“You okay?” Theo appeared in her eyeline, a hand held out to help. She accepted it, allowing him to pull her back up to her feet.
“One bite will kill you,” she hissed out a breath, wondering how much the shifted wolves could understand. The fact they continued to try and fight her fire she guessed they understood very little. “Pull your wolves back.”
Theo narrowed his eyes, jaw set. “That thing is on my land. It’s attacking…”
“Their bite is poisonous. If you don’t believe me, ask Rex and Xavier.” They had witnessed it before.
Both the men she named stood to the side, arms folded as they watched the action. When neither protested her statement Theo howled, calling back his wolves just as Riley thrust her sword through the larger hounds throat. As soon as its head separated, the body began to dissipate back into the earth.
Fire was a roar in her ears as it started to spread, eating up the grass and branches within reach. “Shit!” She called the magic, teasing it back into line before the smaller hound leaped over the flames, taking down a wolf. “SHIT!”
Alice ran over, waving her arms. “Oi, ugly!” The hound turned its head, the wolf struggling below it. “That’s right, over here big boy.”
She had no idea if it was a boy or not, she had no interest in fact checking. The hound stepped back, watching her with tiny eyes in large, dark sockets. Smoke drifted through the gaps in its sharp teeth.
“What are you? Classification A? B? Don’t tell me you’re a C? Those guys are the worst!” She slowly backed away from the pack, its gaze following her every move. “Come on.” She was prepared when it tensed its back legs, allowing herself to be knocked down into the earth.
Fire pulsed around her, but it wasn’t enough as she felt drool burn like acid across her skin, foul breath choking. She thrust her hands up, her palms going straight though the gaps in its ribs and into his chest cavity.
The hound snarled down at her, its fangs too close for comfort.
“VENTILABIS!”
Her wrist caught on a bone as the hound was launched into the air, bony tail alight. A glint of silver, Riley appearing beside it. With one swing the hound was cut in half, each side falling apart to reveal its blackened organs inside. Her fire continued to burn, creeping towards the body before the hound dissipated into the earth, just like the other.
Alice recalled her magic, the mud beneath her feet burnt and crunching when she climbed to her feet. The iridescent oval pulsated, the symbols beneath a scorched mess as they overlapped one another.
How do I turn it off? she thought. It was literally a floating cloud with no definitive structure. What the… Alice blinked, the dark figure inside the oval large, with pointy horns and batlike wings arched above broad shoulders.
Bom. Bom. Bom. Bom.
“Alice? Are you okay?”
With a loud pop the portal collapsed, the cloud turning almost liquid before disappearing altogether.
“Alice?” Riley rushed to her arm, checking where the poisonous spittle had landed. He covered it with his palm, the light burning just as hot as he murmured something under his breath. He twisted her wrist, checking her single tattoo. “Looks like you have the right ink.”
He handed back her sword, his tight t-shirt ripped to pieces as well as the flesh beneath. His own tattoos glowed, concentrating closer to the wounds as a sickly green goo was expelled. It hissed at it hit the ground.
“How come mine didn’t do that?” she asked, looking at her arm.
“Because you weren’t scratched or bitten.” He lifted a finger, brushing it along her bottom lip.
“Where have the beasts gone?” Xavier asked with a rumble. “The last one disappeared before too.”
Riley didn’t turn, his eyes mirrored as his own beast fought for control. He didn’t like to see her hurt. Breathing heavily he said, “It’s not supposed to be Earth Side, so it’s returned to the Nether.” He turned his head slightly, lashes low. “Convenient considering the increased sightings.”
Xavier tilted his head, orange eyes flashing. “Noted.” He turned his attention to the twins. “Congratulations to the new Alpha. I’m sure the correct paperwork will be organised and an appropriate hierarchy will be assigned.”
“It will,” Theo replied, looking between them. “I assume there will be no problems?”
“I’m sure if there are, I’ll be available to fix it.” He stretched his bare feet, his shoes lost somewhere as he crushed the mud beneath his toes. His eyes met Alice. When he just stared she nodded, acknowledging their earlier conversation. “It’s interesting that you didn’t die, especially since I last saw you beneath a lightning storm riddled with poison.”
Alice sat straighter, but didn’t comment.
An open mouth chuckle, his teeth sharp as stripes flared across tanned flesh. “Rex?”
“Yes,” Rex nodded, the wolf strong in the colour of his irises. “Until we meet again.”
“No,” Alice began as he turned to follow Xavier. “Rex, whatever you believe is between us is over. I had forgiven you for what you did before, but this?” She shook her head, emotions running high. “No, this is different. You mean nothing to me.”
Rex flicked his eyes to hers, a snarl lifting his lip. “You fucking bitc…”
Before Rex finished his sentence Riley lifted a heavy fist, and connected it to Rex’s nose. Blood gushed, but Rex straightened, not stopping the flow as he tried, and failed to meet Riley’s eyes. Riley may not be a shifter, but his beast was enough to win in dominance. Which was interesting.
“Now that punch wasn’t for Alice, because she can take care of herself as she’s one deadly fucking female,” Riley said with a controlled anger. “In a fight, my money would be on her every single time.”
Blood soaked down the front of Rex’s bare chest, nose slightly crooked.
“No, I punched you because you’re an arsehole, and if you ever hurt her again, you’ll be a dead one.”
She let out a frustrated breath, irritation causing phantom pains across her chi. Her host was long gone, replaced with the emptiness she had felt for... for as long as she could remember.
“More questions?” she muttered, stroking down Vlad’s naked chest hard enough to leave marks.
He let out a hiss, but didn’t move.
“Tell me, why now?” Vlad asked, jaw clenched. “Why here?” He gestured to the rolling hills in the north of England.
She leaned forward, her lips close enough she could feel his velvet touch. Touch was something she had missed. Intimacy in one’s flesh.
“Do you crave your destiny?” She licked at his lips, but still, he didn’t move.
“Yes,” he growled. “I have dreamt of it.”
“You were born for this, gifted it. And there are those that wish to take it away.”
“I will crush them.”
“Your true self needs to be released. You were not meant for such a mundane life.”
Vlad sucked in a breath, pupils dilated as her nails dug in, drawing blood.
And still, he did not move.
“A life where you have nothing, mean nothing.” She lifted a bloody finger to her lips, painting them in red. “I can give you what you want.” She kissed him, pushing his own blood onto his tongue. “Power.”
“Answer my questions, Pandora,” he snarled, his hand reaching up to curl around her throat.
She laughed, even as he tightened his fist. It mattered not, she could easily find another host. But she liked the red-head, even if her features were slowly changing. Her nose was becoming more narrow, and her ears were taking on a slight point. Was her original image coming through? She didn’t know what she used to look like. She didn’t remember.
“Why now, you ask?” She pulled out his grasp, knowing she could only do so because he allowed her. Or that’s what she would allow him to believe. “Because you needed someone to unlock your power.”
“And that would be you?”
She reached for his pendant, the co
in, the seal. The power welcomed her touch, savouring as it tasted her magic. It knew what she could do.
Her memories were broken, taken from her long ago. The magic that created the seals called to her, as if familiar. She suspected the same magic was what took away her memory, and breaking the seals would release those memories. She would know for sure why she was locked away, and who she truly was.
“How do you know this if you don’t remember?”
“I said I have no memory of my life before. But every Fae can feel where the wild magic leaks the strongest, and I have spoken with many those of mine blood.”
“Why do you want to do this?”
“Because…” Another crack as she increased the pressure. “I want my memories, and helping you will release them.”
“So you gain from my ascension,” he sniggered. “Which means you need me.”
She tightened her smile.
Patience, she told herself. She needed her memories, and only then could she become whole again.
So for now, she did indeed need him.
“Do it. I’m ready.” Sweat dripped down his face as she pressed one more time, pushing her limited power into the cracks.
A flash of light, the seal separating in two.
Vlad screamed, crashing to his knees just as memories long lost swirled around her mind. They rushed through her, flashing across her vision until tears blurred. She remembered him. Her love. She also remembered where he had gone, imprisoned just as she was.
The emptiness inside her ached, hard enough her hand touched her breast as if she could comfort the pain.
Her memories were still broken, missing. She needed the rest.
Fists pounded into the dirt as sweat drenched across Vlad's whole body.
When he looked up, he smirked. “The power, it speaks to me.” His voice was deeper, harsher as he climbed to his feet. He looked at his arms, the sweat floating off his skin. With a click of his fingers it shot like bullets in all directions, missing Pandora by a bare millimetre.
She ignored the strands of her hair that fell to the earth.
“Pestilence,” she whispered his new name. His destiny. “The power, what is it saying?”
He caught her eye, his irises shattered. “It says we need to find the others.”
Chapter 16
The car was warm and comforting when Riley pulled up in front of his place, but her stomach rumbled at the promise of greasy food.
She should have gone home. Yet there she was, following Riley through the front door and towards the large kitchen at the back without a word of protest. She didn’t want to go home because she was embarrassed, knowing Sam would blame himself for what had happened.
Dark woods, pale walls and green plants greeted her as she passed through, her hands hooked on her arms as she looked down at the mud caked on her skin.
Riley pulled out a stool from the centre island, nodding for her to sit down as he started to unpack the food from the paper bag.
“I’ll make a mess,” she said quietly.
Riley chuckled, bending over to grab something from a lower drawer. “I’ve had to clean up worse than mud in here.” He reappeared with a candle just as Alice took her seat. It was a thick pillar candle, an off yellow that had been used numerous times before. He stuck it in the centre before he sat down opposite, unwrapping his oversized burger.
Alice couldn’t help her smirk. “How romantic,” she said with a chuckle. With a flick of her wrist she lit the wick. “Lumenium.”
“Fast food by candlelight,” Riley said with a wink. “You can’t say I don’t treat you, sweetheart.”
Alice laughed, the sensation growing from her stomach before warmth spread across her body. Riley watched her with humorous eyes, narrowing when she stole a few salty chips and shoved them ungraciously into her mouth.
“Do you know,” she said once she had swallowed. “That no one has ever treated me to a candlelit dinner.”
Riley lifted a single eyebrow. “We had candles at the restaurant the other night.”
Alice sucked on the paper straw, enjoying the little bubbles pop across her tongue. “That’s not the same.”
“No? How so?”
Alice opened her mouth to speak, but then couldn’t answer. Shaking her head she went back to eating her own burger and chips, enjoying the comfortable silence. It wasn’t until she had finished hers, and Riley his second, that she wanted to explain.
“Riley…” she began.
“You don’t need to justify anything to me,” he interrupted. “I know you would have had a reason to go. Although, next time I hope you warn me if you’re getting mated. I would have brought a gift or something.” Riley laughed as Alice bundled up a tissue napkin and threw it at him.
“Shit!” she hissed out in pain, her shoulder protesting at the movement. Riley jumped up from his chair, cleaning his hands with the napkin before coming over. He gently moved her hair, checking the bite marks that throbbed.
“Hmmm, I didn’t know you were into biting.”
Alice’s pulse spiked, but not from pain as his warm breath settled across her skin. “Ha fucking ha.”
Riley double checked her arm, the small burn seemingly fine before he stepped back, cleaning up what remained of their meal and gestured for her to follow him up the stairs.
“I’ll be able to get a better look under the bathroom lights,” Riley said as Alice sat on the edge of the bath just off from his bedroom.
A blush prickled her cheeks as he checked her shoulder once again. “You won’t need stitches,” he murmured quietly. “Maymal left some ointment here somewhere, that will help it all heal faster.”
Alice smiled at the mention of the older woman who doted on Riley like he was her own. “The lavender smelling stuff? Is she around?”
Instead of answering Riley carefully removed her ruined t-shirt. “You’ll need to wash off before I can apply it.” He gently removed her jeans, the fabric caked in a thick layer of grime. They slipped off her legs with ease, as did her socks as she left her dirty boots by the front door. His hands stroked up her legs as he stood, so soft yet she felt it everywhere. Pulse still raised she sucked in a breath when he bent his body over hers, his lips close.
His chi brushed purposely across hers, the sensation causing shivers down her spine.
With a reluctant groan he uncurled to his full height, his own jeans tight across his groin as he turned on the large shower that stood in the corner.
Alice reached for the hem of his own shirt and tugged it up above his head. As soon as his chest appeared she spread her palms across it, fingertips tracing the tattoos that flashed beneath her palms. When she looked back up, his eyes were liquid silver.
“Alice,” he warned, voice deliciously deeper.
She quietened him with a kiss to the centre of his chest, just to the left above his heart.
Riley gently tangled his hand in her hair, tipping her head so he could easily claim her lips. The kiss was slow, powerful. As soon as he stopped she moaned, trying to pull him back as he chuckled. He quickly stripped out of his jeans, as she did the rest of her underwear before he stepped into the shower, using his back to protect her from the spray.
The second kiss was hotter, their tongues dancing before he turned his attention to her neck, nibbling the skin between his teeth. Bones melted she allowed him as much access as he wanted, the shower the perfect temperature as he made his way down. Tapping on her right foot he brought it up, placing it on his shoulder while he knelt on the tile. Grabbing the soap he lathered up his hands, starting with her calf and massaging his way upwards.
Alice grabbed at the bar on the wall, her breathing laboured as he swapped to her other leg, repeating the painfully slow, yet luscious journey up her left calf.
“Riley,” she moaned as his circular movement brushed onto her inner thighs. She had never been so aroused, his fingers teasing the one place she wanted him to be. Stubble scraping across her belly, he slowly moved u
p her body, washing as he went.
“Clean your shoulder.”
She didn’t have to be asked twice. Moving beneath the shower completely she allowed the warm water to sweep the dirt from the bite mark, the skin surrounding it red, but no longer as sore. Hair wet she grabbed the shampoo, quickly washing it through and throwing her head back to rinse it out. Arms lifted it pushed her chest out, which Riley took advantage of as she felt his lips suck around her nipple.
“RILEY!” she squealed, pushing him back with a laugh. She grabbed the soap, starting across his broad chest.
Let’s see if he likes it, she mischievously thought.
She dropped to her knees.
Riley tensed, hands moving to grip the bar along the side with white strained knuckles.
She washed up his legs, ignoring the groan from the metal as he tightened his fists. The bar continued to strain, tiles cracking as she washed precariously close to his hard length. Her tongue snaked out, sliding along his shaft just as the bar pulled free from the wall with a crunch. Next thing she knew he had lifted her up, back against the cold tile and entered her in one thrust. She was so ready for it, her tissues swollen and aching.
“You…” He thrust again, Alice tightening her legs around his hips. “Make…” He pulled out, teasing her as she moaned low in her throat. “Me…” He slid back in, but oh so slowly. “Fucking...” Alice shuffled, trying to make him move faster. “Crazy.” His lips touched hers as she held on, her orgasm hitting her with surprise as she clenched firmly around him.
The shower shut off, the air cool as he dropped her onto wobbly legs. Silently he wrapped a fluffy towel around her, drying her quickly before he picked her back up, carrying her to the bed and dropping her in the centre. She pulled him down, shoulder forgotten as his warmth engulfed her. Their chi’s blended as one, pushing her into another orgasm as she felt his fingers searching below.
“Riley!” she cried, wanting more. Needing more.
Without argument he slid back in, and she had never felt so complete in her life.
Alice looked over her shoulder, the bite mark covered in a lavender smelling ointment that felt warm against her skin.
Knight's War: A Witch Detective Urban Fantasy (Alice Skye series Book 5) Page 12