Soul Magic

by Jennifer Lyon

  Carla reached her hand back, her delicate finger sliding along the scar. Then she dropped the shirt and turned to look at him. “I have her. She’s free of the knife. Sutton, we did it.”

  He rose to his feet, noticing that there was no pain in his calf. The gunshot wound was healed. Wing Slayer, he guessed. “Can you release her with a spell or something?”

  She frowned. “It’s a spell. I thought …” Her witch-shimmer dimmed and she looked lost in his huge T-shirt. She said, “Why are your wings gone? Turn around, let me see!” Her voice rose.

  He shook his head. “Carla, don’t do this to yourself. Don’t.” He couldn’t bear it if she got upset.

  She stared at him, the yellow in her eyes edging out the green and brown. “Try to make them come out again.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “Please.”

  He hated seeing her hurt like this! His arms ached to hold her but he couldn’t. He forced the words past his tight throat, “You know I love you. You know it, Carla. But I can’t have you, and there’s no reason for the eagle to exist. The wings are for our soul mirrors, and you’re not my soul mirror. The eagle and I forced them out in desperation to save you, but now they’re gone.”

  She shook her head, like she was in denial. “Turn around.”

  He had no idea what his back looked like. But what did it matter now? He sighed and turned.

  She gasped. “Sutton!”

  He flinched when she slid her fingers along his skin. Her touch made him burn to strip his shirt off of her and make love to her until no one, and no god, could ever separate them again.

  Except that she wasn’t his.

  It ripped through his heart.

  Her fingers kept tracing. “You’re scarred. Two huge scars where the wings came out. But your eagle is still here.” Her fingers brushed his feathers. “He’s watching me. Your wings must still be there.”

  He didn’t know what to tell her. “If they are, I don’t know how to make them come out, at least not without a huge mess.” He didn’t care about the wings.

  She stroked his eagle. “I can’t believe the two of you did this for me. It had to be agonizing.”

  Sutton’s world was crumbling with each of her soft caresses. He moved away from her, two long steps, and turned. “It was nothing compared to losing you. When you died … my world went dark and cold. I begged Wing Slayer for help and he gave it to me. He saved you somehow. And for that, I will give him my loyalty until I die.”

  She dropped her hand and looked down at the floor. He hated her misery. “Carla, you’ll find your real soul mirror.” The thought of that wrenched a hole in his chest and made the eagle tattoo burn with jealousy and sadness. But her happiness mattered. “You’ll forget—”

  She snapped her head up, the green in her eyes blazing. “Like Keri is your real soul mirror?”

  He reacted before thinking. “I love you. There’s no one else for me. Not ever.” He clenched his fists in an effort to keep from hauling her up to him. If he touched her … he wouldn’t stop.

  She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “I made the wrong choice.”

  The words echoed in the hollowness of his chest. But she was accepting the truth. Both of them had to accept it.

  She opened her eyes and stared at him, her shimmer taking on a steely-blue determination. “I’d do it again exactly the same way.”

  He jerked back, surprised. He couldn’t have heard her right. “What?”

  She stepped to him, put her hand on his chest, and said, “I love you, and I’m going to fight for you right until my last breath and beyond.” She took her hand away, turned, and walked around the bed. Her clothes changed midstep. The huge T-shirt was replaced by jeans and a mint-green sleeveless shirt.

  He was so shocked, he hardly noticed the familiar way her power sizzled through his insides. “But Wing Slayer …” He stopped himself when it sank in. “I felt it.”

  With her hand on the door, she looked back. “Felt what?”

  “Your power when you changed your clothes.” Like a magnet, he was drawn to her, walking toward her before he could catch himself. “I felt your power!” The eagle fluttered on his back, trying to reach her.

  Carla dropped her hand off the doorknob. “Your eagle! I can feel him!”

  Sutton’s control snapped and he rushed to her, taking Carla’s hand and pulling her into his arms. He dropped his face into her hair, inhaling her. “I don’t understand. You’re not supposed to be mine.” But she was his.

  She leaned her head back and looked up at him. “Wing Slayer has his reasons, Sutton. But he’s not punishing you. You’ve vowed your faith to him, now trust in him.”

  Could that be true? With Carla in his arms, anything seemed possible. And he would be damned careful. “We had to break our bond, at least you had to believe it was broken on the astral plane in order to get Keri.”

  “That makes sense. I’ll talk to my mom and Darcy, and try a spell.”

  He lifted his hand to run his fingers and palm over her silky hair. “We can’t break your bond with Keri until we can send her soul on to Summerland.” He didn’t care. He could wait. Yeah, his dick was hard and straining against his pants to mate with her, but he could wait. This time, they’d do this right, making sure Keri was safely released. “Carly.” He lowered his mouth to kiss her. Taste her. She was warm and alive and his. Breaking the kiss before he completely lost his head, he said, “You were going to fight for me.”

  She smiled at him. “I always will.”

  “I want to thank each of you for your help,” Carla said into the laptop. She was out on Sutton’s porch, enjoying the late-morning sunshine. The Circle Witches had helped break Styx’s psychic hold and allowed Sutton to get the knife from him. “You saved both me and Keri and I am forever grateful.”

  Silver appeared on the screen and said, “You’re welcome, that’s what the Circle is for.”

  Skitters of unease ran up Carla’s back. She looked over at Darcy sitting in a matching redwood chair and staring at Silver on a second laptop.

  Realizing that Darcy was refusing to look at her, Carla dropped the magic that propelled her voice through the computer and said, “What did you do?”

  Darcy finally looked away from the computer. “Silver was causing some difficulties. She said she feared the magic of the Circle would be used to help Sutton murder Styx.”

  Oh, crap. That would be a valid argument for Silver to sway the witches, given that witches were not allowed to cause harm with their witchcraft. Darcy was her friend, and her mother, well Chandra loved Carla and would have promised anything to save her. She guessed that Darcy had to negotiate with Silver. “How bad?”

  Darcy said, “Your mom and I both promised we’d support a vote for Advisor if no one was chosen by the Ancestors in a moon cycle.”

  Carla thought of the moment when she’d walked out of Sutton’s room. Her mom saw her first, jumping up from the table and hugging her. Chandra had cried when Carla told her that she had Keri with her. Jerome had been next, hugging her tightly. Carla had told him that his science had helped save her and Keri and he’d cried, too. And then Darcy had hugged her. They were all talking at once, so happy. And they’d all had a part in saving her. Darcy and her mom with their magic and her dad with his science. Carla couldn’t blame Darcy or her mom for what they’d promised Silver. If it had been one of them dying, she’d have done the same thing. It meant she had a month to convince Darcy to try the spell to become the Moon Witch Advisor.

  She turned back to the screen and reengaged her magic. “Thank you, Silver.” Silver had added her power and Carla was sincerely thankful for that.

  Silver answered, “You’re welcome. When will you do the spell to free Keri? I’m sure we’d all like to add our power to ensure a safe journey for our sister-witch’s soul.”

  Carla didn’t have to look to know Darcy was rolling her eyes. “Tonight at moonrise. We’ll do the spell down on the beach so I can tap the ley lines that run ther
e, and use the salt from the ocean. Thank you, Silver and all who wish to add their magic to the circle for Keri.” She shut the laptop.

  “Since when has Silver ever offered to help?” Darcy slammed her lid closed.

  Carla set the machine on the ground, stood up, and stretched. “Since she’s so sure she’ll be the Advisor. You have no choice, Darcy. You’re going to have to try the spell to see if the Ancestors will choose you as the Moon Witch.”

  “Maybe. But let’s concentrate on the spell tonight. How many chakras can you open?”

  Carla wasn’t sure why Darcy was resisting the Moon Witch, but she was right about the spell. “Not sure yet. I was able to open six chakras and get to my third eye before my power started failing.”

  “Try now.”

  She closed her eyes and started opening chakras.

  Sutton stood on the cliffs waiting for Axel. He and the men had saved four of the five witches at Styx’s commune. Joe and Morgan had the witches in a safe house. Finally, he saw a growing shadow in the sky. Seconds later, Axel landed on the rocks about ten feet from him and folded up his wings until they disappeared into the tattoo.

  Sutton asked, “Styx still dead?” He had to make sure. Yeah, he’d killed him, but he had seen Carla come back to life. He had to make damned sure Styx wasn’t going to come back to life to torment her.

  Axel walked over. “Very dead. We disposed of his body.”

  Sutton knew how—in the kiln. But at least he could be sure now that the sadistic psychic was dead.

  “Carla wants to do the spell down there?” Axel indicated the beach below.

  “Yes, she said she needs the ley lines and the sea salt.”

  “Yeah, witches are partial to the ley lines that run where the water meets the shore.” He rubbed his eyes, looking tired. Dropping his hand, he said, “We can secure it.”

  “I’m not going to lose her now.” As it was, his body was in a constant hum, a perpetual readiness. The bond between them wasn’t completely broken as he’d believed, but it was disrupted and every cell in his body needed to reseal the bond.

  Sex.

  His body was desperate to be inside Carla, his Carly. They weren’t soul mirrors, but they were powerfully bonded.

  Axel looked over at him. “Damn, Sutton, I can feel the tension coming off you.”

  He stared at the ocean and said, “I’m staying away from her until the spell. I’m not going to screw this up again. She needs to take care of her sister.”

  “Rough. But it gets better. As your mental bond grows, when you can reach out and feel her, the physical part is easier to control.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe.” He didn’t know exactly what was going to happen since they weren’t true soul mirrors. They might not have that kind of mental bond. He’d had a taste of it though, and he already missed having Carla in his head. But he was more concerned with the unease running through him. “What am I missing? Styx is dead. Did you find any sign of Quinn Young?”

  Axel shook his head, his dark hair lifting in the breeze. “No. But we’re not letting our guard down. You and I will protect the women during the spell. We’ll put the other hunters back into the cliffs where the magic won’t incite their bloodlust, but they can get to us if something happens.”

  He nodded, then was caught by a sudden sizzle building inside him. The tattoo beneath his shirt woke up and started fluttering his wings. “Carla.”

  Axel looked over at him. “She in trouble?”

  He shook his head. “She’s doing magic. Trying to kill me.” He could barely breathe as her power built and poured through him. “Damn.” He turned and headed to the cabin.

  He broke into a run, unable to keep himself from her. He found Carla standing on his porch, her back to him. She had her arms down, her palms were facing out, her fingers spread. She tilted her head back so that her hair swung free, grazing her jean-clad butt.

  His gut cramped, his cock jerked and throbbed, and his eagle shuddered in pleasure.

  Darcy looked at him, then got up and went into the house.

  Sutton felt Axel move past him and disappeared into the house.

  The witch on the porch had his full attention. He moved up the steps silently, going around to the front of her. “Carly, baby, you’re killing me.”

  Her eyes were closed. “You feel it?”

  “Yes.” Hell, yes. Her scent was sinking into him, while her powers rushed over his skin and through him like liquid lightning. The eagle shoved against his skin, working his wings to corral her power.

  Then it stopped.

  Carla opened her eyes. “I almost reached my seventh chakra. I can do this tonight. I can do the spell. With you. The closer you got to me, the higher my power climbed.”

  He didn’t understand it. “How is this happening if we’re not soul mirrors?” Then he knew. “It’s Keri, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  His heart seized in a painful gasp. “Carly, when she’s gone, it won’t be the same. You won’t have this much power.”

  She moved up to him, slipped her arms around him, and laid her head on his chest. “I won’t need it then. All I’ll need is you.”

  God, he hoped so.

  Carla walked down the trail to the beach, grumbling each time she tripped on rocks and loose sand. It was hard to keep her footing on the trail while holding the flowing skirt of the delicate gold dress out of the way. She’d magically created the dress she had worn when she and Keri played Ancestor dress up. It was probably silly, but Sutton had understood that that was a special memory to her. It was dark and getting cold, and she clutched Sutton’s jacket tighter around her bare shoulders.

  She had thought walking down the road would be easier than when she’d walked up it to find Sutton the first time.

  She stumbled again on another rock and tumbled forward.

  Sutton caught her around the waist, then he swept her up into his arms. “Honey, you are not an outdoors-woman.”

  She looked up at his face in the moonlight. The face she loved with his bald head, his eagle earring, and those incredible blue eyes. “How do you see where you’re going?”

  “Eagle vision.” He grinned at her, then his grin flattened. “You’re not wearing underwear.” His voice dropped huskily.

  “Spell work requires freedom.”

  He dropped his gaze to her face. “You’re torturing me, baby. I’m going to get even.”

  “Hiking on these trails is torture enough.” She hated feeling inadequate, but how could she not? He was already three-quarters of the way down the trail to the beach and that was while carrying her. Keri would have never let him carry her. She’d have walked on bleeding blisters before she’d given in. Carla knew Sutton loved her, and she knew her sister was okay with that, but she still …

  “Carly.” His voice was low and gentle. “I can’t fix people’s heads. You can.”

  Startled, she said, “You heard my thoughts.”

  “No, I just know you. Most of the time, you’re very self-confident. But every once in a while, you forget how damned special you are. It’s my job to remind you.”

  Carla put her head on his shoulder, feeling the man she loved. He didn’t care that she wasn’t an outdoors-woman. He loved her as she was. She felt the ground level out beneath his stride, felt the cool mist of the ocean. “Put me down.”

  He slid her down his body, his thick thigh rubbing against her. He took hold of her face. “Once we are finished here, I’m not going to be able to wait. I need you. I need to …”

  Her breath caught and her body went soft and wet. “Me, too.” She rose up on her toes to kiss him.

  “All right, let’s get to work,” Darcy said with Axel by her side.

  Carla broke the kiss and bent down to pull off her shoes.

  Her dad came up to stand beside her.

  She dropped the shoes, feeling the cool sand on her feet, and looked at his face in the light of the three-quarter moon. The shadows and dips on his clean-s
haven face marked his grief. His hair was neatly combed and he looked solemn. She put her hand on his arm and asked, “What is it?”

  He said softly, “If you see her and can talk to her, tell her I love her.”

  Her heart twisted for him. He had loved Keri, but fear for her had gotten in the way. His grief was compounded because Keri’s murder took away his hope of ever fixing his mistakes with his daughter. “She knows, Dad, I promise you. But I will tell her.”

  He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her in a hug. Then he walked away to the rocks. He was going to stay outside the salt circle to observe.

  Her mom, Darcy, Axel, Sutton, and Carla would be inside the circle.

  Carla turned to where the waves lapped at the shore. Ley lines were formed where two powerful forces met, like where water met the earth along the shore of an ocean. Witches naturally gravitated to the oceans. Natural lakes worked, too. Other places rich with ley lines were graveyards, where life met death. The ley lines were power points for witches, and Carla was going to draw down the moon in order to create a magnetic force that would tap into the ley lines, pulling even more power up through her chakras.

  She needed a familiar to control that extra power. Sutton’s eagle would be her familiar. The eagle would be on lookout for demons, who also had the ability to pull power from ley lines. The salt circle should protect them, but demons were exceedingly tricky.

  Carla took a breath. Ready, Keri? She didn’t expect an answer.

  The scar warmed.

  Carla smiled then, and her first four chakras opened with gentle pops. Keri’s soul had been trapped too long. Keri, who loved the freedom of hiking, running, or biking, was long past ready to be free.

  “Everyone is set,” Darcy said.