Missing Magic

by Karen Whiddon

  That was true. Neither of them had seen a thing.

  “There’s blood over here,” someone shouted. “A fair amount of it.”

  “Look for a body. Or a trail.”

  A few minutes later, the reply came back. “The trail ends nowhere. And there’s no body.”

  “Find out how old the blood is,” Cowell ordered. Lieber scurried off to do his bidding.

  When they were alone, the Lieutenant frowned at Dee. “Mighty odd coincidence, don’t you think, you being here and all?”

  “Is it?” Dee was non-committal. “I’m just leaving the parking lot after a day of shopping, just like any other civilian.”

  Cowell sighed. “Are you armed?”

  “No, but I have a revolver in my glove box. If you look at it, you’ll see it hasn’t been fired.”

  The other man never moved. “Do we have your permission to search your vehicle?”

  “Of course,” Dee answered. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”

  The Lieutenant waved two patrolmen over. The search, naturally, revealed nothing.

  After a thorough sweep of the garage, nothing else was found, other than the broken car window.

  “Shots were fire and someone was hit.” Lieber sounded frustrated. “But both the perp and the victim are long gone.”

  “Are you done with me?” Dee asked.

  “We have no choice but to let you go.” Dee’s boss shook his head. “First though, I’d like a word. He led her away from the others, talking to her in a voice too low for Cenrick to hear.

  A moment later, she returned, her eyes suspiciously bright. “Come on. We’re out of here.”

  Once they were headed down the highway, with car after car passing them since Dee was driving a sedate fifty-five, Cenrick touched her shoulder. “What did he say to you back there, when he took you off to speak privately?”

  She sniffed. He was surprised to see her eyes were full of unshed tears. “He told me he had faith in me. He said he knows I understand right from wrong.”

  “He doesn’t think you did any of this?”

  She wiped at her eyes. “He didn’t say those words. But that was the impression I got, yes. I can’t tell you how much that means to me, to have someone actually believe in me.”

  “I believe in you.” He said the words softly, wondering if she’d understand how deeply he meant them.

  “Thanks.” She smiled at him, tears making silvery tracks down her cheeks. Shaking her head, she sniffed and brushed them away. “Thanks for being my friend.”

  A friend. Though he nodded, pretending a sudden interest in the freeway traffic, her words felt more like an insult than the compliment she’d meant.

  He wanted to be more than a friend to her. Much more.

  The revelation stunned him. Such a thing was impossible. Her life was here, and once she’d restored her reputation, she’d jump right back into the midst of it. While he was here only to do a job. Once he’d stopped the soul stealers, he had to return to Rune. Unlike his brother, he couldn’t stay. He would be heir and Rune must have him or his brother. Since Alrick had chosen another destiny, that left him. Wanting more with a human woman, even one as brave and beautiful as Dee, was completely out of the question.

  Chapter Eleven

  IN THE end, despite all he knew couldn’t happen, when they returned to her apartment and she invited him to her bed, he went. After blissful lovemaking, Cenrick couldn’t make himself leave her. As she drifted off to sleep, wrapped in his arms, he told himself he’d stay with her for an hour, just to watch her sleep.

  When that hour had passed, he claimed another. Then another and another, until his own eyes drifted closed and he too dozed.

  In the morning, sunlight streaming in through the blinds woke him. Heart full of an emotion he didn’t want to acknowledge, he stared at the slumbering woman in his arms and felt an aching sense of loss.

  Then, unable to help himself, he kissed her hair, inhaling her sweet, floral fragrance and longing for things he had no right to wish for.

  Dee raised her head, a smile curling her lips, and looked at him with a sleepy gaze. “I smell coffee.”

  He sniffed. “Me too.” From the other room, he could hear the sound of her coffeepot brewing. “How is that possible?”

  “Magic,” she said. The laughter in her voice told him she was teasing. “Actually, I set the coffee-maker to come on automatically. I filled it up last night.”

  “Hmm.” Tightening his arms around her, he nodded. “I could get used to this,” he said without thinking.

  Immediately she stiffened, telling him his casual statement was a mistake. “Well, don’t.” Squirming in an attempt to roll over, she succeeded in fueling his already growing arousal.

  Her eyes widened. “Well, well, well.” As her hand closed around him, he gave himself over to the sensation.

  They made love again, this time more slowly, the ferocity of his need somewhat abated by their lovemaking the previous night. This time, he savored every thrust, withdrawing with an exquisitely agonizing deliberation. Holding on to his rapidly disintegrating self-control, he wanted to do this indefinitely, but Dee had other ideas.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” she growled against his mouth, raising her body to meet his thrusts, urging him on until all thoughts of controlled motion vanished. Actions again savage, they moved together with a fury and passion and when they climaxed, he felt as if more than mere animal sexuality fueled them.

  “Magic,” she cried out, her body convulsing around his, while he gave her his life’s essence.

  “Magic,” he echoed, and knew the words were true.

  They held each other until their breathing slowed. Finally, Dee shifted in his arms and sighed. “Guess we’d better get up now. We’ve got to get started trying to figure out how to find Mick, Natasha and her machine.”

  Reluctant to move, he forced himself to release her and pushed back the covers. “You’re right, of course.”

  “What do we do now?” She sighed. “Where do we go? Mick’s house is gone. How are we going to find it?”

  “Good question.” Because he didn’t have an answer, he kissed her again, on the cheek this time, making her shiver.

  “Cenrick,” she protested. “Let’s get cleaned up and we’ll talk in the kitchen.”

  Pushing out of his arms, she untangled herself from the sheets, jumped from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.

  Leaving him to rise, and pad after her naked, the scent of her body still on his skin.

  While she showered, he watched her, amazed he could still be aroused, and thought about joining her, but didn’t.

  However, when she’d finished and his turn to shower came, he left the water on cold.

  They went about their morning routine quickly and efficiently, each shooting the other an occasional smile.

  Only once she’d taken a seat at the kitchen table, pad of paper and steaming mug of coffee in front of her, did he pull out a chair and sit across from her.

  Mug of steaming coffee in one hand, she held up a pad of paper with the other. “I’m going to start by making a list.”

  “Good.” He nursed his own glass of ice cold milk. “What types of things are you going to list?”

  “Things we need to do. And possible solutions. For example,” she wrote furiously. “We need to find the machine.”

  “And Natasha.”

  “Good.” She jotted on the paper. “And don’t forget Mick.”

  But when she started the solution column, she had nothing to write. “Start talking,” she waved her pen at him. “We’ll brainstorm.”

  “I still need to know how they’re luring my people in.”

  “Right. It must be something only Fae can feel, like bait of some kind.”

  He considered. “No, I felt no pull, no lure. Nothing to make me want to be there.”

  “But you felt something.”

  “Yes. It made me weak and disoriented.” Restless, he shifted in hi
s chair, watching as she sipped her coffee.

  When he fell silent, she rested her chin on her hands and stared at him. “Damn, I wish I was Fae.”

  This startled him. “Why?”

  “Because they want Fae. If I could act like a decoy, let them believe they’d lured me in, I’d have the advantage of being human. Their machine wouldn’t affect me since I’m human. Plus, I’d have my gun. You might want to reconsider.”

  “No.” He rejected the idea. “I already told you, your aura would be a dead giveaway. Plus, I don’t want you risking yourself.”

  “As a cop I risk myself every day. That’s what I do – or did.” She stared hard at him. “Can use magic to make me Fae? Is such a thing possible?”

  As usual, though he didn’t like it, he could only speak truth. “Yes. It’s possible.”

  “Then do it. It’s the only plan that makes sense. We’ll draw them to us, instead of the other way around. I’ll wear a disguise so Natasha and Mick won’t recognize me.”

  When he didn’t reply, she pushed herself to her feet. “Look, let me do my job.”

  “This isn’t your job.”

  “Yes, it is,” she insisted. “Who better? I’m a trained officer of the law. Right now I’ve not only been accused of being a dirty cop, but I’m a suspect in both the arson on Mick’s house as well as his supposed death. My former fiancé is Soulless, I’ve been shot at, my apartment has been broken into, and every single day those people steal another Fae or two’s souls. If my going undercover as Fae will give us a shot at finding the machine and taking them down, we need to go for it.”

  What she said made a weird kind of sense. Still, he tried another tact. “You’d be playing right into their hands. They want to hurt you and they’d have you.”

  “How?” She blew out air in a loud huff. “The machine won’t affect me like it does you. And, as I’ve mentioned, I’ll be armed. This may be our best chance, our only chance.”

  He stared at her, unable to tell her how much she’d come to matter to him in such a short time.

  Taking his hesitation for something else, she bent down, putting her face on a level with his. “Give me some credit, please. I know what I’m doing, Cenrick. Trust me on this.”

  He swallowed, closing his eyes to hide the fact that all he could think about was kissing her. Damn. He needed reasons, arguments – points he could make to convince her she shouldn’t do this, couldn’t do this. The problem was, he knew she could.

  Finally, he shook his head. “What if Mick recognizes you, even with your disguise? He knows you’re not Fae.”

  “I have a hunch Mick might be on my side.”

  He had that same feeling, oddly enough.

  When he didn’t contradict her, she smiled and rubbed her hands together. “Now, are you going to do it or not?”

  If he had to capitulate, he wouldn’t do it gracefully. He wanted to make sure they’d covered every possibility, every angle. “If I made you appear Fae, where would we need to go to make sure Natasha and her crew see us?”

  “We?” She raised a brow. “I thought we’d already discussed this.”

  “I’m not letting you go alone. Period. Now, where would we need to go?”

  “That’s easy.” He could tell she thought she had him – her smile was triumphant. No doubt she planned to get him to capitulate on this, then talk him out of going with her. “I know all the clubs where Mick hangs out. Where else would they go? They have to be getting the Fae from there.”

  “Gay clubs?”

  “Hey, Mick and Jack liked to go to straight clubs too. Especially once Peter and I got engaged. Besides, what does it matter? All we need is for someone – straight or gay – to think I’m Fae and get me to the machine.”

  “True.”

  “So you’ll do it? You’ll make me Fae?”

  He nodded. “Yes. But only once you give me your word not to go alone. I’m going with you.”

  “Oh no, you’re not.”

  “I can’t let you go alone.”

  “You have to. Otherwise, that negates the entire thing. From what you’ve told me, you can make me appear Fae, but you can’t hide the fact that you really are Fae from them. You’d be placing yourself in danger and negating the entire point of making me a decoy. Plus I’d have to watch out for you, which would severely limit my effectiveness. I have to go alone.”

  He glared at her. She glared right back.

  Finally, she gave in. “I’ll have to take my gun for protection. Especially if I’m having to watch our for you.”

  “Good. If they think you’re Fae, they’ll never expect you to have a metal weapon.”

  “Okay.” She clapped her hands. “Let’s do it.”

  With a nod, he began the words to the spell.

  Magic rushed over her, making the hair on her arms stand up and goose bumps appear on her skin. He waved his hand and ribbons of silvery glitter trailed after him.

  “Wow!” Dee laughed. “What’s that called?”

  “Some call it Fae glitter or Faerie Dust.”

  “Faerie Dust? Like Tinkerbell used?”

  “Nothing so dramatic.” He continued the spell, waving his fist, ribbons of sparkles trailing in a sparkling aura around her.

  Her creamy skin began to glow.

  For the first time, she looked uncertain. “What will this… glitter do to me?”

  “This will magnify your natural attributes, and make them even more so, as we Fae are.”

  He studied her, one swift, hard look before glancing back down at his hand and wiggling his finger, sending a shower of lovely sparks cascading.

  “Magnify what? Can you be a bit more detailed?”

  “Your lovely brown eyes will appear to be liquid pools men can drown in. Your skin,” he trailed a glittering finger along her cheek, making her shiver, “Already so soft, will seem to them like the finest cream.”

  With a nervous laugh, she tried to pretend she wasn’t affected. But he’d seen the shudder that swept through her at his touch, noticed the way her eyes darkened.

  Desire rushed into him with the force of a hurricane, amplified by his magic. He cleared his throat, looking away, barely remembering to repeat the words to keep the spell going. “You will be stunning,” he managed, wondering if she realized to him, she already was.

  “So, you’re saying I’ll be supermodel material? I’ll have to fight men off with a stick?”

  “Basically, yes.”

  “Then how do Fae move about among us? Wouldn’t you all have that problem?

  “We would. But it’s for that very reason that most Fae hide our true appearance when we’re among humans. We don’t want to attract unwanted attention.”

  “Good Lord.” Her hushed whisper made his body stir. “That means…” The way she looked at him made him want to kiss her senseless.”

  “That means what?” His voice came out rusty.

  “You’re already breathtakingly handsome,” she blurted. “You’re saying that you—?”

  He felt his face color. Unlike his brother, he’d had never been comfortable with his appeal to females. “Yes.”

  “Let me see. If you’re going to make me into some siren, I want to see the real you.”

  He took a step back, clinging to his repetition of the spell like a mantra. “Dee, I like you. We’re partners. I don’t want to change that. Drop it.”

  But she wouldn’t. “Why? What are you afraid of?”

  “It’s a well-documented fact that human women are uncontrollably attracted to us when we drop our shields.”

  She snorted. “Fine. Since I’m already attracted to you, what difference will it make?”

  “Dee—.”

  She took a step closer, making his heart stutter. He was only half-way through the spell, and he could barely resist her.

  Suddenly, he wanted her to see him as he was, to fight the same, strong attraction as the one even now coursing through his veins. With a word, he dropped his shield. />
  She blinked. “You look the same.” Peering at him, she sounded disappointed. “You look… the same.”

  He frowned. “I don’t understand it. I’ve dropped my shields. You’re supposed to see me as I really am.”

  She took a step towards him, head tilted. “Nope, no difference. You look the same. Maybe I already see you as you really are.”

  “Not possible.”

  Something in his expression must have reached her. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Let’s get on with making me Fae. We’ve got a job to do.”

  He sighed. “I’ll need to touch you.”

  Closing her eyes, she simply nodded.

  Feather light, he touched her shoulder. She shivered.

  His fingers trailed down her arm, to her waist, brushing her hip. After skimming to her toes, he placed his hand on top of her head and spoke the rest of the spell.

  “Okay.” Summoning up a strength of will he hadn’t known he possessed, he took his hand away. Odd how bereft that made him feel. “I’m finished. You can open your eyes.”

  Slowly, cautiously, she did. When she met his gaze, he felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. He growled low in his throat. “Even for a Fae, you’re beautiful.”

  “Really?” She grinned up at him. “Ok, tell me the rest of it. What else is different?”

  He blinked, pushing away the raw, animal hunger. “Different? What do you mean?”

  “I know you said I couldn’t fly, but you didn’t mention anything else. Does this spell give me any special powers, like magical ability? I have a mental picture of twitching my nose and my apartment instantly becoming spotless. Or a five course, mouth-watering, gourmet meal appearing with the wave of my hand.”

  Her grin slowly faded. “Better yet, maybe I could use magic to make the charges against me disappear, so I can get my job back.

  Though he hated to crush her hopes, he had no choice. “Uh, no. Sorry. No magical powers. You just appear Fae. Nothing more, nothing less. We’ve only altered your appearance. Not your entire being. You’re still human at the core.”

  “What about my aura?” She stumbled over the unfamiliar word. “Did you fix that?”