Burned: Wild Magic Book 2

by Danielle Grenier

  It was nearing 2am by the time they headed back to the hotel. Caleb followed Jesse into his room, grabbed an extra blanket, and stretched out on the couch. Despite the late hour and earlier fight, sleep didn't come easy. His mind was running through his fight with Angel, at how upset she'd been, and at how poorly he'd handled the situation. He was used to protecting people, used to protecting females; it was hard-wired into his brain. Even female wolves, most of whom are completely capable of taking care of themselves, appreciated when a male stepped in to protect them.

  But Angel was different. She was used to taking care of herself, of not having anyone to protect her. She'd proven herself more than once in Caleb's eyes, and while he really did trust her abilities, his instincts still pushed him to protect her. He needed to find a way to rein in his protective tendencies and explain them better to Angel, or this kind of situation was likely to happen again. But first he needed to come up with a suitable apology.

  He was pretty sure Angel wasn't a flower or poetry person; chocolates didn't really seem like her thing either. Caleb racked his brain, trying to think of what he could do to make it up to her. Shortly after 3am, an idea struck him suddenly, and it was perfect. He fell asleep quickly then, a smile on his face, certain he wouldn't be sleeping on Jesse's couch for more than one night.

  Angel was having a terrible time getting to sleep. When she'd first returned to the hotel room, she'd been fuming, taking out her anger and frustration on various items she could easily throw around. But now, lying in the dark, without Caleb beside her for the first time all week, she was lonely. She seriously considered tracking him down and inviting him back to their room, but her pride – and her wolf – wouldn't let her. If things were going to work out between them, Caleb needed to get over his intense need to protect her.

  Eventually – hopefully – Angel would go back to work, and what would happen then? Would Caleb or one of his wolves follow her around, making sure she was safe? No. That wasn't a scenario Angel was even willing to consider. She needed to be firm with him about this now, or else there would be no stopping his overprotective tendencies when it came to her. She'd wait until the next day and find some time for them to talk things over. In the meantime, she had to figure out some way of turning off her overactive brain and going to sleep. Repositioning her pillow for the umpteenth time, she turned onto her side, took a deep breath, and tried to relax.

  Chapter 30

  “Are you sure continuing with this conference is a good idea?”

  Melanie, his mate, sounded worried. He’d called her despite the late hour to let her know about their uninvited guests and assure her he and Jesse were safe.

  “At this point, I don’t have much choice,” he replied. “If these threats are legitimate, whoever sent those vampires must be watching. If they see us getting ready to leave, who knows what they’ll do?”

  “You may be right, Jonathan,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about this whole situation.”

  “I know, Mel,” he told her, “and for the record, I never said I was happy with it either.”

  “Be safe,” she said.

  “I will,” he promised.

  He ended the call and set his cell phone on the coffee table. While he wouldn’t call what happened tonight an attack, he certainly saw it for what it was: a test. Whoever was responsible wanted to see how strong their defenses were. It was a smart strategy; send in someone disposable, sit back, and watch closely. It gave their enemy the chance to gather information, and it gave them absolutely nothing.

  Snatching up his phone, he scrolled through his contacts until he came to the one he wanted. The phone rang twice before someone answered.

  “Hello,” came a curt but polite female voice from the other end of the line.

  “This is Master Alpha Jonathan Pike,” he replied, “I want to speak to Clan Leader Andrew.”

  “Leader Andrew is busy at the moment,” the receptionist began, but Jonathan cut him off.

  “Three vampires attacked my conference tonight,” he said sharply. “I will speak to Andrew, and I will speak to him now.”

  “One moment, sir,” she replied.

  The line fell silent for less than a minute before Andrew picked up.

  “Master Alpha Pike,” Andrew answered, his voice smooth and almost slippery sounding, a common trait among very old vampires.

  “Clan Leader Andrew,” Jonathan replied. “Why do I have vampires gatecrashing my conference?”

  “I have no idea,” Andrew told him plainly.

  “I find that difficult to believe.”

  “Do you know what every wolf in the country is doing right now?” Andrew asked. “I can’t imagine you do. In much the same way, we do not know what every vampire in the country is doing at a given time. We regret the actions of the individuals that encroached on your territory. I assume they have been dealt with?”

  “They have.”

  “And were you able to question them regarding their motives?”

  “We were.” Jonathan paused, unsure whether he should share information when the Clan Leaders weren’t exactly doing the same. He quickly decided the information wasn’t useful enough to keep to himself. “They were hired anonymously to visit the hotel. From what we can tell, they didn’t know why, or who hired them.”

  “If you’re willing to provide the information they gave you, we can certainly look into the incident,” Andrew offered, but it was an empty gesture. They’d offered to look into the threats against the conference but had told him nothing. Either they knew and weren’t interested in sharing information, or they were just as in the dark as he was.

  “I’m certain we can look into it ourselves,” Jonathan told him, trying to maintain a neutral tone.

  “Very well,” Andrew replied.

  A moment later, the line went dead. Jonathan scowled at the phone a moment before setting it back down. It didn’t surprise him the vampires were still being unhelpful. He just wished he had a better idea of where they stood.

  Chapter 31

  Alice was hungry. It had been nearly two days since she’d been fed, but it felt like it had been months. Her stomach cramped, and her mouth felt so very dry. The others like her were suffering the same way. But it could be worse. She glanced over at the Quiet Ones - the name they’d given to the inhuman creatures with vacant eyes - and shuddered involuntarily. They were hungry, too, and while they didn’t move unless they were told to, she’d seen firsthand what happened when someone got too close. A man in a tattered jogging suit had approached one of them, trying to figure out what they were, and as soon as he was within reach, they’d descended on him like a pack of wild dogs. The sound of his screams would haunt Alice forever. Or maybe not. She’d heard their handlers talking a few hours ago, and while she didn’t fully understand what was going on, she got the impression they’d be moving again soon. She also got the impression most of them weren’t expected to survive what was coming next. Alice wasn’t sure if she should be afraid or grateful.

  Chapter 32

  Caleb woke early Thursday morning with a pretty nasty crick in his neck. Hotel couches weren't the most comfortable, and they certainly weren't made large enough to accommodate a werewolf. Lucky for him, he needed to be up early so he could look into getting Angel's apology present before the conference started.

  He popped into the bathroom to wash his face and fix his bed head, only to realize there was no way he could go out in his current clothes. They were rumpled from being slept in, his pants had several grass and dirt stains, and his shirt had some very obvious bloodstains.

  He checked the time; it was just past 5am. Angel would either still be sleeping or out for a run. Deciding it was worth the risk, Caleb left a note telling Jesse where he'd gone, left the room and headed down the hallway. He paused for a minute outside the door to his room, trying to discern whether Angel was still in bed. Unfortunately, the hotel walls were so thin, he couldn't be sure whose steady breathing he wa
s hearing. Moving quickly and quietly, he slid the key card into the door and slipped inside.

  The room was dark, and Caleb immediately realized Angel was, in fact, still asleep. Slowly creeping forward, he looked for a decently clean set of clothes. He found a pair of jeans at the foot of the empty bed and managed to fish socks, underwear, and a clean shirt out of his bag without making too much noise. Slipping into the bathroom, he closed the door and changed quickly. Gathering up his dirty clothes, he returned to the main room and was looking for a good place to dump them when Angel spoke.

  “Hi,” she said, still lying in bed, wrapped in the blankets. She looked so damn adorable in the morning.

  “Uh, hi,” he replied. “I, uh, just needed a change of clothes. I–”

  “It's alright,” Angel told him, “don't worry about it.”

  “Okay,” he said, finally remembering the clothes in his hand and dumping them next to his bag.

  “I, um, I mean we–” he began, but she interrupted.

  “We should talk about last night,” she said.

  “We should,” Caleb agreed.

  “Later, though,” Angel told him. “Tonight?”

  “Tonight’s the big dinner. How about lunch? Meet me here?”

  “Sounds good,” Angel said, smiling a little. “See you then.”

  “I'm looking forward to it,” Caleb told her. “I'll let you get back to sleep. Sorry for waking you.”

  Caleb left the room without waiting for a reply, knowing it was probably for the best; if he stayed much longer, he would likely crawl into bed with her, and their fight would stay unresolved. He closed the door softly, then headed down the hallway, taking the stairs down to the lobby and out the parking lot. He climbed into his car, pulled up directions on his GPS, and followed the machine's prompts until he pulled up to a nondescript looking group of businesses. Thankfully, the one he was looking for was already open. He parked on the street and headed inside the small shop. A bell tinkled overhead as he entered, and a voice from the back room called out.

  “Be with you in a moment!”

  After about a minute, a very large, balding man emerged from the back room.

  “How can I help you?” he asked.

  “You're the owner?” Caleb asked.

  “Yep, that's me,” he replied, coming around the corner and holding out his hand. “I'm Carl. What can I do for you today?”

  Chapter 33

  Angel tried to go back to sleep after Caleb left, but it was no use. Throwing back the covers, she climbed out of bed and pulled out her running clothes. In ten minutes flat, she was dressed and out in the parking lot, stretching and trying to figure out which direction to go. Choosing distance over difficulty, she decided to run along the road. It was a lovely morning, and after the first mile, she found herself relaxing more and thinking about her fight with Caleb less. She turned around after about half an hour, leaving herself lots of time to get showered, dressed, and fed before the conference started for the day.

  As she arrived back at the hotel, Angel noticed Caleb's SUV wasn't in the parking lot. She was a bit curious about where he would have gone so early but figured she could ask him later. She headed back to the room, showered and dressed, then headed downstairs to grab breakfast. She loaded her plate up with eggs, bacon, and pancakes, grabbed a big mug of coffee, and grabbed an empty seat at Jesse's table.

  “Morning,” she greeted, taking a big gulp of hot coffee.

  “Morning,” Jesse replied. “How are you?”

  “Good.”

  “You sure?” Jesse asked.

  Angel noticed he wasn't the only one giving her a concerned look. Jonathan was sitting across from his son, watching her closely.

  “I'm fine,” she repeated, “really.”

  “Do you know where Caleb went this morning?” Jesse asked.

  “Nope,” Angel replied, digging into her pancakes. She got three bites into her mouth before she realized she was being watched. Jesse and Jonathan, and even Matt, were studying her intently. “What?” she asked around a mouthful of food. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Are you sure you're okay?” Jonathan asked in a serious tone.

  “Oh, seriously!” Angel shouted, drawing attention from several wolves at nearby tables. “We had a fight. People have fights all the time,” she explained, “it's not the end of the world.”

  “You seemed pretty mad last night,” Jesse remarked.

  “I was annoyed, and upset,” Angel clarified. “If I'd really been mad, I would have thrown a couple spells at him and laughed.”

  Jesse chuckled, stopping abruptly when he realized she wasn't joking. “Oh,” he said. “I see. Okay, then.”

  “Can I eat my breakfast now?” Angel asked.

  “What? Oh, yeah, yeah, don't let us stop you,” Jesse said, looking a little uncomfortable.

  “Thank you,” Angel replied sarcastically, turning her attention back to her food.

  That morning, Angel was surprisingly paired with Matt for security detail. When she asked him about it, he just shrugged and led her down the hallway. They were assigned to sweep the interior of the hotel.

  “Figured you might not want to spend too much time with Dr. Phil today,” he said, gesturing to Jesse, who was heading off with his father for the first morning talk.

  “Thanks,” Angel told him. “So, did you learn anything useful from our fanged friends last night?”

  “They were hired through an online ad,” Matt explained. “Some anonymous person said he would pay them a thousand bucks each to show up at the hotel and wander around. They weren't informed it would be full of werewolves.”

  “Talk about ‘too good to be true,’” Angel observed. “So either the threats are credible and this was someone's way of testing our defenses, or someone has a really awful sense of humor.”

  “I'm leaning a little more towards the former,” Matt said.

  “Me, too,” Angel agreed.

  “I've increased the number of people covering the perimeter at night,” Matt told her. “Is there anything else you could do with your magic?”

  Angel was surprised he was asking for her help so easily, especially about magic, but she figured it wouldn't help to point it out.

  “Not really,” she said, “I mean, I could set up another perimeter to give us a little more warning, but I don't imagine it would be that useful.”

  “You can't do anything to trap them or keep them from crossing the perimeter?”

  “Not unless I'm out there all the time,” Angel explained, “and it would be pretty draining. Vampires are resistant to most magic, like wolves. Aside from premixed potions, which I've already explained are highly controlled, only a few spells are truly effective against vampires. I’ve used a few of them once or twice, in training, but never in the field.”

  “Like what?”

  “Witchfyre is the first one that comes to mind,” Angel replied, continuing when it became clear Matt had no idea what she was talking about. “Witchfyre is magical fire witches can create and direct to do what they want. It can't be put out by water, and it can burn through anything. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to control on your own; the rare times it is used, several witches have to work together to make sure it doesn't get loose and destroy everything.”

  “Let's not try that one, then,” Matt said. “Anything else?”

  “I know a freezing spell that would probably work,” she suggested, “but it's meant to be used to cool down your drink or flash freeze food, not zombies. I could maybe freeze a limb or two, but not a whole body. Besides that, the best I could do is put up magical barriers. It would hold a few zombies for a short period of time.”

  “You've also set up that ward,” Matt noted, “so at least we'll have some sort of warning before they're on top of us.”

  “Yeah,” Angel agreed, liking this newer, nicer side of Matt. “Way to look on the bright side!”

  He just grunted and kept walking.


  Chapter 34

  Lunchtime came, and Angel was a lot more nervous than she’d expected herself to be. She hadn’t seen Caleb all morning, and doubts were starting to invade her thoughts. Sure, he'd said they needed to talk, but maybe this fight had made him realize she wasn't worth his time; they were just too different to be together. Her wolf was totally unperturbed, confident Caleb wouldn’t give up on them. He was an Alpha, and he should have a Mate just as strong, a Mate who could and would challenge him where no one else would. Angel tried to believe in her other half, but she still felt a little sick to her stomach as she bade farewell to Matt and headed upstairs.

  She hesitated a moment at the door, then straightened her spine, slid in her key card, and entered the room. Caleb was sitting on one of the beds, reading a book. Angel took a few steps forward, letting the door close behind her, and squinted at the title; it read A Guide to Witches. It was a book intended to teach humans the basics about witches. Things like what they can and can't do with magic, the laws they have to follow, and other useful bits of information. What she couldn't figure out was why a werewolf was reading such a book.

  “Oh, hey, you're back,” Caleb said, finally noticing her. He slipped a receipt into the book as a makeshift bookmark, then set it on the bedside table. “How was your morning?”

  “Uh, pretty good,” Angel replied. “I worked with Matt; he's being a lot nicer to me now. Why are you reading that?” She gestured to the book.

  “Oh, well, I saw it when I was out shopping,” Caleb explained, coming to stand in front of her, “and I realized I really don't know that much about witches. I asked the lady at the bookstore what she recommended, and she sold me this. Is it any good?”

  “It is,” Angel told him, “but it's mostly written for humans.”

  “I can tell,” Caleb said, “but it still seems to have a lot of good information.”

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For caring enough to try and learn more about witches,” Angel replied.