The Craft of the Wise 4: Healing Hearts

by Dee Carney

  As if to prove her point, Devin rushed forward, the small guard of wolves surrounding him of little consequence in their attempts to stop him. He cupped her face in his hand and she leaned into his touch. She closed her eyes, cherishing him, wanting this moment to last just a little bit longer. Just a little bit of time was all she asked.

  “Are you all right?” he murmured.

  She was now. Standing next to him made her more than all right. How, in such a short amount of time, could she feel exposed without him by her side? When they stood before Dina, the terror she should have felt didn’t reach the level of hysterics warranted. Devin’s presence, his promise of love which fortified her then and gave her strength now.

  Someone cleared his throat loud enough to shake her from her thoughts.

  “I’ll be fine.” She slid her hand over his and let it linger before curling her fingers in his. Hand in hand, they turned to face the room.

  “Would you care to sit, Selena?” Mayda asked in a gentle voice.

  She nodded and headed for the first open space. Devin accompanied her, but before they could take three steps, someone wrenched his hand away from hers. Selena spun on her feet to find Aaron blocking her path to him.

  “I warned them of the mistake in bringing you here and they didn’t listen to me. You’ve gone against me for the last time, Devin.”

  Tension crackled the air and Selena broke out in a cold sweat. Whatever came next couldn’t be good.

  “Wait, Aaron.” Goddess, she could barely hear herself over the din of growls from each man.

  “I am your alpha, your leader, whether you like it or not Devin.”

  She shifted around Aaron long enough to see the light fade from Devin’s eyes. His face went lifeless. His manner changed too, the emotion lifting and evaporating into the air. He closed his lids long enough for her to recognize the change in his posture.

  His voice went low, deep. “I am led…”

  He lifted his gaze, and the blood in her veins ran ice-cold. The blacks of his irises swirled with browns.

  “By no man…”

  Oh, Goddess, no. Not before she could tell the others what she knew.

  “No werewolf,” he growled. The colors began to shift now. Browns turning into orange. Soon oranges would turn into yellows. And then yellow would form into a solid slate of crimson. “And most certainly, not by my brother.”

  “Devin, don’t. Please,” she pleaded. The colors in his eyes shifted faster now, the change coming over him with a suddenness that took her breath away. Selena reached for his hand, but his remained limp in her grasp. The only indication he recognized her occurred when he looked down.

  “I love you,” he said.

  Then he was gone.

  Her hands flew to her chest and she clutched her heart against the pain of its beat, the best she could manage against his disappearance. She knew what happened to him. The call of the demon realm would be irresistible to him when he shifted. He would return to a world where he felt comfort. Where Dina would welcome him with open arms, despite his recent flight from there.

  Her duty and her responsibility demanded she ensure it was for the last time.

  “Damn it!” Aaron yelled. “How much more do you expect me to put up with from him, Mayda? How helpful has he been to his brethren? To Ava?”

  Without thinking, a reply flew out of Selena’s mouth. “He’s just saved our lives. All of us. Sit down and I’ll explain.”

  They listened well. Hardly anyone interrupted when she gave them the bottom-line version of what happened in the demon realm. By the time she explained the rift, the sound of her own voice was the only noise in the room. Ava watched her wide-eyed as the look on Mayda’s face became grimmer.

  “We’ve been going about this the wrong way,” the High Priestess said when Selena stopped speaking. “If we’d closed the realm without closing the rift first, we would have done more damage than we were trying to prevent.”

  “Closing the rift. That’s beyond me, Grand,” Ava said after a moment of silence passed. She voiced what Selena already knew to be true. They’d been rushing forward, trying to stay one step ahead of Dina and their haste left Ava ill-prepared to take over as High Priestess.

  “And me,” Mayda replied. She pushed away from the table and stood. All eyes followed her as she began to pace.

  Selena worried at the inside of her lip. She’d been so focused on Devin, she’d failed to focus on the bigger picture. Somehow she’d gone from the quiet mouse to the harbinger of doom. She’d spent so much time wishing for more importance, to be counted as someone special all these years. Now that she was there, she wondered at what price.

  “Are you telling me there is no hope for closing the rift?”

  Mayda glanced at Aaron. The smile that crept onto her face brought back a glimmer of hope. “I wouldn’t say that.”

  “High Priestess, speak plainly, please. Even with Ava’s help, I’m not as versed in the way of the witch as I could be.”

  She laughed softly and Selena quirked an eyebrow. Laughter? When everyone stood so tense they could almost snap in two with the slightest movement, Mayda managed to laugh?

  “I think we definitely have a shot at this if we go about what we need to do the right way. Closing the rift is a relatively simple task but, just as you said, Aaron, one I’m not as versed in as I could be.” She stopped walking and faced Selena. “The rift is a tear that can be mended until it is whole again. Who better to mend what is ill than our healer?”

  Selena had been drifting off in her own thoughts until she heard the word “healer.” A quick replay in her mind of Mayda’s words made her eyes widen.

  She’d not just been brought to the forefront, she’d been thrown there.

  “Wait, wait, wait. High Priestess, you can’t be serious!”

  “Don’t look so stricken, Selena. When you get over your shock, you’ll be able to appreciate just how serious I am. What I’m saying makes sense, don’t you agree?”

  “But—but, what about Ava? Why did we go through everything we’ve done if Ava isn’t the key to closing the demons’ way into our world?”

  “My dear, Ava has her part the same as you have yours. You are best suited, better than I am, to do this. Close the rift and let Ava seal the way permanently.”

  She glanced at Aaron and another thought struck her. “What will happen to demons on this side of the divide when she seals the way?”

  Liana spoke up. “We could work on a way of sending them back. There won’t be many. It shouldn’t be hard to do.”

  “But what about one who is cursed to be a demon only part of the time? What will happen to him if he’s demon-cursed at the time the spell is cast?”

  Aaron’s sharp inhalation could be heard across the room.

  Mayda shook her head, her eyes sad. “My best guess is one of two things. Neither are options you’ll want to hear. He could be killed or, possibly worse, Devin would be caught up in the spell and sent to the other side. Permanently.”

  Chapter Nine

  Selena rolled onto her back, doing her damnedest to not look at the neon display of the digital clock in the process. If she glanced at the numbers just one more time and saw that only another fifteen minutes had passed—again—she’d go mad.

  Her mind whirled with thoughts of healing and rifts and Devin and demons. Nothing she tried simmered the bubbling thoughts from tumbling over themselves. She’d already tried once to go outside and walk away her worries, but the werewolves stopped listening from the moment the words left her mouth, even after she offered that maybe one could accompany her. They shot her down immediately.

  “Trouble sleeping, love?”

  Devin.

  She held out her arms to him and almost sobbed with relief when he fell into them. How he managed to be there, she’d figure out later. Not that it mattered. He was Devin and did what he wanted. Only then did she recognize the soft hair over his arms, the elasticity of his skin. Demon no more, a
t least for the time being.

  He wrapped her in his embrace, her body warming all over with comfort and wiping away her concerns. Then he pressed his lips to hers—delicate kisses, and passionate sweeps of his mouth across hers. Selena pulled away long enough to peer at him in the darkness. “I’ve missed you. I didn’t think it possible, but Goddess, how I’ve missed you.”

  He pulled her close to his body. “You must have known I would be back for you.”

  She did. But not until she’d actually laid eyes on him, until she felt him with her own hands would she believe he would come. “It doesn’t matter what I thought. Only that you’re here now. There’s so much I have to tell you.”

  “Later,” he whispered. “Tell me later. Love me now.”

  His lips found hers in the darkness and he kissed with more of his unique, desperate need that she shivered from the intensity. Devin drank down her soft moans, his tongue sneaking into her mouth. When he pushed her shirt up, she wriggled out of the material, hating the loss of contact with him for those few seconds.

  “Damn, you’re beautiful.”

  She giggled at the awe in his voice. “You can’t even see me in here.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  The feel of his hot, moist mouth on her breast choked off the mirth in her voice. The only sound coming from her now was a low moan as his tongue teased her nipple into a stiff point. Her eyelids fluttered closed as he shifted, laving her other breast with the same hungry attention. By the time both breasts were heavy and aching, he raised his head and kissed her on the mouth again. “I can see every lovely inch of you, Selena. In the dark or not.”

  Devin nuzzled her neck, nips of his teeth sending more shivers over her skin. She arched into his touch, swallowing hard in anticipation of his hands sliding lower, snaking inside the waist of her cotton shorts. She could scarcely breathe, each touch of his hands and his mouth making her chest constrict, her airway close in, waiting for the next touch and then the next.

  Her fingers trembled as she groped for the edges of his shirt, pushing until muscle rippled beneath her hands. He shrugged out of the material, his mouth connecting with hers time and again.

  Their motions were frenzied, too much clothing separating them. Having to wait for him to shuck off his trousers seemed an eternity. She needed to feel him, his skin against hers. His body inside of hers. The fates allowed her so little time with him. Every second was precious, not to be wasted. She gripped his face in her hands, pulled him close to touch her mouth to his. Tenderness turned into a battle to remain connected to him. To keep him here, with her.

  “Hey, hey,” he soothed. “You’re going to hurt yourself like this.”

  Devin wrapped his arm around her waist and rolled them until she sat astride him. His erection prodded her where it lay trapped between their bodies. She’d heard the smile in his voice. The subtle undertone of teasing.

  Selena rocked her hips, sliding the heat of her pussy over him. As teasing as his words. “You said you wouldn’t hurt me,” she said, her voice husky.

  “Never.”

  She leaned forward and briefly pulled on his lip with her teeth. “Even if I wanted you to?”

  “Christ,” he groaned.

  She moaned with him as he lifted his hips, surging into her in a single stroke. Her body poised frozen above his. He sat upright, his cock pushing impossibly further into her and kissed her hard. The best she could manage was another small gasp.

  A slow rock of her hips delivered a thrill into her pussy. Devin’s hands stroked over her skin, traveling over her breasts, her belly. When they finally met her waist, he tilted her body, moving her until she undulated with him. “That’s it, love. Ride me.”

  She threw her head back and swallowed. Up and down, a slow, sweet ride. Devin’s luminescent eyes glowed in the darkness, his gaze shifting to where his body entered hers. Partially hidden beneath hooded lids, she remained focused on the way they watched her. Watched the passion unfold in them.

  A starburst of bliss raced through her veins when he stroked over her clit. Startled, she almost stopped, almost waited for him to take her body towards oblivion, but his whispered words of encouragement spurred her on.

  “God, yes, Selena—show me how you like it.”

  She cried out with each of his touches to her clit. He used her moisture to lubricate the sensitive bud, two fingers playing with her until she trembled from the onslaught. By now he drove into her, his hips lifting from the bed and sending more waves of pleasure through her.

  “Devin, please—”

  “Please what, love? Tell me what you need.”

  He stroked harder. Faster. Ecstasy coiled around her spine, spreading over her limbs until she was almost immobile.

  “Please!” she cried, not sure why she pleaded. Just knowing that Devin was there, sending her to a place where together they would meet unbridled bliss.

  “Please, what, love?” He pushed deeper, his grip on her waist tightening.

  “Devin—oh, Goddess…”

  Then she was there. Her muscles clamped down, her pussy tightening around his cock. Each pulse pulled from him, greedily seeking his sacrifice. Low keening cries escaped, one coming after the other. Devin pulled her face to his, his mouth devouring her cries. All the while, he pushed into her, filling her, feeding her need.

  He kept her soaring for a moment longer before easing his strokes on her sensitive clit. The way down was gentle, easy. His kiss lost its needful insistence, instead now demonstrating his consuming love. He remained buried inside of her, each push and pull meant to keep them connected.

  Selena rested her head on his chest, breathing hard against the crook of his neck. She whispered, “Please, Devin—don’t leave me.”

  He ran his hand down her back with long, luxurious strokes. “Never, love. Never.”

  “If I can’t heal you, Devin…”

  “Sssh. Right now, I just want you to love me, Selena. That’s all. Just love me, okay?”

  She nodded against his neck, then found herself lying on her back in one smooth move. She reached up to touch his jaw, to run her fingers over the cleft in his chin. She wanted to memorize every detail of his face, be able to recognize every line. The fine crop of stubble, the way his Adam’s apple bobbed when he spoke. All of him.

  Her eyelids fluttered closed as Devin began to thrust. She wrapped her legs tighter around his waist, pulling him closer to her body. Every emotion within her reached out for him, relished in the way they connected. A wave swept through her at the realization that her feelings for him did border on love. Maybe something more.

  The tempo of his breathing picked up pace. She rotated her hips beneath him and he groaned against her ear. Each stab of his cock sent heated waves to ripple through her and she meant to take him over the edge.

  He was there, too.

  Devin surged forward with a single violent urge, his cock swelling. With a loud groan, he came hard, jets of his seed erupting against her womb. He pushed through the orgasm, his valiant thrusts slowing as pleasure coursed over him. She stroked his arms and chest as he shuddered to a stop. When he lowered his mouth to kiss her, she kissed him back with all that she had within her.

  She loved him, without a doubt in her mind. And she would not lose him to the demon realm.

  Chapter Ten

  “Why does Aaron think you’re dangerous? As far as I can tell, you’ve always retained who you are, even when overtaken by a demon form.” She lay tucked against him, the small bed bowing beneath their combined weight. Light filtered in through the sheer curtains, but she didn’t want to get up and face the others yet. The inevitable clash between brothers could be avoided for a few minutes more, she hoped.

  “That’s you, Selena. I have a feeling you sometimes think I’m feeding you a line when I say there’s something about you that completes me, that keeps me sane. But it’s true. I’ve never been in as much control over my change as I have been since I met you.”

  “Di
d Dina really do this to you?” She kept her face down, dreading the question almost as much as she dreaded his answer.

  “Curse me? No. She did give me reason to seek her out time and time again.”

  “With promises of removing the curse.”

  “My desperate stupidity.”

  She still hadn’t told him about healing the rift. Apprehension about facing the daunting task mixed in with a healthy fear for him kept the words from coming out. What if she could only do one without fixing the other?

  “Today we celebrate Beltane.”

  “What does that mean to me, witch?”

  She shoved at his chest. “Don’t be difficult. It means that Ava will assume the position of High Priestess.”

  “And this disaster will be ended.”

  “Yes…” Her voice trailed off as the reality of their situation struck her. If she couldn’t heal the rift, if she couldn’t heal him, all of this ended badly for everyone. The weight of responsibility hovered just out of reach, a thin thread keeping the burden from crushing her.

  She couldn’t breathe all of a sudden. He—it—smothered her. Her throat closed in, her chest no longer willing to expand and receive a new exchange of air. Arms flailing, she pushed away from him, sitting upright.

  “Selena?”

  With balled fists pressed to her eyes, she gulped down shuddering breaths which brought her little relief. The entire coven, Devin, witchdom…they all depended on her. She couldn’t do this. Too much—way too much for them to ask of her.

  Hot tears stung her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

  Devin pulled her to him. “Jesus, Selena. Talk to me. What is it?” His voice trembled with a healthy coating of fear.

  “I-I can’t do this, Devin. I c-can’t.”

  “Do what, love?”

  Goddess above, she hadn’t told him yet. What could she say? She had one shot, just one, at healing him or he’d be lost to her and this world forever.