Circle of Fire (32 page)

Panic surged through Maddie. Without thought, she gathered her fire and aimed it at Eleanor. The witch screeched in surprise and pain. A heartbeat later, Maddie screamed in agony as the fire rebounded and consumed her consciousness.

*   *   *

M
ADDIE
’
S SCREAM TORE PAST THE SPELL HOLDING
J
ON CAPTIVE
. The bright flames danced frantically around him but never touched him—and yet the amulet hadn’t protected him from everything. Or maybe it just couldn’t handle anything more than one attack at a time. Maddie’s agony knifed through his brain. He was so attuned to her now that he could feel her pain, feel her struggle to breathe, to survive, through every pore in his skin. He tore the dagger from his coat and lunged through the flames at Eleanor. Her form was shifting, merging into that of the panther. She leapt away, but not fast enough. He plunged the white-ash dagger deep into her side, trapping her between human and panther shape.

She screamed and lashed at him. Claws raked across his face and then she was on him, a writhing, screaming amalgam of woman and cat with inhuman strength.

They hit the ground locked together. Eleanor took the impact but didn’t seem to feel it. He grabbed her arms, holding her claws away from his face, but Eleanor bucked and threw him high over her head. He hit the ground with a grunt, scrambling up as the witch launched at him again. Then a gunshot resounded across the silence. Eleanor screamed and twisted in midair, and blood plumed from her arm as the bullet tore through muscle and bone. She landed catlike, howling in agony, then sprang again—not at him, but at Maddie.

Jon threw himself between them, but Eleanor twisted in midair again, somehow avoiding him. He hit the ground near Maddie’s feet and rolled, rising awkwardly. Pain burned up his leg, but he ignored it,
spinning to meet Eleanor’s next attack. She was on him in an instant, tearing at his face and his chest, her breath like hot acid. He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight. Needle-sharp fangs tore into his shoulder. Gritting his teeth and hissing in pain, he lifted her off the ground and staggered away from Maddie.

Eleanor screamed in frustration, but it was a high, inhuman sound. She placed her paws against his chest and tore herself out of his arms, leaping away. Two more gunshots cut through the air. Something burned past his ear, drawing blood. Eleanor jerked. Blood and gore sprayed as her body shuddered, then dropped to the ground.

She had to be dead. There was nothing left of her head but a bloody pulp.

The ring of flames surrounding them died, and across the clearing, Jon saw Mack climb to his feet.

He gave the FBI agent a brief nod, then turned and went back to Maddie. Kneeling down, he lifted her head onto his lap and touched her neck, feeling for a pulse.

Nothing. “Oh God,
no
.” Sudden fear stabbed through his heart. She couldn’t die. Not now. He shifted his fingers on her neck, desperate to find some sign of life. He could live without his soul, but he couldn’t survive without his heart. Without
her
.

Then life shuddered under his fingertips. Her pulse was thready and weak, but there. Relief surged through him. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers. And felt the fire under her sweat-dampened skin, burning bright.

Eleanor was dead, but her magic still held Maddie
captive. She was alive but dying—being consumed by the wrath of her own fires.

The amulet
. It had protected him from the worst of Eleanor’s magic. Even though he had yet to test his shapeshifting abilities, he sensed they were still very much a part of him. Maybe the amulet could undo whatever spell Eleanor had placed on Maddie.

Ripping it from his neck, he placed it around hers. The stone burned to life. Pale wisps of smoke spread out across Maddie’s body, encasing it. She jerked, then shuddered. He placed his hands on her shoulders, gently preventing her from doing herself further damage. Through her T-shirt, he could feel the heat slowly dissipating from her skin. The amulet was working. He closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer of thanks to Seline.

“Jon?”

Her voice was little more than a harsh croak, but never had he heard a sweeter sound. He smiled down at her, not daring to speak. Because if he did, he sensed that he might well ask her to stay, to never leave him again.

And despite everything that had happened in the last few minutes, or maybe because of it, he was more determined than ever to watch her walk away. She might own his heart, but he could survive without it knowing that she was safe and well out of harm’s way.

“Where’s Eleanor?”

He brushed a damp curl away from her eyes. “Mack shot her.”

Surprise flitted through their bright amber depths.
Like him, she hadn’t expected Eleanor’s end to be so simple, so
human
. “Then Evan’s safe?”

“We all are.”

She reached up and touched his cheek with a trembling hand. Her fingers followed the line of the cut stretching from his eye to his chin, then hesitated when she came to his neck and the steadily flowing tide of blood from his ear.

“You’re hurt,” she whispered, love and concern evident both in her gaze and in the emotive swirl around her.

It hurt him more than any wound ever could, simply because it was something he was willing to give up, something he would never have again. He took a deep breath and tore his gaze away from hers, watching Mack walk across the clearing instead.

Her confusion rolled around him, as sharp as a knife, but he ignored it and smiled at Mack grimly. “Nice shot.”

Mack nodded, stopping near Maddie’s feet to study them both with a critical eye. “Sorry about the ear.”

Jon shrugged and stripped off his coat, wrapping it around Maddie. Now that her internal heat had disappeared, she was beginning to shiver. Her skin felt like ice; hypothermia was only a step away.

“It’s a nick, nothing more. You called an ambulance?”

“Yeah. Looks like you both need one.” Mack stopped to light a cigarette. “How, exactly, am I going to explain this?”

Jon glanced across at Eleanor’s body. She was still more cat than human, trapped even in death by the white-ash dagger. Her body was beginning to disintegrate
just as Hank’s had. By the time the coroner got here, there’d be little left. “Don’t try. Report the facts and let them come up with their own conclusions when they see her.”

Mack exhaled a long plume of smoke, then turned. Several men had entered the clearing, the paramedics among them.

“Help is here,” Jon said, smiling down at Maddie.

Her fingers wrapped around his and held on tight. Her touch, though icy, ran heat through his soul. But it was the accepting gleam in the tears in her eyes that was almost his undoing.

“Promise you won’t leave without saying good-bye,” she said softly.

Such a simple request, and yet one that would take every ounce of his strength to obey. It would be far easier to walk away now and never see her again. He stared at her face, trying to imprint every small detail in his mind.

“I won’t leave without saying good-bye,” he said, and felt some of the tension ease from her body.

But even as the medical officers separated them, he wasn’t entirely sure he’d spoken the truth.

“M
ADDIE, ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME
?”

Maddie jumped, then rubbed a hand across her eyes and smiled grimly. She hadn’t heard a word Jayne had said in the last five minutes, but she wasn’t about to admit that.

“How’s Evan coping?” she asked instead, tugging at the phone cord in an effort to gain a few extra inches so she could lean back against the pillows.

Jayne’s sigh was a sound of frustration. “You
weren’t
listening.”

She grimaced. “Sorry.”

“Evan’s fine … mostly. He’s still not talking to Steve, though.”

“I don’t really blame him.” Her stupid brother-in-law wanted to take Evan to a psychologist. He couldn’t accept the fact that his son was gifted, preferring to think there was something mentally wrong with him. He was so like their father it was scary. And in her case, the only winner had been the psychologist’s bank account.

“The police
did
recommend Evan see a therapist,” Jayne said softly. “He’s still having nightmares.”

“Nightmares are natural, Jayne. It’s only been three days since he escaped Eleanor’s clutches.”

Three days, she thought, in which she hadn’t seen Jon.

She bit her lip, letting her gaze move to the window. A sparrow scooted busily from one tree branch to another, chirping cheerfully. She wished she felt an eighth of its happiness.

“Still, it can’t hurt,” Jayne murmured.

Maddie’s anger flared. “Oh for God’s sake, Jayne, get real. You know as well as I do that visiting the psychologist only made everything worse for me. Here I was, a kid with this amazing ability to see the future and light fires with just a thought, and the psychologist and our father made me feel like an abomination. Do you really want that for Evan?”

The phone hummed with silence for several seconds, then Jayne sighed. “No.”

“Then get a backbone and stand up for your son. He has a gift, Jayne, a gift that saved his life. Make Steve see that. Because if he doesn’t, he’ll push Evan away, and you’ll both lose him.”

She’d seen it in her dreams. Had seen Evan walking away. It was a future that could be prevented only if Steve saw the error of his ways and stopped acting like such an ass.

“You’ve seen this?” There was a fearful edge in her sister’s voice. Jayne no longer questioned Maddie’s abilities, but she still feared them. And rightly so …

Maddie sighed. “Yes.”

“Oh God, I don’t want to lose him. I don’t want him to—”

Jayne stopped speaking, but what she’d meant was clear enough.
Don’t want him to end up like you.
Maddie smiled grimly. It wasn’t something she wanted, either.

Jayne cleared her throat. “When are you getting out of the hospital?”

“Today.”

“We’re heading home in a couple of days. I’ll call you when we get back.”

“Fine,” Maddie said and hung up.

The nurse bustled into the room, her smile as white as her uniform. “All dressed and ready to leave, I see.”

Maddie nodded. Three days spent under constant observation, with no one to talk to but the nursing staff and some cops asking far too many questions, was more than enough. It was time to escape and go back home.

And do what? It was a question that had nagged at her since she’d awakened in the hospital—alone. She no longer needed a retreat. She was willing to face her past, ready to accept responsibility for her gifts. She just didn’t want to do it alone.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, then,” the nurse continued. “With the wheelchair.”

Maddie didn’t bother responding; the woman had already bustled out the door. She stared out the window again. Where was Jon? It hurt that he hadn’t bothered coming to see her, that he hadn’t kept his promise and let her say good-bye. He’d simply dropped her clothes and her bag near the bed when she was asleep and had left the hospital. No one had seen him since, not even Mack.

She glanced down at the ring on her finger. For the first time, she noticed the design in its bezel: a hawk, etched over the shape of a heart. She twisted it around
her finger gently and wondered why he hadn’t even come back for the ring. He obviously valued it.

“Ready to go?”

The nurse’s question jerked Maddie from her thoughts. She nodded a second time and hastily got off the bed, grabbing her bag and climbing into the wheelchair. The nurse wheeled her out of the room. Mack was waiting in the hall.

“Your truck is waiting out front, but I can arrange a driver if you don’t feel up to driving,” he said, falling into step beside the chair.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine.” She held out her hand and he shook it gravely. “Thanks for everything.”

He smiled. “The police will be in contact if we need any further information.”

She nodded. He’d already told her the case was basically closed. Eleanor’s death had ensured that. “You heading for home now?”

“I have two weeks’ vacation coming. Might stay here a while and enjoy some surf fishing.”

Maddie smiled. “I wish you luck.”

He nodded and waved good-bye, heading off down another corridor. The front doors slid open and the nurse wheeled her into the bright sunshine.

“Here you go,” she said, stopping the wheelchair. “You take care of yourself now.”

“I will. Thanks.” Maddie climbed out of the chair and hefted her bag into a comfortable position on her shoulder. Lifting her face, she enjoyed the caress of warmth against her skin for several seconds. After all the rain and gloom of the past few days, it was a pleasant change. And at least it meant the roads
would be dry. She wouldn’t have to worry so much about her brakes on the trip home.

She turned, wondering where her truck had been parked. Mack had said out front, but he obviously hadn’t meant directly out front, because it wasn’t here. But it took only a second to find it, parked five spaces down. And Jon was leaning casually against it.