by Mary Martel
Damn.
I was nowhere near ready enough to get close to that place or the people there.
We should have spent the time in the car talking about what we were actually going to do once we got there, not talking about the past and the BS that was related to it.
I wanted to scream because this wasn't good, this was so not good it wasn't even funny.
"No," I told him honestly and hoped the bitch was at home in her nice gated community in suburbia land and fast asleep in her bed.
I figured since he'd asked and the way he had that she wasn't safe and tucked away in bed somewhere while going about her normal life like it was any other day.
"What happened to her?" I asked him. I wasn't so sure I even wanted to know but for some dumb reason felt compelled to ask.
"They did something to her," he said. "I heard them talking about it one night and when I walked in on them they immediately stopped talking because they were trying to hide it from me."
"Who was trying to hide it from you?" I asked. "And, do you know what they did to her and why?"
"Damien," he said. "Uncle Quint and Julian. I guess they went to her house and shoved a liquid spell down her throat that took her voice away."
'What?" I whispered in horror. He couldn't have heard that right. "That's completely insane. They wouldn't do something like that to a person just because she smacked me across the mouth. That's... that's... I don't even know what that is other than crazy."
Quinton would do something like that, for sure. He was vindictive and spiteful and he could be all kinds of scary when he wanted to be. And he usually acted rashly and didn't offer an apology after the fact, he did what he wanted and even if it went bad he didn't usually seem to care. And he had virtually no moral compass to speak of. If he loved me the way Ty thought he did, and judging by the way he'd looked at me the other day, I was thinking Ty was right; he would so totally do something to mess that woman up for smacking me. He was just crazy enough to do it.
But the other two? I know Julian had warned me before not to cross him because he was capable of doing very bad things and I'd said at the time that I believed him but now I was thinking that I really hadn't. He was a healer. Weren't they supposed to frown on hurting people? Apparently not.
And, Damien? I didn't see him getting his hands dirty at all. Also, after spending some time with him I simply didn't think he'd do something so malicious and cruel to another human being. He was very sweet. As was Julian.
"They did it," Ty cut in to my thoughts to say firmly. "They do things like that all the time. Normally, I'm cool with it because I'm not a saint and I've done things before that I'm not proud of but this is what I'm trying to explain to you. About why we should be worried. That woman slapped you for calling her a shit name then they went and permanently stole her voice away from her as a punishment. Chucky trips you and calls you a freak show, which was not cool, by any means, and what does Uncle Quint do? He's got him vomiting up blood all over the place at school and falling in love with you. It's always something extreme with them. Always. There's no middle ground to stand on. I don't even care about this, I'm not saying I'm cool with it, just that I don't care enough to make a big deal out of it. But with Annabell and the Council being here it will become a big deal if they did something to hurt her."
"You think they'd hurt her?" I asked. "I mean physically."
"I think they are capable of anything," he shot back immediately. "When you grow up in a fucked up world of magic that we have where nothing is as it seems or is ever normal you learn how to be a certain way. It's inevitable. If they find out she's here and a potential threat then they will work to put a stop to that threat and they won't be careful with how they do it and they won't worry about hurting her, just putting a stop to what she might do."
Honestly, I wasn't seeing anything wrong with this. I was all for putting a stop to her before she could harm anyone any more than she already had. I was also all for putting a stop to her crooking her finger and having Ty come running. It was getting old really fast.
"The problem is," he said and I sighed. Oh boy, like we needed another problem. "The Council is trying to knock her up and anything that fucks with her they will destroy and they won't think twice. They can't be around her right now. And they can't know about any of this."
I got his message. Loud and clear.
"I get it, Ty," I told him.
"Good," he grunted. "So, it's you and me and we have to take care of this."
"Tonight," I said in agreement. Then, I asked, "Don't you think it's weird she wanted to meet at the motel when she's been coming here to meet up with you?"
"Yeah," he agreed. "It's weird, for sure. But, what was I supposed to do, tell her no and have her show up at the house? Or, worse, show up at Damien and Julian's house?" He shrugged his shoulders. "I agreed to drive out to the motel to avoid those things."
"Am I just supposed to walk up to the front door with you while you knock and we wait for her?" I asked. I mean, what else was I supposed to do? Wait in the car? That would be pointless for me to be going with him at all.
"Nope," he said cheekily. "I've got something special planned for you."
I sighed and didn't even bother asking him what it was he had planned. These boys enjoyed their secrecy when it came to me and it would likely be a wasted effort on my part to even ask, he wouldn't tell me until he was ready.
He flashed me one of his brilliant smiles and his eyes went back to the road, seemingly forgetting about me. I'd been right; he hadn't even attempted to explain himself to me.
We got close to the Motel and he slowed down and pulled the Audi off to the side of the road. I stopped the car and unclipped his seatbelt.
"Get out of the car," he said before opening his door and getting out himself.
The door shut on my stunned face and I immediately unclipped my seatbelt and my hand moved towards the handle on the door. He was there to open it for me and I climbed out.
"What are we doing out here?" I asked nervously. I looked around the dark road, seeking out anything suspicious and hoping whatever this was wouldn't take long so we could return to the safety of the inside of the car.
He pulled a crumpled up slip of paper out of the back pocket of his jeans and held it out to me. "Hold this." he said as he handed me the piece of paper. I took it from his outstretched hands and he kept speaking. "This is a spell that is going to make you invisible to anyone who isn't me."
I looked down at the piece of paper and asked, "Why not you too?"
"Because I will be here when you cast and you won't be able to hide from me. Thankfully, I will be the only one."
I bit my lower lip so I didn't open my mouth and tell him I didn't want to be invisible, I didn't think it was cool and I was really wishing I hadn't come along for this little journey.
I released my lip and mumbled, "Uh, Ty, I don't think-"
"Okay," he spoke over me. "I need you to clear your mind for me and push everything else but the two of us standing out here. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly, letting everything else go."
I did as he ordered and breathed deep before slowly releasing it. It went fast for me because this was something I had been practicing for the last couple of weeks. It was Adrian who had me doing it and for some reason I had actually been working at it. The world around me brightened as all of my troubles slowly slid away.
I closed my eyes and simply let it all go.
When I opened them again, Tyson was looking at me in approval.
"Damn, girl," he muttered. "You're good at that. Fell right into the zone."
"What now?" I asked in a subdued voice. I didn't want to think too much and fall out of the "zone" as he'd called it. The more I tried, the more flustered I would get and it would get harder and harder for me to get back to my calm space so I could let it all slip away again and eventually, I would need to walk away from it because it wouldn't work at all. I had learned this in the beginning beca
use I hadn't had patience for anything and had gotten frustrated easily and this is exactly what had happened when I did. I knew better now and I was ready to move on.
"Now," Tyson said, "I want you to spin counterclockwise in a circle three times. This is important and I need you to not go more than three times. No more, no less."
I nodded that I understood and went to move but he stopped me by putting his hand on my forearm.
"When you're done I will need you to read from the paper. Word for word. You'll feel something afterwards, something different and it will be the magic working. Don't be afraid of it, it's not going to hurt you."
Okay.
Well, that sounded easy enough. I could totally do this.
But that didn't mean I wanted to.
He dropped his arm and took three steps back, away from me.
I closed my eyes, dropped my arms to my sides and blew out a deep breath. Then, I turned on my foot, moving left. I opened my eyes again so I would be able to tell when I had passed the same place three times and knew when to stop. My hair whirled around me as I spun in circles.
After the third time I stopped where I had started. I unfolded the piece of paper in my hand and immediately began to read the words written on it.
Gods and Goddesses of Light
Make me invisible of every sight
though they look, they shall not see
So mote it be.
My breath left me in a sudden rush as my body hummed with energy and a warm shaft of air blew past me. My body tingled from head to foot before burning out as quickly as it had come and then disappearing altogether.
I was left feeling lighter than I had when I started out.
"How do you feel?" Tyson asked me.
"Fine," I told him honestly. "Like I've lost weight or something. And, it would be really cool if my body would start to tingle again, it felt good."
"Christ," he muttered. "Don't talk about how good it felt to have your body tingling all over."
"Why?" I asked, not getting why he'd have a problem with that.
"Because," he said simply, "it makes me think about you coming and it's going to make my dick get hard and I really don't want a hard on right now. So, please, girl, if you could spare me of this tonight I would greatly appreciate it."
My face burned, so extreme was my blush.
"Um," I mumbled. "I don't think now's the time for us to be talking about your dick getting hard. Maybe never is a good time to talk about that. Maybe..."
"Please, don't say dick again," he said, and he sounded as if he was in pain.
Boy, I heard that one before from one of the guys.
I thought, since he brought it up and all, I might as well ignore my discomfort and mess with him a little bit. It seemed only fair.
"Does your whole-body tingle all over when you touch your-"
His arm shot out and he grabbed ahold of my hand. He gave a vicious yank and I flew forward. I threw up my free hand and it landed against his chest before I crashed into him.
He wrapped his arms around my back and growled, "When you're ready, and we aren't in the middle of a midnight adventure, and you want to talk about my dick, then you just let me know and we can get down to business. But, girl, now is not the time for that and you have got to not tease me right now."
He gave me as squeeze before his lips crashed down on mine in an urgent kiss that was fast and rough and one I thoroughly participated in. He groaned and tore his mouth away from mine.
"Okay," he rumbled out. "That is not helping the situation at all."
I agreed with him and now my body tingled for reasons that had nothing to do with my magic but maybe his magical touch. Or, better yet, his magical tongue.
He grinned at me and it was a good look on him.
"I love it when you look like that," he said.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Your lips are parted; your eyes are shining bright and you've got a flush to your cheeks that's lovely. It's a great look for you."
I shook my head, not denying what he'd said, just not wanting to get into it with him at the moment.
"Should we be standing out here this close to the Motel?" I asked. "Anyone could drive by at any second and spot us. We don't want that." That last part was a guess because I still had no idea what the plan was and for all I knew he might want someone to come along and see us.
"Someone would see me," he said smugly. "But not you. You're right, though, we need to be on our way."
That didn't sound any better but I went along with it anyways.
I followed him to the car and got in. He, like Damien had, closed the door for me. I didn't roll my eyes at him because I had decided to find it sweet and endearing instead of insulting and annoying.
Tyson got in the riverside and, without putting his seatbelt back on, flew down the dirt road. I didn't pester him about this, he was a big boy and knew what he was doing. Besides, I didn't think he was going to crash his car with me in it, then the other guys would really kick his ass.
"So," I said conversationally, "can you tell me the plan now? I'm going to need to know what to do before we get there so I don't flub something up and put us both in danger."
He agreed, thankfully, and finally shared the plan with me.
Chapter Twenty
As the Motel came into view my heart started beating double time in my chest. The last time I came here I had been terrified of something horrible happening and, even though something awful hadn't happened when I was here, I still did not see this place as one I'd ever like to visit again and yet here we were.
The Motel loomed up ahead, dark and dreary. The only light around was the torches burning bright on the second railing and stuck into the ground in between the doors on the bottom floor. There were big, black SUV's parked out in front of the building, letting us know there certainly was someone home and I almost wished there wasn't.
Tyson parked his car right up front beside and SUV, not hiding that he was here at all.
Oh no, it wasn't him here doing the hiding but me.
I was regretting more and more each second that passed ever wanting to partner up with him and not just letting him go it alone.
Tyson turned off the car, left his keys in the ignition and cracked open the driver’s side door. He hadn't spoken to me since the building came into view because he couldn't know if we were being watched or not and didn't want people to see him talking to himself and get suspicious.
He slid out of the car and I climbed over the gear shift and slid into the driver’s seat. He held the door open for me as I slipped out of the car behind him. It wouldn't do for me to open up my own door and get out on the passenger side when I was supposedly invisible.
I stepped out of the way and Tyson shut the door as a curtain fluttered behind a window on the main floor. Someone was in that room and spying on us. Lovely.
If Ty saw the curtain move he completely ignored it. He bypassed the entire bottom floor and headed for the stairs. I followed on silent feet behind him. Silent feet because I had left my flip flops in the car. I should have never picked those stupid flip flops instead I should have picked up a pair of boots, put them on and laced them up.
Tyson walked up the stairs with purpose like he'd been here before and knew exactly where he was going. How many times had he been out here to see Annabell? My stomach rolled at the thought of him coming here to see her and not for the same reasons it might have just mere hours ago. Earlier, I might have been jealous when I thought he still had feelings for her, which is why I thought he was doing these things for her. Now I was feeling ill for a different reason. What if she'd already done something to him with her magic? She proved she wasn't above using magic to violate others before, Tyson included. What was to stop her from doing it again? Certainly not the Council, I didn't think they'd be into controlling her when they were trying to make a baby with her.
They might think differently if they knew she was taking an interest in Dam
ien. Or, maybe they wouldn't care who she took an interest in just so long as it created a baby they could have in the end.
Tyson went directly to the third door on the right and knocked lightly. The door opened in and he entered without hesitation. I, however, was all about hesitating before going inside. The problem with this was I couldn't hesitate because Tyson needed to close the door behind him and I didn't want to get shut out because that wasn't part of his stupid plan.
I hurriedly followed him into the room and quickly moved to the side so he could shut the door. I was impressed by how easily he ignored me standing there and told myself not to stupidly be hurt by it because he wasn't supposed to be able to see me.
When he shut the door he shut out the lights from the torch and inside the room was surprisingly dark and what I thought of as uninviting. Maybe it was just unappealing because I really didn't want to be here.
"Ty," a female voice rasped, and I winced. It was an incredibly sexy voice and it was very appealing.
Damn.
"You're here," she rasped. "That didn't take you long at all."
"Annabell," Tyson greeted her but said no more.
She moved into the room and I got my first glimpse of her and the room around us. She had long, red hair that was glossy and thick and went all the way down to her hips. It was great hair and I already wasn't enjoying this. She was tall, maybe slightly taller than I was but incredibly thin. Her breasts were small, her hips almost nonexistent and I was pretty sure when she turned around her butt would be as flat as flat could get. Her legs, though long, were as thin as twigs and I imagined they might have looked great incased in a pair of high heels otherwise, but with no meat on them they might look in danger of breaking when she walked.
And, just like that, I no longer felt so bad about her having that beautiful head of hair or incredibly sexy voice.
I was skinny, too skinny and the guys were trying to fatten me up, but I would never look like that because my boobs were a whole lot bigger, my hips wider and my butt was most definitely not flat. And my thighs had some meat on them, they didn't jiggle or anything when I walked but they weren't exactly twigs either.