Sinfully Spellbound (Spells That Bind Book 1) (26 page)

My amusement over Nick’s—no Nikolai’s—confusion was probably
the only thing that was preventing me from panicking. Seriously, the guy could
not understand why I wasn’t more grateful to him. While I was glad I wasn’t
being tortured and killed, I wasn’t too happy about being treated like his
property, and the threat of training sounded really bad to me.

“I said, come here,” Nikolai said through clenched teeth.

This was his second time telling me, and I was pretty sure
he was going to hurt me if I didn’t obey or distract him.

“Dylan is going to kill you when he finds out about this,” I
told Nikolai as I edged toward the stairs.

Marcos snorted. “That’s been taken care of already. The
police will claim they found your body tomorrow, and your warlock won’t be able
to do anything but mourn your death and insist that the police keep looking for
your killer.”

Now, I was really confused. “So, you plan to kill me?” I
asked, looking at Nikolai as I continued to take tiny steps back.

“Of course not.” Nikolai let out an exasperated huff. “We
just found a succubus who looks enough like you to pass for you. After we leave
here, we’ll carve her up so badly, the police will assume it’s you. No big deal.”

“No big deal?” I screeched. “You are talking about killing
someone, and you say that’s no big deal.”

“I need to kill her, anyway, to complete the ritual,”
Nikolai said with a pout.

“Someone will report her missing, so why would they assume
she’s me?” I asked. The longer I kept them talking about their plans, the
better. This was like one of those crazy superhero movies where the bad guys
kept bragging about their big plan. I’d always laughed at that part of the
film, but maybe evil people really did want to explain their whole plan.

“She has no one who’ll be looking for her. Her employer will
eventually report her missing, but that will be long after her body is found
with all of your personal effects. Life will go on without you,” Nikolai
continued with a serene smile. “I’m sure it’ll be hard for Dylan at first.
Maybe I’ll call him after we relocate to help him get through it all. We’ll
probably even become better friends, but eventually, we’ll drift apart. He’ll
find a nice witch to settle down with. I’ll tell him how much you’d want him to
find happiness to encourage him to move on.”

I figured I’d edged as close to the stairs as I could before
one of them realized I was about to make a break for it. Reaching to my side, I
snatched the lamp off the table and tossed it at Marcos’ head before I turned
and ran up the stairs. I made it almost to the top before Nikolai tackled me,
knocking the breath out of me, and possibly breaking some ribs. I tried to
scream, but I couldn’t draw in enough air to even get out a tiny squeak.

Nikolai pulled me to my feet by my hair and laughed. “You
know, I was wondering when you were going to try that. I’m actually surprised
you waited so long. Nice touch, throwing the lamp at the incubus.”

My ribs ached when I breathed, especially with one of
Nikolai’s arms wrapped tightly around me, just under my breasts. “Let me go,” I
demanded, struggling to free myself.

Nikolai used his hold on my hair to jerk my head to the side
roughly. He was still behind me when I felt his fangs sink painfully into my
throat. The door at the top of the stairs flew open, and Nikolai’s fangs came
out of my throat. His hand remained fisted in my hair as he awkwardly dragged
me down the stairs.

Dylan and Trevor stalked through the doorway, moving closer
slowly.

“Let her go, Nick!” Dylan demanded, never taking his eyes
off him. It was simultaneously a relief and terrifying to see Dylan standing
there. I was relieved because I thought I’d never see him again, but I was
terrified of what could happen to him. I already knew Nikolai had a dampening
spell on the house, meaning Dylan’s magic was nearly as useless mine.

Nikolai let out a sad sigh. “I’m sorry you found me, Dylan.”

“I’ll bet you are,” Dylan said with a snort. “This probably
ruins your plans.”

Nikolai’s tight grip on my hair made it impossible to turn
to see him, but the pressure on my hair increased, so I was guessing he’d
shrugged. “I really don’t want to kill you. If I could have found a way to keep
you as a friend, I would have.”

“You’re fucking crazy,” Trevor added.

Marcos laughed. “What are you going to do, warlock?” he
taunted. “While the vampires may not possess much in the way of magic, they are
stronger, and that’s all that matters down here. You aren’t going to be able to
save yourselves with a spell.”

“Try to avoid killing Dylan,” Nikolai said, sounding
thoughtful. “There’s no reason why I can’t keep two pets.”

Dylan and Trevor moved closer to us, probably hoping for an
opportunity to jump on Nikolai. Nikolai’s hold on my hair and ribs loosened as
he tried to readjust me. That gave me the opportunity I needed. I spun and
slammed my open palm against his nose, cringing slightly when I heard the
crunch of bone and cartilage. Nikolai howled in pain and rage as I reached
forward to try to hit his eyes. He shoved me to the side with enough force to
knock me to the ground. I fought not to cry out when my knee made contact with
the hard floor, because Dylan had jumped on Nikolai, and I didn’t want to
distract him. Marcos was right about vampires being stronger. My only hope was
that, like many vampires, Nikolai thought he could rely solely on strength and
had very little in the way of fighting skills.

“If I wasn’t getting paid so much, I’d kill you while he’s
distracted,” Marcos hissed as he approached me. My knee hurt so much I was
having a really hard time getting to my feet. Right before Marcos reached me,
Trevor’s fist made contact with his face. Marcos—slimy bastard that he
is—pulled a knife and lunged at Trevor. Grabbing a large piece of broken glass
from the lamp, I shoved it into the back of Marcos’ knee.

“Fucking bitch!” Marcos shouted at me. That distraction was
enough to allow Trevor to knock the knife out of his hand. Figuring Trevor
could easily handle Marcos with the knife out of the equation, I dragged myself
toward the knife, tears streaming down my face from the pain in my knee and
ribs.

Dylan was still standing and basically holding his own
against Nikolai, but the side of his face was bruised where Nikolai had landed
a punch, and if his labored breathing was any indication, Nikolai had hit him
in the ribs at some point. Dylan was definitely a better fighter, but Nikolai’s
strength was wearing him down. Struggling to my feet, I moved toward Nikolai,
clutching the knife, surprised he didn’t turn toward me with the amount of
noise I was making. Dylan saw me and seemed to be doing his best to keep
Nikolai distracted.

I only hesitated for a moment. In that moment, I was tempted
to give Nikolai a chance to give up, but I knew he’d hurt me to disarm me.
There was only one way for this to end. Lunging forward, I put all of my weight
into shoving the knife into Nikolai’s back where I was hoping his heart was. I
continued to fall forward through the ash that had once been Nikolai’s body. If
it weren’t for Dylan’s quick reaction time, I’d have fallen on the floor again.

“Are you okay?” he asked, and I could only nod. As the
events of the day came together, black spots filled my vision. In the distance,
I heard the echoes of voices around me, and then there was nothing.

“If she’s fine, then why the hell hasn’t she woken up?” I
asked the poor nurse who’d been assigned to Allie. Even knowing I was being an
asshole, I couldn’t help it. Allie had been unconscious for most of the last
six hours. She’d come to when they were getting ready to put her knee cap back
in place, and they’d quickly checked to see if she had a head injury before
casting a sedation spell—one that should have lasted only an hour.

“Her succubus genetics are the reason she’s sleeping so
long,” the nurse said calmly. My ranting didn’t affect her at all, which is
probably why she’d been assigned to Allie’s room in the first place.

“I’m fine,” Allie said in a weak, tired voice. “Is Trevor
okay?”

I leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead, feeling
beyond grateful that she was finally awake. “He’s fine,” I assured her. “Marcos
is in police custody, and the police managed to rescue the succubus they were
going to kill last night.”

“Is she okay?” Allie asked.

“She’s pretty shaken up, but they hadn’t hurt her at all,” I
told her, glad that was true.

“I killed Nick,” she said, and a shudder ran through her
body.

“Yes, you did. You probably saved my life.”

“Guess I’m kind of a badass,” she said, still sounding
sleepy.

“My badass witch,” I said with a smile. “You sound
exhausted.”

“Succubi sleep while they recover from injuries,” she
murmured around a yawn. “Can you stop yelling at my nurse, so I can rest and
heal?”

“I’ll try,” I answered honestly. “You scared the hell out of
me.”

“Imagine how I felt,” she said with a sleepy chuckle. “I’m
just glad you found me. For a little while, I was afraid you’d really think I
was dead.”

“It might have been easier if we were already married,” I
added. “Once our magic is officially bound, we can find each other
anywhere."

“Is that really how you want to ask me to marry you?” she
asked. “First, you mess up asking me to move in with you. Now, you mess up
asking me to marry you. Seriously, Dylan Hunt, what am I going to do with you?”

“Marry me?” I suggested with what I hoped was an endearing
smile.

She let out a weak laugh. “Fine, I’ll marry you if you
promise to let me get some sleep.”

“Now, you’ll just claim you agreed under duress,” I teased.

“That is your preferred method for getting me to agree,” she
said around a yawn. “I love you, Dylan.”

“I love you, too,” I said.

As I watched her drift off to sleep, I felt her magic wrap
around my body, binding me to her. No, it was in that moment that I realized
I’d been bound to Alana Talbot from the moment I saw her. She was my witch—my
other half—the thing I always feared would weaken me, but in reality made me
stronger.

I never thought I’d see the day when my best friend, Dylan,
would get married. Allie was perfect for him, and I was happy for them. Not
that anyone one would believe that if they looked at me today. Sitting at the
elaborate celebration for the happy couple—both good friends of mine—I should
be having fun. At the very least, I should be checking out the single witches
in attendance. Several had already tried to get my attention. Instead, all I’d
done for the last two hours was sit at a table nursing a drink.

Looking across the room, I saw Melina for the first time in
six months. After rescuing Allie from a serial killer vampire, I’d decided to
take everyone’s advice and move on. Unfortunately, Melina Blackwood was an
obsession that haunted my dreams. I’d been with other witches in the last six
months, but none of them made me forget her, and some had even commented on my
distraction.

I knew she felt my eyes on her by the way she shifted
uncomfortably in her seat. Melina said she didn’t want me. She’d told me that
over and over again. In fact, she’d made it clear she wasn’t looking for a
relationship of any sort. Still, seeing her discomfort made me think she was
lying—to me and to herself. Melina might not like it, but she wanted me as much
as I wanted her, and I was done playing this stupid game with her.

Stalking across the beautifully landscaped garden, I ignored
Dylan’s glare. I know he’d hoped Melina was out of my system for good, because
Dylan believed she was just one of many infatuations. An unfortunate side
effect of my family’s heritage was that I tended to think each witch I met was
the one. At least, that’s how I’d felt before Melina. She was different, and I
hadn’t felt that way about a woman since the moment I’d laid eyes on Melina.
She was it. Melina was my witch. She just didn’t know it yet, but that was
about to change.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for taking the time to read
Sinfully Spellbound
.
I hope you enjoyed the first book in my new
Spells That Bind
series.
I’ve had a lot of fun creating this new world and have many stories in mind. If
you enjoyed this book, please take a moment to write a review and/or leave a
star rating on Goodreads. Trevor and Melina’s story,
Shamelessly Spellbound
,
will be available October 2, 2016. You will finally get to meet Melina’s
familiar, Mr. Whiskers, as well as the cast of
Night High
.

To keep posted on the details of my next book, or just to
see what I’m up to, you can follow me on
Facebook
or
Twitter
.

Cassandra Lawson lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with
her husband and her two youngest children. When she is not writing, she enjoys
spending time with her family, listening to music, or curling up with a good
book.