Destiny Disrupted (5 page)

“For you, Dad,” I whispered and took off running back home.

On Monday, the house seemed somber and dark, just like my mood. A glance at the alarm clock told me it was well past two o’clock. Since there wasn’t any school today due to some teacher conference, I had slept in late.

I groggily pulled on a white tank, capris, and sneakers, then ambled downstairs into the kitchen. The shades, which had slept under the bed, dissolved back into shadow, hiding from the sunlight like mini-vampires.

While my coffee brewed, I popped a piece of bread into the toaster and flipped on the TV on the counter to the news. My day was looking up. No deaths or missing persons to report in my area. Nothing about the woman I’d saved, either.

After finishing breakfast, I leaned over the sink and lifted the blinds, peering out the window. Part of Muir Woods towered just beyond my backyard. No sign of evil. It usually only stalked the unwary at night. And apparently
moi
, since I was familiar with all their wicked ways.

Daylight was a good time to do a quick spell. I opened a cabinet, took out a bundle of smudging sticks tied with colorful string, and lighted the end of the stalks with a match. I blew gently on the flame so it would create a halo of smoke. Carrying the sage, I slipped out the backdoor to reinforce the wards.

Thick gray clouds crowded the sky. I traced the perimeter of the house with the smoking sage. I’d the modified spell so it to not only repelled nasty paranormals, but trapped them now, too. If the Triad came back, the barrier would zap their demonic butts.

Closing my eyes, I whispered the revised version of the protection spell, feeling my magick bleed into the incantation. “
Evil is looming, so let malevolence be withstood. Protect my home, and shield it with the power of good
.”

The magickal lines, blue as winter ice, rippled like waves enveloping the house. They were invisible to the human eye, but not to witches.

Just as I was about finished reinforcing the wards, a sleek yellow Porsche roared up the drive and parked. Trent jumped out and hurried over. His light brown hair was perfectly disheveled, curling up around his ears. A bit of stubble covered his cheekbones and strong chin.

With his cocky swagger, amazing green eyes, and bulging biceps, a mere glimpse of Trent caused females to have total fangirl moments. And I was not exempt. Every time I looked at him, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have such an awesome boyfriend. But he was far from perfect. Only I knew he had a dark side. Or that he wasn’t afraid of killer lycans, but carnival clowns totally freaked him out. Or that
Darkness
lived within him and he had a wild temper.

He was the ultimate bad boy, the hottest of smoldering cambions, and quite literally doomed to be the Prince of the Hell.

“Why are you smiling?” Trent asked.

“I saved a woman’s life last night and vanquished a demon.”

“Good for you, but I wish you wouldn’t go out hunting alone.” Trent clung to my side like a magnet. “Whatcha doing?”

The smudging sticks weaved smoke around us like ghostly arms.

“A fortification spell.”

His eyebrows lifted. “What does that mean? I don’t speak witch.”

I smiled. “It’s a protection spell for the house.”

Trent pulled me close, resting his hands on either side of my face and kissed me. I snuggled into him and his body felt warm against my stomach, bare between the hem of my tank and the waist of my workout pants.

“I gotta finish my smudging.”

He laughed. “That’s not something a guy wants to hear after he kisses a girl.”

I giggled. “You know what I mean.”

Trent kissed me again and one of his hands softly caressed the back of my neck, winding into the strands of my dark hair. His other hand slid down the middle of my back, leaving a path of warm tingles. My fingers swept over his firm muscles, and our bodies were nearly fused together.

When I finally broke away, I was breathless. Damn, that boy could kiss.

“Ready to workout?” he asked.

Far from it. Now I’d much rather do other things that cause a sweat.

“Almost. I’ll meet you inside in a minute,” I said.

I waved the sage in the air and recited the spell again. Then I laid the burning sage into a ceramic pot near the porch. I waved my hand over it and the bundle of herbs magically burned out.

The instant Trent reached the first step, the wards crackled and sizzled, causing temporary paralysis. The electric shock zapped Trent and his body violently convulsed for a full thirty seconds, as if he was an insect caught in a bug zapper. I staggered back, clutching my chest in shock. His hair stood straight up from his head and his eyes bugged.

My heart was beating at a dizzying pace. I stared at my boyfriend ensnared in the shimmering blue lines. Somehow his demon-half had set off the barrier’s new “alarm system,” which should only work on
really
bad things.

Trent muttered a few words, resembling a spell. The magickal barrier still trapped him inside the mystical cage, but it stopped electrocuting him.

He grimaced. “You booby trapped the house?”

“I had to reinforce the wards.”

“Undo it, dammit!” Trent’s voice was strained and his eyes flashed demon-spawn black.

I hesitated. Trent’s presence had
never
affected the wards before. If they were working correctly with my recent upgrade, the magickal shield should stop the heart dead in a malicious creature and produce nearly immediate unconsciousness. Somehow Trent’s demon-side had triggered it, but the wards weren’t instantly killing him.

Had I screwed up the spell?

“Shiloh?” he said through gritted teeth. “Any time today would be nice.”

“Okay! Sorry!” I waved my hand at the wards. “
Where goodness roams, un-guard this home. No harm will come to thee, so mote it be!
”

The blue lines wobbled and Trent lurched onto the porch. He clutched the handrail to steady himself. His skin looked a little extra crispy and smoke wafted off his body.

Trent’s face had gone beet red. “What the hell, Shiloh?”

“I’m so sorry! I just finished casting the spell.”

“How does it work?” he asked, straightening his clothes and smoothing down his hair.

“Uh, the instant anything demonic steps through the wards, they should crackle and zap ’em. Kinda like creating a power grid to stop anything evil from entering the house.”

“You mean electrocuted?”

“Yeah, well, anything pure evil.”

“You need to fix it.
And
work on your spell casting,” he snapped.

I ran a jerky hand through my hair. “A-are you all right? Did you get hurt?”

“No, I’m not hurt. Supernatural healing powers, remember?” He stiffly shrugged. “It’s fine.”

Clearly, it wasn’t.

I scratched my head. “It must’ve misfired for some reason.”

“Obviously.” Even though Trent had just been zapped and still had smoke rolling off his body, he closed his eyes and his skin instantly repaired itself. He didn’t need magickal healing potions like me because his demon DNA had natural regenerative powers.

Trent opened his eyes and gripped the doorknob. “The door isn’t booby trapped too, is it?”

I shook my head. “Nope. It’s safe to go inside.”

Trent entered the house and went to the makeshift gym in the basement that contained a bunch of gear, weapons, and workout equipment.

My stomach tumbled over itself. The only reason the wards would’ve zapped Trent was if he had true evil growing within him. Evans said there was no cure for him. No way to stop the spread of the demonic power. But I couldn’t give up on Trent. My mission was to save him.

The “how” was the only obstacle.

Forcing my worries aside for now, I entered the house and walked into the kitchen. I shooed away a fly buzzing languidly over the unwashed dishes huddled in the sink. A sullen bar of sunlight pushed against the wilting fern sitting on the windowsill.

Opening the basement door, I went downstairs. Trent had removed his shirt, wearing only low-slung track pants, and his muscular torso was bare. I had a tantalizing view of his killer abs. He was doing his stretches and his charred skin was completely healed from the demon trap. A warm flush snuck over my cheeks, spreading way, way down. Rigorous workouts kept his body chiseled and buff, and his hotness practically rocked my socks off.

The unease regarding the whole “Trent got caught in my magickal bug zapper” was super freaky and disturbing, yet it only strengthened my need to help him from embracing the
Darkness
.

Trent stopped and rubbed his chin. “There’s still so much I can teach you about self-defense. Let’s do some hands-on exercises today.”

I tugged on my earlobe. “Okay.”

“Don’t tense up. Be ready,” Trent said, getting into a boxer’s stance with his legs apart and both fists raised at chin level.

We tussled for about thirty minutes, a match of strength on the mats covering the ground, until I kicked his feet out from under him and he tumbled onto the floor.

Trent stared up at me with a seductive smile. “If you wanted to get me on my backside, all you had to do was ask.”

I shook my head with a slight smile. “Stop messing around.”

He got to his feet. “Gee, someone’s grumpy today,” he teased.

We continued training until he flipped me on my back. Even though I trained daily, and my body was muscular and toned, I still wasn’t prepared for this kind of intense workout. When I’d hit the mat for the fifth time in a row, I lay on my back, gasping for breath.

“Get up,” Trent ordered. “Fast. Never stay down. You’re vulnerable when you’re down.”

I couldn’t breathe, much less move. The basement whirled around me.

“Move it,” he said harshly. “You’d have been dead a second after you hit the mat.” Trent gestured for me to come at him again. “Come on, you’re not breathing.”

I scowled at him and sluggishly got to my feet. “I am! But I’m human, Trent.” And he wasn’t.

“I know that,
mon amour.
But I’m teaching you what to do when you get knocked down. You have to learn how to relax and become boneless so that you’re not hurt when you hit the ground. Then you can roll to avert an attack and bounce to your feet. You can heal quickly using potions, but if you’re going to survive another demon assault, you need to know the basics, too.”

“I thought learning how to body slam sweaty half-demons was gonna be fun,” I whined, then closed my eyes. The room still spun behind my closed lids. “I think I need a mini timeout.”

Trent frowned. “The Triad won’t give you a timeout when you ask!” 

Slowly, I got into position with my hands guarding my face and chin. “You’re being super bossy.”

“I just don’t want anything to happen to you if I can’t be there to back you up,” he said in a softer tone.

I lowered my arms. “Well, the big hero-type can’t always be around to save the girl. Besides, I may need to protect
you
someday.”

Except Raze kept showing up like some valiant romance novel hero.

“You don’t think that I would?” Trent asked.

“Would what?”

He frowned. “Save you.”

Instead of answering, I charged him, trying to grab him around the waist, but he flipped me over his shoulder and down onto the mat. A jolt of pain shot through me. Dammit.

Trent loomed over me. “If I were a demon, I’d drive the ball of my hand up underneath your nose while you were down and send the bone splinters into your brain.”

I glared up at him. “No, you wouldn’t.”

“You think demons will be merciful? Forget it.”

“No, a demon would enjoy toying with me. If he had me down, why would he waste the opportunity?”

His expression hardened. “Either way, you’re dead.”

“Today. Tomorrow I’ll do better. And the day after that I’ll be better still.”

Stepping closer, he gazed down at me with a lopsided smile. “It’s awesome to see you like this. So determined and focused. Kind of a turn on, too.”

I raised an eyebrow and gazed back at him. His glistening torso and strong forearms made me think of other things that weren’t about learning how to drop and roll, but had lots to do with other sweaty indoor activities. A lot more fun than being tossed around my basement.

“Shall I teach you how to throw knives next week?” he asked.

“We’re already moving onto sharp objects? Oh, goody!” I clapped my hands. “Aren’t you, Mr. Fun today. But I can still protect myself by throwing fireballs, though my aim is a little off.”

He shook his head. “You can’t always depend on your magick.”

“That’s true. My powers have been so freakin’ unstable lately.”

Trent flexed his fingers. “My uncle thinks your magick is tied to your physical state, so when you get burned out, so does your power.”

“Oh, yeah?”

I attacked, and again, Trent flung me onto the mat. I landed with an
oomph
on my back and the air whooshed from my lungs. Smiling, he straddled me and brushed damp hair from my forehead.

Neither of us moved. Our eyes locked. I became hyper-aware of his muscular body covering mine and his powerful hands pinning my wrists to the mat. The scent of sweat and soap from his skin created a jumble of confusing emotions within me. His thigh muscles tightened against my hips. He lowered his face and kissed me. Jolts of pleasure skittered along my spine. The touch of his lips heated every inch of my skin. I kissed him back, just wanting to feel him, touch him, hold him. He ghosted kisses over my neck, until his lips found their home on mine again.

“Shiloh.” He breathed my name like a prayer. “I love you so much,” he whispered. “I love you with every inch of my body, with every ounce of my soul, and with every beat of my heart.”

“I love you, too,” I said and kissed his neck.

He slid a hand through my hair, his fingers curling into the strands along the back of my skull. His voice lowered, rough with emotion. “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or even the next day, but I know every day we’re together is the happiest of my life.”

I leaned in and kissed him again until there was nothing but the two of us. A moaning that seemed part lust, part torment coiled from his throat. My pulse pounded, and my thoughts were left in a heady, dizzying swirl. I wanted to kiss away all the supernatural interference in our lives. Find that common ground where we could be a couple without the added stress of evil incarnate catching up with us. I pulled my wrists from his grasp and lifted one had to caress his cheek. Trent’s body pressed into mine, his muscles rippling as we moved to a new level in our relationship.