Magic Resistant (14 page)

“How about you leave and let us get dressed?
And from now on, I suggest you knock.” He said pointedly to
Victor.

“Knock? Then I’d miss out on all the
interesting things I shouldn’t see.” He winked and rapidly left as
a pillow flew towards him.

With a sigh, Jackson suggested getting
dressed. He really didn’t want to get out of bed. However, he
didn’t put it past Victor to charge back in if they took too
long.

JULIA STARED BLANKLY at the door. A frown
creased her brow as she tried to understand the unwanted and
unnatural attraction towards Victor she experienced. As soon as he
left the room, it faded away like a hazy mirage. A niggling sense
of desire, a summer shower compared to the hurricane of emotions
Jackson invoked in her.

“Something’s different about him.” She said,
wondering if he enhanced his attraction through a spell. Some mages
wanted to increase their appeal. She couldn’t understand why he
would though.

By anyone’s standards, Victor was fantasy
material. Tall, over six feet easily. Dirty blond hair cropped
closely on the sides while slightly long on the top. Gorgeous hazel
eyes. Square jaw, smoothly shaved. His lean body had well-developed
muscles without being too brawny that even his suit failed to hide.
Looked like a movie star and moved with the confidence of one. A
hint of danger coiled beneath the surface, enticing a woman to
learn more.

It made no sense why he’d boost his sex
appeal with a spell.

Jackson snorted, “Yeah, you and every other
woman who meets him thinks that.”

She turned her attention to him. His tone
puzzled her for a moment before she realized what she heard.

“Are you jealous? Seriously?” She giggled a
little. This was a first for her. “You’ve got nothing to be jealous
of. Yes, he’s quite handsome. And so are you. I much prefer you in
my bed.”

She leaned over and gave him a long, hungry
kiss. Parts of her tingled, reminding her of last night’s pleasure.
His fingers gripped her hips and they broke apart panting.

She was right. He was damn sexy with his hair
rumpled from a night of hot sex. Made her want to tumble him back
into bed.

“You have nothing to worry about. I love you
and I don’t want anyone else. For the sake of complete honesty
between us, yes I felt attraction to Victor, but it was forced.
Soon as he left, it went away. It’s not real and no way would I act
upon it.”

She held her breath, hoping Jackson believed
her.

Another twinge of guilt ate at her. She
wasn’t
being completely honest with him. Even those words
were a lie. She had bigger secrets than a strange attraction to his
partner. Ruthless, she pushed the guilt aside. Time enough to worry
about it later.

Slowly, he nodded. Some of her tension leaked
away her as she acknowledged how much his trust meant to her. While
she couldn’t tell him the truth of her existence, she could hold
his love for her sacred; never give him any reason to doubt her
feelings for him.

A faint thread of tension remained. In a few
moments she would again experience that odd, unwanted attraction to
Victor when he came back into the room. She didn’t like having her
emotions manipulated. Truth be told, she liked being immune to most
magic.

They both got dressed; Jackson in cargo pants
and a t-shirt, Julia in a long sleeve shirt and jeans. She’d chosen
them on a whim during an online shopping trip. The cheerful yellow
had caught her eye.

To combat the muggy July heat, her mainstay
of clothes were tank tops and shorts. Having so much exposed skin
around Victor didn’t sit right with her though, like tempting a
pixie with a bowl of milk. While he hadn’t tried anything untoward
and had kept his eyes averted from her naked body, she preferred to
keep the milk hidden in the fridge.

If she focused, perhaps blocking the spell
was possible. Normally she wanted her resistance out of the way,
but this time it might work in her favour. Jackson and Victor had
been friends for too long and she refused to come between them.

Thoughts of wrecked relationships swirled
through her mind. Jackson would lose all trust in her once he found
out. Would he execute her or would he turn her over to the Coterie?
She wanted to tell him, just not yet. He had enough to worry about.
She didn’t want to add another complication.

Liar
. Her treacherous thoughts
whispered to her.
You don’t want to lose him
.

Or her head.

Chapter Eleven

“WHAT WAS SO
important that you showed up at...” Jackson looked at his watch,
“Ugh, 8 A.M. That’s just cruel. You know I hate mornings. And I
haven’t had my coffee yet!”

He sounded like a petulant child, but
couldn’t help it. He wanted to spend the time in bed with Julia,
enjoying a lazy day with her. Didn’t he deserve a lazy day?

Studying Victor, he realized a frank talk was
in the works between the two men. A talk he didn’t want to have.
Victor didn’t do it on purpose. Sometimes he forgot to suppress the
natural ability.

Since Jackson wasn’t interested in men, he
didn’t feel the effects. Therefore his friend didn’t bother
containing it around him. He’d noticed the difference when they
were around women or gay men. Less carefree, more withdrawn and
curt.

The subject itself was touchy with the other
mage. He hated the ability, detested the fact he attracted women
against their own wishes.

Out of respect for Jackson, Victor would now
restrain it, avoiding any latent affects with Julia. Stealing a
friend’s woman was never Victor’s intent.

His friend laughed, unaware of Jackson’s dark
thoughts. “Check the kitchen. As if I'd be without gifts at this
early hour.”

He winked at Julia as Jackson pushed past him
and stalked to the small kitchen. Sitting on the counter, a Tim
Horton’s large double/double coffee. Jackson sighed in delight and
ignored the other two while he savoured it.

Bliss. Such pure bliss.

“Is he always like this before his coffee, a
banshee wailing your death if you get between him and his cup?”
Julia questioned Victor.

Jackson refused to answer that absurd
question. Of course he needed his coffee to kick-start his morning.
It’d been weeks since he enjoyed a Timmie’s coffee and nothing was
putting a damper on his delight.

“I’m not listening.” He growled.

Chuckling, Victor replied, “An apt
description. Yeah, give him coffee and he’ll love you until the
caffeine fix runs out.”

Lazily, he flipped them both off as he leaned
against the counter. The hot liquid warmed him on its way down to
his stomach. Having had enough time to cool off, it was at the
perfect temperature.

Victor took command, a natural role for him,
and explained why he’d shown up unannounced. “I have a lead for us.
A contact told me he has some information about werewolves and
demons. Wouldn’t go into specifics on the phone though, wants us to
meet him in the PATH.”

The PATH was the largest underground shopping
complex in Canada. Approximately twenty-six kilometers of stores
where almost anything could be purchased, even items regular black
markets wouldn’t touch. It was easy to find what one needed,
provided one knew who to talk to and where to go.

Jackson had spent time cultivating
connections; they saw more than he ever could. With a mixture of
intimidation and bribery, he received a wealth of information from
the sellers and buyers of the seedy side.

“When does he want to meet us? I want this
done quickly while everyone is off-balance from Revenant’s throw
down.” Jackson’s mind leapt ahead. He planned out the best route to
the PATH and how to avoid unwanted attention. Questions crowded his
mind. Who was this person? How were the werewolves involved? And
how could he keep Julia safe?

That last question pulled him up short. Where
in the nine hells did that come from? Julia was quite capable of
taking care of herself, deadly with her spells and knife skills.
And looked amazing while kicking serious ass. Watching the fluid
moves of her body as she danced around an adversary was the stuff
of erotic dreams. Knowing she’d be the victor, unstoppable even
against a stronger foe then coming to his bed afterwards made him
hard.

In a hushed, stunned voice, distracting
Jackson from his fantasies, Victor asked “Revenant? What does he
have to do with this? I heard through the rumour mill he was in a
tear over something, but nothing specific.”

He started pacing, tension visible with every
step he took. “Oh shit, please don’t tell me he’s set his sights on
you. You’re dead if he has.”

“No, no, he’s not after us. In fact, he’s
told the werewolves to leave us alone or suffer the consequences.
Did you hear about the two dead wolf assassins?”

When Victor nodded, he continued, “Yeah that
was him. Left a message with them and I have no damn clue what his
end game is.”

Julia muttered, “Everyone’s heard of this
Revenant. Why haven’t I?”

“Shit... at least he’s with you and not
against you, for now.”

Jackson watched as Victor donned his
easy-going mask, hiding every trace of his agitation. He gave a
charming smile and said, “Well, no need to borrow trouble, got
enough to worry about. My contact said he’ll meet with us any time.
Soon rather than later. Told him we’d be there this morning.
Figured we’d drive instead of teleport. I don’t want the Coterie
tracking my movements.”

Julia spoke up, a thoughtful look on her
face. “If no one objects, I want to call my friend, Dawn. She’s
been around for a while and might’ve heard something. Maybe she has
some information about weird demon activity.”

“Okay, couldn’t hurt.” Jackson handed her the
cell phone, curious about this Dawn person. Julia hadn’t mentioned
her before. Sure, they had the casual get-to-know-you conversation
pieces, but nothing overly personal. Next time they were alone, he
was changing that.

“Dawn, it’s me. Don’t worry, I’m fine and
could use a little talk. Oh, I forgot about that. Yes, I’d still
love to go. Meet at your place?” She said her goodbyes and hung up.
She looked content, a warm glow of happiness he hadn’t seen
before.

Toying with a loose curl near her cheek, he
asked, “Who’s Dawn?”

“An old friend. An ancient friend.” She
chuckled at a private thought before explaining. “She’s a vampire,
quite a well-known one if you follow the art world. Once I asked
about her name. She said the irony of a vampire called Dawn who
would never see the dawn again amused her. She wasn’t very amused
when she said it.”

Her happiness dimmed.

He rubbed her cheek with the back of his
fingers, understanding her distress. Vampires were notoriously
difficult as friends, their long lives jading them. Even the
sweetest, most gentle of souls became cynical and hard after
centuries of life. And those who lived through the race wars
would’ve seen so much death, hatred and devastation.

He thought for a moment, her description of
the vampire triggering a faint memory. He snapped his fingers.

“Oh yeah, I do know her. Her paintings are
mesmerizing. The morbid twists haunting and disturbing.” Jackson
had seen a painting of hers long ago, a reverse colour oil painting
of a nuclear bomb going off. It was striking to look at, like a
black sea urchin resting peacefully in the ocean. Once he read the
name of the painting, he realized its beauty came from
destruction.

“There’s an art show tonight at one of the
downtown galleries. I promised her ages ago I’d be her plus one.
She’s not a fan of crowds. Something about hearing all the
heartbeats and pumping blood. I’ll explain the situation to Dawn
when I get to her place. I’m sure we’ll come up with a decent
disguise. Hmm, I could probably pose as her mage bodyguard. All the
big names have them now. Quite prestigious. It’ll also give me an
excuse to go in there with some of my components. ”

A smart and simple plan. One of the many
reasons why he adored her.

“Sounds good. Victor and I’ll head out now
then. Better to get this done as quickly as possible.”

Leaning in close, he gave her a tight hug and
whispered in her ear, “Stay safe.”

Smiling, she replied back, “You too. And if
you don’t come back to me in one piece, I’m kicking your ass.”

A quick laugh and a lingering kiss, Jackson
left the room with Victor, ready for some answers. The year weighed
heavily on him, paranoia his unwanted and constant friend.

He wanted peace, or as much peace as an
Enforcer could expect.

Chapter Twelve

VICTOR’S CAR
WAITED out front. A decal in the upper left hand corner of his
windshield proclaimed him as an Enforcer. One of the perks of their
job was parking wherever they wanted and no worries about paying
for it. Sometimes, though, Jackson felt guilty and fed the meter to
ease his own conscience. He briefly wondered if his car still sat
in the underground parking at the Coterie headquarters, one of the
tallest buildings downtown Toronto.

The building itself housed the Enforcers
(from the different factions except the Fae and demons) that didn’t
have a residency in the city. Jackson never felt the need to buy a
house, so he stayed there.

Which begged the question, how did the
werewolves break into his place in such a heavily guarded building?
It meant a breach in security or an inside job, both of which were
frightening ideas. Some of the Coterie council stayed there.

Of course, the Coterie may have let them in.
Would they have agreed to the breaking and entering of Julia’s
house though?

While he mulled this over, Victor drove them
to one of the access points into the PATH. Boasting over 125
entrances, they had plenty of options. Only a few, however, were
near the informant. They’d spent a few moments discussing the
quickest way in and, as usual, were in agreement. Neither one felt
like spending half the day wandering around underground.