Broken Pentacle

by Eden Rivers

  BROKEN PENTACLE

  Eden Rivers

  www.loose-id.com

  Warning

  This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. Loose Id® e-books are for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

  Broken Pentacle

  Eden Rivers

  This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Published by

  Loose Id LLC

  1802 N Carson Street, Suite 212-2924

  Carson City NV 89701-1215

  www.loose-id.com

  Copyright © August 2008 by Eden Rivers

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing, photocopying, faxing, or emailing without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC.

  ISBN 978-1-59632-760-3

  Available in Adobe PDF, HTML, MobiPocket, and MS Reader

  Printed in the United States of America

  Editor: Ann M. Curtis

  Cover Artist: Anne Cain

  Chapter One

  Blood dripped down Sky’s forearm and along her wrist, pooling in her cupped palm. She stared at the lash mark along her forearm, trying to make sense of the wound. She couldn't remember receiving it. As she fought toward full consciousness, she bucked against the leather straps securing her to the rough stone wall.

  “Fuck. Oh, gods, please! No more! Anything, I’ll do anything! Just fucking stop! Please ‑‑ oh, gods…” A crack of the whip, and Alec’s voice trailed off into a tortured moan.

  Snapping her head up so fast she smashed the back against the wall, she stared in horror as the rogue witch tore a final strip across Alec’s back. Red flecks spattered Jaimis’s white shirt, and his mouth twisted into a cruel grin.

  “No.” Her voice caught in her throat, parched and raw, and she dragged her tongue across her cracked lips, seeking moisture.

  “No!” Louder this time, but Jaimis paid her no mind as he cleaned the vicious length of leather with a bloodstained cloth. Trembling, Alec slouched against his chains, making sounds like a wounded animal.

  Oh goddess, make it stop! As the rogue witch placed the whip on a low table and reached for his belt buckle, Sky struggled against the leather straps that cut into her chest, wrists, and ankles.

  Reaching so deep that she shook with effort, she searched for some remnant of power. But the dampening spell held her in a stranglehold, choking off not only her magic, but also her will. Even though she closed her eyes tight, Alec’s panicked whimpers and the rouge witch’s exalted groans painted a grisly tableau.

  “Get off him! Leave him alone, you sick fuck!” The urge to kill roared through her, alien and bitter. But even if she could escape the dampening spell he'd set, she sensed the rogue witch had carved out some vital part of her when he’d peeled away select memories, leaving her not only battered and bleeding but also unable to recall specifics of how he’d violated her. Her back was peeled raw, yet she couldn’t recall the cut of the lash.

  “Leave! Him! Alone!”

  As Alec’s cries rose to a crescendo, reason gave way to instinct, and she opened her eyes ‑‑ and watched Jaimis run his fingers along the bloody stripes on Alec’s back as he rode him like an animal. Although Alec swore and pleaded, the dampening spell locked him in its stranglehold, rendering him unable to help himself.

  Worse than all those horrors, Sky felt Jaimis’s power swell like a tidal wave, swirling through the confinement of the dungeon in a wall of heat and victory. Feeding on Alec’s blood ‑‑ on their blood ‑‑ augmenting his inborn gifts as he bled their power.

  Screams ripped from her throat, and rage burned hot and thick as the world seemed to dip and buck around her, gravity and reason itself upended by terror.

  “Sky, stop! Enough!”

  Kill. “Harm none” ceased to exist as a rational edict in a world where hell walked and betrayal wrote itself in blood. Confused, she felt her magic gather itself to strike ‑‑ horribly off center, broken, but unhindered by the dampening spell. Wind brushed her hair against her cheeks as her power tried to find the proper channels to surface, balked, and then threw itself upward, raw and uncontrolled.

  “You’re safe ‑‑ Skyler, stand down!” The command in the voice triggered a rush of defiance, but when warm fingers lifted her hair away from her face and stroked her cheek, her fury fell away, and she pulled the coil of energy back into herself. As the world bucked around her again, he cupped her chin in his palm and pulled her close with his other arm, his scent blocking out the remnants of fear.

  Sky fought the urge to curl into a fetal position and whimper like a wounded animal. “What the fuck?”

  “First part ‑‑ hell of a bad dream.” Zach continued to stroke her face as she trembled through the aftermath of the recurring nightmare. “Second part ‑‑ air turbulence. Thunderstorms all across Minnesota. Now lean back and let me get your seatbelt latched.”

  Although she’d never met Zach before he showed up in Mexico to escort her back to the States ‑‑ as healed as she was going to get after a year’s ministrations by the witch healers ‑‑ her body reacted to his scent like a child seeking candy. Once he had her seatbelt secured, he held her against him as the plane tilted and plunged. Rain lashed against the windows, and lightning ripped through the clouds

  “Damn, we’re going to die.”

  “Not by half. The elder witch hires on ex-military as pilots. I’ve seen Sorren’s little jet come through hurricane-force winds. There was more risk you’d rip us apart with that fickle energy of yours while you were surfacing from your nightmare than of a plane crash.” He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face until she met his eyes. “Back with me now?”

  “Yeah, I’m back.” Zach let go of her chin, and despite herself, she settled into his embrace, turning away from the chaos outside and focusing on more interesting details.

  Zach looked every bit the badass witch in his black jeans and black T-shirt, and she decided if push came to shove, she wouldn’t mind having him at her back. Seeing as the brimming-with-power, ex-cop bodyguard with Asian features and a body like a pro wrestler might end up being the only one standing between her and Jaimis, his steady strength reassured the hell out of her.

  As for why his musky male scent worked its way through her and called up long-dormant flutters in her belly, at the moment, she’d be better off focusing on the wildly careening plane than the sudden surge of her libido. Fuck, the only thing she hated more than flying was putting her fate in someone else’s hands.

  Sky risked a glance out the window as lightning licked across the sky and hoped the pilot felt more confident than she did. “We’re going to die.”

  “Nope. Landing’s in ten minutes. Just enough time to go over the plan one more time.”

  “The plan…” Sky clenched her hands on her lap. Right. The plan. She tilted her head forward so her long hair covered her face in a black veil, hiding her expression, though probably not her fear, from Zach.

  Every mistake comes with payback, and hers had been colossal. But bottom line, she’d volunteered for this. Determination warred with fear. And won. She wiggled free of Zach’s embrace ‑‑ hell, the man’s biceps were nearly as big as her thighs ‑‑ squ
ared her shoulders, and bit her lower lip.

  “Right. The plan.” She began reciting, almost by rote. “One rogue witch, half insane from the blood rites he’s used to augment his power. As his ex- lover, I know him like no one else. Or at least, the part of him that’s still sane. As his victim, chances are I can lead Sorren’s people to him, following the blood tie the asshole carved between us so that the elder witch’s people can bring the rogue to heel.” Death would taste sweeter, in Jaimis’s case, but damn, she’d settle for justice.

  Scared as she was, she had no regrets about signing on for this mission. For what Jaimis had done to her, to Alec, to countless others, she’d travel to hell and back to stop him and his followers from painting the land in blood.

  The plane tilted perilously. She swallowed hard as she watched forks of lightning flicker past the wing. “As an extra bonus, the bastard will do anything to find me and finish me off, eager to seek revenge for the scars Alec pasted across his face while I distracted him, and we got the fuck out of there.”

  Zach reached for her wrist, and she allowed the caress as he stroked his fingers along her wrist. “I’ll keep you safe, Skyler. I swear I will.”

  “Right. Your job ‑‑ bodyguard. My job ‑‑ bait.”

  * * * * *

  Sky shivered as hot water pelted her. Tilting her head to the side, she shifted her hair over her shoulders until it covered her breasts like a black cloak. The pulsing shower spray pounded the knotted muscles across her back and shoulders.

  Without warning, power sizzled across her senses, rising unbidden. Although she couldn’t detect any obvious signs of danger, her instincts simmered on high alert.

  “Chill!” Closing her eyes, she grounded the energy, repeating the litany that had kept her sane from the moment she stepped back onto U.S. soil eight hours ago.

  I’m safe. I’m safe. I’m safe. I’m fucking safe.

  Dropping her psychic shields just enough to get a feel for her surroundings, she found everything as it should be. Despite her overprotective bodyguard’s reluctance to leave her alone for so much as a shower, at the moment, Zach didn’t have much more on his mind than a midnight snack and snippets of past sexual encounters. Quickly raising her shields to block out unwanted psychic chatter and feeling guilty for spying on her bodyguard, Sky leaned back into the spray and willed her tight muscles to relax.

  Seeking comfort, she let her mind stray back to Zach’s arms around her, like warm bands of steel, easing her from her nightmare. Something inside her stretched like a waking cat, arched its back, and luxuriated in his scent ‑‑ sharp, like crushed dandelions, yet warm with a touch of male sweat and brushed with overtones of cinnamon. Scents she associated with strength. And kindness.

  Fear sloughed off her as she recalled the press of his shoulder against hers, the deep resonance of his voice. Bless it, she hadn’t reacted to anyone like that since she and Alec lay convalescing together in the elder witch’s gardens during the weeks following Jaimis’s attack, over a year ago. She’d explained away her fascination with Alec as a temporary connection between two witches who had traveled to hell and walked out alive, if not whole.

  Letting her mind follow the soothing distraction, she imagined Zach’s hands on her skin as she dragged the slick bar of soap across her shoulders. Strong. Rugged. Hands as capable of handling a brawl or weaving the intricate patterns of spells. Or tracing lazy circles around her breasts, moving inward in slow spirals until he traced the puckered outline of her areola.

  Crooning reassurance, he cupped her chin with his roughened palm and, coaxing her face up, leaned down to kiss her. He tasted like salt and cinnamon, so tempting that her belly clenched in anticipation. Only a few inches taller than she was, he pulled her against him, pressing his erect cock against her wet skin, just above its target. The kiss lulled her, held off the fear as his tongue traded tender thrusts with hers.

  His hands traced her spine, playing under the drenched length of her hair and waking more fire than she thought she still held inside her. Not that she hadn’t had lovers since Jaimis’s attack. She’d made a point of seeking out gentle partners to help further her healing. Mostly women, but she took a man to her bed upon occasion. Still, this felt ‑‑ new. Her desire for Zach rose genuine and fresh, not bidden by determination and strength.

  When he lifted her against the cool tiles of the shower and pressed her back against the wall, she closed her eyes and curled her legs around his hips, wriggling along his body as he eased her dripping pussy over his shaft. She cried out when his thick cock slid home, her arousal tinged with anxiety.

  Zach held her as if she were weightless, not even straining as he rocked her in his arms. He drew in and out in small motions, dragging his skin across her clit with each thrust. Tilting her head, Sky opened her eyes and let the shower turn her world into a blur of fragmented color. Blue tiles. Zach’s honey tan skin. Her raven black hair hanging between them, plastered to her pale breasts and his chest, trailing down until it disappeared from view where their bodies became one.

  When he hit her sweet spot, angling his cock to press forward and up as he cradled his palms around her ass, she called out to him, frowning at the note of unease that crept into her voice when she yelled his name.

  He gave her what she craved ‑‑ both the safety she needed, and the ardor she’d almost forgotten. His thrusts reached a spot deep inside that she’d thought was dead to pleasure, driving her higher. But then, fear danced around her like blue fog as she panted and rose over the crest, clenching and trembling so hard, she bit her lip and tasted blood. Her climax hit her like shock waves, and she clung to Zach as if only he could keep her from slipping into a black void painted with blood and terror.

  “Please, Alec, don’t leave me!”

  Thrown from her fantasy by the image of Alec’s face, golden and wracked with passion, she dragged her fingers in a slow circle around her clit, determined to focus on the warm glow of her release, rather than her fright. As for the rest, it wouldn’t do to dwell on why in the name of the goddess Zach had turned into Alec there at the end. Just a fantasy. Doesn’t have to mean anything.

  Bottom line, she’d worked off some stress and grounded herself ‑‑ as good a way as any to beat back the trepidation that had been her constant companion since the plane landed. She turned so the shower massaged her breasts, sensitizing her nipples, and flicked two fingers back-and-forth across her clit in feather-soft caresses, reluctant to let go of the erotic buzz. But then, something shifted, a vague disturbance. Sky bent down and shut off the water.

  Seeking a source for the subtle shift in psychic energy, she tensed, her instincts on high alert. Unease rose to dread, then dread to choking fear. Without bothering to grab a towel, she flung herself out of the shower and raced barefoot and naked across the wooden floor, driven by pure instinct.

  She sensed two agitated intruders, one male, one female. Jaimis’s followers, the dark lords? Their unease made it impossible to skim any coherent thoughts, but both were on high alert, their adrenaline pumping, nerves jangled.

  Her bare feet padded soundlessly against the carpet as she ran, fear compelling her forward. How could the rouge witch have tracked her down already?

  Flash. The disconnect came so suddenly that she nearly lost her balance as light seemed to splinter around her. Dragged back to a time when she’d known him as lover ‑‑ not as torturer, not as rapist ‑‑ she tasted Jaimis’s tongue, sharp with mint, on her lips. Now, the kiss strangled her, as cloying as his grandiose promises.

  Shaking off the unwelcome piece of her past, she cursed the seemingly endless length of the hall, panting as she drove herself forward.

  Another flash. Jaimis smiled as he forced her to whip Lena, her kidnapped roommate and former lover ‑‑ taunted her as he punished her with brutal blows after she helped Lena escape. Then, painted images of her coming death as he dragged her into a blood-blackened circle, an unwilling participant in a deadly witches’ duel. She w
atched in horror as he raised his hands to summon spell-fire and claimed the lives of innocent witches.

  With sheer grit, Sky shook herself free of the distracting vignettes. Flying down the stairs two at a time, she rushed toward the back door where she sensed the threat.

  “Skyler?” Zach called out from the front of the safe house.

  As she was dragged back in time again, light fragmented before her, then reformed into Alec’s face, intent with worry as he swept her up in his concealing spell and led her away from the site of the duel, with Jaimis following close behind. Terrified, she’d uttered the faintest whimper. And the rogue witch had followed the sound right to them. Bespelled them. Chained them. Imprisoned them. Drained them of their powers.

  Dark. The crack of a whip. Pain. Alec’s frantic, almost inhuman screams.

  Fuck! Focus!

  She tasted fear on her tongue, sharp and sour. Damned if she’d let the few memories Jaimis had failed to carve away from those three days of hell suffocate her now. Throwing herself around the corner at the bottom of the stairs so fast she almost stumbled, she cursed and fixed her mind on the fact that she and Zach were about to fight one or two of Jaimis’s dark lords. With any luck, they’d take them out and be one step closer to protecting other witches from their twisted blood rites.

  Zach’s footsteps pounded down the hall. Some fucking bodyguard if his reflexes were this slow. Summoning enough energy to send little shocks fizzing along the surface of her skin, Sky ducked into the mudroom to the right of the backdoor. Rather than trying to disarm the alarm system, one of the witches on the other side of the door melted the locks and burst into the cabin.

  Half crazy with fear, Sky unleashed her power, ducked, and covered her head with her arms. With a roar, a chunk of plaster over the entryway tore loose and crashed down around the wild-eyed man in torn jeans and a ratty T-shirt who’d breached their defenses. Behind him, a red-haired witch raised her fist, murmured a spell, and steadied the crumbling ceiling.