Dark Tremor (Mated by Magic #2) (13 page)

Jace held his cell to his ear with his shoulder while buttoning his shirt. He glanced at Terra who sat on the bed, brushing through the tangles in her blonde hair. Exhausted, they’d slept most of the daylight away.

“I’m loading the turquoise on the plane now,” Jack said through the phone’s speaker.

“Good. And Josh?”

“He needs to stay and sort out the details with Nicole’s family. Touch base with him when you can. He’s not doing so well.”

“No. I would imagine not.” Jace pinched the bridge of his nose. What a fucking mess.

“I’m sending you everything I have on the Brasmatia clan. The sooner Terra meets with them the better.”

“She’s not going to like it.”

Terra glanced up at him, frowning, and mouthed, “I hear you.”

“At least she’ll have you by her side,” Jack said.

Always.
But Jace wondered how much that really mattered to her. Despite everything they’d been through, she was still holding a piece of herself back. He could feel it, as if there was a tiny piece of him that wasn’t quite whole.

Was she regretting mating herself to him?

Jack interrupted his thoughts. “I’ll call you when I land.”

“Have a safe flight.” Jace hung up his cell, and stuck it in his back pocket.

“What won’t I like?” Terra asked, her brows drawn down. She jumped off the bed and headed toward the smells of Vdara’s breakfast special.

He followed her to the bar and scooted a stool under her fine ass.

“We need to go and meet with the Brasmatia clan.”

The heavenly scent of coffee wafted as she poured two cups. He made a mental note. Three creams, no sugar, for her. She raised her eyebrows at him, waiting for his preference.

“That’s fine. Black.” The hot coffee warmed on the way down. Soon the rush of caffeine would follow.

She frowned and slurped noisily. “Why?”

“Hmm?”

Not bothering with utensils, her fingers stole a round sausage from the serving tray and took a bite.

“Why do we need to meet with Brasmatia?”

It was hard to take his eyes off her as he loaded his plate with eggs and bacon.

“With Mic dead, you’re the next viable option for clan leader.”

She frowned and then grabbed a half slice of toast. Abruptly, she put it down on a small plate, opened four miniscule packets of jam, and dumped them on top. Despite the abundance of knives, she slathered it with her index finger, popped it in her mouth, and licked her fingers.

Her eating was as wild as her love making, and for a moment, he lost his train of thought.

He tried to regather the threads of the conversation, and said, “You’re his only child. His men heard him admit it. Not that anyone would question you once they’ve seen your powers.”

“No.” She shook her head.

“No, what?”

“I don’t want anything to do with them.”

Jace scooped up a forkful of scrambled eggs, and said after swallowing, “Just because Mic was bad, doesn’t mean they all are. They’re your family.”

“I’ve done fine without them up to now.” The look that crossed her face made his insides turn–so vulnerable,  yet so full of pain.

“Maybe it’s them that need you.” He scooted her stool close so he could hug her.

Snuggling, she murmured into his chest, “I don’t know anything about being a leader. And what if they don’t want me?”

“I’ll be with you every step of the way. No matter what happens.” He gave her a squeeze, then handed her a glass of orange juice. Babies needed vitamin C to grow.

“You’re ready to move here? What about your home?” The look on her face was dubious.

“You’re my mate and you’re needed here. From now on, where you are is my home.” When the cat purred at his feet, he scooped to pick it up.

She frowned and played with her toast. Not the reaction he was hoping for.

He put the cat down, and it scooted away with a slice of bacon in its jaw. Purring just out of reach, it licked its paws and stared.

“I get that this whole thing has been a bit of a whirlwind, but we’ll make this work.”

“You’d really be willing to move here?”

Big sad eyes glanced up at him. How could he make her understand that she was his whole world?

“Yes.” He cupped her face in his hands and brushed his lips over hers.

She closed her eyes and let out a long, slow breath. God, what he wouldn’t give to get into her head and know what she was thinking.

“We can make a life here.” He ran a hand over her flat belly, where he was certain his child already grew. “Raise a family.”

She chewed on her bottom lip, frowning.

“If you want something different–”

“No.” She shook her head, but the line between her brows didn’t disappear. “It’s just a lot to take in. Everything’s happened so fast.”

Dark circles marred her pale face, reminding him of all the shit she’d gone through. Alone in the desert for years, most would’ve had a harder time coping. But Terra was strong. He’d give her that.

Damn. This was falling in love. The revelation made his chest hurt and his heart beat erratically in his chest. But looking into her eyes, he could tell she was still holding back from him.

“What’s wrong?” He ran his thumb across her cheek, begging her with his eyes to open up to him.

“Nothing.” She glanced down and stared into her mug of coffee.

She was lying, but he wouldn’t push it. They had time. Eventually she would trust him, and he would do everything in his power to make certain of it.

He kissed her forehead and released her. There was still so much to be done.

“I need to go out for a couple of hours. Josh is on his way to the Police Station and wants me to meet him there. Promise me you won’t leave the room.”

She gave a small nod.

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

“Good.” He pulled her to him and kissed her hard on the mouth. “I’ll have security post a guard at the door–”

“That’s not necessary.”

“I don’t care. I’m not taking any chances.”

The last thing he wanted to do was leave her. Hell, he’d spend every last moment in bed with her if he could, but there were things to do, and with Mic gone, she was safe.

Mic crawled out of his burrow, lay on his stomach, and squinted into the morning sun. His body ached all over, but mostly his right leg. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out his sat-phone, and called Eddie.

Ring, no answer, not even a machine.

Traitor.

He scrolled through his contacts, found the number for the sniveling kid, Falcon, and tapped. After four rings, the healer answered. “M-M-Mic?”

“Yeah, kid. I’m a mile back from the wreckage, on the south side. You need to come get me. Now.”

Silence met him on the other end.

“You there, Falcon?”

Finally, the kid said, “Ye-Yeah. I’ll be there.”

“You better be.”

Behind him, about a quarter mile back, a hill of rubble stood where the vein of black turquoise had been all but destroyed.  From this distance, he couldn’t make out the faces that wandered up and down. He didn’t recognize any of the vehicles, either. Probably fucking flame-throwers.

Where are my men? Eddie?

Did they all double-cross him? Planning to take over his leadership? Get the black gold?

It didn’t matter. Earth power was all over the world. With the enticement of the powerful turquoise, his clan would quadruple in size in no time.

He’d convince the righteous snobs in the clan council that the Fialko’s had come onto his turf and declared war. They tried to kill him, didn’t they? He had plenty of witnesses, and could buy a few more.

And they stole what rightfully belonged to him.

Mine.

The turquoise was his. He’d kill every last one of them to get it back.

He held the large rough-cut piece of turquoise that had been his only companion all night as he dug underground, and fumed. They had no right. No right to anything.

He thought of his daughter. She was his, too. So high and mighty last night.
Bitch.
Just like her slut of a mother. She wouldn’t be so haughty once he tamed her and gave her to Eddie. And he would. He grinned, despite all the aches in his body.

A gecko skittered across the desert floor and stared eye to eye. Mic reached out and swatted it flat. It shivered, dying slowly. That was how he would make the Fialkos pay for coming out west and trying to take over his clan.

Pumpkin wound around her feet as Terra tried to pull up her jeans. Wobbling on one leg, she patted his head and giggled at his antics. “Stop that.”

She buttoned her fly and tossed a scratchy new t-shirt over her head. She thought of her comfy clothes buried with the earthship, and wondered if any survived. Maybe today she would try to get at some of her stuff. Now that Mic was gone, it would be safe, as long as she was careful and could stabilize the area.

But she promised Jace she wouldn’t leave the hotel, and after last night she thought it best to keep her promise.

She gave herself a quick appraisal in the full-length mirror. The strapless sundress scooped low in the front, the hem resting just above her knees. The dress fit her well enough, but she’d never be comfortable in designer anything. She didn’t see the point in spending that much money on clothes.

There was a dark bruise on her right cheek, and a splattering of brown and black marks along her neck and arms.

Not one for makeup, she glanced at the pile that Jace had thoughtfully brought back from the drugstore. Lipstick, mascara, eyeliner. She didn’t know what to do with half the stuff.

With a sigh, she put some foundation over the worst of her bruises. That was enough.

Her small world had broken open into endless sparkling possibilities. Possibilities that scared the hell out of her.

Jace had given up everything to mate with her. What did she have to offer him? A clan of thugs? A worthless mine? A beautiful earthship sunk deep into the desert floor.

She hadn’t had time to really think about what they would do once Mic was gone, but now it was all she could think about. Would he demand she move to Jersey with him? Or would he come here? Maybe they’d live on opposite sides of the country. She had no idea what he was thinking.

Like it or not, the Brasmatia clan was her responsibility now. She couldn’t walk away even if she wanted to…or could she?

A knock on the hotel door startled her from her revelry. Was Jace back already? She rushed across the sitting room to release the chain.
Why didn’t he swipe his keycard?

“Who is it?”

“Housekeeping.” A muffled, Hispanic-accented voice sounded on the other side of the door.

“No, thank you.”

“Housekeeping.” The person rapped on the door again.

“No. Later.”

“Housekeeping.”

“Listen–” She opened the door a crack to try to explain in Spanish.

God, no
.

A man she recognized as Mic’s right-hand man reached in and grabbed her forearm.

She prayed the little gold chain across the opening would hold as she shoved with all her might against the door, pressing against his arm.

He growled and pushed harder. The door opened a bit wider, and his other hand burst through with a syringe. His thumb went down and she screamed as the plunger sent the needle into her inner arm.

She dropped to her knees from the initial shock. No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. 

The crowbar forced the door fully open, and the gold chain pulled apart.

Whatever he’d given her was already taking effect. Her head spun, vision blurry, and she knew she was in a double dose of shit.

The man gripped her arm, pulling her roughly towards him.

Through the open door she saw the hotel guard Jace had posted, dead or unconscious on the hallway floor.

“What do you want?” she managed, her voice already weak.

“Don’t worry, Darling. Just taking you to daddy.”

Daddy.
The words echoed.

She blinked hard, trying to stay focused, to assess what was happening. Her attacker dragged the guard into the suite.

The room dimmed and she had the feeling of floating.

She recognized the helplessness. Drugged and tied.

Nicole? Where is Nicole?
She had to get away. Mic was coming for her. But something was off.

She blinked and the world once again changed
.
Where was she?

Shaking her head, as if that would fire a few brain cells, she registered her surroundings. Cement. Loading dock. Trucks. Crates. Mic arguing.

What? Mic is dead. Isn’t he?

Adrenaline coursed through her veins, causing more coherency. She remembered the stab of the needle, the man bursting into the hotel room, then nothing.

Voices at the dock grew suddenly angry and loud.

“...dollars then, and five hundred when delivered.” A short, stout man stared up at Mic, dressed in blue cotton work pants and a worn gray t-shirt.

“I said to bring back Jace Fialko’s head and put it at my feet.” Mic grabbed the man by the throat.

“I got you rocks. That should count for something.” His face turned red as Mic squeezed.

She sat up, and scooted back until she was leaning against the cold, hard cement wall.

“I said to kill him. That was our deal.” Mic released him, then started to pace.

“Me and what army of witches?” He rubbed his neck.

“I said to take some of my guys. It should’ve been easy with all of these stones.”

The guy took off his baseball cap and rubbed his sweaty face with the back of his arm. “You need a reality check, man. Most of your guys are up at the reservation. Fubar. Fucked up beyond all recognition. That Indian medicine man? He’s called in help from across the US. Where have you been, under a rock?”

Mic backhanded him so hard, the smaller man fell to his knees. With a sickening crack from a kick to the ribs, the man fell onto his back.

He begged for his life, “No, hold on, please.”

Her father squatted, put one hand to the man’s chest. The building shook, and then...

Oh my God!
Blood and gore exploded everywhere. It splashed onto the walls, covering her father.

Terra’s stomach lurched. She swallowed the bile that rose to her throat.

Her father giggled in a creepy high falsetto. He was worse than insane. The man was a psychopath.

Mic grabbed a towel nearby, wiped the blood from his eyes, then walked to the truck bed. All the while he muttered to himself and hugged a stone of rough gem to his chest.

The man who abducted her came out from the men’s room, and wiped his hands on his jeans. His dark eyes took in the situation in a heartbeat. “Holy fuck. He’s completely lost it.”

“He’ll do the same to you, and to me. Let me loose. Please.”

“He’ll kill me.” The man’s face had turned the same dusty gray as the cement walls.

“Not if I kill him first.”

“Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how powerful he is?” Eddie’s gaze darted frantically around the warehouse.

“Please,” she begged.

He squatted beside her and pulled out a switchblade, then cut her bindings. “Get out of here while you can.”

Before she could say more, Eddie stood, turned on his heel and bolted out the front door.

She should follow. Do what he said and get the hell out of there. But the stones in the bed of the truck called to her.

Rubbing her wrists, she stood on shaky legs and inched closer. She needed more power if she was going to finally kill Mic. Or at least hold him here until Jace arrived. And he would. He would come for her.

Mic jumped off the loading dock and disappeared behind the truck. A moment later, he reappeared, holding a stone, caressing it.

“They don’t understand. But I know. I know what you and I can do, Marissa.”

He repeated the process. “I’ll just put you down next to Fay.”

The sick fucker licked the stone, then rubbed it against his cock.

That was over-the-top.

Just one piece of black stone. That’s all she needed to stop this nightmare.

“I know you’re watching me,” he said in a sing-song voice. Turning, he grinned and sniggered, looking at her with wild, crazy eyes.

For a moment, she stood, deer in the headlights, and almost gave up hope. A whole line of stones flew through the air, headed straight for her.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

Knees weak, she called upon her new fire power.

Nothing.
Shit.

She searched for Jace’s presence deep within, and calmed, his fierce strength with her. A flame flared up in the palm of her hand grew blue in intensity, and then burned so hot it turned invisible.

She willed the energy toward the stones flying in her direction. At first, she thought the stones were resistant, but then the rock in front smoked. A yellow flame ignited. Then the stone snapped and crackled like Rice Krispies, until disintegrating into tiny pieces that spit out in all directions.

One cut into her cheek.

“No. You’re hurting them. Stop it.” Her father tackled her, and they landed on the floor with a sickening thud. He grabbed her arm and put a football size piece in her hand. “Take it. Let it know you. Learn from it.”

Pure power poured into her from the stone.

He had given her the means to destroy him. She was about to fight back when the stone’s energy became a buzz, consistent at first, then growing in intensity, the power unstable.

Visions formed in her mind. She could rule. Do good things. Take over all the Brasmatia clan. But she needed more. Much more.

The stone whispered to her. “Take what you need.”

Her father laughed, stood, pulling a sheet off the largest stone she’d seen yet. Bright orange copper wrapped around its six-foot circumference. A smaller red wire wound down to what looked like an electric generator. The humming box had a thicker cable that snaked up and plugged into a small laptop that sat on a cheap plastic table.

Electric energy excited the air around her, and the small hairs on her arms stood on end.

Fascinated, despite the obvious danger, she stood, clutching her football-size rock and moved toward the larger one. She reached out with one hand and touched the giant turquoise piece. It vibrated against her palm. The need to be one with it, overwhelming.

“Don’t let go,” he sang as he glanced down at the laptop and typed frantically into the keyboard.

At his command, she tried to do the opposite, but her hand stuck, as if pulled by a giant magnet.

“Perfect.” Chuckling, he attached a cuff around his wrist with Velcro.

She struggled to pull away, and put her other hand to the rock as leverage. Like a Tar-Baby, the more she struggled, the more she stuck, until knees and elbows were locked tightly to it.

Her muscles seemed weaker. More than they should’ve been from the effort expended. Should the rock let go, her legs would give out.

“Make it let go of me,” she hissed. Her shoulder ached from the socket as she tugged again.

“In due time, daughter. In due time.” He leaned over, turned some big black knobs on the generator, and mumbled something about capacitance. Then began typing again.

She cried out, her body weak, brain fuzzy from the high of the stone.

“That’s better, now.” His mad eyes met hers and his normally tidy gray hairs frizzed out on end.  He sat in a wooden folding chair and stared at her. “Shouldn’t take long. Maybe an hour or so.”

Her eyes grew weak, and her head bobbed. The rock thrummed to the pace of her heartbeat, as it seemed to drain the life out of her. If she didn’t get free soon, he would win.

“So. While we wait, you might as well understand what it is that is killing you.”

Terra moaned, and closed her heavy lids.

“This is your fault, you know. If you had just come to me, none of this would have been necessary.” He tapped on the box with the antique knobs. “About thirty, maybe forty years ago, my family figured out how to harness the energy from dark turquoise. I can’t explain it. Quantum physics, reversal of energies. After all, under the skin we’re all electrons. Atoms. Way over my head.” He tapped a finger to his temple. “I just know that with this program,” he peered into his laptop and typed, “I can re-energize. Undo the effects of the stone.”

“Wha-what are you go-going to do?” She was so tired now, she could barely keep her eyes open.

He leaned back with hands behind his head and crossed his ankles. “Unfortunately, you have to die. This time, I let the stone take me too far. Only someone as powerful as you could bring me back. But I can’t die. You, however? You’re nothing.”

It was true. She was nothing. But he was lower than nothing. A maggot. No, worse. Primordial slime.

She fumed and a small spark fizzled in a fingertip. Suddenly alert, she tensed and waited for him to react, but he hadn’t noticed, turning to type away on his computer.

That was it. She wasn’t just earth anymore. She tried another spark and a fingertip flamed.

How could I have forgotten so soon?
Since mating, she was part Iesco, as well. That machine wouldn’t be designed to touch that part of her, or so she hoped.