Stone put his arm around her as she slid into the booth beside him. “Water?”
“Oops, I forgot. I started talking to Gwyneth and—”
“No matter, Reno and I are finished.”
“For now.” Reno amended as he stood up. “If I have further questions, I’ll contact you.”
“Nothing personal, but I hope you don’t. When a case is done, I like to put it from my mind.” Stone idly played with a strand of her hair. It was a spring green colour today, one of the first things she’d done upon returning home.
“I’ll try to accommodate you.” Reno took his leave and Stone relaxed beside her.
“You know, I’ve been thinking…” He let go of her hair and began to twirl his empty glass instead.
“Yes?” He seemed hesitant and she wondered if he was he going to mention the link.
“I need to do something with my time. When we met, I was thinking of working on the docks, something simple, uncomplicated.”
“I could understand you wanting a break.”
“Yeah, but now I’ve changed my mind. I think I’ll resurrect Virtus again.”
“That’s the organization you started when you first left Lycan Link.”
“Yep. My sister screwed it up, but with her gone I can try again.” He took a deep breath. “If nothing else, these past few weeks have shown me there are still lots of people out there who need help, who might have nowhere to turn.”
“People who need you.” Tina momentarily forgot about their link and the fact he hadn’t told her about it yet. She could sense how he was feeling; his desire to help others, the uncertainty about the past that still plagued him.
“Or someone like me.” He turned to look at her. “My last mission, the one in the desert, I still feel I screwed up, that I made mistakes. It haunts me.”
“I know.” She placed her hand over his. “You did your best in horrible circumstances and that’s a lot more than other people might have done.”
“Maybe.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I’m not perfect but if people have no one else to turn to, I’m better than nothing.”
“You’re a lot better than nothing.” She hit him lightly. “So where are you going to set up headquarters? Here in Chicago?”
“No, I don’t think Damien and Sam would appreciate me intruding on their territory.”
“Oh.” This was where he’d tell her he was leaving and that he’d look her up again if he ever was in town. Damn, they’d already played this scene before. Little wonder he hadn’t mentioned the link. He had no intention of hanging around.
“I was thinking of heading up north, checking out Canada. It’s a big country. According to Lycan Link’s records there are a lot of areas without Lycan packs.”
She nodded fighting to keep her face impassive. “Sam went there to find Damien at one point. It was a little place called Stump River. I remember it was winter and she said it was cold.”
“Do you like the cold?”
“It’s okay for a while, I guess.” She took a deep breath and stared across the room wondering what it would be like to live without Stone in her life. They hadn’t known each other that long but after what they’d been through—
“So you won’t mind moving there?”
“What?” She swung her head around to stare at him.
“I was hoping you’d be my first employee.”
“Me? Work for you? As part of Virtus?”
“Yeah. I figure we did good together in Cantala. And having a witch on the team might be useful.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Yes is pretty easy to say.” He gave her a crooked smile.
“Then yes, of course. I’d love to work with you.” She hugged his arm and he pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Good. It will take a lot of planning and we won’t be leaving right away.”
“That’s okay. I have stuff I need to do here first, anyway.” Like witch lessons with Gwyneth, she added to herself. That reminded her that Stone still hadn’t mentioned the fact that they were linked.
“Ready to leave?” He gently nudged her and she gave a start.
“Hmm? Yeah. Let’s go home.”
He put a guiding hand in the small of her back as they left the club. She walked silently beside him, preoccupied with what Gwyneth had told her and wondering why Stone was holding back. The more she thought about it, the more upset she became. Keeping secrets from each other was not a good thing in her book.
“You’re quiet tonight.”
She made a noncommittal sound and kept her eyes fixed straight ahead.
“Something bothering you?”
“If you can’t figure it out, then I’m certainly not going to tell you.” She clamped her mouth tightly shut.
He gave her a sideways look as if she’d grown horns or something.
Men!
She knew she sounded pissed off and she was. He hadn’t made any attempt to tell her they were linked. It was pretty important news, in her mind, and should have come from him. Had he ever planned on telling her? She shoved her hands in her pockets and stepped away so he was no longer touching her.
He sighed. “Gwyneth told you.”
“Yes, she did.” When he didn’t comment back, she pursed her lips, her temper slowly starting to boil. “I really think it should have come from you.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. It probably should have.”
His admission cooled some of her anger though not all of it. “Then why didn’t it?”
“Good question.”
“Do you have a good answer?”
“No.”
She shot him a glance over her shoulder as they climbed the stairs to her place. “Well, that’s honest if nothing else.”
“I’ve always tried to be truthful with you, Christina.” He held the screen door for her while she unlocked the other.
“And I appreciate that but not saying anything is lying by omission.”
“I’m sorry.”
Those two words accompanied by him looking her straight in the eye was her undoing. No deception. No shirking of responsibility.
She sighed, the cool, distant feeling fading. “I’m sorry, too. I know you didn’t know. You and Esteban were trying to save my life.”
“Will it be that awful, having a permanent link to me, having some sense of what I’m feeling?” He stroked her cheek with his knuckles, then tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.
“No. Not really.” She stared up at him, taking stock of his familiar features. She loved his evening stubble, his strong jaw, the scar on his face. The way his dark eyes stared so intently at her that she felt he was looking at her soul. “Actually, having a permanent link to you sounds pretty amazing.”
“That’s what I was thinking, too.”
“No you weren’t. You were thinking being saddled with a wacky, neon-coloured witch was going to drive you crazy.”
The corner of his mouth curled ever so slightly. “That might have crossed my mind as well.” He put his hands on her waist and drew her close so he could murmur in her ear. “But mostly I was thinking ‘hot damn, she can’t get away from me now’.”
“You know what I want, Stone?”
“What?”
She hit him lightly. “You’re supposed to say ‘of course, I know what you want.’ We’re linked together.”
“It’s doesn’t work that way. It’s not like a true blood-bond. You can sense me but I can’t sense you.”
“Whatever. Take a guess at what I’m thinking.”
“Umm... You’re horny and want to get laid?”
She frowned. “I think you’re confusing your feelings with mine.”
“You don’t want to get laid?”
“I do, but—”
“See? I was right.” He laughed, scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom.
Stone set her down gently, his teasing mood gone. He looked at the woman before him, laughter danci
ng in her eyes, spring green hair framing her face.
She is colourful, but she is ours, his wolf observed the witch indulgently.
“I lied to you.”
“What?” She looked confused. “But you just said…?”
“I know.” He sighed and looked away. “I’ve always told you the truth except this one time. I didn’t tell you about the link because…”
“Because?”
He returned his gaze to her eyes. “I was afraid.”
“Of being linked to me?”
“No. Of how you’d feel about it.” He reached down and took her hands in his, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “I didn’t mean for this to happen but the fact that it has doesn’t upset me. In fact, I’m pretty damned pleased.”
“You are?”
“Yep.” He raised her hands to his lips and kissed them. “I love you, Christina.”
A smile slowly appeared on her face and then grew wider and wider. “I love you, too.” She reached up and stroked his cheek. “But I thought I’d have to hex you before you ever admitted to returning the feeling.”
“I guess it’s a good thing I finally manned up to my feelings then.” He gave a crooked smile.
“Darned right ’cuz you know how my hexes can turn out.”
“I’m trembling with fear.”
“No you’re not. I’ve got an inside scoop on your feelings now, remember?”
He pulled her closer. “We could even the playing field.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I were to bite you, drink some of your blood, we’d have something like a blood-bond. Gwyneth told me.”
“You’d bite me?” A worried look appeared on her face. “Would it hurt?”
“No.” He shook his head. “You won’t even notice.”
“Oh.” She was quiet for a moment, a frown wrinkling her brow. “This is permanent, isn’t it?”
“Yes. We’d be mates for the rest of our lives. No escaping me.”
“And you couldn’t escape me, no matter what colour I make my hair!”
He tweaked a lock of it and laughed. “Right.”
“In that case, I accept your proposal.” She grinned up at him.
Stone studied her upturned face and the laughter slowly faded away. Quirky, brave, smart… “I really do love you, Christina. More than I ever believed possible.”
A sheen covered her eyes and she blinked rapidly. She placed her hand on his chest over his heart. “I know.”
He leaned forward and kissed her brow, her temple, the curve of her cheek. She murmured her pleasure when he nuzzled the sweet spot behind her ear, sighed softly when he finally brushed his lips over hers.
It was a tender kiss, a kiss full of love and promise, full of a growing passion that had her clinging to him even as he pulled her closer and bore her down on the bed.
“My blood is part of you and that makes you my woman. Mine and no one else’s.” He stared into her eyes, his gaze locked on hers.
His words made her heart beat faster, he could hear it, see it in the pulse at the base of her neck. The scent of her desire caused his own heart to race. She belonged to him and the primitive need to claim her overtook his senses…
Now sated, they lay in a tangle of arms and legs. Tina stroked Stone’s back, loving the feel of him pressing down on her. Had they created a child this night? Did he even want children? Something else they needed to talk about. Would they return to Cantala one day to check on Sister Bernita? Or perhaps travel to some distant land to help free...
The phone rang. She sighed, her pleasant daydreams ruined. “Are you going to answer that?”
“No.” Stone rolled off her.
The phone continued to ring.
“It might be important.” She ran her hand over his chest, loving the texture of his light body hair.
“It might not.” Stone sat up even as he spoke. He fumbled for his pants, found the phone in his pocket and checked the caller ID and swore. “Reno, you’d better have a damned good reason for calling right now because if you don’t—” He was silent for a moment, listening intently, nodding occasionally. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”
He ended the call, then sat staring at the phone for a moment before setting it down and flopping back on the pillows. “That was Reno.”
“So I heard.”
He rolled his head to the side to look at her. “They’ve found her. Found Adisa.”
“The woman you told me about? From that last mission?”
“Yeah.” His voice cracked. “She’s alive. She...um...” He cleared his throat. “She made her way out of the occupied territory, travelled with a group of nomads.”
“That’s fantastic news.”
“Yeah, it really is.” He drew her close, wrapped his arms around her. “You’ll love her when you meet her.”
“Umm...how old is she, do you think?”
“Adisa? Maybe sixty-five.”
Tina smiled. “Sixty-five is good.”
“Were you jealous?”
“A bit.”
“There’s no need. You and me, we’re linked forever.” Stone pressed a kiss to the top of her head then ran a finger over his already-healing bite mark on her neck.
“Forever?”
“Yep. Definitely forever.”
She rolled over in his arms so she could see his face and placed a hand on his chest. “A man of stone.”
“And a psychedelic witch.” He pulled a lock of her hair.
“We’re going to make a great team, aren’t we?”
“The baddies won’t know what hit them.”
“Baddies?” She giggled at his use of her term.
“See? We’re linked. You’re already rubbing off on me.”
Tina glanced up at his head. “Does that mean we can change the colour of your hair?”
“Christina!” He growled and pinned her to the bed, his eyes twinkling with laughter.
Memories of an earlier vision stirred within her. She’d seen herself climbing a mountain; steep, rocky, impenetrable, frozen. Wind had lashed her hair, tugged at her clothing almost knocking her off her feet. At the time she’d wondered if she’d survive or not.
Now she knew the answer. The ice had melted, the mountain had been conquered. She was at the summit and the whole world stretched out before her.
Lovingly, she traced the features of the smiling man above her. Stone by name but no longer by nature.
Her lover.
Her heart.
Her home.
Epilogue
Midnight had struck and then one o’clock. Club Mystique was quiet, the doors were now locked. Gwyneth sat in bed, hugging her knees and staring pensively out the window.
Blood spells.
That’s what Christina had accidentally become involved in. Dark magic, but not always evil as many erroneously believed. It was all in the intent of the user. Evil begot evil. Good begot good. The Lycan, Stone, had love in his heart when he’d spilled his blood, even if the man was too thick between the ears to realize that fact. Spells made with love were the strongest of all, the most difficult to break. Tina would be well cared for.
Gwyneth gave a satisfied nod and turned her thoughts to other matters. It was an anniversary of sorts for her, not that anyone knew but herself. Those that might have known, or cared, were long since dead.
Sherman, her cat, jumped onto the bed and made his way to her side. After head-butting her as a means of greeting, he curled up against her, the soft rumble of his purr comforting in the silence of the empty apartment.
An empty apartment.
An empty building.
An empty heart?
That was what she’d signed on for so she had no reason to feel melancholy. It had gotten her where she was today. Successful, magically powerful, a respected member of the Universal Coven. If she felt anything was missing in her life it was likely Tina’s fault. The witchling and her Lycan had fallen in love and remnants of the newly b
irthed emotion still contaminated the building.
“In the morning, I’ll do a cleansing. That should restore my equilibrium and banish any treacly sweet feelings that might be lingering in the air.” Her voice broke the silence of the room, echoing off the unadorned walls.
Sherman chose that moment to issue a loud ‘meow’ and gave her a reproachful glance.
“Be quiet,” she chided. “You’re only here to deal with the mice, remember?”
Sherman twitched his ears and settled at her side again, likely realizing he’d yet to justify his presence by producing a dead rodent. Keeping a low profile and not irritating her was in his best interest.
She sighed and turned out the light casting the room into darkness. The dim light of the moon shone through the window creating shadows on the walls. Her mind took a flight of fancy, conjuring up images from the past in the nebulous shapes. Gwyneth settled back on her pillow and idly traced the small scar on her chest.
A blood spell by the light of a blood moon, that’s how it had all started...
~ FIN ~
Deceit can be Deadly
Nicky Charles
PUBLISHED BY:
Nicky Charles on Smashwords
Deceit can be Deadly
Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2017 by Nicky Charles
Smashwords Revised Edition
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced or used in any form whatsoever without permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. All characters and storylines are the property of the author. Your support and respect are appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. The mention of characters that originally appeared in Jan Gordon’s “Life In The Shadows” are used with permission and are copyrighted to her.
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