What do we do? Someone tell me what to do because I am not letting Carla die. I don’t give a shit if she’s my soul mirror or not, she’s mine.”
He finally believed her. Tears burned her eyes and fell on his chest.
“Don’t cry. Please Carly, I’ll find a way. I swear.”
“That’s not why.”
He leaned down, kissing away her tears. “Why?”
She forced her eyes open. “Because you love me. Just me.”
He stared into her eyes. “I love you, just you. Powers or not, soul mirror or not.”
“That’s enough for me. Whatever happens, that’s enough.”
His jaw went stubborn. “I won’t lose you.”
“I have to talk to my dad.”
“Okay.” He helped her sit up. “Lean against me.”
She let him situate her against his chest. Her mom covered her with a blanket, then Sutton folded his arms over her. Once they were done fussing, she looked up at her dad, noticing that her vision was blurry. “You know what’s happening, don’t you?”
Her dad pulled in a dining room chair and sat on it with his arms braced on his thighs. His face dropped into craggy lines of despair. “All the times I was so desperate to be right, to prove to everyone I was right. And the one time I’m right, I’m desperate to be wrong.”
Because he loved her. And Keri. “But you’re not, are you?”
He shook his head. “I’ve studied this from every angle I can think of. We know Keri was linked to you to keep her soul alive. The twin bond made that possible. Both of you pulled Sutton in and formed a power matrix. Then Styx got ahold of the knife Keri was in.”
Carla said, “Asmodeus found it from the magical trail she used to get to me.”
Axel said, “And I’m betting he sent Quinn Young to retrieve it. Young then gave it to Styx to torture Carla.”
Jerome looked around at everyone in the room. “Makes sense. Styx knew Keri was in the knife, and Keri enhanced his psychic powers. I’m guessing he cut himself with the knife and established a bond. Then he used Keri’s twin bond with Carla to reach her psychically. Each time he was embedding the prongs in Carla. Those prongs gave him easier access to her.”
Darcy said, “We were able to get two prongs out. But Carla couldn’t get the remaining two even with Sutton’s help.”
Carla knew the answer now. It was what had been eluding her all along. “Because I broke the twin bond.”
Her dad looked at her with heartbreaking sadness. “The prongs were in both you and Keri. You were bonded. When you broke the bond, you sealed in the prongs.”
She closed her eyes. “And the prongs link me right back to Keri. When I broke the bond and separated us, we both started to die.”
“No,” Sutton said, his chest rumbling at her back. “Carla’s powers spiked when we bonded.”
“Because Keri had enough of me, and me enough of her to last for a day or so. Then once Keri started weakening in the knife, my chakras and life force started shutting down.” She closed her eyes and remembered Keri’s fading image in the knife. “She used the last of her residual power to show me the witches, to save them.” Oh, Keri, she thought, her chest tightening in grief.
Sutton leaned his face against her head. “But we bonded like soul mirrors. You saved me from the curse. I should be able to help you.” He paused, then added, “That part just doesn’t make sense.”
She opened her eyes and said, “Twin bond and power matrix. We formed a power matrix, you, me, and Keri. You touched my blood when Keri was in me, I touched yours, and we both bonded to you in a weird way. It was enough to bring our souls together and rid you of the curse but not enough to hold them.” She looked intently at her dad. “Right? Keri’s his soul mirror, not me.”
“That’s my best hypothesis,” he said gravely.
“Just tell me what to do. How to save Carly.”
Jerome said, “Get the knife. Re-form the twin bond, then you can get the prongs out and Carla can free Keri.”
Carla struggled against the weighty fatigue. “He’ll know Sutton’s coming, won’t he? Styx is counting on his psychic powers to stay one step ahead.”
Sutton’s muscles went rigid. “Nothing he does will stop me.”
Jerome said, “Carla’s right. He’s staying one step ahead, layered in protection. He wants you to come to him. He’s sure he has learned your weaknesses and can use them to kill you.”
She knew that was true, and she pressed her hand over Sutton’s bulging forearm to get him to listen. “The mortal women he’s brainwashed. Sutton will hesitate to kill them. Styx will know that.” Sutton was hardwired to protect the innocent and Carla knew that no matter what Styx brainwashed the women to do, it’d be hard for Sutton to kill them. He hadn’t killed Pam when she shot him, and that was all Styx needed to know. “How do we beat him, Dad?”
“We let him draw Sutton to him, then we beat him at his own game. I’ve been thinking about this. I’ve seen witches project their voices and images through computers, right?”
Carla didn’t have the energy to answer. Her mom did it for her. “Yes, like you saw Carla and me talking to the Circle Witches.”
“Carla, honey, are you listening?” her dad asked.
“Yes.” She forced herself to open her eyes and focus on the increasingly blurry figure of her dad.
“Can w
itches work together to project a barrage of thoughts through an electronic device? All at once? If Sutton turns on the Bluetooth on his cell and aims it at Styx, a barrage of thoughts will bombard his brain waves and short-circuit his psychic ability.”
In spite of her fatigue and weakness, her heart rate picked up speed. “You think the mortals he’s brainwashed have mental prongs or links to him, like me.” It made sense, they thought Styx had leeched power from both witch blood and Keri to get stronger, and then he could have marked the brainwashed women to keep control of them. “Disrupting the brain waves like that should work. It’ll take a massive and collective effort, though.”
“The Circle Witches,” Darcy said. “They’ll do it. Your mom and I will convince them.” Her hope dimmed. “How?”
Darcy touched her shoulder. “Let me worry about that. I’ll convince them.”
Sutton kissed her head. “We’ll get the knife, Carly. You just rest.”
Sutton dug deeper and deeper into the Rogue Cadre network until he finally hit pay dirt … a cell phone number for Styx. They’d all been working fast and furious trying to get some place to start the search for Styx, and this was it!
He was working from his bedroom with his laptop on one thigh. Carly lay with her head pillowed on his other thigh. Darcy and Chandra had combined their powers to settle her into sleep while Sutton kept siphoning off her pain.
Even though it was dark, Axel was flying over the possible sites where Styx and the knife were. Working furiously, he hacked into the cell phone company’s network, activated the GPS and now he had a cell tower location. Yes! “Axel,” he said into the headset hooked on his ear. “I’m in.” He shifted to Google satellite maps and started looking for the areas closest to the cell tower. He looked up to the big-screen TV where he’d put Carla’s map. “Try these coordinates.” He sent Axel to the closest rugged area.
“On it” was his Hawk’s reply.
He dropped his hand onto Carly’s head, loving the feel of her hair. He couldn’t lose her. He didn’t care if Keri was his true soul mirror, Carla was the love of his heart and soul. He wished Keri well, and he wanted her soul freed for Carla’s happiness.
Soul Magic Page 29